first trip in 11years...

[hsmamato2]

Yeah im afraid all my kids are perfectly healthy but have huge appetites. i have 58 days to go and so far its not looking as good as it did to begin with. Im gunna die inside if i dont get to take my kids.

If you are serious,and also on a 'mega budget' (your words) then I recommend NOT buying the dining plan.
Spend your $$$ on a room,(try to get a room only discount)
and buy your meals separately. You have a much better chance of succeeding if you do this.
DDP costs over 50.00 per person per DAY right now. You can eat counter service at WDW for far less than that,and everyone will eat plenty.
Think hard about how badly you want to go. The DDP is NOT a great bargain,in fact,it's hard to even break even,forget being a good deal. It's just not.
Think about it- if you have 5 people (considered Disney 'adults') that's close to $300 per day! times the number of days = yikes!(add tips)
Instead, you could eat cereal in your room, eat a counter service lunch (5 people,maybe 60.00 depending on choice) eat a cs dinner, (maybe 75-80.00 depending on choice) that's 3 meals a day, buying cs for lunch and dinner,and you're still WAY ahead.
I'm generalizing, but you get the idea. It's far cheaper to plan and pay for your own meal choices- maybe just hit a special restaurant ONCE in your trip, and the rest just eat cs,there are so many good choices!

 

[hsmamato2]

The DDP isn't going to 'save' any money,no mater what. AT best,it's a prepayment plan for some VERY expensive food. ANd you can do that,if you want to. But OP said money is tight,and she is desperate. That's why she should consider dropping the DDP altogether and just buying counter service- I could I could plan a trip,use DDP and 'get my value' out of it but it wouldn't be a 'bargain' for a tight budget.
Example, if I pay 52.00 per day on DDP, then plan a cs lunch at max amount(lg. soda,fries,fullbasket meal) that would out of pocket cost me 15.00(approx) then buy one mickey bar for my snack take away another 5.00
then go to Crystal palace for dinner take away another 30.00 so I'm ALMOST at that 50.00 mark.....plus I have to add CP tip-
SO what I;ve gotten is TOO MUCH FOOD I wouldn't have ordered anyway
not a bargain

 

[kywildwolf]

again thanks guys yall' have given me alot to think about!

 

[tink2dw]

Some Dis'ers will take the grocery money for the time they are at Disney, and add it to their Disney budget getting that extra money for their trip!!

It may help you get that last bit of money for your trip!!

Eat Top Ramen to save money?? It is about .17 cents a packet!!

Save all your coin change or every dollar out of $10. spent?

If all else fails... Shorten your vacation by 1 day, that should Save you a bunch, 1 less days cost for room, tickets, 1 day less of Disney Dining. That could save your whole trip!!!!!!!!!

 

[swilshire]

We got the free dining a few years ago for a few days before moving to an off-site condo. It was at least double the food that we could eat, so on the last day we burned the rest of the credits on carry-out and took them to our new resort. When we stay off-site, we typically either snack around at lunchtime and then eat dinner in the condo, or if we're staying late in the parks we might eat a late counter service lunch and then have a snack when we get back to the room. We always have a breakfast of some sort to start the day. I would never pay for the dining plan. Too much food for us even though we all like to eat.

Sheila