Wow, thank you all so much for all the feedback! I apologize for the delay, I hadn't logged in in a few days.
Based off 90% of the responses on here, I think I will in fact skip the dining plan next visit. I'm such a creature of habit, that it took 3 trips in my adulthood to realize that it really wasn't worth it. We always got the dining plan while growing up that it just felt natural to get it. But when I took my sister in 2016 and 2018 on my own dime and realized we weren't really utilizing it well, it made me reconsider it for our next visit.
In the responses where people said it worked for them, it sounds like they were doing a lot of character dining, which my sister and I don't really care to do much of. We enjoy tusker house and crystal palace, but we're really not there for the character meet and greets, though they are an added bonus. We like buffets because we both have extremely different palates, so buffets offer a variety of items and doesn't inhibit either of us from eating a full meal. Also, with our differing palates, sharing meals on QS is difficult. We went into our last 2 trips with that plan and it never worked out due to her and I being on different pages appetite-wise. That's why a lot of meals ended up being paid for OOP, even while on the plan.
A little off topic side tangent, I came to this conclusion while I was thinking about how I could do Disney different for my next visit. Every time I've been, I'm the person thats up at 6 AM and at the park's entrance right at open and by 2pm I'm worn out and ready for bed. I was re-thinking this strategy by possibly sleeping in a bit and utilizing the extra magic hours that are offered in the evenings versus mornings. As mentioned before, I'm a creature of habit and since that's the way I did disney back when I used to go with my grandma, dad, cousins, uncle and aunt, I thought that was the right way. That's what triggered me to question whether or not the dining plan is actually useful to me.
I also hear about people ordering some groceries and water ahead of time that way they can have some easy food items on hand to rely on while in the room or that they can pack with them while they're in the park. I may do that for fruit and granola bars and possibly oatmeal, etc. Just quick things that can tide us over til the next meal.
As for the person who asked if I knew there was a designated thread for this topic, no I didn't know. I didn't realize posting a money related topic would be considered so inappropriate to post in the BUDGET board, LOL. Apologies
thank you all again!