To pay OOP or not?!

[havoc315]

We are flying, but I plan on ordering juice boxes, Horizon milk & water and having it delivered and then I'll pack stuff like fruit snacks, granola bars and some stuff for the baby in our suitcase, so we might save there. And then buy things like milk to keep in the fridge...


I just adjusted a spreadsheet I was working on earlier last month with the different prices (so it just depends on if those prices changes are permanent), just included the 5 most important TS meals and included the CS locations I think we'd eat at + what we'd more than likely order (no desserts and an occasional soda plus considered what we could share) & allowed for 3 refillable mugs & $12 in snacks a day. It came out $30 cheaper. So I guess now I need to decide if a $30 savings is worth it for me, right? LOL

As long as you are ordering a grocery delivery.... Get a case or 2 of soda. That will be a lot cheaper than 3 mugs. And then you have it cold and ready in your room, instead of having to walk across the resort for a refill.

You can get a case of canned soda for $6. I believe you are staying 5 nights?
So you can get 2 cases of soda --- 24 cans of soda, enough for 5 cans per night, for $12.
Or, you can pay $45 for the mugs.
For the mugs to equate to ordering cases of soda -- You would need 8 cases of soda. Each mug refill is about half of a can. In other words, your family would have to drink about 30-40 refills of soda per day, in order to get fair value.

 

[Gmouse]

your 1 yr old can share at any restaurant with any of the rest of you. Any 2 and under do not require a DDP. Since you have 2 more children-the DDP is very worth it. A hot dog and drink along can be close to $10 just for one of them...the DDP will be $15 when you go?? Can't eat TS or CS for that in a day. Our son is on the "adult" plan now, with our 2 yr old they can share so it will be worth it.
I agree with "Havoc..." You should really rethink your choices. Go for the nicer, BETTER food so you get all your money's worth. Prime Time food is ok, but you are really paying for the experience....
As far as the Turkey legs-we have gotten them every trip...at different locations at that. Unless it's changed recently? There are TONS of other things that you CAN used snack credits for that are not listed. You just have to ask at the counter...they don't advertise them all I guess maybe too many to list. There were very little items that we were not allowed-and probably wouldn't want those anyway. We had snack credits left at the end of our trip and we used them in Germany and the other countries to get the REALLY nice chocolates and candies, to bring back home and "reminisce".
We also take a small bag cooler with things for our kids. They never say a word. They just don't let come WHEELING in a cooler full of FRIED CHICKEN or something...like I have seen at other theme parks

 

[Gmouse]

and we never used the mugs. we had drinks in our room fridge. we dont drink sodas alot so it's not worth it for us, we don't even factor the mugs in. if we get one that's fine, if not that's fine too. we are in the parks morning til night so we never make it to the food courts...the food there is usually gross-depending on the resort.

 

[Gmouse]

We went back and forth about OOP vs dining plan, and I decided to do the dining plan. It kind of hurts to see the money pouring out of your wallet when you eat out, and I know that for us, we would definitely go without meals, snacks, drinks, etc to save money. It's silly, but it's the way we are. I like having the meals pre-paid (and FD helps, too), and having the trip paid for before we go. I feels like we are spending less, and have more money for souvineirs. I'm sure that's not the case, but I'm not going to be sitting at a parade when the kids ask for popcorn thinking, OK, we spent 100 bucks at a character meal, 150 bucks on T-shirts, and we still have to eat dinner, and that's just today. NO YOU CAN'T HAVE THE POPCORN!!

LOL.

In reality, I set a budget for the trip, so yeah, we could still buy 3 meals and snacks and drinks and popcorn and souvineirs OOP. But it feels like I'm not going to be bleeding money while we're there. So we chose the dining plan. I know I won't be sitting there trying to figure out if we are maximizing our discount. that's just not me. But I know a lot of people do do that, so if you are the type to stress about making sure you only choose restuarants that are the best "value" on the plan and so forth, then it might be more work than you want to do on vacation.

I was reading that a lot of people will get their TS desserts to go, so they have a snack later. Might be worth looking in to.

This sounds so familiar!! NO YOU CAN'T HAVE POPCORN!! This is why we love the DDP so much too...it's paid for a DONE. We also took some of our desserts back to the room-had them for breakfast the next morning! lol
Then off to lunch a little at the parks later....There are so many ways you can use the plan and SAVE....and not be starving or living off hot dogs and water for a week!

 

[MedicGoofy]

I have planned a trip for my mom and me this upcoming November. I went back and forth about the dining plan. I'm so not buying into it. It's not worth the money for me (for ME) to be tied to something and end up not using the money we spent.

While my mom loves desserts, I'm not a huge fan, she doesn't want to have to have one each and every night, or meal. We both may rather have an app...BUT you have to pay OOP for that if you want it. Extra cost.

It took me days to figure it out. I planned out the restaurants I wanted, then some I could deal with if I didn't get the ADR's I wanted. Then figured what I would order from each place....considering they weren't buffet. Even though buffets are expensive, we are coming out further ahead, and getting to eat where we want, and what we want.

I'm happy with paying OOP. Even if it was going to be somewhat more, it was going to be done MY way. Most nights I wont have dessert, my mom probably wont either....that will be later by way of snacking somewhere. But our meals might have apps, might not.

I don't have to worry about 'getting the most for what I have already paid for'.

When I get to my resort, or one of the parks, I'm going to put the money I am spending on meals, onto a gift card. It will act as MY dining plan card I'll budget a bit more than I need.

It is definitely a hard decision. OOP works best for us. We are doing to do breakfast, dinner and snacks inbetween (love our Mickey pretzels!!!!).

Good luck deciding!!! And have a fantastic trip

 

[tinkalicious]

For us the dining plan is just a bit of extra luxury. I'm a bargain shopper and couponer, and we don't eat out much, so for me not having to worry about how much food costs is a vacation in itself. It's all inclusive all the way, baby! Order the steak! And you really won't need to order snacks if you do the DP - it's a ton of food. We took all kinds of snacks we didn't eat.