If you are trying to decide on the Dining Plan...

[ajwomic]

Just some math to help you decide if you shoud do the Dining Plan...

2006 Price $37.99

Considering tax and gratutity is included, if I take those off the the $37.99, your food cost would have to be under $31.00 per day. Now if you plan on 2 soft drinks and one bottled warter or snack, that brings actual down to $25.00.

For Kids at $10.99, removing tax and tip, $9.00 left.

The way I look at it, there is almost no way you would not spend $9.00 on a child per day on actual food.

For adults, most counter service entrees range from $7.00-$9.00, so you would only have to spend $17.00 on a table service entree to "break even".

Since most buffets are over $20 and many entrees are in the teens, if you plan to eat many buffets or TS, you will at least break even, but will most likely come out ahead.

The way I think is that if I would spend about the same oop as doing the plan, I would rather do the plan and have the option of appetizers and dessert. Even without ordering the app or dessert, most places, you would still break even.

Also on buffets when child's plate is $10.99, their other meal and snack are free!

About the only way it is not cheaper is if you mainly eat cs and drink tap water.

This is just how we made our decision.

 

[scanne]

Very good points. Now I'll be re-thinking NOT doing the dining plan. I'm just worried about 2 things.

1. Too much food
2. Planning our theme park visits around restaurant visits instead of the other way around - which is the way my DH likes it.

 

[ajwomic]

Well, the thing about too much food is you don't have to order all you are entitled to and we planned our parks and then just tried to plan our adrs for restaurants there. And we are doing resort meals, like O'hana and WCC on days that we are not going to the parks.
Alicia

 

[Dizzy4Dizney]

I looked at the Dining Plan and did an analysis of what our last trip cost us in food and what it would have cost us if we used the plan. We would definately not get our money's worth. Especially since my DD (5) is a picky eater and I bring her food most of the time. We also have the DDE and found this to be a better value. We don't have appitizers or desserts and if we got the Plan, we'd feel obligated to buy it since we paid for it.

The Dining Plan works great for some families and not so great for others. It's a great option to have.

 

[Tigger2252]

We have never used the dining plan because of the cost. We always have a car, so we make a grocery stop at Walmart. We keep breakfast and lunch food in the room and eat one meal a day in the parks. Generally we break it up with one day table service, one day CS. We buy the resort mug so that covers our drinks at the hotel for our stay, and this time we had bottled water that we added Crystal Light to. Everyone had a bottle holder clip on their belt loop and carried spare packs in the fannypack. The real downside to this is that we don't really get to eat at the finer restaurants at the park. This year, I would really like to do the meal plan just for that reason alone. I have read the reviews, and seen the photos and would love to go to some of the restaurants we wouldn't pay separately for.

 

[helenk]

I have an AP so I've never used the dining plan...but I am seriously thinking of doing a package if we go in December this year. I am planning on going with my son who will be 24 and his fiancee who will be 23..it will give them a chance to have a nice dinner each night w/o spending alot of money. We can grab breakfast in the room, have a counter service lunch a mickey ice cream bar for a snack and then a nice dinner.
It has not been worth it when I go by myself, but I think 3 adults could definately get their monies worth.

 

[momto2girls]

I definitely think the plan works for some families and not others. We got it for free on our last trip, so we didn't analyze it much.

I liked it. It was a lot of food for each meal though! We didn't eat the appetizers and desserts most of the time.

However, it didn't completely work for us. We had no trouble using up the TS credits, but we really only use CS a couple of times on our trips typically. So, we felt "forced" to use the CS and didn't enjoy that aspect. We also ended up giving a lot of our snack credits away.

We aren't doing it on our upcoming trip. However, we don't have a package so it wasn't even an option.

 

[dgaston]

For those who think it's too much food, think about trying some of the signature restaurants or going to one of the dinner shows. Those will take two TS and I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience. We did the dining plan (when free in Sept) and had a wonderful birthday meal for DH at the California Grill. We never would have paid out of pocket for this. What a treat to eat in the Wine Room, and to view Wishes from the 15th floor.

 

[BarbWB]

I also think it depends on the family . . . if you do a TS every day, plus another big meal of CS, then I can't imagine how it would not be saving money. If I look back, we might not have spent so much in the parks or at official meals on previous trips, but we did eat snacks and breakfasts that cost us lots of convenience $$$ that we didn't track. As I see it, with the meal plan, we are going to have so much food from the plan that we won't be able to eat it all. I am going to bring granola bars and crackers and that will be it for other snacks .. .

 

[zippehsmom]

Also, for people that feel it is too much food, sharing meals help spread the food out. We had 3 meals a day, everyday because we shared meals. So while we normally do not eat breakfast out, we were able to do so this time.

 

[dreamalittledream]

I am looking forward to getting the plan in Dec. For our family it will be worth it b/c we have an under 3 child. We tend to do a buffet or character meal every day which also allows her to eat "free" (for what little she eats) Since she is not on the plan and we do not have to pay for her at those meals, it stretches to value of the plan for our family on this particular trip. At a TS, we would spit the child meal with her sister or give her the app from one of our meals. At CS we would share one of ours with her or share 2 meals between 4 of us. To use the snacks, we could get 4 Mickey bars at a time, or share a popcorn or whatever. We would have 30 snacks for 10 days for 4 people so I think we would use them up easily. I can't really see us paying OOP for anything, but would if she wanted her own meal.

Even if we didn't have the plan, this is the way we would tend to eat so for us it is a no brainer to have the dining paid for ahead of time.

That said, I do plan to give additional tips where warranted for the extra service to an extra (little) person. We always give at least 20-25% at table servics restraunts so I would feel like I was skipping out if I gave less.

I am really anxious to plan my meals, I have to narrow down my list to only 10 TS locations though!

 

[wtpntigger2]

On our trip in May we saved about $75 on the DP, but really more since DD was under 3 then and most of our TS were buffets.

This last trip we saved about $225 as we ate some higher end TS restaurants such as Coral Reef and Teppanyaki.

 

[LiteBrite]

We did the Dining Plan in October when it was free, and we really enjoyed it. However, we did not use it on our trip a couple of weeks ago, because it would have cost us extra money, and we didn't feel it was worth it.

Two reasons it would have cost us more:
1) We got an AP discount on our room which we couldn't have gotten with the plan, and
2) Believe it or not, we usually just don't spend as much as $38/person/day, even when we are eating at a TS restaurant every day. We just don't eat that much. If we order appetizers or desserts it's one for the table, not one for each person, and we drink ice water with our meals. We usually eat cereal in our room for breakfast. It comes out to more like $30/person/day, and we could probably go even cheaper if we were careful.

The difference between what we did (7 nights at a value, AP rate) with or without the DP was probably between $300-$400.

 

[nbodyhome]

Well, the thing about too much food is you don't have to order all you are entitled to and we planned our parks and then just tried to plan our adrs for restaurants there. And we are doing resort meals, like O'hana and WCC on days that we are not going to the parks.
Alicia

You don't have to eat everything - but if you aren't, maybe it's just better to go without the dining plan.

Denise

 

[nbodyhome]

Also, for people that feel it is too much food, sharing meals help spread the food out. We had 3 meals a day, everyday because we shared meals. So while we normally do not eat breakfast out, we were able to do so this time.

We didn't share meals, yet at the end of 3 days, 3 adults, we had 2 table service and 8 counter service left (the two table service could have been used for Cinderellas, but my MIL paid out of pocket for the lunch because we thought we'd use the table service elsewhere).

I usually can't do a full table service AND a full counter service each day. It's just too much food for me. Each person has to decide for themselves. I live close by, so I could bring the 8 counter service meals home, and I called my husband and we had a dinner that last night (actually, I did two table service that day - and didn't feel well later).

Denise

 

[cheerbop]

We were there in Dec and I just want to add, having the dining plan, in regards to too much food that you don't have to eat it all...
So, there may be too much food.....it is better for my family to maybe have too much food than to pay less for counter or whatever (to save $$) and have not enough food.

You control what credits you use and when and how much.

I agree with some stated earlier that considering it includes tax and tip and that I can eat at more TS restaurants, it makes it a great value.
We spent $546 on the plan for 8 days....our receipts not including our tip totalled over $900. granted we ate at alot of nice TS, but that is what made it great!!

 

[ajwomic]

I know that you can do it cheaper , and we probably will next time we go as we will have a 10 year old, but I guess my point is that doing the dp gives me the *option* for an appetizer or dessert for about what I would pay anyway. Even if we got 1 appetizer per table or 1 dessert per table, instead of per person, it would still be cheaper than oop. We will eat breakfast in our room and hope to share some meals to eat 1 breakfast out.

Being vacation I just don't want to eat pb&j for lunch or be stressed about not ordering what I want b/c of cost. Does that make sense? We are on a very tight budget at home, so we never get app or dessert, or even soft drinks, so to have that option for basically the same price as oop sound like fun. If we spend $30 for a meal for all four of us at home, that's a lot as our monthly dining out budget is $100! So I am looking foward to eating some places we normally would not try due to the cost, like O'hana, Le Cellier, and Chef Mickey's. I am happy as long as we break even. If we only spent $30 per person like another poster said, I just think for $80 more for the whole trip for the two of us, I *could* order whatever my heart desires and it is worth that $80 to not be thinking about $$ the whole time.

I agree it is not for everyone, but I am just saying it has its benefits even if you don't order everything and break even. IMO anyway!

Alicia

Example: At Mama Melrose - Penne Vodka $16.99 + drink $2.09, + tax and 15% tip = $24.00

That is without app or dessert...So if I know I will want a snack or water during the day, at $2.00, I only have to spend $12.00 on lunch to break even. Now granted I may only spend $9.00 on lunch (turkey wrap and drink at Cosmic Ray's), but I am thinking for only $3.00 more, I *could* have ordered a dessert at lunch, supper, and appetizer.


I agree everyone has to do what they feel is best for their family. I just thought our thought process may help someone else!

 

[jonkatony]

We are returning to WDW, this summer and the plan will cost us $150 more than we spent in summer 05, this for us is fine because this time we will do more T.S.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Being vacation I just don't want to eat pb&j for lunch or be stressed about not ordering what I want b/c of cost. Does that make sense?

Make sense to me and I agree with you 100%.

We used the plan last April and will use it again this April. It's nice to order what you want without worrying about the price.

We keep food/snack in our room, but I refuse to pack lunch to carry into the parks.

We don't feel the need to order everything that's included with the dining plan. There were plenty of times when we just ordered entrées and drinks. Even without trying to get most bang out of the dining plan, we came out ahead

 

[ratfam]

I was so looking forward to using the dining plan...until I realized that we would be paying $38/day for our 10 year old. Given a choice I know she'll order off the kids' menu, and from what I've read here it sounds like she will probably have that choice at non-buffets, so I see us very likely losing money on her, and since I think that dh and I would likely break even based on analyzing where we're eating and what we would likely eat, I think we're going to skip it. It would have been fun to pick fancier places and get to try some new things, and if both the kids would have been at kid prices I would definitely have done it.