opinions on dining plan...worth it or not?

[TnTWalter]

people with young children going during busy times, character meals are so worth it. For people who want to have a nice sit down dinner every night at a good restaurant also worth it. Just depends on what you need.

We did one character meal this last time to get into MK early and get some siggys without worry about line. We hadn't done Crystal Palace before. It was nice. $120 though out of pocket. Yikes. It was the only TS we did.

I loved the freedom of not being locked into a time to be somewhere. We had some nice off-site meals and some great counter service meals and some meals at the condo. Spent much less.

 

[Justsyd2]

DH and I loved the QSDP last year! We'd share a breakfast, and still have 3 meals left for one day, plus four snacks. Here's the thing about the dining plan, people say it's too much food, so why order so much? Most of the time, DH and I subbed an extra drink in place of the dessert when we shared a meal. Or, if you can't eat dessert (because you're full) get something to take with you for later. Anyway, thanks for listening... ... If the DDP is too much food, then I certainly suggest the QSDP -- we saved over $200.00.

 

[angelmav]

You really do have to do the math.

Let's say this is a typical day, there are 3 of you 2 A / 1 C - so, you go to Mara and get an oatmeal and 2 muffins - $2.49 and $2.29 x 2, 2 coffees $3.19 each ($6.38) and OJ $2.50 - total $16.15

then for lunch you hit Cosmic Rays and order the bbq rib meal, pork sandwich, and ceasar sald with chicken - that is $10.49, $8.69 and $7.19 and 3 drinks at $2.49 each ($7.47) - total $33.84

now it's later and you are thirsty and your kiddo wants an ice cream -
soda or water $2.50 - ice cream $2.75 - total $5.25

Now it's dinner time and you decide on Le Cellier - you and DH get steaks -
$34.99 x 2 = 69.98 and your kiddo gets whatever - it's $8.99 - you and DH get dessert (you don't get an app. on the reg. DP) Whisky Cake $7.99 and Creme Brulee $6.99 and drinks at $2.50 each - Your total - $98.95

I'm using this "formula" as to stay within the DP guidelines - in actuality for us - the price for dinner would be more, as DH would prob. get a beer and I'd get something as well......... we'd pay OOP for those either way - so it's not included.



So, your total for this day would be $154.19

The DP cost is $41.99 A / 11.99 C - a day - total $95.97

This would SAVE you - $58.22

and this is just for 1 day!

** Please note - these prices are from Allears - I don't know if they include tax - AND this is just a rough idea of how to use the plan. Again, this will work for some and not others.............

Also, if I'm wrong on my numbers - PLEASE feel free to correct this - again, I used prices from allears and mousesavers.

Umm your making a mistake with your math here. You dont get enough credits each day for this much food on the DDP, and you list a child in the cost but an adult meal at Cosmic Rays. Also, if going at the right time (like the holiday known as summer) there us a seasonal upcharge for the plan. More likely, your likely to save closer to $20 on this day under this example, but trade that Le Cellier Dinner for an Akershus bfast and you could just as easily be that same $20 negative. What if you want Caseys instead of Cosmic Rays? Or asked for a free cup of water?

The children cost on the DDP is where you really save, but once they are all over 10 (like my wizened 11 year olds) the plan really takes a hit. Lots of math to see if it works and its all based on where the credits will be used, and the ages of the group.

 

[Justsyd2]

Umm your making a mistake with your math here...you list a child in the cost but an adult meal at Cosmic Rays.

Cosmic Rays is correct -- Counter Service places don't distinguish between A and C credits, right? And, you can use your credits however you want to each day. This is doable on the plan.

 

[angelmav]

Cosmic Rays is correct -- Counter Service places don't distinguish between A and C credits, right? And, you can use your credits however you want to each day. This is doable on the plan.

They do designate child and adult meals at CS places. You must order a child meal at any restaurant that offers a child menu (which is most of them). Also, the breakfast savings cannot represent a typical day, unless you plan to spen 5 snack credits each day for breakfast. This is an unrealistic example for this reason, as you could not use your credits in this way as you would be using multiple days credits and could not order an adult meal for a child at that restaurant.

 

[NMAmy]

It all depends on how your family eats. The dining plan doesn't work for us. There are four of us, DH and I, my 19 yo dd and her friend. We're staying in a villa which helps--I ordered $100 worth of water, drinks, breakfast food, and snacks for the room. That works out to be $3.57 per person per day for 7 days for breakfast and snacks. We very rarely eat TS dinners but prefer TS lunches. We're only going to one buffet and that will only be DH and I going to the Biergarten for lunch one day as the girls don't want to go.

My dd often orders just an appetizer and/or a dessert at a TS restaurant. We often decide on the spur of the moment to cancel a reservation because we're just not hungry. We don't like the restrictions of the dining plan and we don't want to waste time trying to figure out what we need to order to make it cost efficient and we don't want to scurry around at the end of the trip trying to use up credits.

 

[Mommytwotwins]

Like others have said, you should do the math and see if you will save with the plan. If you are going in Aug and getting it free then there is no question take it!! For us we have 2 adults and 2 kids and I figured it out after we came back and saved alittle ober $200 on the plan. But this was my kids first time at Disney and we wanted to eat at alot of the TS places. I also like the fact that it's paid for and I don't have to worry about a budget while on the trip, we just order,eat leave a tip and go! If I were going again this year and wanted to try to save a few bucks and TS was not something I wanted everyday I would skip the plan and wing it. So make a plan of where you want to eat, check out the prices and see what the best deal is for you

 

[sunnyday123]

Like others have said, you should do the math and see if you will save with the plan. If you are going in Aug and getting it free then there is no question take it!! For us we have 2 adults and 2 kids and I figured it out after we came back and saved alittle ober $200 on the plan. But this was my kids first time at Disney and we wanted to eat at alot of the TS places. I also like the fact that it's paid for and I don't have to worry about a budget while on the trip, we just order,eat leave a tip and go! If I were going again this year and wanted to try to save a few bucks and TS was not something I wanted everyday I would skip the plan and wing it. So make a plan of where you want to eat, check out the prices and see what the best deal is for you

Best way to do it! We have used the DP since it's been available, and got it free last time (yay!) If we didn't have it, we wouldn't have eaten at most of TS restaurants. DD at 10 still loved the character meals, I suppose it's the whole Disney ambiance thing. Would you still eat sit down meals or would they all be CS? You need to figure out where you want to eat, how structured you want to be, and go from there.

And by the way, Hi Miss Cammie! Long time no see!

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

I did the math and it was even for us, so we went with the dining plan.

We went at xmas both times and TS dinners were $30ish per person alone, so $40 day for TS, CS and snacks were well worth it.

I never felt tied down by our reservations. Our kids are older, so we made them later and in different resorts, which required monorail rides, etc. As much as we love to walk around for 12 hours/day, I think it's nice to stop and eat at a TS for dinner!

I liked not having to worry about each drink, each meal and pulling out a credit card. I like the CONVENIENCE of having the DDP. I also agree, you don't have to eat all of the food you are given . We shared, saved some, got waters instead of desserts, etc.

 

[maggiew]

You really do have to do the math.

Let's say this is a typical day, there are 3 of you 2 A / 1 C - so, you go to Mara and get an oatmeal and 2 muffins - $2.49 and $2.29 x 2, 2 coffees $3.19 each ($6.38) and OJ $2.50 - total $16.15

then for lunch you hit Cosmic Rays and order the bbq rib meal, pork sandwich, and ceasar sald with chicken - that is $10.49, $8.69 and $7.19 and 3 drinks at $2.49 each ($7.47) - total $33.84

now it's later and you are thirsty and your kiddo wants an ice cream -
soda or water $2.50 - ice cream $2.75 - total $5.25

Now it's dinner time and you decide on Le Cellier - you and DH get steaks -
$34.99 x 2 = 69.98 and your kiddo gets whatever - it's $8.99 - you and DH get dessert (you don't get an app. on the reg. DP) Whisky Cake $7.99 and Creme Brulee $6.99 and drinks at $2.50 each - Your total - $98.95

I'm using this "formula" as to stay within the DP guidelines - in actuality for us - the price for dinner would be more, as DH would prob. get a beer and I'd get something as well......... we'd pay OOP for those either way - so it's not included.



So, your total for this day would be $154.19

The DP cost is $41.99 A / 11.99 C - a day - total $95.97

This would SAVE you - $58.22

and this is just for 1 day!

** Please note - these prices are from Allears - I don't know if they include tax - AND this is just a rough idea of how to use the plan. Again, this will work for some and not others.............

Also, if I'm wrong on my numbers - PLEASE feel free to correct this - again, I used prices from allears and mousesavers.

I agree with the previous poster. These numbers are off just a little. You used 6 snack credits for breakfast and then 2 for ice cream/drink later. That is 8 snacks total for the day. And you would only be entitled to 3. So those other 5 costs need to be subtracted out from your total.

And as far as Cosmic Rays goes, if the back of your card says 2A 1C, you will only be allowed to get 2 adult meals and 1 child meal. Now, you may get someone who doesn't pay attention, but I wouldn't count on it.

Maggie

 

[wendypooh]

Thanks for pointing out my math mistakes................ I was quickly trying to do it............. but, I either way - one should still price it out - correctly - to see if it'll work for you or not!!

I'm just saying IF you are going to do a TS meal each day - then it can be in your favor! I also agree............ once your child has to pay the adult price - then that can HUGELY affect the outcome!

 

[HeatherC]

We are offsiters (Bonnet Creek) so I've never had the dining plan. But did want to mention that we just got back from 11 days and with our family of 5 (kids are 13, 11 and 9), an average lunch at the parks was between $50 and $60. Any sit down meal was almost $200 with tip!

I think I was shocked at how expensive the food is now at the parks. I'm noticing it more now because the kids are older and eat full adult size meals and then are hungry an hour later!

A couple times we ate offsite where an average sit down with tip was like $80 (Fridays, Olive Garden, etc..)

Our best deal was Sweet Tomatoes all you can eat buffet for $50 total for dinner.

So if you maybe average out the prices of what you think you will eat, you can probably figure out if the dining plan is worth it or not...even if you don't eat all the meals.

The one nice thing is you don't have to keep reaching into your wallet while you're there.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

we just got back from 11 days and with our family of 5 (kids are 13, 11 and 9), an average lunch at the parks was between $50 and $60. Any sit down meal was almost $200 with tip!

I think I was shocked at how expensive the food is now at the parks. I'm noticing it more now because the kids are older and eat full adult size meals and then are hungry an hour later!

A couple times we ate offsite where an average sit down with tip was like $80 (Fridays, Olive Garden, etc..)

Our best deal was Sweet Tomatoes all you can eat buffet for $50 total for dinner.

So if you maybe average out the prices of what you think you will eat, you can probably figure out if the dining plan is worth it or not...even if you don't eat all the meals.

The one nice thing is you don't have to keep reaching into your wallet while you're there.

We're a family of 6 (same age as your kids + a 2 year old) and the dining plan is a FANTASTIC deal for us because my kids can EAT! Even the 2 year old surprises me sometimes with the amount he eats.

OP definitely price out what you think you'd eat while there and add in about $10-15 a meal for any extras and you'll have a pretty good idea of what meals will cost. Then you can decide if the dining plan is right for you.

 

[avahoneybee]

I do not think the dining plan is worth it.

 

[sahm1000]

Hey Miss Cammie!

We are going the end of April with all of my DH's family (please say prayers that I survive!!!!). Because we are taking care of everyone's hotel rooms and we need five of them, we are staying offsite at Embassy Suites. So no dining plan for us! We have always had the dining plan in recent trips so this is different for us.

We are going to get one annual pass for my husband (the rest of us are getting 8 day park hopper passes) and then purchasing the Tables In Wonderland discount card that allows you to take 20% off most of your table service meals. This will allow us to get that discount off of 10 people's meals. Despite the increase in price for the annual pass versus the 8 day ticket, we will end up saving money. Especially since we will be driving to the parks everyday and this allows us free parking.

I know you and your family usually stay for at least a week and sometimes longer. And they do offer hotel room discounts for annual pass holders so this might make sense for you for one of you to get an annual pass and the Tables In Wonderland card. I know the hotel discounts aren't always offered all the time but you might want to check it out and see if there are any being offered for when you guys go. Are you going in August again?

Although if the free dining is offered I'm sure that would be a good deal too! Have fun! And I can't wait to see your trip report!

 

[2binak]

For us, the DDP is not worth it. Our main reasons are that I'm not a big eater and hate the thought of wasting food, we eat breakfast in the room, bring snacks into the parks & don't like being tied down to TS reservations.

For each trip, we look at menus on allearsnet.com to get an idea of what a meal will cost us and then create a spreadsheet for our stay using those costs, & the cost of any snacks that we might get at the parks. We always come out a little ahead of the cost of the DP on our spreadsheet and in actuality. We still eat at the nice TS restaurants and enjoy great meals, but in the end, the DP is just not for us.

 

[DizzyStitch]

I found out just what the DDP would do for me, a net gain of 5-10 pounds! But when it is free it just means that I am shelling out far less overall for the trip. I sometimes wonder how hard it would be to go down without it.

 

[Pembo]

We have never done the DP...I could never eat that much food and would feel terrible wasting it. And with picky kids, we would waste alot.

We used the QP last trip and when I added it up we saved $75. It was the convenience of the QP that was the attraction. It was nice to actually order drinks for everyone and not share. It was nice to get a snack without worrying about the cost. But at the end of the week I was in the gift shop "buying" 10 snack credits. We stayed 3 extra days after our package so it was helpful.

Would I do it again? I'm not sure. It was nice to not have to worry about how much food cost but we definitely could have saved money without it. I'm thinking of getting a gift card the next time to pay for food. We know food at Disney (or any amusement park ) is expensive, we liked the ease of not looking at prices with the QP.

 

[indimom]

For the four of us (including DD12 and DS10), it would cost us:
$47 X 4 adults X 13 days = $2,444.
PLUS tips and any extras at our sit-down meals.

Here was our issue with the plan/cost:
1. Our kids can't eat the quantity of an adult meal. NO WAY.
2. Typical sit-down dining for us might include apps, or a shared dessert or two, possibly an item off the kids menu. The way the plan is set up, we'd be buying extra items and not eating all the included items.
3. We avoid sugary/caffeinated drinks when we're out in the sun, so this is again wasted money on the dining plan..
4. We never order dessert with a counter service-type meal, ever.

I went through the menus for the restaurants we wanted to eat at and priced out typical meals for my family:
**Four CS meals, with water.
**Four TS meals (some children's menu items, some shared items, some apps, some desserts, some specialty drinks, etc. I made sure I OVER BUDGETED, just to be safe), PLUS 16% gratuity.
**Four $5 snacks each day. (I'll be surprised if we get four each day, heat tends to kill our appetite, but I put it in just in case.)
The total paying OOP came to just over $2,000 (including tips). A savings of $400 over the meal plan. (AND the meal plan total included NO tips or drinks which I estimated would add at least another $300).
A grand total savings of about $700, well worth it in my book.

We're skipping the meal plan this time. We'll be ordering the things we really do like and not spending money on things we don't even want. I will miss being paid in advance, but not enough to fork over $700 for the convenience.

 

[mwatson011]

We did the DXDP in January 2009 and again in December 2009 - we are a family of 2 adults, 3yo, 4yo. We chose DXDP over regular DDP for the included apps, three meals per day instead of two, and the flexibility to use them how we wanted (QS or TS).

Our first trip was great, we did all the character breakfast meals, had nice sit-down lunches, and usually QS dinner because the girls were too tired to sit in a restaurant by evening. We had a ton of snack credits leftover, found we were wasting food and drinks, and were full all the time.

Why, then, you ask, would we do the DXDP again? Because character meals are so expensive! The cost for a child at one character meal is more than the cost of the DDP (and some are more than the cost of the DXDP) for the entire day. We priced the DDP vs the DXDP with the meals we wanted to do, and the DXDP came out to the same cost as it would have been for us to buy the DDP and pay for our additional items, but the DXDP would give us more food, no sharing...

We plan to return this fall to DW, and we have decided to get NO dining plan. It is fun to pick out all those leftover "free" snacks, but really, when we add up what we really like, and skip the character meals this time (we will pay oop for one), it makes more sense for us to eat breakfast in the room, and order what we will eat, and not end up with 20 souvenier lollipops.

I think the deciding factor is whether you will eat at DW like you eat every day, or if you will indulge on your vacation. We normally split an app and an entree, and our girls split a kids meal when we eat out, and we usually drink water (or milk for the girls). We don't do this to be cheap, with the oversized portions everywhere, this is plenty of food for us. I would rather have dessert an hour or two later in the park than immediately following a full oversized entree. We want to go to DW often (once every year or every other year), so a room discount with no dining plan keeps the budget in check when we are only buying two shared meals a day.