torn between dining plan/no dining plan

[LattNJ]

About to take our first DVC vacation, and I am really, really torn about whether to get the dining plan or not. I was originally planning to order breakfast foods/drinks and beer from Garden Grocer and buy the TIW card and pay cash for all food...but as the trip draws closer, I'm thinking maybe it would be easier to add the dining plan, and not worry about running out of money, budgeting, etc. However, I know at some restaurants I might want an appetizer and my husband will drink alcohol at each dinner which is not included and would be on top of the cost of dining plan, and I really hate that dessert comes with all the meals... I might not normally eat dessert at each meal, especially 1 for each of us. If I do get the TIW card, and the restaurants I want to do take the card, it would be safe to say tip is taken care of and not something I'd have to budget (because it is a 20% discount and 18% gratuity is automatically added)

I'm doing:
Le Cellier - lunch
Raglan Road - dinner
Kona Cafe - dinner
Yak and Yeti - lunch
Teppan Edo - dinner
Sanaa - dinner
and then Food and Wine for dinner one night...

I did look at menus and assume my husband, 11 year old and I order the most expensive items (although meal sharing between 2 kids or the 11 year old and I is a good possibility), with an appetizer occasionally and dessert sometimes

and quite honestly, I don't know that we'd always need a counter service each day...it's just so much food sometimes. I'm leaning toward no dining plan, but I'm just scared because I always just bought it in the past and didn't give thought to it, but I feel like if I get TIW, and eat breakfast in the room, I'd maybe save money as opposed to buying dining plan and paying for stuff on top of it that's not included

 

[sweetdana]

I don't think most of the time you save $ from the DP, but you pre plan it.
IMO it is a pre paid dining plan, so there is no thinking/planning ect once there. So you don't split dinners, you get dessert while on VK, and you can stop and get popcorn, or a dole whip and not think of it as spending $$. You will do it cause you have 9 snacks left, and splurge a little. You won't care if the kid orders a steak, or a shake with dinner as it is included.

I love DP, actually get DDP even sometimes. I love not waiting an extra hour or 2 to eat, I love when my DD6 asks for a popsicle or popcorn, I say yes. (cause it is free, kind-a.) If the $$ was not a stretch for you, I think this is a good splurge. And not the cheapest way, but a great way.

DH is a good drinker, we always pay for his drinks. We get it from the Artists Pallet, or the BC Market Place. It is not really to much $$, esp considering GG for delivery and tip. We get a bottle of wine and a 6 pack, and when we run out, we get another one.

 

[TisBit]

Whenever I do the real math, it is cheaper not to do the dining plan. I look at what I would order off a menu and not worry about the price. A lot of times it is not the most expensive items and it is usually a mid range meal. The dining plan seems to force you towards the most expensive items in order to save more money.

I am with you about the desserts. Often times I am not hungry enough for a dessert after a full meal. I would rather have extra snacks through out the day. Which brings me back to the CS for lunch. Again, by the time I get some snacks (mickey premium bars, school bread, etc etc) I will often skip lunch or get something very small, so again my "real" eating habits would not save me any money with the dining plan and often times I would just find myself eating a lot of food I don't really want just to keep from losing money.

 

[disneynutz]

Perceived value and convenience is why most people still do the DDP. The down side is that it forces you to eat and it's really doesn't save you money anymore.

I would go with the TIW card.

Bill

 

[Nahanni]

With your TS ressies and comments about desserts and appetizers I think you are better to pay cash.

We easily get our value out of DDP (more than the save 20% disney advertises) when going to buffets and character meals but we overeat, have too many desserts and still have CS and snack credits leftover (taking home more sweets).

We will go without DDP on our next trip and eat at TS menu locations. I don't expect to save much but will have the option to have appetizer meals, skip most desserts and not come home with a few extra pounds.

 

[HayGan]

Perceived value and convenience is why most people still do the DDP. The down side is that it forces you to eat and it's really doesn't save you money anymore.

I would go with the TIW card.

Bill

I completely agree. We never do the DDP anymore. We get the TIW card now. We found that we actually enjoy our vacations much more not having to worry about ADRs and using up credits. We find that we spend far less on food when we don't get the DDP. I really miss the way the DDP was in the begining. It was a great value but like all good things it had to come to an end

In some cases, the DDP can save money but for most people I truly believe that it ends up costing them more in the end!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Did it once, too much food and not flexible enough for how we eat. On vacation, we have a couple of cocktails, wine with dinner, share a couple of appetizers, possibly entre as well and seldom do dessert.. We never do buffets other than Boma, oop, so the DDP is a bust. TIW cards works best!

Good luck agonizing with your decision!

 

[auntsue]

We don't find it to be a good value anymore either. We use TIW and have a car so we eat offsite a couple of times as well. If the food quality had stayed high, we might still be getting it.

 

[Dean]

About to take our first DVC vacation, and I am really, really torn about whether to get the dining plan or not. I was originally planning to order breakfast foods/drinks and beer from Garden Grocer and buy the TIW card and pay cash for all food...but as the trip draws closer, I'm thinking maybe it would be easier to add the dining plan, and not worry about running out of money, budgeting, etc. However, I know at some restaurants I might want an appetizer and my husband will drink alcohol at each dinner which is not included and would be on top of the cost of dining plan, and I really hate that dessert comes with all the meals... I might not normally eat dessert at each meal, especially 1 for each of us. If I do get the TIW card, and the restaurants I want to do take the card, it would be safe to say tip is taken care of and not something I'd have to budget (because it is a 20% discount and 18% gratuity is automatically added)

I'm doing:
Le Cellier - lunch
Raglan Road - dinner
Kona Cafe - dinner
Yak and Yeti - lunch
Teppan Edo - dinner
Sanaa - dinner
and then Food and Wine for dinner one night...

I did look at menus and assume my husband, 11 year old and I order the most expensive items (although meal sharing between 2 kids or the 11 year old and I is a good possibility), with an appetizer occasionally and dessert sometimes

and quite honestly, I don't know that we'd always need a counter service each day...it's just so much food sometimes. I'm leaning toward no dining plan, but I'm just scared because I always just bought it in the past and didn't give thought to it, but I feel like if I get TIW, and eat breakfast in the room, I'd maybe save money as opposed to buying dining plan and paying for stuff on top of it that's not included

You have the potential given your choices (shorter stay it appears, more expensive restaurants overall and higher cost items. It's the rest of the times that will make or break your situation. If your stay is only 4 or 5 nights, you have the potential to get a very good value. I'd suggest you look at when you arrive and depart and how you might (or might not) handle the rest of the credits. You either need to beef up your plans to use either the CS or more TS credits or not to get the DP. For CS you might consider Flame tree at AK, WP express at DD and Pepper Market at CSR which is more like a sit down than a CS. Or you might add a signature option to use up credits. The devil is in the details.

 

[castleri]

I found that with the dining plan meals we were adding $20-25 a meal for tips.
When I added the cost of our meals last trip using the TIW card and eating at a number of CS places OOP it came out less than if we would have had the DDP.
We seldom eat dessert but do enjoy an appetizer now and then and at TS meals also usually have an adult beverage so the beverage on the DDP isn't used. We ordered the desserts the times we did do the DDP because they were "included". That of course brought up the total that the tip was based on and we ended up eating stuff we wouldn't have otherwise. Now I price out what the DDP would cost for the group and plan to have that much put aside for meals. It is my own way of prepaying. The other way is to buy a prepaid cc and use it to pay for meals as you go or to pay off the charges on room account the night before you leave. All that said we will be doing the DXDP for one night on our December trip because the meals that are planned will be more than covered by it. We are doing the Princess Lunch at Norway(child price for DDP is less than price for lunch) and 2 are doing dinner at Boma, 3 at Raglan Road, and all at the new Mexican place. Since we will not be able to segment again I was glad I had set this up and paid for it several months ago. Can't wait for DGD aged 4 to see the princesses.

There really is no right or wrong answer. Everyone needs to do what works best for them. Trying to work out the numbers ahead of time can be an interesting project and sometimes the answers can be surprising.

Enjoy your trip and meals however you decide to do it.

 

[Sammie]

Check the menus for your restaurants and figure what you might spend.

Do the same using the TIW discount.

The dining plan can at times save you money if you are going to eat one QS and one full service per day.

It works for some and not for others and sometimes it comes out even and it does then become about convenience.

There are quite a few items at Food and Wine that will be covered as snacks.

When we get it, I don't worry about too much or the dessert. I look at it like a buffet, I eat what I want.

 

[DVCconvert]

Do the same using the KIW discount.

Following my "TIM" snafu....I suppose I have to take the blame for this!



I believe Sammie meant the TIW discount - and I agree completely with his approach to this!

 

[happyann79]

I think the dining plan has gone down hill in the past few years. The basic plan used to include so much more as well as gratuity. Now I really don't think it saves you too much money.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Looking at your list of restaurants Yak and Yeti does not accept the TIW but you can get a 10% discount there with DVC - FYI in case you didn't realize that.

Otherwise you sound a lot like us and we save money (and our stomach comfort is much better) with TIW. Are you going to be back again within 13 months so that you will get another use out of the TIW? If so I'd say give it a try this time and see how you like it compared to the DDP. Try keeping track of what you spend. Even if it comes out equal you may get hooked on the freedom it allows compared to the requirements of the dining plan.

 

[lucyem]

I figured it out once for my family on a spreadsheet - 2 adults & 2 children. This was 2 years ago and the DDP saved us $100 vs paying out of pocket. That does not include money spent on tips which would have been more then if we paid out of pocket because we would be getting more food and thus paying more in tips.

In our case the DDP would require all of us to eat more food, and to eat differently then we normally do. Normally we often appetizers as a meal, my 6 yr old almost always shares with me, we love desserts and always get one, I enjoy wine at dinner. We bought a TIW card last year and got 3 trips out of it. While I guess I understand the ease of having the prepaid convenience, I prefer the convenience of knowing I can eat what I want.

We are thinking about the dining plan for our next trip. My oldest turns 10 soon after. We thought perhaps we would do a bunch of character meals and dinner shows and get our full moneys worth out of it while still paying for 2 adults and 2 kids. I have a week to sit down and figure it out. Our TIW has expired and we could wait and buy it for the trip after. Though as for that I am not sure it is worth it for us much longer. A lot of my favorite meals are not neccessarily sit down, plus we are eating meals in the room more and just snacking in the parks.

 

[LattNJ]

Thanks for the comments! I think I'm going to go with TIW this trip. I am actually going again in June for 12 nights, and this trip is 7 nights, so I will get 2 trips out of it. If it's a total nightmare/we don't don't like not having it (which I don't see how it really could be much more expensive than dining plan), then I won't do it again. I really have no desire for the character meals or buffets this time, been there, done that, will prob do again in future, just not this time. Thanks again for your comments.

 

[Sammie]

Following my "TIM" snafu....I suppose I have to take the blame for this!



I believe Sammie meant the TIW discount - and I agree completely with his approach to this!

I can not for the life of me, remember that abbrevation. Tables in Wonderland is just a weird choice of names to me.

But thanks for the correction.

 

[LattNJ]

So I'm back....For anyone who might be interested....Just got back from 7 nights at Kidani, stayed on points. 2 adults, 2 kids ages 8 and 11. We bought annual passes in advance. We did not do the dining plan this time. This is the break down of what we actually spent:


Garden Grocer-$137.40-ordered soda,juice,eggs,bacon,iced tea,etc. + 12 pack beer

Food while at Disney $1075.34 -includes all meals, snacks, alcohol (2-3 per sit down meal), tips-we ate at dinner at Sanaa,Raglan Road,lunch at Le Cellier,Yak and Yeti, lunch at Kona Cafe, 50's Prime Time, lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, F&W twice (includes a couple of the 22 oz beers)

souveniers $254 (did buy more than usual because it was dd 8th bday)

TIW $75

airport parking $138

tips magical express/bell services $12

airport food $69.88 (both Newark and Orlando)

I occasionally split a sit down meal with a child, or the 8 year old ordered a appetizer as a meal instead of a kids meal, 11 year old always ate off the adult menu.

I don't think I'd ever do the dining plan again

 

[BEASLYBOO]

So I'm back....For anyone who might be interested....Just got back from 7 nights at Kidani, stayed on points. 2 adults, 2 kids ages 8 and 11.

Doesn't it go by so quick, you plot and plan and boom, vacation over!

At Kidani, what type of accomodations did you have? Where I wasn't all that fond of Jambo, we tried Kidani ( a 2br) this Aug. and loved it!

I don't do the DDP either, TIW works better for how we eat when on vacation!

Thanks for the TR!

 

[rpk1951]

we often use the snack credits for breakfast. It helps to get rid of some of them as well on the DP.