eating well at Disney on a moderate budget

[SnowBelleAlice]

It looks as though DD and I will not have free dining this year *check in on 10/15*
I told her if she wants a nice sit down meal each day our other meals will need to be cheap, beef jerky and premier protein shakes. And we'll do few buffets, share meals, she'll order from the kids menus/I'll order an appetizer. Dining plans really are too much food and I'd never pay for one.
Here's our non FD ADRs -
Again, we'll share meals, order appetizers only and kids meals for DD -
Hollywood Brown Derby - lunch
Liberty Tree Tavern - lunch
Jiko - dinner
Le Cellier - lunch
Rose and Crown - dinner
Kona Cafe - lunch
Coral Reef - lunch
Marrakesh - dinner
BOG - dinner
Some will likely be cancelled, BOG, if we can FP lunch there.
I also have 8am ADRs at Crystal Palace and Akershus, keeping CP for sure, I'll let DD decide between Akershus and the dinner I have booked at 1900 Park Fare.
I also like the Disney gift card method of prepaying meals.

 

[mom4fun]

It looks as though DD and I will not have free dining this year *check in on 10/15*
I told her if she wants a nice sit down meal each day our other meals will need to be cheap, beef jerky and premier protein shakes. And we'll do few buffets, share meals, she'll order from the kids menus/I'll order an appetizer. Dining plans really are too much food and I'd never pay for one.
Here's our non FD ADRs -
Again, we'll share meals, order appetizers only and kids meals for DD -
Hollywood Brown Derby - lunch
Liberty Tree Tavern - lunch
Jiko - dinner
Le Cellier - lunch
Rose and Crown - dinner
Kona Cafe - lunch
Coral Reef - lunch
Marrakesh - dinner
BOG - dinner
Some will likely be cancelled, BOG, if we can FP lunch there.
I also have 8am ADRs at Crystal Palace and Akershus, keeping CP for sure, I'll let DD decide between Akershus and the dinner I have booked at 1900 Park Fare.
I also like the Disney gift card method of prepaying meals.

I love this plan!

 

[Melany502]

Let's just ignore the fact that the dining plans are outrageously priced and that using that price tag in deciding how much you "saved" is just deluding yourself into believing that you saved a lot of money. You won't be able to replicate that bargain this year, will you? POR is not included in *free* dining this year. So, a family of 5 is not going to be able to get the regular dining plan for "free" anymore unless they are staying in a FW cabin or a Deluxe Resort. I don't think you'll save much money by upgrading to those accommodations (at rack rate) in order to get "free" food. I stand by my original statement that the dining plan is no bargain to begin with, and *free* dining is only a good deal for 2 adults and 2 juniors staying in a Value Resort.

I have to disagree... I priced out the cost of all the restaurants I wanted to eat at (not even including the desserts and mugs I wouldn't have gotten) and the price came to $1500. This was with my kids sharing some stuff too and no snacks. Even being at AoA over POR with free dining is a better discount than a room discount.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I thought we ate pretty well on my birthday trip and went OOP. I had calculated that the regular DDP would cost a little over $900, plus gratuities, so right at $1000 for a 5-night stay. We ate breakfast in our OKW studio villa every day and had at least one TS every day and the rest was CS. We got lots of snacks and no one went hungry.

12/31: dinner at 50's Prime Time Café (here, my son and I shared the big platter - that was the only shared meal of the week) --- $76 w/tip
1/1: lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern --- $72 Dinner at Cosmic Ray's --- $47
1/2: lunch at Sunshine Seasons --- $60 Dinner at Via Napoli --- $61
1/3: lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In --- $79 Dinner at Hoop-Dee-Doo --- pre-paid birthday treat
1/4: lunch at Pizzafari --- $33 Dinner at Be Our Guest --- $107 (most pd by w/birthday money from my parents)

We probably spent $60 or so on snacks, but some of that was at Starring Rolls, which we ate for breakfast one morning, and some at Main Street Confectionary, which we ate on for a couple of days.

So, even including the dinner at HDDR, we still spent less than we would have on the DDP, and we had more TS meals than we would have had we used it. It's definitely possible to eat well without the DDP.

 

[luvsJack]

Let's just ignore the fact that the dining plans are outrageously priced and that using that price tag in deciding how much you "saved" is just deluding yourself into believing that you saved a lot of money.

You won't be able to replicate that bargain this year, will you? POR is not included in *free* dining this year. So, a family of 5 is not going to be able to get the regular dining plan for "free" anymore unless they are staying in a FW cabin or a Deluxe Resort. I don't think you'll save much money by upgrading to those accommodations (at rack rate) in order to get "free" food.

I stand by my original statement that the dining plan is no bargain to begin with, and *free* dining is only a good deal for 2 adults and 2 juniors staying in a Value Resort.

Whether it is a bargain or not depends on your family and the way they dine at Disney.

I have done the math every way in the world. If you are going to eat a certain kinds of places and are not going to share meals or snacks, then it CAN save you some money. We don't share meals and we aren't going to. DD can't always eat all her food, but we don't like the same things so who is going to get something they don't like so that we can share?

If your family likes to snack many times a day instead of sit down meals, share meals or eat in ways that won't fit in the ddp, then of course its not going to save for you.

Everyone needs to just do the math for themselves and for their trip, not take what someone else says as a one size fits all rule.

 

[kiramay]

We eat breakfast in our room or bring it on the way to the parks. We pack a lot of snacks and water bottles that we refill. We book one buffet a day around 3 pm for a very filling late lunch/early dinner. When we have a later dinner (like Chef Mickeys) we do figure in a CS around lunchtime. We only bought treats at Epcot; with all the desserts they wanted at the buffets and snacks in their backpacks, the kids never pestered for treats.

On our last trip we did 3 CS and 5 TS in 6 days, without feeling hungry or like we were missing out.

This trip we're staying longer so I have 7 TS planned, and since we're not going back for 4 more years, we'll be more lenient with buying treats this trip (maybe one a day).

 

[DisneyFoodieFan]

We no longer do the Dining plan...we have been priced out of it for it to save us money...it's definitely great when you have two or more kids, though. But it's different for each family and you really need to do the math to figure out if it saves for you.

OP - Definitely any buffet or character meals should be breakfast or lunch as they are cheaper (usually). We really like Via Napoli, 50's Prime Time Cafe, Sci-Fi Dine-in, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Liberty Tree Tavern, etc for cheaper meals.

 

[mom4fun]

Whether it is a bargain or not depends on your family and the way they dine at Disney.

I have done the math every way in the world. If you are going to eat a certain kinds of places and are not going to share meals or snacks, then it CAN save you some money. We don't share meals and we aren't going to. DD can't always eat all her food, but we don't like the same things so who is going to get something they don't like so that we can share?

If your family likes to snack many times a day instead of sit down meals, share meals or eat in ways that won't fit in the ddp, then of course its not going to save for you.

Everyone needs to just do the math for themselves and for their trip, not take what someone else says as a one size fits all rule.

I can definitely see this point. I guess what I was trying to do is figure in the cost difference in eating as if we had the dining plan but staying off site as opposed to staying on site with the plan. For the 3 of us it looks like we would have to spend $280 on food and snacks per day to break even. So it appears it would be unlikely we would spend that much in any circumstance. Am I assuming correctly that 3 people would not likely spend that much even if they ate anything and everything they wanted.

 

[luvsJack]

I can definitely see this point. I guess what I was trying to do is figure in the cost difference in eating as if we had the dining plan but staying off site as opposed to staying on site with the plan. For the 3 of us it looks like we would have to spend $280 on food and snacks per day to break even. So it appears it would be unlikely we would spend that much in any circumstance. Am I assuming correctly that 3 people would not likely spend that much even if they ate anything and everything they wanted.

It would depend on where you eat. One TS meal in the parks can cost over half that.

I would suggest going to allearsnet.com and look at the menus with prices. Plan a day of where you would like to eat and see what the cost is. You can eat at a lot of great places and not spend the bank.

 

[Lisa0620]

There is almost no chance that Disney will offer *free* dining during Easter season. There will mostly likely be no room discounts, either. So you would pay rack rate for a room and the adult per-night rate for the dining plan. Since 2015 package prices have not been announced yet, there's no way to determine what all of that might cost you.

If you want to "cost it out" for the 2014 Easter Season, Mousesavers.com lists room rates for the various resorts and seasons. They also have a section about the dining plans and what they cost. Don't forget that you would also need to add tickets to make it a package. Total all of that up and assume that it will cost you 5%-10% more in 2015.

We were able to get free dining for Easter week in 2012 checking in the Saturday before which was the last day they offered. Within a few days they realized the "mistake" and changed the offer by moving up the last day 3 days. So it's *possible* just not probable and if they do offer it, book it right away! Similarly, last year I noticed it was possible to get free dining for Thanksgiving week also with a Saturday arrival, but this year the final day of the offer is the Thurs before. The rack rate is terribly high on holiday weeks, though, so you definitely have to price it all out to see if it really saves you money.

To answer OP's question: when paying OOP we like to schedule TS lunches and CS dinners. Some TS have the same prices at lunch and dinner (Coral Reef), but others like Biergarten are cheaper at lunch than dinner for the same experience. Plus I think it's easier to schedule lunches because you know which park you'll start out at and you don't have to worry about making the kids "last" until a dinner ADR or rush back to the parks after a break to get there in time for one.