AP or Dining Plan??

[Mommielisa]

Hi we are staying onsite 6/9/2017 to 6/17/2017 and also 6/25/2017-7/2/2017...We are thinking of buying annual passes and was wondering which is cheaper the Disney dining plan added to our room reservation or relying on the AP pass holder discounts???

 

[KrzyKtty]

I'm not sure about the Disney AP. In my experience the Dining plan only really saves you money if you do you research first. Look at your dining plans and calculate what the cost of your meals without tip would be. I calculated it based on how we would eat normally. Only after calculating that cost could I determine if we would break even or save money with the dining plan. The dining plan encourages you to eat more because everyone gets a desert, which my family rarely orders but would definitely enjoy.

It really comes down to your family's normal eating habits and how you like to enjoy the parks. My husband is a Disney foody, so we always make time to book plenty of sit down restaurants. If he has a license to eat, his bean pole self will make the most of it.

If you don't think you would do a ton of large style diners, and wouldn't want the deserts, or the 30 dollar steaks all the time, you probably will save more with the discounts. Granted that is only if you aren't paying more for the AP than you would pay for your normal ticket in the first place.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

As @Colleen M said, the dining plan rarely saves you any money. The people who claim it does often fail to acknowledge that they change their eating habits in order to ensure that the dining plan saves them money. If you "eat normally," the dining plan is usually approximately a break-even product.

 

[RedDad]

If you're planning to be there that many days, I'd go for the AP, as the cost should be comparable, depending on how you're buying park tickets. If you're booking a package with room included, it may be tough to see exactly what the difference in cost would be to upgrade to an AP. I'd call and ask a CM to make sure.

The current AP 20% discount for dining is only at certain restaurants, and for the most part doesn't include character meals, but it can add up quickly, and the dining plan really isn't a "savings" in most cases. Like others have said, if you do your research, plan to eat at the most expensive meals (particularly character meals), etc. then you can come out ahead with the DP.

Go to the WDW site and search for the passholder benefits to see a list of the restaurants that accept the discount. Then just make sure there are enough on the list that you actually want to try. Remember you also get discounts on merchandise, so as long as you aren't paying a lot more for the AP, I'd go that route.

 

[Master Yoda]

As @Colleen M said, the dining plan rarely saves you any money. The people who claim it does often fail to acknowledge that they change their eating habits in order to ensure that the dining plan saves them money. If you "eat normally," the dining plan is usually approximately a break-even product.

This^^^

If all you do is compare food to dollars, the dining plan looks great on paper. Its value really starts to erode when you compare it to what you would normally eat. About the only way it legitimately becomes a savings is if you have a large number of character meals planned.

You also might want to look into the Tables in Wonderland card if you go the AP route. Unlike the dining discounts with the AP that can be few and far between, full of conditions and can vary by amount, the TiWL card will net you a 20% discount (including alcohol) on nearly every table service restaurant on property as well as a select few counter service ones.

If your trip or trips are long enough to justify purchasing an AP, a TiWL card purchase is often a good value as well.

http://tablesinwonderland.com/

 

[MickeyMomV]

Historically I'm a pro dining plan person but in this case you are going to come out ahead with the AP. Depending on how many people in your group you will save several hundred dollars. Looking at the official site a 8 day ticket is $495 and a 9 day ticket is $505 for a total of $1000 for both stay's and that does not include park hopping or photo pass. Currently the Platinum AP is $779 and includes park hopping and photo pass downloads. If you plan on doing a lot of table service dining you will want to invest in the Tables in Wonderland card. It gets you 20% off at most all table service restaurants.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If all you do is compare food to dollars, the dining plan looks great on paper. Its value really starts to erode when you compare it to what you would normally eat. About the only way it legitimately becomes a savings is if you have a large number of character meals planned.

To add, it's especially bad with kids. A nine year old will probably get decent value out of a kid's plan, but you'd lose a ton of money on a three year old. Similarly, there's zero chance a ten year old would get value of of the full "adult" plan they'd have to buy.

 

[Master Yoda]

To add, it's especially bad with kids. A nine year old will probably get decent value out of a kid's plan, but you'd lose a ton of money on a three year old. Similarly, there's zero chance a ten year old would get value of of the full "adult" plan they'd have to buy.

Correct. It all depends on the kid, but so many just don't work for one plan or the other.

My oldest and youngest would have done fine on the adult plan as they were both all about steak and lobster by the age of 7. Daughter number 2 would still not do well on the adult plan as she has yet to really progress pass the mac n cheese and chicken fingers food groups and she is 23.

 

[BigRedDad]

The only way the DDP is worth it is to plan everything to a perfection and order the most expensive thing off the menu. The 2 times we have had it, we lost money and came home with bags full of rice crispy mickey ears. Nothing like spending $300 extra for $5 worth of rice crispy's and marshmallows.

On the other hand, an AP will save on those ticket prices. The days you are going, you are looking at ~$800 in tickets w/o Hopper. APs are only about $25 more. Then you get the dining discounts, merchandise discounts, room discounts (maybe). You get free MM for those 2 trips which would be a $300 savings.

 

[drwadadli]

AP would be cheaper for a couple of reasons. As already mentioned, you would save 20% on more restaurants so that alone would make it cheaper than a dining plan especially since the dining plan is really worth anything if you are a foodie and doing a lot of signature dining. Also, with the AP you would get discounts on resort rooms. For example, we were down for 2 nights and stayed at the Wyndham at Disney Springs. A friend of mine with an AP stay on-property for the same two nights. His room for 2 night was cheaper than my room for 2 nights plus he got better transportation.

I realize your rooms are already booked but with an AP you might be able to discounts on those already-booked rooms.

There is so much more to just dining discounts with the AP.....discount rooms, free MemoryMakers

 

[DfromATX]

I'm a recent dining plan convert. I agree with the other posters here. We've always done the dining plan, with the exception of our last trip in July. Instead, I just used my credit card to charge meals. We ate normally and included some pricier places such as 'Ohana. I don't remember the exact amount, but we paid way less than we did using the dining plan. In fact, after I got the credit card bill in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised and remember thinking, "that's all?" I thought for sure another bill for Disney would come the next month, but it never did. We will never do the dining plan again.