Disney Dining Plan-$1000 for a week?

[kristinradico]

WHen I did the math based on what restaurants we have our ADRs at, the Dining Plan will save us a few hundred dollars! We will be there 7 days and have a character meal every day (except one night Ohana). We have 3 adults 2 children and 1 toddler. The convience of paying before and not worrying over food money is what caught my attention, but saving some money is what sold me!

 

[englishteacha]

I found that for us, it cost more to add even the quick service dining plan than it would if we spent $100 a day for meals for 2 adults (my husband's number. He always plans for $100 a day, even though we never spend that much). We already have tickets, so adding two one-day tickets added another $200. If we budget $100 a day for meals, then we have money left on one day we can treat ourselves the next, etc. And doing some math of what we like to eat, most days we'd be around $25 a meal, or $75 a day, if we had 3 full meals a day. I like table service restaurants just fine, but I don't want to be locked into a reservation 6 months in advance either! We're park hoppers, so we don't often spend an entire day in one park, and planning for a table service ADR? We could be halfway across the World by the time dinner happens!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We've enjoyed the DP twice at WDW *free each time*
I will never pay for a DP, I'd go the Disney gift card route as a way of prepaying for meals/snacks - that's what I do for DLR visits.

 

[tina.tina]

To determine what was best for us, I looked at menus on Allears.net and added everything up based on ADRs and the CS places we would likely eat.

 

[eliza61]

I found this very informative it helped me decide whether to get the DDP for my family. Plus, if you decide to get the DDP it has an incredible chart that shows how to maximize the plan. Good luck and have fun!
http://wdwprepschool.com/maximizing-disney-dining-plan-credits-for-2014/

That's one of the reasons we stopped doing the plan. I found htat my meals were not about what I wanted to eat but about "maximizing" the plan. there were many nights when my dh only wanted a salad or an appetizer and that wasn't going to fly because that would have been a waste of a credit. I laughed because the article says "chose steak or lobster and shakes". well what if you only want a burger?

Anyhoo, op.
Here are two meals that we ate last September. the ddp would cost me ~210 bucks/night for 4 Disney adults.

Via Napoli

Mezo Pizza for 4 with sausage $45.00
family salad for 3 21.00
3 soft drinks 9.00
2 beers (which I would have to pay extra on ddp) 22.00 for pitcher
tax 7.00 bucks

Total $104.00 but actually less than that because I would have had to pay 22.00 on the ddp so that's a wash.

Now that's 100 bucks less than if we did the ddp.

Second night we ate at Big river grille on the Boardwalk. I rounded prices up.

1 chicken quesadilla appetizer 11.00 (would have had to pay opp on plan)
1 grilled salmon ceasar salad 14.00
1 signature ribeye steak 27.00
1 chicken alfredo 17.00
1 rocket red ribs 24.00
4 lemonades 16.00
Tax 7.74
Once again total price was about 100 bucks cheaper and this is once again, higher because I would have had to pay for the appetizer on the ddp.

Now basically we would have never spent 100 on lunch. this is basically how we eat so for my family I spend any where between 400-700 bucks less oop.

unless you eat at character meals and/or buffets every meal I really can't see the price advantage.

 

[hsmamato2]

short answer-yes- you can easily spend less than that eating counter service- quite easily- allears .net has actual prices for reference

 

[Southernmiss]

short answer-yes- you can easily spend less than that eating counter service- quite easily- allears .net has actual prices for reference

Yes. This family of 6 here. Mine are all Disney adults--teens who eat. We were last at Disney in 2009, but we easily spent only about $50 per day for all six of us. We don't care about table service while at Disney--it's all about maximizing ride time.

We did stay at Fort Wilderness Cabins and made 1 meal a day in the crock pot and ate breakfast there and brought snacks and water bottles to the parks. We only need one "big" meal per day and would buy one snack and one meal at the parks. Worked for us and no one felt like they were deprived.

But if I were going today, we would not get the dining plan. I would look at menus for decent counter service meals and budget based on those prices. I am sure we could all eat for about $75 a day. Much cheaper than $1000.

I have the Disney Visa and use my reward points for our meals on property. To me, doing this feels like we are eating for free!

 

[MillauFr]

I looked at the Dining Plan it seemed to me that it encourages overeating. Desert at lunch and dinner? Who really needs that. Unlimited soda? Same thing. Why don't they give you unlimited leafy green vegetables and fruit????

 

[wallawallakids]

I looked at the Dining Plan it seemed to me that it encourages overeating. Desert at lunch and dinner? Who really needs that. Unlimited soda? Same thing. Why don't they give you unlimited leafy green vegetables and fruit????

Because that would cost Disney more money. Soda is cheap…. fresh fruit and vegetables are not.

 

[hsmamato2]

To determine what was best for us, I looked at menus on Allears.net and added everything up based on ADRs and the CS places we would likely eat.

best way to save money...I am forgetting now how much our last trip cost for food, but 4 disney 'adults' I budgeted 120.00 per day for lunch and dinner, with the exception of one Boma dinner cool1 we spent WAY less than my budget,and the only cheeseburger eaten was b/c my son wanted it! we buy boxes of cereal and milk for breakfast- then I budget approx. 10 pp for lunch,and 15 pp for dinner.... we don't buy much soda,which saves 10.00 per meal right there for 4 sodas

 

[hsmamato2]

aaa,mistake...I found my old post and saw that I budgeted 800.00 for 8 nights for 4 disney 'adults'.....(my 3 guys are big eaters too)
I can't remember exact numbers now but we stayed well under that number for our 9 days- ate breakfast etc in our room mostly (except for Boardwalk bakery cinnamon rolls lol) almost all cs (except Boma) rarely ate cheeseburgers (ds likes them,there is a huge variety of other things) I know we liked Picabu's at the Dolphin,and got discounts using a AAA card..... so yeah, you can eat well for way less than a full price dp.....

 

[wendow]

and the only cheeseburger eaten was b/c my son wanted it!

I had to chuckle a bit at this. Before our first trip to WDW back in 2012, everyone I talked to told me that unless we wanted to be eating hamburgers and chicken strips for every meal, then we needed to buy the DDP so we could eat TS (cause it's such a big savings, you know). Anyway, I am happy to report that after two trips, eating mostly CS and paying OOP for meals, I ate NO burgers or chicken strips our first trip and I ate only one burger the second trip. And I *wanted* that burger It was delicious! There is so much more to CS than burgers. Sure, some locations are more limited but most have a pretty decent selection.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We have found that although we do typically spend around 1000 for food and souvies ( mostly food since we do character meals) we do better without the plan as we buy what we like (rocky road apples!) and not just what is included in the meal (dessert with every counter service, no thanks).

 

[hops&dreams]

We do DDP as a matter of convenience. Once we step onto the plane, I never have to think about anything but having a good time.

BUT, now this thread is making me think about it... I'm looking forward to getting home and pouring through pics of our past 2 trips and pricing out what we ate. We could have easily split meals between DH and myself, as portions are MUCH bigger than we're accustomed to eating.

I'd also been pointed to this DDP calculator in the past:
http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0

In the end, for us, we used DDP the first time, and we thought it was awesome - not having to worry about it - it felt like college, swiping out meals! The second time, we took it because it was "free." if next time, we can take a room discount AND save on meals... well, that might be the ticket!

And, for the record, on the morning of the last day of our trip in 2012, we had 15 snacks left and 5 CS meals. We (me, DH, and DD8) split our way between 2 breakfasts, and then each got a CS "dinner" to go and ate them at the airport. With the 13 snacks, we each ate to our heart's content that day, and I brought home 11 bags of craisins to bake with. I gave a bunch away to fronds who bake and to a food pantry.

 

[Crystal824]

The dining plan used to be a good deal when it first rolled out. Now, I don't think it is a really a deal.

You really just have to look at where you want to eat and what you might order. For us, it has been cheaper not to do the DP the last four years or so. We often split cs meals between our family. We may order dessert at a TS place, but we often split it instead of everyone getting their own. We never get dessert at cs meals. We only eat at one or two character buffets.

If you want dessert at every cs meal and ts meal and you are going to do a lot of character buffet or family style meals, it might make sense for your family. Those meals are typically more expensive than order off the menu places. You just have to run the numbers.

 

[Trishthedish2]

Thanks all for the replies-I think we will just pay as we go-maybe check out the giftcard routes too

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

I was reading this thread as I'm always planning our next trip. DW and I have gotten the regular DDP the last 3 times, twice it was free and once we paid for it, having it paid before we go was a big factor, but as we looked at menus I noticed my wife would point out that with the DP she will order what she wants but when paying OOP she will consider the price and if I'm being honest I catch myself doing this also. We never tried to maximize the benefit but I also don't want to find myself ordering a cheaper meal than what I really wanted when OOP.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Dining plan was great when it started. But adding the tip could cost another $30 a day. With plenty of dining choices a room discount and paying for meals can be cheaper.
Plus if you're AP/DVC the Tables of Wonderland at $100 pays for itself after a few days.

 

[danceintherain]

During our last trip, we spent $925.94 on food for 3 adults (over 18) and 1 two year old, plus a $67 trip to the grocery store (which included diapers) for an 8 day, 7 night trip.
It also included the day we defected and went to Universal, which would not have been included on the dining plan regardless.
According to my spreadsheet, the regular dining plan would have cost us $1167.39, so a $241 savings without the dining plan.

DH needs three full meals every day, so the Deluxe plan is the only one that even comes close to making sense for us. However, it would still have us spending more money for extra food that we may or may not want to eat.
Without the dining plan, we eat what we want, and still usually fit in a table service a day. We tend to order water to drink, and only order dessert occasionally, or plan on getting a dessert item after our food has digested a little more.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

The other part of purchasing the dining plan that was the deciding factor for my family was that even if we came out dollar for dollar the same there is no flexibility. That 1000.00 is locked into food with the dining plan. Use it or lose it. My family did not like that. Free dining works out to be a better deal for us than a room discount but we will not pay for the dining plan.