dining plan versus pay per meal...

[katrinabell]

I know that this has probably been asked a million times.

This will be our families 1st trip to wdw. I have never been, my dh has been once I think.

I am going with my kids dd 6 and ds 9.

We are contemplating the dining plan and my question for the wdw veterans is that in your experience is the dining plan worth it, or was the pay as you go more economical. We have a budget we are wanting to stick to but I want to be able to take my daughter to do the cinderella breakfast at the castle. We will be staying at one of the all star hotels. We will be there for at least 6-7 nights.

Thank you in advance for your experiences. I really appreciate it and am learning so much from these boards. Katrina

 

[DisneyDotty]

Well, if you are on a budget, you can probably (no, I'm sure there's no "probably" about it) eat for less than the $35/adult/day. However, if you want to be able to relax during your meals--not think about what this is going to cost; be able to order whatever you want--then you might want to give the Dining Plan some consideration. For us, the one table service/one counter service and one snack was PLENTY of food for us. We spent very little OOP, ate food we would never have otherwise ordered because of the cost, and really enjoyed ourselves.
And in a way the Dining Plan is the ultimate budget--pay it up front and forget about it--enjoy your meals!
I vote Dining Plan because it really allowed us to have a stressfree vacation (of course, you MUST make ADRS!), but others will give good reasons to go on your own, too.

PS--consider that your 9 y.o. will have to pay adult, too, I believe--or am I wrong about that?

 

[Ilovestitch]

I like the dining plan b/c it's convenient. Its nice to just carry your key card and thats it.

 

[JadenLayne]

Another vote for the Dining Plan. We were on it in September and it was awesome. We'll be using it again in March! We would never try everything we have without it!

 

[tabrizia]

PS--consider that your 9 y.o. will have to pay adult, too, I believe--or am I wrong about that?

I believe a 9 year old is still under the child section, it follows the same rules as the park tickets which is 3-9, so when you hit 10 you are an adult as far as Disney pricing goes.


One of the better ways to figure out if the dining plan is for you is to list where you plan to eat, check out the menus and figure out how much each meal would cost you. Then compare it to the Disney Dining plan cost, so aprox $35 for adults and $11 for kids. If the prices are close I'd personally go for the dining plan since you get a lot of food for it.

We did dining (just me and hubby) for our trip because we don't want to have to worry about paying for our meals, they've been paid for that is taken care of and we don't need to worry about it. I also priced 3 ways, where we would go without the plan, where we would go with the plan, where we would go with the plan and pricing the same items the plan allowed, and I compared all three to the plan costs. Overall, it was about the same if I didn't do the plan or went where I would without the plan, however with the plan I ended up with 4 more sitdown meals for the same price as not using the plan so it made sense to me to use the plan and get some nice dinners out of it.

I really suggest comparing prices and figuring out if it saves you money/doesn't lose you money and if that is true then I would go for it.

 

[thelionqueen]

Definitely go for the Dining Plan. If you can afford the cost of the plan in your budget it is a definite yes! You don't have to worry about spending anything else (like tax, gratuities, etc) the entire trip and you will know EXACTLY what you are spending.

It is a GREAT way to enjoy WDW, especially on your 1st trip. Go for it, you will not regret it. You'll also be able to enjoy a dinner show and some more character meals if you choose. It is WONDERFUL, I'll never go without it again!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Let me give you an easy handy dandy guide as to whether or not the dinning plan is going to be financially the way to go or not. Short of pre planning everything you eat and adding it up, here's a quick method.

The whole key to this thing is the sit downs. Figure about $28 a pop for the adults. Most of the dinners are going to exceed that. A good many of the lunches do and most of the breakfasts do not go over that at the sit downs. Some do. Here's how to figure.

First thing to consider:
How many sit down meals am I planning to eat, and which meals are they?
If the answer is zero to one for a six night stay stop right there and stay off the plan. If it's 5 or more, you're probably going to be better off on the plan. Just get the plan and start picking where you want to go. Fill em in and have fun. If it's 2-4 you have to ask yourself how many of those sit downs I already have planned are Dinners. The more sit down dinners you have planned, the more likely the plan will be better for you. If they're all breakfast you're likely better off out of pocket. This assumes you are all average eaters. Note that character meals and buffets count as a sit down here.
2nd thing to consider:
What type appetites are in my party? If everyone is a light eater, especially if you can get buy with sharing entrees with the kids and do not plan many buffets (Note you have to buy for everyone at a buffet, no sharing), you're probably better off not on the plan even if you plan on Sit downs. Note you will eat a bit more than on average due to activity.

That's pretty much the easy way to think about it in a nutshell.

Here's some non-financial things to consider.
1. The Character meals are really fun. And they save you a ton of time. The wait to see the characters in tunetown or in Camp Minnie Mickey can be quite lengthy. It was 45 minutes for Mickey both places. And I don't need to tell you about 6-9 year old kids and lines. There's enough of em. Eating for 20 minutes waiting to come around to the table is a ton more enjoyable than 45 minutes of standing. We didn't have to fiddle with the lines for the main characters because we knew we were meeting them at meals. The lines for the secondary ones that you see all around the parks are usually about 10 minutes or less.
So you may want to just get the plan and do a pooh, a princess, and a Mickey and friends somewhere. Also, The FDP was nice in that we could go right through the reserve gate about 35 minutes before the show rather than sit in line an hour and a half. We went during off peak and the theater was still jambed. The people that ended up in SRO behind us stated they waited in line an hour just to get those and there were people turned away. I'm told it's not always that busy. But I found the fantasmic dinner package worth it. I'm afraid I would have missed out on the show without it. So notwithstanding the finances, you may just want to do the meal plan.
We found that the character meals we did and the FDP as well as the two nice sit downs we added as a result of getting the plan really added to our overall enjoyment of our trip.

 

[indigoxtreme]

Also the tax and tip is included in the plan. So when you do your figures be sure to add tax and tip. As many have stated there is a lot of food. What we found we could do was share a few CS meals IE buy 1 adult and 2 kids and share with the 4 of you then you will have credits to use for CS breakfast etc. This credit along with some of the snack options for fruit makes a good breakfast. Go with the plan, I can vouch that it was so nice no to have to worry about what things would cost since it was all paid for. Many times for dinner we took the desert back to the room and had it at a later time. You will enjoy yourself more since you are on a budget, like many of us are. In the past we could never do TS meals except maybe 1 a week. This time it was really nice to be able to enjoy the meals and not have to eat a bunch of sandwiches in the room. We did take rolls and cereal for breakfast for a few days and then figures out about sharing the cs meals, we stayed at POFQ so we had a free refrigerator inthe room.

 

[michygoomy]

We are contemplating the dining plan and my question for the wdw veterans is that in your experience is the dining plan worth it, or was the pay as you go more economical.

Well, I worked it out on spreadsheets, because I'm like that.

I took our dining habits from our last trip, and extrapolated it from 8 to 10 days. I used current prices instead of those from the last trip. I included tip, but can't remember if I added tax or not. I'm not even sure what the rate is in FL. I did not include breakfasts at all--we eat those in the room and it's not part of the dining plan, anyway.

Last trip our plan was to eat CS as much as possible (for budget and time reasons), but we found ourselves wanting to do more TS (for variety and relaxation!).

We're traveling with two adults, a baby, and two "disney adults". (insert eyeroll here)

Using these assumptions, the dining plan ended up being 200 more than I would spend without it. That's about 5 dollars more per day per person, but allows us to eat in ways we NEVER would if it was all out-of-pocket. I decided to go with it. (Note: it would be about break even if my youngest wasn't turning 10 right before the trip)

I think it's worth it to be able to tell the kids that they can order an appetizer, dessert, AND order off the adult menu! No worries about how much everything will cost. Plus I hope to use some dessert credits to bring stuff back to the room for snacks or breakfast, or maybe get fruit for the baby.

Have fun either way you choose to do it!

 

[bigbabyblues]

This is how I figured it for our family last year. In 2004, our food budget was $140 a day for me, DH, DS then 4 and DS then 15 months. We stuck to that, and were very close to budget when we were done. A couple days we were under, but a couple other days we went over, so it worked out great. For our 2005 trip, our meals plans were about the same, same type of restaurants, etc. The dining plan was about $80 a day (youngest was 2 and still free on the dp), so even though we planned to pay OOP for a few kids meals for the youngest, we still came out way ahead with the dining plan. There was enough food for us to share and not have to buy his meals almost every time, that was a plus too.

 

[Hopefully]

We (3 adults) used the Dining Plan in October and we loved it. We saved $450 in what we actually ate over the cost of the plan.
We used our TS credits for dinner, with the exception of l lunch in Morrocco. We had juice, coffee and fruit in the room for breakfast and used the CS credits for lunch. We enjoy a relaxing sit down dinner at home and wanted the same for our vacation. We found it to be a lot of food, and we were totally satisfied.
We have been to Disney many times, and we no longer to the Parks "Commando Style". You do need to factor in the time a sit down meal will take (ave. 1 1/2 hour for dinner in our experience), which will cut into your park touring time, if that matters to you.
I looked at all the restaurant menus on allearsnet.com and decided where we would like to eat our TS dinners. We all looked at what we would probably order and the cost of those items. I added this all up and made the decision that for us the Plan was a good deal. We did not plan to, or actually try to, maximize our meals, but truly to eat where and what we would like.
I mapped out a basic which park which day and then made our ADR's based on the area would would be in. We ate in several WS restaurants at Epcot.
We had a wonderful trip and I definitely would use the plan again. That said, only you can decide if it works for your needs and your family.

 

[huey578]

I know that this has probably been asked a million times.

This will be our families 1st trip to wdw. I have never been, my dh has been once I think.

I am going with my kids dd 6 and ds 9.

We are contemplating the dining plan and my question for the wdw veterans is that in your experience is the dining plan worth it, or was the pay as you go more economical. We have a budget we are wanting to stick to but I want to be able to take my daughter to do the cinderella breakfast at the castle. We will be staying at one of the all star hotels. We will be there for at least 6-7 nights.

Thank you in advance for your experiences. I really appreciate it and am learning so much from these boards. Katrina

We tried the DMP last year for first time, now we are hooked

 

[The Sweetness]

I plan on 1 TS , and 1 complete CS per day, and sharing cs breakfasts... The plan will be worth it, and by sharing TS at 3 non buffet rest., Im can do a sp breakfast on our last day I think I will be very happy w/ the plan, yet still spend approx. 500 on breakfasts, cocktails, extra sides of mash potatoes for the baby etc...,2 meals on the road and extra snacks.

 

[DebIreland]

In my opinion, the ages of your children is a huge factor when deciding to use the DP or not. I'm surprised it's not mentioned more often to be honest. If I were you, I'd definitely do the Dining Plan because your children are eligible for the child rate of 11 dollars so it will cost you 98 dollars per day including tax and gratuity. Basically, without the Dining Plan, you would need to spend 82 dollars to be on par with that price (82 + 18% tip). In other words, if you take the DP once you pass the 82 a day mark (without tip), you're making a 'profit' as it were.

Example:
Chef Mickeys Dinner: 28 dollars per adult x 2 = 56 + 13 per child x 2 = 26. Total 82
So if you go to Chef Mickey's, your lunch in a CS place is essentially 'free' that day. Plus you'll have 4 snack credits which are essentially 'free' too that day.

Sci-fi Dine In (MGM) Dinner:
Average appetizer (adult) 5.50 approx x 2 = 11 dollars
Average entree (adult) : 16 dollars approx x 2 = 32 dollars
Dessert (adult): 5.50 approx x 2 = 11 dollars
Beverages (non-alcoholic) (adult): 2.20 x 2 = 4.40
Total adult price: 58.40
Children's entree + dessert: 8 x 2 = 16 dollars
(I haven't even added an appetizer here for the kids and they would get one on the DP but I'm trying to be realistic too and I know not all kids would get a 3 course meal every time).
Total meal price: 74.40
This means, if you're on the DP, you'll get your CS lunch incl. desserts and drink + 4 snacks for under 8 dollars.

And bear in mind, there are many restaurants which are under the DP which are much more expensive that Sci Fi.

For me, my eldest is 11 and my youngest son will turn 10 during our holiday (we have a split reservation and he will turn 10 the day we check in to our 2nd reservation ). We also have a 2 year old who would be free. So on our second week it would cost us 152 dollars a day, too much for my liking as the boys will definitely not eat 76 dollars worth of food each day. (We might get it for our first week though).

I'm blabbering on and on here..... My personal opinion. If all your kids are 9 and under and you like at least some character meals and you don't eat CS meals all the time, RUN and get the DP. If you have 1 or more children just passed 9, give it some serious thought.

Good luck deciding.

 

[paigevz]

I like the dining plan b/c it's convenient. Its nice to just carry your key card and thats it.

We do that without the dining plan..........you can just link it to the credit card you use for your room.

We chose not to go with the plan. We usually don't eat appetizers or snacks in the parks. We eat one Mickey bar, and beyond that, we fill up our resort mugs when we leave, always take a midday break, and refill before going out again..........then we'll just use our dinner drinks and water fountains. We do eat some desserts, but often share them. Our kids often share with us or each other. So, for us, it would be probably more expensive.

Some folks think the expense is worth it for the convenience of the dining plan. I don't see it as convenient. Looks like it takes a bunch of planning, and I just don't want to tackle one more thing.

Also, hearing about some experiences with servers that people attributed to being on the dining plan irks me. I like to be in control of the tip. I don't want to HAVE to tip someone well if the service was poor.

Beyond that, we pay our airline and park tickets ahead of time, hotel and dining after returning. I am a teacher, and I teach summer school to afford the trip. Trying to come up with a large lump of money before summer for the dining plan would be stressful for me. Putting it on the card and letting it ride more than 1 or 2 months would not be cost effective, as my cards don't have the best rates.

Those are just the reasons WE'VE chosen not to do it. I am all for everyone choosing what's best for them, and many love the plan. We tend to plan everything separately and get the best rates we can, and find it is cheaper in the long run (we don't buy packages, either, so of course can't get the plan without one).

Just another perspective for ya!

 

[bethbuchall]

When you're figuring the cost of the meal plan, don't forget that you may be losing a room discount in order to get the meal plan. That may change your figures a bit.

Beth

 

[momfor4]

that is my concern- if i want the dining plan, is the saving worth more than the discount on rooms i would have gotten? that is the part i still can't quite figure out-which way is best- dining plan for family of 6 or room discounts??

 

[PigSoldier]

It depends how you eat too. If you're like me, and a three-course meal is too much food, and you like a glass of wine with your dinner, it doesn't make sense to pay for the dining plan, simply because it works out cheaper than paying for all that food you wouldn't eat anyway a la carte.

 

[Ilovestitch]

which way is best- dining plan for family of 6 or room discounts??

Well if you book it through AAA, you get a discount and the dining plan.

The way I decide if I'm getting the dining plan is I calculate approx. how much I'm going to spend if I don't use the dining plan- my bf and I usually spend about $50 a day for the two of us. So our next trip is 8 days so that would be $400. Well I priced out a package with and without the dining plan and it costs us $405 more to add the dining plan. So we are getting it.

 

[Stitchfans]

I was considering the dining plan, but my youngest DD11 eats like a bird. At the time of our trip she will be 12 and I really don't think it would be worth it since we would have to pay the adult price for her. I heard your entire party has to be on the plan.