QSDP or OOP for our family?

[MamaTo3Monkeys]

We're in the process of planning our 1st trip ever to WDW for 2013. We're trying to be realistic in our budget, and would like some feedback.

We don't eat out at home, except for an occasional takeout pizza or trip to Subway. Our ds (will be 4) and dd (hopefully turning 7 on our trip) are very picky eaters. They will happily live on peanut butter, yogurt, dry cereal, granola bars, and tons of fresh fruit (ds also loves him some carrots). Neither one really likes any kind of meat. We assume it would be fairly easy to pack their meals into the parks. Dd(will be 9) and I both enjoy trying a wide range of foods, and we're looking forward to trying the different foods available around Epcot. The 2 of us would probably just share a meal or a couple of sides and finish it off with fresh fruit. She would not be excited to order from the children's menu, as she is just not a hot dog and macaroni kind of girl. Dh will be perfectly happy if there are burgers and fries nearby. At night, it seems fairly easy to order a pizza or share a couple of sandwiches. We are not big soda drinkers and are planning to bring along our water bottles. We'll probably want to splurge on a treat a day (ice cream, popcorn, etc...) We'll also be driving, so we have the ability to bring along lots of snacks and/or go offsite to eat.

We're estimating that it would be fairly easy to stay under $100/day budget for food OOP. Are we overlooking anything? Any reason we should consider a dining plan? Dh likes the idea of having all of our food paid for beforehand, but I think we'd be better off paying OOP.

 

[havoc315]

Based on the new 2013 pricing, it is difficult to see the value in almost anybody purchasing the QSDP. If you really love the idea of refillable mugs (that can only be used at your resort food court), then maybe the small savings is worthwhile. But even then, its questionable. ANd if you don't care for the little piece of chocolate cake that are included in QS meals, even more reason that it will be a money-losing venture.

 

[Samar]

From your description, it sounds like it wouldn't be worth it to pay for the dining plan.

 

[Cafeen]

At this point, unless you're planning on getting the higher end items from only the higher end QS eateries and you're 100% positive you're going to want dessert, and you're only going to use the plan for lunch and dinner... then I'd recommend against it. The margin was slim enough in 2012, but with the increase in price in 2013, it's going to be difficult to come out ahead.

Now, if you're ok with losing money on the plan for the sake of convenience*, that's up to you, but from a purely cost vs. value perspective, I'd severely doubt you're going to come out ahead.

What I typically recommend in this case (when someone likes the prepaid nature, but doesn't fit the structure) is that they load up the cost of the plan onto a Disney gift card. Charge meals to the room and then pay the room charges off with said Disney gift card. Any left over can be kept for a future trip, or spent on other things (e.g. toys, shirts, non-DDP stuff).

*Not snarky. Convenience is a subjective thing as I've outlined elsewhere, and a small "loss" in the plan could be worthwhile to you for the sake of convenience. The inverse may also be true, where anything less than a substantial savings on a plan may not be worthwhile due to a lack of flexibility.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I think you'd be much better off paying OOP. It would give you a lot of flexibility especially as your younger two seem to eat things that Disney would consider to be 'snacks' rather than meals.

We have a family of 3 (DD is 12) I can feed us all on $50 a day (total) although on our last trip we were closer to $60 / day (not sure if we just snacked more or if prices went up here/ there).

We eat breakfast in the room - we drive and bring (or buy at Wal-Mart when we arrive) poptarts, cereal, milk, fruit, canned soda and general snacks.

for lunch we eat in the parks - splitting 2 CS 'meals' (no dessert or drink - we drink water or bring in sodas). Often we'll walk around Epcot and pick up one meal from one country and another from another country then sit down to eat.

later in the day we will have at least one (sometimes 2 snacks) in the parks

then generally dinner back at the resort again splitting 2 meals (no drinks sometimes dessert).

I know you have more people than we do and obviously they're different ages but hopefully the above info is helpful.