Dining plan when going offsite?

[emilymad]

I was on the dining plan in September when it was free and I loved it. I am going back in three weeks and I haven't decided if I want to do it again. I have also yet to make an ADR!! I am in trouble! We are going for 7 days but probably 2 will be spent off site at the beach or busch gardens, etc. I thought I understood how to figure out if the DP was a good value for us. I added up what we would spend if not on the plan vs being on the plan. There is obviously a big difference but I am not sure if I am comparing apples to apples. I didn't add anything for the offsite days. Should I or just figure that will be separate regardless? Can someone help me work this out??
Thanks!!!

 

[PaulaSB12]

I haven't tried the dining plan before, so can only tell you what I am planning. I am planning to go to busch gardens and sea world and 1 day shopping and using the ts credits for 3 signature meals and cs credits for breakfast.

 

[emilymad]

I was considering doing a signature restaurant since that would use up our credits. I figured we wouldn't be gone all day since we are staying onsite. I had added in the prices of the signature restaurant but if not on the dining plan we would never go there so I was thinking I was inflating the numbers artifically.

 

[dizplanner]

I think there are three ways to compare to figure out if the dining plan is a good deal for you or not.

1. Choose restaurants and menu items based on what you would order if you are on the dining plan and compare the menu costs versus dining plan costs. This will almost always fall in the dining plans favor.

2. Choose the same restaurants, but only include the menu items you would order if you were paying out of pocket. If you don't normally order appeatizers or only one for the family, don't include them or only include the one. Likewise with desserts. This will be a closer call, but unless you share meals, the dining plan is usually still at least break even.

3. To see if you would really save money, choose the restaurants based on what you would do if you were paying out of pocket with the corresponding menu items. For many people, the dining plan may not be less money. But you will probably be eating better on the dining plan. So you have to decide if doing so is worth the extra cost for you.