Dining Plan?

[tmantuano]

My wife and I are just starting to plan out our next trip. We're trying to figure out how much $ we are budgeting for each aspect of our trip, i.e. hotel (on property), park tickets, etc. The one thing that we are in debate about is whether or not to add on a dining plan. It would be for myself, my wife and our 5 year-old daughter. We looked at both room & ticket packages with and w/o dining plan. Obviously with the dining plan is more but is it worth it?

 

[Sumrdog]

A few years ago when the dining plan first came out it really was a good deal, it included an appetizer, entrée and dessert with gratuity at the table service meal and they have since removed the appetizer and gratuity but raised the price.

At this point I have done the math and its not worth it for us, one reason is that we are not dessert eaters and another is that at times I only want an appetizer instead of an entrée and I find the dining plan too limiting. If we are going for more than a week and have a larger group than the Tables in Wonderland card can save us some money, but you have to spend 1000$ bucks on food before it starts to pay for itself...

Have a fun trip!

 

[2bornot2be]

Like some have posted before it really depends on you and your family But Disney is expensive no matter what you do. For me personally I like the ease of mind knowing meals are already paid for and I DO see a little savings.
I have a comparison here is some help

I picked a couple of popular spots and for the sake of it I’m using Peek season pricing for the dinning plan and non-peak pricing for the Restaurant pricing.
Crystal Palace Character Dinner Buffett
Adult price: $39.40
Child Price $19.99
Your Family total $98.79 + tip & tax

Be Our Guest Restaurant
Grilled sandwich of carved ham 10.99 / Drink Soft Drinks or Iced Tea $2.99 = $13.98
Whole-Grain Macaroni - topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella $6.99 (Comes with drink)
Your Family total $34.98 (No snack added to adult meals)

Daily Snack
Soft-Serve Ice Cream Cup or Cone $3.49
Hot Fudge Cookie Sundae - $4.99
Chocolate Chunk Cookie - $2.39
Your Family Total = $10.87
Grand total for the day at MK = $144.61


Basic Dining Plan
1 table, 1 Counter, 1 Snack per day
Peek Season $56.94 per adult / $18.16 per child
Your Family Total for the day = $132.04

You may choose not to eat as much and this will reduce the cost. Also I sometime use the Desserts for snacks later while walking through the park.

Have fun and good luck!!!!

 

[AngryEyes]

I can't make it work. I did all the math and it came up that we'd save about $250 using the plan, but then I realized I'd forgotten the tips on the DDP. Advantage gone. I may still get it for the simplicity, but it won't be because I'll save any money.

 

[Jo DeVil]

We did the original DP in 2007 and DDDP 2008. 2010, 2011 and again 2013. I works for us (me, DH and DS8) we book the signature restaurants and we enjoy a nice sit down meal at night, the other credits we use for Character breakfast. I always save our receipts so when I get home I can work it out and every time we have saved money but we go for minimum of 14 nights and we don't have to worry about a budget. It is a personal choice only you know what you like to eat. Happy Hunting. TTFN Jo

 

[Violet]

A few years ago when the dining plan first came out it really was a good deal, it included an appetizer, entrée and dessert with gratuity at the table service meal and they have since removed the appetizer and gratuity but raised the price.

That I could see the old DDP making sense for us, because we love appetizers. We seriously never eat dessert at restaurants, partly because we are so full, and partly because we are lucky if we get the kids to sit still for dinner.

 

[tsaintc]

Disney does the dining plan because it makes them money. If you are not getting it for free then it is almost a sure bet that you will pay less, and get to eat and pay for only what you really want, by skipping the dining plan and just paying out if pocket. The dining plan just gets you to agree before hand that you will pre-purchase the max amount of food at each meal regardless to the fact if you feel like eating it. You agree that you want dessert and snacks every day. If you don't feel like a meal (or you get a stomach bug and are sick and can't eat) you are out of luck - there is no refund.

Completely agree with this comment. If you do the math based on what you plan to eat and develop a budget, you will save money by paying out of pocket. With the DDP, you will feel obligated to over-eat to justify the prepaid cost. Remember, at the end of the day, Disney is in the business of making money, and they make out big time with the prepaid DDP. I can definitely understand those who like the convenience of not have to pay out pocket or budget, but, personally, I like full transparency to the actual cost of my vacation.

 

[Violet]

Just out of curiosity, I just did the math again for our upcoming trips, including 7 TS ADRs. It comes out to be just around the price we would pay OOP.

I didn't count desserts because we never eat them. I guess if we did count 4 desserts every night for 7 nights we might save some money.

I can see how people would still like it though if they just like to know they are prepaid for food, sort of like an all-inclusive vacation of sorts.