Reply from DVC re Dining Plans

[crisi]

Nope only about $70, must be doing my math wrong...

Seven day hopper $230. AP $300. + $50 DDE. Cost of DDE = $80.

$400 (dining expenses) * .2 (20% discount) = $80.

We are pretty likely to spend about $700 on sit down meals and alcohol over our seven day trip (2 adults, 2 young kids) - we'd gross $140 in savings, net about $60. But we could spend as little as $450 - which saves us something, but not enough for the bother.

 

[CarolMN]

Nope only about $70, must be doing my math wrong...

Seven day hopper $230. AP $300. + $50 DDE. Cost of DDE = $80.

$400 (dining expenses) * .2 (20% discount) = $80.

We are pretty likely to spend about $700 on sit down meals and alcohol over our seven day trip (2 adults, 2 young kids) - we'd gross $140 in savings, net about $60. But we could spend as little as $450 - which saves us something, but not enough for the bother.

OK, now I am thinking my math is suspect.

My thinking/math:
If an AP costs about $70 more than the hopper you would otherwise buy, to break even you would need to save $120 ($70 to make up for the extra cost of the AP pass over the hopper pass + $50 cost of DDE for AP passholders). So you would need to spend $600 to break even - $600 * 20% is $120.

Best wishes -

 

[dianeschlicht]

WE never thought the dining plans were worth it, since we often ate for less on our own. The DDE card appears to be a really good thing for us though! We figure one meal at Artist Point for 5 people, and the card will have paid for itself, and everything after that is just plain old good discount!

 

[crisi]

Carol, you are right. And I did my taxes this weekend!!!! I'm thinking "amended return" already. Usually I'm better with numbers.

So it does take a lot of eating to make up the difference between a seven day hopper (expires, no pluses) and the AP+DDE for those of us who only go for a week. Not unreasonable amounts of eating - we have expensive taste in food and liquor. But with only two adults and two kids who still order off the kids menu and only a seven day trip, it isn't the slam dunk decision a lot of people believe it is.

But it will still be cheaper with the MYW tickets over the UPHs with the discounts we got last year....so I'm not complaining.

My DH has a business trip to Orlando next month and he's trying to talk me into a weekend for our anniversary. That (an extra four days on site this year, plus dinner for the two of us) would tip the scales in favor of both the APs and the DDE.

 

[Alexander]

See, I'm still not getting why people assume the dining plan is not a good deal. When we eat dinner at CRT for example, it costs us $75. Therefore for $5 three of us can eat lunch and have a snack. How is this not cost effective? Most dinners run us about $65 to $85....How are we not coming out ahead with the meal plan? Now, I'm not saying that with the DDE you may not come out further ahead, but not everyone can get the DDE for $50, and I still am sure that you don't lose money on the meal plans.

As for needing to be big eaters....How much do you people eat? One sit down meal and one counter service meal is more than you eat in a day? Geesh, I must be a pig because I usually have a light breakfast in addition to lunch and dinner. Another advantage to being in a DVC resort is you can take you leftovers or dessert back to your resort with you! But maybe you guys don't eat dessert either We are the ones that need the big table for three of us because we have so much food!

 

[Dean]

See, I'm still not getting why people assume the dining plan is not a good deal. When we eat dinner at CRT for example, it costs us $75. Therefore for $5 three of us can eat lunch and have a snack. How is this not cost effective? Most dinners run us about $65 to $85....How are we not coming out ahead with the meal plan? Now, I'm not saying that with the DDE you may not come out further ahead, but not everyone can get the DDE for $50, and I still am sure that you don't lose money on the meal plans.

As for needing to be big eaters....How much do you people eat? One sit down meal and one counter service meal is more than you eat in a day? Geesh, I must be a pig because I usually have a light breakfast in addition to lunch and dinner. Another advantage to being in a DVC resort is you can take you leftovers or dessert back to your resort with you! But maybe you guys don't eat dessert either We are the ones that need the big table for three of us because we have so much food!

It can be cost effective if you use it the right way. But remember it'd cost $490 for two for a 7 day stay. And getting an appetizer, entree and a desert per person for every sit down meal IS being a big eater. If you play with it the right way you can make the numbers come out to your advantage, but you can also do that even better and usually cheaper with the DDE plus you get the discount on alcoholic drinks as well and at some of the lounges. It simply depend son how you use it. For us we generally are not getting the larger meals, get a single appetizer and share many times and almost never get a desert. We frequently split meals as well to cut down on the calories. For that $490 per week for 2 I can pay for the cost of the DDE and have 2 sit down meals per day rather than one and a counter service and still have money left over.

But certainly if you're not going to get the DDE and the meal choices fit your usual dining style, it's not a bad option necessarily.

 

[Ksp]

Our last two trips were at Christmas and this past March. There are 4 of us,
DH and myself, DS (19) and DD (14).
We usually try to have breakfast and dinner in our room, and eat out for lunch, since lunch prices are lower than dinner prices.

I've been trying to keep track of savings we've gotten from the DDE, AP discount, and DVC discount.

So far, DDE has racked up the biggest up-front savings.

Our last trip was 7 days long: savings of $85.00 (paid for itself, and we came out ahead by $35.00) Our next trips during this year will all be extra savings, on top of the current $35.00 profit.

AP savings over our last 2 trips (total of about 14 days) was $39.00

DVC savings over one our trips (7 days) was $44.42.

I usually plan our meals by choice of discounts available....other than eating in our room, which is my favorite way to save money.

 

[Mickmse2002]

We have never done a meal plan thing. We will be getting an AP this year and trying out the DDE (our savings at the Rose & Crown will pay for it without ever going to a restaurant ). We have found over the course of our many vacations that our plans vary daily with our mood and the weather. I wouldn't want to feel obligated to eat everything each person is entitled to simply because it is "in the plan". There's a lot of times when we eat a Mickey's premium ice cream bar and call it lunch. I am sure the plans work for some folks but seems too structured for us. That's the beauty of the different offerings, there is something for everyone.