Hi - I'll be at WDW 8/1 - 8/8 and wondering if the dining plans are worth it for 2 adults? Also, we're staying at a WDW resort so I read somewhere that we can get a unlimited refills cup by paying around $20. Do you know about that too?
Thank you!
Did you make meal reservations yet? Knowing where you've planned to eat, and what you would probably order, would go a long way in determining its worth.
A lot of people have made the point that OOP worked better for them, and historically speaking, I don't doubt it. But there's a "wild card" starting this year, which is, in a word, booze. The dining plans now include a alcoholic beverage if you're over 21 (and I'm just assuming you are) for quick service and table service. Even if you ordered "just a beer" with each meal, and the cheapest beers at that, that's roughly 20% of the cost of a standard dining plan ($75.50). But it can also include wine and specialty cocktails, some of which could be around $15 each.
If you were staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, had a simple lunch of a chicken salad and a 7.50 beer at Mara, and a hearty dinner with a $10 glass of wine at Boma, add the tax, you'd be around $74 of your $75.50 dining plan for the day, and you still have your 2 snacks. A brownie with your lunch, popcorn in one of the parks...that's roughly 9.65 but we'll round down anyway to 9 bucks. So you got $83 of food and drink for $75.50...plus your refillable mug.
If you were on the deluxe plan, and intended a sit down breakfast? Maybe Tusker House (2 buffets on one day? Sheesh, it's a good thing you got that salad for lunch!), that's about 30 bucks. Another 10 or so were you to get a Mimosa (but that is a drink at every meal, don't forget to hydrate). So that puts you at about $123 OOP versus $116 for the cost of one person on the Deluxe plan.
The two of you would come out $14-15 ahead for the day. If that's how you plan to eat every day for the week? You'll "save" about $100. The question becomes - is that how you think you'd eat every day? Full service breakfast AND dinner? And a counter service lunch? All with an alcoholic drink, every day?
Maybe you'd opt for some Signature meals, so you'd be eating less BUT eating fancier. Or the Hoop De Do Revue, seats comparable to what you could get on the dining plan would run $67 per person.
Now past couple of trips the Deluxe Dining Plan was worth it for us, but that's because a: we tended to do 2 sitdown meals, with pretty much at least one of them every day being a character meal because b: we had 2 kids under the age of 10. The cost for kids on Deluxe made it incredibly "worth it" and this was even before booze was included. Even having to skip some meals and converting those meal credits to snack credits, we saved a few hundred, easily. But now one of our kids will be 10, so the jump in price makes it cost prohibitive. Plus, I'm not much of a drinker at all. My wife will have a glass or two of wine with some meals, but not if we're planning on heading back to the parks at night, the alcohol on top of the heat and humidity, walking around, would just break her. We're eligible for the 20% Tables in Wonderland discount, so we'll probably go that route instead.
Know it's a long reply. Sorry about that. But to repeat myself, if you already made reservations, if you have an idea what you'd eat at the places you booked, you can get an idea whether or not you'd at least break even.
I wouldn't consider taking it as an extra though.
