Dining plan- Y or N?

[lolobug]

I'm really confused about which plan would work for us, if any at all. This is how we eat-

Breakfast- not uncommon for husband to drink couple cups of coffee, only. I'll drink a tea or coffee and a pastry or muffin. Girls will eat anything from pancakes to a muffin.

Lunch- the girls and I will eat, in fact lunch tends to be our biggest meal. Husband is funny eater- he may eat small lunch or a larger lunch.

Dinner- husband and I will eat. We often order apps and have a few drinks with dinner. Girls will always want dessert- husband never, I'll eat it if it's available!

I see us as sitting down for dinner every night and choosing to sit down for breakfast some days, lunch other days.
We are just funny eaters, some days lighter than others. Suggestions?

 

[havoc315]

Unless you fit within a very strict regiment, OOP is usually better than any dining plan.
It does partially depend on the ages of your children, and whether you plan on lots of character meals.
If you have young children AND you plan lots of character dinners, the dining plan is a good savings. Otherwise, it is far more cost effective to just dine OOP.

You're not eating enough to justify the DxDP. So under the design of the basic DDP, you really only save money if:
-- You use all your QS and TS credits
-- You use almost all your QS credits for lunch/dinner, AND get dessert with every QS meal
-- You use almost all your TS credits for character meals, or fixed price meals, or lunch/dinner, AND always order steak AND always order dessert and beverage.

If some members of your party will sometimes skip dessert.. or sometimes share dessert.. if some members of your party will sometimes eat smaller meals (and not always order the most expensive item on the menu).... then it is typically less stressful and more cost effective to go OOP.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We personally LOVE the dining plan. Every trip we pay OOP for a couple of days before our actual park/dining pkg starts, and let me tell you, we spend a FORTUNE on dining when we pay OOP. We get the regular DP. We like to have dessert with every meal while on vacation. We dont do appetizers. And we normally order the most expensive entree, it just works out that way! Anyway, I would recommend paying OOP in your case. Since you have "funny eaters" in your family. LOL!

 

[bdklein]

Anyway, I would recommend the standard DP for you guys as well. One TS restaurant, one QS, and one snack. Thats what we always do, and its perfect for us.

No way. Did you actually read the OOP, or just tell about what you do??

 

[bdklein]

I'm really confused about which plan would work for us, if any at all. This is how we eat-

Breakfast- not uncommon for husband to drink couple cups of coffee, only. I'll drink a tea or coffee and a pastry or muffin. Girls will eat anything from pancakes to a muffin.

Lunch- the girls and I will eat, in fact lunch tends to be our biggest meal. Husband is funny eater- he may eat small lunch or a larger lunch.

Dinner- husband and I will eat. We often order apps and have a few drinks with dinner. Girls will always want dessert- husband never, I'll eat it if it's available!

I see us as sitting down for dinner every night and choosing to sit down for breakfast some days, lunch other days.
We are just funny eaters, some days lighter than others. Suggestions?

Yes. No Dining Plan. Only will save money if you maximize all the angles, and that's not how you eat. Eat the way you want, not the way Disney wants you to eat on the Dining Plans,

 

[goofyintoronto]

No way. Did you actually read the OOP, or just tell about what you do??

My bad. thanks for pointing that out. I went back and read the post CAREFULLY this time, and I agree with the others about paying OOP.

I guess i read it wrong, I focused on the part where it says they will eat a sit down dinner every night, in addition to a sit down breakfast.

In your case, with 'funny' eaters, no dessert etc, i think its best OOP.

 

[cmh314]

You may also be able to get at "room only discount" that you wouldn't be able to use with a package that includes the DDP. I booked with a AAA discount for 10% off our room (but if Disney releases something better for our travel dates, I'll try to have them change it to that). My estimates are that we'd at best break even comparing what we'd order with the cost of the plan. So by using the room discount we actually come out ahead.