Disney Dining Plan

[Destiny Romayne]

Hello everyone, we went to Disney World during the week of thanksgiving in 2017 and it was absolutely magical. We stayed at the All-Star Resort (can’t remember which one) and we had a free dining plan. The Dining Plan was amazing! So much food that we ate and still have tons of snack credits left over...my question is, this year we are going to Disney World the 26th-31st of December ( we are aware of how busy it is during this time) and we want to know, can you purchase dining plans year round? Even if we have to purchase the dining plan, it still would be the better option than just spending your own money on the food. We are aware there probably won’t be any resorts with any free dining plans during this time (who knows?) and we are willing to purchase the plan. We just aren’t sure if it is available to purchase year round. Thanks for the help!!

 

[Mainahman]

Hello everyone, we went to Disney World during the week of thanksgiving in 2017 and it was absolutely magical. We stayed at the All-Star Resort (can’t remember which one) and we had a free dining plan. The Dining Plan was amazing! So much food that we ate and still have tons of snack credits left over...my question is, this year we are going to Disney World the 26th-31st of December ( we are aware of how busy it is during this time) and we want to know, can you purchase dining plans year round? Even if we have to purchase the dining plan, it still would be the better option than just spending your own money on the food. We are aware there probably won’t be any resorts with any free dining plans during this time (who knows?) and we are willing to purchase the plan. We just aren’t sure if it is available to purchase year round. Thanks for the help!!

We leave in 8 days, will be there in 9. We have the Quick serve plan. You will get a mixed bag of people that say its worth it, vs not worth it. Its always available to you, at a price. We got it this time just got the ability to have one less worry.

 

[nickys]

Hello everyone, we went to Disney World during the week of thanksgiving in 2017 and it was absolutely magical. We stayed at the All-Star Resort (can’t remember which one) and we had a free dining plan. The Dining Plan was amazing! So much food that we ate and still have tons of snack credits left over...my question is, this year we are going to Disney World the 26th-31st of December ( we are aware of how busy it is during this time) and we want to know, can you purchase dining plans year round? Even if we have to purchase the dining plan, it still would be the better option than just spending your own money on the food. We are aware there probably won’t be any resorts with any free dining plans during this time (who knows?) and we are willing to purchase the plan. We just aren’t sure if it is available to purchase year round. Thanks for the help!!

Yes it is!

I would still do some maths and add up roughly how much you are likely to spend on food. If you are from the US you could put that amount onto Disney gift cards through the year and use them, to avoid having to pay there and then. (Sadly you can't buy them from the UK ).

Having said that, we got it for 3 days over Christmas itself and got our money's worth by doing 2 character dinners, Ohana breakfast, BOG breakfast ....

 

[Destiny Romayne]

Yes it is!

I would still do some maths and add up roughly how much you are likely to spend on food. If you are from the US you could put that amount onto Disney gift cards through the year and use them, to avoid having to pay there and then. (Sadly you can't buy them from the UK ).

Having said that, we got it for 3 days over Christmas itself and got our money's worth by doing 2 character dinners, Ohana breakfast, BOG breakfast ....

Awesome. When we go to Disney World for 1 week we usually spend about $600 on food. Since it’s only 5 days this time it might be less and worth it. With the free dining plan last trip we ate steak at every restaurant we had reservations for. The steak at the sci-fi diner was phenomenal!

 

[Rob562]

Awesome. When we go to Disney World for 1 week we usually spend about $600 on food. Since it’s only 5 days this time it might be less and worth it. With the free dining plan last trip we ate steak at every restaurant we had reservations for. The steak at the sci-fi diner was phenomenal!

If you'd be paying $600 for food for 2 adults on a 7-night stay, the dining plan will cost you much more. The plan is $75 per person, per night. So 7 nights for 2 adults is over $1000. You're better paying out if pocket for your meals.

-Rob

 

[DarthVader]

can you purchase dining plans year round?

Yes, there's three options
Quick Service only: 2 QS meals, 2 snacks, a refillable mug for 52.50 per person per night.
Dinner Plan: 1 QS meal, 1 QS meal, 2 snacks and a refillable mug 75.49 per person per nigh
Deluxe Dinning Plan: 3 meals any combination of QS or TS, 2 snacks and reillable mug. 116.25 per person, per day.

The dinning and Delux dinning plans do not include tips so you need to factor that into your costs.

if we have to purchase the dining plan, it still would be the better option than just spending your own money on the food.

No, in almost all cases you're spending more money
Check out an online calculator to see how your expenses would be. Here's two that I found. I've used both and both have their own idiosyncries but they're pretty good at estimating your costs.
http://www.distripplanner.com
https://dining.ericconnerapps.com

We are aware there probably won’t be any resorts with any free dining plans during this time (who knows?

Disney tends to offer free meal plans during slow periods, such as the time after Halloween but before Thanksgiving. Your time frame is probably one of the busiests so its highly unlikely that we'll see that promotion

 

[joejccva71]

I did extensive math and testing over and over, and even dedicated a thread to it. Me and my 14 year old daughter pulled up the LATEST menus on all the restaurants we wanted to go to which were mostly signature places. She loves Lobster and Steak like I do and she eats like an adult. Every time we sat down and picked out what we would have, it always came out to be about $400 more on the Deluxe Dining Plan over paying OOP. The reason is because the DDP doesn't include tips so you have to add that in. Paying OOP was $400 cheaper including tips every single test we did.

 

[Minthorne]

Dining plan, IMHO, is just one more thing to worry about.

Do we have reservations every day for sit down meals?

Did we use all our credit up or did we spend money on something we didn’t use?

Is the food I’d like to have included in the dining plan?

Do we have to have this huge meal tonight even though I’m not as hungry today?

Do I have to skip the appetizer I’d really like and have a dessert I don’t want because that is what is included?

Do we have money for tips with us or do we charge it to the room?

Did I just tip almost $80 for 4 of us on a Disney dinning meal because the steaks I bought to get the most value are $49 each, the shake I got was $18 and the dessert was $15?

Do I really want another dessert?

Would I have bought 10 boxes of candy at $5.99 each if I didn’t have all these snack credits left?

Paying with a gift card or credit card it always easier and most likely cheaper than the dining plan. Dining plans mean you agree ahead of time to the volume and choices you can eat at little to no cost saving and the addition of many headaches.

Unless it is free, you have a group bigger than 2, and you are not giving up a better room discount to get it then the DDP is just a way for Disney to increase the amount you spend on food.

Not that I feel strongly about this at all

 

[joejccva71]

I had made this in a different post. This was all the food + tip calculations for two people on a 9 night stay.

Deluxe Dining Plan for 9 nights: 54 total dining credits

OOP = Out of Pocket
DDP = Deluxe Dining Plan

Note: The total you see here for the DDP is what it WOULD have costed if we had to pay for it so to speak. Some places we would order dessert, some not.

All total prices INCLUDE a 20% tip. This is for two people.

5/13 (arrival day): Flying Fish: OOP $132 , DDP $158
5/14: Mama Melrose (Fantasmic Dining Package): OOP $108, DDP $108
5/14: Hollywood Brown Derby: OOP $127, DDP $181
5/15: Via Napoli: OOP $42, DDP $65
5/15: Yachtsman Steakhouse: OOP $216, DDP $231
5/16: Be Our Guest: OOP $58, DDP $58
5/16: Cosmic Starlight Cafe: OOP $38, DDP $38
5/16: Be Our Guest: OOP $129, DDP $129
5/17: Ale & Compass: OOP $45, DDP $45
5/17: ESPN Club: OOP $68, DDP $68
5/17: Shula's: OOP $253
5/18: Tusker House: OOP $72, DDP $72
5/18: Tiffin's: OOP $138, DDP $138
5/19: Jiko: OOP $186, DDP $210
5/20: Pecos Inn: OOP $32, DDP $32
5/20: Narcoossee's: OOP $200, DDP $225
5/21: Paddlefish: OOP $171, DDP $207
5/22: Flying back home in the morning

OOP total: $2015 <- includes tips
Cost of the Deluxe Dining Plan for 9 nights: $2092 <- since DDP doesn't pay for tips, total tip addition is $365 for all table meals
Total Dining Credits used: 54 (for 2 people)

Summary
OOP total cost: $2015
DDP total cost: $2457 ($2092 for the plan + $365 tipping)
DDP + eating at Shula's: $2710

Remember the Deluxe Dining Plan purchase cost for 9 nights is $2092 so it doesn't matter how much food cost you EAT, you already paid for the dining plan. That also doesn't include tipping 20% for the meals. And since Shula's isn't included in the dining plan, if you eat there you have to add that.

So I was wrong in my earlier post. It's not $400 more expensive on the dining plan, it's $700 more expensive on the Dining Plan than eating OOP in my situation.