Question for DVC members

[Brian152]

Hey we have booked our first trip as DVC members and I was looking for some advice on my dining options. We have done Disney the past 2 years without being DVC members and got the free dining plan during both trips. Now that we are DVC members we cannot get the free dining plan so I'm trying to decide if its worth it to pay for it.

For 6 nights it will cost us about $1000 for myself, wife, and son 12. My daughter is 9 so she will only be another $104 for her dining plan so it will be about $1104 for the 4 of us.

We will most likely get bagels and cereal and stuff for the room so our breakfast will be covered. We will then use our quick meals for lunch and do sit downs every night, snacks just as we go. The problem is we don't really eat the desserts but do get appetizers and the wife and I will get a couple drinks that aren't covered so with that and the tip we usually spend about $75-100 anyway. Also even though we are there for 6 nights we will only be eating in Disney 5 of those nights, 1 night will be in Universal. So it will either be 5 sit downs with an extra one for lunch or something or 4 sit downs and the hoop dee do review.

I just don't know whether its worth it to pay the $1100 or just pay as we eat. The hoop dee do might make it worth it since its all covered, drinks and tips included. I'm looking to find out what other DVC members have found out to be the best. I'm a pretty good planner so even though our trip isn't until August I'm trying to budget now and decide so I know what I need to have.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

 

[mom2of2]

For the way you eat and drink, your best bet would be TIW. 20% discount on all food and beverage including alcoholic ones and tip is included.

 

[crazybones27]

We've been DVC members since 2009. We've chosen to get the dining plan on every trip except for our most recent one in November. We had decided to purchase the Tables in Winderland card this go around and pay out of pocket to see how it went. We definitely spent less doing it this way. Now without the Tables in Wonderland we still would've spent less because we ate in less amount of places then we would have with a dining plan.

We still do love the dining plan since we don't have to think about price or anything and its pre-paid, but once I really did the numbers and paid close attention to what we really wanted to eat we wouldn't be spending the amount on food that we paid for the DP. I always made sure we came out on top of what we paid for the DP, but in all honesty if we don't have it we eat differently.

I loaded a Disney giftcard with money specifically for food with how much the dining plan would be. I used that giftcard to pay for all food so in it was like having a dining plan, but not actually having it. This works for some and doesn't work for others. Some people really don't care how much the DP costs they just want the convenience of it which I completely get .

For your one day you'll be at Universal you can use your quick service for breakfast if you want. Not always the smartest use of a credit, but you won't be wasting it either . If you do Hoop Dee Doo that covers your extra TS credit.

I do enjoy the dining plan, but our family can no longer justify the price in comparison to how we actually eat when we're at the parks .

 

[abdgeek]

I'm a DVC member and I always get the deluxe dining plan when I go to Disney. Having said that, I always make sure that I come out ahead by using the plan. I got TIW for the first time this year and plan to use it when I go down for the summer for two weeks(instead of getting the meal plan) because a lot of my activities won't be Disney related.

If you plan on getting the regular dining plan, you can use the budget below to see if it's cost effective with you paying for it. I've used $55 as the price because I can't remember what the new price is for next year. ($12 QS, $4 snack, $37 TS)

If you think you will spend more than that, then the plan is still worth it. You can use TIW with the dining plan. Check the list to see which restaurants take TIW. Not everyone does. If you eat at a non-Disney restaurant, TIW may not cover alcohol(Wolfgang Puck Upstairs is an example).

 

[cluvsdisney]

Hey we have booked our first trip as DVC members and I was looking for some advice on my dining options. We have done Disney the past 2 years without being DVC members and got the free dining plan during both trips. Now that we are DVC members we cannot get the free dining plan so I'm trying to decide if its worth it to pay for it.

For 6 nights it will cost us about $1000 for myself, wife, and son 12. My daughter is 9 so she will only be another $104 for her dining plan so it will be about $1104 for the 4 of us.

We will most likely get bagels and cereal and stuff for the room so our breakfast will be covered. We will then use our quick meals for lunch and do sit downs every night, snacks just as we go. The problem is we don't really eat the desserts but do get appetizers and the wife and I will get a couple drinks that aren't covered so with that and the tip we usually spend about $75-100 anyway. Also even though we are there for 6 nights we will only be eating in Disney 5 of those nights, 1 night will be in Universal. So it will either be 5 sit downs with an extra one for lunch or something or 4 sit downs and the hoop dee do review.

I just don't know whether its worth it to pay the $1100 or just pay as we eat. The hoop dee do might make it worth it since its all covered, drinks and tips included. I'm looking to find out what other DVC members have found out to be the best. I'm a pretty good planner so even though our trip isn't until August I'm trying to budget now and decide so I know what I need to have.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

The only way to tell is to decide if you really want to eat/order as prescribed by the plan and check out menu prices.

I know if we purchased the dining plan we wound have a CS lunch & TS dinner because its the only way to break even. Our reality is that we like sit down lunches better. We don't want 2 desserts & a snack every day. We do want a salad or appetizer with our meal so that's on top of what we paid for the plan. We don't want to be tied to ADRs. We also like to go off sight once in a while.
I didn't track our last trip but on a 4 day trip in Jan, we "saved" $150+ paying OOP with the TIW over the DDP.

 

[Ro Z]

For the way you eat and drink, your best bet would be TIW. 20% discount on all food and beverage including alcoholic ones and tip is included.

TiW is the way to go. You can eat how you want w/o feeling like you have to order the most expensive entree( unless that is what you want). Share a dessert if you feel like it. The only time we get the DDP is during F&W and sometimes we just get the QS plan. The snack credits can save lots of $$ at this time! The Tables card is $100 now but we already made our $$ back a couple weeks ago on our 11 day trip. But I have to admit a lot of that was alcohol Don't forget 18% tip is included. We sometimes leave a couple extra dollars if service is really good. But you don't want to double tip!