should I add the dining option to my magic your way ticket?

[tazlynx2002]

I have been looking through various sites trying to decide if it would benefit me more to add the dining option or if I would save more money by not adding it. It will be just my fiance and myself on this trip.. our first one!!!! I cant wait but I would like to go as prepared as I can. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gymbomom]

I bet this will get moved to dining.....


But, would you eat more than $37 each worth of food in a day??? if you would, I think the plan is a good savings...if you are light eaters, it might not!!!!

 

[LadyOmega]

I have been looking through various sites trying to decide if it would benefit me more to add the dining option or if I would save more money by not adding it. It will be just my fiance and myself on this trip.. our first one!!!! I cant wait but I would like to go as prepared as I can. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I couldn't tell if you were aware of this or not, but the dining plan has to be purchased as a package with room and tickets, with no discounts. My hubby and I do save money on the DDP - it's just a matter of sitting down with the menus, and making a "what if" scenario of your meals to see which is cheaper.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

AAA offers discounts on MYW packages plus dining

We use the dining plan, it saves us money. We like to eat in restaurants, and our Disney budgets have always included a lot of money for food, so for us it works.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

When I was making that decision I started off with where we want to eat.

For my newbie solo trip back in July, I knew it would be all about the parks, not the fancy eating. Other then Boma, I did not want to do any TS meals.

There will be 10 of us for the next trip. We will be celebrating a birthday at Chef Mickey's, I want to do Boma again, we want to do Hoop De Doo (2 TS) and a grand gathering safari (also 2 TS) and of course, lunch at the castle (again, 2 TS. I think we'll have to do this OOP) This means 8 TS credits per person. When I looked at it that way, and also with three of the meals being 2 TS, I figure that there will be days we use 2 CS credits since we won't be doing a TS. With that type of an eating schedule, the DDP makes sense for us.

So, if you have an idea of where you want to eat, you can decide whether DDP is right for you. If there is only 2 of you, and you don't select any/many buffet type restaurants, and you are the type to share a salad and an entree, then OOP still may be the way to go.

 

[LadyOmega]

AAA offers discounts on MYW packages plus dining

Or I guess I should say, if you purchase through Disney, there will be no discounts. That's correct, AAA does offer discount packages, so that would be good if you happen to be a member.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

Check out allears.net.

They have menus for all of the restaurants. Choose where and what you want to eat and price it, then compare it to what you would spend on the dining plan.

 

[Gymbomom]

BTW!!!

Welcome to DIS!!!!

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

Only get it if you plan to eat at alot of the restuarants and have sit down meals. If your gonna be eating at the food courts at your resorts, it won't be worth it.

An average meal at the foodcourt is about $8. So if you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there your only at about $24.

 

[SnwflkCts]

OK, dug out my receipts from Feb. We did the DDP. I am JUST including Counter Service and not each of the Table Service meals we had. With the table service it was a very good deal for us. We ate really really well but it is a lot of food.

My CHEAPEST table service (dinner) was $33 (1 person).

Counter Service includes entree, dessert & drink:
Cost is per person:
Electric Umbrella: Chicken strips/fries/cookie $10
Pinnocchio Village: Pizza Meal w/salad, Cannoli $13.15
Columbia Harbor House: Sandwich/chili/Apple Pie $10
Tusker House: Chicken Sandwich w/potato wedges, Chocolate Cake $13.50
Captain Cooks: Cheeseburger, carrots & Rice Krispy treat $11.

 

[BTown]

You might find more info on this on the dining board, but the short answer to your question is yes, the dining plan is a great deal.

However, there are lots of things to factor into the equation as to whether its right for you. If you guys are foodie, like my girlfriend and I, then the DDP is worth every penny. Every night, you get to try a new resturant, get your own appetizers, desserts, and the work. You get to try so much food, for us, that's more exciting than the parks themselves. Also, I did some figuring, and if you were to pay for all the food you get on the DDP, it comes to about an average of $82 a day. Considering you get all of that for just $38 a day, its a great savings.

But, you just have to decide if all that food is right for you. You can easily eat two counter service meals a day and get by on about $25 a person, a day.

 

[Redbudlover]

That is what I looked at too when we decided to do the dining plan. I counted on $8 to $10 for breakfast, $10 to $15 for lunch, and that left me about $10 to $15 for dinner. So if I bought the dining plan I could spend $45 on dinner instead of $15. OOOH and I do love Narcoosees and Boma and the Brown Derby and California Grill.... DP all the way makes sense for us.

 

[Corwin12]

I am still on the fence about the dining plan as well, but I think I may be leaning towards the DDP. I already chose our restaurants for dinner, my wife and I almost always prefer nice sit down restaurants. I calculated what we would normally order and spend (no apps/no desert.) We usually share breakfast and lunch if we are planning on a big dinner. Those nights when we plan on eating light, we eat a bigger lunch, but usually not sit down. I added all this up and compared it to the DDP cost and it would cost me 37.00 less to pay OOP. But, I am sure I calculated very conservatively on my OOP costs, so it is close enough that I am positive I will, at the least, break even. But, here is the tie breaker: if I add it on to my package right before we leave, and use my Disney Visa to pay for it, I get 6 interest free months to pay for it and I love free loans. Paying out of pocket, I get that huge credit card bill that has to be paid in full when I get back. What a post-vacation let down!