Paying OOP for first time! Are we wrong to try this????

[Minnesota disney fan]

We are 2 adults so it's just us for dining. We are in our 60's and find we don't eat 2 big meals a day, just one a day and snacks are fine with us. We have always used the free dining, and never paid out of pocket. So I am concerned that we will be missing out on ? I've looked at some of the menu's and think we could save money without the dining plan. What have other's found out to be true for them???? Do you prefer paying OOP or use the dining plan? Esp adults only? Thanks

 

[sxeensweet]

We are adults only mid-late 30's and love the dining plan but everyone has different needs. We are DVC members and always still purchase the plan. TIW card/discount does not work well for us being we only go once a year usually and have done the math and the dining plan we usually break even or close and like it being paid for ahead of time.
But if you have done the math and it does not seem cost effective for you then do not purchase it or go for a room discount (if available) if you usually do free dining.
It falls down to what is best for each individual family.

 

[Lucky]

I would never buy the dining plan. Most people in my family don't eat enough to make it worthwhile for us. But every family is different.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I would never buy the dining plan. Most people in my family don't eat enough to make it worthwhile for us. But every family is different.

Exactly. The dining plan is "worth it" if you order high-priced entrees and a desert at every meal. I've only done it once and I found myself ordering steak at every meal just so I felt like I was "beating" the DDP, even if I would have preferred a salad or a sandwich. I don't want to worry about "doing the math" while I'm on vacation so I just take the money I would have spent on the DDP (and then some), load it up on Disney gift cards, and pay for my food that way. I think it's the best of both worlds because you avoid the sticker shock of each meal but you also maintain flexibility.

 

[mouse_luv]

DBF and I are in our early 30s and we always pay OOP. It makes more sense for us especially since to make the DDP seem worth it I would have to eat to the point of making myself ill (I can't eat a lot). The only Dining Plan we would consider getting that might work for us is the QS one.

Do what works for you.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Regarding the fact that you're a party of 2: My wife and I would much rather share an app, each have our own entree, and then share a desert. The DDP forces you into no app, two entrees, and two deserts. Way too much desert.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

You will always save money if you don't use the dining plan. The dining plan is marketing by Disney to get you to pay too much. The ONLY thing it might be good for is to "prepay" for your food, but you do that and it will cost you more. You're better off putting that money onto Disney gift cards, and using them to pay for all your dining.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

You will always save money if you don't use the dining plan.

"Always" is a stretch. You could pull it off, but you'd have to try.

Obviously you have a better shot if the DDP is discounted.

 

[Minthorne]

I always pay OOP and I buy a TiW but I go several times a year with different sized groups so the TiW easily is the best choice for me.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

"Always" is a stretch. You could pull it off, but you'd have to try.

Obviously you have a better shot if the DDP is discounted.

As you mentioned earlier, you pretty much have to eat steak every place to make it "worth it". And if you use it for a 2 credit signature restaurant, Disney wins big time. Obviously, we don't and never will use the dining plan, but that is us. I wish the dining plan would just go away, as it has really messed up the dining at WDW. Prices at most restaurants have been jacked up like crazy to make the dining plan people think they are getting a good deal. Yes, I have talked with managers, and was told this by many of them. They HATE the dining plan, and so do I.

I will probably get flamed, but if you can't afford to go to WDW without free dining, you shouldn't be going.

 

[Weather_Lady]

In general, if your dining preferences are in any way out of synch with the DDP, you won't be able to save money by purchasing it. At this point, it's worth it for my family to pay OOP and forgo the DDP, because:
1 - I often enjoy eating an appetizer or a salad instead of an entree.
2 - DH and I don't always desire the most expensive entrees on the menu (nor do we always desire eating at the most expensive table service restaurants) and hate the pressure of having to choose restaurants and dishes that will milk the most value out of the DDP. Sometimes we'd just rather have a decent sandwich at the Plaza than herb-crusted lamb at Be Our Guest.
2 - Ditto for beverages: My DH desires a fountain beverage about half of the time, and I always drink ice water, so the enormous fountain beverages the DDP provides are largely wasted on us.
3 - Only one member of our four-person family consistently has room for dessert, and only at dinner, never lunch. Again, more food we're paying for if we take the DDP, that we don't want.
4 - Only one member of our four-person family ever wants or uses a souvenir refillable mug.
5 - We enjoy dining at some 2-credit signature restaurants and/or going to the 2-credit Hoop-de-Doo Revue, but if we pay OOP we're only spending about 150% of what a non-signature, 1-credit table service meal would cost (whereas with the DDP, we would be "spending" double the credits to have those meals).
6 - We never seem to eat enough snacks to use up the 1 snack per person, per day allotted by the DDP. Again, money wasted unless we opt to pay OOP.

I did the math for our last two trips, and in both cases, the cost for the food we would have ordered and eaten (had we had our druthers -- excluding what we didn't want or didn't eat, and even assuming that the kids might order from the adult menu a time or two and that we'd substitute a couple of 1-credit TS for signature restaurants if not on the DDP) was more than 10% less OOP than the DDP would have cost.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

And if you use it for a 2 credit signature restaurant, Disney wins big time.

Yup.

Prices at most restaurants have been jacked up like crazy to make the dining plan people think they are getting a good deal.

Yes and no. Some people somewhere have to be paying those prices with cash to or the whole system would collapse. I don't think the DDP penetration percentage is high enough where they could get away with completely inflated pricing and still fill the seats.

I will probably get flamed, but if you can't afford to go to WDW without free dining, you shouldn't be going.

Yup.

 

[Kate Alan]

I always eat OOP when I'm at WDW . The dining plan doesn't make sense for me or my travel companions from a financial standpoint - we always spend less OOP than if we had the plan.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Yes and no. Some people somewhere have to be paying those prices with cash to or the whole system would collapse. I don't think the DDP penetration percentage is high enough where they could get away with completely inflated pricing and still fill the seats.

Well, obviously, we are 2 of them. We do utilize the TiW, so that at least brings the price down closer to what it probably would be without the dining plan. Why do you think Le Cellier went to a 2 credit signature restaurant? Because it could not afford everyone coming there, ordering the filet, and using only one dining credit.

 

[CheshireCat12]

We never used DDP, never considered it to be a good value for us. We like to share apps and desserts too so it would be way too much food. Sometimes we just like to "snack around" like at WS, and we always do a few TS but not usually every day.

 

[LAKid53]

We stopped using the DDP 2 years ago and now go OOP, using our (mine) TIW card or my DVC membership if the restaurant doesn't accept TIW.

Since travel now includes a 3rd party, we tend to stay in a 1 bedroom DVC resort and make use of the full kitchen for most of our meals.

I agree with many posters - when we were on DDP, we had a tendency to order the most expensive thing on the menu in order to "get our monies worth" for the Plan. I don't want dessert at every meal, especially lunch. Most times for dinner (if we aren't eating in our resort room), an appetizer plus a salad is a good dinner for me. Never understood why the drinks included with the plan are the Big Gulp size. While I want to stay hydrated, especially in the summer months, I don't want to use the facilities every 5 minutes since I downed a 1/2 gallon of tea at lunch.

 

[mousehockey37]

I've run the numbers and the DDP isn't worth it for us. Most times of the year, it's hot. When it's hot, for most people, the last thing you want to think about is having to eat a huge meal and to do it 2 or 3 times a day. When we go, we make a couple ADR's and I know what to expect price wise before I even step in the eatery. As for non-ADR meals, we rented DVC last trip and having the kitchenette was worth it (we did a "supermarket sweep" with our car company on the way to WDW from the airport). We were able to have a sandwich, munchies and some drinks in the room for LESS than what the parks would want. We didn't live off of the kitchenette, but the savings were able to help pay for a nicer ADR. As for just eating in the parks, there were some times that we were hungrier than others and we ate what we wanted to, not to what the DDP would've forced us to.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Regarding the fact that you're a party of 2: My wife and I would much rather share an app, each have our own entree, and then share a desert. The DDP forces you into no app, two entrees, and two deserts. Way too much desert.

Thanks for that excellent idea. We are surprised that most people would rather pay OOP than use a dp. We would definitely try the sharing idea. With the dp, we just took the huge amount of food offered and felt like we had to eat it to get our money's worth. Looking back at it, that just seems ridiculous Can't believe we did that. Oh well, this November, we will be paying OOP for the first time and I know we will save money, save those extra calories, and most important: ENjoy the ability to go where we want and eat when we want. It will be freeing not to have to run to a prescheduled adr, whether we are hungry or just plain want to get on the bus, ride, etc, and go to another sit down adr. It was getting to be too much for me, but my husband likes to do the familiar, so we stuck with it. Finally am convincing him to do this. Will trip report and let you all know how that turned out. Thanks to all for the wonderful imput, just what I needed to figure this out

 

[rob0519]

As you mentioned earlier, you pretty much have to eat steak every place to make it "worth it". And if you use it for a 2 credit signature restaurant, Disney wins big time. Obviously, we don't and never will use the dining plan, but that is us. I wish the dining plan would just go away, as it has really messed up the dining at WDW. Prices at most restaurants have been jacked up like crazy to make the dining plan people think they are getting a good deal. Yes, I have talked with managers, and was told this by many of them. They HATE the dining plan, and so do I.

I will probably get flamed, but if you can't afford to go to WDW without free dining, you shouldn't be going.

I have slightly mixed feelings on this topic. I too wish the Dining Plan would just go away. I agree it has jacked up the menu prices so the people on the "free dining plan" can feel they're putting one over on Disney by getting such a great deal. It's simply made the dining experience more difficult for those of us that prefer to pay out of pocket by artificially inflating the prices and causing ADRs at the higher end restaurants to be taken up by people who would have not otherwise even thought of dining there.

The mixed feeling part comes in when I see a family of 5 or 6 at a character meal and suspect that if it were not for free dining or even pre-paid dining those kids would probably not be able to have that opportunity to meet the characters that up close and personal. Depending on the season Chef Mickey's could cost of family of 6 anywhere from around $200 to $350 for breakfast.

 

[Kosmo1986]

Regarding the fact that you're a party of 2: My wife and I would much rather share an app, each have our own entree, and then share a desert. The DDP forces you into no app, two entrees, and two deserts. Way too much desert.

This is what we do too! I hate to waste food and I don't like to be so full I need a nap either. None of the sit down dining places care if you share and sometimes we leave a place spending less than $30!