Dining Plan vs Cash, crunched the numbers and.....

[SnowWitch]

we will be going with cash for our 2nd trip in a row. Planning our May holiday, decided on our places: Brown Derby, Ohana, La Hacienda, and Cape May Cafe (all dinner), estimated $40 per counter service, and $20 per day for goodies (cupcakes, ice cream, pretzels)= $727. Dining Plan $923. We have found we use the mugs so little that they are of no use to our group so $204 saved not using the dining plan.

 

[padawans]

we will be going with cash for our 2nd trip in a row. Planning our May holiday, decided on our places: Brown Derby, Ohana, La Hacienda, and Cape May Cafe (all dinner), estimated $40 per counter service, and $20 per day for goodies (cupcakes, ice cream, pretzels)= $727. Dining Plan $923. We have found we use the mugs so little that they are of no use to our group so $204 saved not using the dining plan.

Did you include tax? The ddp covers taxes.

 

[eliza61]

we will be going with cash for our 2nd trip in a row. Planning our May holiday, decided on our places: Brown Derby, Ohana, La Hacienda, and Cape May Cafe (all dinner), estimated $40 per counter service, and $20 per day for goodies (cupcakes, ice cream, pretzels)= $727. Dining Plan $923. We have found we use the mugs so little that they are of no use to our group so $204 saved not using the dining plan.

For our trip last year we gave up the dining plan and we spent $282 dollars less (yes including taxes). We found ourselves eating more normally and not picking meals according to the price as opposed ot what we wanted.

We have 4 adults so we don't do character meals anymore and many times we changed our minds about having a big TS meal which you can't do on the ddp without stressing over "wasting" points

We much prefer appertizers to desserts so almost every ts meals we declined the desserts and since tips left a long time ago, that and the fact that my sons are now "adults" made skipping it a no brainer.

the "convenience" angle is moot for me since I put all my meals on a debit/credit card that I have my vacation funds on. Since I budge way more than we ever spend rarely do I ever go into a restaurant at disney worrying about overspending.

I just encourage people to do the math themselves and see what works best for them.

 

[soontobewed07]

We are going without the DDP for the first time since it started. I am putting the money aside that the Plan would cost and I am going to see what we save. We usually ended up with a ton of snacks at the end and we were too full to eat dessert. So this time I booked the places we really wanted to eat 'Ohana, Tusker house breakfast, Via Napoli, LTT lunch. The rest we will just wing

 

[Huff]

We always save money by using the DDP. It depends on where you dine and what you order. I used allears and figured rather conservatively our meal costs for 9 nights, 3 adults including tax would be about $1600 not including costs of mugs. DDP cost is $1391. Not nearly as good of a deal as years ago when appetizer and tip were included at lower cost but still saves.

 

[cmurray234]

SnowWitch, we did the same number crunching. I discovered that not only were we forcing ourselves to eat desserts when we didn't want them, but we were doing sit-down dinners every day when at least half the time, we weren't hungry enough to eat a huge meal.

I'm planning on 4 table service meals for an 8-night vacation. Without tax included, I figure we'll be saving $400...plus the 4 nights of tips we'd have had to pay OOP.

That being said, the dining plan IS a savings for some people. Depends on what your family's eating habits are.

 

[latmck]

I am trying to crunch the numbers as well. This will be our second trip at the end of May. I have looked at the ddp which would cost us $923. It is know way that we can eat that much food in a wk. The first trip we did a lot of character meals & my youngest one was 2 at the time. Now, we have two character meals (possible one). My kids are snack eaters & we like to sit down for dinner. I don't think ddp is for us this trip unless we get free dining.

 

[LaurieN]

We will be skipping the dining plan on our next trip too. With DS truning 10 before our trip the cost is MUCH higher for us than in the past. I've gone over the numbers using allears and I see no savings for us now. What kills me is my boys LOVE the character breakfasts and now that DS is an adult we have to pay the adult price for him. I wouldn't mind if he ate more than just toast and the occasional slice of bacon.
I did like having everything paid for in advance, but I plan on buying myself gift cards between now and Nov. and it will be my own little dining plan

Laurie

 

[TDC Nala]

I quit DDP after 2008, when the plans were changed and appetizer/tip removed from the basic plan.

Now, I only buy what I want to eat.

 

[soontobewed07]

I quit DDP after 2008, when the plans were changed and appetizer/tip removed from the basic plan.

Now, I only buy what I want to eat.

I should have stopped back then too I just liked it all being paid for and not worrying about it. Now that said I am now and annual passholder and will be buying TIW this trip as I hear it's a much better deal. We shall see

 

[cmurray234]

I quit DDP after 2008, when the plans were changed and appetizer/tip removed from the basic plan.

Now, I only buy what I want to eat.

That first year was SO lovely, wasn't it?

I continued to do the dining plan through our trip in November 2010. The cost was $39.99 per adult and both of my kids were still considered kids (11.99 per kid, I think it was) and though I VERY much wish I could have gotten either an appetizer OR dessert, I still felt like it was an alright deal.

It has lost any appeal for me because it's not a money-saver for us anymore.

 

[eliza61]

I should have stopped back then too I just liked it all being paid for and not worrying about it. Now that said I am now and annual passholder and will be buying TIW this trip as I hear it's a much better deal. We shall see

Its funny because I worried way more when I was on the dining plan. As others said I stressed when folks had a "snack" because then they wouldn't be hungry enough at dinner. I stressed about the TS, was I ordering enough to justify the cost.

So now what I do is I figure out a food budget on our realistic eating patterns and than I set aside roughly another 50%. This way I know we have enough and anyone can order what they what without "forcing" myself to eat or if we skip a meal no longer feeling guilty because we "wasted" 4 ts credits.

We only did the TIW discount once but we loved it.

 

[Gailpi]

Watched a guys picking out all kinds of sweets for his plan (when he did not even want them). Seems like a waste for some. I just like to be able to eat where we want and not worry about it and not have to eat more than I normally would...our neighbor with five kids did save some money, but said they wasted a lot of time dealing w/the plan. So do the numbers for your family.

 

[bigtony777]

I have decided that the TIW card is much better for us. It doesn't include all restaurants that the dining plan does, but most of the table service restaurants are included.

 

[Bete]

especially for larger parties but I won't be paying out of pocket for a dining plan.

I've gone as far to say I don't even want to stay on site anymore; unless, free dining plans are offered. I want to stay somewheres were you can get a nice, hot breakfast every morning included in the price.

We seldom use the extra magic hours; I don't need the extra Disney theming at the resort and I'm bored with using the same places for eating just to justify the cost of the DP. I'm looking forward to eating away from Disney; I think it's more peaceful away from the Disney crowds.

We will probably use CS in the parks if we are hungry and even then we may share meals.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I have decided that the TIW card is much better for us. It doesn't include all restaurants that the dining plan does, but most of the table service restaurants are included.

including liquor.

We have been paying out of pocket for all our trips since 2009. I did the math a couple of times and I think we spend a little more on food then we would if we purchased the dining plan but that includes things excluded from the plan such as tips, drinks and appetizers plus a couple of meals off property (we enjoyed them more than anything we ate on sight but wouldn't do that with the DP). This is without the TIW card - we are getting one this year and expect our OOP savings over the dining plan to increase.

 

[chskover]

With the increase in the Dining Plan, we will be doing out of pocket for the first time since 1996. One of our grocery stores give you gas points for buying gift cards. Plan to buy Disney Gift cards each pay check till May. That should cover the food.

 

[Grammyof2]

We just returned from a trip 3 weeks ago. My husband, myself and my grandchild who is an adult per WDW. I really considered getting deluxe dining since we would not have enough credits for our planned sit down meals. Paying for Deluxe dining would have cost $1422. Instead I purchased a TIW card with my AP. We bought 3 mugs (because we like them as sovies mainly) ate at Flying Fish, Citricos, Artist Point, Whispering Canyon Cafe (breakfast and dinner), Raglan Road, and Sci fi. We also were at POP for 3 days of the trip so we could use it there for counter service. Including all meals, all snacks, all tips and taxes, and adult beverages we spent a grand total of $889.57 plus the cost of TIW = $964.57.

We saved $457.43 by not purchasing deluxe dining and everything was included and we were able to order whatever we wanted and bought some snacks that were not included on the dining plan.

For me and my family it is a no brainer. I will not purchase the dining plan. I won't even take it for free since the room discount is more important to me.

I had free dining way back in the beginning when it covered apps and tips and we needed to pay OOP for one sit down and left 7 CS meals. It just does not fit in with our dining.

As far as having it "pre-paid" and not worrying about what you order the reality is you did pay for it; just not when they delivered the bill.

Edited to add: regular dining would have been $828. but we would have to pay OOP for some of our sit downs plus tips, alcohol, etc. There was zero savings for our family.

 

[AKL LOVER]

We just returned from a trip 3 weeks ago. My husband, myself and my grandchild who is an adult per WDW. I really considered getting deluxe dining since we would not have enough credits for our planned sit down meals. Paying for Deluxe dining would have cost $1422. Instead I purchased a TIW card with my AP. We bought 3 mugs (because we like them as sovies mainly) ate at Flying Fish, Citricos, Artist Point, Whispering Canyon Cafe (breakfast and dinner), Raglan Road, and Sci fi. We also were at POP for 3 days of the trip so we could use it there for counter service. Including all meals, all snacks, all tips and taxes, and adult beverages we spent a grand total of $889.57 plus the cost of TIW = $964.57.

We saved $457.43 by not purchasing deluxe dining and everything was included and we were able to order whatever we wanted and bought some snacks that were not included on the dining plan.

For me and my family it is a no brainer. I will not purchase the dining plan. I won't even take it for free since the room discount is more important to me.

I had free dining way back in the beginning when it covered apps and tips and we needed to pay OOP for one sit down and left 7 CS meals. It just does not fit in with our dining.

As far as having it "pre-paid" and not worrying about what you order the reality is you did pay for it; just not when they delivered the bill.

Edited to add: regular dining would have been $828. but we would have to pay OOP for some of our sit downs plus tips, alcohol, etc. There was zero savings for our family.

Thank you for posting this! I'm going on a girls trip in April so I will be purchasing an AP. Because of this I'm geting the TiW card so my family and I are going to make the jump to a 'no dining plan trip' for the first time ever in June. As our trip creeps closer, I was beginning to doubt my decision, but posts like this remind me that sometimes change is good for us and that we should save enough with TiW to justify not going with a dining plan for the first time!

 

[AshleeH]

We decided to do the DDP for the first time this year and after reading this, I'm a little nervous lol! I was against it (fear of the unknown!) but last year every time we swiped our card, the cast members were surprised because we had all items from the DDP and didn't actually have the plan. We were told that so frequently, we said we would use it for the next trip. Although we're easing into it with the Quick Service Plan, so I think it will save us some money. I hope.