Dining Plan- First trip

[CanaQueen90]

We are planning our first Disney world trip in March. I'm less than 180 days away from the day we are going. I'm so torn with the dining plan...I feel like what if we don't want to/are too busy to make that 11am reservation to chef mickeys or whatever. Is it really cheaper in the end if we don't end up using all the credits? I've been reading that if you don't do a character meal each time then it's not really
Worth it to get the dining plan? Add on the exchange rate from canada now and it's about $1300 for the dining plan compared to not getting it for our 9 day trip. SO thoughts?? Thanks in advance for the help

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Is it really cheaper in the end if we don't end up using all the credits?

If you don't use all your entitlements then you're wasting money

 

[Jahona]

I found the quick service plan to be the easiest to get your money out of. You don't have to worry about reservations to table service restaurants so you have that flexibility.

As Captain Hook said though if you don't use all of your credits then your pretty much wasting money.

 

[sxeensweet]

Misconception that you need to book all character meals to get money's worth. So not true but you would need to use all entitlements to come out even or save money. If it's the regular plan it's really easy to use them all esp if a few meals are signatures/any 2 credit places for your TS entitlements that way you do not need to eat a TS every single day etc but some like eating at 1 TS sit down meal a day too.
We love the regular plan and like that we pre paid for everything and always use all entitlements. It just depends on your eating habits etc.

 

[Weather_Lady]

The DDP is not generally cheaper than paying OOP (out of pocket) unless you use every credit, eat at the most expensive restaurants, order all the most expensive things, would purchase the same types of items (e.g., desserts after every lunch and dinner, refillable souvenir mugs) regardless of whether you were on the dining plan, don't desire anything (e.g., appetizers, specialty drinks) that the dining plan doesn't cover, and don't dine at any restaurants that require 2 table-service credits (unless they literally cost more than twice as much as other table-service restaurants -- I'm not sure that any restaurants other than Cinderella's Royal Table would qualify).

This site has a handy tool that can guesstimate the cost of eating at the restaurants where you wish to dine, both OOP and using the various dining plan offerings: http://www.distripplanner.com/

Also, since you're less than 180 days out, some of the more "valuable" DDP options might no longer be available for the dates/times that are most convenient for you.

In general, if the goal is to save money and the DDP doesn't embrace your family's dining preferences in every single particular, I'd advise against the DDP.

 

[righttrack]

I will say on the other side of this, that paying in advance for most of your meals on the Dining Plan frees up cash flow later for the vacation. They're no fools for putting the Dining Plan out there, that's for sure. Because I paid for the meals (minus alcohol and tip) long before we actually eat them, we have more money available to drink, eat appetizers, and buy swag. The benefit of the dining plan isn't necessarily savings, if you use the calculator site in the post above you'll see that it's hard to "beat" the cost of paying out of pocket. What the calculator doesn't show is the improvement in cash flow during the trip itself.

 

[sxeensweet]

I will say on the other side of this, that paying in advance for most of your meals on the Dining Plan frees up cash flow later for the vacation. They're no fools for putting the Dining Plan out there, that's for sure. Because I paid for the meals (minus alcohol and tip) long before we actually eat them, we have more money available to drink, eat appetizers, and buy swag. The benefit of the dining plan isn't necessarily savings, if you use the calculator site in the post above you'll see that it's hard to "beat" the cost of paying out of pocket. What the calculator doesn't show is the improvement in cash flow during the trip itself.

Well put!

 

[DisneyKiwi]

Coming up to my first trip shortly. I'm staying for 2 weeks and opted for the dining plan even though I know that it will be costing me more. The reason being that I have a tendency when on holiday to try and save money and always pick items from the menu based on their price not what I actually want so the DDP sets me free from that.

 

[LAKid53]

I will say on the other side of this, that paying in advance for most of your meals on the Dining Plan frees up cash flow later for the vacation. They're no fools for putting the Dining Plan out there, that's for sure. Because I paid for the meals (minus alcohol and tip) long before we actually eat them, we have more money available to drink, eat appetizers, and buy swag. The benefit of the dining plan isn't necessarily savings, if you use the calculator site in the post above you'll see that it's hard to "beat" the cost of paying out of pocket. What the calculator doesn't show is the improvement in cash flow during the trip itself.

But why not put the cost of the DDP on a Disney gift card to "pay" for meals? And add $$$ to the card periodically? Then fork out the $$ to purchase a Tables in Wonderland card to get the 20% discount? We stopped purchasing the DDP primarily because of what the other posters mentioned - didn't use all of our credits, felt we weren't getting our money UNLESS we ordered the most expensive items on the menu and it was just too much food. I don't want a dessert with my lunch, unless I'm eating at Liberty Tree Tavern. Many times an appetizer is enough for me, but I'm wasting money if I'm eating using the DDP.

And children 3 years old will be included in the purchase of a DDP. I cannot imagine many 3 year olds eating the amount of food served at a Disney meal.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

It sounds like it might be easier for your family to pay as you go. I always get the dining plan for free so its worth it for me. Good luck and have fun!

 

[righttrack]

But why not put the cost of the DDP on a Disney gift card to "pay" for meals? And add $$$ to the card periodically? Then fork out the $$ to purchase a Tables in Wonderland card to get the 20% discount? We stopped purchasing the DDP primarily because of what the other posters mentioned - didn't use all of our credits, felt we weren't getting our money UNLESS we ordered the most expensive items on the menu and it was just too much food. I don't want a dessert with my lunch, unless I'm eating at Liberty Tree Tavern. Many times an appetizer is enough for me, but I'm wasting money if I'm eating using the DDP.

And children 3 years old will be included in the purchase of a DDP. I cannot imagine many 3 year olds eating the amount of food served at a Disney meal.

Yes, good points there. As for the quantity of food, we don't eat like that everyday. We don't eat like that at home, but have us going from 6am in the morning to 1am many nights in MK, and we'll eat that much. Yes, the quick service lunch desserts are bleh. If I eat one more of those little packaged chocolate or carrot cakes, I think I'll barf! We eat like truck drivers on those days, mostly have a breakfast bar in the room, then to the parks, a counter service lunch around noonish and a sitdown dinner between 5 and 7. If we push it so hard in the parks each day, the mega meals work well. Granted, my nature would be to graze all day rather than eat these massive 2 meals and a breakfast bar per day. It does kind of "work" for us. It's "Disney mode" for us.

 

[LAKid53]

Yes, good points there. As for the quantity of food, we don't eat like that everyday. We don't eat like that at home, but have us going from 6am in the morning to 1am many nights in MK, and we'll eat that much. Yes, the quick service lunch desserts are bleh. If I eat one more of those little packaged chocolate or carrot cakes, I think I'll barf! We eat like truck drivers on those days, mostly have a breakfast bar in the room, then to the parks, a counter service lunch around noonish and a sitdown dinner between 5 and 7. If we push it so hard in the parks each day, the mega meals work well. Granted, my nature would be to graze all day rather than eat these massive 2 meals and a breakfast bar per day. It does kind of "work" for us. It's "Disney mode" for us.

We eat a big breakfast in our room - I drive and thus can bring breakfast foods and beverages, a light lunch and then chow down at dinner. I agree, if I have one more of those awful chocolate or carrot cakes or chocolate pudding or the prepackaged QS desserts, I will heave. Another reason I was glad to dump DDP. Even with the 10 miles of walking, I could never finish dinner and hated to leave food on my plate. "Do you want a to go box? Sure, but please tell me how I'm going to heat up the leftover Not Bleeding Chowder in my room that doesn't have a microwave?"

When it's just me on a trip, I have a big late breakfast and an early dinner, so DDP would be a waste. Don't do breakfast at the resort - reminds me of lunchtime in my high school cafeteria - and the food is about as bad. Now if we're staying at either the Grand Floridian or Wilderness Lodge, we will do a breakfast in the TS restaurant - I do need Citrus Pancakes on occasion.

 

[CanaQueen90]

Thanks everyone for the input! I like the convenience of having my meals essentially paid for before we go BUT my 4 year old is never going to eat very much.

I'm finding all this planning a little overwhelming. My husband doesn't like the idea of "scheduled meals" everyday?

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

I never understand the paying ahead tactic esp if it's going to cost more money.
We did the gift card thing. Essentially over time I put on them what the DDP would have cost us.

We didn't really pay attention to what we were ordering/buying.

At the end of the trip our gift cards covered all our meals, snacks, souvenirs and drinks for our 8 day trip. We didn't have to pay anything out of pocket.

 

[CanaQueen90]

Where can I get one of the gift cards? We are in Canada so I didn't even know about this until now

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

Where can I get one of the gift cards? We are in Canada so I didn't even know about this until now

I think the disney store has them. We get ours at the grocery store.
You could also use just a plain old visa/MasterCard gift card.

I like the disney ones...I wasn't tempted to spend before hand.

 

[LAKid53]

Where can I get one of the gift cards? We are in Canada so I didn't even know about this until now

I believe you can purchase them on-line and I've seen them in my local grocery store in the U.S.

 

[CanaQueen90]

Thank you great suggestion

The magic bands are connected to my CC also right? So essentially I wouldn't need to carry cash but could just use my band and charge to my visa ?

On average what would you say you would spend on food for 9 days? For 2 adults and a 4 year old.
She only really wants to do Hollywood and Vine

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

This was really helpful for me
http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0

I've seen others recommend this site
http://www.distripplanner.com

 

[LAKid53]

Thank you great suggestion

The magic bands are connected to my CC also right? So essentially I wouldn't need to carry cash but could just use my band and charge to my visa ?

On average what would you say you would spend on food for 9 days? For 2 adults and a 4 year old.
She only really wants to do Hollywood and Vine

Yes, you can link your magic band to a credit card. Which is exactly what Disney wants you to do, so you will spend more.

Hollywood & Vine is a buffet, so you can grab a plate to share your meal with her. I believe the kids meal options at most restaurants are the standard fare - chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, etc. I would look at the menus of the restaurants you are interested in. Between lunch and dinner, I probably spend about $40. For example, the hot dog meal at Casey's in the Magic Kingdom is $8.95, plus beverage and tax came to about $11 - $12.

As you read through threads on the dining plan, you will note that many guests bring snacks into the park - like cereal/power bars, individual bags of crackers, etc. That will save you money since Disney snacks are expensive. However, you will have to get a Mickey ice cream bar. No trip to WDW should be without this delicious treat. And you can ask for ice/water at any stand that serves fountain drinks. I've seen families purchase drinks at a quick service restaurant to share and then pull out power bars, peanut butter crackers, etc., to eat at lunch. Disney doesn't object to you bringing food and beverages into the parks. People bring rolling coolers into the parks, reusable shopping bags full of snacks, etc. And since you will probably have a stroller for your 4 year old, that will be a great place to store snacks/bottles of water/juice for your family. My backpack usually has a few cereal bars for snacks and a water bottle in the outside pocket.