Would you keep the dining plan?

[Shoshana]

My dd(11) and I are staying club level at WL for 8 nights. I booked the fall package (room discount & tickets) and added the dining plan. Now I've decided I need to decrease the cost and it's too late to drop CL because no standard rooms at WL are available with the fall discount. Maybe dropping dining is the way to go but I've never paid OOP for food at Disney. I used the Disney Dining Calculator at distripplanner.

I'm pretty happy with the ADRs we have, tho' I'll try to get BOG FP+ to substitute for Liberty Tree). If we stay on the plan, we'll use all of the TS and all of the snacks but probably not all of the QS. If we have late lunches, snacks in the lounge will be plenty for "dinner".

I entered this information into the dining calculator:

Sat 12.13--2 average QS meals
Sun 12.14--1:00p Crystal Palace, 8:15 Pirates & Pals Fireworks Cruise
Mon 12.15--2:45p Tusker House
Tue 12.16--7:45a 'Ohana, 2:30p Liberty Tree Terrace
Wed 12.17--7:00p 1900 Park Fare, 2 average QS meals
Thu 12.18--2:30p Kona Cafe
Fri 12.19--2:50p Teppan Edo
Sat 12.20--3:30p Akershus

Entrees & drinks, 1 snack each per day, and taxes =$587. The dining plan costs $970. The difference is $383. I could imagine that we'd have an extra snack or two, or an extra QS meal or two on the days that we have late lunches. I could also imagine substituting the LTT lunch for a QS.

Would you cancel the dining plan? Is it too late to cancel the dining plan?

 

[mckelvey72]

It is not too late to cancel it. I personally think the dining plan is a waste of money if you are paying for it outright and I save my paying OOP. Now having said that, we like to lounge at the resort and have an evening or two where we are not in parks and just eat whatever. So having club level would be perfect for that.

If you don't think you will be at the resort at all to enjoy the club offerings then maybe keep it if you like having it pre-paid.

Plus another thing to consider.....will your 11 year old eat like an adult or still a child? My 14 year old STILL orders off the kids menu so that is part of the reason paying OOP is better for us. Then sometimes we just don't feel like eating full meals at QS so we get a few things and split it.

We had free dining last year so we tried it out and ended up with 7 QS credits left plus I think 3 or 4 snack credits. So if we would have paid for the dining plan that would have been a huge waste of money.

 

[mckelvey72]

Sorry one other thing...if you go to www.allears.net you can look at the menus and pricing. I typically know what my family will order so I can average out the OOP cost vs the dining plan cost. And again, I always price in the kids meal for my 14 year old cause that is what she will eat. AT buffets you have to pay adult prices.

Plus we rarely ate the dessert that comes with the dining plan so I factured that in as well.

 

[Shoshana]

It is not too late to cancel it. I personally think the dining plan is a waste of money if you are paying for it outright and I save my paying OOP. Now having said that, we like to lounge at the resort and have an evening or two where we are not in parks and just eat whatever. So having club level would be perfect for that.

If you don't think you will be at the resort at all to enjoy the club offerings then maybe keep it if you like having it pre-paid.

Plus another thing to consider.....will your 11 year old eat like an adult or still a child? My 14 year old STILL orders off the kids menu so that is part of the reason paying OOP is better for us. Then sometimes we just don't feel like eating full meals at QS so we get a few things and split it.

We had free dining last year so we tried it out and ended up with 7 QS credits left plus I think 3 or 4 snack credits. So if we would have paid for the dining plan that would have been a huge waste of money.

We're definitely rope droppers and not late nighters. I imagine that we'll spend most evenings relaxing/swimming at the resort, or resort hopping. Club level works great for us because we're not big eaters and we spend time at the resort. When we did the DP in the past, we always had quite a few QS left over because we frequently shared, or used snack credits instead. My daughter is an adventuresome eater so I'm sure that she'll be ordering off the adult menu for TS, but perhaps not for QS. So it's okay if an 11-year-old orders a child's QS?

 

[Shoshana]

Sorry one other thing...if you go to www.allears.net you can look at the menus and pricing. I typically know what my family will order so I can average out the OOP cost vs the dining plan cost. And again, I always price in the kids meal for my 14 year old cause that is what she will eat. AT buffets you have to pay adult prices.

Plus we rarely ate the dessert that comes with the dining plan so I factured that in as well.

Thanks for the tip, I'll do that. Yeah, we never order desserts, we'd rather have treats in the park. Occasionally, we'll share an appetizer tho'.

 

[mckelvey72]

If you are not on the dining plan you will have no issues ordering off kids menu. If you are on the dining plan then typically they give you a "big kids" meal....so if you only want those 6 nuggets, you are going to get more.

We didn't have any issues with it but like I said we had free dining so I didn't worry about it much. Had we paid for dining plan I would have been upset haha.

I lean heavily towards you will save money paying OOP and using the club level offerings for breakfast and evening meals/snacks. Plus they give you soda and drinks right? So you would save the 15pp (or whatever it costs now) for the refillable mugs.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

The issue is that you have got 5 fixed price meals. There isn't any way to cut down on spending for those, they will cost the same no matter what. So it's not the TS meals; your issue is going to be the QS meals. If you aren't going to use all of those, then you've paid for meals you won't eat.

 

[robinb]

My dd(11) and I are staying club level at WL for 8 nights. I booked the fall package (room discount & tickets) and added the dining plan. Now I've decided I need to decrease the cost and it's too late to drop CL because no standard rooms at WL are available with the fall discount. Maybe dropping dining is the way to go but I've never paid OOP for food at Disney. I used the Disney Dining Calculator at distripplanner.

I'm pretty happy with the ADRs we have, tho' I'll try to get BOG FP+ to substitute for Liberty Tree). If we stay on the plan, we'll use all of the TS and all of the snacks but probably not all of the QS. If we have late lunches, snacks in the lounge will be plenty for "dinner".

I entered this information into the dining calculator:

Sat 12.13--2 average QS meals
Sun 12.14--1:00p Crystal Palace, 8:15 Pirates & Pals Fireworks Cruise
Mon 12.15--2:45p Tusker House
Tue 12.16--7:45a 'Ohana, 2:30p Liberty Tree Terrace
Wed 12.17--7:00p 1900 Park Fare, 2 average QS meals
Thu 12.18--2:30p Kona Cafe
Fri 12.19--2:50p Teppan Edo
Sat 12.20--3:30p Akershus

Entrees & drinks, 1 snack each per day, and taxes =$587. The dining plan costs $970. The difference is $383. I could imagine that we'd have an extra snack or two, or an extra QS meal or two on the days that we have late lunches. I could also imagine substituting the LTT lunch for a QS.

Would you cancel the dining plan? Is it too late to cancel the dining plan?

Have you stayed concierge before? We have stayed at AKL twice and it's a LOT of food. You will definitely not need breakfast and you may not need dinner either. The evening snacks can be pretty substantial and you may not even feel particularly hungry on those evenings where you have late lunches. Personally, I think it's a 'no brainer' to drop the DDP in your case. The dining calculator is pretty clear on that. It's not even close.

 

[Shoshana]

The dining plan is officially cancelled!

Thanks very much for your help, everyone!

 

[kathystewart123456]

I think overall the dining plan is a lot of money, but it's also a lot of money OOP if you are in the park all day every day too ...

If you like going outside of the park to eat, then cancel the dining plan ... Alot of times we just like the convenience of not worrying about the cost of things when we are in the parks which make the dining plan nice .... Once you book and pay for your vacation, it's time to play... so in that regard, the dining plan is nice ... but if you are strictly looking for whether it's a value or not, then you might not get the value. We like the convenience ...

 

[robinb]

I think overall the dining plan is a lot of money, but it's also a lot of money OOP if you are in the park all day every day too ...

If you like going outside of the park to eat, then cancel the dining plan ... Alot of times we just like the convenience of not worrying about the cost of things when we are in the parks which make the dining plan nice .... Once you book and pay for your vacation, it's time to play... so in that regard, the dining plan is nice ... but if you are strictly looking for whether it's a value or not, then you might not get the value. We like the convenience ...

I can never wrap my head around that argument. It is just as convenient to charge the meals to your room using your magic band as it is to use a DDP credit. In fact, I believe it is the exact same process. I understand wanting to pre pay your meals and that's a good thing , but you don't need the DDP to do that. Some people have set aside the amount of the DDP (on a pre-paid Visa, or in their checking account attached to their debit card or in cash) and then used that to pay for their meals and snacks at the end of the stay.

 

[stasijane]

I vote for drop the dining plan. If you need to put the amount that you have calculated for your food cost and put it on a gift card and only use it for meals. Or as someone else suggested use the MB and charge it. That much money that can be saved is quite a bit.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Sorry one other thing...if you go to www.allears.net you can look at the menus and pricing. I typically know what my family will order so I can average out the OOP cost vs the dining plan cost. And again, I always price in the kids meal for my 14 year old cause that is what she will eat. AT buffets you have to pay adult prices.

Plus we rarely ate the dessert that comes with the dining plan so I factured that in as well.

It's really not necessary to send anyone to an outside source when the menus are available right here http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm on the DIS host site.

This link is tacked at the top of most of these forums.

 

[DekrRini]

I got a late start on planning my Disney trip this year so I planned and paid for my trip yesterday, including the DP. After setting up all the ADRs, I realized I don't want my trip to be that regimented and dependant on ADRs. Can I still cancel even after the DP is paid for?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I can never wrap my head around that argument. It is just as convenient to charge the meals to your room using your magic band as it is to use a DDP credit. In fact, I believe it is the exact same process. I understand wanting to pre pay your meals and that's a good thing , but you don't need the DDP to do that. Some people have set aside the amount of the DDP (on a pre-paid Visa, or in their checking account attached to their debit card or in cash) and then used that to pay for their meals and snacks at the end of the stay.

For some people it's hard to have to constantly decide to spend money. If it's already paid you don't have to worry about how much you're spending. Hmmm - maybe I should order the burger instead of the steak or I wish I could have dessert but it seems so expensive. With the dining plan for some people it may eliminate a dozen money decisions in a day. For a self described "cheap" person like me those decisions can become exhausting.

 

[baseballnut]

For some people it's hard to have to constantly decide to spend money. If it's already paid you don't have to worry about how much you're spending. Hmmm - maybe I should order the burger instead of the steak or I wish I could have dessert but it seems so expensive. With the dining plan for some people it may eliminate a dozen money decisions in a day. For a self described "cheap" person like me those decisions can become exhausting.

This, exactly. I'm always looking for the best deal - and while I know that we might save money eating without the DDP, I would stress over still making sure I'm getting the cheapest item every single time we ate. And forget about getting desserts and snacks, lol! But we also do many character meals, and it would physically pain me to see how much we are paying each time, lol, knowing we could've had a cheaper option.

 

[supersnoop]

This, exactly. I'm always looking for the best deal - and while I know that we might save money eating without the DDP, I would stress over still making sure I'm getting the cheapest item every single time we ate. And forget about getting desserts and snacks, lol! But we also do many character meals, and it would physically pain me to see how much we are paying each time, lol, knowing we could've had a cheaper option.

This is a common position, but I still find it a bit irrational. And I'm so cheap, back in school, I would erase and reuse notebook paper. Even if you order the expensive items from the menu, you'll still pay less than the dining plan costs. I'm so cheap, I can't imaging paying extra to not have to worry about it. My advice; don't look at the prices, order what you want, charge it to the room, and be pleasantly surprised when your room bill is less than the dining plan would have cost.

 

[nanhol]

The dining plan is officially cancelled!

Thanks very much for your help, everyone!

Congrats, I think this was a good choice! Your trip sounds like it will be great, have a great time!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

This is a common position, but I still find it a bit irrational. And I'm so cheap, back in school, I would erase and reuse notebook paper. Even if you order the expensive items from the menu, you'll still pay less than the dining plan costs. I'm so cheap, I can't imaging paying extra to not have to worry about it. My advice; don't look at the prices, order what you want, charge it to the room, and be pleasantly surprised when your room bill is less than the dining plan would have cost.

I can see how you'd say it's irrational...because truthfully it is. However, for some it's not about spending the money as the money isn't the problem. It's having to make spending decisions over and over again. Some people just can't not look at the prices so it's easier to just make one decision to spend X amount of dollars rather than make 90 decisions over 7 days that would save you a couple hundred dollars.

 

[baseballnut]

I can see how you'd say it's irrational...because truthfully it is. However, for some it's not about spending the money as the money isn't the problem. It's having to make spending decisions over and over again. Some people just can't not look at the prices so it's easier to just make one decision to spend X amount of dollars rather than make 90 decisions over 7 days that would save you a couple hundred dollars.

Well said!!! It IS irrational. But, for us our Disney vacation is to not think about ANYTHING. No driving, no calculating the best deal or trying to not look at prices, lol.

Believe me I think about how we can do it cheaper without the plan, but I'm paying for the ability to think I'm at an all-inclusive resort. Minus the alcohol part.