Newbie questions.

[howaboutme]

Hi all.

I have another question regarding the dining plans. I am pricing out the plans at full rate for the period we think we'll be at the resort. QS is ~$516 total for 5 nights. That equals around $103/night. We will have 4, 2 adults and 1 paying child and 1 child under 3. That equals to be $34/night per person assuming the child is adult for ease of math. Since the child under 3 is free, it's not fair to divide by 4. Assuming we fly in in the latter part of the 1st night (and fly out the first part of the day) and have enough time to only utilize 1 of the credits per person, that leaves a decent amount left over for the next 4 nights plus some OOP table service.

My question is, how is possible to spend less than $34 per person per night at WDW? How can the QS not pay itself off? My question is more in reference to the people that didn't think the FD was worth it. (Even the DDP is only about $200 more in total.) Keep in mind this is late August. Am I doing the calculations wrong?

Thank you!

 

[WDWRook]

Here is the dining plan costs.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

 

[AngiTN]

Hi all.

I have another question regarding the dining plans. I am pricing out the plans at full rate for the period we think we'll be at the resort. QS is ~$516 total for 5 nights. That equals around $103/night. We will have 4, 2 adults and 1 paying child and 1 child under 3. That equals to be $34/night per person assuming the child is adult for ease of math. Since the child under 3 is free, it's not fair to divide by 4. Assuming we fly in in the latter part of the 1st night (and fly out the first part of the day) and have enough time to only utilize 1 of the credits per person, that leaves a decent amount left over for the next 4 nights plus some OOP table service.

My question is, how is possible to spend less than $34 per person per night at WDW? How can the QS not pay itself off? My question is more in reference to the people that didn't think the FD was worth it. (Even the DDP is only about $200 more in total.) Keep in mind this is late August. Am I doing the calculations wrong?

Thank you!

The QS Dining plan costs $42.84 per night per adult.
That's for 2 QS meals and 1 snack.
If you pay OOP for those meals as you would normally eat (do you eat Dessert each meal?) there is little chance you'd spend that much per person. It's pretty hard to spend $20/person/meal for QS. Maybe if you ate at BOG every meal

 

[howaboutme]

Here is the dining plan costs.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

Thanks for the link. That was very helpful.

The QS Dining plan costs $42.84 per night per adult.
That's for 2 QS meals and 1 snack.
If you pay OOP for those meals as you would normally eat (do you eat Dessert each meal?) there is little chance you'd spend that much per person. It's pretty hard to spend $20/person/meal for QS. Maybe if you ate at BOG every meal

Thank you. Looking at the link previously provided and doing a quick search on prices, I am rather surprised at the price of QS restaurants. I imagined them to be ridiculously expensive. We typically don't eat dessert but we are typically a 3 meal family. Assuming 3 meals with breakfast not being a "snack", the QS starts to make better sense?

Thoughts? Or perhaps that 3rd meal is the freedom to do OOP on a few occasions? So overwhelming.....

Appreciate everyone's help!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Short answer:
The dining plans are not designed to save guests money.

You can work the system if you always buy the most expensive items on the menu, or do only character meals. But then you have to figure in the tip, so it's possibly still not worth it.

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks for the link. That was very helpful.



Thank you. Looking at the link previously provided and doing a quick search on prices, I am rather surprised at the price of QS restaurants. I imagined them to be ridiculously expensive. We typically don't eat dessert but we are typically a 3 meal family. Assuming 3 meals with breakfast not being a "snack", the QS starts to make better sense?

Thoughts? Or perhaps that 3rd meal is the freedom to do OOP on a few occasions? So overwhelming.....

Appreciate everyone's help!

I suggest you plug your dining options in at a Dining Plan Calculator and see what the numbers show.
It will take a bit of fanagling to get 3 QS credits per day

 

[sharonabe]

Thanks for the link. That was very helpful.



Thank you. Looking at the link previously provided and doing a quick search on prices, I am rather surprised at the price of QS restaurants. I imagined them to be ridiculously expensive. We typically don't eat dessert but we are typically a 3 meal family. Assuming 3 meals with breakfast not being a "snack", the QS starts to make better sense?

Thoughts? Or perhaps that 3rd meal is the freedom to do OOP on a few occasions? So overwhelming.....

Appreciate everyone's help!

You are staying for 5 nights and you have 3 people on the plan. That means you will have 30 meals "paid for" with the QSDP over the course of your stay. If your travel plans keep you from using any on your arrival and departure days, then you will only be using 4 days for all your meals. That's 7 meals for 2 days and 8 meals for 2 days between the 3 of you (4 with your other little one). With the new rules of being able to use your drink/dessert entitlements for a snack item on the menu, you should be able to feed all of you all three meals for those 4 days with the plan. Whether it will be cheaper than paying OOP remains to be seen, but you would have freedom of eating whatever you want without regard to cost, if that appeals to you. One thing to remember, breakfast meals lose the dessert entitlement; you only get the entree and drink. If you eat at your resort, you can use your mug for the drink, so you can still get one snack item in place of the drink to round out a meal for all of you.

In order to really maximize the value, you will need to do some planning and looking at menus to decide where you want to eat each day. Give yourself a couple options for each meal, so you have some flexibility when you're in the park.

 

[momimouse27]

Hi.

Just wanting to say that I'm in the "for" group for the DP. It's been a couple of years since I've actually sat and priced it out, to be honest. But after our quick visit in November and paying for several sit downs, I remember what an absolute convenience it really is. Yes, it may be pricey. But once you pay your balance, check in to your room and get started on your vacation-it's one less thing to worry about.

I have to tell you I am a budget-er...in and out of Disney. I am always looking for a deal. But I enjoy going to Disney and I like eating out there. When I don't get the DDP, I have to make envelopes keeping us on track with money, and I hate it! I like being able to just know that the food is taken care of. The one downside of the DDP is the tips not being included. I remember way back when, the tips used to be included. That was awesome.

 

[piglet1979]

We like the Dining Plan for the convince. It is one less thing we need to worry about.

 

[ckmiles]

deleted- wrong thread-

 

[monkyby87]

We like the Dining Plan for the convince. It is one less thing we need to worry about.

This is the only reason I would see to purchase a Dining Plan, assuming one didn't come free with the package. As others have said they don't save money and aren't discounted.

This is the same reason people buy the package as opposed to hotel and tickets separate, it may be less of a hassle to just buy a package and have everything in one. If you aren't concerned with cancellation policies or anything you might as well buy the package, just to have everything done with at once.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Just wanted to throw in my two cents on the stroller ... I'd bring your own or rent from an outside vendor. We loved bringing our own because our DD was comfortable in it and used to it.

Because CMs may move your stroller within stroller parking, make yours stand out in some way. I put a bunch of brightly colored plastic rings on our handle and I could easily find ours, even in the Fantasmic mega stroller parking lot. Our stroller also happens to be the same one as many of the outside companies use, so this was invaluable to us and saved us lots of time looking for our stroller.

 

[howaboutme]

Thank you all again!

For me the takeaway will be to not worry about (the potential for) saving a few bucks. I agree that the convenience of pre-paying is rather tempting and saving a few dollars, even up to $200, in the grand scheme of things is not a huge deal. The bigger issue may be knowing what is in and out of the package and following those rules. Finally, I think if we ended up skipping a few credits to do TS OOP, we may end up on the losing end but just have to accept it.

And yes, we'll have a stroller (most likely rent). Both kids will probably be begging for one after just a few hours.

 

[JPKnapp]

Hi, thank you! Actually, I've been reading about the stroller situation recently too. I have read that the 3 Disney recommended outside vendors are better and they seem better as they are actually "strollers" as opposed to carts. But what my wife and I have thought would be a pain is to have to bring (and therefore fold) the stroller when in transport (assuming not staying at monorail or boat accessed resort). What makes renting from Disney is we can leave the stroller and be free. Our youngest will be 2.5 by the time we go so she is fine w/ walking. But then again...after a long day?? Not sure. Either way, she'll have to get out of the stroller. Although the strollers look very uncomfortable, I like the size. Our oldest daughter will be able to sit in there too (double) and the canopy looks 2nd to none for sun and rain.

But would love other thoughts as well! Thank you.

We have 3 kids under age of 7. Stroller is a must have item and not one of the hard plastic carts from Disney, a real double stroller. We rent from the Disney approved stroller places and it's worth every penny. They are roomy, comfortable, and are easy to navigate. We put all 3 of them on there for longer walks. The hassle of folding is nothing compared to hassle of carrying a 3 year old for miles. My legs are dead tired at end of day and kids take 2x as many steps. Even when I took my 6 yr old by herself one day, stroller saved our day. It also allowed them to nap a bit during the day for the youngest one.

 

[howaboutme]

We have 3 kids under age of 7. Stroller is a must have item and not one of the hard plastic carts from Disney, a real double stroller. We rent from the Disney approved stroller places and it's worth every penny. They are roomy, comfortable, and are easy to navigate. We put all 3 of them on there for longer walks. The hassle of folding is nothing compared to hassle of carrying a 3 year old for miles. My legs are dead tired at end of day and kids take 2x as many steps. Even when I took my 6 yr old by herself one day, stroller saved our day. It also allowed them to nap a bit during the day for the youngest one.

Thank you!

Thoughts on booking flights first? We have a specific window and know the flights we want and it's at a right price (actually using miles but cheap price equals less miles). I've done enough research to know that the period we're interested in has a rack rate that's "doable" but would prefer and hope for a discount on either the room or FD. That's the reason why I am hesitant on booking anything specifically for WDW at this time and prefer to see what deals are available. We're going at the "low season" in late August so can afford to wait..

Any opinions? Am I playing too many games and just book and then hope to apply discount later? There is relevance in not booking early so WDW has the added incentive to give discounts....

 

[JPKnapp]

Thank you!

Thoughts on booking flights first? We have a specific window and know the flights we want and it's at a right price (actually using miles but cheap price equals less miles). I've done enough research to know that the period we're interested in has a rack rate that's "doable" but would prefer and hope for a discount on either the room or FD. That's the reason why I am hesitant on booking anything specifically for WDW at this time and prefer to see what deals are available. We're going at the "low season" in late August so can afford to wait..

Any opinions? Am I playing too many games and just book and then hope to apply discount later? There is relevance in not booking early so WDW has the added incentive to give discounts....

You are overthinking this. If you are happy with cost of flight, book it and don't look back. As for Disney portion, you need to book assuming that there wont be a discount. If one does come out, you can upgrade your room tier, add a park day or two, or just pocket the difference. Candidly, at that time of year, it likely wont be a significant amount of money anyway (relatively, of course everything Disney cost is significant).

 

[howaboutme]

You are overthinking this. If you are happy with cost of flight, book it and don't look back. As for Disney portion, you need to book assuming that there wont be a discount. If one does come out, you can upgrade your room tier, add a park day or two, or just pocket the difference. Candidly, at that time of year, it likely wont be a significant amount of money anyway (relatively, of course everything Disney cost is significant).

Thank you. That's the problem with too much information, huh?

 

[piglet1979]

My husband over thought everything for our last trip. We even thought about getting the DxDP. Thankfully we came to our senses and realized that with an 8 and 9 year this would not be good for them. We even thought of changing our resort a few times.

 

[tlmadden73]

I would never get the Dining Plan. It costs more money than MOST people would spend per day on meals. Some people love it, but financially (for me) it makes no sense.
As for the convenience? Just paying for meals with your Magic Band is just as convenient with nothing to keep track of but dollars and cents.
Plus I find it inconvenient since most of the plans only give you TWO meals a day .. so you are spending your own money anyway on breakfast (or some other meal). It is not much of a convenience if I still have to pay out of pocket for one meal a day.

Strollers ---
Must have for little kids. Plenty of room to park them next to rides. Sometimes we would leave ours in a spot for an hour or two while we went on several rides. I would leave stuff (non-valuable) in it all the time (diaper bag, ponchos, snacks). I would just bring a smaller stroller (but more substance than an umbrella stroller) (that folds up quickly and easily) over a gigantic stroller. They take up a lot of room and are a pain to get on/off transportation.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

Hi all.

I have another question regarding the dining plans. I am pricing out the plans at full rate for the period we think we'll be at the resort. QS is ~$516 total for 5 nights. That equals around $103/night. We will have 4, 2 adults and 1 paying child and 1 child under 3. That equals to be $34/night per person assuming the child is adult for ease of math. Since the child under 3 is free, it's not fair to divide by 4. Assuming we fly in in the latter part of the 1st night (and fly out the first part of the day) and have enough time to only utilize 1 of the credits per person, that leaves a decent amount left over for the next 4 nights plus some OOP table service.

My question is, how is possible to spend less than $34 per person per night at WDW? How can the QS not pay itself off? My question is more in reference to the people that didn't think the FD was worth it. (Even the DDP is only about $200 more in total.) Keep in mind this is late August. Am I doing the calculations wrong?

Thank you!

We have only used the dining plan once in all of the trips we have taken to WDW. The best part of the plan was that I spent 7 days at WDW and never once even had a passing thought about food costs. It was great that it was paid for in advance. It also meant that we spent more money on souvenirs. Now my kids have a monorail and a castle at home.