Spending Money for Christmas 2016

[Dippa]

So... me and my partner are travelling to Disney Christmas 2016 and so far haven't got a disney dining plan in place. When we go we want to feel comfortable rather than be budgeting everything as we plan to buy lots of gifts/souvenirs... We are attending universal three times during our stay, busch gardens, sea world, discovery cove and all 4 waterparks..

So far we have reservations for the following restaurants:
- Be our guest
- Cinderellas Royal Table
- Crystal Palace
- Cali Grill
- Tusker House
- Boma
- Sci fi diner
- Chef Mickey
- Coral Reef
- Play n Dine
- Liberty Tree Tavern
- Le Cellier
- Narcoosses
- Ohana
- Artist Point
- Storybook Dining
- 50s Prime time cafe

Our question is .... how much spending money would you recommend ? and is it worth getting a disney dining plan??

Any help would be much appreciated ...

Thanks again,
James.

 

[Barbydoll8]

You will get pros and cons on the DP. It's a lot of food but based on your reservations, you may want the deluxe plan. If not, it can be pricey. I've heard spending is around $500 per day with the amount of TS places you have booked.
I would recommend checking these two sites for information on the dining plan and prices for each place you have booked. It will help you determine what you need to allocate and if you need the dining plan.
http://allears.net/
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/

Both of these sites do a good job of explaining the types of DP's available and showing you menus with prices for dining.
As far as the extras, gifts/souvenirs can vary in price but the average T-shirt in Disney will be over $20. Check Uniqlo in Disney Springs first. They had the best prices on Disney Tee's.

 

[xlsm]

I second looking at menus and calculating costs based on what you think you might eat. Are you prepared to have an app, entree, and dessert with each meal (that isn't a buffet)? And you have a lot of two credit meals on there, so if you went with a plan, Deluxe might work best.

I'm assuming by the number of meals you have listed (17) , and your offsite trips to Universal, Sea World, etc...that you'll be in Orlando for several days. Keep in mind that you might not want to be spending so much time eating vs. in the parks.

The dining plan does not work for my family, based on our style of eating, BUT it can work for some families. Your best bet is to look at the menus, get an idea of the prices, and calculate a per day total. Then, figure out how much per person the meal plan will be, and go from there.

Good luck making your decision, and have a wonderful trip! Since you're going over the Christmas holiday, consider stopping by our December thread, found HERE

 

[Dippa]

Thanks for both of your replies!! We've worked out that for all the meals we have, without the dining plan we are looking at $1400 but that means we are restricted to what we can afford, whereas we can get a dining plan for $1800... So judging by that it seems worthwhile getting a dining plan, as you get more for your money, as with the dining plan you get a table service meal, a quick service meal, two snacks plus a refillable mug (which considering we are staying on a disney resort will help majorly) Also by getting the dining plan we have piece of mind that food is already sorted and also won't feel restricted on what we have to choose on the menu...
Its a bit like going all inclusive in my head

As for souvenirs... if we have a dining plan in place it could potentially mean the money we take is solely allocated to gifts etc? I suppose we'd feel like we had more money than without a dining plan as without it we'd be worrying about food! haha!

Thanks again for your replies and all your advice is much appreciated and we take every piece into account!

Our dream holiday is finally coming together and we have a bit more organisation! Excited is an understatement!!

 

[Princess Minnie321]

I am in the same situation as you trying to figure out if it is worth it to add the dining plan. We have a lot of buffets booked. There is a thread on the top of the restaurant page of disboards where someone lists all the current buffet prices. I am going to add up the cost of all the buffets we have booked and then try to decide what to do.

 

[adisneyaunt]

Sounds like an amazing adventure is on your Horizon. Keep in mind that table serve/sit downs can easily be 1.5-2 hours (overall) each which quickly fills ur day with lots of down time ( not on rides) never mind all the food.
Having done basic many times and deluxe... We found Deluxe Too much food/time for our style of Disney visiting. I enjoy the basic plan as a sit down each day causes us to "take a breather" and not eat burgers every day.
There are pros and cons and figuring out what the food/nutrition goal is ..versus cost/time is well worth the Xtra effort now to avoid disappointment later.
Have a Magical visit!

 

[nursejackie]

We haven't tried the DDP, but we eat at some of the same restaurants you have booked. We don't drink alcohol though, and only have one course usually, with occasional desserts depending what's on offer (I cannot forego almond-crusted cheesecake at Narcoossee's), which keeps the price down but still allows us to experience several signature dining restaurants. As other posts have stated, it depends on how many courses you have and what you have to drink. I assume you are happy to spend lots of money (going by the ADR's you made) but just want to know how much you need to save/take with you. For us (in England) the dollar is at an all time low against the pound but we don't want to miss out so we are working hard to save more money rather than eating cheaper meals.