To use Dining Plan or Not use Dining plan?

[Robbnva]

OK We are going to Disney March 9-14th and got a package for free upgrade to park hopper & Water Parks and we originally was going to use the dining plan because it worked so well last time. NOW with no Grat and no Appetizer it really isn't that great of a value. The thing is if we had the dining plan we would just go crazy ordering the most expensive items and getting desert at every meal knowing that at home we would never splurge like that EVERT day. By not including the Dining plan it would knock off about $475 from our package price.

The thing we really would hate is to carry extra cash around just for gratuity and I think that if we went without the plan we wouldn't spend as much because most of our meals would be at counter service places or restraunts AWAY from disney

Anybody on here found themselves saving money by not using the dining plan and following their normal dining patters like they were at home?

Anybody think I am nuts and shoudl just splurge for the plan?

I am curious as to what everybody thinks.

 

[mom2my3kids]

This is a hard one, last year we had free dining with the gratuity included it was wonderful. Now this year we are going without dining, while the plan was great my 10 year old will be charged a adult price to be on the plan. Its not worth it to us now and plus the gratuity and apps are not included now. We will still eat at a few TS but I added up and we will save money by not being on the plan.

 

[annie1995]

Would I take the dining plan during free dining?? Absolutely!!! I figure if it costs me a couple hundred bucks for tips, thats still cheaper then if were were to pay out of pocket and still have to pay tips. Would I ever purchase the dining plan? Forget it. Totally not worth the value now that apps and tips are gone. Who knows, maybe Disney will see a dramatic drop in DP purchases, and tweak it a bit

 

[overburnzz]

i say do it
hit up some of the yummy buffets so you dont really have a server
you have a plate clearer
throw down a few bucks and your on your way

this will be our first time with the ddp and I am excited
I wont have to goto my online banking statement and see
100 charges sitting there, and try to compare receipts to the funny names they are listed some time

 

[VacationDad]

As I pointed out here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1678194 you save about $6 a day per adult on average on the 2008 DDP. If that is worth it for you then get it.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I had it included with our stay in February...but then called and removed it because we were only going for three nights and had such limited park time as it was that I didn't want to spend several hours of it at table service restaurants (not to mention travel time to and from).

Also, I really do feel that Disney should have reduced the price by more than $1 considering the changes made to the '08 DDP and feel the best way to protest is with my wallet. This is a personal choice, and I'm sure not everyone agrees...but it's how I chose to handle it.

 

[Robbnva]

As I pointed out here: you save about $6 a day per adult on average on the 2008 DDP. If that is worth it for you then get it.

See here is my dilemma. If we had it we would go to Le Cellier, Whispering canyon, crystal palace, Cinderlla castle, and probably the Little einstein breakfast

without it we would not go to all of those and probably end up eating counter service for most of our meals since they are cheaper and some are pretty darn tasty.

My dilemma is pay more and get more or pay less and get less. Check book is telling me 1 thing, heart strings are telling me another

 

[Tricia1972]

See here is my dilemma. If we had it we would go to Le Cellier, Whispering canyon, crystal palace, Cinderlla castle, and probably the Little einstein breakfast

without it we would not go to all of those and probably end up eating counter service for most of our meals since they are cheaper and some are pretty darn tasty.

My dilemma is pay more and get more or pay less and get less. Check book is telling me 1 thing, heart strings are telling me another

I just added up and averaged the dinners at the TS restaurants you mentioned. Including Tax it breaks down like this - adults only

WCC Dinner - 27.76
LeCell Dinner - 34.36
Castle Dinner - 43.65
Hollywood and Vine Breakfast - 24.48

If you total those and divide by 5 you'll get an average 'value' per credit of 26.05 for your TS credits. This is assuming that you'll all get an entree and dessert at WCC and LeCell (Castle and H&V are all inclusive)

From the snack threads, it appears that the snack value in 2008 is down from $3 and is more in the range of .79 - 2.50 - averaging this and adding in tax equals 1.75. To be generous - let's say that the 2008 value of a snack credit is 2.00

It seems like you are fairly familiar with your personal value at CS locations. If you have a dessert, drink and entree at each location then your value may well be $13.00

Your personal plan value is probably close to $41.05 if you order desserts at all of your TS and CS locations - even skipping one dessert or two brings it down to a wash.

I guess what I am trying to say is look at the menus and see what you want to eat. IF you want the desserts then you probably are safe to GO for it!! If you would be content to eat at the TS locations and skip a dessert or two, or skip them at the CS locations entirely - you will come out ahead by paying OOP and eating where you want.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[overburnzz]

I just added up and averaged the dinners at the TS restaurants you mentioned. Including Tax it breaks down like this - adults only

WCC Dinner - 27.76
LeCell Dinner - 34.36
Castle Dinner - 43.65
Hollywood and Vine Breakfast - 24.48

If you total those and divide by 5 you'll get an average 'value' per credit of 26.05 for your TS credits. This is assuming that you'll all get an entree and dessert at WCC and LeCell (Castle and H&V are all inclusive)

From the snack threads, it appears that the snack value in 2008 is down from $3 and is more in the range of .79 - 2.50 - averaging this and adding in tax equals 1.75. To be generous - let's say that the 2008 value of a snack credit is 2.00

It seems like you are fairly familiar with your personal value at CS locations. If you have a dessert, drink and entree at each location then your value may well be $13.00

Your personal plan value is probably close to $41.05 if you order desserts at all of your TS and CS locations - even skipping one dessert or two brings it down to a wash.

you must be a math major

If a train is leaving New York heading west... j/k

 

[Robbnva]

I just added up and averaged the dinners at the TS restaurants you mentioned. Including Tax it breaks down like this - adults only

WCC Dinner - 27.76
LeCell Dinner - 34.36
Castle Dinner - 43.65
Hollywood and Vine Breakfast - 24.48

If you total those and divide by 5 you'll get an average 'value' per credit of 26.05 for your TS credits. This is assuming that you'll all get an entree and dessert at WCC and LeCell (Castle and H&V are all inclusive)

From the snack threads, it appears that the snack value in 2008 is down from $3 and is more in the range of .79 - 2.50 - averaging this and adding in tax equals 1.75. To be generous - let's say that the 2008 value of a snack credit is 2.00

It seems like you are fairly familiar with your personal value at CS locations. If you have a dessert, drink and entree at each location then your value may well be $13.00

Your personal plan value is probably close to $41.05 if you order desserts at all of your TS and CS locations - even skipping one dessert or two brings it down to a wash.

I guess what I am trying to say is look at the menus and see what you want to eat. IF you want the desserts then you probably are safe to GO for it!! If you would be content to eat at the TS locations and skip a dessert or two, or skip them at the CS locations entirely - you will come out ahead by paying OOP and eating where you want.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

If we did not do the dining plan we would only do Cinderella & Cyrstal Palace

 

[VacationDad]

I just added up and averaged the dinners at the TS restaurants you mentioned. Including Tax it breaks down like this - adults only

WCC Dinner - 27.76
LeCell Dinner - 34.36
Castle Dinner - 43.65
Hollywood and Vine Breakfast - 24.48

If you total those and divide by 5 you'll get an average 'value' per credit of 26.05 for your TS credits.

But you only listed 4 meals. Divided by 4 it is $32.56.

 

[Tricia1972]

But you only listed 4 meals. Divided by 4 it is $32.56.

The Castle is a two credit meal.

 

[VacationDad]

The Castle is a two credit meal.

Ah, ok. Then obviously that is not worth 2 TS credits. Sort of like getting pizza delivered with 2 TS credits.

 

[Tricia1972]

I agree, personally I don't see the Castle being a great value at two credits. However, I think it's an excellent example on how the DDP is not a clear cut value for everyone this season. You really need to look at what you are eating and how you'll be using those credits. For some, it's also worth asking yourself "If I pay OOP, will I really order a dessert every time"


I also just noticed that the OP clearly mentions Crystal Palace in their post and I clearly missed it.

Correcting my omission error, the value for the OP's TS's is $27.02

 

[MAKmom]

We just got back from 10 days over Christmas. Even with the changes the plan is a great deal....you have to eat. Most of my entrees were in the $29.00 range. I figure my dinners with desert &soft drink will be $37.00ish.That still with the changes leaves my $4.00 snack. My counters service meal is in the $7.00 range before a drink & desert.

My guess is with the plan you get about $50.00 worth of food per day.

We will do it again this year.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Also if you plan TS every day then it may be worth it. See we are only going to do 3 TS meals so it would not be worth it to us.

 

[LSchrow]

i'm curious (am DVC member, so opting for the DDP doesn't have restrictions), is the OP actually eligable for the DDP? my understanding that DDP could only be as part of a MYM package, which from what i've seen, would exclude any other discounts (as in the pass upgrade).
to OP ~ was the DDP offered, or are you just considering it?
just curious............ty

 

[bear_mom]

The advantage to us is only paying $11/day for the kids, feeding them costs more than that. If it were just dh and I, not a big savings and if dds were considered adults the savings would be minimal.

Emily

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

i'm curious (am DVC member, so opting for the DDP doesn't have restrictions), is the OP actually eligable for the DDP? my understanding that DDP could only be as part of a MYM package, which from what i've seen, would exclude any other discounts (as in the pass upgrade).
to OP ~ was the DDP offered, or are you just considering it?
just curious............ty

Yes, OP would definitely be eligible. We booked using the same promo and had a choice as to whether or not we wanted the DDP added. The dining plan is not free or discounted in anyway w/this offer.

 

[mariaJ.]

I agree, personally I don't see the Castle being a great value at two credits. However, I think it's an excellent example on how the DDP is not a clear cut value for everyone this season. You really need to look at what you are eating and how you'll be using those credits. For some, it's also worth asking yourself "If I pay OOP, will I really order a dessert every time"


I also just noticed that the OP clearly mentions Crystal Palace in their post and I clearly missed it.

Correcting my omission error, the value for the OP's TS's is $27.02

Thank you so much for FINALLY putting it into perspective for me! I posted earlier about my confusion over using two TS credits for the CA Grill, but haven't gotten much advice, this helps so much!