Disney Dining Plan No Brainer IF My Math is Correct

[ArRzrbk]

At the very last second, I added the Deluxe Dining Plan to the first half of our stay. I am about to decide about the last two nights (we had to do a split stay at AKV and BCV due to lack of availablity). Anyway...

Unless my math is incorrect, the Deluxe Dining Plan is a no brainer, if you are going to do at least two expensive buffets or expensive restaurants a day. Even if you do not eat the third table service meal during that day, you are better off. Correct?

I read that the buffets at Boma, Ohana, and Cape May are around $39.99 per adult and $15.99 per child. So...Each buffet will run you (without tax) around $111.00. If you do that twice during the day you are already over the cost of the Deluxe Dining Plan, if your children are young.

The Deluxe Dining Plan is going to cost us Well, the Deluxe Dining Plan is $203.96 per day for the four of us. That is a crazy good deal. We cover the cost of the two buffet/expensive restaurant meals and basically get two snacks for each of us and another Table Service meal for free. No brainer...if my math is correct.

In years to come, as the children get older, we won't do so many character meals, and we may find we don't like the plan of eating a big breakfast each day, but for now, I think we're making a good choice.

 

[havoc315]

Your math is basically correct for dinner buffets -- but you can't eat 2 dinner buffets in the same day. Breakfast buffets are much cheaper. (all 3 that you mentioned, are under $30 for breakfast. Ohana is about $21 per adult). And truthfully, its hard for me to imagine doing 2 buffets in 1 day.

The deluxe plan can be an excellent value. But breaking even, requires using approximately 75% of your credits for TS meals. And that's the break even point, not the real savings point.

 

[newdeal]

The majority of people wouldnt sit down for three meals a day at disney since each one can take over an hour easily. This makes many people do a breakfast buffet, a lunch and dinner some days and just a signature dinner other days. Breakfasts and lunches are cheaper then dinners and using two credits on a signature is generally less "value" than two single credit dinners. Question is how much time do you want to spend eating vs in the parks. I wouldnt do deluxe with kids on a bet but maybe for an adult only trip

 

[havoc315]

Actually, I do deluxe with kids, and it works well.

On the regular ddp, signatures are not a great value. But under the deluxe plan, a signature is a better use of credits than breakfast plus dinner. (signature may be easily 70-- compared to $20 breakfast and $40 dinner).

So we do a 1 credit late breakfast or early lunch (usually early lunch), and then do a 2-credit dinner. We only plan on 1 true buffet (lunch at CP).

 

[MicRac]

We do deluxe with two kids and find that it gives them some rest through the day as we are sitting and eating and they are less fussy later in the day. I like the deluxe cause it provides the best options for our family. We have early breakfast, late lunch and then a late dinner with a nap some where in between.

 

[ArRzrbk]

Ah... You all are right. I hadn't factored in that the breakfast buffets are cheaper. I think we still will do OK on the Deluxe Plan, because our children will indeed need a break. They are always hungry, and for us, we are using the table service restaurants as part of our entertainment.

This year will be a learning year for us. I am going to hold off on adding the additional Dining Plan to our last two nights, until I can crunch some additional numbers. Thanks everyone for you input and suggestions.

 

[Colleen27]

The majority of people wouldnt sit down for three meals a day at disney since each one can take over an hour easily. This makes many people do a breakfast buffet, a lunch and dinner some days and just a signature dinner other days. Breakfasts and lunches are cheaper then dinners and using two credits on a signature is generally less "value" than two single credit dinners. Question is how much time do you want to spend eating vs in the parks. I wouldnt do deluxe with kids on a bet but maybe for an adult only trip

We do deluxe with kids and it works beautifully... I wouldn't do the basic plan with kids, because I don't want to choose between the character and themed dining they want and the better food that I want - with the deluxe plan we can do a couple character meals, a couple novelty meals like Sci-Fi or Ohana, and still have dinners chosen for the food rather than the extras.

Signature dining is a terrible value on the basic plan but on the deluxe plan the math works out a little differently. Signatures are less value per credit than most 1 credit dinners, but a better value than many lunches and all breakfasts. Conversely, character dining and other fixed-price experiences are a great value on the basic plan but not necessarily the best use (cost-value wise) of the deluxe plan because three courses at an ala carte restaurant often add up to more than that $40 character buffet price tag.

 

[4butlers]

Your math is correct. We went with FD and upgraded to deluxe. We pretty much covered the cost within the first 2 days. We didn't even end up using all of our credits and we still feel like we got our money's worth. We loved being able to order just about anything we wanted. When else could my DD10, DH and I all order a $30.00 filet mignon each??