Disney Dinning Plan worth the cost?

[J&J]

IS disney dinning plan worth the cost?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

How do you define "worth?"

It really depends on several factors:

• How you eat/eating style
• How much you eat
• How much time you like to eat
• How much time you want to plan your eating
• Where you will eat
• The ages of your group members
• Your originating currency

 

[Karau614]

For what it's worth I've gone back and forth and calculated a lot of times with both the regular and deluxe dining plan. Unless I was doing at least 1 signature a day (which we were) and ordering on the expensive side it was basically breaking even unless we had 2-3 ts meals a day with maybe saving a couple hundred bucks by forcing me to eat an appetizer, dessert, and entree at each meal. The regular dining plan and quick service made no sense for us. As said though it really depends on your personal trip and dining reservations. Look at menus and calculate what you would order. In the end you won't save much, it's more of a convenience feature.

So in the end I have gone back to paying out of pocket. Not worth the chance at saving a couple hundred bucks. Never know how hungry we will be at every meal and want some wiggle room.

 

[Vijoge]

We spent $1000 for the five of us for 7 days, which included three sit down meals (1900 Pare Fare, Crystal Palace, and Sanaa) with 25% tips (DH was feeling generous lol). We did take breakfast items with us, but for the most part the kids just grazed-a chicken nugget here, an apple or banana or grapes there. . .

 

[Hopefully]

Only you can determine that by doing an assessment. It is different for every family. For us, for years we saved a bit.
Review the menus and honesty price what you would actually order. Do the math. Compare against the cost of the DDP.

 

[mousehockey37]

How do you define "worth?"

It really depends on several factors:

• How you eat/eating style
• How much you eat
• How much time you like to eat
• How much time you want to plan your eating
• Where you will eat
• The ages of your group members
• Your originating currency

Totally this ^^^^^^^^^^^^

What makes sense for a large family doesn't necessarily make sense for a couple or a solo traveler...

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I estimated we're saving over $600 in a 14 night trip. 3 disney adults and 2 disney children. This is the result of using most of the credits on character meals.

 

[DISNEY1975]

For the convenience, its worth it to me, but Ive never actually done the math. For our trip next month, my daughters math teacher, a Disney fan herself, has given this exact assignment to my daughter to do on the trip. Ughhh. I guess Im going to have to see if Im actually winning, losing, or breaking even! April 4th we will have the results

 

[North of Mouse]

IS disney dinning plan worth the cost?

So very subjective! No, it's not 'worth' it to us. We don't eat desserts with our meals, nor do we drink many sodas. We eat what we want, when we want, and save very much vs. the DDP. I think it's the 'convenience' of prepaying that makes it's 'worth' to lots of people - to each their own! $$ wise, it's not worth it in most cases, unless you do mostly character meals.

 

[pinkfairy1684]

So very subjective! No, it's not 'worth' it to us. We don't eat desserts with our meals, nor do we drink many sodas. We eat what we want, when we want, and save very much vs. the DDP. I think it's the 'convenience' of prepaying that makes it's 'worth' to lots of people - to each their own! $$ wise, it's not worth it in most cases, unless you do mostly character meals.

^^^This!!

I've gone back and forth (and have done both). While we may all split a dessert at dinner, we certainly don't each order one at every meal. Also, I would rather pay oop and get what I want to eat as opposed to ordering the most expensive item on the menu to ensure that I get my money's worth (if that makes sense). Now, if adult beverages were included with the dining plan...that would be another story!

 

[Cinderella94]

I made an Excel spreadsheet. The cost of the plan each day in one column. Going down the other columns were how much money I think each of us would spend on a TS meal, QS meal, and a snack each day. This involved looking at the menus and guessing what we might order. Looking at the two numbers side by side are really the only way to determine if you're saving or losing money.

 

[monique5]

How do you define "worth?"

It really depends on several factors:

• How you eat/eating style
• How much you eat
• How much time you like to eat
• How much time you want to plan your eating
• Where you will eat
• The ages of your group members
• Your originating currency

Totally this ^^^^^^^^^^^^

What makes sense for a large family doesn't necessarily make sense for a couple or a solo traveler...

So true^^^^^^^
DH thinks it worth it just to pay in advance and for TS meals, he's not a fan of CS. His rationale, if on vacation, eat/enjoy like vacation and not what you would normally eat at home, on the go, or what you could get at home.

Me - I saved receipts for 2 trip and did the math. For us we came out ahead, so tips balanced out. We do mostly character meals, dinner shows and a few signature restaurants (if longer stay). Also, eating CS is not always quicker than TS. Just my 2 cents. DD really has outgrown the princesses this past year, but we still eat at Akershus on every trip.

 

[Lisa F]

For the regular DDP, the only way you can make out moneywise is if you have disney kids and do a lot of buffets - there are two ways you come out ahead: one is that the entire cost of the plan is almost (or entirely) realized in one character meal so basically their CS and snacks are "free"... and the second way is that you can order adult QS with kid QS credits (technically they don't divide between adult and kid). It is very very hard IMO for adults to break even on the plan so without kids and lots of character meals, it's not worth it.

For the DxDDP the value per credit is nearly 30% lower but you also get an app, so it is really really easy to make out like a bandit on that plan... but it is a lot of food. IMO the smartest way to utilize it is to eat character breakfast and then a signature dinner a day. 3 meals a day is WAY too much (for me and many but not all) but 2 is doable by most... but you may or may not really be interested in 3 courses... if you're not then you are spending the money just because.

The emotional aspect, I don't get it. Money is money - it doesn't feel good to me to overpay just to do it in advance. But that is a personal call, obviously others feel differently.

 

[caliope]

^^^This!!

I've gone back and forth (and have done both). While we may all split a dessert at dinner, we certainly don't each order one at every meal. Also, I would rather pay oop and get what I want to eat as opposed to ordering the most expensive item on the menu to ensure that I get my money's worth (if that makes sense). Now, if adult beverages were included with the dining plan...that would be another story!

Ditto this...we don't eat dessert either (we may order one dessert to share on the entire trip; definitely not one per person per TS meal), nor do we drink soda. We sometimes make meals of multiple appetizers. No way would the dining plan be worth it for us, especially with tips and alcohol not included. All who have advised considering how a family eats and what makes sense for them in determining "worth" are right on the money.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

It will save you money if you eat a lot of character meals or buffets OR order the most expensive thing on the menu at your TS meals (and don't use credits at places like Beaches & Cream or The Plaza) but it probably doesn't result in cost savings for most people. The regular plan is now $69.35 for an adult, meaning a table service credit is "worth" between $37-40 (I haven't seen the exact number since the recent price increase). You can certainly spend that much at a table service restaurant, but at the same time some table service restaurants are less than $30. And I don't like desserts, so that makes the value less for me. All that said, my wife and kids prefer the DP so we've used it last few trips.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you are going to need to make reservations for many of the most popular restaurants well in advance of your trip date, which means you have less flexibility on your actual trip or will need to do a lot of planning. I had a friend a number of years ago who went to Disney for the first time and made ADRs like they need to but didn't realize how spread out everything was so they spent a lot more time than they wanted traveling from place to place for their meals.

And as others have mentioned, I think people forget the tip issue. A family of 4 will probably have to plan on over $200 in tips if they spend a week at Disney eating table service meals.

 

[Minsc]

We take it when it's free, but not otherwise. It does not fit how we eat. Like a nerd, I spreadsheet out the numbers almost every year, but it's never worked out for us.

 

[mindeola]

For the convenience, its worth it to me, but Ive never actually done the math. For our trip next month, my daughters math teacher, a Disney fan herself, has given this exact assignment to my daughter to do on the trip. Ughhh. I guess Im going to have to see if Im actually winning, losing, or breaking even! April 4th we will have the results

Make sure you compare how you would have eaten to what you got on the DDP for a true comparison. If you do not get soda or dessert normally, do not factor it in.

 

[Lisa F]

We take it when it's free, but not otherwise. It does not fit how we eat. Like a nerd, I spreadsheet out the numbers almost every year, but it's never worked out for us.

yeah free is a whole other ball of wax because you have to compare the value of the plan to the value of other available discounts. Sometimes you can make out like a bandit, sometimes it is just better to have that extra cash in your pocket to eat as you choose.

I think with prices as they are you have to work it too much to just break even if you are an adult. With kids it's different though.

 

[mindeola]

For my family , the DP is no longer "worth" it financially. Last May, we took our 19,20 and 22 year olds. So, five adults. I put no restrictions on ordering and we saved right at $500 by paying OOP over the dining plan. Only one of us drinks soda, none of us like a dessert at a meal . We would rather have something sweet later on. One of the kids is picky and would often rather have an appetizer. We ate at yak and Yeti, Ohana Dinner, CP breakfast, Raglan Road, and Sci Fi Diner. We all had two snacks a day and a QS a day.

 

[Lisa F]

Make sure you compare how you would have eaten to what you got on the DDP for a true comparison. If you do not get soda or dessert normally, do not factor it in.

this is where the emotional and fuzzy side comes in. There are a lot of people who would drink water if they had to pay $3.29 for a soda but who would happily have a soda and enjoy the heck out of it on vacation if it was included in a prepaid deal. I am not like that, I will order it or not depending on how I feel so to me it makes no sense to prepay UNLESS it is a good value independently. At home I am like that and NEVER order beverages but on vacation I treat myself. But for people who can't get past how difficult it is to treat themselves even on vacation, it's a useful tool to feel indulged. So I get it totally because I am like that at home all the time... but I am not like that on vacation and I'd rather just do the less expensive thing in the big picture.

Of course I ended up saving a HUGE amount of money on the DxDDP last time but will probably just pay OOP next time.