Dining Plan vs. Not

[dtripli]

Hi Everyone!

We are headed "home" to Disney in June and have our ressies already. My question is should I add the dining plan. I am trying to figure out if it is worth it or not. Here's why.....it will be me, my husband and 4 children: 14,12,9 and (our one year old ofcourse is free) We do need atleast one sit down meal a day. Now if I went to CP for example without the dining plan and said "table for 2 adults, 3 kids and baby" would they charge my two older as children still? If I get the dining plan they are considered adults. $40 a day each! Also does any have any sample prices of the different restaurants. Im really trying to do the math here. We welcome all of your input. Thank you! oh we will be there 1 week.

 

[Perditamarie]

Here is a great site for menus (look on the left column) and reviews:

http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

I believe they take the ages of the children in your party and will charge them as adults, even if you are not on DDP. Remember I believe the whole month of June has a lovely holidy surcharge, so prices on TS meals could be higher if you can believe that!! I think you would come out ahead, especially if you did mostly dinners, as you would also get a snack and counter service. It would also be nice to know that the cost is taken care of when you get the ginormous bill at each meal!! Remember, tips are now paid out of pocket.

Your post says you are going in June, then says you are going in 1 week. I am not sure it would be worth it next week unless you already have all your ressies.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Yes they would charge you anyway cause you 2 older kids are older than 9. Now as far as the dinning plan in my opinion it was so well worth it.

 

[BriarRosie]

Hi Everyone!

We are headed "home" to Disney in June and have our ressies already. My question is should I add the dining plan. I am trying to figure out if it is worth it or not. Here's why.....it will be me, my husband and 4 children: 14,12,9 and (our one year old ofcourse is free) We do need atleast one sit down meal a day. Now if I went to CP for example without the dining plan and said "table for 2 adults, 3 kids and baby" would they charge my two older as children still? If I get the dining plan they are considered adults. $40 a day each! Also does any have any sample prices of the different restaurants. Im really trying to do the math here. We welcome all of your input. Thank you! oh we will be there 1 week.

You make the dining reservations as "party of 6", mentioning that it includes an infant. And keep in mind that $40 is including your counter service and a snack, so your daily meals are pretty much prepaid. If you're doing a few 1 table service buffet dinners, you'll probably do much better with the plan.

The older kids will be charged as adults when they eat at the restaurants, regardless. But they can still eat off the kids' area of buffets. They will just be charged as adults.

Also keep in mind, Disney has automatic gratuity of 18% added to parties of 6 or more, and yes, your infant WILL count towards that number, regardless of whether you're on the DDP or paying cash out of pocket.

 

[ScrapperBelle]

We used the dining plan back in '98. I can't remember what it was called then, but it worked like this: You paid so much per night, per person and Disney "gave" you an additional $15 or so per person, per night. This money was pooled into one account and when you ate, your total was deducted from that. It worked at TS and CS locations. We loved that plan. Felt like it was really worth it and you were able to eat what you wanted. You could also deduct tips out of it.

We didn't use the new plan until last year. It was worth it for us because we were treating DD and her family and I knew their meals would be taken care of. Unless we are in the same sort of situation again, I don't think we'll be using it. I don't like the "limitations" of it. I also don't like how you have to do your tips and everything separately. DGD was only 14 mos., so we couldn't add her. At buffets she just ate off our plates, but if we ordered anything for her, that was extra as well. When we got home and I added everything up, we didn't save any money at all between paying for a few "extras" here and there and adding in tips, etc. For convenience, I can just charge my entire meal plus tip to my key card and pay everything off once I get home.

 

[dtripli]

Here is a great site for menus (look on the left column) and reviews:

http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

I believe they take the ages of the children in your party and will charge them as adults, even if you are not on DDP. Remember I believe the whole month of June has a lovely holidy surcharge, so prices on TS meals could be higher if you can believe that!! I think you would come out ahead, especially if you did mostly dinners, as you would also get a snack and counter service. It would also be nice to know that the cost is taken care of when you get the ginormous bill at each meal!! Remember, tips are now paid out of pocket.

Your post says you are going in June, then says you are going in 1 week. I am not sure it would be worth it next week unless you already have all your ressies.

Thanks for the info and great website We are going in June - I meant to say that we would be spending a week

 

[dtripli]

Thank you everyone. I forgot how expensive this can get!!! hee hee And I had no idea there is a holiday surcharge in June. What's that about? My husband is gonna flip - I really wish they still included the gratuity (those were the good ole days)

 

[hoosiergirl7]

IMO it's worth it especially since your older 2 will be charged as adults anyhow. And being there a week it quickly adds up OOP. When we went last April there were 2 adults - 1 child and one of our bills at a buffet before tips was $80.00. That didn't include the $20+ dollars we spent earlier in the day for snacks and CS meals.

So we decided from here on out we'd do the DDP - at least until it wasn't worth it anymore. I know there's a spreadsheet floating around on the DIS somewhere that allows you to calculate what your OOP expenses would be based on what you think you'll eat every day of your trip. We had a trip booked for last October but 3 months before we were scheduled to go DH found out he was going to have to travel for work so we just moved that deposit for a rescheduled vacation. Anyhow, I did mess with the spreadsheet and we came out big time based on places we had ADR's at and CS meals we were planning. It was easily $30-$40 more a day OOP if you included snacks. No thanks!

 

[ntsammy5]

We do it sometimes and sometimes not. It all depends on how you plan on eating. Price out your meals and see if it's worth it. One thing I wish they would change is the dessert - we never order them - I wish they'd give the option of appetizer OR dessert.

 

[summermac]

June has holiday surcharges?

I did the math on the DDP and we were $12 ahead without even accounting for all 7 of our CS (had worked up 5) and NO snacks figured up yet.

 

[CruznLexi]

We like the fact that our meals are paid for. We won't do the Deluxe to may meals. We nomrally eat 2. If you figure 1 TS is $27 and your CS is about $12 you break even plus a snack you save a few dollars but if your TS is more you come out ahead. I would not hessitate to get the CS or basic dinning plan.
Lexi

 

[erin327]

I have never used the dining plan. The math always says I am better off without it. We usually eat 1 TS per day and 1 CS most days. Sometimes we snack instead of other counter service. We also tend towards buffets for TS which i think makes it less of a good deal.

 

[NMAmy]

It depends on how your family eats. It doesn't save us anything because the majority of our TS meals are for lunch and I'm also travelling with two teenage girls who will often split an appetizer and then each get a dessert. The limitations of the dining plan don't work for us.

Your best bet is to look at the menus and think about the food your family would probably order. If the total for the day is more than $40 per person, than go for the dining plan.