torn between dining plan/no dining plan

[Dean]

Its still a good deal if you do a table service meal every night. I was hoping to avoid getting the dining plan in January but once you add a couple of table service meals for your vaca it makes the dining plan worth it.

I'd say it can be a good deal if you use the TS credits for dinner but it does depend on the restaurant and food choices made. There is considerable risk with the DP options if one has to leave or anyone in the group becomes ill during the trip.

 

[JLS]

For the same reasons mentioned by Limace, we have done the DDP in the past but done almost all buffets because then we don't have to listen to our young boys squirm and whine that it is taking too long to get food. We have found most of the Disney buffets to be good, if not excellent, and you get in and get the food to the kids immediately. I also like that they can try different things rather than being limited to ordering chicken fingers or hamburgers or the other sadly limited kids offerings at most Disney sit-down places. If you have kids 10 and under and you use most or all of your TS credits on buffets and character meals you will save a lot of money with the DDP, particularly during the holiday surcharge time since DVC doesn't charge the upcharge. Because of the DDP cost the price of the buffets has gotten out of control ($40 per person at many), and it seems pretty obvious that the huge increases have been driven by DDP. Disney can now get away with charging $50+ for the DDP and people think it is a "good deal" because the buffet charges are $40 pp.

Based on the price increase and the takeaways, I would like to go without the DDP, but my problem is that we still want to go to the buffet and character meals most nights and I just cannot deal with paying those prices at every meal. Even for close to the same money it is much easier psychologically for me to pre-pay a lump sum rather than get hit with a $100+ bill every time we sit down to eat.

I REALLY wish that the DDP allowed you to opt for either appetizer or dessert. I don't really need both, but most often I would much rather have the appetizer.

 

[sandieb]

We like the freedom not to have to go out to eat, but to make a simple meal on occasion in our villa. We usually eat a light breakfast in the villa, lunch in the parks, and then about half or more of our dinners at our favorite restaurants. Otherwise, we order pizza, occasionally order room service, or have an easy supper of spaghetti or the like. I like getting a salad and appetizer for dinner too.

I guess what I am saying, it really isn't all about the money for the DDP, but how you want to craft your vacation.

 

[Olaf]

We did the DDP for two trips, right after it first came out. I've never eaten so much in my life. I normally lose weight while at WDW, but on both of those visits, I gained. That's reason enough for me to stay away from it.

 

[JW9DVC]

Ok, so how does TIW really save any money at all. I guess that is unless you went all the time.

Up front cost is $75, it gives a discount of 20%. It does require a gratuity of 18%. So my savings are 2% minus the $75.

We only ever leave a gratuity if they deserve it. Anywhere from 10-25%, sometimes 0.

We are planning two trips next year and would love to save some money. Either DDP or TIW. Thanks. JW

 

[disneynutz]

Ok, so how does TIW really save any money at all. I guess that is unless you went all the time.

Up front cost is $75, it gives a discount of 20%. It does require a gratuity of 18%. So my savings are 2% minus the $75.

We only ever leave a gratuity if they deserve it. Anywhere from 10-25%, sometimes 0.

We are planning two trips next year and would love to save some money. Either DDP or TIW. Thanks. JW

In your case it doesn't unless you drink a lot of adult beverages which is included in the discount.

Disney is great in providing programs that have a perceived discount or benefit. For some folks, they may save some money with the DDP or TIW, others do them for the convenience, and still others just because they can.

Bill

 

[dsneygirl]

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.

Agreed. We prefer the flexibility of the TIW. And usually at counter service we don't have room for dessert and sometimes prefer water to pop or juice. Also we always do breakfast in the room.

We also like the discount at lounges and on adult beverages.

 

[Dean]

Ok, so how does TIW really save any money at all. I guess that is unless you went all the time.

Up front cost is $75, it gives a discount of 20%. It does require a gratuity of 18%. So my savings are 2% minus the $75.

We only ever leave a gratuity if they deserve it. Anywhere from 10-25%, sometimes 0.

We are planning two trips next year and would love to save some money. Either DDP or TIW. Thanks. JW

TIW is a volume discount issue. The more meals affected, the larger the total savings. The DP options are more of a choices discount which tends to decrease as volume (# of days) increase.

 

[shoes99]

TIW is a volume discount issue. The more meals affected, the larger the total savings. The DP options are more of a choices discount which tends to decrease as volume (# of days) increase.

We have an 11 night split stay, so we are doing the regular dining plan while at CSR for 5 nights, six days, then we move to OKW 6 nights, 7 days and will use TIW. We like to split meals so I think the DP will be OK for us for the first half of our trip. I crunched the numbers and it should be at least a $100 savings while on the DP, but it will be close.
Michele

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Ok, so how does TIW really save any money at all. I guess that is unless you went all the time.

Up front cost is $75, it gives a discount of 20%. It does require a gratuity of 18%. So my savings are 2% minus the $75.

We only ever leave a gratuity if they deserve it. Anywhere from 10-25%, sometimes 0.

We are planning two trips next year and would love to save some money. Either DDP or TIW. Thanks. JW

I'm not sure I agree with your analysis that it's only a 2% savings – unless you’re really serious that you typically leave less than 18% as a tip.

For both TIW and DDP, I make the assumption that I would have tipped at least 18% when calculating my savings. In practice, I usually leave more than that. (I use in-my-head math of rounding the check up, doubling it, dividing by 10, then rounding up to the next dollar.)

Remembering that the minimum wage for a tipped position in Florida is only $4.29 an hour, a tip really isn't something extra for going the extra mile any more; it's the very basis of the server's pay. Here in Virginia, the minimum wage for a tipped position is even lower. Very very seldom have I had service so poor that I've felt the server didn't deserve to be paid anything for showing up for work that day.

In this thread, I indicated that in the 18 resort nights we've had our TIW this year, we've saved $170.71 using our TIW card. Subtracting out the $75 for the card itself, our savings have been $95.71, with another two-week vacation planned before the card expires. The savings so far were on two people dining at 11 sit-down restaurants and 3 eligible counter service locations.

 

[dsneygirl]

TIW is a volume discount issue. The more meals affected, the larger the total savings. The DP options are more of a choices discount which tends to decrease as volume (# of days) increase.

Last year we got 4 trips out of out TIW card (probably 25-28 nights) we also had my parents and sister with us for a week so we were getting the discount for 5 adult dinners each day. Then the savings really added up.

 

[Dean]

We have an 11 night split stay, so we are doing the regular dining plan while at CSR for 5 nights, six days, then we move to OKW 6 nights, 7 days and will use TIW. We like to split meals so I think the DP will be OK for us for the first half of our trip. I crunched the numbers and it should be at least a $100 savings while on the DP, but it will be close.
Michele

Is that $100 difference over just using the TIW for the entire trip or just a total of $100 for the DDP compared to what you would have spent OOP?

As I've noted before, my definition of savings is what you spent compared to what you would have spent without the discount. My definition of value is what you received above what you would have ordered for the same or less than you would have spent OOP. It seems that most get these mixed up and assume savings is compared to what the same choices would have been OOP and that is NOT the case unless one would have made the same choices without the discount or plan.

 

[LattNJ]

Forget about the money savings for a minute....it was just an awesome feeling to look at a menu, and order what I want. And I did eat steak sometimes. It was awesome to eat breakfast in the room, and not feel obligated to "use" a counter service before our table service. But it was also nice to stop at Casey's and order hot dogs as well, or go to Earl of Sandwich for late night sandwiches. I just felt like I had so much more freedom to eat what I wanted, when I wanted to.