we skipped the dining plan..how it worked out

[Tony NY]

awesoem thread thanks for sharing .

I would like to add my two cents with saying with the price of character meals ranging form $30 + pr meal and take in to account how may Charater meals you do along with fine dining it can pay to get the DDP.

 

[inky dinky doo]

After being a big proponent of the DDP and DxDDP for years, this past Sept I got to thinking about the way and actually what I wanted to eat and decided to go with the TiW card and just buy Disney gift cards to use for my meals. I did the same thing for my Nov/Dec trip and will be using it again for my upcoming May and Oct trips (TIW is good for 13 months). Now for our trip this past Feb we took our 3 y/o GS with us and wanted to do every character meal we could so went back to the DxDDP. What I found for my Sept and Nov/Dec trips though is that I loved being able to eat exactly what I wanted and didn't worry so much if I had to miss or change an ADR. I am not a snacker or a breakfast eater and much prefer TS over CS. <snip> The main reason I liked the DDPs was because I like having everything prepaid. With the tip no longer being included we usually bought Disney gift cards to take care of the gratutities, now we just pay for the whole meal with the gift cards, so everything is still prepaid, plus I always have some left over on the gift cards to use the next trip. Unless we take one of our grandkids back and will be doing alot of character meals, I don't think I'll ever use the DDPs again. Getting 20% off with the TiW card and paying with gift cards works out cheaper and easier and we get to eat exactly how and what we want and still have everything prepaid.

What a great idea! Gift cards!! Why didn't I think of that? I'm going to try that in December. I like the idea of having our meals pre-paid and was wondering how to do that with TiW. Thanks!!!

 

[TinkerwithDis]

I cant imagine not going with the DP. first of all, i always go during FD. who can refuse that?! plus its nice not worrying about how much im spending. its a worry free vacay for me. At least i can order what i want on the menu. I know that if I paid oop id be pretty cheap with my choices and order the least expensive item on the menu. i dont want that on vacation!


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[canopynut66]

We just got back from a week at WDW. If we had done the dining plan (holiday pricing) it would have cost us $1499 plus tips. So we skipped it. Here's how it worked out.
Pro #1: I wasn't so worried about "getting our money's worth" as I had been before. My kids both got appetizers at Sanaa instead of entrees, and when my daughter ordered a salad for an entree I didn't freak out. Ordering an appetizer or skipping dessert at lunchtime was OK.
Con #1: We actually went from the 6 table service meals we had booked to only eating five. We canceled a few while we were down there.....after our first night buffet DH decided he didn't want to feel that overstuffed again and we canceled Boma, but replaced it with Sanaa. We canceled Narcoosee's, which is great when it is on your DDP but way expensive when you aren't. We relied more on healthier CS choices (earl of sandwich, wolfgang puck express) and snacks in the room.
Pro #2: we were way more flexible. We decided to eat at a couple of places (counter service ) we hadn't before and as I said before, let the kids get appetizers for their entrees if they wanted to. One CS meal my son was feeling a little off so he didn't eat at all, and I wasn't mad about it. We also did not eat as many snacks!
Con #2: a couple of times we had to explain to a snack cart CM that no, we were not on the dining plan. It seemed to confuse some of them.
So all in all, it worked for us. We spent less money and ate less food. Of course the kids are 13 and 17, so we don't have to be uber planners about meals like we would have been when they were little. But then just a few years ago the plan was $40 pp and included tips!
I'm glad we tried it and I don't think we'll be using the DDP for any trip soon, especially the way the price is going up.
Daisyx3

We only use FD when it is offered free and then we upgrade if staying at a value resort.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We only use FD when it is offered free and then we upgrade if staying at a value resort.

Yup. Same here. We always upgrade. And we usually get the DP free too, except once I had to pay for it. That was just once thou.