Going without a meal plan?

[mommymanda]

We've been to DW once before back in 2007 and had the free dining plan at the time. We really enjoyed the sit down meals once/night and the food was a huge highlight of the trip for DH and I.

Now our plan is to go again for the last week of August 2013, which seems to have a free dining plan offer during that time each year.

I'm not booking until the offer is out however, and am worried if DH can't get that holiday time off, or if he does and they offer the FD during another week we'd be SOL.

There is no way we can afford to purchase the meal plan on our own ( 2adult, 10yo (adult), 4yo, 2yo)...but can we still have decent dining without it? Are there tips or tricks to enjoying it without the cost?

 

[ktlm]

We've done the math and the dining plan doesn't save us any money. We don't eat enough to make it worthwhile to purchase. We don't need a dessert at every meal. The dining plan is right about the same as what we normally spend on food at WDW, sometimes we spend less. We always take the room discount instead when we can get them- and we usually only go to WDW at times that we can get them.

You can still eat however you want at WDW. You can go on allears.net and see all the menus and the prices of food.

 

[Marionnette]

We've been to DW once before back in 2007 and had the free dining plan at the time. We really enjoyed the sit down meals once/night and the food was a huge highlight of the trip for DH and I.

Now our plan is to go again for the last week of August 2013, which seems to have a free dining plan offer during that time each year.

I'm not booking until the offer is out however, and am worried if DH can't get that holiday time off, or if he does and they offer the FD during another week we'd be SOL.

There is no way we can afford to purchase the meal plan on our own ( 2adult, 10yo (adult), 4yo, 2yo)...but can we still have decent dining without it? Are there tips or tricks to enjoying it without the cost?

I'm not a big fan of the dining plan as a way to save money. And when it comes to discounts, I never count on Disney to do anything the same way from one year to the next.

But if you're seriously considering doing a free dining stay, there are things that you need to factor into your evaluation.

• First, you will pay the rack rate for the room. Compare that with any room-only discount that might also be available to you.
• Second, you will have to purchase your tickets directly from Disney at the full gate price. Compare that cost to what you would pay by going through a discounter like Undercovertourist.
• Third, think about the way that you eat. Instead of tallying up what you would have to pay OOP for the dining plan, take a hard look at what you would pay OOP if you were to just eat what you want. IOW, the DDP might cost $56.94 per adult per night but if you're not interested in eating dessert twice a day (plus a snack!) or refillable mugs for everyone, that price isn't a bargain to begin with. It doesn't matter if someone hangs a "free" tag on it. It's only "worth" $57/night if you would have spent $57/night on the very same things that the plan offers.

Yes, you can eat decently without having the dining plan. Contrary to what some people may say, Disney has some very good counter service fare. It's not all burgers and chicken fingers. And if you skip the character meals (I know, blasphemy!), you can even find table service meals that are affordable for your family.

 

[mdsoccermom]

We never go with a dining plan plus we make very few ADRs. We haven't starved yet!

 

[kohlby]

Our last trip was either FD or awesome PIN code off of hotel. The PIN code saved us bundles! The "free" dining really wouldn't have saved us all that much. We could use the room discount and not have to follow any rules. But Free Dining meant buying tickets through them and staying on-site at full cost.

We do counter service now because it's easier with our kids. This last time, I researched the CS better and we ate MUCH better than the time before. The time before, there were way too many pizzas! A little planning makes even CS work great.

*A breakfast tip is to eat in your room. We drive so we take food with us, but Garden Grocer will deliver groceries to your room. It makes the mornings easy and leisurely. We always make rope drop and there's never any morning rush this way!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We go with the dining plan and always end up saving money. We don't like the quick-service plan because we get sick of the quick service food. We like having one sit down meal a day, and we like knowing meals have been paid for.

We preferred the plan in 2006 when you got an appetizer and a dessert, and we don't really use the mugs, so the fact that they are included in all plans now is actually not something we care about.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Yes, you can definitely have decent dining without the DDP. To control costs, cut back on character meals. Maybe don't do as many TS meals. Book breakfasts and lunches as your TS meals because they are generally less expensive than dinners. Pack easy breakfast foods to eat in your room or on the go. This saves you time as well since you can eat a granola bar on your way to the bus stop instead of waiting in line to order a CS breakfast. Share meals. Many of the portion sizes are quite large.

After buying the DDP for several trips, and seeing the value of it decrease over the years, I opted not to purchase the dining plan for our May trip. I am so glad I skipped it. I didn't skimp on food. I didn't order less expensive items than I would have if we'd had the DDP. When I totaled up our receipts, we spent about $30 less on dining than we would have on the DDP (there's just two of us on this trip, me and my DD), but the real advantage was in the flexibility we had.

DD was 8 on this trip, but doesn't care for most of the kids' meal offerings, especially at the CS locations. By not buying the DDP, she wasn't locked into ordering off the kids' menu and that worked much better for us. So even though I only saved $30 over the DDP, I was paying OOP for adult meals which are more expensive than the kids' meals.

We were there for 10 nights, but I didn't want to do 10 TS meals. We did 6 meals, but one of those was a signature restaurant that would have counted as 2 credits, and it was perfect for us.

We also ordered pizza from Papa Johns one night. That's DD's favorite pizza place and I did that as a treat because it was a day that had rained all day and we were somewhat miserable by that evening. The comfort of pizza from a favorite place really picked up DD's spirits. I wouldn't have done that if we'd been on the DDP because I would have been looking to use our DDP credits.

We ate a lot more snacks than we would have had credits for. By going without the plan, we probably saved more than just the $30 because there are snacks we would have spent money on over and above the snack credits on the plan.

Also, I paid for our meals with Disney gift cards I'd purchased from Giant Eagle. They were offering 20 cents off per gallon of gas for each $50 spent purchasing gift cards. The gift cards I used just buying our meals gave me about 3/4 of a tank of gas for free.

After comparing the money spent and the enjoyment from our dining on this trip without the DDP and prior trips with it, I don't think I'll ever get the DDP again.

 

[dragonfly08]

I've been to Disney over 20 times since I was little, including four visits with my own kids, and I've never, ever even considered the dining plan.

It costs me less to pay OOP, based on the way we eat. My kids like breakfast pretty much first thing, so we eat something light in the room. They don't like tons of TS meals...they take too long and interrupt the fun because you have to stop whenever your ADR is. TS meals also don't allow for flexibility in terms of when and what you eat. What if you aren't ready to eat when it's time for the ADR you made 6 months ago? What if you don't want that kind of food today? Instead we like to pack heavy snacks and a few sandwiches so that we can take a rest when we need it, eat familiar foods (especially important for my older DD who has stomach issues on vacations if we aren't careful...even healthy foods that are unfamiliar cause problems for her), and move at our pace.

Never mind that the DDP is just too much food. We don't eat that many snacks, we don't do appetizers or desserts with meals, and so on. We'd either be eating too much because it was there or wasting it.

 

[~Kristina~]

I've never used the dining plan. We've also done the math and it doesn't save us anything.

 

[maggs1035]

Im very excited about doing disney without the dining plan! I think Im going to purchase Disney gift cards and give them to each family member to order food at their own pace! DD20, DS18 may be off on their own so having their own card may be a good idea?

 

[nellyru]

We've always used the Dining plan.

But I'm excited to try without this time!

I've never really been too impressed with the resturaunts and actually have been more impressed with the quick service meals and options.

Plus it will be nice to not have to be tied down to a reservation.

Just eat when you are hungry or not have to if you aren't!

Not so worried about the money part.

And I have a feeling that it will end up being cheaper in the end.

Can't wait to try and see.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Unless there is a FD offer it does not pay for my 4yo DD and I to get the dining plan; even the quick service one. I've priced it out and and for $50 a day (unless we wanted to enjoy a table service meal per day which we don't need) it's just not worth it to us.

 

[2binak]

We've been to DW once before back in 2007 and had the free dining plan at the time. We really enjoyed the sit down meals once/night and the food was a huge highlight of the trip for DH and I.

Now our plan is to go again for the last week of August 2013, which seems to have a free dining plan offer during that time each year.

I'm not booking until the offer is out however, and am worried if DH can't get that holiday time off, or if he does and they offer the FD during another week we'd be SOL.

There is no way we can afford to purchase the meal plan on our own ( 2adult, 10yo (adult), 4yo, 2yo)...but can we still have decent dining without it? Are there tips or tricks to enjoying it without the cost?

Yes you can! Go to allearsnet . com and read the menus for each park to get an idea of places where you can eat decent, healthy meals - including quick service meals. You can often split meals between 2 people since portions are so large.

Also, bring a couple of filtered, refillable water bottles (Camelbak Groove, Brita, etc.) to save on buying water as you walk around the parks and pack small snacks like fruit & granola bars to keep everyone from getting hungry & wanting expensive snacks.

 

[TwinkleKS]

Life will be fine without the dining plan. We use the dining plan only because I like to pay for everything ahead of time. That way I don't have to watch DH count his pennies and drive me nuts when we are on vacation other than that, I am sure we would end up spending less money if we just paid as we went.

 

[SweetMissy]

Our last 2 trips we had the free dining but this time it isn't offered when we're going, so we'll be paying OOP. We looked at the menus and did the math and it would cost us more to have the dining plan. It covers 2 meals and would cost more then us buying our own 3 meals. With the dining plan, IMO...we got too much food. We rarely eat dessert and especially not at every meal. So I guess it just depends on how you eat. We don't mind the QS, as there are plenty of healthy options....you don't have to have pizza everyday. We also don't care to waste time doing a sit down meal....especially with 3 kids, no thanks, lol. So it depends on you and your family. My advice...go through the menus and add things up and price the dining plan....go with what's cheaper.

 

[Missy13d69]

As other people have mentioned, a resort room discount can save more money than free dining. You should look at the menus and figure out what you would spend and compare that to room discount savings. FD is only a real savings if you are BIG eaters and will eat a dessert with every meal, or plan to do several character meals.

 

[tartemis]

I hate free dining with a passion. LOL! But, seriously, I have done the dining plan twice (when it was free) and both times I would have preferred a room discount. It really is too much food and I felt like a slave to dining reservations. It doesn't save that much money (if at all), unless you would typically order dessert every meal (which we wouldn't do).

i would NEVER purchase the dining plan. We like to eat at sit down restaurants, too, and usually do so once a day, but it really is cheaper to do out of pocket if you otherwise aren't big eaters during the day (and we are not).

The real value of the dining plan is with character meals, but I can only handle a few of those a trip anyway -- we did it almost every day one trip (to maximize free dining) and by the third character meal even the kids were bored with it.

 

[poohguys]

We have done both with and with out the dinning plan. when DS was little and still on the kids plan it was not enough food for him (had to eat the kids menu when there was one). Now that he is 12 and considered and adult it is great and I think for our needs a good deal. WE do a lot of buffets. As another poster had said I like having all of the food paid for. When we went last August the dining plan ran through September. Your 2 year old would not be on the plan and you would have to figure if your 4 yo eats enough to make it worth while. As others have suggested I would look at the menus on Allears and run the numbers. Have fun with what ever you decide

 

[samacita]

We personally prefer table service to counter service meals with our little ones, even at home. It's much easier to get settled in at a table and let the food come to us rather than wrangling kids through a busy line and having to carry all the meals to a table. Since we want TS and want to try a couple of character meals, we are giving strong consideration to DDP. We could live without the desserts at every meal, though. It's too bad there's not a way to save a "dessert credit" to use for other things.

 

[kimbo0569]

We did the Free dining once and it worked for us, especially allowing us to eat at certain restaurants. That being said, if I had to pay for it, I don't think we'd use it. We're not big counter service people, mostly prefer sit down restaurants. We would rather have breakfast type things in the room to take with us in the morning and have a snack during the day, then have a decent dinner to fill us up. We're planning a trip down in September/October of this year. I'm just trying to figure out what would be the most economical way to do it. :debwalk: