dining plan worth it?

[snykymom]

Again, your mileage may vary. If you do a lot of table service meals, you might want to look into the "Tables in Wonderland" discount card - a $60 fee gives you 20% off of tables service meals, including wine (not covered on the dining plan). However, TiW gives you nothing off of counter service or snacks.

We bought the TIW card instead (20% most sit down restaurants, few exceptions, plus alcohol!).

Before people go too far into a TiW discussion, please note that it is available ONLY to annual passholders (the price is now $75 for AP holders) or Florida residents ($100 if purchased without an AP). It is NOT available to the general public.

 

[t_catt11]

Before people go too far into a TiW discussion, please note that it is available ONLY to annual passholders (the price is now $75 for AP holders) or Florida residents ($100 if purchased without an AP). It is NOT available to the general public.

Aha! Excellent point... how did I forget that?

 

[okeydokey]

I don't like to have a reservation every day and plan my day around it. We do counter service meals when we feel like it so the dining plan is not for us.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

We are considering adding DDP to our trip in June (four nights) and have been crunching the numbers. Whether or not it makes sense really depends on what table service meals you plan to eat. The DDP is $45.99 per day. If you use it for Crystal Palace Breakfast ($23), counter service meal, and a bottle of water, you will lose money on the plan. If you eat dinner at Chefs de France and get the Filet ($35), Creme Brulee ($7), and a Coke ($3), plus a counter service meal and snack, you'll be ahead on the plan for that day.

If you know where you will want to eat, check their menus and prices, and you can figure out if the plan works for you.

I was going to write something almost identical.

My own experience is these things cancel out and the DP winds up being about what I would have spent anyway....even if I ignore the desserts because I really don't need 2 desserts a day. And it's all prepaid so it feels great. Kind of like an all-inclusive.

When it included gratuities it was a real bargain though...wow...what a deal that was.

 

[BucsTex]

There is only one way to know:

Figure out where you are going to eat and what you are going to eat.
Add the prices together.

Find out how much you will pay for the dining plan.

See which one is larger.

Exactly what I was going to say, having just done this analysis. You have to be honest about what you'd be buying out of pocket too. I know that I love appetizers and my son and I love desserts, and that we'd both want snacks in the parks. I did the math, the DxDP was worth it for me, especially because we really wanted to eat at Artist Pointe and we're using Brown Derby for Fantasmic seating.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Dining Plan board.

 

[rdearth]

It will not save you money, but it is SOOO worth it in my opinion.

I grew up in a family that was....let's say frugal. We did go on lots of vacations though because my father worked for an airline. But once we were in our destination, it was always "share this with your brother" or "let's just eat one meal today and eat a candy bar in the room later" that kind of stuff.

Saving money is great and if you have to be on a tight budget, then you have to do what you can, but I find it's easy for me to creep toward that "frugal" way of life and get chintzy or skip things my family might want if I have to calculate a cost at each restaurant or wherever I whip out my debit card.

The DDP also gets us to eat at places we probably would have skipped otherwise for cheaper fare food that's probably not as healthy or real.

So, it definitely works great for us and it's just so darn fun to eat at all the different places and plan on where you'll go each trip.

 

[2BNDisney]

Thanks for all the great info. I'm headed down in May and this will help me make a decision on whether to buy or not.

 

[Minnie Lor]

We are headed to WDW in May also. I have been crunching the numbers to see if it's worth it. I figured out where we'd eat and basically what we'd eat. It will save us $40.

We decided to NOT use the DP because we didn't want to have to worry about whether we used all of our credits. After a big breakfast, an apple may suffice until an evening snack. (and we like to eat)

I was concerned that we would constantly be checking the prices and choosing for less costly options instead of what we really wanted. So we are going to purchase a Disney Gift Card to use for most of our meals. That way we can pay ahead and we won't feel like we're nickeling and diming ourselves. By using my Disney Visa I'll get 1% back on purchasing the gift card. Every bit helps.

 

[mlm5l]

You will save a ton of money. Worth it, the restaurants are evrywhere.

 

[kitntrip]

Okay, this might be a dumb question but I'm new to disney planning as we're going on our first trip next year. With the DDP, or even the DxDDP, do you HAVE to make ADRs for every single meal? We'll be going for at least 9 nights and for breakfast, lunch and dinner, that's 27 ADR's I would need to make. Can I just take my dining card and sit at a CS food court in a resort? or any of the restaurants that aren't so high in demand?

 

[Minnie Lor]

Okay, this might be a dumb question but I'm new to disney planning as we're going on our first trip next year. With the DDP, or even the DxDDP, do you HAVE to make ADRs for every single meal? We'll be going for at least 9 nights and for breakfast, lunch and dinner, that's 27 ADR's I would need to make. Can I just take my dining card and sit at a CS food court in a resort? or any of the restaurants that aren't so high in demand?

If you the regular dining plan (DP) then you will have a TS everyday or every other day if you go to a signature restaurant.

If you do the deluxe dining plan (DDP) then you will have a table service 3x's a day.

Whenever you have a TS, you generally need an ADR. It's rare, unless you are going when WDW is dead, that you don't need an ADR. IF you are on any DP, you need an ADR so you don't miss out on using your TS credit.

The deluxe dining plan takes ALOT of pre-planning and ALOT of time out of your touring.

Here is the link to answer all your questions: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2353648

 

[kitntrip]

Thanks for the explanation and the link, I'll definitely read up on that