Dining Plan vs Grocery Delivery

[OHIOVACATIONER]

Dining plan still seems a little pricey and not sure we can eat that much in a day although we are planning on possibly 2 Character meals. Are Character meals more than a regular sit down dining meal? I need to educate myself on this on Dining Plan and Character meals before May. We have 2 adults and 3 children in the room (one of the kids will only be 7 mos though so will not eat real food yet) We have to buy a dining plan for everyone in the room correct? So best place to do that is from your advice please. Thank you

 

[hammie59]

In my opinion, the dining plan is not cost efficient unless you're a family of big eaters or you use most of your credits for character meals and dinner shows. You have to pay for anyone 3 years old and up. A child under 3 is allowed to share meals with others in the group. Character meals are typically more expensive than the average table service meal, but if you tend to order the most expensive entrees off the menu, appetizers, dessert, etc...then it may be similar pricing out of pocket. (When we were on it once, we felt like we had to order the most expensive meals to get the value out of the plan). You should take a look at different menus and decide for yourself what's worth it. Allears.net has a menu for every Disney restaurant. There are also different levels of the dining plan with "Quick Service" being the least expensive. Problem with that level is it's counter service only, so you can't use on character meals. You would need at least the standard level for that. If you go to deluxe plan, you'll be in restaurants for a lot of your trip (more table service).

I have used a grocery delivery service in the past when we've flown and had no car. It was very convenient (we used garden grocer). You'll have to decide what works best for your family. Do you want to pack lunches everyday/go back to your room for meals, or do you want ease of not thinking about it (dining plan). I have done it every way: dining plan, grocery service, and brought my own. Some people love being on the DDP, and I would probably do it again for a splurge, but we usually like to save money by packing lunches/snacks and paying out of pocket for counter and table service when we feel like it.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We are personally fans of the dining plan (1 TS, 1 QS, 1 snack) because it is convenient and more than enough food for our family. We like it because we don't have to worry about paying anything extra for food once we are there because this plan keeps us more than full enough. It's fun to eat at character meals and not worry about the bill (but, remember that tips are not included in the cost of the meal and the tips really do add up).
Many people think it's not great value, and I see their point of view. If you are doing it to save $, it's probably not going to be helpful. But... if you want a stress free vacation (let kids order whatever they want, regardless of watching the price listed) then dining plan has value (this is how we see it as we only go once a year, so it's our splurge for vacation).
If you are planning on bringing in food to your room, you will want a place with a kitchen (we only ever stay in regular resort rooms and fridges are not big enough to hold much food).
We also bring bagels, cereal, granola bars to help cut down on costs. We fly to Disney and do not have a car, so we can't just go grab food off of the resort very easily.
I think the dining plans vs grocery delivery is very subjective - keep reading things / researching and then make your own decisions.
Have a great trip.

 

[Alesia]

Most people lose money on the DDP. You can use this: http://www.distripplanner.com/ to help you figure it out.

 

[Haygar2]

Most people lose money on the DDP. You can use this: http://www.distripplanner.com/ to help you figure it out.

Thank you for that. I just put our restaurants in and I found out we, pretty much, break even by doing the DDP. Which, by the way, we love. I love the fact that we can order what we want and not have to worry about it. I also like the fact that it's paid for before we get there. All we have to worry about it the tip, some souvenirs, and the one OOP breakfast that we do.

 

[Hopefully]

If money savings is your primary goal, it probably won't. We love it for our family. We find we break even cost wise. I love not worrying about what our meal cost. I like having it prepaid and I love the convenience.
Good

 

[loves to dive]

Another alternative other people use is buy either pre-paid visas or gift cards for the amount of the dining plan and use those. It makes them feel they are still pre-paying for the meal so aren't as worried about the cost and then if they don't spend it all, they have the left over for gifts or souvenirs.

 

[kittyab]

The gift shops at most resorts sell some grocery items too. I plan to throw a few dry goods in my suit case (If I have space lol!)

Does GG or Amazon delivery alcohol?

 

[kittyab]

My other question.... I know when we had something delivered to our resort it went the business center which is open monday - friday 9 - 4. What if you arrive on a Saturday?

 

[hammie59]

The gift shops at most resorts sell some grocery items too. I plan to throw a few dry goods in my suit case (If I have space lol!)

Does GG or Amazon delivery alcohol?

GG- yes. I think you have to send them a picture of your ID. We didn't order alcohol so I can't speak from experience. I know ppl have ordered it though. Not sure about Amazon.

My other question.... I know when we had something delivered to our resort it went the business center which is open monday - friday 9 - 4. What if you arrive on a Saturday?

When we used this service, GG delivered while we were at a park. They called to let me know they had arrived and the front desk took care of it. (My tip for GG was already included in my cc payment) CMs stored it and refrigerated the cold items. When we got back, we called down and it was delivered to our room.

 

[mgentry210]

The gift shops at most resorts sell some grocery items too. I plan to throw a few dry goods in my suit case (If I have space lol!)

Does GG or Amazon delivery alcohol?

Yes. I have garden grocer deliver a box of wine on longer trips. One time over Christmas hubby requested a bottle of scotch and they delivered it was well. Much less expensive than the gift shop in the resort. Don't forget the case of bottled water too.

 

[JZCubed]

Dining plan still seems a little pricey and not sure we can eat that much in a day although we are planning on possibly 2 Character meals. Are Character meals more than a regular sit down dining meal? I need to educate myself on this on Dining Plan and Character meals before May. We have 2 adults and 3 children in the room (one of the kids will only be 7 mos though so will not eat real food yet) We have to buy a dining plan for everyone in the room correct? So best place to do that is from your advice please. Thank you

Alesia gave the tool for determine Dining Plan value.

But a word of caution - two children and a baby can make a family miss an ADR. Do that once, and any 'savings' from the Dining Plan can be lost.

When you say 'groceries', do you have a Villa with a kitchen? If so, you can eat more comfortably than most babies are going to allow you at a Table Service.

Table Service restaurants are too hit or miss with a baby to feel as if Parents can enjoy themselves.

We avoided these for a few years after be disappointed all too often - and without also having to manage two additional children.

 

[hammie59]

Depends on the baby I guess. I was lucky that mine liked to sleep a lot. We were on the dining plan, did character breakfasts, etc with an 11 mth and a 5 yr old. We had no issues with our ADR meals, we just had to plan them around times we knew would work best for our kids. We knew that was the trip we couldn't "do it all". (Had we gone when my other child was a baby, I think it would have been a different story )