Dining Plan: Yes or No???

[neaster]

Family of 5: 3 Adult, 1 child, and 1 infant. We are staying 2 nights. We plan to do around 3 QS meals, but will probably split 2 adult ones between all of us. We also plan to do Ohana dinner and 1900 Park Fare breakfast. Also, we will probably buy at least 2 of the mugs. Should we do DDP or OOP?

 

[chocolateMinnie]

To be honest there is no definitive answer you really have to guestimate your prices (use either www.wdwinfo.com or www.allears.net) and then decide which would be the best deal. Before free dining this is what we did each year and depending on our plans each time sometimes paying oop worked out best and sometimes ddp. Sorry can't be more help.

 

[supersnoop]

distripplanner.com

 

[Superchikk]

I agree - it's a numbers game. I like distripplanner.com as well - you can use it as a tool to help you decide your cost on the DP vs OOP. But depending on where you're staying, you might be able to save enough on a room only discount (if it's offered during your trip) to make up the difference.

 

[Trinity88]

I just made my reservations (still looking for a couple) and then plugged them in to this http://www.distripplanner.com/. According to that site, I would save money if I purchase the dining plan (I'd save about $250 because we want a bunch of character meals). I haven't for sure decided what I'm doing, but I am leaning towards getting the dining plan.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

We have been going several times a year since 2002. When Disney removed the tip and appetizer from the dining plan, we found it is no longer a value and paying OOP is always less money. We have done a cost analysis for every trip up until 2014 and paying OOP is always a money saver. The only way the dining plan makes sense is to eat at the most expensive 1 credit restaurants and counter service and order the most expensive thing on the menu. The best thing to do is to run the numbers based upon how you would eat and not what you feel like you have to eat based upon the cost of the dining plan.

 

[OThopeful35]

Specifically for your situation, I would get the DDP.

 

[sharonabe]

The cost of your two TS meals for your family is right at $250. The cost of the DDP for you is about $400. The question for you is will you "spend" more than $150 for the 3 QS meals you want to eat. If any of those are breakfast, I doubt it. If you don't WANT desserts and/or prefer water to drink, then probably not. However, with the DDP, you would also have 8 snacks which would be a bonus, but if you don't think you would WANT those snacks, then you can probably spend less OOP.

 

[peg110]

We only had the DDP once for 9 days. Did we save money? No probably not but it was close. We did things like Breakfast at Cinderellas Royal Table (2 TS each), Ohana, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickeys, Mama Melrose, and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (among others). We tried to maximize our "Benefit" Would we have done all this if we didn't have the DDP? Probably not (some of it, yes but not all of it).

It was more about convenience of not having to "PAY" (THERE) for the various events. We were able to pay this off over time as we led up to our vacation as opposed to having all the money at the time of service. It also seemed to make ADRs a bit easier too. We certainly were able to get enough food. It was also nice to let the kids (older) order what they wanted without having to say "No, that's too expensive" which might have occurred had we not done the DDP.

So while the actual cost is a factor, don't forget the value of convenience it brings. As others have pointed out, WHAT you eat will impact the cost/value of the plan, but the value of not worrying about the cost is up there too.

 

[goherdibg]

I just made my reservations (still looking for a couple) and then plugged them in to this http://www.distripplanner.com/. According to that site, I would save money if I purchase the dining plan (I'd save about $250 because we want a bunch of character meals). I haven't for sure decided what I'm doing, but I am leaning towards getting the dining plan.

I am the creator of distripplanner.com. I do not typically reply to threads where people are asking for dining plan advice as the mods for some of the message boards see it as a way for us to generate traffic. As most people who visit the site can tell, I did not create the site to make money - even though I do charge a small fee for the iPad app due to some costs involved with being an Apple developer.

Anyway, I am interested in your opinion of whether the site was close to being correct based on your actual dining choices during your trip. Most people who have provided feedback tell us we were very close with our estimates based on their receipts. However, Disney is constantly changing prices and restaurant choices making it difficult to keep our estimates correct.

I do hope our calculator is spot on and you will save $250. That's exactly why the site exists.

Reality is, if the calculator says the costs are close to equal between getting the plan and not getting the plan, I would always opt for the plan. Why? There other benefits to using the plan. I have a Disney Visa and getting the plan lets me add to the cost to my package cost and spread the price of the entire package, including the dining plan, over 6 months interest free. That's just one example of many reason to lean towards the plan when the price difference is minimal.

Enjoy your trip.