Disney Dining Plan -- Are you really saving that much?

[catne]

Who are these people you speak of? The people who would not have dessert at lunch? I would always have dessert at lunch if I could. And since DH cannot take the sight of me whining and trying to choose between two desserts for a half hour, he can order the other one and I get to have my cake and eat it and then have his creme brulee and eat it too.

Clever, clever woman.

 

[goofy4tink]

The only time I have 'saved' money by using the DDP was when it was free and I was at POP...I saved about $250 for three of us for 4 days. Then, when I was solo and used the ddp over the course of a night and two days...that was worth it. But, if the whole family is going, it seldom works out cheaper. My dd at 15, is a light eater, so we lose money on her.
I have the TiW card....after using it for one trip, I have usually recouped the $75 cost of the card, so future trips are pure profit.
Every single trip I go on, I sit and figure what we are going to spend on food. I run figures using TiW and using ddp. If the ddp comes out less the $50 more, I will use it. But if it is more than that, vs TiW, I won't do it. Convenience is one thing but I find that I can't eat the way I want to on the ddp.

Yes, I am one who prefers appetizers to desserts. The Disney desserts, for the most part, don't get it done for me..especially counter service desserts. I would much rather be able to have an appetizer with dinner and forgo the dessert. But, that's not an option....obviously appetizers cost more to make than desserts.

Heading down again in August....will be using my TiW card. DDP would have cost me about $120 more than using the TiW card..way too big a difference for the sake of convenience.

 

[ExtinctDino]

It's saved me tons of money. But I've always had the free DDP.

If I had to pay for it, no, it would not save me any money at all. Even if they cut the price of it by 1/3 it still wouldn't save me any money. I have 10 and 11 year old kids who don't eat much.

 

[TY31088]

I understand that, but people make it sound like you save a ton of money, when in reality, you just get things for free that you would have never ordered without the dining plan. With that said, I would still take the dining plan over regular room charge.

We are doing the DDP in September since it will be free.

But I tend to agree with you, we spend less on meals then what they charge for the DDP. But we don't eat alot of TS, and we usually eat one time at Boston Lobster Feast by the Florida Mall.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Who are these people you speak of? The people who would not have dessert at lunch? I would always have dessert at lunch if I could. And since DH cannot take the sight of me whining and trying to choose between two desserts for a half hour, he can order the other one and I get to have my cake and eat it and then have his creme brulee and eat it too.

I also like my starters and desserts and as I go solo there isn't anyone to share food with. Mind you with some of the desserts it would be pistols at dawn before I shared them!!!!!!! I booked the free ddp with upgrade to deluxe but they came out with a deal that made staying at the GF with deluxe dining an option I could afford so I am doing that instead.

 

[bleeps]

We are a family of three, and DS is 11 so WDW charges him as an "adult." We used the "old" DDP and went with DxDDP once they made the changes.

We love using the dining plans for a number of reasons, and we do save $.

First, though, being able to pay off the entire trip (basically) ahead of time makes a big difference in our ability to relax and enjoy our vacations. Next, while we order what we want to eat and not just the most expensive items to 'maximize' our value, it is a huge psychological benefit to me to be able to look at a menu and get what I want, and not feel compelled to get the least expensive thing (which I tend to do under usual circumstances).

Being able to have an appetizer or dessert (or not -- we skip 'em if we're full) is a lovely perk that makes it feel like vacation.

And finally, being able to say 'sure!' when DS would like popcorn or a mickey premium bar or some other snack treat during the day (when, again, without the plan I'd be reluctant to do so) adds to our overall enjoyment.

 

[cbilton]

We used the DDP last week (first trip) and found it to be very convenient and loved using the snacks for those $3 drinks or $4 snack items! LOVED not having to shell out bucks everytime! (With the hot, hot, hot weather we were having to buy additional beverages through the days...)

The one thing we didn't like is the kids portions were incredibly small and the choice options were not always very good. That was disappointing.

 

[disneysuncat]

We did it back in 2007 when the tip and appetizer was still included. I felt BAD not leaving actual cash for the tips, so I tipped my usual 20% on top of it being included. I did enjoy it overall, really liked not thinking about the cost once I was there.

This year, I have a free dining code. We chose to stay at Pop this time, so the free dining is the quick service. I had upgraded to deluxe, then had selected all of my reservations, planned out approximate tips, etc. I got to thinking about it, and decided to downgrade back to the free quick service, and maybe do two or three table services out of pocket. This way we're not all tied down to reservations, plus it'll save me a ton of money.

Given my usual thought process though, I truly like the "all inclusive" factor to the dining plan.

 

[mrstamil]

I like to save money. I have spreadsheet after spreadsheet to analyze just how much things will cost. Two years ago we got the free dining with free appetizer, dessert and tip. It was too good a deal to pass up. By the end of the trip our food total for 2 adults and 1 child (9) came to the price of our package.

The Disney dining plan saved a lot of stress. Usually I am so neurotic about saving money that I couldn't possibly order what I REALLY want. My husband does, regardless of price, and it stresses me out! With the dining plan there was no stress and we ate like pigs! I never once passes down dessert.

Of course, after 3 days, I had to pack my NON-stretch shorts

The only complaint I had about the 2007 plan (and I believe it's the same for now) was the kid's menus. My son would MUCH prefer a steak over chicken fingers. He was SOOOO sick of kid food by the end of the trip. This year he's 11 and looking forward to the adult menu.

For this years trip I AGAIN pulled out the spreadsheets to analyze the saving with NOT having an appetizer and having to pay tip at the Table Service. It's still an incredible bargain. I'm sure I'll be calculating my savings when I'm there in August, but I KNOW it'll be a deal.

If I had to pay for the dining... I'm not sure. If you're happy with the quick service menu's, or skipping dessert, I don't think the savings would be that much. If you want to order anything under the sun... I'd probably go with it anyway. Even saving $30 a day would at least cover the tip.

 

[DIS-kc]

This summer will be our very first trip to the World. To give us all (includes two disney fanatic daughters -- DD9 and DD4) the disney-est meal experiences possible, we overloaded on the character meals. With four char-dinners - Akershus, CM, Play&Dine, and CP - the DDP figured to be a no-brainer.

Without Character meals, i think the DDP would not save that much. You're basically buying convenience or perhaps peace-of-mind, in that case, which is not necessarily good nor bad...

 

[rosiep]

I'm not sure the dining plan saves me money, but it does offer peace of mind. I like having most everything paid upfront.

I would even pay more for the plan if they would add the gratuity back in.

One of my favorite thing about staying on property is the RAC service...it makes ending the vacation that much more pleasant. I liken the DDP to that, it makes returning home easier, knowing that there won't be a huge CC bill awaiting me.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

 

[Tina G]

Just back from a week at Disney. We are a family of 3 with 2 adults and a 10 year old girl. We opted not to do the DDP mainly because DD was considered an adult but still eats children's portions. Here are our totals for food:

Price of the DDP for 3 adults for 7 days: $840
Actual cost of the food we bought for those same meals: $744

We had 10 table service meals plus the Spirit of Aloha show. I counted the 7 most expensive TS meals in my total. We had 6 QS meals so we would have wasted 4 QS credits. Even if we had used them, our total would still be less than $800.

The DDP is not always a savings. We are proof of it.

That being said, I really don't understand the argument that people get the plan because it is convenient. What could be more convenient than walking into a restaurant and ordering anything you want and then quickly paying for it with a credit card or room key? In our experience, the DDP was less convenient for people as they wasted time trying to figure out what they were allowed to have, what counts as a snack, etc. while we quickly picked out our items and paid for them. And for the argument of paying for the trip in advance, that doesn't seem like a good reason to possibly overpay for your meals. Wouldn't you rather hold onto your money a little while longer and get interest on it? I would really love to know how people feel getting the DDP is more convenient than paying OOP. If you are saving money, which many people do, then I'm all for it. But if you are using the excuse that getting the plan is more convenient even if you aren't saving money, that's a bad decision in my opinion.

Also, having character meals doesn't mean you are saving money with the DDP. Many of the character breakfasts are less than $20 per person so you are actually not saving money with the DDP at those prices. We had character meals at Chef Mickey's (dinner), Ohana (breakfast), and Crystal Palace (breakfast). We also had a breakfast at Kona Cafe that only cost about $12 per person so for a table-service meal on the DDP, that is a big waste of money.

I would just strongly advise people to look at the menus on allears.net and get an idea of the prices you may be paying. If your TS meals are not averaging at $25, then you probably won't save money on DDP.

 

[TheDWord]

Just got back ourselves and though at first glance it appeared we saved over $400, the "real" savings was less than $100. Click on my detailed analysis link in my sig for details.

 

[bubblycoconut]

That being said, I really don't understand the argument that people get the plan because it is convenient. What could be more convenient than walking into a restaurant and ordering anything you want and then quickly paying for it with a credit card or room key? In our experience, the DDP was less convenient for people as they wasted time trying to figure out what they were allowed to have, what counts as a snack, etc. while we quickly picked out our items and paid for them.

That is one of the reasons we opted not to do the dining plan on our next trip. To me it's easier not to worry about what's included and what's not.

We're going during the free dining period but felt we got a better deal with a room only discount. We had the dining plan on our first vacation and didn't feel the need to get it again. We thought we would really enjoy having a sit down meal everyday but we actually prefer to grab something quick and spend more time in the parks. We also prefer TS breakfast meals as opposed to TS dinner and we don't usually get very many, if any snacks while we are in the parks. At the end of our last trip we had a ton of snack credits left over that we ended up using at the grab and go place on our last day so they wouldn't be wasted. We also had leftover ts credits because we missed one of our meals since our DS wasn't feeling well one morning.

Now if we had ts dinner everynight and got a lot of snacks through out the day the dp would be a whole different story for us. For us it's just not the best option but I know other people can save a lot of money using it. I think it just depends on what you would normally eat.

 

[bleeps]

And for the argument of paying for the trip in advance, that doesn't seem like a good reason to possibly overpay for your meals. Wouldn't you rather hold onto your money a little while longer and get interest on it? I would really love to know how people feel getting the DDP is more convenient than paying OOP. If you are saving money, which many people do, then I'm all for it. But if you are using the excuse that getting the plan is more convenient even if you aren't saving money, that's a bad decision in my opinion.

Our DS, 10 on our last trip and 11 when we go in August, orders and eats adult meals; if he still preferred to eat off the kid menus, we'd lose money on the plan.

We have kept track of our meal expenses, too, and found that we've always come out ahead on the plan. I appreciate that's not true for everyone, but it is true for us.

So, my comments about the peace of mind of having the vacation paid off before we go, and the benefit for me personally of not stressing over price when I order, are benefits in addition to saving money.

Finally, since we get DxDDP, we've never had any confusion or time wasted over what was or wasn't included on the plan, and when/if we encounter something we'd like (a snack, typically, since we've never encountered a menu limitation) that's not on the plan, we just pay OOP; we still save $$ without feeling limited by the plan.

 

[Colleen27]

That being said, I really don't understand the argument that people get the plan because it is convenient. What could be more convenient than walking into a restaurant and ordering anything you want and then quickly paying for it with a credit card or room key? In our experience, the DDP was less convenient for people as they wasted time trying to figure out what they were allowed to have, what counts as a snack, etc. while we quickly picked out our items and paid for them. And for the argument of paying for the trip in advance, that doesn't seem like a good reason to possibly overpay for your meals. Wouldn't you rather hold onto your money a little while longer and get interest on it? I would really love to know how people feel getting the DDP is more convenient than paying OOP. If you are saving money, which many people do, then I'm all for it. But if you are using the excuse that getting the plan is more convenient even if you aren't saving money, that's a bad decision in my opinion.

The convenience aspect is just as individual as the savings aspect, I think.

For me, it is convenient to have the food budget set in advance. I'm the kind of person that would worry over prices even if I had a million dollars in my pocket, and the DDP (DxDDP for us) avoids that thought process entirely. That would make the plan worth it for me even if we merely broke even. I don't think the interest earned on the relatively small cost of the dining plan over the 45 day advance payment period is enough to fret over losing either.

I also think that the DIS is a skewed sample when it comes to knowing what is on the plan, because we're all here learning that before we travel. We go armed with a list, whether printed or mental, of snacks we want to use our credits on, and we don't need an explanation of the plan while we're down at Disney. I can see how the DDP could be inconvenient or confusing for the less informed visitor, especially if it is their first time on the plan or their first time since the changes.

Absolutely people should run the numbers for themselves, and I don't think anyone has said otherwise. But for many, it will work out that the DDP offers some savings and convenience over paying OOP.

 

[MelanieC]

We did it back in 2007 when the tip and appetizer was still included. I felt BAD not leaving actual cash for the tips, so I tipped my usual 20% on top of it being included. I did enjoy it overall, really liked not thinking about the cost once I was there.

This year, I have a free dining code. We chose to stay at Pop this time, so the free dining is the quick service. I had upgraded to deluxe, then had selected all of my reservations, planned out approximate tips, etc. I got to thinking about it, and decided to downgrade back to the free quick service, and maybe do two or three table services out of pocket. This way we're not all tied down to reservations, plus it'll save me a ton of money.

Given my usual thought process though, I truly like the "all inclusive" factor to the dining plan.

I'm confused. I'm staying at POP and my free dining plan has 1 TS meal pp and 1 CS meal pp and 1 snack per person.

Why does yours include the QSDP?

 

[Colleen27]

I'm confused. I'm staying at POP and my free dining plan has 1 TS meal pp and 1 CS meal pp and 1 snack per person.

Why does yours include the QSDP?

Certain offers have linked the type of free dining plan to the level of resort booked. The big annual free dining is the basic dining plan at all resorts, but the UK offer and a PIN code offer have been for the free quick service plan at value resorts.