To Dining Plan or Not to dining plan.. that is the question..

[srauseo]

I did the math for us and it didn't work out. It ends up being more food than we want to eat and too much tracking. I get that some folks like the all inclusive feel but if you are most concerned about the economics it probably doesn't work out for a group of adults.

 

[hllb]

Looks like my spreadsheet isn't correct somehow (they don't charge differently based on your room rate, right? We are staying at Contemporary, but I had to select a higher room rate this time since ours isn't available anymore). I have numbers pulled from the site a while ago and they do show $2601.34 for dining, but that isn't what it's showing now.

Just rechecked on Disney's website, and it looks like the cost of the dining plan for our trip is $2293.95 without tips (this was using a different room rate at Contemporary than what we actually booked with). So that's odd too. The calculator was including tips, I believe in their calculation for the dining plan.

 

[hllb]

My non-dining plan cost may have been off because it didn't include the same number of days of park tickets and didn't include the trip insurance. So, I think that was the difference (not sure what that quote included as my travel agent didn't give me details).

 

[hllb]

It doesn't appear that the calculator I used takes into account the signature/fine dining credits. It looks like it's only accounting for one TS credit for California Grill. That one is two credits on the standard dining plan, isn't it?

 

[gillep]

It doesn't appear that the calculator I used takes into account the signature/fine dining credits. It looks like it's only accounting for one TS credit for California Grill. That one is two credits on the standard dining plan, isn't it?

Yes, California Grill is a signature restaurant on the dining plan, and all signature restaurants are 2 TS credits.

 

[lovelymarshmallow]

i've done trips with and without. i remember at one point SO much was included- appetizer, non-alcoholic drink, entree, dessert... AND gratuity. each year they shave a little off of what is included and jack up the price a bit. i think it can weigh you down when it comes to planning because you're tied down to making sure you have all meals accounted for. i really feel like it's so much work to figure out if you will break even. convenience is lost once they took gratuity away. i think it's only worth it when you are a die hard 1+ times a day TS person or get it free/upgrade accordingly.

 

[sharonabe]

My non-dining plan cost may have been off because it didn't include the same number of days of park tickets and didn't include the trip insurance. So, I think that was the difference (not sure what that quote included as my travel agent didn't give me details).

Let's make this simple. The 2018 dining plan costs are as follows:

QSDP $21.75K/52.50A
DDP $25.75K/75.49A
DxDP $39.99K/116.25A

All prices are per NIGHTs you stay. It doesn't matter how many days are on your ticket.

Run your calculations again using the above prices.

 

[goofylaw]

If you want to save money, my vote would be "not".

Agreed! I have had the free dining plan multiple times and it was great but when you do the math, I can never get it to come out in my favor.

 

[Shanti]

I don't mean any disrespect for those that use the dining plan, but I am genuinely trying to figure out what makes it so much easier than paying OOP. I get that some can make it work to break even or even get a bit cheaper. But those who like the convenience or feeling like they're in the Disney bubble, I'm trying to understand.

I understand the convenience of pre-paying for meals. I do that already for our "big meals" (Tusker House, BOG, Ohana, R&C, etc) by using gift cards that I buy with the Redcard discount. I include tip and alcohol when budgeting on how much to put on each card before we go. Any balances get moved to the next card or just used up. Looking up the gift card site for me to check a balance is as quick and easy as looking on MDE to check wait times while walking in the park. I just don't see how that's harder than trying to figure out how to make the dining plan "work" for those that use it and want to maximize their credits, or figuring how many credits they have left or how to use up extra credits.

Or reaching into my bag to grab my gift card rather than just holding up my magic band to check out. That still doesn't seem like a lot more effort on my part or make me feel less "in the bubble".

A previous poster mentioned that if they paid OOP, they would look for the cheaper option on the menu because they would worry about cost. I get that, however if I did the dining plan, I would feel pressure to maximize my credits to make sure I used every cent I paid for. We've been to Disney enough that we know how we eat and what we like. Dining is a huge part of our trips so we never feel like we have to go cheap just to save money. It's already budgeted for. The Redcard discount, while not a ton, does help. I factor that savings into F&G or F&W booths.

Either way, dining plan or OOP requires effort and planning. Heck....almost everything in Disney now requires planning and effort! Conversations like these are interesting for me to see different perspectives. We all have our own priorities so there's no wrong way to do it. I'm genuinely curious as to what I'm missing?

Agreed, a hundred times. The reasons given by those who prefer to pay full price for the dining plan for the full length of their trip are not about saving money. They're people who either:

• have been in the habit of buying the DDP for many years, since the days when it was a better deal, and they don't want to stop even though it is no longer a deal,
• don't want to see bills during their trip (though even with DDP, you still have to pay tips out of pocket...),
• say they won't order what they really want to eat if they have to pay for it at the time (I don't get this mentality, but everyone's different),
• say they'll never make ADRs if they aren't on a dining plan (again, don't get this mindset, as anyone can make an ADR),
• find it "easier" to tally credits in their head throughout their trip and consider where and what they're allowed to eat on the plan, rather than just pay for and eat what they want when they want it, or
• think that the only way to pay for meals with a Magic Band is to purchase a dining plan (even though anyone staying at a resort can pay for a meal with their Magic Band, and settle up the bill at the end of their trip).

I think it really comes down to some people just feeling uncomfortable about potentially overspending on food during the trip, and possibly having to deal with a bigger than anticipated bill at the end. That's understandable, but taking the time to plan and budget for food costs will prevent that, and also will save a lot of money over paying Disney for the dining plan.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I'm the only male in a family of 4. The ladies often share entrees as well as dessert. We never order/eat as much food as is on the dining plan. We budget $75/person for each day all inclusive with tips and alcohol. Never actually spend that much throughout the trip. It also allows us to not have to worry about ordering certain items to "maximize" our DDP costs. We do one, sometimes two, table service meals in a day. We do 1 or 2 character meals and rarely more than 2 signature restaurants. Always comes out to less than the DDP.

 

[DisKaren]

We're going in February and I thought about doing the dining because we are all basically adults when it comes to food. Our kids will be 14 and 12 and we all like to eat. If we do the QS plan, it would cost us $1500 for our week there. AND that only gets us 2 QS and snacks and a mug each. So I used the dining calculator and using my calculations I think we will spend less. The extra cost for 2018 because of the alcohol thing makes it even less worthwhile for us. Now I love a drink here and there but there's no way both me and DH will be drinking an alcoholic drink 2 times per day with our meals. So we removed dining and we'll fly by the seat of our pants and likely save money.

The cost of the dining plan is going up about 9% for 2018, the same percentage it went up in 2017. Just like it increases every year (along with ticket prices). It isn't really alcohol-related. I do agree with you that buying a full-priced dining plan sounds expensive, and I wouldn't drink alcohol every lunch and dinner either. We just came back from a Free Dining trip, and that was great, because we did some character meals and AYCTEs. We did have a whole lot of snack credits we used to buy fudge in the shops in AK and MK the last 2 days though!! (Like we needed more calories after all those buffets! Good thing we walked about 10 miles a day).

 

[SaintsManiac]

We did it on our honeymoon and even with signatures we felt it was too much. We dropped it before we went on DD's first trip and I am really glad we did. We saved $300 overall.

The plan feels like some kind of test I have to pass while I am there. I don't like the feeling. If you like the pre-paid feel you could always do gift cards before you leave! Then whatever's left you can use on anything else.

 

[Nancyg56]

As you can see, you will get opinions all over the place on this one.

The ONLY way for you to know if $2600 is what you need to budget is for you to decide where you WANT to eat and do the math. Decide how many character meals and where those will be. Decide if you WANT any other TS meals. Then find the prices and do the math. I highly recommend doing the math yourself instead of using the dining calculators. There is a sticky at the top of this forum with EVERY buffet or fixed price meal on it and has the prices with the tax already figured in.

2018 plan includes an alcoholic drink with both QS and TS, so if that is something that appeals to you, be sure to add that into your calculations.

It all does down to the math. If you know how your family dines, you can do the math and have a pretty good idea if the plan will work for you. I have planned an extra trip but it was FD. I didnto book the trip itself until I booked the meals we wanted. If I could not enjoy the restaurants that worked for us, FD was not a deal.

Personally, I think that people should plan their trips and if a plan fits it then use one. I don't understand planning meals to make a plan work.

While I agree with you that this is probably not the best idea, the only place that you won't find alcoholic drinks is MK, and even MK has a couple places that do. In all the other parks, even the QS places have beer and usually one cocktail or wine.

Again, it comes down to the math, and some preplanning for folks. There are a lot of non alcoholic beverages that were not included on the dining plan. We have non drinkers in our crew so we always paid OOP for them, and that was in the parks as well as the restaurants. I think this may be a nice addition for some folks. For others? No.

i've done trips with and without. i remember at one point SO much was included- appetizer, non-alcoholic drink, entree, dessert... AND gratuity. each year they shave a little off of what is included and jack up the price a bit. i think it can weigh you down when it comes to planning because you're tied down to making sure you have all meals accounted for. i really feel like it's so much work to figure out if you will break even. convenience is lost once they took gratuity away. i think it's only worth it when you are a die hard 1+ times a day TS person or get it free/upgrade accordingly.

Remember those days????? And at $32 I think folks thought it was too much money. My DH was not our planner in the family, so he thought the plan was overpriced. My daughter is our numbers person, so she kept track of the food we enjoyed that trip, as well as the extra meals my husband asked us to book after we were there, and holy savings!!! He has since stopped questioning the dining plan decisions unless it is to ask why I did NOT book one! LOL!

The cost of the dining plan is going up about 9% for 2018, the same percentage it went up in 2017. Just like it increases every year (along with ticket prices). It isn't really alcohol-related. I do agree with you that buying a full-priced dining plan sounds expensive, and I wouldn't drink alcohol every lunch and dinner either. We just came back from a Free Dining trip, and that was great, because we did some character meals and AYCTEs. We did have a whole lot of snack credits we used to buy fudge in the shops in AK and MK the last 2 days though!! (Like we needed more calories after all those buffets! Good thing we walked about 10 miles a day).

I htink the plan was going to go up no matter what. In my opinion the addition of teh specialty beverages, alcohol or not, is to keep folks purchasing the plans. They are no longer the "no brainer" additions to a stay, so they are not going to be the incentive to keep folks onsite they once were.

 

[sharonabe]

Again, it comes down to the math, and some preplanning for folks. There are a lot of non alcoholic beverages that were not included on the dining plan. We have non drinkers in our crew so we always paid OOP for them, and that was in the parks as well as the restaurants. I think this may be a nice addition for some folks. For others? No.

I'm curious as to which drinks you had to pay OOP. At both TS and QS, we were allowed milk shakes and smoothies and even some specialty coffees, but that was a few years back. Unfortunately, it looks like this is going to continue to be a gray area with Disney. I don't expect them to really define these "new" additions, and will probably leave it up to each restaurant to decide what they will allow. That is unfortunate for guests since there will likely not be any consistency across the parks.

 

[mckennarose]

Agreed, a hundred times. The reasons given by those who prefer to pay full price for the dining plan for the full length of their trip are not about saving money. They're people who either:

• have been in the habit of buying the DDP for many years, since the days when it was a better deal, and they don't want to stop even though it is no longer a deal,
• don't want to see bills during their trip (though even with DDP, you still have to pay tips out of pocket...),
• say they won't order what they really want to eat if they have to pay for it at the time (I don't get this mentality, but everyone's different),
• say they'll never make ADRs if they aren't on a dining plan (again, don't get this mindset, as anyone can make an ADR),
• find it "easier" to tally credits in their head throughout their trip and consider where and what they're allowed to eat on the plan, rather than just pay for and eat what they want when they want it, or
• think that the only way to pay for meals with a Magic Band is to purchase a dining plan (even though anyone staying at a resort can pay for a meal with their Magic Band, and settle up the bill at the end of their trip).

I think it really comes down to some people just feeling uncomfortable about potentially overspending on food during the trip, and possibly having to deal with a bigger than anticipated bill at the end. That's understandable, but taking the time to plan and budget for food costs will prevent that, and also will save a lot of money over paying Disney for the dining plan.

You've addressed some of the thing that weren't making sense to me, thank you. I've never done the dining plan, so I don't have personal experience in figuring out each meal/credit. What I have seen on the DIS time and time again are reports of how the dining plan doesn't work for most people.

One of the points you made:

don't want to see bills during their trip (though even with DDP, you still have to pay tips out of pocket...)

Made me wonder about seeing bills to figure out a tip. Or adding alcohol or other. Don't they see a bill to figure out the appropriate tip or OOP expense?

I know that some have reported a savings (or breaking even) but I had questions if those savings included things like:
1. paying OOP for tip
2. paying OOP for alcohol or other item not covered on DDP. (multiple F&W or F&G booths, for example)
Or have they had savings in dining alone, not including tip, alcohol or other?

For example, someone figuring the math for dining plan and figuring they would break even or save $150. Are they factoring in tips and extras? $150 "savings" doesn't go far if you have to take tips off it. I guess I'm thinking of how I budget tips (or alcohol) into my gift cards and consider them as part of my entire dining budget. I know ahead of time what the tip will be for buffets and family style prices, and I have a rough idea for other restaurants based on how much I think we'll spend there.

Our next trip will be offsite, but I'm always looking for potential savings for any future trips. So far, it still doesn't seem like the dining plan will ever work for us.

 

[Arden01]

Just back from our trip. Before our trip, I briefly considering changing our reservation to FD when AKL popped up as an option. I decided to keep our TA deal with a good room discount instead. I kept careful receipts of all our meals for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids- "Disney adults"). We ate 7 TS meals, including 2 signatures and 2 character meals, 6 1/2 CS meals (kids ate one meal on their own instead of one signature) and a number of snacks. We also purchased the refillable mugs. We ordered whatever we wanted at each restaurant. We still came out ahead of the FD deal. If we purchased the dining plan, we would have been behind by $200. For us, Disney meals are a lot of food and there were times we skipped meals because we were too full. Other times we shared CS. Paying OOP works better for our family, especially during the heat of August. I think you have to know how your family will like to eat. FWIW, last trip we had free dining and felt like it was way too much food. However, it seemed like a good deal at the time because we went on a BB deal and did not have to buy park hoppers, stayed in a moderate and had the regular dining plan.

 

[melanielll]

I kind of see the dining plan as the food version of buying a time share. You can get swayed by what you seem to get, but looking at the costs, it rarely pans out as the better deal.

We go to Disney frequently. We eat at CRT, Ca Grill, other character meals, etc. The dining plan has never come close to even breaking even for us. Plus - I have been in line behind people with screaming kids who want something that isn't classified as a snack. Not my idea of a vacation. And the people buying 100 snacks in the gift shop before they head home? They overspent on the dining plan. Yeah - you get to eat those snacks, but candy bars cost a lot less in other places. It is also one more thing to be tracking during your trip.

 

[sharonabe]

For example, someone figuring the math for dining plan and figuring they would break even or save $150. Are they factoring in tips and extras? $150 "savings" doesn't go far if you have to take tips off it. I guess I'm thinking of how I budget tips (or alcohol) into my gift cards and consider them as part of my entire dining budget. I know ahead of time what the tip will be for buffets and family style prices, and I have a rough idea for other restaurants based on how much I think we'll spend there.

Most DDP pro people will say the tips don't factor in, because you pay them no matter if you have DDP or pay OOP, so I doubt they are including them in any savings. The savings are just on the cost of the meal itself.

I know for MY family the tip amount is a factor. We are a family of four Disney adults now, and we don't WANT four desserts on the table. We're happy with sharing just one. So that's $20-25 worth of food at each TS I'm tipping on if on DDP that I'm not tipping on if OOP. We also prefer water with perhaps a coffee here and there. So that's another $10-15 at each TS meal. Even on the low end, that's $5 or so MORE just on tips for one meal. That pays for a snack if paying OOP.

 

[otterpop]

Hey everyone!!

We are just starting to plan our 2nd trip to Disney.. Last time we had the Free Dining discount and that was HUGE for us.. so this wasn't a question..

we are going Wed to Wed over Easter this time and now have to decide..

We do enjoy the character meals and buffets, and doing a few are a must for me. but we are 1 TS per day people and i'd be ok with skipping it even once or twice..

but we have 5 Disney adults this trip and the plan is pricey.. $2600.. yikes!!

i'm just wondering.. if you go with 5 "adult" eaters.. my kids are teens so they do eat. . Then is that an amount to plan on spending??

Back to the OP, I don't recall if you mentioned in another post what type of room or rooms you will be staying in. If you happen to be staying in two rooms, you can get the dining plan of your choice for just the guests staying in one of those rooms and then you can share your credits with whomever you like (it's all legit and within the rules of the Dining Plan). So for example, with 5 adults and two rooms for 7 days, you have 2 adults in one room and 3 in another and you get the regular dining plan for the room of 2, that equals 14 QS and 14 TS credits that can be used by all 5 adults over that 7 day period. Use those TS credits for the most expensive (approx) 3 meals for all 5 adults and the rest, pay OP. If you go this route, and use the QS and TS credits to cover the more expensive meals and snacks that you are already planning on going to/eating, I bet you will save some money and still have the convenience and flexibility of paying OP, sharing, not getting desserts you don't want, etc....

...for a given lunch, two members in your party want a full qs meal and the other 3 just want a "side,"...use 2 QS credits to cover the full meals and pay OP for the "sides."

...and I think already mentioned, but if you have an AP, DVC membership, or Chase Visa, those will give you 10-20% discount at many of the restaurants.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'm curious as to which drinks you had to pay OOP. At both TS and QS, we were allowed milk shakes and smoothies and even some specialty coffees, but that was a few years back. Unfortunately, it looks like this is going to continue to be a gray area with Disney. I don't expect them to really define these "new" additions, and will probably leave it up to each restaurant to decide what they will allow. That is unfortunate for guests since there will likely not be any consistency across the parks.

I was talking about the non alcoholic versions of the cocktails. My crew, even though they have sweet tooth taste for desserts, rarely orders milk shakes.

You've addressed some of the thing that weren't making sense to me, thank you. I've never done the dining plan, so I don't have personal experience in figuring out each meal/credit. What I have seen on the DIS time and time again are reports of how the dining plan doesn't work for most people.

One of the points you made:

Made me wonder about seeing bills to figure out a tip. Or adding alcohol or other. Don't they see a bill to figure out the appropriate tip or OOP expense?

I know that some have reported a savings (or breaking even) but I had questions if those savings included things like:
1. paying OOP for tip
2. paying OOP for alcohol or other item not covered on DDP. (multiple F&W or F&G booths, for example)
Or have they had savings in dining alone, not including tip, alcohol or other?

For example, someone figuring the math for dining plan and figuring they would break even or save $150. Are they factoring in tips and extras? $150 "savings" doesn't go far if you have to take tips off it. I guess I'm thinking of how I budget tips (or alcohol) into my gift cards and consider them as part of my entire dining budget. I know ahead of time what the tip will be for buffets and family style prices, and I have a rough idea for other restaurants based on how much I think we'll spend there.

Our next trip will be offsite, but I'm always looking for potential savings for any future trips. So far, it still doesn't seem like the dining plan will ever work for us.

I never factor in tips because I tip anyway. I figure if we have an extra dessert the fact that we no longer need to consider tax on any of the DDP meals and snacks, it is a wash. I also do not consider the alcohol or extras. I drink on vacation because I do nto need to drive, as will my DH, DD and DSIL. I have my budget for the vacation after the package is paid for, and these all fall into that budget, along with shopping.

In terms of desserts etc being too much, my DDIl and I often share a meal so we also split the dessert. WE do not feel we need to but we have similar tastes and so between DD, DDIL and me, we always have sharing going on unless we go to an AYCTE or buffet. FOr us, the credits get stretched, and we do nto waste food. In for us because I cannot abide throwing food away.