PrncesKMW
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2005
- Messages
- 224
Part 1: Is paying for the Dining Plan a "deal"?
Part 2: Should you do free dining or take the room discount? and other musings on the Dining Plan
Im finally getting around to this report after our free dining trip last year (Sept. 24 Oct. 2, 2010) to WDW. Disclaimer: everything listed in these posts are costs from 2010. Now back to the regularly scheduled post:
Part 1: Is the Dining Plan a deal?
Well that depends (didnt think you would get a quick answer, did you?)
Ok, ok, 5 second version: For those purchasing the Regular Dining Plan: Yes it saves you money IF:
How it breaks out: we had free dining. Had we bought the Dining Plan, it would have been:
$41.99 per night, per person
x 2 people
x 8 nights
= $671.84 cost of plan without free dining
Our total cost of food that we did not have to pay for thanks to the dining plan: $783.70 (see Part 3 for the breakdown of meals and their costs).
Money saved: $111.86
But not so fast - we still spent money on food that was not covered, which was mostly alcohol and tips. $526.55 (food and alcohol not covered by plan) and $169 for tips.
Total spent on food and booze, even with dining plan: $695.55
How we saved using the Dining Plan:
Things that would have saved us even more:
Part 2: Should you do the free dining or take the room discount? and Overall Dining Plan Impressions, with musings on Quick Service
5 second version: for those staying at moderates and qualifying for the regular dining plan, you are better off with free dining IF food is a big draw for your vacation you were planning on eating sit down meals every day and you have a lot of restaurants youd like to try.
Here's how it breaks out: We stayed at POFQ. Our room cost $1243 without taxes. Had we used the discount, it would have shaken out as follows:
$1243 (w/out taxes)
- 30% hotel discount being offered
= $372.90 saved
Had we taken the room discount and paid out of pocket for all dining costs, we would have spent $870.10 on the room, $783.70 on food that would have been covered by the dining plan, and $695.55 on all the booze, tips, and extras. Total cost: $2,349.35.
What we paid for by doing free dining: $1243 on the room and $695.55 on the booze, tips, and extras. Total cost: $1,938.55.
So, by taking the free dining option rather than the 30% off, we saved $410.80.
Overall Impressions of the Dining Plan:
Even though we saved on paper, the Regular Dining Plan was not a money saver for us it was a plus for our vacation. Had we really wanted to save, we would have taken the room discount, had breakfast in the room thanks to the handy dandy fridge, and done counter service except for three or four sit down meals. But because the dining plan was free, I tried restaurants I may not have tried, and it did give the feeling that you could order whatever because you werent spending money.
When people reviewing the Dining Plan say it depends on how much you eat, it REALLY does depend on how much you eat. Again, without the dining plan, we would have went to two or three sit down restaurants total, and two of them probably would have been signature restaurants. We would have shared a counter service meal for breakfast or had a small snack, eaten a smaller counter service lunch (no sides), and for dinner would have shared an appetizer and each had an entrée.
With the dining plan, we shared a counter service breakfast each morning, had a very filling counter service lunch (if youre going to get the value from the package, you need to order the $10 meal rather than the $6 sandwich), and both had entrees and then dessert each night. I can vividly recall two points during vacation where we actually didnt want to eat, but we had the reservations and it would have been a waste, so we went anyway.
What I'd like to try:
I would like to try the Quick Service plan during Food and Wine. Using snack credits for dishes at Food and Wine is a very efficient use of the credits. I would pay for breakfast out of pocket or bring some cereal down with me; each person then has a quick service credit for lunch and dinner; and all snack credits can be used at the Food and Wine festival. With 2 credits per person, per day, that would give you 16 snack credits. We went to the festival for our dinner, shared everything, and ended up using 8 credits and being full (take into account that we were also drinking beer pretty filling).
Heres how that would break out: $34.99 per person, per day. This would be $279.92 and also means no tips (quick service!) and would cover lunch and dinner each day, plus about two visits to food and wine. You could even use food and wine as your meal for two of the days, which means that counter service could then be used for breakfast. Pretty groovy, huh?
Thats all for now hopefully my rambling post will help some of you plan, and just as important, SAVE MONEY!
Stay tuned for Part 3: What we ate, what it cost, reviews, and menu links
Part 2: Should you do free dining or take the room discount? and other musings on the Dining Plan
Im finally getting around to this report after our free dining trip last year (Sept. 24 Oct. 2, 2010) to WDW. Disclaimer: everything listed in these posts are costs from 2010. Now back to the regularly scheduled post:
Part 1: Is the Dining Plan a deal?
Well that depends (didnt think you would get a quick answer, did you?)
Ok, ok, 5 second version: For those purchasing the Regular Dining Plan: Yes it saves you money IF:
- You are willing to research which restaurants are the best bang for your buck
- You are willing to make reservations far in advance and can handle scheduled eating times and can STICK to your plan
- You are planning on eating at a sit-down restaurant each day whether you have the dining plan or not
- You are staying at a resort that has a good counter service and sit down eatery, or are willing to hoof it to get to good places
How it breaks out: we had free dining. Had we bought the Dining Plan, it would have been:
$41.99 per night, per person
x 2 people
x 8 nights
= $671.84 cost of plan without free dining
Our total cost of food that we did not have to pay for thanks to the dining plan: $783.70 (see Part 3 for the breakdown of meals and their costs).
Money saved: $111.86
But not so fast - we still spent money on food that was not covered, which was mostly alcohol and tips. $526.55 (food and alcohol not covered by plan) and $169 for tips.
Total spent on food and booze, even with dining plan: $695.55
How we saved using the Dining Plan:
- Sharing a counter service breakfast, rather than using 2 credits or using snack credits
- Using our saved snack credits for the Food and Wine Festival (see Part 2 for thoughts on using the Quick Service plan during Food and Wine)
- Doing lots of research to determine which counter service and table service restaurants had the biggest bang for our buck (stay tuned for reviews)
- Paying out of pocket for a resort mug for unlimited coffee, soda, and water to avoid using snack credits
- Paying out of pocket for several small things not in our pre-determined plan, such as a sit-down breakfast (would have been a lousy use of sit-down meal credits) and one or two inexpensive snacks
- Using remaining snack credits to buy gifts we were going to buy anyway
Things that would have saved us even more:
- Not drinking so much! DBF wanted to go to an all-inclusive, and I wanted WDW. The shortened park hours (no more than 6 hours a day) and trips to various resort lounges were the tradeoffs.
- Searching for more sit-down restaurants that offered a good value rather than using 2 credits each for signature meal restaurants
Part 2: Should you do the free dining or take the room discount? and Overall Dining Plan Impressions, with musings on Quick Service
5 second version: for those staying at moderates and qualifying for the regular dining plan, you are better off with free dining IF food is a big draw for your vacation you were planning on eating sit down meals every day and you have a lot of restaurants youd like to try.
Here's how it breaks out: We stayed at POFQ. Our room cost $1243 without taxes. Had we used the discount, it would have shaken out as follows:
$1243 (w/out taxes)
- 30% hotel discount being offered
= $372.90 saved
Had we taken the room discount and paid out of pocket for all dining costs, we would have spent $870.10 on the room, $783.70 on food that would have been covered by the dining plan, and $695.55 on all the booze, tips, and extras. Total cost: $2,349.35.
What we paid for by doing free dining: $1243 on the room and $695.55 on the booze, tips, and extras. Total cost: $1,938.55.
So, by taking the free dining option rather than the 30% off, we saved $410.80.
Overall Impressions of the Dining Plan:
Even though we saved on paper, the Regular Dining Plan was not a money saver for us it was a plus for our vacation. Had we really wanted to save, we would have taken the room discount, had breakfast in the room thanks to the handy dandy fridge, and done counter service except for three or four sit down meals. But because the dining plan was free, I tried restaurants I may not have tried, and it did give the feeling that you could order whatever because you werent spending money.
When people reviewing the Dining Plan say it depends on how much you eat, it REALLY does depend on how much you eat. Again, without the dining plan, we would have went to two or three sit down restaurants total, and two of them probably would have been signature restaurants. We would have shared a counter service meal for breakfast or had a small snack, eaten a smaller counter service lunch (no sides), and for dinner would have shared an appetizer and each had an entrée.
With the dining plan, we shared a counter service breakfast each morning, had a very filling counter service lunch (if youre going to get the value from the package, you need to order the $10 meal rather than the $6 sandwich), and both had entrees and then dessert each night. I can vividly recall two points during vacation where we actually didnt want to eat, but we had the reservations and it would have been a waste, so we went anyway.
What I'd like to try:
I would like to try the Quick Service plan during Food and Wine. Using snack credits for dishes at Food and Wine is a very efficient use of the credits. I would pay for breakfast out of pocket or bring some cereal down with me; each person then has a quick service credit for lunch and dinner; and all snack credits can be used at the Food and Wine festival. With 2 credits per person, per day, that would give you 16 snack credits. We went to the festival for our dinner, shared everything, and ended up using 8 credits and being full (take into account that we were also drinking beer pretty filling).
Heres how that would break out: $34.99 per person, per day. This would be $279.92 and also means no tips (quick service!) and would cover lunch and dinner each day, plus about two visits to food and wine. You could even use food and wine as your meal for two of the days, which means that counter service could then be used for breakfast. Pretty groovy, huh?
Thats all for now hopefully my rambling post will help some of you plan, and just as important, SAVE MONEY!
Stay tuned for Part 3: What we ate, what it cost, reviews, and menu links
