My two sentence DDP Financial Analysis

If you don't care about the amount but still want to budget for food, why not just budget based on the price of the deluxe plan, but pay out of pocket? The total amount you pay out of pocket will be close to the plan price and you won't have the stress of maximizing the dining plan or worry about making changes mid-trip. That would be the least stressful option of all.

Because you MAY exceed what the cost of the dining plan would've cost.
 
If you don't care about the amount but still want to budget for food, why not just budget based on the price of the deluxe plan, but pay out of pocket? The total amount you pay out of pocket will be close to the plan price and you won't have the stress of maximizing the dining plan or worry about making changes mid-trip. That would be the least stressful option of all.

Several of you have alluded to that, so I guess it reduces stress for you, and I'm glad. I would think the DDP would be less stressful for me; pay up front and never have to worry about it again.
 
If you don't care about the amount but still want to budget for food, why not just budget based on the price of the deluxe plan, but pay out of pocket? The total amount you pay out of pocket will be close to the plan price and you won't have the stress of maximizing the dining plan or worry about making changes mid-trip. That would be the least stressful option of all.

I never said I was stressed or worried about maximizing the dining plan. I've even left credits on the table before. I mentioned earlier that I like the fact that it's pre-paid. It becomes an all-inclusive vacation. Its also part of my vacation package on my Disney Visa which is 6 months no interest.

But to echo others, even at budgeting the cost of DxDP and paying OOP, you still REALLY don't know if it's enough if you're going to eat freely ordering what you want. You'd still have to keep track of your spending to ensure you're on par with your budget. I already do that with alcohol and souvenirs, so the DDP takes the food element out of the equation for me.
 
If you don't care about the amount but still want to budget for food, why not just budget based on the price of the deluxe plan, but pay out of pocket? The total amount you pay out of pocket will be close to the plan price and you won't have the stress of maximizing the dining plan or worry about making changes mid-trip. That would be the least stressful option of all.
Why do you seem to have such a vested interest in making sure that someone does not purchase the dining plan? This is what I was talking about and what confuses me about these threads. People have said that they like using the dining plan. Why do they need to justify it? Why do you want to talk them out of it? Let them use the dining plan and you pay out of pocket. Simple.
 


Why do you seem to have such a vested interest in making sure that someone does not purchase the dining plan? This is what I was talking about and what confuses me about these threads. People have said that they like using the dining plan. Why do they need to justify it? Why do you want to talk them out of it? Let them use the dining plan and you pay out of pocket. Simple.

:worship:
 
I don't care how or what other's eat or how they pay for it. The plan would never work for the way I eat, so I never consider it. The annoying thing in threads of this are the people that think they're way is the ONLY way. Most people have larger appetites and preferences than I do. I rarely, rarely eat sweets (although I enjoy a Dole Whip while at WDW), and generally give 0 poops about dessert. Some people LOVE eating a dessert a day while on vacation so the DDP works for them, but the one and only way thing gets tired.
 
We use the Dining Plan mainly so I don't have to stress about money when we are eating. Based on the way we eat, we are at the break even point on the plan, so it works for us. I know that I would always order the cheapest thing even if I wanted something more expensive just to save money. We probably wouldn't do any character meals because I know I wouldn't be able to stomach actually putting down my debit card for nearly $100 for 2 people to eat breakfast at Chef Mickey's. When I pay it upfront as part of the "Package" the sting of the prices is so much easier to digest.
 


It doesn't work that way for us.

After doing the Dining Plan once we realized what a huge waste of money it was for us. We left with at least 4 unused QS meals and 12 unused snacks (and that was back when there was only one snack a day). So we found the opposite - on the Dining Plan we didn't feel that we could eat exactly what we wanted or eat the way we wanted to eat - there were many times when we wanted something that wasn't allowed on the dining plan, or more frequently our son didn't like anything on the kid's menu and wanted something on the adult menu. So we ended up paying additional money out of pocket to get what we wanted and to make sure our son enjoyed his food.

The biggest problem for us is that we simply cannot eat that much food. My husband and I often split an appetizer and an entree for dinner, or we get two appetizers and share them. We never each order an appetizer AND an entree and no one in my family gets dessert at the end of the meal - we think there are more interesting options at other locations in the park and if we feel like a snack we might get something sweet someplace else.

I'm not about to stuff myself or force a child to eat something they aren't happy with simply because I can pre-pay for my food. It's not like it's inconvenient to have my magic band scanned at a restaurant.
 
If you're concerned about budgeting, then it would be worth your while to figure out if it's going to save you money, yes? If you're unsure and the odds are that it will end up costing you more, then you're not keeping within your budget. It's simpler NOT to get the dining plan and worry about points, meals, eating the most expensive items, having desserts that you may not want, etc. If you know you're going to have two meals (with entree, app, and dessert) and two snacks every day and will order the most expensive items from the menus, then you should probably get the Deluxe plan. If you want the freedom to eat what you want when you want, pay out of pocket. Those are the two sentences the OP should have written.
Then you should have written the original post. But you didn't. Budgeting doesn't mean saving money, it means planning how much you're going to spend.
If you don't care about the amount but still want to budget for food, why not just budget based on the price of the deluxe plan, but pay out of pocket? The total amount you pay out of pocket will be close to the plan price and you won't have the stress of maximizing the dining plan or worry about making changes mid-trip. That would be the least stressful option of all.
You know what would be the least stressful? What works for me, not what works for you. If you want to worry about my stress level then why don't you come pay for my vacation. You are mighty invested in telling people how to spend their money on food. Do you have some kind of stake in how many people spend out of pocking instead of buying the dining plan? No? Then enough. We get it, you don't like it. Good, then YOU don't need to get it.


Several of you have alluded to that, so I guess it reduces stress for you, and I'm glad. I would think the DDP would be less stressful for me; pay up front and never have to worry about it again.
Yes yes yes! That's why we get the DDP. All paid. Done. Who cares what the menu prices are, it's paid for.

Why do you seem to have such a vested interest in making sure that someone does not purchase the dining plan? This is what I was talking about and what confuses me about these threads. People have said that they like using the dining plan. Why do they need to justify it? Why do you want to talk them out of it? Let them use the dining plan and you pay out of pocket. Simple.
*golf clap*
 
(ok I didnt read whole thread), but as a Fla resident and passholder, I wish they would let you get the DDP even for a one night stay. We have been driving over in the afternoon, do whatever, stay over, do most or half a day. I would probably buy DDP if I could.
 
I never said I was stressed or worried about maximizing the dining plan. I've even left credits on the table before. I mentioned earlier that I like the fact that it's pre-paid. It becomes an all-inclusive vacation. Its also part of my vacation package on my Disney Visa which is 6 months no interest.

But to echo others, even at budgeting the cost of DxDP and paying OOP, you still REALLY don't know if it's enough if you're going to eat freely ordering what you want. You'd still have to keep track of your spending to ensure you're on par with your budget. I already do that with alcohol and souvenirs, so the DDP takes the food element out of the equation for me.

The whole point of calculating the costs beforehand is that you know if it's going to cost more or less with a plan. If you know the outcome, then you don't need to keep track of ever little charge. If you know that you "left credits on the table before" then you know you lost money and that's a good sign you're not doing it right. The biggest irony is that you're using your "Disney Visa which is 6 months no interest" to pay. The whole fear of spending money you may not have is right out the window.

Do what you want for yourself, but don't recommend it to people as a smart thing to do.

Then you should have written the original post. But you didn't.

I had no idea there was such a rabid dining plan fan base. I'm glad I didn't.

Budgeting doesn't mean saving money, it means planning how much you're going to spend.

I didn't raise the issue about budgeting. nkereina did. She said, "We're not dealing with variables, which is important to many people who are budgeting." A budget is an estimate. If the plan price is similar in cost to out of pocket, just use the plan price as your out of pocket food budget. You don't actually need to get the plan if your not saving money. Just set your budget on that fixed amount knowing you'll come out ahead no matter what you buy out of pocket. This really isn't a hard concept to grasp.

You know what would be the least stressful? What works for me, not what works for you. If you want to worry about my stress level then why don't you come pay for my vacation. You are mighty invested in telling people how to spend their money on food. Do you have some kind of stake in how many people spend out of pocking instead of buying the dining plan? No? Then enough. We get it, you don't like it. Good, then YOU don't need to get it.

I couldn't care less about what you do, but don't act like paying extra is smart. I already said, if it's cheaper to get the plan, do it. If not, don't. That's the best advice anyone can give. I honestly don't see what's so controversial about this?
 
The whole point of calculating the costs beforehand is that you know if it's going to cost more or less with a plan. If you know the outcome, then you don't need to keep track of ever little charge. If you know that you "left credits on the table before" then you know you lost money and that's a good sign you're not doing it right. The biggest irony is that you're using your "Disney Visa which is 6 months no interest" to pay. The whole fear of spending money you may not have is right out the window.

Do what you want for yourself, but don't recommend it to people as a smart thing to do.



I had no idea there was such a rabid dining plan fan base. I'm glad I didn't.



I didn't raise the issue about budgeting. nkereina did. She said, "We're not dealing with variables, which is important to many people who are budgeting." A budget is an estimate. If the plan price is similar in cost to out of pocket, just use the plan price as your out of pocket food budget. You don't actually need to get the plan if your not saving money. Just set your budget on that fixed amount knowing you'll come out ahead no matter what you buy out of pocket. This really isn't a hard concept to grasp.



I couldn't care less about what you do, but don't act like paying extra is smart. I already said, if it's cheaper to get the plan, do it. If not, don't. That's the best advice anyone can give. I honestly don't see what's so controversial about this?
Hmmmm...you're the one ranting repeatedly about what a poor choice the dining plan is, so you do seem to care. Very much. I said it works FOR ME. :rolleyes1
 
Hmmmm...you're the one ranting repeatedly about what a poor choice the dining plan is, so you do seem to care. Very much. I said it works FOR ME. :rolleyes1

I already said I don't care what you do. Toss your money in a furnace. I won't stop you. Now please stop stalking me.
 
I love when the dining plan riles people up! Who knew.

We did it last time we went (free dining) and loved it. Taking the room discount didn't save us as much, and I plugged in our restaurant plan to displanner to make sure (I realize this is not accurate down the the penny because we may change what we order). We have kids and like character meals and signature restaurants which seems to make a big difference. I also completely plan out where we want to eat before we go, we like having a schedule. We're not big on appetizers and I love dessert, as do the kids, and DH had good luck subbing for a side. The only time I regretted it was when we went to Food and Wine and also ate at Biergarten - too much food. Wish we would have skipped a table service at F&W and used it to double up for another signature dinner.

DH felt much more relaxed knowing our food was paid for ahead of time. That is worth something to him (and me, let's be honest, because I have to deal with his stress :upsidedow) because he didn't have to worry when he saw a $300 bill. It's a mind thing - but who cares. Some people pay for travel insurance because it gives them peace of mind, even though the likelihood of needing that specific kind of insurance is very slim, why does it matter if someone pays more to worry less?
 
I love the passion many of you feel about your side of the discussion, i.e. "I want you to do what's best for your family, but here's why you're wrong!" As the OP, I think it's refreshing and have no problem with it on either side of the "healthy debate". :rockband: I'm still going to make up my own mind, in fact, we may even book two rooms, half dining plan and half OOP by the time it's all said and done.

I am curious, however, for those of you who do your analysis and decide OOP is best for your party, do you insist on sticking to your analysis once you're actually on vacation? By that, I mean, if you go to a restaurant that has something that looks fantastic, but costs much more than what you initially calculated, do you go away from your analysis and just go ahead and order the expensive meal? And if you do, do you re-evaluate your analysis when your return home, or, instead, perhaps try to eat something "cheaper" later in your week to get back to your overall budget plans?
 
The whole point of calculating the costs beforehand is that you know if it's going to cost more or less with a plan. If you know the outcome, then you don't need to keep track of ever little charge. If you know that you "left credits on the table before" then you know you lost money and that's a good sign you're not doing it right. The biggest irony is that you're using your "Disney Visa which is 6 months no interest" to pay. The whole fear of spending money you may not have is right out the window.

Do what you want for yourself, but don't recommend it to people as a smart thing to do.

But I don't know what I am going to order at every meal at every restaurant a month before travel, nor what my family will order, so how can I possibly know the cost outcome with any accuracy? Budgeting is still a guessing game with many variables. The dining plan takes the variables out of it. It's as simple as that for me and I'm willing to pay for that. And there's no right or wrong way to "do" the dining plan. It's going to be individual for everyone.

You're assuming I'm spending money I may not have... we've known each other all our lives and you know personal things like that about me right? LOL. Since you're not familiar with it, the advantage of the Disney Visa is earning points to use in the parks while taking 6 months to pay it off at no interest. Whether I pay it in full now or I pay it off in month 4 or month 6 is exactly the same, since no interest is accruing. So why wouldn't someone take advantage of that when there's other ancillary things that need to be paid off now.

You must be confusing me with someone else - I never recommended the DDP as a "smart" thing to do. My first post in this thread said overtly that its NOT a money savings so if someone is considering the plan for that reason, that's not a good reason. I simply stated the reasons why I like it. If someone identifies with my reasoning and wants to purchase the plan for the same reasons, so be it. But this is a discussion board and we are all merely discussing why we do and do not like DDP. I'm not sure why DDP and those of us that purchase it personally offends you so much.
 
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everyone to their respective corners please

The dining plan works for some, not for others

we knows this, we all know this

feel free to keep your convictions but layoff the multiquotes - overkill and not needed

carry on
 
It doesn't work that way for us.

After doing the Dining Plan once we realized what a huge waste of money it was for us. We left with at least 4 unused QS meals and 12 unused snacks (and that was back when there was only one snack a day). So we found the opposite - on the Dining Plan we didn't feel that we could eat exactly what we wanted or eat the way we wanted to eat - there were many times when we wanted something that wasn't allowed on the dining plan, or more frequently our son didn't like anything on the kid's menu and wanted something on the adult menu. So we ended up paying additional money out of pocket to get what we wanted and to make sure our son enjoyed his food.

The biggest problem for us is that we simply cannot eat that much food. My husband and I often split an appetizer and an entree for dinner, or we get two appetizers and share them. We never each order an appetizer AND an entree and no one in my family gets dessert at the end of the meal - we think there are more interesting options at other locations in the park and if we feel like a snack we might get something sweet someplace else.

I'm not about to stuff myself or force a child to eat something they aren't happy with simply because I can pre-pay for my food. It's not like it's inconvenient to have my magic band scanned at a restaurant.

Sounds like you were on DxDP? Regular DDP doesn't come with an appetizer at each meal. I agree that DxDP is a ton of food. It's beneficial for those using it for signature meals, but otherwise, it would be easy to leave credits unused due to the amount of food.

For DH and I, we both enjoy eating and work up an appetite after walking in the parks all day. Neither of us ever feel stuffed with the entitlements that regular DDP allows. One entree each plus a small dessert each that we can pick at is pretty sufficient for us at dinner or a sit down lunch. If it's a lot for you, then that's fine but I would respectfully disagree that it's a lot for the average adult.
 
I love the passion many of you feel about your side of the discussion, i.e. "I want you to do what's best for your family, but here's why you're wrong!" As the OP, I think it's refreshing and have no problem with it on either side of the "healthy debate". :rockband: I'm still going to make up my own mind, in fact, we may even book two rooms, half dining plan and half OOP by the time it's all said and done.

I am curious, however, for those of you who do your analysis and decide OOP is best for your party, do you insist on sticking to your analysis once you're actually on vacation? By that, I mean, if you go to a restaurant that has something that looks fantastic, but costs much more than what you initially calculated, do you go away from your analysis and just go ahead and order the expensive meal? And if you do, do you re-evaluate your analysis when your return home, or, instead, perhaps try to eat something "cheaper" later in your week to get back to your overall budget plans?


I'm in the do what you want camp, but I do caution folks to at least know what you're getting into either way.

I'm also in the camp that ran "all the numbers" and can't really find a way the dining plan makes sense for our next trip. We did the regular dining plan last year because it was the first time going since having kids, and we didn't know how long it'd be until we got back so we ran with it. (Turns out my son has a tournament in Orlando this summer so back we go). Knowing we were going to use it, I maxed it out with character/buffet dining and "saved" a good bit of money doing that.

This go around, it's just too large a gap to fill. We picked our dining spots first. My wife and I picked the meals we want and what our two kids are likely to get. Yes, if any of us wants something else on the spot, we'll change it no problem, but there aren't that many locations where I'm likely to change my mind, and we know our kids pretty well. Even at that, the price difference for kids meals is pretty small. I estimate a $515 gap between OOP and the regular dining plan (snacks included). It would take a lot of upgrades to close that gap. That's over a 14-day stay with 10 in the parks.

That's just for us and just for this trip. We're doing much less character dining this go around. Your mileage may vary.
 
With annual pass/dvc discount on so much food, I cannot justify it. I'll roll the dice, order what I want, and hope I come out better. I also feel like I overeat when using the dining plan, especially the snacks.
 

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