Disney Dining Plan calculator - Amazing Tool!!!

[AngiTN]

This is my spreadsheet. Glad it worked for most of you. I was told over on Lines that this was posted here.

To answer a few questions:

You need Microsoft Excel. Whether it be for a PC or a Mac. I've used it successfully on both. OpenOffice and GoogleDocs don't correctly read all of the complex formulas.

It doesn't include Refillable Mugs. If you are still going to buy those, add the cost of however many mugs you plan to buy to your OOP and TiW costs to get apples to apples.

There is no option for peak season. If you go during what Disney considers "peak season" your costs will probably be 7-10% higher. Disney charges more that time of year. Way too much work to add that to the spreadsheet and would make it way more confusing.

I have heard from a lot of people that if you are trying to download or signup with Internet Explorer an it doesn't work, that Google Chrome or Safari or Firefox all work fine. Try one of those browsers.

Anything else, just ask and I will try to check this.

Wanted to take a moment to thank you for all the work that is involved in this. It's a great tool. As good as any short of sitting down with menus and a calculator and noting each and every item you plan to order. I especially like and will utilize the page that shows you which meals cost the most and which the least, so I know which to use for DP and which to pay OOP.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Thank you so much for making this tool!!!
My DH and I went Would run numbers until we were blue in the face!

And the best part b/c the reg. DDP was such a bad deal for us DH said I can ADD more TS...
So for our 10 day trip we are able to so 15 ( that's right 15) table meals!!

We are now saving over $400 by Paying OOP vs. DDP ( and that with the 15 TS)

It makes me sick at the thought of all the money we wasted on our last 3 trips...

 

[Mewissy]

Thank you for this!


We tried to calculate on our own and forgot about adding the meals the DP wouldn't cover.

 

[farah]

This may have been answered but is the refillable mug added to the calculation?

 

[loveswdw]

This may have been answered but is the refillable mug added to the calculation?

Mr. Smith, who designed it, said no, the mugs aren't in there so you will have to add them in to the end figures.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Thanks for sharing!!! This is awesome! I was really waffling back and forth on whether to do DDP or pay OOP. At first I thought I would do OOP but then when I looked at where I actually wanted to eat combined with the fact that I prefer dinner ADRs as well as TS every day, I thought that DDP might actually make sense - at worst I'd break even. Based on this calculator, there is a $4 savings with DDP. So basically it's a wash. Which means that I will, in fact, do DDP. I'm sure we'll use the mugs at least once and it's a good souvenier for us. I don't expect big savings, but I doubt there will be a "loss" for us.

 

[AstroDad]

Just wanted to echo how great and also how accurate this spreadsheet is. Prior to seeing this thread, I just went in and estimated Restaurant by Restaurant how much my family would spend OOP in order to compare that to the cost of the DDP.

This spreadsheet came with $60 of the same estimate as mine for a 6 night stay. Impressive.

 

[iheartjuppy]

Thanks so much for posting this! I was torn about the DDP but it calculated the same as I did: $695 for DDP (including the meals I'd need to pay OOP above and beyond the plan), $646 if just OOP. Considering my snack costs will likely be even less than the estimates, and I won't be ordering the most expensive thing on every menu, I expect our OOP may even be a little less than $646, so I'm definitely sticking with OOP. This was a great way to confirm.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Word to the wise, keep using this tool. I switched ONE reservation and now OOP is looking cheaper. If I switch TWO reservations, the difference looks like over $100. Am I really going to spend $12/day on snacks? If not, OOP can be even cheaper.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I just wanted to say thanks again for posting this link, and to bump up the thread for others trying to make the decision.

When I first found this thread, I played around with my initial dining wish list, and we came out ahead by paying OOP - somewhere around a $300 difference.

I have now made my ADRs and plugged in more realistic numbers, and we came out WAY ahead paying OOP - over $600. We are definitely not doing the DDP unless FD or a promotion comes out. At $55 a day times 5 "Disney adults" is just way more than we would spend over the course of a day. If appetizers and tips were included like the old days, it would make sense, but otherwise it's too restrictive. We like to order an appetizer or two to share and a dessert or two to share, or pick up something else for dessert elsewhere.

 

[Weapon30]

Did anyone else have a problem trying to log-in /sign-up? I tried to click that buttom and it shows that there in doing so.

 

[iheartjuppy]

If you are resort mug kind of people, it doesn't seem to take that into account in the calculations ($15/person). We wouldn't get any value out of the mugs so it doesn't sway our results but if you are a big mug-collector or -refiller you may want to add that to the DDP value.

 

[AngiTN]

Did anyone else have a problem trying to log-in /sign-up? I tried to click that buttom and it shows that there in doing so.

What browser? Some do not seem to work well with it. I can attest that Chrome, both PC and MAC, works great.

 

[NotThatKevinSmith]

I just wanted to say thanks again for posting this link, and to bump up the thread for others trying to make the decision.

When I first found this thread, I played around with my initial dining wish list, and we came out ahead by paying OOP - somewhere around a $300 difference.

I have now made my ADRs and plugged in more realistic numbers, and we came out WAY ahead paying OOP - over $600. We are definitely not doing the DDP unless FD or a promotion comes out. At $55 a day times 5 "Disney adults" is just way more than we would spend over the course of a day. If appetizers and tips were included like the old days, it would make sense, but otherwise it's too restrictive. We like to order an appetizer or two to share and a dessert or two to share, or pick up something else for dessert elsewhere.

Glad it helped you all!

 

[csmommy]

OK, I must not get it. We are going for 9 nights on the DDP plan. I have plugged all our counter service meals & table service meals (1 of each per person, per day) & it says under Estimated Regular Dining Plan Cost:

Dining Plan Cost: $2,001.24
Meals/Snack not covered: NA
Gratuities: $194.81
Dining Credits NOT used per person: 20 - how can this be?
Total Dining Cost: #NA

What am I doing wrong?!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

OK, I must not get it. We are going for 9 nights on the DDP plan. I have plugged all our counter service meals & table service meals (1 of each per person, per day) & it says under Estimated Regular Dining Plan Cost:

Dining Plan Cost: $2,001.24
Meals/Snack not covered: NA
Gratuities: $194.81
Dining Credits NOT used per person: 20 - how can this be?
Total Dining Cost: #NA

What am I doing wrong?!

Did you input how many snacks per day?

 

[csmommy]

Yes, I put in 1 per person per day.

Maybe I need to download it again.

 

[smrand]

This tool is wonderful! We put in all our information and the DxDP saved us money based on our reservations. It was great for figuring out an approximate amount of money we would need for tips. We put that money on gift cards and had a little left over for souvenirs. We used a Disney promotion and got a discount on the dining plan. It saved us several hundred dollars plus our meals were prepaid.

 

[Jessica14]

This is great! Not that we are going anytime soon (or are we......?), but it is fun to play! And I realize that if we were in AoA with the kitchenette, we would most likely be bringing snacks, breakfast, some lunches, and drinks. We'd be much more likely not to be ordering desserts, drinks, etc. A rough estimate shows that I could save $100. Without the plan and paying OOP for everything that comes with it, I would only save $10. I think the key is knowing exactly what you need/want and what you can and cannot live without.
Jessica

 

[disneymom88]

We are saving about $40 with DDP