Frankie Nova
Member
correction the Deluxe dinner plan DOES include Appetizer opps you probably weren't speaking about the Deluxe plan. my Apologies
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Disney dining plan, is it worth it...?
- Thread starter Mousey21
- Start date
Hcalvert
Well-Known Member
I don't really care for the dining plan, but my husband likes the convenience of it. To make myself feel better about paying for it, I took advantage of Target's 10% off gift cards and also used my credit card points to get Disney gift cards and reduced the amount I paid for the plan to less than $1500 out of pocket for 4 adults and 1 child on the standard dining plan for 7 nights. Now, I feel like I am getting a deal, but it is all subjective.
crxbrett
Well-Known Member
I love it and usually save about $200-$300 on a 9 day or more vacation. I think if you eat at least 1 quick service and 1 table service a day then it is totally worth it. Also, like others have said, it's more convenient for me not having to worry about thinking about how much things are and paying after every meal. I usually eat steak, which is one of the more pricier items on menus, so it works out for me. They are also adding alcohol to it this year. Which is huge for me. That will make the savings a bit more for me personally.
Thanks guys, I’ve downloaded the app so we’re going to do a run through of prices and things we’re likely to eat and where, work out the exchange rate and then see if it’s worth it, One thing we did wonder was the prices on the app for the menus, do they include the tax? that’s something that threw me last time in some places that tax was added on after... I remember walking round Walmart totting things up like I would at home, forgetting the tax, had a shock at the end!
Hcalvert
Well-Known Member
None of the prices on the menus include tax. The price per person for the various dining plans already include tax. Just an FYI for next time, Disney UK was offering free dining for 2018 (at select Deluxe resorts) when I checked in September 2017 as well as other perks like 14 day tickets for the price of 7, free memory maker, and a $100 Disney gift card. I also worked on the prices as my father-in-law is going with us this year for the first time and he lives in the UK.
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Right so we need to add the tax on, what percentage is it taxed? Yeah 14 days for 7 is a pretty standard offer for the uk, we always joke at the adverts that advertise it as it’s something brand new, We would get the memory maker, Disney life for a year and 15% off Disney store (adverts just popped on tv now! ) they have up to 4 free nights at the moment, dependant on length of stay, we’re looking at 12 days at all star music to save money, keep looking at port Orleans but can’t justify it. Need to book it soon really, don’t want to risk waiting for another offer and miss out, really hard deciding when to book it for the best offers, Don’t think they’d let us know what offers were coming up next if we rung and asked :/
Hcalvert
Well-Known Member
I looked it up and this is what I found: "Most of the Resort is in Orange County, Florida holding a tax rate of 6.5% while the most southern Disney Parks hotels and venues are in Osceola County, Florida holding a 7.0% tax rate." I found this on the mom panel on Disney's webpage. Buffets/Family Style meals vary in price by season, but I always look at the higher rate since you never know.
! Thankyou!
Dutch Inn '76
Well-Known Member
The only way it's "worth" it, is if you want to forget about money while you're there. ...but even then you can't do that unless you buy the ultra premium dining package, and that is very very expensive.
You really have to look at what you would normally eat (take the time of year into consideration; do you usually have lighter meals in hot weather?) and what the prices might be without the plan. Also check to see if the things that are important to you are on the plan.
Mainahman
Well-Known Member
This is why we got it for our march trip. We had it in the budget, but this trip is all about de stressing, and enjoying the downtime. One less thing to have to budget, and or worry about.
MickeyMomV
Well-Known Member
We used to be a big advocate of the dining plan. We enjoyed the one site down a day for dinner and would do the CS for a good Lunch. We used the majority of "snacks" for breakfast items. Contrary to popular opinion you do not have to get the most expensive items at the most expensive places to break even but the higher price items will show you the greater savings. With that said a casual dining style, at full plan price, will be hard to see a monetary benefit. We still see a big benefit with "free" dining. I have yet to have anybody show me numbers where it is not beneficial to pay the higher price for the room and get hoppers to qualify for the "free" dining. A lot of people will tell you they save more with the room discount but unless its a party of one or two and they are staying high end deluxe I just haven't been able to make the numbers work in the benefit of room discount when compared to the "free" dining. Currently we are AP's and have changed up our eating style when onsite where we only do TS every other day and with the AP discount we are saving quite a bit more than we have in the past.
As others have said run a calculator and see what works for your touring style and do what works for you.
As others have said run a calculator and see what works for your touring style and do what works for you.
Ted Daggett
Active Member
Remember that the dining plan does not include tips on Table Service meals. Therefore you will still have to make a payment at the table, it is not all "prepaid".
Dad 2 M & M
Well-Known Member
Look at it like this ..... $52 a day (you mentioned QS Plan).........2 QS Entrees + Drink, 2 snacks.....and a mug with unlimited refills.....
You'll have to average $20 per meal, and $6 per snack (ignoring the Mug and alcohol possibilities). It is certainly doable, but would you really eat the Rib, chicken combo at Flame Tree or ABC......breakfast/lunch at BoG for every meal? In addition to those meal types, you'd have to hit some of the Epcot kiosks for snacks.
Is that your dining preference/habit?
We don't do the DDP anymore, and buy the gift cards and use those....maybe consider $50 per person per day in gift cards.....buy what you would really eat with the gift cards and see how that works? Might end up with enough left on the gift cards to purchase a t-shirt at the end of your trip....
With that said, we loved the DDP back in the day, and would have NEVER been exposed to so many great TS ressies...we still hit Tutto Italia every trip, and usually hit Le Cellier as well.......
**edit** there is a BJs and Sam's Club near the World...both sell discounted Disney Gift cards.
You'll have to average $20 per meal, and $6 per snack (ignoring the Mug and alcohol possibilities). It is certainly doable, but would you really eat the Rib, chicken combo at Flame Tree or ABC......breakfast/lunch at BoG for every meal? In addition to those meal types, you'd have to hit some of the Epcot kiosks for snacks.
Is that your dining preference/habit?
We don't do the DDP anymore, and buy the gift cards and use those....maybe consider $50 per person per day in gift cards.....buy what you would really eat with the gift cards and see how that works? Might end up with enough left on the gift cards to purchase a t-shirt at the end of your trip....
With that said, we loved the DDP back in the day, and would have NEVER been exposed to so many great TS ressies...we still hit Tutto Italia every trip, and usually hit Le Cellier as well.......
**edit** there is a BJs and Sam's Club near the World...both sell discounted Disney Gift cards.
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