Disney without the dining plan

[PigletIsMyCat]

And remember, you can always ask for just the entree w/no side. So if a burger & fries is $8.79, you can ask for no fries, and should only be charged like $6.79 instead. (No idea what the real prices are, but the difference is less than they charge for the side)

this. dh and i often share breakfast and lunch since we snack through the parks so much. buying one meal - burger or whatever and fries - it pricey; i often add on just a burger and we share the fries. and re: dining plan, we never - NEVER - want dessert with lunch. while we often order an appetizer and a desert at some table service places, we never order ONE each at EVERY meal. there's an excellent spreadsheet you can download - google something like disney dining plan spreadsheet - and you can fill in all your info and restaurant choices and it breaks it down for you. i've also done it the old fashioned way, adding up the cost of the things we're likely to order... ddp never comes out on top for us. and remember you can only add the *free* ddp if you pay full price/rack rate for a room - sometimes a 30% room discount may be worth a lot more to you than free ddp (when it's offered).

 

[iluvMainStMagic]

Agree with dreamfinder about being able to order the entree without the side. We just got back last week and sometimes shared a combo meal....sometimes got one combo + one entree w/out the side, and shared the side if we were hungrier or really wanted different things. The menu boards usually only list the combo options, but most places will allow you to leave off the side for a lower price, if you ask.
(Interestingly, we found that BOG does not allow this at lunch, everything only comes as listed on the menu.)

 

[Magnolia Mickey]

Although we normally use the dining plan for our family of five, we did not this year. I went with the intention of "seeing" which way would save money. We did not intentionally skimp when ordering meals. I kept every receipt and found that we saved about $300 buying our food out of pocket. Perhaps this was an anomaly. I think it could go either way.

 

[BigTxEars]

We don't do the dining plan anymore - too much food (I don't want a dessert with lunch) and not flexible. We always do breakfast in our room, I bring snacks and reusable water bottles for the parks (I will not pay Disney prices for a bottle of "enhanced" tap water and the ice water you can get for free has a funky Orlando water taste) and we have the flexibility for lunch/dinner - sharing, ordering just an appetizer, or getting kid's meal. All of which would be hard to do on a DDP and you'd be wasting money. We now have a Tables in Wonderland card - love the 20% discount, including adult beverages - which are not including on the DDP. When it's just me on a trip (yes, I've gone solo several times - heaven), I eat just breakfast and a late lunch/early dinner. Since I have snacks & fruit in the room, if I get hungry later, I just grab some hummus and carrots or something else I've brought with me.

We are staying in a 1 bedroom villa during Thanksgiving (yes, call me crazy for going at that time), so I will have to give an order from Garden Grocery a think, rather than packing the car with a large cooler.

The key word there is "flexible" for us. We love love love TS meals and eating at different WDW restaurants. They are almost like attractions to us, as much as any of the rides or shows.

But we want the freedom of less ADRs as well.

It's a weird conflict really, no good answer for us.

We made 5 ADRs for this next trip. Saana (Dinner) , Sci Fi (Lunch), Tusker House (Breakfast), Akershus (Lunch), BOG (Dinner) we also booked the Desert Party at MK for Wishes. We will do breakfast in the room and then QS the other meals. All OOP with TIW card. It seems like a good mix for us. It's in Jan so it should be a slow time at the park and a pretty relaxing trip, did not want to make too many ADRs and have too much structure honestly. We might drop Tusker House for that reason, It's on our "off" day and I am not sure what park we will be going to that day.

I do think we often eat just to eat on the DDP, we have never left with unused credits!!!! But I do like the "don't have to worry about money at each meal" factor of the DDP.....

This trip will tell us I guess how we will "do Disney" going forward.....but then again the kids will be moving out at some point (youngest is 12 this year) and with being new DVC members the wife and I have the next 40 years of Disney, many of those without kids so that will change stuff up as well....oh what to do what to do!

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

i can appreciate the idea of not haven to worry about money at each meal - to a point. tip is no longer included, and since that change the dining plan hasn't made much sense imho. i also totally agree with the 'eating just to eat and use up credits' thing. i remember trying to figure out how to use up snack credits on one trip, and eating a few meals because we 'had' to, not because i really wanted to.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Our last 10 years of WDW vacations have included the dining plan. The next two trips, will not. I'm doing my best to be prepared mentally and financially to feed my family. Any tips or advice on your favorite places would be greatly appreciated
The trip in November is just hubby and I. We will be spending a lot of time at F&W so I've been purchasing GC to use for the booths, etc. The December trip, however (2 daughters, 1 "adopted" daughter) will be just four days. The plan is to do "Quick Service" meals so we have more park time. Are there certain restaurants/carts you'd recommend that are a fairly good value for what you get? We're all open to sharing. I'll have snacks and breakfast items in the room which will save some money and time. The only two planned events we have are Wishes Dessert Party one night and BOG for lunch (IF we can get in).
Can't wait to hear your suggestions!
Thanks guys!!

There are pros and cons to both, but I think you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you save money without the DDP. (At least, my family does -- because our food preferences don't always match up with the best ways to save money on the DDP. Sometimes DH wants a burger instead of the most expensive item on the menu. Sometimes I just want a snack or an appetizer instead of an entree+beverage+dessert, especially at lunch! And we've never been able to use up all of those snack credits...)

Here's some links to some recommendations for saving $ via counter service without the DDP:
http://www.disneytouristblog.com/dining-plan-counter-service-best-values/
http://www.wdwhints.com/2012/08/best-disney-dining-values-when-paying.html

**TIPS: ORDER ONLY AS MUCH AS YOU WANT TO EAT! Don't forget that even though most CS meals are "packaged" into some sort of combo meal (e.g., burger AND fries for x amount), you can always ask for things a la carte (burger without the fries) and you'll be charged a lower (unadvertised) price! Skip the enormous sugary sodas in favor of [free!] iced water, if you can. Also, if you're not all that hungry and will be satisfied with a small portion, you can feel free to order a kids' meal, which generally includes all the components -- beverage, side, etc., -- and has a far lower price point than an adult meal.

My personal recommendations would be:
- Be Our Guest (CS for lunch only, MK), which gives you CS meals a huge step above the usual, in quality and value
- Pecos Bill's (MK), order a burger/sandwich without the advertised sides, and make use of the toppings bar to add a de facto salad to your meal
- Tangierine Cafe (Epcot, Morocco), order a shawarma platter and split it with a companion
- Sunshine Seasons (Epcot), great variety and value
- Flame Tree BBQ (Animal Kingdom), large portions for the price
- (I don't have any recommendations in HS -- we try to avoid eating there as the options aren't all that terrific! Starring Rolls often gets great reviews, if you don't mind dining outdoors.)

 

[Weather_Lady]

this. dh and i often share breakfast and lunch since we snack through the parks so much. buying one meal - burger or whatever and fries - it pricey; i often add on just a burger and we share the fries. and re: dining plan, we never - NEVER - want dessert with lunch. while we often order an appetizer and a desert at some table service places, we never order ONE each at EVERY meal. there's an excellent spreadsheet you can download - google something like disney dining plan spreadsheet - and you can fill in all your info and restaurant choices and it breaks it down for you. i've also done it the old fashioned way, adding up the cost of the things we're likely to order... ddp never comes out on top for us. and remember you can only add the ddp if you pay full price/rack rate for a room - sometimes a 30% room discount may be worth a lot more to you than free ddp (when it's offered).

Great suggestion! I think this is the website you're thinking of. I love it! http://www.distripplanner.com/

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

distripplanner.com is great, but i found an even more extensive one that's ridiculous.... http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0

 

[Greenlawler]

Although we normally use the dining plan for our family of five, we did not this year. I went with the intention of "seeing" which way would save money. We did not intentionally skimp when ordering meals. I kept every receipt and found that we saved about $300 buying our food out of pocket. Perhaps this was an anomaly. I think it could go either way.

We did the exact same thing last year after over 20 trips of being on the dinning plan. We even ordered desserts, and soft drinks just to see as an experiment for a podcast.....the result, we saved $160

Oh wow been a while since I have been around here...."likes" this is new.

 

[dupac]

I think we're going to go dining plan less for our next trip. I just remember making myself miserable trying to eat everything last trip. I'd rather eat what I want (multiple small snacks instead of a QS lunch or no dessert or soda with my QS) than feel obligated to use my allotted credits.

 

[LAKid53]

The key word there is "flexible" for us. We love love love TS meals and eating at different WDW restaurants. They are almost like attractions to us, as much as any of the rides or shows.

But we want the freedom of less ADRs as well.

It's a weird conflict really, no good answer for us.

We made 5 ADRs for this next trip. Saana (Dinner) , Sci Fi (Lunch), Tusker House (Breakfast), Akershus (Lunch), BOG (Dinner) we also booked the Desert Party at MK for Wishes. We will do breakfast in the room and then QS the other meals. All OOP with TIW card. It seems like a good mix for us. It's in Jan so it should be a slow time at the park and a pretty relaxing trip, did not want to make too many ADRs and have too much structure honestly. We might drop Tusker House for that reason, It's on our "off" day and I am not sure what park we will be going to that day.

I do think we often eat just to eat on the DDP, we have never left with unused credits!!!! But I do like the "don't have to worry about money at each meal" factor of the DDP.....

This trip will tell us I guess how we will "do Disney" going forward.....but then again the kids will be moving out at some point (youngest is 12 this year) and with being new DVC members the wife and I have the next 40 years of Disney, many of those without kids so that will change stuff up as well....oh what to do what to do!

You got an ADR for Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom?! I am jealous - have tried for every trip once our ADR window opens up and have never been lucky.

Welcome to DVC. Don't know if you knew, but you can add the DDP separately up to 48 hours before your trip starts, but you have to pay in full at the time of purchase.

 

[RobnRachal]

You got an ADR for Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom?! I am jealous - have tried for every trip once our ADR window opens up and have never been lucky.

Welcome to DVC. Don't know if you knew, but you can add the DDP separately up to 48 hours before your trip starts, but you have to pay in full at the time of purchase.

Don't give up!! I tried and tried and eventually something opened up

 

[LAKid53]

Don't give up!! I tried and tried and eventually something opened up

Thanks for the encouragement. We are going next month, so I will try again.

 

[TXDisney]

Depends on your family to me. It's just me and my wife so we her use the dining plan. We really only eat nice dinners and drink around the countries as for as most the expenses. But if you have kids and need to keep getting sodas and snacks throughout the day, QS lunches, etc. Then the dining plan is definitely for you.

 

[BigTxEars]

You got an ADR for Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom?! I am jealous - have tried for every trip once our ADR window opens up and have never been lucky.

Welcome to DVC. Don't know if you knew, but you can add the DDP separately up to 48 hours before your trip starts, but you have to pay in full at the time of purchase.

We are there Jan 24th - Jan 31st. Our desert party ADR is on that Tuesday at 6:10pm, which is weird since Wishes does not start until I think 9pm that night. But we are looking forward to it. To offset the cost (6 of us was $160+) we are skipping dinner that night, just going to stuff desert in our piggy mouths....

 

[LAKid53]

We are there Jan 24th - Jan 31st. Our desert party ADR is on that Tuesday at 6:10pm, which is weird since Wishes does not start until I think 9pm that night. But we are looking forward to it. To offset the cost (6 of us was $160+) we are skipping dinner that night, just going to stuff desert in our piggy mouths....

Wow, I didn't realize it was that pricey. Guess if I ever can snag an ADR, it will be dessert for dinner for us that night. Not that I'm complaining.....

 

[BigTxEars]

Wow, I didn't realize it was that pricey. Guess if I ever can snag an ADR, it will be dessert for dinner for us that night. Not that I'm complaining.....

Yeah all you can scarf deserts while watching fireworks at WDW is not too bad a dinner

Just checked, with tax and all 6 of us were $166.08 exactly. Not sure if it's a tipping area or not so it might cost more in the long run.

 

[Stellajack]

Yeah all you can scarf deserts while watching fireworks at WDW is not too bad a dinner

Just checked, with tax and all 6 of us were $166.08 exactly. Not sure if it's a tipping area or not so it might cost more in the long run.

No, it isn't a tipping area. We have done the dessert party three times and have never had any problems getting the reservation. In fact, on the first occasion, we made the 'same day' ADR in Guest Services while we were in the park. Lots of fruits and desserts, water, tea, coffee, punch, etc.

 

[Stellajack]

We are there Jan 24th - Jan 31st. Our desert party ADR is on that Tuesday at 6:10pm, which is weird since Wishes does not start until I think 9pm that night. But we are looking forward to it.

If you are being seated at 6:10 p.m. then Wishes is probably scheduled to begin around 8 p.m. That's the great thing about this ADR. They give you plenty of time to get in, settled and served long before the fireworks begin.

 

[rt06]

Earl of Sandwich is a bargain.

Two people can easily split a flatbread (pizza) at Mama Melrose, much better than two quick meals at Pizza Planet next door. The server will tell you it's an individual serving, and in some ways it is, sans appetizer. Girls, though, will have difficulty finishing one.

Same for Via Napoli. Split a pie or two.

Breakfast was strictly room only. I brought my own blender for smoothies ($5 at the food court). Oatmeal packs easily and I got the hot water from the coffee maker. The kids (not mine) had cereal. Okay, so did I. What's better than cold milk and cereal at midnight (set the fridge thermostat to 7)? The milk goes quickly so I packed two gallons in the fridge to reduce trips to Walmart. If you're serious cereal eaters, you might want a few boxes as well. Other miscellaneous snacks are basically whatever keeps the kids (not mine) happy. If I spoil them with Doritos, Chips Ahoy, and Pop Tarts, they're less likely to bother me about Mickey Bars. Giant Gatorades can be kept chilled in the sink. Just plug the drain and fill with ice. Skip the bottled water. There are plenty of opportunities to hydrate.