Tips for someone paying OOP when they're used to the DDP?!

[VillainFavs]

We have had Free Dining on every single trip we've been on! Still keeping an eye out for it this year, but have decided if we don't get what we want, we're making the jump to paying OOP. We're getting an amazing deal at a deluxe resort but can't add the plan, as you mentioned. I have to say as much as I love not worrying about food at all with the plan, I'm kind of looking forward to the freedom of eating OOP!

* We tend to eat breakfast on the go in the room anyway. Usually during our stays, we'll head to the food court for 1-2 breakfasts during the whole week. But if we don't do that, nothing missed!

* For our TS meals, we typically each order a full meal, although we could easily split many of them. Then we each order a dessert. Again, just because it's there! Then we're paying for tips on top of all those extras. Now, I plan to just order what we want. If I just want an app for dinner--which I often would!--that's all I'm getting. If we want dessert, it will probably be 1-2 to share among the four of us instead of everybody getting something, taking two bites, and leaving the rest. The kids can still order the seafood or steak if they want!

* We tend to share QS meals anyway so that won't be any different. We just won't have as many leftover at the end of the trip!

* We always end up with extra snack credits that we use to buy a bunch of stuff to bring home. Not that we really need it--it's just there. So we skip that.

* We're still going to do the meals we want. But maybe trying a few new ones as well. I've looked at the list of places that offer a Disney Visa discount and there's a few we want to try. In the past they weren't "good value" on the DDP. Now that we're paying OOP, they make perfect sense!

* I am going to do the 5% Target discount on gift cards so we're saving something there as well.

So I'm thinking it will be interesting to see how this turns out. We go in August and the heat is always a factor. We end up eating more than we probably should and often feel stuffed because...well, we need to! LOL! But I see us doing more "grazing" this way.

 

[pennylane16]

Thank you all VERY much! I was really feeling like I was going to be paying significantly more for food OOP vs DDP, but you've reassured me. I will try to calculate what I think we'll spend so I can make sure we get enough gift cards at Target before our trip! Thank you for the links to the calculator and the disboards character pricing thread!

 

[pennylane16]

That's good for you and your bottom line. You get more DDP value with more kids, especially with fixed price meals. The more adults, the more likely you will be paying more for DDP than OOP. Sounds like you have it all together, so don't worry! Order as you all like instead of wasting a bunch of food. We share, or get apps, or get snacks instead of trying to fit in another "meal" since our last one is likely way more than we'd normally eat. We also don't drink much aside from water (and some adult beverages for the parents).
Don't forget about the refillable popcorn bucket. My kids could eat their weight and it's really reasonable when sharing.

Thanks! I've never heard about the popcorn somehow! I swear I discover something new with every trip I plan (we only go once every couple of years).

 

[TwoMisfits]

Tip #1 - Order what you want, not what got you the most value on the dining plan. Biggest monetary saver and even your tips will end up lower when everyone is not ordering the priciest dish on the menu.
Tip #2 - Only order soft drinks when you want them - stick to water when you don't. Personally, I would only get the "special" drinks (POG juice, press pot coffee, etc) b/c I can have a Coke product anywhere. 2nd biggest monetary saver.
Tip #3 - Eat at the restaurants you want, not the ones that saved you the most money. If you like characters, go to 1-2 of those meals, but don't do ALL characters and buffets b/c they were the most value for 1 credit. Who wants mass-produced, warmed in a chaffing dish food for every meal of the day, anyway? Truly enjoy the ones you plan - plan to STAY more than an hour to soak in the atmosphere, eat at a leisurely pace, and get all photos of characters. It will be life-changing to actually enjoy all aspects of the meal in a calm manner, when you know you don't have another one to run to 3 hours later...
Tip #4 - Plan less - yup, don't have a TS per day, but plan your favorite 4-5 for early in the trip and see if you want any more at the end of trip (you can preplan your less favorites for the end and be willing to strike them if you get sick of paying or you just don't find the food worth it or someone in your party gets sick, etc).

 

[elaine amj]

Thanks! I've never heard about the popcorn somehow! I swear I discover something new with every trip I plan (we only go once every couple of years).

The refillable popcorn is a great deal! Universal has a similar one and my DS LOVES that he can fill it multiple times. It's so cheap, it's a negligible amount even for us penny-pinching folks.

 

[disneyvoice]

My tip - enjoy your new found dining freedom!!!

We did dining once - never again. We ended up wasting money on the dining plan because we paid for stuff we would never eat - appetizers and dessert in addition to a big meal at TS just doesn't work for us - way too much food at one sitting plus there are more exciting snacks/desserts outside of the restaurants. Plus we hated being told that we couldn't get certain items on a dining plan so sometimes we had to settle for a second choice. We ended up paying additional money OOP on the dining plan because our son sometimes didn't like what was offered on the kid's menu and preferred something on the adult menu - we weren't about to force him to choose from options that he didn't want because he was limited to the kid's menu on the dining plan. At the end of our vacation we had like 4 or 5 CS meals left over and something ridiculous like 12 snack credits left over.

 

[lbuzz52]

after years of using the dining plan (whether free or paid), last year we decided not to use the dining plan. DD was 11. we basically planned the trip as if we were on the dining plan still- about half & half table verses counter. actually i think one more table than counter. i went thru the menus with her. for more than 50%, she was most interested in a child's meal or an appetizer. i went through and calculated what we would spend if we went oop vs dining plan. it turned out that it would be about $200 cheaper for out of pocket. the numbers still made my eyes bug out, so i decided to be aggressive with things like ebates, swagbucks, etc for a few months. i took that "side money" and put it in disney gift cards. it still really hurt to pay over $200 for a meal at chef mickey's, but at least it didnt truly come out of my pocket.

 

[pennylane16]

Thank you all for sharing all your personal experiences with DDP vs OOP. SO appreciated! I'm feeling so much better about the OOP method now!
I forgot to ask, where is this refillable popcorn? In the parks just at walk up windows?

 

[newestkg06]

I think the thing that would be hard for me is moving from the "yes you can have that snack" attitude on the dining plan because we have credits to use, to OMG $20 for mickey bars!?!!? My SIL just went and complained that she dropped $50 for lunch for a counter service meal that the kids hardly ate and then 20 minutes later they all wanted her to spend $25 on snacks. On the DDP, it feels like it's easier to say yes and not get too bogged down on the "I JUST SPENT....on what!?"
I think the earlier advice of trying not to look at the prices is good, but would be hard for me. I would be the crabby mom saying no to popcorn and ice cream all the time. Maybe the gift card idea helps with the psychology of the budget conscious?

 

[JadeDarkstar]

See I am going back and forth with ddp vs oop I keep seeing it as so much food. Then I get worried if we pay oop then we won't eat as much as we should. Getting worried about overbooking dinning. Three of the meals we have planned are for Shows (F Hollywood vine, ROL Tusker house, and CL German place. ) then we have a signature dining Brown Derby, BOG,1900, and Ohana.
So 7 ts meals for 9 nights +lunch at T-rex. Adding it up without the 200+ in snacks and mugs. I think that it is cheaper but my Hubs likes the convenience. I just keep going back and forth.

 

[FrancoFun]

We are going to Disney in July and for our family of 3 Disney adults, I couldn't make the Dining Plan come out ahead. It wasn't far off, but a $200 difference is still $200 that I will have more after the trip.

I think the earlier advice of trying not to look at the prices is good, but would be hard for me. I would be the crabby mom saying no to popcorn and ice cream all the time. Maybe the gift card idea helps with the psychology of the budget conscious?

I think this is an interesting point, but I don't see why it's wrong to say no to ice cream or pop corn. If they've been fed breakfast, lunch and supper, do they really need more than 1 or two snacks a day? If you're travelling with bags, could you bring one snack in with you and then buy one snack in the parks? My 10yo will also be expected to bring some of his own money for snacks he might want beyond what I say "yes" to, but that also depends on the age of your children.

 

[squirrel]

Thank you all for sharing all your personal experiences with DDP vs OOP. SO appreciated! I'm feeling so much better about the OOP method now!
I forgot to ask, where is this refillable popcorn? In the parks just at walk up windows?

They have popcorn carts. From what I have heard there are a few locations that have flavored popcorn that are also refillable.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We stopped doing the dining plan a few years ago. It was way too much food, and we are more conscious about what we eat and the amount we eat now. I love the flexibility of paying OOP. To save money, I try to choose restaurants that I have dining discounts for (Disney Visa, DVC, AAA, etc.) But my biggest savings is I buy Disney GCs at my local Kroger. I buy them with my Chase Freedom card during the quarter that I get 5% back on grocery store purchases (for this year, that is April-June). I know that's the same savings as Target. But here's where the real savings comes in. I get them when there is 4x fuel points. I think now you have to have an exclusive coupon to download onto your Kroger card. I get those invites all the time, but I shop there a lot so not sure how hard it is to get them. I just bought $1650 worth of GCs to pay for my food for my WDW trip in October, food for my Gatlinburg trip this summer, and my remaining DVC annual dues. Here's what I saved:
$82.50 (cashback from Chase)
$231 (fuel points-1650 x 4 = 6600--That's $6.60 worth of fuel x 35 gallons each fill up)
That's a savings of $313.50!
What helped me with the psychology of spending is that not only do I buy the GCs for a huge savings, but I also do Swagbucks, Shopkicks, Ibotta, etc. (You can find info on the Budget Board about these) to get some extra money to use to buy the GCs. I also go ahead and budget extra for snacks so I don't feel bad about spending extra. One other thing that has helped is that my DH and I split a lot of meals, even at TS restaurants. It helps us stay healthy and saves money.

 

[Neverland98]

OOP tips:
-Order a cup of ice water with meals. FREE and way more refreshing (and dehydration buster) than a soda
-Consider sharing QS or TS meals. Especially if you'll be having a larger meal or buffet that same day or splurging in a fun Disney snack.
-QS can be as relaxing and delish as a TS restaurant. We LOVE Harambe Market in AK or the pot roast mac n cheese at Friar Nook's (MK) or Columbia Harbor House (MK). Lots of seating, so you can really relax for a bit.
-Bring easy to eat breakfast foods for some mornings. We even bring disposable coffee cups, make a coffee in the room, grab a muffin/donut/granola bar/cereal and head to start our day at the parks. Easy way to save $$ at least for a few mornings!

 

[Revf]

1. My wife and I share a meal, so we will order an appetizer, a meal, and a dessert. Disney's portions can be quite big depending on what you order.
2. As others have mentioned. When we are paying OOP, we spend our money on good meals sitting down. Rarely QS (Flametree BBQ is a good exception) So we will bring snacks with us. Granola Bars, fruit snacks, etc... Also we bring frozen pbjs for the kids. They are thawed by lunch.
3. Our character meals are more planned. Breakfast instead of lunch or dinner (cheaper and better time management for effective park touring)
4. I spreadsheet our meal costs before we go. There are rarely any surprises. Don't forget to include a random snack each day. (pretzel, popcorn, mickey ear, dole whip)

 

[Beer Me]

Take the cost of the dining plan and use it as your dining budget. It's pretty hard not to come out ahead.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

We always use the DDP, but last year on a 3 day trip after a cruise we did OOP. DH and I shared meals at 50's PT, Flametree, PoP food court. We found out that we can eat OOP on a budget fairly easy if we want to.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

1. My wife and I share a meal, so we will order an appetizer, a meal, and a dessert. Disney's portions can be quite big depending on what you order.
2. As others have mentioned. When we are paying OOP, we spend our money on good meals sitting down. Rarely QS (Flametree BBQ is a good exception) So we will bring snacks with us. Granola Bars, fruit snacks, etc... Also we bring frozen pbjs for the kids. They are thawed by lunch.
3. Our character meals are more planned. Breakfast instead of lunch or dinner (cheaper and better time management for effective park touring)
4. I spreadsheet our meal costs before we go. There are rarely any surprises. Don't forget to include a random snack each day. (pretzel, popcorn, mickey ear, dole whip)

Yes! And many TS restaurants will go ahead and divide the entree in the back. At Liberty Tree Tavern, we split an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. They split the entree and bring them out on individual plates, and the plates are completely full of food!

 

[Tallent]

I'm traveling with 2 15year old girls and one boy, 12 this summer. They all LOVE character meals so we scheduled many--for that reason the DDP did work in our favor---not by much, maybe $30, but I opted for peace of mind over the $30.

 

[MandLBee]

With 2 children and 5 adults, 3 character breakfasts and even being on restricted diets, we come out $1000 AHEAD not using the dining plan. We will bring our Britax filter water bottles and each child will have a $50 GC to buy food over 3 days. We are camping, so can make good food in our Instant Pot on our two days off. I have done the math over and over (because convenience of DP would be amazing) and I can't justify the extra money on our budget. You will do great!