Dining Plan...Worth it??

[stace1214]

We just returned from a six day trip with the dining plan. When all was said and done we saved about $150 by using it. But, I don't think that we would end up getting the dining plan again. It really was just too much food for us. I don't normally get a dessert at a counter service and am usually too full to get dessert at a table service. I felt like I was buying snacks and ordering desserts just because it was all aready paid for. When we go back again, I think we'll make reservations for our favorite restaurants (Boma and Le Cellier) and just wing it for the rest of our meals. It really just depends on your family.

 

[TLSnell1981]

We did the DxDP last March. We don't do CS, although you can use a TS for a CS meal. We did a lot of signature dining and character meals. We felt the deluxe plan was a good value for us. We used the down time at meals to rest up a bit....talk about the day, etc. Two meals a day plus snack was the norm and one day we had three. I couldn't justify the price for the regular plan. I think we may have saved a couple dollars a day...maybe. I just don't care for most of the quick service meals at Disney.

 

[miprender]

Just to add my two cents. We did the DP in 2006 for the first time with DD3 and after saving all the receipts we saved money, however, we would never have eaten that much normally and DH swore he would never do the DDP again.

We are planning our trip for 2009 and since we are doing alot of character dining and since most of them are buffets were we will still have to pay for DD5, we have decided that the DDP will work best for us.

Besides I have read that the holiday weeks, we are going at Easter, the prices of some restaurants are increasing.

 

[corey0902]

Great thread.

 

[MrsB1228]

The DP works great for our family which consists of DH, myself, DD (20) and DS (16). We've been to Disney many, many times and we no longer do the "commando" touring we used to. In those days we'd eat CS most of the time with perhaps one or two TS meals thrown in. We wanted to spend the majority of our time touring the parks, enjoying the rides and seeing everything we could. Because my kids are no longer youngsters, we don't feel the need to "do it all" in the parks anymore so taking the time for a nice sit-down meal is now an essential part of our holiday. We like to have a TS meal at least once a day to relax, talk, and enjoy our time together. We've done the DP the last two trips and DH declares he will not "do Disney" without it now. We love the convenience of paying for our meals ahead of time, it totally frees you to order what you want without worrying if you're going to blow the budget and it definitely saves us money. You really have to decide what's best for your family, what your touring style is and how much time you want to spend in restaurants every day. We wouldn't have taken the DP when our kids were young because it just wouldn't have worked for us then, but we all love it now!!

 

[PEANUT1]

we like it because we know up front how much money we need....plus tips later of course.

 

[diseverestfan]

I've never figured out if it saved us money by having it, but it has been really nice the last 2 trips having all of our meals paid for in advance. I just don't like carrying all that extra money around, plus worrying if we would run out before the end of the trip. This way, everything was paid for before we went. However, that was before they took away the included gratuity.

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

Thanks for all the info. Now I feel more confused than ever. I guess the best bet would be to really plan out our days and our intentions with meals and figure out if we'd save $.

This is hard though, because we don't usually plan a lot. We've been to Disney lots and lots and we like to make decisions on a day to day basis (i.e. if the park we arrrive at is to crowded, go somewhere else; if the kids are tired, change the plans a bit; if we missed something one day, go back another time). As, a result, our eating habits really depend on the day. We do always have a breakfast at Crystal Palace, do at least one dinner or lunch at at Character Dining location like Chef Mickeys, and at least one more TS like Mama Melrose's or somewhere at the Worldshowcase. The rest would be counter service or quick service. But, since we don't do much planning, I can see us ending up at more TS meals than I mentioned- I have never really looked back after a trip to see what we ended up doing!

The trip is me, my husband and 2 kids (6 & 8). We don't usually eat a lot- enough to keep us going with some treats for the kids along the way. We like one big meal a day (whether it's TS or CS) and the rest we sort of eat when we're hungry. I'll keep thinking and try to figure out our best plan. With the cost of flights these days, it sure would be nice if we could save ourselves some money somewhere else during the trip. I was sort of hoping the dining plan would be it!

 

[choirfarm]

Hi. I COMPLETELY understand what you are going through. Going through what you think would do would help. I am going to repost this from an earlier thread even though I got flamed for it. (People said..of course you would save money fixing sandwhiches, I'm not cooking on vacation, etc.) But look at your family. If you view fixing a sandwhich as working on vacation, then don't. But you sound like you might be like me so here is my post where I did what you should do and figured out what we would eat:

I wanted to put a different point of view than what I had been seeing about the DDP always being worth it. I do not think the DDP would be worth it for us unless it is “free.” We are a family of 5. I have two boys ages 13 and 11 and a girl that is 6. When we go out to eat (which isn’t often) if we all get a meal, then we go home with a lot of doggie bags. Instead, dh and I often split a meal, the 11 and 6yo split one and the 13yo eats one by himself. Since I had our eating places in my notebook with the prices I did the price comparison. We always drink water with our meal and would either ask for water and ice or probably have our water bottles with us that have them. This is how we would eat if we were not going during free dining.

Food that we would bring with us:
Bread $2
Meat $5
Cheese $2.5
Jelly – free (I can from our garden)
PB- We go to SAMS and get giant containers so I would just take from that into a smaller
Granola Bars $5
Pop Tarts $5
OJ $5
Various Snacks $10
Total= $30

Friday
We are traveling all day and won’t get there until night-time
Only purchase:
5 refillable mugs $55

Saturday: Epcot Day
Breakfast: Granola Bars

Lunch: Seasons
Rotisserie ½ Chicken9.49
2 Entrée 2 Sides 9.99
Kids Meal 3.99

Dinner: Intermission Food Court at ASMusic
Chicken Quesadilla 6.49
Double Cheesburger 6.89
Bacon Double Cheesburger 7.39

Total for Friday: 44.29

Saturday: Magic Kingdom

Breakfast: granola bars

Lunch: Crystal Palace:
4 adults and 1 child: 95.95

Dinner: Sandwhiches in our room at the end of our resting time. We to back to MK for evening EMH

Ice Cream $12 ( Splitting 3 that are around 4 dollars)

Total for Saturday: $107.95


Monday: Epcot
Breakfast: girls granola; boys goodies from the Boardwalk Bakery $20
Lunch: girls split an Earl of Sandwhich 5.75: boys eat snacks

Dinner: early dinner 4ish
Girls Princess Meal: 28.99 and 13.99
Boys: Beirgarten 3 x 23.99

Total for Monday: $140.70


Tuesday: Break Day

Park Fair Breakfast: 86.99
Lunch with sandwhiches if hungry
Dinner: Pizza : 15.99,13.99

Total 116.43


WednesdayMGM
Breakfast in Room

Pizza Planet split 3 meals 3 x 7.89= 23.67

Prime Time Café
Fried Chicken 14.99
Pot Roast 15.79
Glazed Salmon 16.29
Kids Meal 7.49

Share: S’more4.79 and Brownie Sundae 5.99

Total 89.01

Thursday- Animal Kingdom
Breakfast- room
Lunch: Flaming Tree BBQ
Smoked Turkey Breast 7.29
Smoked Pork 7.29
3 kids hot do meals 3.99 each

Sandwhiches for dinner

Total: 26.55

Friday
Breakfast in room
Lunch at Pecos Bill:
Chicken Wrap 7.59
Bacon Double Cheeseburger 7.59
Chicken Salad 7.19
Cheeseburger 6.09
Kids Hamburger 4.49

Dinner Sandwhiches:

Total 32.95


So… We would spend $642 dollars for our 8 nights. (yes, I only included 7 days of eating, but that is all we would be at Disney for.) Since we are staying 8 nights and the boys are "adults" the dining plan would cost us 162 dollars a day (I never spent that much even on our most expensive day.) so the meal plan would cost us 1,296. Almost double.

I even had to think about it when it was free as we would lose a lot of spontanaity. Our 2 rooms for 8 nights was 784 with the 40 percent off, and 1312 at rack rate for a difference of 528. So getting it "free" made it worth it. But having to plan a TS for every day has been a pain. And I know we are going to waste a lot of food. There is no way my crew can eat a whole meal and a whole dessert 2 times in one day. When we do go out to eat for lunch on a Saturday or Sunday after church, we are stuffed and eat cereal or a snack for dinner.

 

[ReneeA]

It takes a bit of time, but have you looked through the menus that are posted here with the prices?

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining.htm

We have always gone during free dining (until this year), so it was a no brainer for us then. This year, I had to sit down and price out exactly what I thought everyone would eat on a daily basis and how much it would cost.

The DDP costs our family of 4 - 2A, 2C $95 per day. I figured without the DDP, we would eat mostly CS, share some drinks, NOT eat dessert at all the meals, but due to not having a TS everyday, probably eat 2 snacks per person, per day. I also assumed that in a week long trip, we would also throw 2 TS meals in there as well. The total I came up with? An average of $80-85 per day.

To me, it was worth the extra $10-15 (plus tips of course) to be guaranteed the sit down meal everyday. We only spent an extra $24 OOP for extras, spent about $115 for tips, and our receipts came out to just over $900. The DDP cost us $570.

Granted, we would have not eaten all the desserts at the TS and CS if paying OOP. It was a fun trip, and it's always nice being able to order whatever you want without having to rethink it due to the price.

We will probably get the DDP until our kids become "adults" on the plan. Then we'll have to reevaluate it's value.

 

[jennyf2]

I LOVE the dining plan! I LOVE the fact that it is paid for upfront (well with the exception of tips). I dont take the time to figure out if we benefit from it $$ wise (I probably should), but I love ordering anything we want & not worrying about the cost.

 

[carj]

We opted to NOT do the dining plan when we went in June. Here is why:

The dining plan is based on the number of nights that you stay. We stayed 7 nights but really only had 6 park days. Our first night we arrived at 8pm and the last day we left the hotel at 8am. We didn't need all of those credits for our meals.

All members of the party have to be on the same package. My DH was in a conference for 4 of the days and ate there. He did eat with us some of the time but we didn't really need all of his credits.

I figured out what we spent OOP and I think that we came out about even. We spent a little less than we would have on the plan but we he had some off-site meals that he would have paid for anyway.

I have been looking at planning another trip and I and thinking that we might try the dining plan. We ate a ton at WDW. I guess because we were burning so many calories with all the walking!

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

we have never had the dining plan, free or not. i dont think we would get it. we are not really big eaters. a light breakfast, or a decent lunch and snack later in the day. sometimes back at hotel we grab a bite. i would not want to plan everything around food. i guess it depends on how many meals you have a d ay. in the heat esp. no way could we have 2 or 3 big meals....but if you can use it , sounds great.

 

[Vavasmon]

I have done Disney both with and without the dining plan. I have never had the opportunity to use "free" dining. Based on our eating patterns (one site down and two CS per day), it would be very difficult to loose money. I also have used the old "WISH" system that pre-dates the current plan.

Most recently, we (2 adults and a 12 yo) used the dining plan in March and saved about $10 per person per day ($240 total). I did not use all of my snack credits (not even close). I refused to make selections because we were on the plan - we each select the entree we wanted. One night we did not order dessert because we were too full. We paid for most breakfasts, some alcohol, and one appetizer OOP. It is important to note that we were paying holiday pricing at all the buffets and AYCE meals (this was covered by the dining plan). I wish you could choose between the appetizer and dessert but understand the economics of the rule.

Below is part of my dining summary:

Let me start off by saying that in general we are not big snackers while in amusement parks. We tend to eat three meals with very little (except water/soda) in between. Being on the DDP we had 24 snack credits to use. We used 14 of those and I bought three bottles of water that I should have “snacked”. Could we have snacked breakfast more – possibly but we really enjoy a hot breakfast – this is a case of us not letting the dining plan determine what we ate. We also purchased 2 beers in EPCOT on day 4 – a Becks was 7.50 (from stand in Germany). A Strong Bow Cider was 7.99 (plus 1.00 tip) from the UK Pub.

The 14 credits were:
3 bottle beverages in Camp Minnie/Mickey on day 1 – cost paid by DDP 6.00
2 bottle beverages on day 4 in EPCOT WS – cost paid by DDP 4.00
3 credits used for breakfast on day 5 – cost paid by DDP 9.03
2 Dole Floats (my favorite) and 1 cup of soft serve on day 6 at Aloha Isle in the MK – cost paid by DDP 10.87
2 Frozen Cokes and 1 Bottle of water outside the LMA show in DHS on day 7 – cost paid by DDP 8.58

I did purchase the two refillable mugs for 26.61 (with tax)

We enjoyed being on the DDP and it was a good value considering we were paying holiday pricing for the buffets/family style locations. According to my spreadsheet we received 1144.47 worth of food from our DDP credits. This averages out to 47.69 per day per person (the plan is 37.99 per day). So we did save money using the DDP.

Had I of had the deluxe plan an additional 156.81 worth of cost would have been covered. I don’t think we would have ordered any more food – we were content at the meals. That 156.81 is the sum of all the breakfast meals, the appetizer at Raglan Road, and the two mugs. That would average to 54.22 a person so we would have lost money (that plan is 69.99).

The complete report/meal breakdown is http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1763042