Should I add the dining plan?

[MatthewsMommy]

It will be me, my DH and our DS who will be 23 months - he's a great eater (sometimes more than me!). We originally were going for 3 nights and I had the DDP as part of our package. We then extended our stay due to the 4/3 offer and I didn't add the DDP and still trying to decide if I should????

I have to change the 3 ADR's I already have and I think we would likely still have 1 TS meal/day. I will have to spend some time pricing it out, but figured I'd check with all of you experts to get your opinions! Should I add the DDP?

Thanks so much for your help!!

 

[lovndisney12]

I struggled over this too as I am very frugal when it comes to eating out. (Share meals, order water, etc.). So, I sat down and priced out what our family of four would probably spend (DS 7 - child price and DS 10 - adult price). So I figured if I was paying OOP I would buy mainly CS except for a couple TS I considered a "splurge" because I really wanted to do them. For our family of four for 7 nights I figured OOP to be $885 and the plan was only $870. With the DDP we would get a lot more food including beverages and dessert (something I wouldn't do much OOP - I would have water bottles, etc.) Also, we would get to have 7 TS meals!!! This was a no brainer.

I suggest you take a look at the menus on allears.net and price out what you "think" you would order. This really helped me make the decision. (It ended up we got free dining through my Disney Visa but this was well after I had booked and paid for the trip - we got a credit on our visa)

One last note - By choosing DDP I felt I would get to enjoy my vacation more because it would all be paid for and I wouldn't have to be pinching pennies and feeling like I should order what I really wanted like the $26.99 steak rather than the $18.99 chicken sandwich!

If you do decide on the DDP - Since you have a "free" little one who eats a lot - I suggest a lot of TS buffets or family style meals. He can eat his heart out for $0!