Package question

[midnight star]

Hello. I’m looking to go to Disney world in either later January or early February 2020. I’m planning to go with my dad, so it will be a father daughter trip. I did the quote estimate for the packages that opened yesterday and they quoted from $3,000-$4,400 for various moderate hotels. Does this sound like good pricing for disney world? We want to stay onsite at a moderate location, eat one meal a day and maybe do a character meal. I just didn’t know if it’s cheaper in a package or booking separate? These prices also include the deluxe dining plan.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

Hello. I’m looking to go to Disney world in either later January or early February 2020. I’m planning to go with my dad, so it will be a father daughter trip. I did the quote estimate for the packages that opened yesterday and they quoted from $3,000-$4,400 for various moderate hotels. Does this sound like good pricing for disney world? We want to stay onsite at a moderate location, eat one meal a day and maybe do a character meal. I just didn’t know if it’s cheaper in a package or booking separate? These prices also include the deluxe dining plan.

I personally would take off the dining plan and pay cash for your meals. There's better threads out there on the topic but the deluxe dining plan I've always felt to not be worth it. Even when they release the free dining offer there's usually a room only discount that comes out at the same time that's a better deal. We've done the dining plans and find you usually end up losing money on them or barely breaking even. I'm not sure how long your staying or where but for a week with park tickets around $3500 feels about right to me.

 

[midnight star]

I personally would take off the dining plan and pay cash for your meals. There's better threads out there on the topic but the deluxe dining plan I've always felt to not be worth it. Even when they release the free dining offer there's usually a room only discount that comes out at the same time that's a better deal. We've done the dining plans and find you usually end up losing money on them or barely breaking even. I'm not sure how long your staying or where but for a week with park tickets around $3500 feels about right to me.

I’m thinking about doing that. I asked on another forum specifically about the dining plan and someone said the deluxe one can take up a lot of time. Another said it just depends on what you want.

 

[seashoreCM]

Yes, with a deluxe dining plan you are going to spend more time eating in order to get your money's worth. this means less time in the parks doing rides, etc.

And this is likely to result in gaining weight, which you may or may not want..

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

I’m thinking about doing that. I asked on another forum specifically about the dining plan and someone said the deluxe one can take up a lot of time. Another said it just depends on what you want.

We've done all 3 dining plan options and lost the most money on the deluxe dining plan. We just would never do 3 table service meals a day. and converting the meals into snacks or quick service meals just wasn't cost effective. We just don't eat enough. The regular one we usually lose very little or break even on. And the quick service we get bored of after a few days. It does depend on what you want but usually what I do is if we're thinking of doing a dining plan I take the cost of the plan per day and I go to each restaurant where we're eating's menu and find the most expensive thing I would possibly want to order add all of that up and then if it's less than the cost of dining plan I pay cash if it's more than the dining plan (which it rarely is) I go with the dining plan. If you're trying to figure out what to book I would start with a room only, I find those discounts are usually better than the packages. And then add tickets and dining once you have a game plan.

 

[tguz]

We like the qs dining plan and have booked the free dining the last 2 Summers which was a no brainer with 3 in our party. But, I would still do the dining plan even if it wasn't free dining. Based on the last two Summers, we may have came up a little short (if we would have had to pay out of pocket for food) but we wouldn't have lost much. And the small amount we would have lost, I chalked up to convenience and not having to carry a credit card, cash, or worry about how much we have charged in food and snacks via magic bands for the week. We think it was nice to have two snacks during the day which I'm sure we wouldn't have had if we were paying out of pocket each time. We are happy with the variety also and have our fav places to eat all over Disney World.

 

[midnight star]

Yes, with a deluxe dining plan you are going to spend more time eating in order to get your money's worth. this means less time in the parks doing rides, etc.

And this is likely to result in gaining weight, which you may or may not want..

LOL !

 

[midnight star]

We like the qs dining plan and have booked the free dining the last 2 Summers which was a no brainer with 3 in our party. But, I would still do the dining plan even if it wasn't free dining. Based on the last two Summers, we may have came up a little short (if we would have had to pay out of pocket for food) but we wouldn't have lost much. And the small amount we would have lost, I chalked up to convenience and not having to carry a credit card, cash, or worry about how much we have charged in food and snacks via magic bands for the week. We think it was nice to have two snacks during the day which I'm sure we wouldn't have had if we were paying out of pocket each time. We are happy with the variety also and have our fav places to eat all over Disney World.

I was also thinking that getting a dining package would be less to carry around and not have to worry about over spending on food since your food is paid up front. I think I need to look at what we will eat realistically.

 

[tvguy]

We did not get a dining plan and I have no idea whether they make economic sense. But we were asked every time we ate at a table service restaurant if we had a dining plan, and the response when we said no was relief from the server. The next comment from the server was "great, then everything on the menu is available to you"

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

We did not get a dining plan and I have no idea whether they make economic sense. But we were asked every time we ate at a table service restaurant if we had a dining plan, and the response when we said no was relief from the server. The next comment from the server was "great, then everything on the menu is available to you"

This is true when we go down with out it they look at us like "oh thank God" because it's an extra step for them if you want to order something extra and as I'm sure we all know the Disney computer systems aren't the most friendly even to CMs

 

[kaytieeldr]

We just would never do 3 table service meals a day. and converting the meals into snacks or quick service meals just wasn't cost effective.

Just for general information, with the Deluxe plan there's no "converting" to quick service. This plan provides three credits per night, either table or quick service. Bad, had value to use it for QS, but it's an option.

Best use would be one Signature meal and one Character meal per day, spaced so two meals are sufficient.