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

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.

The 2018 plan no longer includes desserts in it, correct?
 
You'll find a lot of people who feel strongly each way and both sides usually present a pretty valid argument. I will say—at the end of the day it depends on your family's eating habits/style and preferences.

We almost always purchase the DDP, however, I'm able to see both sides. Here's how the DDP works for us:

1) We have the Disney Visa card. With the Disney Visa, it allows you to finance your trip at 0% APR for 6 months. NOW - I don't recommend this to everyone. We're very strict and stringent with paying our credit card bills. Paying for a $7-$10k trip (Deluxe resort during Christmastime) is much easier over 6 months than in one gigantic payment. We're an older family of four (my parents, me (28), my sister (33)) so we split each monthly payment. We usually knock it off in 3-4 months, but having that leeway is nice. So, being able to throw it all on one card and pay off our entire trip in one go works for us and is an added benefit, rather than paying for the hotel and then bringing cash with us/charging more while we're there. PLUS, we get points toward a Disney Gift Card with our CC. We exclusively use our Disney CC for the trip and throughout the year, then have about $500 of spending reward money while at Disney.
Alternative: Many would argue to just put away a little money each month for the 6 months leading up to your trip. Also doable.

2) We like not having to carry as much money and worry about the sticker shock. We went without the DDP for our Easter trip. We only did 1 ADR and ate exclusively at Quick Service locations and Flower and Garden. We loaded up gift cards for Flower & Garden and paid OOP for our quick service and one Table Service ADR. We were new AP holders, so we received the 20% discount (usually 10%, but 20 for the 45th Anny). The downfall here was that we were left toward the last day or two with money on our gift cards. I know you could argue that we can "save them for our next trip" and/or use them elsewhere, but we felt compelled to finish them off. So while we saved money, we didn't actually "save money" because we wound up trying to finish off our gift cards with snacks and souvenirs. The AP discount helped—but the value of going OOP was greatly affected by Flower and Garden. We could have easily used the snacks on $6-$8 items around F&G and used Quick Service credits for three $8-items at locations where we all wanted something different. We'll be doing this at Food & Wine and I'll report back how it works for us.
Alternative: Like I said, you can load up a gift card. This gives you a spending threshold. I recommended this to my cousins who are going with us for the first time. Load up $300 and you'll only spend $300. Otherwise you run the risk of sticker shock by charging everything. You can also simply budget and only bring the cash you wanna spend—I call this the casino tactic. Last, if you want the convenience of the meal plan, simply charge everything to your room. Scan your MagicBand and it'll go back to your room.

3) My family eats A LOT. I personally eat pretty healthy year-round, but at Disney I put on a few pounds. I think nonbelievers never quite understand why we go year-after-year and sometimes multiple times a year. It's not just about the rides, characters and parks—it's about the food! We can easily polish off a meal and dessert, and the 2018 plan is even more attractive to us. I always add up the receipts and damage after the trip. I've been trying to sell my family on going sans DDP for years and trying to find efficiencies to allow us to go more often. I did it with the APs this year. However, we always either break even, or lose value on the DDP by ~$100-$200. For us, the ease of having the DDP overrides the value lost.

4) It depends on when you go. We usually go for Christmas. Major holidays are excluded from the AP Discount and Tables in Wonderland. We only eat at Signature restaurants on Christmas and NYE, so the money we spend on those dates would override the savings we see on other days.
Alternative: Many would argue that the Signatures are not worth it on the DDP. TRUE, but again, it's how you eat. We find value during our other meals, like expensive quick services (WPE, BOG) and buffets/Family Style places. Which leads me to our next:

5) The value is out there. I'll touch on the alternative first: many say they don't want to spend their trip ordering the most expensive item to make it "worth it." I can agree and that's a valid argument. Fortunately, we prefer the more expensive counter services like WPE, BOG... and we actually really enjoy the buffets (and absolutely get our money's worth!)

6) To counter point #5, though, a pizza at WPE (I think it runs about $15) can easily be split between two people.

So, it really depends. Does your family eat a lot? Get the DDP. I won't argue efficiency or ease, as you can get that with paying OOP on the Magic Band or with a gift card, but for us it just works. It gives it an "all inclusive" feel.
 
The 2018 plan no longer includes desserts in it, correct?

Nevermind. I see the table service includes dessert, but the quick service does not. That's fair. I certainly don't need multiple desserts per day LOL.
 
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??

We saved over $400 using the DxDP in July/August. I did a trip report about it that included spreadsheets :) We did it as an experiment and ended up loving it. I'm looking forward to the alcohol part of the plan with DH and will have just turned 21 DS in February :) https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...t-planning-mini-reviews-and-thoughts.3624113/
 

I don't see a lot of value in the basic plan any more, and I'm generally a fan of the plans. I like the convenience of having everything pre-paid, and I like not thinking about menu prices when I'm deciding what to eat. But the basic DDP pricing has gone up so much more quickly than restaurant menu prices that you really have to think about how you use it if you want to break even or come out ahead. I was just updating my spreadsheet for my next trip and noticed that the DDP has gone up more than 50% since 2012, while the menu prices of the favorites that were on my budget then and again now are up 10-20% at most. And some of those are strictly apples-to-apples comparisons. I always order the sampler at 50s Prime Time. It was $20 in '12 and $23 now - a 15% increase. With the plans outpacing the cost of dining so dramatically, it gets harder every year to break even much less come out ahead.

We still do the deluxe plan. I'm showing a modest savings (~10%, >$250, with 7 meals unplanned) on my budget sheet, which is enough cushion for me to feel like it isn't going to be a ripoff if our plans shift a bit and put it within my comfort zone to decide based on convenience rather than cost. With three teens, knowing we'll be splitting up for some meals, the all-inclusive factor is certainly attractive, but it is secondary to value. I'm not willing to overpay just for the convenience factor.
 
We've been to Disney 5 times in 6 years. This year will make our 6th trip. We did Dining every year and this will be our first trip without it. On our last night of the 2016 trip we went to pick up some candy to take back home from Goofy's candy store and realized we had something like 3 quick service and 5 snacks left. I believe each quick service worked out to be like 3 snacks but I still don't think I got my moneys worth at the end of it all. I sat down for this year and worked out mock meal plans. Did the math and re-did the math a bunch. I was kind of worried about having to keep track of our food budget but now I feel good about it. We're not the type of family to worry if Disney got us for $20-$30 bucks in meals but it looks like at least with us we'll save a couple hundred bucks. It's nice not to have to sit down either a force feed yourself in worries that you'll end up throwing too much money away.
if you budget at least the dining plan amount, you will come home with money left over and you don't have to "keep track of the food budget." It is pretty safe to say you'd have to work to go over.
 
Even if we break even, or spend a little more, I'm fine with it. I don't want to think about the prices of food when I sit down for a meal. I want to order what I feel in the mood for, and not have to financially adjust later. That being said, the Dining Plan isn't for everyone. You gotta decide what's important to you!
 
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I don't understand the "I like paying ahead and going to a restaurant and not worrying about the price" camp.

If price is the primary concern, then the dining plan rarely makes sense. So why apply that logic when rationalizing the choice of going with the dining plan? If people want to pre-pay and use it as a matter of convenience, that's one thing - but not worrying about the cost doesn't really fit in there, since at the end of the day you're paying a premium for the convenience over what you would have paid by just going out of pocket.
 
DDP never makes sense for my family, and here is why:

1) We hardly ever make it to dessert
2) The 5 of us can usually eat well with 3 QS meals. If it's not enough, we can always order more, but we don't waste.
3) We only do TS about once every other day
4) We like the flexibility of being able to go off property and not feel that we are "owed" by Disney
 
I have to say, I'm surprised at the number of people that say it's too much food. We've only had the dining plan once - 2 adults, 2 kid meals, 1 toddler whom we all shared with. But, I don't remember it being a huge amount of food (other than dessert at each meal, which isn't on the plan anymore anyway). For the sit down restaurants, i don't recall the adult meals really being big enough to share. We used one of our snack credits for breakfast, and then typically a drink in the afternoon with the other snack credit. I think we had a few snack credits left at the end of the trip which we used for take home stuff, but I don't recall throwing away a large amount of food. I know there are some restaurants with large portions (Liberty Tree), but I seem to recall them being fairly normal serving sizes at most restaurants. Yes, I could probably split a meal with my 7 year old, but I don't see two adults (or even me with one of my teens) splitting a meal and feeling very satisfied at most restaurants. I don't think we are particularly big eaters either.
 
if you budget at least the dining plan amount, you will come home with money left over and you don't have to "keep track of the food budget." It is pretty safe to say you'd have to work to go over.
Agree. Plus, budgeting that amount and pre paying for a gift card at 5% off makes even more sense.

Even if we break even, or spend a little more, I'm fine with it. I don't want to think about the prices of food when I sit down for a meal. I want to order what I feel in the mood for, and not have to financially adjust later. That being said, the Dining Plan isn't for everyone. You gotta decide what's important to you!
Again, not knocking those who like the dining plan. But don't you see a check when you have to tip and have to think about prices? If you're pre paying by buying gift cards, you wouldn't be financially adjusting later, IMO. It's not like a sudden $20 price increase happens for a menu item frequently. You can look on MDE and see all the menus and prices and get a general idea of cost.
I always look at cost and budgeting as my priority. (mostly because it means visiting WDW more frequently! LOL) If you look at convenience over cost, that's fine too. You're right in that people need to decide for themselves what works.

I have to say, I'm surprised at the number of people that say it's too much food. We've only had the dining plan once - 2 adults, 2 kid meals, 1 toddler whom we all shared with. But, I don't remember it being a huge amount of food (other than dessert at each meal, which isn't on the plan anymore anyway). .................... I think we had a few snack credits left at the end of the trip which we used for take home stuff, but I don't recall throwing away a large amount of food. ...............
................but I don't see two adults (or even me with one of my teens) splitting a meal and feeling very satisfied at most restaurants. I don't think we are particularly big eaters either.

I have several dd's and we do share at restaurants, particularly QS, because we find the portions too large and more than we usually eat at home for a meal. All my children are adults. When we do eat at a TS restaurant we frequently bring home leftovers because it's too much food and we never order dessert unless it's a special thing. (like the bread pudding at Ohana which is included in the meal).
Bringing snacks home is never something we do. I don't care for the rice krispy treats enough to want to bring them home, so using left over credits for snacks to bring home would not be a priority. I would be really upset if that was my only option to attempt to use credits up rather than lose them.

This thread is enlightening for the inside scoop of the dining plan. I never really looked at the other threads about it and I'm glad I did for this one. It confirms that it is not something that would work for us. For us, being able to have the funds to go to Disney more frequently is worth far more than the "convenience" (?!) of the dining plan. It definitely does not seem like something that saves the majority of people money. As with all things Disney; if they didn't make money off it, would they really continue doing it? My guess is "no". It has to be worthwhile financially for them in some way.

Again, having not looked into the dining plan previously, is it true to get it you need to purchase it as part of a package through Disney? Like no discounted tickets through a 3rd party seller? Or no hotel discounts if using "free" dining?
 
It definitely does not seem like something that saves the majority of people money. As with all things Disney; if they didn't make money off it, would they really continue doing it? My guess is "no". It has to be worthwhile financially for them in some way.

Again, having not looked into the dining plan previously, is it true to get it you need to purchase it as part of a package through Disney? Like no discounted tickets through a 3rd party seller? Or no hotel discounts if using "free" dining?

It used to be a solid money saver. But as I mentioned before, the price has increased far faster than menu prices over the years, and at the same time value has been stripped from the plan (tips were included at first, appetizers at the TS meals, desserts at QS meals, etc.) But even when it was a consumer saving, it was probably also a money-maker for Disney because it kept people eating every meal on Disney property and, along with DME, created a far more "captive" audience for souvenir shopping, extra park days or waterpark add ons for days that might otherwise have been spent offsite, etc. And because you have to be staying at a Disney-owned resort to get the plan, it filled hotel rooms and eroded the "Disney hotels are too expensive" perception.

To your second question, you do have to get it as part of a package unless you're DVC or an AP holder. So yes, it means undiscounted tickets, which can cost an extra $20 or so per person (don't believe those "save $40+" boasts from discounted ticket sellers - that's off of gate price, which is $21 higher than tickets purchased as part of a package or from Disney in advance). But you can add tickets and dining to most room discount offers, including AP and FL resident rates, so buying the dining plan doesn't lock you into a higher room rate. Only the "free" dining offer requires a rack-rate room.
 
It used to be a solid money saver. But as I mentioned before, the price has increased far faster than menu prices over the years, and at the same time value has been stripped from the plan (tips were included at first, appetizers at the TS meals, desserts at QS meals, etc.) But even when it was a consumer saving, it was probably also a money-maker for Disney because it kept people eating every meal on Disney property and, along with DME, created a far more "captive" audience for souvenir shopping, extra park days or waterpark add ons for days that might otherwise have been spent offsite, etc. And because you have to be staying at a Disney-owned resort to get the plan, it filled hotel rooms and eroded the "Disney hotels are too expensive" perception.

To your second question, you do have to get it as part of a package unless you're DVC or an AP holder. So yes, it means undiscounted tickets, which can cost an extra $20 or so per person (don't believe those "save $40+" boasts from discounted ticket sellers - that's off of gate price, which is $21 higher than tickets purchased as part of a package or from Disney in advance). But you can add tickets and dining to most room discount offers, including AP and FL resident rates, so buying the dining plan doesn't lock you into a higher room rate. Only the "free" dining offer requires a rack-rate room.

You can call Disney and ask for a ticketless package, which allows you to just purchase the room and dining plan. Then you can buy the tickets elsewhere and save a few bucks. You do have to call though, you can't book this online.
 
It used to be a solid money saver. But as I mentioned before, the price has increased far faster than menu prices over the years, and at the same time value has been stripped from the plan (tips were included at first, appetizers at the TS meals, desserts at QS meals, etc.) But even when it was a consumer saving, it was probably also a money-maker for Disney because it kept people eating every meal on Disney property and, along with DME, created a far more "captive" audience for souvenir shopping, extra park days or waterpark add ons for days that might otherwise have been spent offsite, etc. And because you have to be staying at a Disney-owned resort to get the plan, it filled hotel rooms and eroded the "Disney hotels are too expensive" perception.

To your second question, you do have to get it as part of a package unless you're DVC or an AP holder. So yes, it means undiscounted tickets, which can cost an extra $20 or so per person (don't believe those "save $40+" boasts from discounted ticket sellers - that's off of gate price, which is $21 higher than tickets purchased as part of a package or from Disney in advance). But you can add tickets and dining to most room discount offers, including AP and FL resident rates, so buying the dining plan doesn't lock you into a higher room rate. Only the "free" dining offer requires a rack-rate room.
You do not need to purchase tickets directly from Disney in order to get the Dining Plan. You can do a ticketless package and buy your tickets however you like. I did this recently and purchased my tickets through Undercover Tourist at a nice discount.
As DisKaren mentioned, you do need to call as this type of reservation cannot be made online.
 
Bringing snacks home is never something we do. I don't care for the rice krispy treats enough to want to bring them home, so using left over credits for snacks to bring home would not be a priority. I would be really upset if that was my only option to attempt to use credits up rather than lose them.
There are so many other options to bring home than just Rice Krispie treats - fudge, caramel apples, brownie/blondie bars, giant cookies, anything from Karamell Kuche - just to name a few. We normally don't have any left over credits but one time we had some snack credits left over and we took home such a nice box of goodies. Those krispy treats are not on the top of my list either!
 
There are so many other options to bring home than just Rice Krispie treats - fudge, caramel apples, brownie/blondie bars, giant cookies, anything from Karamell Kuche - just to name a few. We normally don't have any left over credits but one time we had some snack credits left over and we took home such a nice box of goodies. Those krispy treats are not on the top of my list either!

This! The peanut butter fudge from the sweet shop in AK was amazing! I wish I had some now. Next time I will bring an empty tupperware container to WDW just to stash some fudge that I buy with any leftover snack credits!
 
You can call Disney and ask for a ticketless package, which allows you to just purchase the room and dining plan. Then you can buy the tickets elsewhere and save a few bucks. You do have to call though, you can't book this online.

You do not need to purchase tickets directly from Disney in order to get the Dining Plan. You can do a ticketless package and buy your tickets however you like. I did this recently and purchased my tickets through Undercover Tourist at a nice discount.
As DisKaren mentioned, you do need to call as this type of reservation cannot be made online.

Good to know. Has this always been the case, or is it something new(ish)? I wish I'd known about it back when I was using up extra two-day tickets from past free dining trips!

There are so many other options to bring home than just Rice Krispie treats - fudge, caramel apples, brownie/blondie bars, giant cookies, anything from Karamell Kuche - just to name a few. We normally don't have any left over credits but one time we had some snack credits left over and we took home such a nice box of goodies. Those krispy treats are not on the top of my list either!

And carrot cake cookies! I pack containers to bring a couple of those home every trip.
 
It used to be a solid money saver. But as I mentioned before, the price has increased far faster than menu prices over the years, and at the same time value has been stripped from the plan (tips were included at first, appetizers at the TS meals, desserts at QS meals, etc.) But even when it was a consumer saving, it was probably also a money-maker for Disney because it kept people eating every meal on Disney property and, along with DME, created a far more "captive" audience for souvenir shopping, extra park days or waterpark add ons for days that might otherwise have been spent offsite, etc. And because you have to be staying at a Disney-owned resort to get the plan, it filled hotel rooms and eroded the "Disney hotels are too expensive" perception.

To your second question, you do have to get it as part of a package unless you're DVC or an AP holder. So yes, it means undiscounted tickets, which can cost an extra $20 or so per person (don't believe those "save $40+" boasts from discounted ticket sellers - that's off of gate price, which is $21 higher than tickets purchased as part of a package or from Disney in advance). But you can add tickets and dining to most room discount offers, including AP and FL resident rates, so buying the dining plan doesn't lock you into a higher room rate. Only the "free" dining offer requires a rack-rate room.

Very interesting! I can certainly see how the plan initially seemed like a good deal. And I didn't even think of how Disney wanted to keep people in the parks for meals and for longer times. Makes a lot of sense from a business perspective.

I see... so the "free dining" for rack rate rooms is why people weigh the cost of "free dining" against a room discount.

There are so many other options to bring home than just Rice Krispie treats - fudge, caramel apples, brownie/blondie bars, giant cookies, anything from Karamell Kuche - just to name a few. We normally don't have any left over credits but one time we had some snack credits left over and we took home such a nice box of goodies. Those krispy treats are not on the top of my list either!

If I could bring Mickey Bars home, I would be all over that! Lol! As it stands, I always get a new hoodie or tshirt as my souvenir.
 
I see... so the "free dining" for rack rate rooms is why people weigh the cost of "free dining" against a room discount.

That's it exactly. And depending on your group makeup and eating habits, it can be a very good discount. The last time we booked with free dining, it was still the basic DDP for moderate resorts and we were 2 adults, 2 adult aged kids, and a child. The value of the discount was something ridiculous like $150+ per night... and since we know we like the DxDDP when we travel, it really did save us that much on the package we'd want. There were times even when we did YES trips, which included their own discounted tickets, where we still bought the 2 day tickets we needed to get free dining and just set them aside for future trips. We did the same once during my AP year, because I was traveling with two kids over 10 and with four "adults" in the room FD saved us more than the AP discount even when figuring in my TiW card.

But just as the value of the dining plan has declined over the years, so has the value of free dining. The ticket requirement keeps getting more expensive, and the level of dining each type of resort gets has lessened so now values and mods only get the quick service plan. Plus the eligible dates are narrower and fewer rooms available.
 
For us it depends on several factors:

1. do we want to do a trip with lots of signature dining. (we'll likely do DxDDP so we can try appetizers, entrees and
dessert - without sticker shock.)
2. are we staying club level. (we likely won't do any dining plan.)
3. we're not from the US so we try to look at some of the exchange rate data to see if our dollar will be higher or lower
when we go. Not an exact science but there have been years where it's made sense to prepay the dining based on
this --- other years it made sense not to.
4. if free dining offers the best savings (in some years the BC resort room only discount has only been 10%) but free
dining was offered.
5. if we have lots of special events planned (dessert parties, dining events (like Highway in the Sky), etc... ) it's likely
we won't opt for the dining plan as many of the meals/food will be covered already.
6. During FW we might use the DxDDP as we love trying/enjoying the snacks at the booths.

When we've done the DDP/DxDDP (non FW) we use the snacks for treats to take home as the meal allocations are plenty to eat during the trip.

The question of whether it's worth it is really a situational and preferential one.
 
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