Dining plan with 3 kids eat for free

[francisca2022]

Hello! Im hoping I can ask your advice on the dining plan for our 2026 family trip. We have 3 kids in the 3-10 age range so they would get free dining if we purchase for the two adults. All I've read online about the dining plan is that it's not worth the money even if kids are free.
Would you agree with that? Seems to me that a group of 5 would spend much more thank $120 per day even if we don't eat too much? I'm kind of confused.
We would not be making plans in order to get the most out of it, but I would expect just one meal to be at minimum $50-$75? I'm just not seeing how it would not save us money. I'd appreciate any suggestions here as we've only been to WDW once before. Thanks so much!

 

[airjay75]

Just here to say I want to see the responses! I've got a 7 night stay booked in early February - 2 kids - and the fact that they're free makes it tempting.

My biggest hesitation is less about whether we'll break even and more about whether it will make our vacation feel less enjoyable. I don't want to constantly think about the dining credits I need to use up. But, if I were convinced it were a good enough deal, I'd go for it.

 

[jormom1030]

A ten year old would be an adult for the dining plan.

 

[liamthompson]

Take a look at some restaurant menus and pick what you would eat and run through some scenarios. I assume your $120 is from 2 adults on the quick service plan? I believe PP is correct and your 10 year old is also a Disney adult so now you're trying to break even on $180.

I've done a breakdown for my family before and it doesn't make sense for us because we don't drink alcohol or do character meals. If you keep searching, there are some helpful posts that break down the cost you should aim for each snack/meal and examples of meals that are a good use of credits. Don't quote me but I believe each snack is ~$7 and each meal (entree + beverage) is ~$20...it's very difficult to hit that meal cost unless you order alcohol as your beverage and I assume your 10 year old is not doing that

And are your kids big eaters? The kid's meals portions at Disney are HUGE...I typically share one with my kid and I have a big appetite. And as an added bonus, they're usually more balanced than the adult version of the meal, with veggies and fruit.

For some people it's "worth it" simply for the convenience which I think also has value to feel like everything is pre-paid and you don't have to worry further about it.

 

[MattB2G]

You really have to utilized the snack credits really well to make it worth it, so make sure to look at all the snacks in the parks. You would be amazed at what you can get for 1 snack credit..... but it is a lot of planning around food.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Whether your 3rd is age 10+ at the start of the trip is what's going to swing this for you.

If you're paying for 3 adults and getting 2 free kids, the math is tough. If your oldest is still just under 10, even by a day, I think you have a much better chance.

We traveled with 2 adults and 3 under 9 in 2019 and made great savings on the dining plan, but the math was also more in our favor back then.

 

[lanejudy]

Some questions to consider:
Is the oldest child 10? Or younger?
What kind of dining would you normally plan? TS every day or mostly QS? Lots of character meals?
Do the 2 adults partake of adult beverages each meal?

 

[francisca2022]

My oldest would be 9 years old! sorry for the confusion
would be 2 adults + 3 kids ages 4, 7, 9

 

[francisca2022]

Whether your 3rd is age 10+ at the start of the trip is what's going to swing this for you.

If you're paying for 3 adults and getting 2 free kids, the math is tough. If your oldest is still just under 10, even by a day, I think you have a much better chance.

We traveled with 2 adults and 3 under 9 in 2019 and made great savings on the dining plan, but the math was also more in our favor back then.

my kids would be 9 and younger, all 3 would be free!

 

[francisca2022]

Take a look at some restaurant menus and pick what you would eat and run through some scenarios. I assume your $120 is from 2 adults on the quick service plan? I believe PP is correct and your 10 year old is also a Disney adult so now you're trying to break even on $180.

I've done a breakdown for my family before and it doesn't make sense for us because we don't drink alcohol or do character meals. If you keep searching, there are some helpful posts that break down the cost you should aim for each snack/meal and examples of meals that are a good use of credits. Don't quote me but I believe each snack is ~$7 and each meal (entree + beverage) is ~$20...it's very difficult to hit that meal cost unless you order alcohol as your beverage and I assume your 10 year old is not doing that

And are your kids big eaters? The kid's meals portions at Disney are HUGE...I typically share one with my kid and I have a big appetite. And as an added bonus, they're usually more balanced than the adult version of the meal, with veggies and fruit.

For some people it's "worth it" simply for the convenience which I think also has value to feel like everything is pre-paid and you don't have to worry further about it.

This is what I've been reading as well and therefore why I'm having a hard time with this decision.

My quick math is this:
the minimum we could spend per day would be sharing 2 quick service meals for lunch, 1 snack per kid, sharing 3 quick service meals for dinner. That would be $20*2 + $6*3 + $20*3 = $118 per day. Again, this is the minimum.

$121 is the cost of the dining plan per day. I am not seeing how we could spend less than that!

Am I doing the math wrong? I feel like I'm falling into the disney trap

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

This is what I've been reading as well and therefore why I'm having a hard time with this decision.

My quick math is this:
the minimum we could spend per day would be sharing 2 quick service meals for lunch, 1 snack per kid, sharing 3 quick service meals for dinner. That would be $20*2 + $6*3 + $20*3 = $118 per day. Again, this is the minimum.

$121 is the cost of the dining plan per day. I am not seeing how we could spend less than that!

Am I doing the math wrong? I feel like I'm falling into the disney trap

Are you planning any table service? If you are, then that will be out of pocket and you may end up with extra QS credits at the end where the math didn't work out

If you're only doing QS meals, I think your math is correct. You'll be able to stretch that into breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all 5 of you and you can be more liberal about getting the snack instead of skipping it.

Your particular situation, where you have more 3-9s than you have 10+ in the room, is one of the scenarios where the plan can make good financial sense

 

[francisca2022]

Some questions to consider:
Is the oldest child 10? Or younger?
What kind of dining would you normally plan? TS every day or mostly QS? Lots of character meals?
Do the 2 adults partake of adult beverages each meal?

oldest would be 9

Not big eaters but would still need to get something 3 times per day. We usually order a few things and share family-style when in the US, as portion sizes are bigger than what we are used to.
Non park days we would probably eat at Disney Springs. We would get a drink with dinner as well.
We've never done character meals but this would be a nice opportunity to go for it

 

[francisca2022]

Are you planning any table service? If you are, then that will be out of pocket and you may end up with extra QS credits at the end where the math didn't work out

If you're only doing QS meals, I think your math is correct. You'll be able to stretch that into breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all 5 of you and you can be more liberal about getting the snack instead of skipping it.

Your particular situation, where you have more 3-9s than you have 10+ in the room, is one of the scenarios where the plan can make good financial sense

thank you so much for reply!!

 

[liamthompson]

My quick math is this:
the minimum we could spend per day would be sharing 2 quick service meals for lunch, 1 snack per kid, sharing 3 quick service meals for dinner. That would be $20*2 + $6*3 + $20*3 = $118 per day. Again, this is the minimum.

My understanding is that since most entrees are under $20 (around $13-18) and most kids meals are around $7-9, if you don't order an alcoholic beverage with your adult meal, you are essentially paying for the '"free" kids meal with the dining plan.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe all the character meals are table service credits so wouldn't be covered by the QS dining plan that you are currently considering.

If you know there are any places you want to eat at now, you can try pricing out the cost for that meal with dining plan vs without it. Or use a hotel food court menu which I think generally doesn't have crazy pricing.