Disney Dinning Plan or Not?

[stitchfan18]

I'm curious to hear if anyone has actually ever saved money by not doing the dining plan, but still eating at a TS and CS location each day. DH and I are still trying to decide what we want to do, and he insists we should just go without the dp. He still wants to eat a sit down meal each day and isn't a breakfast person though so it'd have to be a lunch or dinner.

 

[natale1980]

ah, never mind
I thought you were saying that $20 a day wasn't a big deal.

Plus, we tend to go overboard when we have a sit down meal (apps, drinks, glo-cubes, etc) so CS is going to eliminate the temptations for us

I would be one of the last people to say that $20 a day wasn't a big deal.
I always dream about having enough money to one day become one of them.

-nat

 

[Nicolepa]

I'm curious to hear if anyone has actually ever saved money by not doing the dining plan, but still eating at a TS and CS location each day. DH and I are still trying to decide what we want to do, and he insists we should just go without the dp. He still wants to eat a sit down meal each day and isn't a breakfast person though so it'd have to be a lunch or dinner.

If you are going to pay rack rate for your room and eat a TS every day then the DP is the way to go. The savings isn't in the food costs it's in the room. If you don't do the DP then you can use a code/discount for your room. If you are staying in a mod or deluxe that can save you a bundle. If you are staying in a value the savings isn't much and it's usually a better deal (or at least break even) to do the DP.

 

[pixarmom]

I'm curious to hear if anyone has actually ever saved money by not doing the dining plan, but still eating at a TS and CS location each day. DH and I are still trying to decide what we want to do, and he insists we should just go without the dp. He still wants to eat a sit down meal each day and isn't a breakfast person though so it'd have to be a lunch or dinner.

I think it depends where you go for TS, and what you order. We used the dining plan (when our kids were all 9 and under) for dinners Garden Grill, Ohana and Liberty Tree - it was a great deal! But if we went to Mama Melrose or some of the EPCOT restaurants and ordered from the menu, then it wasn't such a great value. I think it also depends on how much dessert you would normally order. For our trips, I plan out a sample meal itinerary based on what we would normally order (so for our family, I didn't include the desserts), and then compare it with the cost of the dining plan. If you don't mind mapping it out, that might help!

 

[mjkacmom]

We did the DDP. I'm a planner, and realized after booking my ADR's that it would be cheaper to add it, plus I had 4 kids under 10, so I could never feed them as cheaply OOP. We stayed in a 2 bedroom bcv, and ate breakfast in the villa, but my parents were on their own reservation, so we used some CS credits to feed them.

You will have to plan your park days around your ADR's.

 

[dalstitch45]

We are AP holders, and most of the time get a discount on the room-only portion of our trip. For our last trip, we did a spreadsheet to see if was worth the cost to add the DDP. For the two (2) of us, it was more expensive for the DDP. I priced it out again for our upcoming trip at the end of the month, and opted not to do the DDP. Plus, we always have a rental car, so that makes a difference.

We have TIW (Tables in Wonderland) and get 20% off the bill. There are more choices for TIW. We usually tip generously, so this was not a factor. We had an extended family vacation a couple of months ago, and the TIW card paid for itself at one (1) restaurant.

Adding the cost per person was far more expensive on the DDP. Plus, we do have a few places we like off-site, and they are not on either plan. For example, we do the Bluezoo, and the Gospel Brunch, and they are not on either plan. We are also big fans of Five Guys. This place is addicting for us.

If we had a larger party, the DDP might work. We also have a AAA Diamond Card, and other coupons from the tourist books that we use. Even the AP restaurant discounts help. For us, the savings were much better without the DDP. There are times when I go solo, and frequently I eat once a day. Sometimes, I get ice cream or a beverage outside of the parks. I would end up wasting a lot of credits. Figure it out with the DDP, and without it.

 

[JeffreyY]

We definitely saved $ by not being on the DDP. Three summers ago we went for 6 day at DVC not on plan and then 3 days with free Dining. We were 2 adults and two kids DD10 & DS14 who would have been charged as adults. I kept very careful records. The DDP would have cost us $160 a day. We spent between $115-$125 a day ate what we wanted (some stuff would not have been on the plan) and we ate at least 1 TS a day (one day we ate 2 TS but that day cost us $160). we were never hungry. On the three days on the DDP we definitely ate more food and spent more then the $160 it would have cost us but we were over full and could not have done it for more then 3 days. So we did save a significant amount of $ not on the DDP.

 

[mnrose]

I think it's a very individual decision, and there is definitely no single right answer. For us, I found the value lacking because the "value" in the plan depends on you actually eating the desserts with each meal. If you don't get dessert, then you can eat for the same or less money by buying meals out of pocket. I guess I come from the school of thought that eating dessert twice a day for the entirety of a Disney vacation is neither desireable or healthy.

Plus, for me, when we've used the DDP, our vacation tended to be focused on when our next ADR ws scheduled. While I'm a Disney, I really don't care about the food that much...food is necessary as fuel, but frankly, none of it is that "special" that I want my day centered around it. Perhaps I'm a food snob, but I find the food to be (at best) "decent," and by no means "great." I'd much rather spend my time touring Disney, not Disney's food. It's the rides and attractions that make Disney unique, and that's where I focus my time and attention.

When we go without the DDP, we eat offsite (same or better food for a fraction of the cost), grab something quick when it's convenient (rather than when we "must" stop for our ADR, or simply snack on items we bring in.

Just my opinion.

 

[baw]

We absolutely LOVE the dining plan. We've used it the last two years and now can't imagine going without. The CS portions are HUGE so my husband and I can generally share one CS for bfast and one for lunch and supplement throughout the day with snacks. Then we can either have a bigger TS for dinner or share again and save up credits for a character meal. It is really flexible and there is PLENTY of food. We have enjoyed some wonderful signature meals, and have discovered several Disney restaurants that we probably would not have tried it we hadn't bought the DP. Last year we went during free dining so that was even better, of course. It is really nice to plan TS meals in advance. Our big meal of the day would determine which park we were visiting that day, so we had a touring plan from the beginning of the trip. We're doing free dining next year (bounceback) and we already want to go back to some of our TS favorites and we want to try some new places, too. I work in the food/beverage industry and I have been consistently surprised by the high quality of the food at the World.

We our now 3 year old was able to just pick from our plates at TS meals (they are HUGE portions). Next year will be the first year she'll have her own plan, so that will be fun.