So after calculations, the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan is cheaper

joejccva71

joejccva71

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
To make a long story short, it's cheaper for me and my better half. Don't want to read, skip straight to bottom for the breakdown.

One of the things she mentioned to me is, "I'll go on all the rides you want as long as we get to dine in style." So then I had the dilemma of deciding whether to use cash or the dining plan for meals. So we went through every UP TO DATE menu of the restaurants we made reservations at, and picked what we would most likely order from apps to wine to desserts.

Little side note: The menu's on Disney's site are out of date. This site and Touring Plans are best IMO.

So for an 8 night stay, the Deluxe Dining plan gives 2 people a total of 48 dining credits and works out to be $1859.92 and we're using mostly signature restaurants with the other table credit for either breakfast or lunch. We're also doing 3 counter service and have it spaced out and worked out so it would fit our schedule in the parks.

Also there were some modifications. For one, if we were paying cash, we probably wouldn't order dessert alot because I don't normally eat it after a huge meal. Maybe a few meals. Also I did not take into consideration the refillable mug for two and all the snacks. I did not include those.

The breakdown for 2 people for 8 night stay:

Paying with cash: $1942.50 including tipping 20% at ALL table service restaurants

Deluxe Dining Plan COST for 8 nights: $1859.92 <- This is how much more you pay in the Disney World package price whether you get the Deluxe Dining Plan or not. For 8 nights that is.

Deluxe Dining Plan bill: $2137.50 including tipping 20% at ALL table service restaurants (This is the receipt or bill the waiter gives you while using your table credits to show you what you WOULD have spent including tip)

I mean it's not much savings but it's savings and when you add in the snacks and refillable mug drink, it's worth it by a mile.

Edit: Sigh, so I messed this up because I forgot to add the tips onto the DDP package cost ($1859.92). Tips add up to $336 additional which makes this post kinda moot. Sorry guys.
 
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JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
You did it right, you checked out the menus and ran the numbers so you made a decision with proper figures available. Not many people go in informed. We do the same and there have been times we did better by paying out of pocket. The DDDP does give you a lot of food in a days time and takes up a lot more time dining, thats another reason we dont always go for that plan. Have a great time treating your DW to some great TS meals.
 
Minthorne

Minthorne

Well-Known Member
joejccva71 said:
The breakdown for 2 people for 8 night stay:

Paying with cash: $1942.50 including tipping 20% at ALL table service restaurants

Deluxe Dining Plan bill: $2137.50 including tipping 20% at ALL table service restaurants

Deluxe Dining Plan COST for 8 nights: $1859.92

I mean it's not much savings but it's savings and when you add in the snacks and refillable mug drink, it's worth it by a mile.
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I'm confused here - it seems that paying cash + tip is cheaper than Plan + tip by your numbers.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Minthorne said:
I'm confused here - it seems that paying cash + tip is cheaper than Plan + tip by your numbers.
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I agree. On the other hand, he said he wasn't including the mugs or snacks in his calculations, so there's really no apples-to-apples figures to compare.
 
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joejccva71

joejccva71

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Minthorne said:
I'm confused here - it seems that paying cash + tip is cheaper than Plan + tip by your numbers.
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The amount I would have paid IN CASH without a DDP is $1942.50, but the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan for 8 nights costs $1859.92 so the dining plan for us is a better way to go.

I just put the bill at $2137.50 to put it in perspective as to how much the bills would be using the Dining Plan. Remember that even if you have a Dining Plan, the waiter still gives you a receipt or bill showing you how much you WOULD have spent.

But all in all, the Deluxe plan is costing me $1859.92 on my Disney World package, but if I skipped that and did my meals in cash, it costs more ($1942.50).

Hope this makes sense. Sorry if I made it confusing. I changed my original post around a little at the end there to try to make more sense.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
joejccva71 said:
The amount I would have paid IN CASH without a DDP is $1942.50, but the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan for 8 nights costs $1859.92 so the dining plan for us is a better way to go.

I just put the bill at $2137.50 to put it in perspective as to how much the bills would be using the Dining Plan. Remember that even if you have a Dining Plan, the waiter still gives you a receipt or bill showing you how much you WOULD have spent.

But all in all, the Deluxe plan is costing me $1859.92 on my Disney World package, but if I skipped that and did my meals in cash, it costs more ($1942.50).

Hope this makes sense. Sorry if I made it confusing.
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I think the disconnect is that TS gratuities are not included in the dining plans (except for just a couple of select meals like Hoop-Dee-Doo and CRT). You'll still be expected to pay a 15-20% gratuity for all of your TS meals, which will be calculated based on that "what we would have paid in cash" amount that appears on your receipt, so you can expect to pay the full $2,137.50 at the end of the day for the DDP + tips -- which is more than the $1,942.50 that you listed as the out-of-pocket expense + tips.
 
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joejccva71

joejccva71

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ugh I forgot to add the tips in. It's $336 additional. Sigh.

So it's $1859.92 for the DDP + $336 for tipping all the meals.

$2195.92. I'm an idiot. I thought I had this in the bag. The only thing is I didn't count the refillable mug and the 2 snacks you get every day but you guys are right. It's about $250 more expensive to use the DDP for me over paying cash.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
joejccva71 said:
Ugh I forgot to add the tips in. It's $336 additional. Sigh.

So it's $1859.92 for the DDP + $336 for tipping all the meals.

$2195.92. I'm an idiot. I thought I had this in the bag.
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You're not an idiot! Navigating the DDP rules is complicated for anybody. Heck, every aspect of Disney vacation planning is complicated. It's just that there are apparently a few thousand of us who are gluttons for that kind of intellectual punishment... ;)
 
joejccva71

joejccva71

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Weather_Lady said:
You're not an idiot! Navigating the DDP rules is complicated for anybody. Heck, every aspect of Disney vacation planning is complicated. It's just that there are apparently a few thousand of us who are gluttons for that kind of intellectual punishment... ;)
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Thanks :) So maybe with the snacks and the refillable drink it becomes "close" to a wash in price.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
joejccva71 said:
Thanks :) So maybe with the snacks and the refillable drink it becomes "close" to a wash in price.
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That all depends on whether the snacks and mug are things you would have purchased out of pocket anyway, or wouldn't get much use out of. Also, a lot of people purchase dining plans with no intention of saving money -- they just appreciate the convenience of prepayment and not having to so much as glance at menu prices, and they find an intrinsic value in that which justifies the expense. At the end of the day, you've got to do what works for you.
 
joejccva71

joejccva71

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Weather_Lady said:
That all depends on whether the snacks and mug are things you would have purchased out of pocket anyway, or wouldn't get much use out of. Also, a lot of people purchase dining plans with no intention of saving money -- they just appreciate the convenience of prepayment and not having to so much as glance at menu prices, and they find an intrinsic value in that which justifies the expense. At the end of the day, you've got to do what works for you.
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Yea, makes sense. Do you use it? Or have you used it in the past but don't now?
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
joejccva71 said:
Yea, makes sense. Do you use it? Or have you used it in the past but don't now?
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I have used it in the past, but really can't see myself using it anytime in the future.

As @Weather_Lady pointed out, about the only advantage the current version has is creating a cruise ship like mentality when it comes to dining, but in the end, you pay for that feature so we just stick to paying cash. There is a small, all stars aligning chance that we might pay a few bucks more by paying out of pocket, but there is a much greater chance that we will end up ahead paying as we go.

This is especially true if you qualify for a Tables in Wonderland Card and/or have an AP.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
joejccva71 said:
Yea, makes sense. Do you use it? Or have you used it in the past but don't now?
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We've used it (and by "it," I mean the regular Disney Dining Plan, NOT the Deluxe plan) on a couple of occasions: once during a "free" dining promotion (by the time we'd paid for the necessary upgrades to be eligible for it, we only saved about $400 over the week), and once when we were traveling with some older relatives and wanted to surreptitiously buy their food (we fibbed to them that we'd gotten the DDP for "free" as they'd never have let us pay for them otherwise).

We saved our receipts and did the math, and for both trips, the DDP cost (or would have cost, if we'd paid full price for it) almost 20% more than we'd have paid for our meals out-of-pocket. However, there's an important caveat: when I say we'd have paid 20% less, I don't mean we'd have paid less out of pocket for the same food -- when I calculated it that way, it was pretty much a wash. The "20% less" reflects what we'd have saved if we only ordered and ate what we wanted to, rather than what the DDP provided (and made us feel compelled to order lest it go to waste). For example, I don't generally drink fountain beverages, DH and I rarely eat dessert, none of us typically wants more than 1 snack per day, and sometimes my son and I would rather have an appetizer or a side salad than a full entree -- so our out-of-pocket figures will always be less than the DDP offers, because there's so much of what it includes that we wouldn't order if we had our druthers. On the other hand, my 9-year-old sometimes prefers to order off of the adult menu instead of the kids' menu, so her out-of-pocket number was often higher than the DDP cost -- but taking all those competing factors into account, paying out of pocket would still have resulted in a nearly 20% savings across the four members of my family over the cost of the DDP, even with some buffets and character meals thrown into the mix. (That's even true of our upcoming trip, despite California Grill's wildly pricy "Brunch at the Top" being on the docket.)

As you can see, the results of that calculation (DDP vs. out-of-pocket) are going to be different for everybody. In general, the less a dining plan matches up perfectly with the amount of food you'd otherwise order, the less potential savings you'll have by using it.
 
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larryz

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
Easy fix. Declare "convenience of not having to sort thru the menu = $500" and call it a victory.
 

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