Disney Dining Plan Calculator Planning Tool

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

This is a great tool, thank you!!!

For the first time ever we are planning on going without the DDP (and we have been many, many times and tried every dining plan - QS, DDP and DlxDP) and it was kind of making me nervous....I don't eat much but my DH and kiddos (10 & 12) want to eat a few table service meals at their usual picks like Ohana's and Donald's safari breakfast plus trying out BOG. I'd be just as happy having a pineapple dole whip float for lunch Using the calculator, we will definitely come out significantly ahead going OOP 8/25-8/31 - I feel much more confident in our choice to throw caution to the wind LOL

Dining Costs
Using No Plan
$1382.32
Using Quick Service Dining Plan
$1917.06 (Additional Cost: $534.74)
Using Dining Plan
$1751.08 (Additional Cost: $368.76)
Using Deluxe Dining Plan
$2649.53 (Additional Cost: $1267.21)

 

[pixiedustmomma]

With a dining plan you can use entitlements until midnight of your checkout day. If you are checking out on the 18th of July you have until 11:59pm on the 18th to use dining plan credits.

We initially had the number of days listed matching the number of nights so you saw exactly how many entitlements you could use - basically cutting off the departure date. However, we realized we had to include both the arrival date and the departure date as there were 3 possible scenarios when traveling.

- A family gets to WDW at 8:00am on their arrival date and leaves at 8:00am on their departure date. We had to include the arrival date in the list. For this scenario they would probably need 3 meals on their arrival date and 0 on their departure date.

- A family gets to WDW at 10:00pm on the their arrival date and leaves at 9:00pm on their departure date. We had to include the departure date in the list. For this scenario they would probably need 0 meals on their arrival date and 3 meals on their departure date.

- A family arrives at WDW at 4:00pm on their arrival date and leaves at 4:00pm on their departure date. We had to include the arrival date and the departure date in the list. For this scenario they would probably need dinner on their arrival date and breakfast and lunch on their departure date.

Based on the above scenarios, paired with a family being able to use their credits until midnight on the checkout date, we had to include both the arrival date and departure date. Note that even though we include 1 more "day" in the list, we do track the exact number of entitlements based on the number of nights in your stay - which are listed in the overview of each dining plan.

We discussed putting in arrival and departure times based on a general timeframe for meals but didn't want to assume eating times, especially for our international users who may be out-of-sorts due to many time zone changes. Someone coming from England may want to eat their "dinner" an noon Orlando time and not eat anything the rest of the day.

I hope that helps.

GoHerdIBG

You only get entitlements per night of stay.

"Included are 3 meals and 2 snacks per person, per night of your package stay". This is the what it says on the website and also what guest services say.

When I put in my length of stay (check in - check out) it gave me more credits than I would have really received. That is where the calculator is not working correctly. It told me I was not using all my meals when I actually did. When I took out my departure day it all added up.

Regardless, we still saved money.

 

[goherdibg]

You only get entitlements per night of stay.

"Included are 3 meals and 2 snacks per person, per night of your package stay". This is the what it says on the website and also what guest services say.

When I put in my length of stay (check in - check out) it gave me more credits than I would have really received. That is where the calculator is not working correctly. It told me I was not using all my meals when I actually did. When I took out my departure day it all added up.

I assume you are referring to the Deluxe Plan. If I put in a trip of 3 nights for 1 person, I end up with 9 entitlements on the Deluxe Plan and 2 snack entitlements per day paid for using the plan - which is correct.

Please be sure to not look at the number of days listed as the number of entitlements.

If you can, please go to the site and enter your information where it is showing an incorrect number of entitlements and use the Feedback link at the bottom and drop us a note. The feedback sent will include your selections so I can enter them to determine if we have an issue with the site.

Thanks again.

 

[Disneymommyof4]

This calculator was awesome..thanks so much !! For my family the DDP was just 47.00 more (that's the regular dining plan). So for that price, I think I'll keep the DDP. It's worth that just for the convinence of it

 

[goherdibg]

We just released another minor update to the Dining Plan Calculator where we added 2 features.

We now show you when you can make your 180 day ADR's based on your arrival date. We also added an "Average QS" restaurant to the breakfast, lunch, and dinner QS groups named Average Breakfast QS, Average Lunch QS, and Average Dinner QS, respectively. This will allow you to be more flexible and not be required to choose a specific QS restaurant but still keep an average price range for your QS choices.

 

[goherdibg]

Our most recent release now includes the options of adding refillable mugs to your planning and also includes Candlelight Processional packages.

Enjoy,
GoHerdIBG

 

[Robbi]

Thanks so much for this outstanding planning tool! I just recommended it to a friend planning a family trip next April.

 

[mmkenn]

Hi,

Great tool!!! Thanks for taking so much time setting this up!!! I just worked our numbers to determine whether a Room Only discount or Free Dining would be better for us.

For future updates, perhaps an option to add in alcohol drinks (maybe per day for the adult guests). We typically have 1-2 beer or wine with dinner on some nights and would like to add in that cost if possible.

However, still an awesome tool without this option!!!!

Thanks!!

 

[JimmyV]

For future updates, perhaps an option to add in alcohol drinks (maybe per day for the adult guests). We typically have 1-2 beer or wine with dinner on some nights and would like to add in that cost if possible.


Thanks!!

Alcohol isn't included in the DP, so your beer and wine purchases are going to be a "wash" balancing out on both sides of the DP vs. OOP comparison. If a glass of wine costs $8, that amount (plus tax and tip) is going to be added to your cost either way and as a result, trying to factor them into the calculator would unnecessarily complicate things without adding a positive benefit.

 

[theburkes]

Great tool! Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

[cwehrstedt]

Just popped back, and you updated the tool with the mugs! Awesome. Thanks

 

[rickers353]

I have been a member of the DISBoards forums for nearly 2 years. Over the years, I have made multiple trips to Disney World and have always struggled with the question "Should I use the Disney Dining Plan?" From reading this forum (and others), it is obvious I am not the only one who asks this question before every trip.

In the past, to help me with the decision I built documents and spreadsheets of overly complex calculations based on the people who were traveling with me. I also posted on forums asking for advice and pretty much ended up with a similar answer each time - "It depends". While there are many factors that go into the decision to use the dining plan or not, it appears most members are concerned with one main factor - cost. Cost was always my main factor when deciding whether or not I should use the dining plan.

To help me with the decision for future trips and to help others with the same decision I have worked with a friend to put together a web site called the "Disney Dining Plan Calculator" that uses estimated meal costs along with some trip information to determine if a Disney Dining Plan is financially beneficial.

The site is easy to use, free to access, does not require you to create an account, and does not require any personal information.

The address for the web site is http://www.distripplanner.com

Feel free to visit the site and let us know what you think. This is the initial release of the Dining Plan Calculator. In the future, we plan on also providing a list of restaurants with full menus to allow you to choose what you think you would eat to provide a more exact price comparison in addition to the current estimation method.

If you have any questions about the site or have any exciting recommendations for future enhancements please provide us with feedback on the site.

I was going to post this under the Dining Plan sub-forum but thought it was better discussed at this level since it deals with the planning process of trips to Disney.

Thank you,
GoHerdIBG

Love it, I work with and make spreadsheets all the time for my work. I would like to make a few suggestions it would be a little time consuming, but it would greatly improve it.

First suggestion would be to add a filter to pick the resort or theme park so only those restaraunts show. IE somone wants to eat at DD for lunch, chef mickey would not be an option.


With so many choices it is tough to keep track of which place is at which park and which credit is being used.

As far as doing it menu item driven for each place.....yeah good luck on entering all that data, VERY TIME consuming initially. I would try to make separate worksheets and get as many freinds, family etc to enter menus for you as possible to save time. You can always just add them to the workbook as they are completed.

Don't get me wrong, you still have done a great job on this !!

 

[minuet]

What a great tool! I loved seeing the instant figures come up and how it keeps track of the credits for you.

Could have some playing around with different options.

 

[Saralyn]

Just thought I'd let you know I shared your tool on another thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49128559&postcount=19

 

[Overexcited]

Should make a app for it!

 

[goherdibg]

Just thought I'd let you know I shared your tool on another thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49128559&postcount=19

Thanks. I didn't want to upset the mods by posting the link to multiple threads or subforums - but assume it is ok if other do

Thanks again.

 

[goherdibg]

Should make a app for it!

It's on our list. We wanted to flesh out the tool more with additional planning options and use that as our starting point for an iPhone/iPad/Andriod app.

 

[shana398]

Hi! I really like your dining tool! Very helpful. The only issue that I am having is your tool is showing Trails End at Fort Wilderness as a Quick Service meal. I believe it is a Table Service. I checked Disney's website and it shows table service there. Just a small correction that I think needs to be changed. Thank you!

 

[mommyrosa2]

This is a great tool but it's not calculating the TS credits accurately for me. I put in my choices for a 7 night stay and using 7 TS credits total and it's telling me that I still have 4 TS credits left . It calculated my CS credits correctly though.

 

[goherdibg]

Hi! I really like your dining tool! Very helpful. The only issue that I am having is your tool is showing Trails End at Fort Wilderness as a Quick Service meal. I believe it is a Table Service. I checked Disney's website and it shows table service there. Just a small correction that I think needs to be changed. Thank you!

Thanks for catching that. It is a typo in our list. We will correct and roll out a fix.