To do or not to do?

[swaldon]

I am planning a Disney trip at the end of May. This is our first trip. I am getting mixed reviews on if we should do the dining plan or not. We are an average middle class family of 4 looking to make the most out of our experience! The plan would cost us $1050. Can we eat cheaper than that? We are a little backwards! My daughter and I will most definetly get our moneys worth, while the guys aren't big eaters! HELP!

 

[bicker]

In its current incarnation, the Dining Plan is a convenient way of putting most of your dining expenses behind you, before you start your vacation, so you can just order what you want without worrying about how much what you order would end up costing you.

Note that there's nothing in there about "most economical". For most people, the Dining Plan is probably not the least expensive way of going. If you aren't going to derive a lot of personal satisfaction from the "without worrying" part, then I wouldn't even bother considering the Dining Plan.

 

[swaldon]

Thanks! I can see how that it would be carefree to just order and not worry about the total at the end but I do LOVE to save money! It would kill me to think that I spent more than what I needed to on food. Of course I am like everyone else. I want the biggest bang for my buck!

 

[figment_jii]

Some questions for you to think about:
1. Do you think you'd eat $46 per day per person?
2. Do you think you'll eat one sit down meal per day and is it likely to be dinner?
3. Normally, would each person in your party order a dessert?

For my family, we made our DDP decision based on the table service meal because we usually ate at least one sit down per day. While all of us would not normally order a dessert, we did tend to order expensive enough dishes that the DDP was pretty worthwhile. It was nice not having to worry about how much a dish costs and just being able to order it because it looks good.

If you're feeling industrious, you could look at the menus of a few sit down menus and see how much you would eat/order. If you're in the $30-$35 range, then you're probably okay with the DDP. If you're below that, then it might not be the most worthwhile (economically).

If you are looking to save money, it's much cheaper to eat QS meals than TS meals. Having the DDP pretty much commits you to eating sit down meals.

 

[bicker]

I want the biggest bang for my buck!

Everyone does, but recognize that WDW is one of the best in the world at confronting that and still exacting from its customers a good profit.

Some questions for you to think about:
1. Do you think you'd eat $46 per day per person?

While I understand what you're getting at, I think that doesn't ring the bell for me: We probably will eat $46 per day per person at WDW this next trip. However, it won't be the specific $46 worth that Disney will limit us to, if we were to elect the Dining Plan.

 

[Nadjalu]

While the plan isn't for everyone, it saves us alot of money.

When we vacation it is just myself and husband and we average about $55-65 per person per day. (sometimes it is more depending on where we go).

If you are going to eat soley on Disney property it is expensive.

Basicall breakfasts at your resort quick service places range from $6-10 each.
Lunch at quick service places are $10-15 and dinners at a table service place are $26 and above (we usually average $36 for dinner each, this isn't signature restaurants)

So if you break down the $46 per day per person you are already over if you need 3 meals, not counting snacks and extra drinks.

Bottled water and pop are $2.70each. All this adds up.

So what I recommend, is look at the menus online pick out where you would like to eat for every meal, pick an entree per person, total that. Do it for everyday of your trip and see what your grand total is. That will tell you if the DDP is a good fit.

Our average for a 7 day trip is between $860 -$1100 (approximately) for just the 2 of us.

 

[Colleen27]

Something that will make a difference in the value of the plan is the ages of your kids. The DDP pricing for kids 3-9 is such a savings that it can tip the scales in favor of the plan, but needing to pay for kids 10+ as adults can torpedo any value you might otherwise get from the DDP.

Generally speaking you can eat cheaper than the DDP if you share meals, or don't eat a sitdown meal every day, or schedule your sitdown meals for breakfast or lunch, or have adult-aged kids who would rather order kids' meals. The best way to decide if the plan is for you is to look at the menus on the DIS or Allears and add up how much you'd spend OOP. It takes a bit of time but it is the only way to really do an accurate apples-to-apples comparison.

 

[Macduffy]

The DDP saves us money. My husbands eats. A lot. Every few hours. So having the dining plan works for our family.
I am also very budget minded but I don't want it to take away from our trip so I personally find that having the "care free" approach to meals and snacks makes our trip more enjoyable and I am willing to "pay a price" for that. When the kids ask for popcorn I can say "of course" and feel great about them having a snack instead of adding up the price in my head and sighing in disbelief