My comparison of DDP and OOP

[mom0299]

I'm in the planning stages of our June 2013 trip. We've always booked a package and had Free Dining on one of our past trips. I don't anticipate FD next summer and I'm trying to find ways to save a little money. So, I did my own comparison of the cost of DDP and OOP food. Tell me what you think of this plan. Does it look accurate?

There are four of us: Me, DH, DS16, and DD14 / DD does not eat much and a kids' meal is often plenty for her and even for me on occasion.

I looked at the menus at allears.net and picked restaurants I either knew we liked or we wanted to try. For each day I picked out two meals and a snack for each of us. That's plenty of food for us and what we would get on the DDP. For an 8 day trip I planned 5 TS, one resort pizza delivery, and the rest CS meals.

The DDP would cost us $1500.00. My OOP estimate is $925.81 and includes a 6.5% tax. That is an estimated savings of $574.19.

I know that my OOP estimate is just that, an estimate. However, I tried to be as true as I could to what I thought we'd truly eat. I did not include any desserts in the meals, but with a savings of that much we could add a few here and there.

How does that look? I'd like to know some other opinions from people who have done both the DDP and OOP for food. We do like the convenience of having it pre-paid and not having to worry about what things cost. However, it is soooooo much food and it doesn't appear to be worth it with a savings of that much.

 

[cmwade77]

In all honesty, the Dining Plan is not for everyone (unless it is free), but I truly don't find it to be a lot of food, it is usually about right. This is assuming either the counter service or basic dining plan that gives one counter service and one table service per day.

I would recommend looking at the counter service plan and factoring that in to your comparison as well. In our case, it actually might make the most sense on occasion and then fill in here and there with a table service out of pocket.

Of course, this does assume that you are used to eating three meals a day.

 

[DJFan88]

I did this very same thing for our Aug. trip. I also added in the cost of the mugs. I planned 8 TS meals and 8 counters to get an accurate count and added in the equivalent of a snack a day for each of us. Granted, we may not eat all that food as well, as sometimes we would just rather eat extra snacks versus whole meal, but none the less, this was a cost comparison. At the Table service places, I picked what I thought we would eat, added in dessert where I thought we may actually have it, as there are some with desserts my kids don't actually like. Also, if I knew I would rather eat an appetizer there, I picked that. I did not include tips, as it is not included in the DP anyway.
I found the same to be true as you did. The numbers vary a little, but I saw a $250 at least savings OOP. I also chose higher priced meals if I wasn't sure what my DH would choose at TS places, to be on the safe side. So, I'm sure the savings could be greater.
I also liked the idea of knowing I will keep the TS places, but also have freedom on what we want to eat there and also in all of our eating.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I did an analysis of our food expenses from our last trip. It was a four night trip for 2 adults. The DP would have cost us $412. We actually spent $364 and of that amount, $108 would not have been covered by the plan (tips, appetizers, drinks). If we purchased the dining plan, we would have spent $520.

I should also mention we had 4 TS lunches, 1 TS dinner and 2 CS dinners - we didn't do this because we were paying cash for our meals, it was what we wanted to eat while we were there.

 

[cmwade77]

I just did this and here is what I came out with:
DDP Total: $774.03
OOP Total: $819.79
TIW Total: $795.33

This includes all applicable taxes (don't forget to calculate this with your OOP expenses) and estimated gratuities on all plans and calculates, it also includes the refillable mugs.

The TIW price comes out higher because of the automatic 18% tip, which seems a bit high for an automatic tip to me.

Now, yes, these are all estimates, but you can see that in our case, the DDP would save money and this doesn't count the extras we would get on the dining plan that we might not order if we are not on the dining plan.

 

[mom0299]

I'm enjoying seeing all the responses. I have a year to get ready and I'm going to be obsessively planning in the mean time.

I did include tax in my estimate, but not tip since we'd have to pay for that OOP on the DDP anyway. I don't really want to add a CS DDP and then pay for a few OOP meals. I think this would cost us more in the long run.

When we are at WDW we typically eat 2 meals per day and have snacks. We usually eat breakfast in the room to save time. I am not a big soft drink drinker so I'd be happy with a cup of water which I can get for free. DD and I can share some meals and be perfectly satisfied. When we don't share at a CS we would both get a kids' meal which is plenty for us and includes a drink.

We do enjoy the experience at TS meals, but DH and I agree that we don't need one of those every day. Five out of 8 days seems to be enough.

I did go back over my plan and added about $150 worth of extras to pad the estimate a bit. Even with that I see a significant savings. I think we are going go OOP for this trip even though we've enjoyed the DDP many times before. It just seems like the best value for us.

 

[icc2515]

Wow that is a pretty big savings. I have done the numbers before and just could never make OOP come out in my favor. What TS places did you pick? Did you make any sacrifices when you did the menu planning thinking that you might be going OOP? I look at my family and just for 2 days I get: (prices according to allears)

Akershus dinner 4 x 41.53 = 166.12
ABC Commisary burger, drink and dessert = 16.77 x 4=67.08
4 snacks at 4.5 ea 18
Total for day 251.20

Crystal Palace dinner 4 x 40.99= 163.96
Pecos Bills burger, drink, dessert = 16.17 x 4= 64.68
4 snacks @4.5 each 18
total for day 246.64

Total for 2 days 497.84

I am at more than half your total and we have only eaten 2 days. Now I will say that we eat at a lot of buffets because the kids are picky. For lunch we normally go with the burgers and for some reason they are usually the most expensive thing on the menu ( at least at these 2 places). I also know that since we are on vacation my kids are gonna want dessert.

 

[brymolmom]

Wow that is a pretty big savings. I have done the numbers before and just could never make OOP come out in my favor. What TS places did you pick? Did you make any sacrifices when you did the menu planning thinking that you might be going OOP? I look at my family and just for 2 days I get: (prices according to allears)

Akershus dinner 4 x 41.53 = 166.12
ABC Commisary burger, drink and dessert = 16.77 x 4=67.08
4 snacks at 4.5 ea 18
Total for day 251.20

Crystal Palace dinner 4 x 40.99= 163.96
Pecos Bills burger, drink, dessert = 16.17 x 4= 64.68
4 snacks @4.5 each 18
total for day 246.64

Total for 2 days 497.84

I am at more than half your total and we have only eaten 2 days. Now I will say that we eat at a lot of buffets because the kids are picky. For lunch we normally go with the burgers and for some reason they are usually the most expensive thing on the menu ( at least at these 2 places). I also know that since we are on vacation my kids are gonna want dessert.

The OP was only including things she would eat...NOT what she would get in kind on the Dining Plan. For example - she said some not even getting a drink with the CS meal and never getting desserts. Sounds like she selected mostly non-buffets TS places too since it sounded like she was selecting items that they would order.

OP - I can TOTALLY see where you would come up with numbers like this. Since we eat some quick cereal in the room for our 'breakfast' most days and can easily split a few CS meals for the 4 of us and especially since we would never get desserts at CS meals (would rather get Mickey ice cream bar later instead), we, too, can save a bunch of $$ using OOP. Especially when you consider we left about 5 CS credits unused when we last had DDP since we just weren't hungry enough to eat them since it was so much food. Of course, we had the DDP for free - I don't think we would ever pay for it, unless we wanted to go to a bunch of high priced TS places on that trip for some reason.

I think after your analysis that it makes sense to just go OOP and see what happens. Even if you end up spending a few more hundred dollars - even if you end up breaking even because you want to 'splurge' once or twice more than planned - this way you have a very good chance of saving money over the DDP.

Good luck.

 

[somesong2sing]

Wow that is a pretty big savings. I have done the numbers before and just could never make OOP come out in my favor. What TS places did you pick? Did you make any sacrifices when you did the menu planning thinking that you might be going OOP? I look at my family and just for 2 days I get: (prices according to allears)

Akershus dinner 4 x 41.53 = 166.12
ABC Commisary burger, drink and dessert = 16.77 x 4=67.08
4 snacks at 4.5 ea 18
Total for day 251.20

Crystal Palace dinner 4 x 40.99= 163.96
Pecos Bills burger, drink, dessert = 16.17 x 4= 64.68
4 snacks @4.5 each 18
total for day 246.64

Total for 2 days 497.84

I am at more than half your total and we have only eaten 2 days. Now I will say that we eat at a lot of buffets because the kids are picky. For lunch we normally go with the burgers and for some reason they are usually the most expensive thing on the menu ( at least at these 2 places). I also know that since we are on vacation my kids are gonna want dessert.

I think this sounds more reasonable. Plus, when you are paying OOP you are MORE conscious of what you are eating adn buying becuase you are trying to save money.

We eat at buffets a lot too because we all enjoy different things. I love to have a salad, while my kids like to just get small tasting of a large variety of things. My other half has a high protein diet and eats a lot of meat, so that fits in the way we like to eat.

When going to Disney, we save up for the things that we like and use the FD when its out. Its generally always around the same time and easier to plan a trip that way. We always save and go off season times. Things are more enjoyable, less lines, more time to relax, and generally an amazing offer!

The refillable mug is good for us becuase my kids drink gatorade/powerade or tea and that is included. I use the coffee every morning and if I was to go to Dunkin Donuts and get a medium Coffee it would cost me around 2.00 a day. The kids having Powerade and tea is a savings too because that is a costly drink.

For the parks using a CamelPak would be ideal for those wanting to save money too.

We are going during Free Dining.

With out stay at CSR 8 nights and 9 days, Disney Dining with 1 TS, 1 QS, and 1 Snack with FD) refillable mug, 6 day park tickets with Hopper and are spending 2800.00. I just priced that same package with out FD and it was 4200. That is a 1400 dollar savings and well worth the no stress of worring about "watching" what we spend and having to share or what not.

After all, its vacation, and we like to enjoy it to the fullest!

 

[buffettgirl]

I've been doing the same sort of comparison for 2 disney newbie friends. Neither are going to be big character meal folks or dining event people (HDD etc). They all seem to think they'd order exactly the same if they had dining vs not, so they wouldn't be watching pennies without, and with that in mind we went through menus and in neither situation could I make the case for a comparable DDP vs OOP. OOP was saving one family close to what the OP had come to, and OOP was saving the other slightly less.

Neither is going during "Free dining". (is anything really free?? Aren't you just paying more for a room?) Would Disney be offering it if they weren't making money on it?

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I'm not sure how much the QS dining plan is now ($35 / per person per night?) but I can feed our family of 3 (one 12 year old, 2 actual adults) on $50 / day TOTAL.

That's all 3 of us sharing 2 CS meals for lunch & dinner and snacks during the day. We do bring our own drinks (or drink CS water which is free) and do eat breakfast in the room but to be fair the QS plan only gives each person 2 CS per day so you're either eating in your room, paying OOP for a meal or using a snack credit.

I do like paying OOP also because it allows us to spread the food out more during the day - we don't get dessert with lunch (but usually get one with dinner and split it - the resort ice cream desserts are easily big enough to share).

But $50 vs over $100 I'd say OOP is the way to go....at least for us.

Sometimes we will get the QS plan "free" but I usually end up feeling like there is too much food. It is nice to have more freedom to almost 'throw' meals away trying new things (DD tried sushi for the first time on the plan) but we eat really well when paying OOP.

 

[mom0299]

Wow that is a pretty big savings. I have done the numbers before and just could never make OOP come out in my favor. What TS places did you pick? Did you make any sacrifices when you did the menu planning thinking that you might be going OOP?

The TS I included in my plan were 'Ohana, LeCellier, Sci-Fi, 50s Prime Time, and Rainforest Cafe. Most of those were for lunch.

I did make adjustments based on what I thought we would actually eat. But with savings of that much we could afford to add dessert a few times or get a little more than what I'd planned. Even if we broke even on the food I could get a better overall deal on our trip by not purchasing a package and getting Undercover Tourist or AAA tickets and maybe a special room-only rate.

 

[krichie]

Wow, it is nice to see a comparison of the DP vs. not dining plan. For my first trip ever to DW, I was originally going to get the plus dining plan for two adults, but now I might have to do some more pre-planning. I definitely want to do a dining plan, but I'm going to explore the QS plan more - I was surprised to hear that it is too much food for so many of you.

Quick question - what is OOP and OP?

 

[ChristineOH]

The TS I included in my plan were 'Ohana, LeCellier, Sci-Fi, 50s Prime Time, and Rainforest Cafe. Most of those were for lunch.

I did make adjustments based on what I thought we would actually eat. But with savings of that much we could afford to add dessert a few times or get a little more than what I'd planned. Even if we broke even on the food I could get a better overall deal on our trip by not purchasing a package and getting Undercover Tourist or AAA tickets and maybe a special room-only rate.

Thanks for sharing your info! We are also hoping/planning to go for our second trip in June 2013, and our oldest will be an "adult" on DDP this trip. With three kids doing some character meals, it was a no brainer doing the DDP last time. We definitely saved a lot! But when you are paying adult prices for a kid who just wants chicken nuggets anyhow, you have to start looking at things more carefully.

I think free dining vs. room discount varies by family... if your kids are adults on DDP, free dining is going to be more of a value for you.

 

[brymolmom]

Wow, it is nice to see a comparison of the DP vs. not dining plan. For my first trip ever to DW, I was originally going to get the plus dining plan for two adults, but now I might have to do some more pre-planning. I definitely want to do a dining plan, but I'm going to explore the QS plan more - I was surprised to hear that it is too much food for so many of you.

Quick question - what is OOP and OP?

OOP = Out Of Pocket (as in, you just pay cash for whatever you order not using any credits or anything from a dining plan)
OP = Original Poster (person who started this thread)

 

[ChristineOH]

Wow, it is nice to see a comparison of the DP vs. not dining plan. For my first trip ever to DW, I was originally going to get the plus dining plan for two adults, but now I might have to do some more pre-planning. I definitely want to do a dining plan, but I'm going to explore the QS plan more - I was surprised to hear that it is too much food for so many of you.

Quick question - what is OOP and OP?

OOP= Out of Pocket

OP= Original Poster (the person who started the thread)

 

[collins316]

I get a kick out of the term "free" dining. It is free, because you are paying full rack rate for the room. Most of us wouldnt do that without the carrot of free dining. Most times there is a room only discount later, that is very close to equal to the value of the food, depending on your category of room.
I am going this fall on the free dining. I compared it to my AP discount. I would have gotten about 60$ cheaper with the AP and adding dining, then with free dining. But my AP expires early Sept, and I wanted to go later September,,, so I ended up splitting the stay
Every time I have done dining, and I track what I use, I end up doing very well against the cost of the plan. But we do order dessert at every meal, which we would normally never do. It is a lot of food.
If you dont want the desserts, or are happy with the less expensive entrees available, you would probably do better OOP.
There is convenience with the plan,,, but compare that against having dining reservations you have to get to at a certain time

 

[Sunnywho]

For a family of four (plus, at the time, a toddler), staying in a value during value season, the amount of food with the free dining was greater than the amount paid to stay in the room.

We did this back when it was full disney dining plan free at the values, but even with the quick service it is a fabulous discount.

 

[ssleblanc]

I set up a spreadsheet and did a comparison. I went into my analysis thinking that I did not want to purchase the dining plan - it wasn't going to be worth it.

Several things changed my mind. First, my 13 year old son eats a LOT. A whole lot. Splitting meals won't happen with him - and sometimes he eats all of his food and will finish up his sister's if she doesn't eat all of hers. My middle son is right behind him but smaller, and a smaller eater. Today. I'm starting to notice a change there. By February, I could have two very big eaters on my hands if he follows in his brother's footsteps.

We don't eat dessert much at home, but when eating out, it is a treat and they've kind of come to expect it. I know that they will want dessert after most meals (it's vacation). So OOP I do need to budget in dessert for the kids. (Really, I wish when they dropped appetizers from DDP that they would have given adults the option of appetizer OR dessert - often I'd love to have a shrimp cocktail or pre-meal salad and would rather not a dessert. But DDP includes dessert and no appetizer. )

Finally, the thing that pushed me over the edge is that we want to do several character meals. The boys are reaching the age where they are a bit too cool for that, but still young enough to enjoy it (and have the excuse of "doing it for our sister"). It is my daughter's first trip. When I calculated in the costs for Akershus, CP breakfast, Tusker House breakfast, Garden Grill, and possibly a Chef's Mickey's dinner ... oh, and a Fantasmic Dinner Package (never done that and we want to this time), the pendulum swung and now I'm getting a much better value.

Now, I'm not just adding in things included in the plan because they are included. That wouldn't make sense. But when I made a list of the things we want to do as a family, I found that DDP was the best way to budget and turned out to be a great value.

So now I've changed my mind. But if we were not planning on so many character meals and Fantasmic, DDP would not be worth it for me.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We will only consider the DDP if it's free, if not we stay offsite in a condo. We would never pay for DDP.

We're a family of 6 (baby is under 3) and we stay at POR. When we do TS meals, we order 4 entrees and share, and usually only order 2-3 desserts to share. This allows us to eat at more restaurants and also prevents the overstuffed/comatose feeling.