Disney Dinning Plan worth the cost?

[Tina1]

If you plan on the expensive meals, like character dinning. Absolutely will you save $$$. Now that the grand child is older and we don't do as many character meals I purchase gift cards. Just purchased $1,500 for our next trip (this was less $ then the dinning plan). Saved a little bit of $ purchasing them from Sams club. We did this test last year, with the gift cards and everyone loved it. If the dinning plan was free then I'd be on board, but loved the freedom of just using the cards for everything. We were about $100 short at the end, but everyone enjoyed more mimosa's and margarita's then usual. Not worrying about the cost of the drinks was wonderful.

 

[persimmondeb]

We probably don't actually save money on the DDP (particularly compared to the cranky mommy dining plan which involves a lot of QS kid's meals, and lunch in a cooler in the car that takes nearly an hour to retrieve, plus all the yelling because the entire family is hungry and out of sorts). However, I have never not broken even or better and without wastage. One of it's chief virtues is that it let's us order like we are on vacation, because what we'll pay for and what we'll happily eat are not the same thing. So for us, it's absolutely worth it.

 

[KT0191]

I've never nor will I ever pay for the DDP. I'll only get it when it's "free". I always have so many snack credits left over and a few quick service meals left over so I come back with TONS of snacks lol. I still eat at character meals, eat at a TS and QS every day, order that expensive steak, etc. I don't like dessert which alone brings the value of the plan down for me. I can't bring myself to spend more money for the plan just so I can order freely when I really do that anyway. (I know many people can't bring themselves to do that but I, personally, have no problem doing that on vacation .) I buy discounted gift cards (again, saving more for doing that), calculate the cost of the DDP and save that much to use on food. I've always had quite a bit of money left over.

 

[bsj1701]

It's not as clear cut as it used to be. When it first started (tip included, etc.) I would say yes. Each year prices go up and some things have been taken away since it first started. In general I would say no, but your mileage may vary! I'm not sure why anyone thinks the new quick service pricing is a deal. I know many purchase it not for the deal, but for some sort of perceived convenience, so that may be a factor as well.

 

[nkereina]

It's not explicitly meant to be a savings on food. You do pay for all elements of the dining plan - dessert, non-alcoholic beverage, etc. That said, some people can come out ahead on it if they truly would order those things and/or they are ordering expensive entrees, etc. For many of us, myself included, we like the dining plan just because we're prepaying for it as part of our vacation package. It makes it feel more all inclusive, and when we travel, it's one less thing to budget for and worry about. It's already paid for. Even if I may not come out ahead, the convenience of it is added value so I chalk it up to that.

Also keep in mind that gratuity is not included. If you're getting dessert and soda just because it's part of your dining plan entitlement, they will be on your bill and you are still expected to tip 15-20% on the bill's total.

 

[mcurran]

I think most agree it's not necessarily a savings so much as a convenience. I for one enjoy it for the simple fact that on vacation I don't need to look at the prices for the MOST part.

We have only a couple rules to stretch out our qs meals. We will never use a qs on an uncrustables meal since they are so cheap. Also we will use a qs on an adult chicken nugget meal and have kids split vs buy 2 kids meals.

 

[sharonabe]

are you still able to exchange the desert for a soup or salad at the table service restaurants?

This is totally up to the discretion of each restaurant. They may have something they will let you have instead of dessert and they may not. And even if someone reports here that they were able to do so, the next person will say they were denied at the same restaurant, so it really is up to the restaurant and cannot be counted on at all.

 

[dolewhipsareforlovers]

We are doing the Dining Plan when we go for our honeymoon in August. My fiancé always orders expensive things and has a huge appetite so I think we will get our use out of it. And I like the convenience of it. When on vacation I don't want to think about money so having the meals basically prepaid for works for us. I don't think we are going to save a lot of money but when I ran the number we will break even or save a tiny bit. I think people either love the Dining Plan or it just isn't for them.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

We use the dining plan and normally the deluxe plan. DH and DS are big eaters, even at home they will share an appetizer and get a dessert. We still do a couple of character meals although we are all "adults", sometimes a dinner show and usually a signature every night for dinner. We treat our TS meals as a much needed break in the A/C. I'm not going to say that it saves money every meal, but I think that we usually come out ahead. Our upcoming trip I have 2 meals planned per day and we will use our snack credits at the F&G booths. Love the fact that when I get there it's a done deal and I don't have to worry about the bill at the end of the trip.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Personally I think it's a big scam. We've used it and done OOP. Saved a good bit of money going OOP. I guess it really depends on how your family eats.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Personally I think it's a big scam. We've used it and done OOP. Saved a good bit of money going OOP. I guess it really depends on how your family eats.

I've enjoyed reading the various opinions. I don't really think the DDP is a "scam," but no company that has to keep its shareholder's happy offers products that are going to cost the company money. So I suspect Disney determined that the dining plan is a product that gets folks to spend more money on dining that they otherwise wouldn't. If you are a DisBoards regular, or follow websites like EasyWDW or TouringPlans, then you understand the pluses and minuses of Disney dining, and how to make it work for you financially. If you aren't, then you are liable to purchase the plan and use table service credits on places like The Plaza or Beaches & Cream, or come home with snack credits left over. The plan also has allowed Disney to dramatically increase prices at Disney restaurants to make the plan more attractive, which is a bit of a "scam."

 

[Beer Me]

Latest pricing is $70 per person (regular DDP). With my family of four that is a very comfortable food budget. Maybe one or two days we would go over $280 but we always average less. I would much rather have the freedom of paying as I go.

It's actually very interesting that some of us feel more secure and comfortable with the dining plan and others without. Our brains must be wired a bit differently. Nothing wrong with that!

 

[cobright]

I just ran our restaurant choices through the DDP calculator at (https://www.distripplanner.com/) and for 4 adults (kiddos are older than 9 yrs) we're saving about $1k for a 9 day trip. Actually, a bit more than that because it values a snack credit at about $3.50 and we use ours almost entirely at F&W to get $6-$7.75 'snack' items. So... about a 20% savings over OOP, which is in line with previous years.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

I just ran our restaurant choices through the DDP calculator at (https://www.distripplanner.com/) and for 4 adults (kiddos are older than 9 yrs) we're saving about $1k for a 9 day trip. Actually, a bit more than that because it values a snack credit at about $3.50 and we use ours almost entirely at F&W to get $6-$7.75 'snack' items. So... about a 20% savings over OOP, which is in line with previous years.

Really interested on the places you are dining. Not saying your numbers are off, but saving $1,000 using the Dining Plan makes me raise an eyebrow.

 

[cobright]

Really interested on the places you are dining. Not saying your numbers are off, but saving $1,000 using the Dining Plan makes me raise an eyebrow.

Every day is one regular table service and one Signature. The DP costs us just about $4k (4 adults x $103(?) x 9 days). A meal at California Grill for 4 of us is usually billed at near $400. Most of our regular TS meals clock in at $180-250 and Signature Dinners are usually around $400.

Figure my last trip to Boathouse as an example: Filet Mignon ($65) Carpaccio appetizer ($18) Whiskey Caramel Cornbread ($10) and a softdrink... times four. Well, I don't recall what everyone else ordered but prices wouldn't be much less.

 

[mrzrich]

We like share a few appetizers. We like to have an Alcoholic Beverage. We like to sit in lounges like Tutto Gusto and Nomad Lounge. We sometimes share a meal. We often are too full for desert at the dinner table, but will go to one of the bakeries a few hours later for a treat.

Love the "prepaid feeling"? We use gift cards and achieve that same feeling. Best part for me is if I have "credit" left on my gift card, it goes towards my next trip, and not a suitcase full of cookies.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Every day is one regular table service and one Signature. The DP costs us just about $4k (4 adults x $103(?) x 9 days). A meal at California Grill for 4 of us is usually billed at near $400. Most of our regular TS meals clock in at $180-250 and Signature Dinners are usually around $400.

Figure my last trip to Boathouse as an example: Filet Mignon ($65) Carpaccio appetizer ($18) Whiskey Caramel Cornbread ($10) and a softdrink... times four. Well, I don't recall what everyone else ordered but prices wouldn't be much less.

I could see that type of saving using the deluxe plan. As I think I previously mentioned in this thread (I know I did somewhere), I kicked around the idea of getting the deluxe plan next trip and doing a TS for breakfast/lunch and a signature for dinner every day. If you do that you almost certainly do no worse than break even. But as I mentioned, that's just too much dining-time for me personally. We also like to rope-drop most days, so that eliminates a TS breakfast, and like an early dinner, so that makes a TS lunch and signature dinner problematic because they are too close together.

I do think it would be difficult to save that much on the regular plan, which we'll be using next trip.

 

[TheBigErn]

As others have said there is no answer to this question as it depends on your exact situation. We are a family of me, wife and 2 daughters and none of us are big eaters. We typically eat quick serve breakfast at out resort, eat quick serve lunch in the parks and a sit down dinner somewhere on property. We only sometimes get one appetizer to share and rarely eat dessert. So for us, it is not worth it. I've made the calculations as described by others here and I no longer even consider getting any type of dinning plan. I also think life is easier without one since I don't stand in line trying to figure out what I can and can't get as per the plan. You know the Disney bean counters have this all figured out and they're making money on these plans in some fashion. I personally wish they'd eliminate dinning plans as the quick serve lines would move much faster.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

Every day is one regular table service and one Signature. The DP costs us just about $4k (4 adults x $103(?) x 9 days). A meal at California Grill for 4 of us is usually billed at near $400. Most of our regular TS meals clock in at $180-250 and Signature Dinners are usually around $400.

Figure my last trip to Boathouse as an example: Filet Mignon ($65) Carpaccio appetizer ($18) Whiskey Caramel Cornbread ($10) and a softdrink... times four. Well, I don't recall what everyone else ordered but prices wouldn't be much less.

My mistake, I was raising my eye at the regular dining plan, not deluxe dining plan.