Talk to me about NOT doing dining plan

[zackspal]

DDP is a personal Choice. can be very pricey .
My wife prefers to use it because everything is paid for before hand.
we also get the TIW card when we know we will be there for at least a week (or more than 1 trip in a year)
TIW is a good discount, but neet to be there long enough to make it worthwhile.
we are DVC so cost is about $100, and give 20% discount and includes adult beverages. TIW does include some Counter services but not all, there is a list of who does

 

[CaoilinnsMom]

I am a single with one child, and we usually split meals. The DDP would be a waste of money for us, since we can eat pretty cheaply. Also, my daughter prefers adult foods, so many of the children's meals don't appeal to her. W do bring some snack foods, fruits, and breakfast foods, so we are not eating very meal in a Disney restaurant. Now if she started eating adult-sized portions on her own I might consider it. Right now it is not a good use of my vacation money.

 

[monorailsilver]

I have never done the dining plan and don't ever plan to.

When we went in August 2013, I set a goal of $50/meal for the 5 of us-sh, me, dd12, ds9 & dd 7.

I knew in advance that we were going to chef mickeys and the whispering canyon cafe so those were not in our $50 budget/meal.

I had 'free' money from various rewards sites as well but I still kept my budget.

All our meals were pretty much just shy of $50 or just over $50. Once it was $60 and it was because my kids wanted a smoothie with their lunch.

We did not buy drinks with meals and used our water from water bottles. We only got soda on our pool days and got soda then.

I don't like to do a sit down every day, especially park days so we did chef mickeys in arrival day and WCC on a non park day.

I know people love the dining plan it because it is paid for but for us it would cost more. I forget how much we spent for the 10 days we were there but I know when we came home I calculated it and we were ahead paying OOP.

Also, we bring breakfast and eat in our room which saves a lot! I saw the desserts at the quick service places and yes I would eat it but it wouldn't be what I wanted so I would also get something else and I would not have lost weight! I did bring Mac and cheese bowls for my dds (son is allergic) and they had them twice on our pool days which again saved money and they were fine with that.

I also had requested a microwave in our room (RIP Tokelau) to make my son Rice Krispie treats (dairy allergy) but I also made the kids oatmeal.

I know some people would say you are on vacation, why are you cooking? One to save money and putting something in a microwave is not really cooking.

I did go thru the menus in all ears just to check prices of where we were going to eat as well.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We stayed off-site on our last trip so the Dining Plan wasn't an option. I really liked not being tied to it. We always tend to do a quick breakfast in our room while everyone's getting ready, so breakfasts are cheap and easy. If we do a big late lunch, we sometimes don't want anything for dinner besides a snack. It was nice not being tied to ADR times or having to sit down to a big meal if we didn't feel like it. My older DS is picky and sometimes just wants a pretzel for lunch. We only scheduled three ADRs during our 10-day trip, which was perfect for us. If we stay on-site again, we will not get the Dining Plan unless it's free.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We did it once and have never done it again. We eat a TS meal every day and most of them are character meals - we still make out ahead every time paying OOP. The dining plan is at least $60 a day. Most characters meals are about $40 and with lunch and a snack we make it under $60. For the days that we don't eat a character meal we save more money. The DDP is not a savings for us.

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

My friend says she has her own version of the ddp. She takes the amount that the ddp would cost and puts it on a gift card. That way you are still pre-paid and can just swipe a card but can use the leftover balance on souvenirs or off dining plan things.

What a fantastic idea!

 

[Feberin]

Can you get food either delivered or stop by a grocery store once you arrive in Orlando? We drove so that made it easier but we did grocery shopping before heading to our hotel however I've heard about getting groceries delivered to your hotel. We got yogurt and cereal for breakfast every morning. We also bought various snack food. We were trying to stick to a budget so we also packed lunches then would eat out for dinner. My husband and kids have huge appetites yet it worked out really well.

 

[Marthasor]

We never do the dining plan, but, thought I would try DxDP for our upcoming trip in February. We are doing a lot of signatures and I thought it would be fun to give it a try and see if it really offered a cost-savings. But then I started obsessing about it - looking at menus, trying to guess what people would order, worrying people would want two apps and not an entree, worrying people might get sick and not even want to eat, worrying I'd be worrying in WDW obsessing over what everyone ordered, what snack they wanted etc., is it on the plan? is it not? did I order the most expensive thing because it's the biggest bang for my buck even though I didn't want it?! - AAHH! Called back and dropped the plan. I don't want to vacation like that. I kept all of our reservations and we will just pay OOP. Everyone can order what they want and I won't act like a complete nutcase!!

 

[jerseygirl82]

We have never done the dining plan, but I am considering it for our upcoming trip, simply for the ease factor. Our travel plans include my family of 4 and 4 of my inlaws, all of which have not been to Disney since EPCOT opened. I already know we will be traveling as a pack pretty much at all times. I also know I have big eaters and we are going to be doing numerous buffet and/or character meals. With that large of a group I don't want to spend every meal together having to split bills and who has cash, who has a card, blah blah blah. For me it is much more convenient to add meals to this list of things already paid for.

 

[baseballnut]

Thanks for all the tips and thoughts. It is really appreciated. We actually will be driving this time, I forgot, so we can bring breakfast food and snacks. That and based on above posters, we're going to try not getting the dining plan. We will see how it goes!