Have you ever paid out of pocket for meals on a trip?

[MrInfinity]

I've been to WDW for 7-day vacations and have always gotten the DDP for myself and my companion.
Have any of you (preferably without kids) ever done a week-long trip and paid out of pocket for all of your dining and snacks? Did you measure how much you spent vs. what the DDP cost? Did you save or lose out?

We do both -- It just depends on the trip. Most of our trips are about a week long so they fit your description. On some of them the DDP saved us hundreds. On others, OOP was better, so we'd go that way. I like the flexibility and fun of being on the DDP, so we'll use it in the cases where we come out about even or ahead, but if we don't have a lot of dining planned we won't.

I haven't run into the problem of being told we can't buy something because we're on the DDP. If we want something, we'd get it. Drinks and appetizers come to mind as something that's not typically on the plan, but we'd get them whether we were on the plan or not, paying cash either way.

If you're used to the DDP and decide to pay out of pocket instead, plan on coming home to a big bill. That's one nice part of the DDP, that you prepay months in advance. If you're switching to off-plan, I would suggest getting gift cards instead. Otherwise every meal costing a fortune can take away from the fun of being on vacation.

 

[loves to dive]

Years ago when the dining plan included what the deluxe plan does now and included tip, we used it and I think we used it once when it switched over and it was "free", we haven't used it since. It just doesn't suit the way we like to eat, for us it's not about money at all. I don't want to have to figure out is this a 2 credit TS or a 1 credit, is that a snack credit or not, oh no what do I do with all these credits left over. We don't look at prices on the menu, just order what we want. We like the freedom to decide today we might just want to grab something from a QS or something that is considered a snack or just munch all day. I tend to eat smaller meals and rarely snack between meals. I only drink water unless I'm drinking a refreshing adult beverage. I rarely eat dessert unless it is to split something with my adult son. I've been known to just have an appetizer and a salad at a TS restaurant just because that was what I was in the mood for at the time. We tend to book our ADRs while in the parks for that night, we don't like to be tied down to having to be at a specific park/place at a specific time every day, heck we don't even book FPs until the night before.

 

[disneydeegs]

I have never used the dining plan because it would be a huge waste of money for me. I can't eat much in one sitting, and I usually order kid's meals at QS. Eating too much makes me sick.

BF has used the dining plan in the past, but he has said he doesn't think he will ever do it again... it's just too much food, and you can save money by paying out of pocket.

 

[Mcsap]

We have done both. You can do just fine w/o the dining plan and the easiest way to save money is to get cups of water instead of $2.50 sodas for everybody. For four people that is $10 per meal.

I would get a burger only at the launching pad at MK and than head to the toppings bar and turn my burger into a salad burger. You can delete things like fries from meals and pay less.