Disney Dining Plan vs. Paying out of Pocket

[mm1971]

OK....We have been for the last 7 years annually. 2 have been with the DDP and the others without, including the most recent. I agree with most that if you have to pay for the dining plan, you will most likely save by eating OOP and just eating what you want. I think the child/adult and free dining offers change things significant. Here is why:

We have 2 offers for our trip next year (booked bounce back and have a choice- 30% off mod, 35% off deluxe, or FD). I priced it out completely and if I stay in a moderate with 7 day tix (PH, WP&M) with the free dining, it will cost us approximately $700 less before factoring in the tips. I am guessing tips are about $300 for the week, leaving a savings of around $400 (this includes OOP for a few adult drinks and other choices).

We saved money eating OOP while the kids were under 10. Now that they are charged as adults, it changes things significantly. Our last trip we just finished, I totaled up the cost of food and it was higher than if I checked the menu's and chose as if we were on the DDP and calculated a similar cost. I would make sure to do the math and check to see what is the better value. If we were to stay at a Deluxe resort, it would save money to take the room discount and pay OOP. It really does depend on your personal choices, age of guests and how you eat. I found that now since my children are considered adults that the DDP may actually make sense when it is offered free. If not free dining, I have not been able to make it work where it was less than OOP.

Good luck making a final decision.

 

[Eddy]

On our next trip we are going to stay at several different resorts, we our going to have dinning plan on only part of our trip, and room only the rest of the time. Hopefully we can rent points and stay in 2 bedroom villa with a kitchen and pick up grocers. We will do a couple of character meals and the Hoop De Doo. The dinning plan is to much food to have every day for 10 days. The cost for the 7 of us is going to be $331 a night so the cost is to high for entire trip.

 

[jcemom]

I admit that I was a bit shocked to see that the dining plan saved us money. But I think the big reason it did was because we had quite a few character meals or other buffets. Since my girls will be 5 and 6 and this will be our first trip, I want to do quite a few of these.

Kids + buffets/character meals is pretty much always a really good combo for making the DDP worthwhile. They get "your money's worth" and then some out of just the one meal.

 

[gginaaxo0]

I've asked this question every time I go to Disney lol. I want the dining plan so bad for the convenience, but the math I've done and other people have done for me it always comes out to being more. I feel like for a family it would be nice, but it's only my fiancé and me. We usually eat quick service meals and have a couple sit downs. It's cheaper for us to pay out of pocket. I'm going to save my receipts this year when I go and really count up if it would've been worth it for us.

 

[MommyBryn]

This TIW thing....from the looks of it, those of us "everyday" folks can't get this, right? (you have to be an AP holder, FL resident or something else?)

We have always done the DDP and loved it...felt like it helped "make" the vacation, having it paid for ahead of time and being able to eat at TS restaraunts we wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford nightly. That said, the tipping on top of it was usualy a ridiculous amount (particularly in the places where we had very little or poor service), and it is usually a ton of food and if we don't eat it all it feels so wasteful. On that same note, though, with the size of the TS meals, we've always found that timing them just right keeps us full for most of the day! Then we have the freedom of eating our QS meals whenever, or having leftovers to get sandwiches and stuff for the flight home.

Now...the next time we go, though, we plan to just do the QS plan. We will pay OOP for one or two TS meals so the children can eat with some characters. Otherwise, it just seems so much simpler to do it this way. No worrying about reservations, no taking out chunks of our day for a meal, etc. Love the experiences and opportunities we've had with the bigger dining plans, but I think it'll just be nice to scale it down a bit the next time.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Now...the next time we go, though, we plan to just do the QS plan. We will pay OOP for one or two TS meals so the children can eat with some characters. Otherwise, it just seems so much simpler to do it this way. No worrying about reservations, no taking out chunks of our day for a meal, etc. Love the experiences and opportunities we've had with the bigger dining plans, but I think it'll just be nice to scale it down a bit the next time.

I think that's where we are now. We enjoyed using it (and it was free, so even better), but I don't feel now it would be worth paying for it. I think we would like more flexibility. Last trip there were a few times we would rather have stayed in the park longer, or stayed to watch a show, but had to get to an ADR.

For the OP, being a first trip with young kids who will enjoy a lot of Character meals, it would probably be worth it.

 

[lisaross]

so i get if you are not on the dining plan and go to a buffett the kids older than 10 must pay adult prices BUT what about a TS meal -- if my son is 13 but likes the dinner on the childs menu can he order that and pay that childs price?

 

[maxiesmom]

so i get if you are not on the dining plan and go to a buffett the kids older than 10 must pay adult prices BUT what about a TS meal -- if my son is 13 but likes the dinner on the childs menu can he order that and pay that childs price?

At most places, yes. There are a couple (like La Hacienda) that are strict and won't allow it for whatever reason.

 

[Bob NC]

Even people that use the plan admit that it's value is really close to paying OOP. The overriding + seems to be people like giving Disney their money in advance so they don't have to be 'bothered' with giving it to them later.

To make it worthwhile you are usually forcing yourself to find the most expensive menu options, even if that isn't what you want, just to make the plan 'worth it.' It's easy to browse the menus 3 months in advance and decide you want that leg of lamb for lunch, but when you just spent 4 hours in 90 degree heat and 75% humidity, you might find your appetite may be a little different than planned.

What happens if you, maybe just for one day, don't feel like eating much, or you just don't feel well? Just skipping, or eating very light, for one or two meals puts you under the 'got my moneys worth' level.

 

[luvmy3]

so i get if you are not on the dining plan and go to a buffett the kids older than 10 must pay adult prices BUT what about a TS meal -- if my son is 13 but likes the dinner on the childs menu can he order that and pay that childs price?

My ds 12 ordered off the kids menu a few times and at BOG his meal price was adjusted so he paid a little more than the kids meal price, but they did bring him a larger portion than the kid's one.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

so i get if you are not on the dining plan and go to a buffett the kids older than 10 must pay adult prices BUT what about a TS meal -- if my son is 13 but likes the dinner on the childs menu can he order that and pay that childs price?

Just one note, 10 and up is considered a adult whether or not the child is on the dining plan. That child would have to pay for the adult meal plan on the Dining plan.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[maxiesmom]

To make it worthwhile you are usually forcing yourself to find the most expensive menu options, even if that isn't what you want, just to make the plan 'worth it.' It's easy to browse the menus 3 months in advance and decide you want that leg of lamb for lunch, but when you just spent 4 hours in 90 degree heat and 75% humidity, you might find your appetite may be a little different than planned.

What happens if you, maybe just for one day, don't feel like eating much, or you just don't feel well? Just skipping, or eating very light, for one or two meals puts you under the 'got my moneys worth' level.

I don't think you can say that other people have to force themselves to eat the most expensive menu choices in order to make the plan work for them. Maybe they are doing a few character meals. Maybe they really love steak and seafood. Any of those things will make having the dining plan worth it.

As far as what ifs go, so??? What if someone didn't get the plan, and then was bummed because they really liked steak, but now couldn't afford it? What if they really wanted desserts, but didn't want to pay out of pocket for them? You can play what if for many things. We each have to decide for ourselves what works, as we all know our own family the best.

 

[lisaross]

That is the main reason i am thinking of NOT getting the ddp the next time we go - my son is a horrible eater, and it would just be a waste being he'll probably just eat pizza, chicken fingers, hot dogs

Just one note, 10 and up is considered a adult whether or not the child is on the dining plan. That child would have to pay for the adult meal plan on the Dining plan.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Disfanx4]

I came out a little under, but I liked the convenience of having the plan paid for before I went on my vacation. You still have to pay out of pocket for tips.

Using gift cards gives you the same feeling!

 

[Nana2Callie]

Found the thread when getting ready to post similar question - we are a party of 20 and was looking at QS dining plan mainly for the convience - however, the $'s just doesn't add up for us. We have several adult "kids" over 10 and that makes dining $4000 for us for 5 nights. Surely, we can eat cheaper OOP.

 

[luvmy3]

That is the main reason i am thinking of NOT getting the ddp the next time we go - my son is a horrible eater, and it would just be a waste being he'll probably just eat pizza, chicken fingers, hot dogs

This is one of the reasons we don't do the DDP. My 12 year old is picky and eats like a bird. There is no way he would eat $50+ amount of food in one day. Truth is none of us adults would on a daily basis. I think the only time any of us came close was the night we had dinner at BOG, only dh cleared over $50 that day.

 

[wendow]

What happens if you, maybe just for one day, don't feel like eating much, or you just don't feel well? Just skipping, or eating very light, for one or two meals puts you under the 'got my moneys worth' level.

This is exactly what happened to us when we were there last year. We took dh's parents too. And my MIL had a few evenings that she was just too tired from being at the park and just wanted to grab a salad and go back to her room. One night she just wanted yogurt and a bowl of cereal. She was tired and wasn't all that hungry. We were there with our 4 kids, youngest was 17 mos, so he was fried a few evenings. Grabbing something from CS and taking it back to the room worked better for us. And none of us ever felt like eating big portions. Guess it was the heat.

 

[angierae]

We got free dining last trip (and at $150/day for three adults, no room discount could touch it) but for our upcoming three day trip, we are eating OOP and significantly saving over DDP. But we're only eating two TS, and one is lunch and one is breakfast.

 

[Goldilocks07]

This is really key and the only way you can decide is like others mentioned and actually go through menus and add up the cost for a sample meal for your family. I did that prior to our trip last September and knew the DDP would not be a savings for us.

I saved every receipt from last year's trip and every bit of food we purchased including food at the airport, added it all up and we saved about $600 over what the DDP would have cost us. And that wouldn't even have been everything like airport meals and tips. The reason we saved is I have one Disney "adult" who eats like a bird and prefers a kid's meal, my other dd and I occasionally shared a meal, sometimes I wanted an appetizer rather than an entree, we rarely order anything to drink but water and we aren't much on desserts. We brought snacks in and once or twice snacked our way through lunch and topped it off with a Mickey bar. We were never hungry and always ordered exactly as we wanted. We just don't fit the mold of who the DDP is designed for. So, like others have said, it just depends on how you eat.

Yep. This is exactly us (above) and totally the point I was trying to get across. We bring snacks and (often) bottles of water or drinks with us to the parks.
Like I said, it depends on how/what you eat. Just pick three restaurants you would go to in one day (or 2 restaurants, really) and pick what you would eat and do the math. It's a pain, but it could be worth it? Just not for us.

 

[Disneylvr]

We were big believers of the dining plan, mostly for convenience, until DD turned 10 this year and we paid adult price for her. She still has a child size appetite and a lot of food was wasted or the meal she chose wasn't worth the price of the plan. Sure we will take free dining if it is offered when we go but no more paying for the plan for awhile.