worth it to do dining plan?

[Colleen27]

i honestly can't think of a day where we'd only get $35 worth of meals though. if i just did two counter service meals with drinks and desserts plus a snack, then yes. yes, i'd probably spend about $35. but not with the DDP. here's a typical day at Epcot (not ordering anything i wouldn't order anyway):

Sunshine Seasons lunch
turkey on foccacia: $8.59
drink: $2.39
asian chocolate cake (LOVE!) : $3.99


Beirgarten dinner: $34.99

random snack: $2.99

=$52.95

and i didn't order anything that i wouldn't otherwise order.

now, at some of the CS locations, i might not get a dessert if it weren't included, but that's just a few dollars. i find we often "break even" more than pay more some days. but as a whole, we tend to save money on the dining plan.

Where it gets sticky is menu-service TS meals, especially if you don't stick to dinners. For example:

Rose & Crown (dinner)
Fish & Chips - 15.99
Drink - 2.69
Dessert - 5.49

Total w/tax = $25.74

Plus that in with your same CS/snack numbers and you're falling short of even getting your money's worth from the plan. For most people it is probably balanced out by days with more expensive meals, but it comes close enough that it is really worth running the numbers.

 

[fairestoneofall]

For most people it is probably balanced out by days with more expensive meals, but it comes close enough that it is really worth running the numbers.

that's it exactly. we may have days where we come just under the daily charge. but the rest of our trip balances out. even in your R&C example, i'd still end up spending over $40 by the time i added CS and snack.

and i like dessert. would i buy it if i were paying OOP? probably not. but not because i don't want to--more because i'm cheap like that.

i'm sorry to those who feel "pressured." i've never thought of it that way. we aren't huge breakfast people, although we do love Tusker House and Crystal Palace. but we aren't the type to do CS for breakfast. if i were to eat CS for breakfast and TS for lunch, i'd still need to have a late dinner or significant snack (unless i ate a buffet for lunch). but because we don't generally eat huge breakfasts, the meals balance out our hunger.

we did the QSDP on our last trip and it was enough food for us. but the kids like character dining, so we will do DDP on our next trip.

but it isn't for everyone. that's why we have choices.

 

[Winky65]

My opinion is that the DP is worth it if you plan on doing character meals for most of your sit down meals. If you are just going for "regular" meals, you can get better value, and in some cases better food, with counter service meals. If I was not doing character meals for my kid(s), I would pay OOP.

 

[JJSWDW]

I think the worst value period for ddp is when you have kids who are 10 to 12. Disney charges the adult price at 10 years old, but many kids are still wanting burgers and nuggets.

 

[JJSWDW]

Also when looking at what you'd pay oop average out the whole time you're on ddp if only a couple days are low and many others are high then it is still a good deal in many cases.

 

[mjp12831]

We did dxdp in 09 - not sure how that worked out financially but it was fun

in 10 went to the regular ddp - I have a spreadsheet to figure it out and it saved us over 30% on the menu pricing. I can send it to you if you pm me your email address. It's a simple spreadsheet.

We had some bigger ticket TS so that upped the savings.

 

[mjp12831]

It works for you, as you include the desserts... you get a relatively expensive CS lunch, and a relatively expensive TS dinner. So it saves you a few dollars.

But... let's say here is what I would order, even if money was no issue, at Epcot:
Mid morning breakfast at Sunshine Seasons: Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Croissant $5.99, plus a coffee... So about $9 total.
Mid-afternoon lunch/dinner at World Showcase -- Fish & Chips at Rose & Crown -- $16, plus a soda, for a total of about $19..
A "dessert" later in the day... perhaps Chocolate Croissant from France, for $2.85.
So 1 CS + 1 TS + 1 dessert/snack, plus beverages at each meal, for a total of about $31. Even if I added in desserts that I wouldn't want (1 dessert per day is plenty for me, don't need 2-3), but even if I did get dessert with dinner, it would still be well under $40.

And I could have created much cheaper combinations.

So if I was on the ddp... I would feel pressured to skip the use of a CS credit at breakfast, I would feel pressured to eat a more expensive TS meal, and feel pressured to order dessert. Because I wouldn't want to be the sucker who paid $47 for $31 worth of food.

There are absolutely people for whom it is worth it. If you are doing an expensive CS lunch plus a relatively expensive TS lunch, then it is worth it for most adults. With the children's prices, it is worth it for practically any character meal.

I'm not sure you could have given a much cheaper combo - this is pretty extreme on the cheap side.

 

[Disny4girls]

Thanks everyone! All insight is GREAT! I know the three places we want to eat at and with us paying $30+ per meal for adult does that include drinks if we weren't on the DDP? I have a party of 4 and the girls 10 and 13 (will be 14) can I just buy two DDP for me and DH and just pay as we go for our girls because I just don't think they will do the adult menu BUT we are wanting to do Crystal Palace, Akershus Royal Banquet and Chef Mickeys. These our buffets, will the buffets different? Reading the menus they are. We have been to both before and they weren't but that was in 2007. TIA

 

[Sienna]

I have a party of 4 and the girls 10 and 13 (will be 14) can I just buy two DDP for me and DH and just pay as we go for our girls because I just don't think they will do the adult menu BUT we are wanting to do Crystal Palace, Akershus Royal Banquet and Chef Mickeys.

I don't think this is possible - if you are on the same reservation, I think you all have to purchase the plan (AND be on the same plan), or none of you can purchase it.

 

[havoc315]

I'm not sure you could have given a much cheaper combo - this is pretty extreme on the cheap side.

Riverside Food Court breakfast-- waffles with fruit topping, plus beverage. CS-- value, about $8

late lunch/early dinner -- TS at Plaza restaurant -- Grilled Rueben, with a soda. Plus an ice cream shake as the dessert. Total value, about $19.

Use the snack credit for a $2 item somewhere.

Total value of having the meal plan -- $29


And of course, if you decided you didn't want the snack or the ice cream shake, then total value, only about $22, after paying $47.

That is absolutely admittedly low-end.

But even a more "realistic" high end combination, does not automatically get value.

For example, a character breakfast, followed by a cheaper CS dinner/lunch, does not automatically get value:
Chef Mickey's breakfast -- About $27. Contempo Cafe-- burger plus soda plus dessert-- About $12. Throw in a $3 snack in mid-day...

Only $42 value.

 

[janiebegood]

For us, the DDP gets us to restaurants that otherwise we wouldn't cough up the dough to visit: Akershus, Whispering Canyon, 1900 Park Fare, etc.

My DD, age 9, has had the appetite of a stevedore her entire life. Kids meals rarely fill her up, so for our upcoming trip (OMG, two weeks from today, can't WAIT!), all our TS meals are at either buffets (1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace) or all-you-care-to-eat (Akershus, Whispering Canyon). That way, I know for sure DD's hollow leg will get filled, and we'll have a variety of food (including desserts! yum!) to choose from.

We bring granola bars, bagels, and juice for breakfast-on-the-go in the morning, use CS for lunch in whatever park we're in at the time, then plan our TS meals for early dinners after an afternoon break.

I loooooooove not having to nickel and dime my dining experience. For me, it adds immeasurably to the feeling of being "away from it all" to just go up and order whatever I want, whether it's $3 more than another dish or not. We never buy drinks or dessert at home, so being able to order bottled water and something sweet is a HUGE treat for us.

We'll enjoy this last visit while DD qualifies for child pricing.

 

[midori sweet]

To me, that's a major disadvantage. Pre-paying is great if you are saving money. But if you come to realize you have pre-paid $47.. but then only gotten $35 "worth" of meals, makes me feel like a sucker. So I feel the DDP pressures me into getting items more expensive than I want.. pressures me into ordering desserts that I don't actually want... just so I can feel like I'm getting some value.

(Ironically, in contrast... I generally like the DxDP, as I feel it is easier to achieve value as long as you prefer TS meals)

This is my experience also with the regular DDP.

For me, it is much more stressful to be constantly trying to figure out if I have gotten "value" for what I have pre-paid.

I personally don't like the pressure of ordering items that are more expensive than I would have otherwise chosen, and to use my credit for pricier meals.

It also doesn't match the way we like to eat. We shouldn't be eating many desserts anyway, and most of the time I drink water by choice. Also, appetizers are my favorite part of the meal, so often times I prefer one or two of them as my entire meal.

Honestly, I would rather end up paying a bit more OOP during the trip, than to have prepaid and not gotten my money's worth.

Some people love DDP, but it just doesn't work for our family.

 

[3boys4me]

We used the dining plan the last few years because we had free dining. We go for Thanksgiving and tht has been the only significant savings we can find at that time of year. We go for 9 nights and by day 6 or 7 we are so sick of eating sit down meals that we usually end up canceling some of our ADR's. In the end we spent probably about 16 hours sitting in restaurants, that's just TS and several hundred dollars in tips.
I am taking my kids back in March and we are trying the quick service plan, I think this is going to be a nice change. If you get the plan, just use it. Don't try to max out every meal. Eat what you want not the most expensive things. Also, use your snack credits along the way, don't wait for the most expensive snack items while paying for others. We always end up with left over snack credits our last day. We use them up in the gift shop, but they would have been better spent just using them as we went.

 

[jaz0308]

thanks everyone for the great info! I think i will take the time to look at some menus and add up some costs to see if it is worth it for us.

 

[otterpop]

Another thing to keep in mind with some of the "low-end" examples in the above posts is that they include breakfast. Breakfast is the least expensive of the three daily meals and would not be a good "value" as a TS credit. Plus, it is the easiest meal to not "do". The typical/average american probably eats a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit for breakfast. I think that where the basic dining plan (1CS, 1 TS, and 1 snack) saves you money is if you do a CS for lunch and TS for dinner. CS for lunch will run you about $12-14 (for drink, lunch + dessert) and TS for dinner will run you about $32-47 ($32 for O'hana and $47 for Akershus). In addition, Disney now adds on another $5 to normal TS prices during holidays and other "peak" times.

For my family, my wife and I probably save at least a few bucks on the DP, but it is a much bigger savings for our two under-9 kids (O'hana alone for kids is $15.99, while the regular dining plan for kids is $11.99).

Do we eat how we normally eat??? No way!!!! It's a ton of food. But, we are on vacation (how many times do you hear that one!).

As all of the above have posted, you need to look at how your family eats (or wants to eat while on vacation) and figure it out. All of the current menus/prices are listed at allears.net, so you can actually sit down and calculate the costs.

Also as many have posted above, there is just something to having all of your meals pre-paid. We love going to Akershus each trip and knowing that the $47/adult has already been paid, makes the meal more enjoyable (who the $#@! would pay $140 for dinner for four at "home"!).

Figure it out and see if it is "right" for how you want to eat...

 

[misscassiecass]

The disney operators were pretty sneaky and didn't mention that the castle dinner counts as 2 dinner credits. Now that I retotaled it is cheaper for us to not do the meal plan. I am going to cancel the meal plan.