To Keep Disney Dining Plan or To Pay Out of Pocket? Help!?

[sourstraws214]

Hi Everyone - I have already booked and made ADRs for our Dec. 11-18th stay. But now I see we are doing a lot of table service meals and we won't be using all of our quick service meals. So here is my dilemma - should we keep the dining plan of 1 table service, 1 quick and 1 snack? I'm not sure - please help. I'm really on a budget and I am trying to save as much money as possible.

Day One - Arrival - DTD - Wolfgang Puck Express & Icecream (1Q & 1S -- 1 unused TS)

Day Two - Animal Kingdom - Donald Safari Breakfast & Hoop de Doo Dinner (1TS -- 1 unused QS) Hoop de Doo will be paid out of pocket.

Day Three - Hollywood Studios - 50's Prime Time Lunch & Mama Melrose's (2TS - 1 unused QS)

Day Four - 1900 Park Fare Breakfast - Wonderland Tea - MVMCP Quick Service Dinner - (1TS - 1S & 1QS) All used this day

Day Five - Magic Kingdom - Chef Mickeys - CRT (out of pocket) - 1 TS --1 unused QS)

Day Six - Day off - Perfectly Princess Tea Party (out of pocket-not on dining plan) Ohana dinner (1 TS -- 1 QS unused)

Day Seven - Epcot - Chef de France Brunch & Akershus Dinner (2 TS -- 1 unused QS)

Day Eight - Departure - Quick Service Breakfast at Resort

From my plan - I have surplus of Table Service reservations but not enough Table Service credits but I will end up with all these unused Quick Service credits. And I will be paying out of pocket for those extra Table Services. So please - Disney experts help me out! Please! =) I want to stay on a budget but I don't want to cut out what I have above.

 

[catne]

check the menus for the places you're going to...grab a calculator & figure out what you'd probably order (add 6.5% tax to all orders.)

Add up what the dining plan would cost you (actual cost each day) + the OOP meals. See which one costs more. Sometimes it will work out that the dining plan is still a cheaper way to do it, even with some OOP & leaving some credits (depends on how you want to eat)

wdwinfo.com has menu info here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm

allears.net has menu info here:
http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

the walt disney world website also has menus for some restaurants on their dining pages

Keep in mind these menus are not exact...the menus change/prices change...but you'll get a better idea of what it will cost OOP or DDP

 

[squirrel]

There seems to be a few days without breakfast. Won't you be able to use the CS for them?

Day 3, Day 5 and Day 6 it looks like you only have 2 meals. Are you using snacks for the other meal?

 

[jlhill4444]

We found that upgrading to Dxddp for Dec 17-23 was cheaper than paying oop for our meals. It was only $220 more for 2 ad and 2 kids to upgrade for 3 ts credits. Since we were planning on paying oop for HDDR for four it was almost $200, and with the Dxddp we had plenty of TS credits to do everything we want. Here is our plan now.

Fri- Lunch- The Wave Dinner- CS at MK for MVMCP
Sat- BF- Akershus and Dinner- HDDR
Sun- BF- Ohana Dinner Le Cellier
Mon- BF- Tusker House Dinner- Brown Derby for Fantasmic Pk.
Tue- Lunch- CRT Dinner- Calli Grill
Wed- Lunch- Sci-Fi Dinner- Spirit of Aloha
Thurs- BF- Chef Mickey

As you can see we had chosen several 2 TS credit meals and upgrading to Dxddp was much cheaper than paying out of pocket for a few meals.

 

[Cafeen]

Well, first things first. You have 8 TS credits planned, but only 7 available, so you're going to have to pay OOP for another meal as well in there if staying on the DDP. (Credit allotments are based per night, not per day).

Overall (including HDDR), you'd have 12 locations using TS credits, and 3 QS credits listed. Totalling 15 Credits. If on DxDDP you'd have 21, so (for now) that's not really an option either (yet). (Typically, break even would be about 14/15 credits @ TS locations for 7 nights)

So, let's break this down a bit. Since I don't know your party makeup, it's going to be pretty general. Note: All prices are estimates and rounded up. TS is a general "mid-range" of the entrees and desserts offered. Pricing pulled from the menus at WDWInfo.com (except Tusker House which was AllEars.net). See the HDDR Note below the breakdown for detail on HDDR. Unless a specific location is noted, QS prices are a general guess.

Format is: AdultEntree+AdultDessert/ChildEntree+ChildDessert (value per credit)
Note: if no dessert is listed separate, then it's assumed included in the meal. Also, the value per credit is only done on the 2 TS locations (that you plan on paying OOP for). This is done to see if paying OOP for them is better or not.

1: WPE - $11+$4/$7+$4 (QS)
2: Tusker House (B) - $21/$12 || HDDR - $51/$26 ($25.50/$13)
3: 50s PT (L) - $14+$6/$8 || Mama Melrose (D) - $19+$6/$8
4: 1900PF (B) - $23/$13 || QS - $9+$3/$6
5: Chef Mickeys (B) - $27/$14 || CRT (D) - $58/$35 ($29/$17.50)
6: Ohana (D) - $31/$15
7: France (L) - $16+$8/$8+$3 || Akershus (D) - $36/$22
8: QS (B) - $9/$6

Note: HDDR Pricing is based on Cat3 seating.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way... you have 12 TS credits planned, so we'll have to trim that by 5. First through, let's start with the basic DDP cost.

For 2010, the cost is $42/night adult, and $12/night child. For 7 nights this comes out to $294/adult, $84/child

First, we'll add up the QS totals, since you have fewer planned for there we can add them all in. We come out with about $36/$25.

Now for the difficult part, TS locations. Since we have to "cut" 5 locations out of DDP, let's take a look at that value per credit I mentioned. We'll pay OOP for the 5 lowest value per credit meals here. In this case, it would actually look to be HDDR, 50sPT, Tusker House, 1900PF. For children, it will be slightly different: HDDR, 50sPT, Tusker House, Mama Melrose.

And now that we've gotten a bit of a better plan on what to pay OOP vs DDP, we can compare what we're planning to pay for with the DDP and see if we come out ahead.


Type . Adult . Child
QS . . $36 . . $25
TS . . $201 . .$111
Total. $237 . .$136

So, from the looks of it, with a typical 1 Adult per Child family, you'd pretty much break even between DDP and OOP (without taking snacks into account which I average about $3 per snack, so that's an extra $21 per person tacked onto both the adult and child "spending" above). The DDP would also offer you 4 more QS meals to take at your leisure, which would drive the savings up. (Figure $12/$6 times 4 more meals could be a potential $48/$24 added to the DDP "spending" above as well).

To summarize:

• Pay OOP for All at HDDR, Tusker House, and 50s Prime Time
• Pay OOP for Adults at 1900 Park Fare
• Pay OOP for Children at Chefs de France
• If a balanced party (1 adult per child), you will about break even. If more adults, the balance shifts toward OOP (more children, it shifts toward DDP)
• DDP will give you 4 more QS meals you can use as well as all the snacks that weren't taken into account.

(My math teachers didn't know what they were in for when they said "Show your work" )

 

[april5675]

We always go deluxe and have found that we save with it! We are going Dec1-5, I'm not a big budget gal but I have decided to save all our meal and snack receipts. I'm going to add them all up and see if it was worth it!!! I might be suprised that it wasn't but I'm really hoping I am!!!! So IMO.....GO DELUXE!!!!!

 

[minniemoms]

Ok Cafeen and Catne... Since you are so good at this... Let me tell you our make up and you can help me figure this out.
We are only going to be at WDW for 2 days...
Heres the deal
arriving late of day 1... staying at Disney resort...
doing a 5 days cruise
arriving Sunday morning would like to do Cape May for dinner
Monday would like to do Yachtsmen (I know that takes 2)
So....
Our make up
DH big eater..
DS 18 big eater
DNephew 18 big eater.
Me... average.
So... 1TS 1QS and 1 snack, might NOT be enough for the boys, but we could make it work.. It is just HOW to do Yachtsmen... Unless we change up our ressies..
Any suggestions???

 

[KELLY]

Hi fellow GF!!

 

[Cafeen]

Ok Cafeen and Catne... Since you are so good at this... Let me tell you our make up and you can help me figure this out.
We are only going to be at WDW for 2 days...
Heres the deal
arriving late of day 1... staying at Disney resort...
doing a 5 days cruise
arriving Sunday morning would like to do Cape May for dinner
Monday would like to do Yachtsmen (I know that takes 2)
So....
Our make up
DH big eater..
DS 18 big eater
DNephew 18 big eater.
Me... average.
So... 1TS 1QS and 1 snack, might NOT be enough for the boys, but we could make it work.. It is just HOW to do Yachtsmen... Unless we change up our ressies..
Any suggestions???

2 days = 1 night I assume?

You want to do 2 TS locations, one of which costs 2 credits on the plan. My gut is telling me (this is before looking up prices and doing math) that getting the DxDDP (especially with 3 big eaters) may be the best value for your situation. But, let's look closer...

DDP (1 night): 1TS, 1QS, 1Snack / $42/person - $168 total (4 adults)
DxDDP (1 night): 3Meals, 2Snacks / $72/person - $288 total (4 adults)

Cape May Dinner: $31pp
Yachtsman: $14 app/$42 entree (steaks avg)/$9 dessert - Total $65pp (est.)
1 QS: $12pp + $3dessert

Since there aren't many options on which to pay OOP and pay on DDP for, this makes it a bit simplier.

OOP
Adding up the cost of Cape May, Yachtsman, and 1 CS would be around $111 per person. Some fluctuation would occur if not all of you ordered apps and desserts @ Yachtsman, or picked one of the cheaper entrees.

This totals to $444 in food.

Of course, this also assumes that you'd do a CS meal on one of the days, if that's not the case, you can drop about $60 from that total ($384)

On DDP
Since you'd only have 1TS credit, you'd be using it at Cape May. You'd also be getting the CS meal on the plan. So we'll just pay for Yachtsman OOP.

Adding up the cost of the DDP and Yachtsman would be around $107 per person, or $428 total. A bit of savings vs paying OOP. Again, like with OOP, if you changed the order @ Yachtsman you could get away a bit cheaper. You can also add in another $3 per person ($12 total) for the snacks.

On DxDDP
Since DxDDP doesn't differentiate credits between CS and TS, all 3 credits can be used for TS, so we'll just pay OOP for the 1 CS meal here. Adding it all up gives us $87 per person, or $348 total. A hefty savings over both DDP and OOP plans. You also would get 2 snacks each, so another $24 or so in savings could be applied.

Apples to Apples (including snacks)

• OOP: $456 (1 snack) / $468 (2 snacks)
• DDP: $428 (1 snack) / $431 (2 snacks)
• DxDDP: $348 (1 snack) / $348 (2 snacks)

 

[minniemoms]

2nights..... I am trying to figure this out. It is confusing

 

[Cafeen]

2nights..... I am trying to figure this out. It is confusing

Ahh that changes everything. With 2 nights and that plan... hmm.

I think you could pay on DDP for Cape May, leaving you with 4 pooled credits and then splitting the check at Yachtsman. Pay the 2 costly meals with the 4 remaining credits, and pay the 2 more inexpensive meals OOP. It throws the numbers off above, but that should still net you some decent savings.

Bah, I wasn't going to do the math, but here I go...

Using the same numbers above, and we'll add in the extras for the 2nd night

Dining Plan Costs
DDP: ($42 x 2) x 4 = $336
DxDDP: ($72 x 2) x 4 = $576

OOP
This doesn't change too much, just the addition of a 2nd CS meal, so $60 more ($15 per person).

$504

DDP
This changes quite a bit, with the availability of 4 more pooled credits, you can pay for 2 of the meals (like I mentioned above).

This means that roughly $130 will be OOP and the other half will be included on the DDP (well, half minus the appetizers).
Total DDP cost would be roughly $336 + $130 + $28 (that is the 2 apps for the 2 paying on the DDP) = $494

DxDDP
We'll pick up the 2 CS meals here, and you'd have the option for a 3rd 1 credit meal somewhere else as well. This means that you'd be at cost of the plan or $576.

Apples to Apples again

• OOP: $504 base , $528 (1 snack/day), $552 (2 snacks/day)
• DDP: $494 base, $494 (1 snack/day), $518 (2 snacks/day)
• DxDDP: $576 base, $576 (1 snack/day), $576 (2 snacks/day) plus an extra meal at another location (I'd suggest TS otherwise it may end up being cheaper OOP)

So, from the reanalysis, it appears as though DDP is the winner this time, albeit by a slimmer margin. It also illustrates the relative value of using credits at signatures, and how it's not always the best deal.

 

[minniemoms]

Off to photograph a wedding, so I won't be on... But
It sounds like we should just do DDP AND Cape May, and NOT do Yachtsmen... Or do OOP.. I LOVE how you broke it all down.. That was great. I made my DH come in and read this to try and help me out with understanding this...

 

[minniemoms]

I appreciate all your hard work... Thanks so much... Still thinking about it, between deluxe and dinning...

OOP: $456 (1 snack) / $468 (2 snacks)
DDP: $428 (1 snack) / $431 (2 snacks)
DxDDP: $348 (1 snack) / $348 (2 snacks)

did you mix up the DxDDP? How could that be cheaper??

 

[Cafeen]

I appreciate all your hard work... Thanks so much... Still thinking about it, between deluxe and dinning...



did you mix up the DxDDP? How could that be cheaper??

If for 1 night, all meals would be covered under it (3 credits). On the DDP, you couldn't get Yachtsman covered by credits, so you'd have to pay OOP there.

The new calculations that I was writing as you replied will work a bit better .

 

[fsmith2845]

If for 1 night, all meals would be covered under it (3 credits). On the DDP, you couldn't get Yachtsman covered by credits, so you'd have to pay OOP there.

The new calculations that I was writing as you replied will work a bit better .

Wow that was a lot of math. you ought to offer DDP consulting services.. you could be the TGM of DDP!! LOL

 

[minniemoms]

walking out the door.... Did you write something more that you didn't send, or I haven't seen it yet??

 

[girlswhowearglasses]

I just happened upon this thread and realized that I could benefit greatly from someone who can actually do math in a logical way. I am not that person! I am trying to figure which to do, the QSDP, the DDP or all OOP. We will be staying 10 days in December, but are breaking it up into two resorts. We have a 5 night WL with QSD and a 5 night POR with QSD. I am having to purchase an extra one day ticket to get the dining on the second half because the dining is attached to park tickets. I don't know why he couldn't just do one person's tix on the second package. Maybe because it is 5 days later? Anyway, that adds the price of a one day ticket to my dining plan the way I see it, since that ticket is really unnecessary. There are 4 of us (Hubby, Me, 15yo son, and 12 yo daughter) My daughter and I normally share a meal. We are planning on paying OOP for Chef Mickey's BF, 50's PTC Lun, Rose and Crown Din, and Yak and Yeti Din. Also, hubby is flying home for the second half, which means only three people for the second five days, which includes the 50's PTC meal. This is where the logical side of my brain abandons me to begin breakdancing. I love the snacks, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream sundaes, so we will be doing plenty of those, I would skip desserts at meals if we did OOP and do snacks from Boardwalk Bakery, Ghiradelli, etc. Can anyone shed some light on which plan would be best for us. I have only been to WDW once, and stayed at Pop, which was great, but this trip is costing me nearly three times what that one did, and we had free dining last time. I am suffering from a bit of sticker shock after adding a Deluxe to my stay (because of Pop Warner, but let's not go there...) and there is always the chance that a free dining offer will come out which will make all of this a moot point, but there it is. All my stress comes down to this one question...! Please! Guidance is needed if you feel like crunching those numbers for me!!
Thanks in advance! And, PS, I know that once I get there it will all be wonderfully magical and I won't care how much it costs, BUT, I would like some perspective in the mean time!
Wendy

 

[Cafeen]

walking out the door.... Did you write something more that you didn't send, or I haven't seen it yet??

I think you missed it in our back and forth. See: Post 11 and Pst 14.

I just happened upon this thread and realized that I could benefit greatly from someone who can actually do math in a logical way. I am not that person! I am trying to figure which to do, the QSDP, the DDP or all OOP. We will be staying 10 days in December, but are breaking it up into two resorts. We have a 5 night WL with QSD and a 5 night POR with QSD. I am having to purchase an extra one day ticket to get the dining on the second half because the dining is attached to park tickets. I don't know why he couldn't just do one person's tix on the second package. Maybe because it is 5 days later? Anyway, that adds the price of a one day ticket to my dining plan the way I see it, since that ticket is really unnecessary. There are 4 of us (Hubby, Me, 15yo son, and 12 yo daughter) My daughter and I normally share a meal. We are planning on paying OOP for Chef Mickey's BF, 50's PTC Lun, Rose and Crown Din, and Yak and Yeti Din. Also, hubby is flying home for the second half, which means only three people for the second five days, which includes the 50's PTC meal. This is where the logical side of my brain abandons me to begin breakdancing. I love the snacks, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream sundaes, so we will be doing plenty of those, I would skip desserts at meals if we did OOP and do snacks from Boardwalk Bakery, Ghiradelli, etc. Can anyone shed some light on which plan would be best for us. I have only been to WDW once, and stayed at Pop, which was great, but this trip is costing me nearly three times what that one did, and we had free dining last time. I am suffering from a bit of sticker shock after adding a Deluxe to my stay (because of Pop Warner, but let's not go there...) and there is always the chance that a free dining offer will come out which will make all of this a moot point, but there it is. All my stress comes down to this one question...! Please! Guidance is needed if you feel like crunching those numbers for me!!
Thanks in advance! And, PS, I know that once I get there it will all be wonderfully magical and I won't care how much it costs, BUT, I would like some perspective in the mean time!
Wendy

Go ahead and split it off into your own post. It will be easier to track who's responding to who than having them all done up in one. As for the ticket thing you mentioned. Everyone on the reservation needs to be on the same package, this is why tickets for everyone needed to be purchased to get the QSDP. I'll have to do some research (and more math), but I may be able to help you trim some cost here as well.

Alternatively, Tricia/Nala, if it's easier on you guys for me to do a single thread for all this, I can start a generic "Help me do my math homework (Is a/Which Dining Plan is right for me)" thread (title subject to change). Just let me know. I'd rather not continue for others on the OP's thread though .

 

[sourstraws214]

Well, first things first. You have 8 TS credits planned, but only 7 available, so you're going to have to pay OOP for another meal as well in there if staying on the DDP. (Credit allotments are based per night, not per day).

Overall (including HDDR), you'd have 12 locations using TS credits, and 3 QS credits listed. Totalling 15 Credits. If on DxDDP you'd have 21, so (for now) that's not really an option either (yet). (Typically, break even would be about 14/15 credits @ TS locations for 7 nights)

So, let's break this down a bit. Since I don't know your party makeup, it's going to be pretty general. Note: All prices are estimates and rounded up. TS is a general "mid-range" of the entrees and desserts offered. Pricing pulled from the menus at WDWInfo.com (except Tusker House which was AllEars.net). See the HDDR Note below the breakdown for detail on HDDR. Unless a specific location is noted, QS prices are a general guess.

Format is: AdultEntree+AdultDessert/ChildEntree+ChildDessert (value per credit)
Note: if no dessert is listed separate, then it's assumed included in the meal. Also, the value per credit is only done on the 2 TS locations (that you plan on paying OOP for). This is done to see if paying OOP for them is better or not.

1: WPE - $11+$4/$7+$4 (QS)
2: Tusker House (B) - $21/$12 || HDDR - $51/$26 ($25.50/$13)
3: 50s PT (L) - $14+$6/$8 || Mama Melrose (D) - $19+$6/$8
4: 1900PF (B) - $23/$13 || QS - $9+$3/$6
5: Chef Mickeys (B) - $27/$14 || CRT (D) - $58/$35 ($29/$17.50)
6: Ohana (D) - $31/$15
7: France (L) - $16+$8/$8+$3 || Akershus (D) - $36/$22
8: QS (B) - $9/$6

Note: HDDR Pricing is based on Cat3 seating.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way... you have 12 TS credits planned, so we'll have to trim that by 5. First through, let's start with the basic DDP cost.

For 2010, the cost is $42/night adult, and $12/night child. For 7 nights this comes out to $294/adult, $84/child

First, we'll add up the QS totals, since you have fewer planned for there we can add them all in. We come out with about $36/$25.

Now for the difficult part, TS locations. Since we have to "cut" 5 locations out of DDP, let's take a look at that value per credit I mentioned. We'll pay OOP for the 5 lowest value per credit meals here. In this case, it would actually look to be HDDR, 50sPT, Tusker House, 1900PF. For children, it will be slightly different: HDDR, 50sPT, Tusker House, Mama Melrose.

And now that we've gotten a bit of a better plan on what to pay OOP vs DDP, we can compare what we're planning to pay for with the DDP and see if we come out ahead.


Type . Adult . Child
QS . . $36 . . $25
TS . . $201 . .$111
Total. $237 . .$136

So, from the looks of it, with a typical 1 Adult per Child family, you'd pretty much break even between DDP and OOP (without taking snacks into account which I average about $3 per snack, so that's an extra $21 per person tacked onto both the adult and child "spending" above). The DDP would also offer you 4 more QS meals to take at your leisure, which would drive the savings up. (Figure $12/$6 times 4 more meals could be a potential $48/$24 added to the DDP "spending" above as well).

To summarize:

• Pay OOP for All at HDDR, Tusker House, and 50s Prime Time
• Pay OOP for Adults at 1900 Park Fare
• Pay OOP for Children at Chefs de France
• If a balanced party (1 adult per child), you will about break even. If more adults, the balance shifts toward OOP (more children, it shifts toward DDP)
• DDP will give you 4 more QS meals you can use as well as all the snacks that weren't taken into account.

(My math teachers didn't know what they were in for when they said "Show your work" )

Thank you -- Thank you -- Thank you! Wow, you went over and beyond - you really helped!

 

[HeidiLowe]

Few questions.......(kids are 3&5)

If we are NOT on the DDP, can kids split kids meals? Or can they split an adult appetizer or entree? Or can anyone split anything, lol??

For those of you who had the DlxDDP and toddlers, how much food is left behind? We plan on doing at least 2 TS meals per day and I don't want to send half of the food back if they're not hungry.

Did your kids really eat that much while at the parks? I'm thinking they're going to be so excited and worked up that they won't be eating much. Or it will be the opposite; they will be famished by meal time from all of the activity. What were your experiences?

TIA!!