Is this math correct?

[davedmaine]

What happened is Disney played a beautiful long game. They gave the DDP away for free for years while they continued to raise the price. Now when most people make reservations, they think they should add (pay for) the dining plan. That's all they've ever heard people talk about and it became part of the collective planning psyche. The truth is that there are very, very few scenarios now where anyone could come out ahead. And don't use those spreadsheets; there's never been once that's been proven accurate (i.e. not taking into account that you're going to be paying a lot more in tips on the dining plan than you would be OOP)

 

[davedmaine]

We also like having the dining plan so that we can book up to 10 meals at one time. That's nice being able to set your reservations all at once. We look forward to eating at a TS meal each night so the meal/dining plan has worked for us in the past.
QUOTE]

You don't need the DDP to book reservations..

 

[AngiTN]

What happened is Disney played a beautiful long game. They gave the DDP away for free for years while they continued to raise the price. Now when most people make reservations, they think they should add (pay for) the dining plan. That's all they've ever heard people talk about and it became part of the collective planning psyche. The truth is that there are very, very few scenarios now where anyone could come out ahead. And don't use those spreadsheets; there's never been once that's been proven accurate (i.e. not taking into account that you're going to be paying a lot more in tips on the dining plan than you would be OOP)

There are people who spend more buying the dinning plan. There are people who spend less. It does work to the advantage for some. It does not work for everyone. Nothing does. I figured our costs using menus, not a calculator and I know for certain it helps us to use the dining plan. Do we save a lot of money? No we do not. We break even or maybe save $100. But we do not spend more. Of that I am certain. And you need to consider the "cost" of peace of mind. For some that's worth quite a lot

 

[WillAustin]

There are people who spend more buying the dinning plan. There are people who spend less. It does work to the advantage for some. It does not work for everyone. Nothing does. I figured our costs using menus, not a calculator and I know for certain it helps us to use the dining plan. Do we save a lot of money? No we do not. We break even or maybe save $100. But we do not spend more. Of that I am certain. And you need to consider the "cost" of peace of mind. For some that's worth quite a lot

We are lucky enough to eat in a way that comes out ahead on the Deluxe plan. We came out hundreds of dollars ahead on a 10 night trip last summer. I kept the receipts and figured it out after we got back, just to make sure it was worth it. We do all meals TS and a daily signature, always get appetizers and desserts, generally tip well, and we do the same when we pay OOP. With the new pricing for this year, it's a lot closer, but we decided if we project it to be anywhere close, we'd do the Deluxe plan again for the convenience of it.

 

[sunnydays28]

Thanks for all the input. We have looked at almost all the menus for restaurants that would interest us and other than maybe adding hoop dee do or the luau, we are going to be very content with snacks or counter service. We have no interest in doing a TS type meal every day, we are going to be easily under $700 so there is no way we will need the DDP.

We will address the allergies at each of the 2-3 TS we will have, we have done that before and they are extremely helpful and yummy. But snacks would be a total waste for us--other than the fresh fruit, which we will have ourselves there is not a snack she can have.