Which dining plan is better to have for a couple?

[JDDS1119]

I already booked my Walt Disney World vacation for May 26th 2012 to June 9th 2012 two weeks. I think im going to add a dining plan but cannot choose one. It will be just my fiance and I. We considered getting the deluxe dining plan but it may be too much food for us. So the other alternative is the regular dining plan. I need some opinion from experts. Thanks everyone!







*280 days away

 

[momtotwins]

to me that depends on how you want to eat? mostly table service..mostly counter serice? most buffets or sit down? would you enjoy appetizers? would you enjoy hte signature restaurants or dinner shows?

 

[patsal]

For my DH and I no dining plan works best for 2 adults. We do not do buffets or character dining, we like apps sometimes, desserts sometimes, we like drinks with our meals and we don't like too many snacks or to be restriced to the snacks on the plan. We also do not use refillable mugs.

 

[JDDS1119]

to me that depends on how you want to eat? mostly table service..mostly counter serice? most buffets or sit down? would you enjoy appetizers? would you enjoy hte signature restaurants or dinner shows?

We would probabily do some quick service mixed in with some sit down service meals. We would do appitizers and maybe like one or two signature restaurants not dinner shows

 

[JDDS1119]

For my DH and I no dining plan works best for 2 adults. We do not do buffets or character dining, we like apps sometimes, desserts sometimes, we like drinks with our meals and we don't like too many snacks or to be restriced to the snacks on the plan. We also do not use refillable mugs.

That is kinda like my fiance and I. If i werent to get the dining plan, how much money should I bring for food? Im staying for 14 days. Cant wait!

 

[havoc315]

We would probabily do some quick service mixed in with some sit down service meals. We would do appitizers and maybe like one or two signature restaurants not dinner shows

The QSDP is not a real money saver, unless you LOVE the refillable soda mug.

The DDP works only if you truly prefer to eat in a very regimented way -- Not good for signature restaurants. You need to want 1 CS meal per day, 1 TS meal per day, with desserts and beverages included with every meal.

The DxDP works with a bit more flexibility, but only if you want a ton of TS meals -- You have to really want 2 TS meals per day, including signature meals, appetizers, etc. It provides some savings to my family.

If you like more of a mix... sometimes desserts, sometimes not. Sometimes appetizers, sometimes not. Sometimes having an appetizer as your main course. Sometimes getting an expensive entree, sometimes cheaper. If you want a couple of signature meals, but not every night..... Then you get more flexibility, and pay less.. by just paying out of pocket, as you go.

 

[JDDS1119]

The QSDP is not a real money saver, unless you LOVE the refillable soda mug.

The DDP works only if you truly prefer to eat in a very regimented way -- Not good for signature restaurants. You need to want 1 CS meal per day, 1 TS meal per day, with desserts and beverages included with every meal.

The DxDP works with a bit more flexibility, but only if you want a ton of TS meals -- You have to really want 2 TS meals per day, including signature meals, appetizers, etc. It provides some savings to my family.

If you like more of a mix... sometimes desserts, sometimes not. Sometimes appetizers, sometimes not. Sometimes having an appetizer as your main course. Sometimes getting an expensive entree, sometimes cheaper. If you want a couple of signature meals, but not every night..... Then you get more flexibility, and pay less.. by just paying out of pocket, as you go.

Your right, thanks! It helped with my decisons

 

[patsal]

Just got back from 10 nights with 3 people (my 16 yo DD was with us). My grand total for all things consumed...food , beverages, snacks, extra drinks,asw well as tax and tips was $1463.21 of that total $503.77 would not have been covered by any dining plan (alcohol, tips, snacks not included due to pricing structure). My guess if DD was not with us about $100 per day average would have sufficed.

Where we ate:
The Plaza
Tony's
Snacks at Bakery
Brown Derby
Counter service x3 I forget where!
Cupcakes
Chefs de France
Bottled water x3
Caramel chocolate apple form goofy's
CS at Cosmic Rays x3
Wolfgang Pucks for lunchx3 entrees and drinks
Kona
Yak n Yetti
six snacks from ? throughout the day
Cali Grill
La Cava de Tequila
chocolate milk
caramels from Germanyx2
pastries in France x3
Earl of Sandwich
Liberty Tree Tavern lunch
smoothie
chocolate caramel apple
candy bar form gerardeli
Tea at GF
Cupcake form BWBakery
Coral Reef
Portabellas
Pastries in France
Caramel chocolate apple
bottle of coke
Via Napoli


I did save my reciepts if you have any questions!

 

[havoc315]

Just got back from 10 nights with 3 people (my 16 yo DD was with us). My grand total for all things consumed...food , beverages, snacks, extra drinks,asw well as tax and tips was $1463.21 of that total $503.77 would not have been covered by any dining plan (alcohol, tips, snacks not included due to pricing structure). My guess if DD was not with us about $100 per day average would have sufficed.

Where we ate:
The Plaza
Tony's
Snacks at Bakery
Brown Derby
Counter service x3 I forget where!
Cupcakes
Chefs de France
Bottled water x3
Caramel chocolate apple form goofy's
CS at Cosmic Rays x3
Wolfgang Pucks for lunchx3 entrees and drinks
Kona
Yak n Yetti
six snacks from ? throughout the day
Cali Grill
La Cava de Tequila
chocolate milk
caramels from Germanyx2
pastries in France x3
Earl of Sandwich
Liberty Tree Tavern lunch
smoothie
chocolate caramel apple
candy bar form gerardeli
Tea at GF
Cupcake form BWBakery
Coral Reef
Portabellas
Pastries in France
Caramel chocolate apple
bottle of coke
Via Napoli


I did save my reciepts if you have any questions!

So really, in terms of DDP entitlements... You pay $32 per person, per night. Where the dining plan costs $46 per night. And clearly, you didn't skimp.. You ate quite well.
In total you paid about the same as the price of the DDP, but as you stated.. nearly 1/3rd of your expenses would not have been covered by the DDP.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

That is kinda like my fiance and I. If i werent to get the dining plan, how much money should I bring for food? Im staying for 14 days. Cant wait!

If you are staying for 14 days w/ or w/o the DP, you can check out Allears website and see menus and pricing. It can give you an *idea* of what things cost

 

[julie4423]

Or, if you're truly budget sick like some of us you'll use Cafeen's calculator. I used it for my last trip without the kids, and now I'm using it to figure out the next trip.

 

[patsal]

So really, in terms of DDP entitlements... You pay $32 per person, per night. Where the dining plan costs $46 per night. And clearly, you didn't skimp.. You ate quite well.
In total you paid about the same as the price of the DDP, but as you stated.. nearly 1/3rd of your expenses would not have been covered by the DDP.

I also used too many TS for regular DDP so the regular DDP would not have worked for us and the DxDDp would have only added to both my original OOP costs as well tipping. in order to make this work, I told my family to order whatever and not to hold back from anything they wanted...if they skimped then the savings would not have been accurate.

 

[julie4423]

Just got back from 10 nights with 3 people (my 16 yo DD was with us). My grand total for all things consumed...food , beverages, snacks, extra drinks,asw well as tax and tips was $1463.21 of that total $503.77 would not have been covered by any dining plan (alcohol, tips, snacks not included due to pricing structure). My guess if DD was not with us about $100 per day average would have sufficed.

Where we ate:
The Plaza
Tony's
Snacks at Bakery
Brown Derby
Counter service x3 I forget where!
Cupcakes
Chefs de France
Bottled water x3
Caramel chocolate apple form goofy's
CS at Cosmic Rays x3
Wolfgang Pucks for lunchx3 entrees and drinks
Kona
Yak n Yetti
six snacks from ? throughout the day
Cali Grill
La Cava de Tequila
chocolate milk
caramels from Germanyx2
pastries in France x3
Earl of Sandwich
Liberty Tree Tavern lunch
smoothie
chocolate caramel apple
candy bar form gerardeli
Tea at GF
Cupcake form BWBakery
Coral Reef
Portabellas
Pastries in France
Caramel chocolate apple
bottle of coke
Via Napoli


I did save my reciepts if you have any questions!

I just noticed that you saved your receipts, too! I actually went through and calculated exactly what our savings was, and figured out which dining plan would have actually been best. We had free DDP by the way, and we were on our honeymoon. It turns out that for us, upgrading to DxDP would have been best. Yes, we would have still had to pay for alcohol and extra tips, but we still would have saved over what we did.

 

[TDluvsDaisy]

OP...have you thought about maybe a split stay? 1 week with a dining plan and 1 week without? Or perhaps start with the deluxe then drop to regular or no dining plan.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We always do the regular dining plan. Sometimes we want an appetizer with dinner, no big deal we just pay OOP.

 

[JDDS1119]

Thanks everyone for your help. I think im going to go with the regular dining plan. We will probabily get a very small breakfast some days. Get a quick lunch and sit down for dinner or sit down for lunch and get a quick dinner. It should work for us. I feel like the DxDP is too much food for us. We dont always get appetizers if we do want one we will pay for it. If not, maybe we will just not get a DP and try to budget.