My DH does NOT want to get the dining plan. Kinda Long

[maslex]

We've never done the DP before but I think it would be great to have. We have just started to plan our July trip and he thinks it'll be "a rip off" if we got the DP. (he's VERY leary about everything) He also said that he doesn't want a vacation where you have to plan around your meals. He says he wants to just stroll through the park and eat wherever and whenever we want and not have to worry about being at a certain place at a certain time and it taking away from our Disney time. Does this make sense at all to you? Has your DH or DW felt the same way and what have you done about it?

It will be my family of 4 (DH, me, DS10, DS11) and then we'll probably be bringing DH's nephew (11) (SIL will be paying for DN's costs)

He keeps asking me whats so special about the DP. I tell him that we get to eat at places we normally wouldn't have (he's a bit on the thrifty side and we don't normally eat like at the TS restaurants) we'll be able to eat basically whatever we want (within reason), we'll be able to do a few character dinners/breakfasts, etc. So he looked online and checked it out and explained to me that all we get is a TS credit, CS credit and a snack credit. I told him that I already knew that and that everyone on this board says that it is ALOT of food. Then he says, but that doesn't include breakfast, so we'll have to pay OOP for that and it's just not in the budget. I think he "budgeted" $1200 for food and if I calculated correctly (for the 4 of us) it came out to $1400 (then extra for breakfast)

I've read through quite a few threads already and to me it seems to be quite a deal (not as good as the FREE DP) BUT.....how can I convince him that it's worth it?

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Well, you can tell DH that he won't be able to stroll through the park and eat whatever he wants (dining plan or not, you will need ADR's) unless all he wants to eat is CS.

Last year we did the DDP for the first time (we are doing it again this year) and granted we ordered more than we would have normally ordered but we paid about $600 for the plan and after I tallied up our receipts we ate and tipped (remember tips are included) $1200.

DH and I were eating shrimp cocktails and steaks, we did a bunch of character meals. IMO its TOTALLY worth it.

If for nothing else, its worth it to us know that the trip is almost completely paid for. Takes the stress out of ordering and budgeting.

You don't have to plan your trip around meals, tell him that a Disney vacation done rights requires a bit of planning, all your planning is which park you will be in each day and choose one reservation a day.

We do not, I repeat do Commando trips. We do 6 days and only 2 parks, but our meals are planned. We dine at resorts, we dine in the parks, its just great and not structured at all.

 

[GC&S]

Let him know that if you plan on eating at any TS's - you'll still need ADR's - with or without the DP. I would break it down day by day and show him what it would cost on the DP and off the DP. But if you only eat CS, it won't be worth it. Go to Allears.net and they have the menus (and I think prices). One TS meal pays for the DP and then it's like getting the CS and snack for free - that's how I sold it my DH. But we also eat TS at least once a day so it was a no brainer.

The first time we did the DP, we felt we were planning our whole trip around our ADR's and it was pretty tiring. We are park hoppers so just learned how to hop to the last park where our ADR's were. Our last two trips have been wonderful and we didn't feel like the DP was running our lives. We only cancelled one ADR when we were at DTD and didn't want to go back to MK.

Good luck!

 

[GC&S]

Oh, I wanted to add that my sister was not convinced about the DP either - she was so worried about the breakfast issue that they would have to pay OOP. We usually take breakfast food with us (cereal, poptarts, etc) so they did that too and it worked out great. Or you could use a couple of TS for breakfast - and then use your CS for dinner. We never went hungry on the DP.

 

[Dori's Twin]

Hello:
I understand your situation. We're leaving for WDW in 9 days, and a while back my DH wasn't sold on the idea either.
Now, I love to figure this kind of thing out so I decided to see for myself if it was worth it. I posted many questions on this board and the members were so patient with my learning curve.

I understand all your DH concerns. I can't say for sure if we're going to like the DP but I have convinved DH to try it. This is what I did to convince him and it really sounds nuts, but it did help with the decision.

We visit WDW very often. We like the sit-down dining experiences in WDW. We also know how important it is to plan your days. It's a very expensive vacation and we want to get the most out of it.
After I figured out what parks we would be visiting I planned where we would like to eat and made ADR's for these places.

Next I went to allears.net and looked up the menus for each dining experience and guestimated what the cost would be for a meal. I can do this pretty easily because my kids are extremely predictable with their eating habits. I added in drinks and adult beverages, tax and tip.

The next thing I had to figure was if I went with the DDP what OOP expenses would I have using the plan. This was tricky. I found a spread sheet on this forum. It was a fantastic way to alot the credits for the various meals. I was making a big mistake using my credits for the breakfast meals until someone suggested I save my CS credits for the more expensive meals. What worked for my family is to pay OOP for breakfast. http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/MYM-Dining-Planner.xls I believe this is the link for the spread sheet.

Each day we had OOP expenses for adult beverages, and our breakfast and we even run out of TS credits for our last breakfast so we needed to pay OOP for 3 people. I added all these OOP expenses to the cost of DDP and compared it to my guestimate of dining without and I saw that I saved about $200.

It was a time consuming project but it was necessary and I had fun doing it.

I won't know until we get back if it was worth it for one reason or another.

If you want to see my earlier post it's under the title of "Need help from professors of DDP".

I'm new to this board and not an expert, just wanted to share how I resolved the issue.

Good luck,
Dori's Twin

 

[minster22]

One of the ways I convinced DH to do the DP was to take a couple menus of the restaurants where we planned on eating and had him order his food (making sure he ordered with no consideration to the price). I did this for both counter service and table service. I added all the items up, added tax and tip and when he saw the figures he could not believe what a fabulous buy the plan was going to be.We went with 5 adults ( 1 being a teenager and 2 twenty somethings....all who love to eat!!!) and when you add up all five meals this way and see how much your food could cost without the plan it is a reality check. The paying up front on your vacation is also keeping you within a budget without ever feeling deprived ( the abundance of food is more than enough). We also used snack credit for breakfast many times....Sunshine Seasons has oatmeal that was a smack credit and Beaches and Cream had a breakfast parfait of yogurt and berries and granola (Delicious!!). Not sure where you are staying but if is very easy to have a quick breakfast in your room. Of course not eggs and bacon but cereal, muffins whatever works for your family.

 

[paulh]

on the breakfast isue we have found that the snack credit would cover it for us,we would get a muffin or a dainish in the mornning from food court.As you will be full from to outher meals a light brekkie is worth having
Paulh

 

[Delaware Mike]

on the breakfast isue we have found that the snack credit would cover it for us,we would get a muffin or a dainish in the mornning from food court.As you will be full from to outher meals a light brekkie is worth having
Paulh

I agree with Paul on brekkie... a couple snack credits cover this for DW and I when we take our annual WDW vacation.

Other posters have covered costs quite well, however let me add that we saved $400.00 on DDP over our "normal" WDW meal costs. ...and that's for 2 adults who don't order the largest meals on the menus. (We were on DDP for 8 nights (9 days) last September.)

 

[ILVPOOH]

We also used our snack credits for breakfast (box of donuts, bagel, muffin). If your children aren't big eaters then they could split a CS meal (get a double cheeseburger, extra roll and split). Then you could save some CS credits for breakfast.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Five guests strolling around around eating wherever at whim will not have as much luck as your DH is anticipating. Sometimes you may be fine. Sometimes you could be eating at your third choice of the restaurant, going somewhere way out of your way or sufficing with a lot of counter service.
With kids in tow I would not want that. (Although adults with low blood sugar can be twice as bad.)
That being said, we found when vacationing here in the hot summer months, we drank a lot more fluids all day and were a lot less hungry due to the heat and additional fluids filling our stomachs.
If your family is not particular, have no health issues and very fexible you could chance it.
But I think you would find it much more enjoyable on the DDP.

 

[jenseib]

The DDP is what is convincing my DH to go! LOL! He is excitied that once we get there, there will be litttle OOP money spent. His cousin just went and came back telling him horror stories about how expensive the food is there. Which is true. You will most like soned at least 10 bucks a person on a decent CS meal for an adult. Maybe 7, but when I went several years ago ( I wasn't amrried to DH then) I spent alot of money on food in the park and tried to do as much sharing as possible! Now if we weren't on the plan, we wouldn't go to any sit down dinners or maybe jsut one. And definately wouldn't even think at looking athe character meals. But since we are going to do the DDP we are planning to try for at least to Character meals.
Also I have been told that there are boxes of 6 donuts that can be bought with the snack credit, so there is breakfas for a few people. I still figure we will need to buy a few drinks here and there, especially for the 2 year old, but in the big picture, I think we wil lbe eating good and saving money. And I know it won't be all fast food type food as well! Which was one of the things I worried about staying on property.

 

[The Sweetness]

If you want to have a meal a day as TS, you will need ADRs and be planning your day around that meal anyway. Whether you have the DP doesnt matter, in that respect. If he just wants to do CS meals only (I have had trips where I dined on CS alone for 3 out of 4 days, due to our tight budget)

If he wants to do a buffet, or be served, make the ADR for those meals. Then, if there arent enough of them to use 1TS per person, per day, just skip the plan and pay OOP. Also, with the plan there will probably be more food offered than what you usually eat in a TS. (an ap and dessert as well as entree for every person is alot)

The DDP is worth it, for me, since we do want a TS every day (what a treat ) But I dont know how much it will save us. The DP is part of a package, and that package does not allow for any florida resident discounts. I could do the package with AAA, but I dont know yet how much it will save me. Untill we do our taxes next month, I just have a room only res at ASMO, which I paid $1000 for, for 8 nights (I am used to paying less than half that)

 

[lovehoney]

Your DH actually has a valid point. If your not used to stopping for TS meals, it really does cut into your park touring time. However many people consider eating at several TS part of their vacation experience. It depends a lot on your family and their eating habits.

I've always been a CS kinda girl, but my husband is more of the sit down type. My sister's family would never ever consider a vacation with out at least one or two table services a day.

On our last two trips we used the DDP. It was great trying out the different TS; we love Boma! However sometimes it seemed like a chore to get to a TS on time - I wanted to stay and play in the parks. We've always cancelled at least one TS each trip.

You just need to weigh your pros and cons. It really is nice not having to worry about money when ordering your meals. My husband really loves the idea of the having most of the food paid for before the vacation. It's easier to stay on a budget that way.

Personally, I say try it this once. If you don't like it you never have to do it again.

 

[gobster100]

If you enjoy good food, you will find that you very quickly spend over $38.99 per day on food if you are not on the plan. We went last Summer with our 3 girls (who are all over 10 so adult according to Disney). Our food bill would have been $1900 if we paid a la carte. Yes, it require planning, and yes if all you want to do is stroll the parks and eat counter service it is probably not for you. Breakfast was not an issue for us. There is too much food, and the snack will buy a lot of breakfast items. Fruitcups, yogurts etc.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Go to Allears.net and they have the menus (and I think prices).

Nah, no need to "go" anywhere. ALL that information is available right here on http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm - home of the DisBoards!

 

[TheDizDad]

Well obviously he hates his money then.

 

[DisneydaveCT]

I was skeptical about the DDP when I first used it last month, but after my first day of my trip I was sold on the plan. In fact, when I go down two weeks from today, I am using the DDP again.

I had not considered using the snack credit for breakfast, but I think that is an excellent idea. I handled breakfast by taking my TS dessert back to my room and ate it with my morning coffee. By the time dessert arrived, I was too full to enjoy the dessert immediately after dinner.

I also used my last snack credit to buy a bag of pretzels to munch on during my flight home.

As far as your husband's desire to walk around and make a decision at the last minute, the other posters are correct, you need to make ADR's. I have found that I can still have that walk around feeling by programming the Disney Dining phone number into my cell phone....and then I can call Disney Dining during a break in my day, or while standing in line at a ride, to arrange for an ADR.

 

[SGMCO]

My Family and I (2 Adults and 1 child-10years old) took a 8 day 7 night stay at Disney Resort and we did not do the Dining Plan and we saved at least $300.00.
We had more money for souvenirs. My son had just turned 10 and I knew he would not be able to eat that much food and cost was too much for age. I looked up menus of counter service to plan where and how much things cost and there is a lot of choice besides just pizza and burgers some very healthy.
We also did 1 Character Breakfast at O'hanas and paid for it with my Points that I earned from my Disney Visa. It was very good breakfast but takes quite a bit of time to get to O'hana using Disney transportation from out resort. I'm glad we only did one sit down because we were free eat as we pleased when we were hungry and we did not gain any additional weight because of it. I can see why the obesity rate is growing in the US. We are going again this year and plan to do the same we will only change our minds on the DP if Disney offers Free Dining.

 

[TDC Nala]

You CAN use your TS, CR or snack credit for breakfast. There is nothing in the plan literature that states each credit should be destined for a specific meal.

And the others are right...the days of walking around and spontaneously picking a TS restaurant at the last second are over. Especially if you want to eat at a popular place at peak dining times, you MUST make an ADR if you don't want to take a chance on being turned away.

 

[The Sweetness]

If the family just wants to stop whenever the old stomach growls, Dp is a definite no- go. Ofcourse, the CS may well be the only option when hunger strikes, but it is ample. There are choces in each park. My fam has lived on CS at WDW and had lovely trips. This time, however, I am excited to do a TS dinner at @ 5 every day

I may hate the DP (having to be at the right place at the right time) Ill find out in 4 months (tick tick tick tick~~~)