Possibly foregoing the dining plan this trip?

[belle1986]

For the last few trips we have used free dining at the value resorts. Our kids are small and we pretty much only shower and sleep in the room. Going by last years formula for free dining we can do 6nights at Pop with upgrading to the regular dining plan Or with a different deal we can get 6 nights at Beach Club no dining plan for about the same price. Dh and I would like to try something different this trip with some resort/water park days and skipping Dhs. With that in mind we are definitely leaning toward BC (really excited about Storamalong Bay!) but we are nervous about paying OOP for our food. Any advise on helping us wean ourselves off the dining plan?

 

[tinkerbella16]

For the last few trips we have used free dining at the value resorts. Our kids are small and we pretty much only shower and sleep in the room. Going by last years formula for free dining we can do 6nights at Pop with upgrading to the regular dining plan Or with a different deal we can get 6 nights at Beach Club no dining plan for about the same price. Dh and I would like to try something different this trip with some resort/water park days and skipping Dhs. With that in mind we are definitely leaning toward BC (really excited about Storamalong Bay!) but we are nervous about paying OOP for our food. Any advise on helping us wean ourselves off the dining plan?

We are actually doing this in September. For booking that deal, we had to forego the DDP. We couldn't pass it up, so it was easy for us. We are staying at Beach Club too (first time!). So instead of having the dining plan, we have been buying discounted Disney gift cards from Sam's Club and Target, and paying for all food that way. We have 3 rooms booked - myself in my own room, my sister, BIL and their infant in one room, and my parents in their own room. So we each have been buying our own gift cards and we each have a Disney gift card account to merge them and we'll each have 1 big card for all of our meals - TS, QS and snacks. We are still doing a few of our favorite TS meals and they are pricey like - Garden Grill dinner, Akershus breakfast, Cape May breakfast and BOG dinner. I pretty much already have the cost of those meals covered for all of those and I will be getting one more big gift card for QS/snacks for the week to add to it. It is a little easier for me since I am paying for myself. We are doing Hoop Dee Doo also, but I paid for that when I booked it, so we don't have to worry about that one either.

The savings from Sam's and Target is 5%, but so worth it. I actually paid my whole trip off with those and saved over $100! So now I am just getting the dining part squared away and I'll be good to go.

 

[belle1986]

We are actually doing this in September. For booking that deal, we had to forego the DDP. We couldn't pass it up, so it was easy for us. We are staying at Beach Club too (first time!). So instead of having the dining plan, we have been buying discounted Disney gift cards from Sam's Club and Target, and paying for all food that way. We have 3 rooms booked - myself in my own room, my sister, BIL and their infant in one room, and my parents in their own room. So we each have been buying our own gift cards and we each have a Disney gift card account to merge them and we'll each have 1 big card for all of our meals - TS, QS and snacks. We are still doing a few of our favorite TS meals and they are pricey like - Garden Grill dinner, Akershus breakfast, Cape May breakfast and BOG dinner. I pretty much already have the cost of those meals covered for all of those and I will be getting one more big gift card for QS/snacks for the week to add to it. It is a little easier for me since I am paying for myself. We are doing Hoop Dee Doo also, but I paid for that when I booked it, so we don't have to worry about that one either.

The savings from Sam's and Target is 5%, but so worth it. I actually paid my whole trip off with those and saved over $100! So now I am just getting the dining part squared away and I'll be good to go.

Sounds like we have similar plans. I mentioned the gift card thing to Dh and I'm pretty sure that's what we will go with. He gets cranky looking at those food prices so I'm thinking it will be best to just charge to MB and then pay that off before we leave with GC. That way to him it will be like we still have the dining plan lol.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Sounds like we have similar plans. I mentioned the gift card thing to Dh and I'm pretty sure that's what we will go with. He gets cranky looking at those food prices so I'm thinking it will be best to just charge to MB and then pay that off before we leave with GC. That way to him it will be like we still have the dining plan lol.

That is how we are looking at it - it is like having the DDP, since everything will already be paid for in gift cards without really having it. Plus we don't have dinners each day like we would if we had the DDP, so we have some free time that is not tied down to ADR's. We made sure split it up with 2 breakfasts (1 being at our resort), and 3 dinners which is not so bad. I actually did not mind doing it this way, it is fun buying the cards and merging them lol.

 

[Anal Annie]

As DVC members we've never done the DDP - I also buy gift cards (perpetually - one a week, whatever amount I can afford - usually anywhere from $25-$50) and this is how we pay for all of our spending at WDW. We typically take multiple trips per year so it's hard to keep up with the ever increasing prices but it's the only way we can do it without having a big charge on check-out day. The gift cards I have stashed to bring help set our budget for each trip. We eat all breakfasts in our villa with a very, very rare one out which helps too. I just slip down to the front desk every few days and apply them. As my pile dwindles down it makes me keep our spending in check. I usually don't buy any souvenirs until the last day or so of the trip until I see if there's any money left to spend or not. If the gift cards are gone I don't buy any souvies. We also usually don't do as many TS meals as one would do on the DDP. We have the TIW card but like for our 8 night trip in June right now I only have 4 ADR's planned. We'll likely pick up another one on the spur of the moment tho. That's usually our MO. We'll decide last minute we want to go to Via Napoli or something & just see if we can get squeezed in. I also decided a trip or so ago to stop ordering sodas or iced teas with my meals. Once the price went over $3 that was it for me. That's ridiculous for a glass of tea - it's basically water. A glass of ice water is free and it's better for me in the heat anyway.

You'll love Beach Club BTW....SAB is awesome!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Sounds like you're going to have fun at CB! LOL - I'm like your hubby and get cranky looking at the prices. I find that I order what I 'kinda' want to save a few $.

If it were me I would take time to view the menus at places we hope/plan to dine and preparing myself for the cost. I have had a dining plan for the majority of our recent trips (Free Dining as we've booked BB offers for the past 5 years) so haven't needed to think about the cost of eating at WDW except for a day here and there before a dining plan kicked in when we arrived early. The biggest adjustment to me would be the preparation to pay OOP. It's a big difference if you've used to the dining plan. Using GCs is a great idea!

 

[mrscoffeekinz]

Our first few trips were with the dining plan, then one year we stayed at a Shades of Green and couldn't get the DDP. I knew what to expect price-wise but convinced myself that we were getting such a great deal I could live with paying OOP for all our meals. After the first day I changed my tune and we decided to go off property to a grocery store to pick up snacks and lunch stuff. On DDP we always did a light breakfast in the room but I never brought food/snacks into the parks and honestly thought it would be sad to be eating a packed lunch on our vacation but as it turns out I was totally wrong. Even my kids agreed it was nice to be able to stop whenever/wherever we were ready and eat. No decisions to make, no lines to wait in, no struggle to find a table. Don't get me wrong, we love using the dining plan, but when one kid is picking grapes and an uncrustable, and another is throwing half their food away because turns out they don't like their selection as much as they thought they would, paying out of pocket didn't seem worth it. We still treated ourselves to some carefully selected table service favorites, and in the end we didn't feel like we missed out on anything. The time I spent packing the stuff in the morning was a reasonable trade to me when I considered the time and energy we usually spent acquiring QS when my family of 6 is already ready to eat. And having things like cheese sticks, granola bars, and fruit immediately on hand actually reduces the drama of a cranky, hunger induced meltdown, even for grownups Mio drops to add to your water will save money on drinks. I was worried that lugging around food would be a hassle, but we always use a backpack for autograph books, camera, etc so it really wasn't a big deal. Might not be a good strategy for everyone, but I went from saying I would NEVER pack in a lunch to being relieved to know that our lunch was only an arm's reach away!

 

[crabbygal902]

We are fans of the dining plan, but we have been on trips with and without it. The biggest difference is in the restaurants that I choose. On the plan, I really do my homework and pick places that are great values, like character dinners and other places with big prices for 1 TS credit. Off the plan, we go to places that are not good values on the DDP: sharing pizzas at Via Napoli, The Plaza, Beaches and Cream, Hoop De Doo. It is not a better or a worse trip, just different.

I also use the gift card strategy for paying for our food when we are not on the DDP. I am currently purchasing a $25 gift card per week when I shop for groceries to pay for food on our October trip. We like to have our expenses taken care of beforehand and the all-inclusive feel of the DDP. I will go by the front desk at our resort and pay the balance down every so often.

I have learned not to allow my DH to see the menu prices when we are paying OOP. I will literally read the menu to him! On the DDP, there really is something thrilling about knowing you can and should have the most expensive items on the menu with the DDP. That's about the only thing we miss when we travel without it. We still order pretty much what we want, however.

Word of warning: Deluxe stays are addicting! After only staying at the Values, we got "suckered" into staying at the BC when DH was at a convention. We have never looked back! Our trips got a whole lot more expensive after being spoiled. BC is a wonderful resort and I'm sure you will love it!

As I mentioned before, Beaches and Cream is a great value OOP and is conveniently located at the BC. Check it out, you won't be sorry!

 

[Missymoe4]

We are actually doing this in September. For booking that deal, we had to forego the DDP. We couldn't pass it up, so it was easy for us. We are staying at Beach Club too (first time!). So instead of having the dining plan, we have been buying discounted Disney gift cards from Sam's Club and Target, and paying for all food that way. We have 3 rooms booked - myself in my own room, my sister, BIL and their infant in one room, and my parents in their own room. So we each have been buying our own gift cards and we each have a Disney gift card account to merge them and we'll each have 1 big card for all of our meals - TS, QS and snacks. We are still doing a few of our favorite TS meals and they are pricey like - Garden Grill dinner, Akershus breakfast, Cape May breakfast and BOG dinner. I pretty much already have the cost of those meals covered for all of those and I will be getting one more big gift card for QS/snacks for the week to add to it. It is a little easier for me since I am paying for myself. We are doing Hoop Dee Doo also, but I paid for that when I booked it, so we don't have to worry about that one either.

The savings from Sam's and Target is 5%, but so worth it. I actually paid my whole trip off with those and saved over $100! So now I am just getting the dining part squared away and I'll be good to go.

As a side note, I paid off my trip using the gift cards from Sam's club. The savings bought me an extra night club level at the Grand Floridian. Oh, and I pay for everything in the theme park using the gift cards. Last year I did not do the dining plan, instead using the gift cards. For 4 adults midsummer, the dining plan is a good idea. For two adults and kids, maybe not so much. if you do plan on doing character buffets, I would suggest looking up the prices and weighing the options.

Once you go deluxe, you may not go back.

Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[Parker Clan]

We've never done the DDP, but it's just the 2 of us. We use gift cards but also we budget, each paycheck we withdraw $ and put in a folder and that's our spending $. We end up paying for our food out of pocket each year & use the occasional Dis GC

 

[tinkerbella16]

We are fans of the dining plan, but we have been on trips with and without it. The biggest difference is in the restaurants that I choose. On the plan, I really do my homework and pick places that are great values, like character dinners and other places with big prices for 1 TS credit. Off the plan, we go to places that are not good values on the DDP: sharing pizzas at Via Napoli, The Plaza, Beaches and Cream, Hoop De Doo. It is not a better or a worse trip, just different.

I also use the gift card strategy for paying for our food. I am currently collecting a $25 gift card per week when I buy groceries to pay for food on our October trip. We like to have our expenses taken care of beforehand and the all-inclusive idea of the DDP. I will go by the front desk at our resort and pay the balance down every so often.

I have learned not to allow my DH to see the menu prices when we are paying OOP. I will literally read the menu to him! There really is something thrilling about knowing you can and should have the most expensive items on the menu with the DDP. That's about the only thing we miss when we travel without it. We still order pretty much what we want, however.

Word of warning: Deluxe stays are addicting! After only staying at the Values, we got "suckered" into staying at the BC when DH was at a convention. We have never looked back! Our trips got a whole lot more expensive after being spoiled. BC is a wonderful resort and I'm sure you will love it!

As I mentioned before, Beaches and Cream is a great value OOP and is conveniently located at the BC. Check it out, you won't be sorry!

I am afraid I am going be sucked in completely! This happened to us, when we went from values to moderates. I love POR and we've been staying there every year since 2007, but before that we stayed at the values only. I am pretty sure I am going to love BC. Being so close to Epcot is enough to spoil me since it is my favorite! We are actually doing Beaches & Cream for ice cream on our last night. I didn't even include that on my TS list, but we do have an ADR. The prices are not bad at all there, so that one won't hurt as much as Garden Grill and Akershus lol. I think using the gift cards is going to be great, because I know I have it all paid for in advance (which is what we really like about the DDP), and we will still order what we want at BOG and B&C. All of the others are buffets/AYCTE.

 

[aretha30]

We don't use the DDP anymore. We realized back in 2010 that is was no longer saving us money. That was our last trip with it. We now buy Disney gift cards at Target (with our red card so we save the 5%) so we can pay OOP. We have saved hundreds this way, and my boys can eat! We also use our Disney Visa at any restaurants that give us the 10%; there aren't many.

 

[belle1986]

Thanks for all the advise. I am definitely feeling more confident going off the DDP. I was already planning to bring breakfast snack and probably some sandwich stuff for lunch so that will help and we have pretty much done all the character meals that we are interested in. I've got an Adr for a late lunch at beaches and cream on one of our resort days and probably will grab another in Epcot. We really like Caseys in MK and can probably make that dinner so I'm thinking we are gonna be ok.

Oh and I like the idea of just reading the menu to Dh. Lol

 

[Trip planner]

We booked through orbitz last year so we couldn't do DDP. I know it saved us money (I did the math) on food BUT my DH complained about the food costs the ENTIRE trip. Especially QS since it is usually not super yummy. So, back to the DDP this summer. My recommendation: stick to cheaper restaurants. My DH did not complain at SCI FI.

 

[DisCatGirl]

So many people see the word "free" and think they are getting a great deal. For us a discounted room is always a better value than paying rack rate and getting free dining. Too few people do the math - I thin if they did they would learn the same thing.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Honestly once you don't have the DDP it can be very freeing! Eating what you want, sharing meals, not worrying about credits or if you are wisely using them.

We also buy gift cards for the fuel rewards or get the ones from Sams. It helps us with the prepayment aspect (our biggest perk for the ddp).

We also do a garden grocer order and that saves us a ton of money. Dh even gets his beer from gg lol.

And we enjoy not wasting food and ordering stuff we don't need or even want.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We are going to try no dining plan next visit. I want to try several restaurants that would be a losing deal with the dining plan - Via Napoli, the Plaza, maybe LTT. Even with adding in a couple of buffet / character meals, it comes out a better deal paying OOP than using the dining plan.

 

[mkla2015]

We ran the numbers- for us DDP doesn't save us anything- it actually costs more. When we had it a couple years ago, we left with 22 QS credits (before you could turn them into snacks).

We buy gift cards as some others have said- it's our Disney savings and pay for all food and extras that way.

 

[mindeola]

[QUOTEbut we are nervous about paying OOP for our food. Any advise on helping us wean ourselves off the dining plan? [/QUOTE]

Isn't it crazy how panicky you can feel the first time you do it? I know I was questioning myself like crazy. We do what others have shared- we save the money or buy gift cards at a discount for our meals. It is still prepaid- just in a different way! Our next trip will have five adults- the three "kids" are college aged. I have told them to order whatever they want and we have an ADR each day- including Ohana, Crystal Palace breakfast buffet, and I am still estimating we will save between $300-$500 dollars.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I've done a few trips without the DP and quite honestly, I have to say I didnt spend as much money on food as I thought! I think I came out on top. I didnt always want dessert with my dinner, nor do I drink pop all the time. So paying out of pocket worked out quite well for me. Of course if there's free dining I always like to take advantage of that. But if not, then room discount and OOP works fine for me.