Disney dining plan went up

larryz

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
Da Bird is Da Word said:
The thing is, I'm gonna have to pull out all the stops to get this $1100 dining plan for the two of us, and I'm having a hard time justifying spending that much. Then again, I'm also stressed out about the prospect of getting to Disney and finding myself wholly unprepared to be able to afford our meals. We won't be doing any signature dining, but I do want to do at least one character dining meal, one buffet, and a couple other table service restaurants while we're there, on top of eating at some quick service restaurants for lunch. So, without the DDP, about how much money do you set aside for dining expenses for a week at WDW? I know there's no one-size-fits-all answer to that question, but some anecdotal replies would be appreciated.
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I now budget $60 per person per day for food. That seems to work pretty good, and we usually snack for breakfast, eat CS lunch and TS dinner.
 
Patsy Williams

Patsy Williams

Member
The disney dining plan is not for everybody. I almost always get the dining plan. For my family who loves to eat a big breakfast ...skip lunch and eat a really good dinner...with most of those being two credit meals...I save a lot of money, especially with a alcoholic drink included. You really have to run the numbers . I do this after all my ADR's are booked and then decide if I want dining plan and just call and add it.
 
Patcheslee

Patcheslee

Well-Known Member
We had the DDP for this past trip. When we left we had 12 snack credits, 8 quick service, and 0 table left. Heres where our problem was: when DH went to get himself a bite to eat he kept paying cash and not using credits. 😡 I added up his receipts and it would have saved us a little over $200 if he had used the plan. This isn't our first trip with DDP, don't know what he was thinking since he was reminded to use credits a few times, but I'm tempted to bill him and put the money back in my vacation account lol.
 
Club Cooloholic

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Patcheslee said:
We had the DDP for this past trip. When we left we had 12 snack credits, 8 quick service, and 0 table left. Heres where our problem was: when DH went to get himself a bite to eat he kept paying cash and not using credits. 😡 I added up his receipts and it would have saved us a little over $200 if he had used the plan. This isn't our first trip with DDP, don't know what he was thinking since he was reminded to use credits a few times, but I'm tempted to bill him and put the money back in my vacation account lol.
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Oh that's just criminal lol.
 
ninjaprincesst

ninjaprincesst

Well-Known Member
mdcpr said:
That make sense. When I was looking at the DDP, a lot of people here told me it was a great deal. When I did the numbers of how my family eats, I would end up saving like $200 by not doing it. This 'pay for convenience' can end up being pricier.
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WIth me it's not so much the savings but the fact that I can have it paid off ahead of time, it's way easier to me to pay a little out of each paycheck than to come up with $1500 for food at the time of the trip. Yes, I know I could just put the money back for it but when I do that something always happens and part of it ends up getting spent.
 
danheaton

danheaton

Well-Known Member
We've never done the DDP, and from all the math that I've done, there's almost no way it would be even be close to worthwhile. I think there's still a way to do it with the most expensive entrees and drinks, but then it becomes all about justifying the value and not about what we enjoy. The increases keep making it easier to skip, though I know food has likely gone up too.
 
Queen of the WDW Scene

Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
danheaton said:
We've never done the DDP, and from all the math that I've done, there's almost no way it would be even be close to worthwhile. I think there's still a way to do it with the most expensive entrees and drinks, but then it becomes all about justifying the value and not about what we enjoy. The increases keep making it easier to skip, though I know food has likely gone up too.
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Its not right for everyone but that is why everyone needs to do their own math and not just assume that it is right or wrong for everyone.

You say its not worth it.... I say it is.
For me its especially worth it if I'm interested in buffets/character meals.
Sorry but I'm not paying $50 OOP for one meal when I could pay $78 per day and get that $50 meal, a $20 QS meal, $12 in snacks, and some coffee/hot chocolate/soda at my resort.

If I'm paying OOP I'm not going to eat at any TS location at all because I can't justify the OOP cost. Instead I limit everything just to ensure that I spend less than I would had I gotten the DDP.
 
danheaton

danheaton

Well-Known Member
Queen of the WDW Screne said:
Its not right for everyone but that is why everyone needs to do their own math and not just assume that it is right or wrong for everyone.

You say its not worth it.... I say it is.
For me its especially worth it if I'm interested in buffets/character meals.
Sorry but I'm not paying $50 OOP for one meal when I could pay $78 per day and get that $50 meal, a $20 QS meal, $12 in snacks, and some coffee/hot chocolate/soda at my resort.

If I'm paying OOP I'm not going to eat at any TS location at all because I can't justify the OOP cost. Instead I limit everything just to ensure that I spend less than I would had I gotten the DDP.
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Good points. I'm thinking more in terms of normal days for us, which don't often include a character meal. So there's a way to do it for sure. It's just a lot harder to get value out of it.
 

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