Dining Plan?

[cwasil]

I'm slowly starting to plan out our first trip in a number of years with our newest members of our family (3 & 4 year old) and am wondering if the dining plan is worth it. It seems like the family of 5 (3 adults & 2 children) dining plan, over 7 days, costs about $1000 or so (1TS, 1 CS & 1 snack). Assuming Disney doesn't have free dining over the days I'm going would you do this? Do you think it's worth it? I'll honestly admit I haven't done my due diligence on this yet to look at menu's...prices...locations...blah, blah, blah yet but am curious as to what you veteran's think about this. Thank you.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

We went during free dining last November. I kept all of my reciepts and added them up when we got home. We got much more than the Dining Plan would have cost us. However, had we been paying out-of-pocket we would not have purchased all of the desserts and snacks (we brought about 15 snacks home with us). For us, we would have come out about even in cost for paying out-of-pocket vs purchasing the Dining Plan.

For me, the big bonuses with the Dining Plan are:
*having it paid for ahead of time
*I didn't even glance at menu prices
*didn't worry about packing/lugging around snacks

If we we're buying APs I would probably purchase the Dining Plan simply because it was less stressful for me. I stress a lot and it was nice to be carefree over what everyone wanted to eat on vacation!

 

[PrincessPiperMommy]

If we we're buying APs I would probably purchase the Dining Plan simply because it was less stressful for me. I stress a lot and it was nice to be carefree over what everyone wanted to eat on vacation!

I agree 100%. While I don't have 2 children to include on the prices, for me and my husband it was more benifical to have the dining plan than not. The other benifit I would include would be to try new locations you may normally not attempt because of the cost associated. This way you can go to places that may be a new experience for you! Have a great trip.

 

[tricia]

Also, the kids plan is only about 11 per day, so if you are going to be doing character buffets at all it is totally worth it as those cost more than that.

 

[Sortin]

I don't have any experience in this, but I have run some numbers. I first planned out where we wanted to eat, I then went through and estimated how much it would cost for 1 adult to eat for each day of our vacation. It ended up that we would be paying MORE for the dining plan than we would out of pocket.

There were a few things that caused the DP to not work for us:
1. We will be at Universal Studious for one of the days - so we won't be using our dining credits that day.
2. We are only eating a limited amount of TS meals - this makes the Basic and Deluxe plans too much and the QS plan not enough.

I think it's fun to play with the numbers and I'm glad I did. Now, if Free Dining is offered I'm all for that!

I know people with experience in this will have some great answers. I think the best thing to do is to sit down and figure it out because everyone's trip is different.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

We do not eat very much, so the DDP is wasted on us. We wouldn't even use it again for free. That said, something like the QSDP would better match our touring style and appetites.

 

[cwasil]

Thanks for the help. As an engineer, it's in my blood to run the numbers and see what works best but regardless of the outcome I'm thinking I may just go for the dining plan because I'm forever stressing about these type of things. With the dining plan, I'd no longer even THINK about how much any item costs and calculate what it does to our trip budget.

I was so caught up in the math of idea I hadn't thought about the alleviation in stress this will do. When it comes to trips, my wife is a free spirit and we could very well come home flat broke if I don't keep control of things so I have the miserly role. One less thing to worry about and allow me to have a little more fun on the trip...thanks again.

 

[LWatson]

We liked having our meals paid for in advance last time, but we found we wasted a lot time at sit down meals that we really didnt want/need to do. We decided if we go again on the DP we will get the QSDP. Which is still more than we eat, but we dont have to worry about TS reservations. We have 1 TS in May and we knew ahead of time what we wanted and how much we were going to pay for it (character meal at Garden Grill w/ Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale...saves us from 3lines for autographs). Other than that we are going to be bringing a lunch on at least 2 days, and the other days we know our kids wont eat a full kids meal, so they can split it. We also prefer to bring our own snacks/water.

 

[jj1403]

Hi,

I would recommend the dinning plan. It's nice to be able to prepay and preplan your meals. Also if you were paying out of pocket you might not do as many sit down meals or character meals that the program allows for. It's nice to be able to sit down and relax and get a little down time from the parks.

We have done the dining plan on several occassions. If you have any questions please let me know.

 

[mjkacmom]

We added the dining plan after I made ADR's, and realized I had on ts each day. If you add the plan, make sure to make ADR's in advance. I made mine as far out as possible (and of course changed them around a bit! ).

 

[cjhrow]

test

 

[Swimalie]

Hi,

I would recommend the dinning plan. It's nice to be able to prepay and preplan your meals. Also if you were paying out of pocket you might not do as many sit down meals or character meals that the program allows for. It's nice to be able to sit down and relax and get a little down time from the parks.

I agree. To me, it's worth it. You go to restaurants that you normally wouldn't so it's an adventure and you aren't stuck watching every penny. You can sit back and enjoy the food just as much as the park. We just did 6 days there and loved not having to worry about paying for our meals. We brought our own breakfast (300 cal. breakfast cookies) from home and bought bananas to eat in the mornings and then ate our way around the parks during the days.

 

[3girlsfun]

For me it is the "no thinking"part that appeals to me. We are going to try it as my BFF said she loved it,and will actually be upgrading to the one above the quickservice. She said she never once had to eat a hamburger and french fries!

 

[scdisfan]

We have been to WDW and used the dining plan and not used the dining plan. We also experienced both dining options with and without children. I have to say that when we can, we always purchase the dining plan. We don't stress near as much when it is already paid for! Also, if you do more than two character meals, we feel as though we are getting our money' s worth.

I don't know if you will have additional adults with you (like a grandparent). When we traveled with the grands a couple of years ago, we had the dining plan. It was so convenient when we separated, and DD went with the grands, we made sure they had her room key. This way they could get something for her to eat and it was all taken care of. We didn't have to worry about having cash on hand to give them for times like this when it came up.

Of course, using the dining plan brings about a different kind of stress.....trying to decided when ADRs to plan for your trip!

 

[Sortin]

I hope this doesn't confuse everything further - BUT what if I want a funnel cake and it doesn't participate in the dining plan? Doesn't that blow my savings? Or is it still worth it since that is the only thing I can see that I would want that wouldn't be on the dp?

I'm not trying to be argumentative here, just trying to figure it out. I see the benefit of having the plan - not stressing about every penny. But I really want me a funnel cake!

 

[bear_mom]

It was worth it for us when we were a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children. Now older dd is considered an adult and we need to really look at it again and see if it would still be worth while.

Emily

(as an engineer married to an engineer, I have created the spreadsheet to compare the cost of the dining plan vs. what we would eat not on the dining plan)

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

I've crunched the numbers for us and it's not a great deal for my family. While I haven't used it in real life, I did run the numbers for what my DH and I would typically order throughout a day (snacks included).

My problem is a voracious 18 month old . He often finishes a kids meal with a good sampling of Mom and Dad's food, too. We would need to order a meal for him every time we dined and he would not be part of the DP, so it would be out of pocket. Sharing isn't something we could count on--a lot of the things we would order for ourselves (salads and spicy foods especially) aren't super toddler friendly. While there's a lot of food to share, a big portion of it is dessert, which he wouldn't be getting more than a taste of---more for Mommy's hips then!

I actually think it would stress me out more to have to think about snacks v. qs v. table service. It would require a bunch more planning than we usually do. We tend to skip meals or snack throughout a day. And I'm not into sitting down for dinner every day. I'd rather just deal with cash and get what I want when I want than to have to think about the best bang for my credit when it comes to ordering a meal or to be stuck with another fast food cake or cookie I won't eat.

 

[Sortin]

I actually think it would stress me out more to have to think about snacks v. qs v. table service. It would require a bunch more planning than we usually do. We tend to skip meals or snack throughout a day. And I'm not into sitting down for dinner every day. I'd rather just deal with cash and get what I want when I want than to have to think about the best bang for my credit when it comes to ordering a meal or to be stuck with another fast food cake or cookie I won't eat.

That's how I feel too - but I've not done it yet. We'll see. So many people think it is LESS stressful to have the plan. I guess we all have to see for ourselves.