Is the dining plan right for me?

[EnchantedRose]

I love the Dining Plan. For my family it works wonderfully. I don't do it so much for the savings...but for the peace of mind that food is already covered. We usually stay Value/Mod....this trip we did Value and are paying to upgrade from the CS to the Regular DP. I've done the math...and this saves us more than with the room discount.

We have done the dining plan on all but 2 of our 6 past trips. We are 2 adults, 1 child and now have a 1.5 year old as well but he doesn't count on the DP. We have done both the CS DP and the regular DP. I like the convenience of it. Also, if we didn't have the DP honestly we wouldn't do a lot of TS meals. We would probably just do one buffet and that would be it. We like being able to go and order without budgeting too much. I know everyone has different opinions....but this works for my family. We have done trips without, and with...and we prefer WITH.

 

[JillC LI]

Our family finds the regular dining plan cost effective (2 adults, 2 kids considered adults). The Deluxe dining plan would not be useful to us because we only eat one sit-down meal per day and do not indulge in more than one 2-credit TS meal per trip. But estimate the pricing yourself and decide.

 

[Jae99]

We are a family of 6 (5 adults, 1 11 yr old) that is visiting from Dec 26 to the 2nd of Jan. We are doing the regular DP that consists of 1 TS, 1CS, 1 snack. While I think it might be cheaper if we budgeted and planned everything and paid OOP, I feel it will be less stressful to have everything paid for before we arrive and will only have to worry about tips and merchandise spending.

The last thing I want while on vacation is to worry that my entree is too expensive or maybe it will be cheaper if we can split something to reduce costs.

 

[Figaro928]

This helped us decide it wasn't worth it

http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0

Thanks for this site - had fun filling it out & it turns out we'd save $150 of the basic DDP

 

[Roakor]

I have gotten the DDP every time we have gone since they offered it. The first year was by far the best deal as it also included an appetizer for each person and the tip was included in the DDP. From what I hear many of the restaurant were going to back out of the DDP because they were loosing money. So they drop the appetizer and tip was no longer included. Which made the DDP more of a toss up on saving money. At worst we have broke even using the DDP. What I like about it is having everything paid for in advanced. I can go with my family and tell them to order whatever they want, and not worry about counting pennies to stay in budget while on vacation. I do keep the receipts and have tallied things up afterwards. Normally we come out a bit ahead, I there was once we broke even (or maybe even a bit over). That was because my youngest was to old to get the cheaper child rate for the DDP but still usually ordered off the child menu.

Can you save money not using the plan? Yes. No question there. But you may not have the luxury of ordering what ever you like, or eating where you want. I have to pinch pennies in day to day life and choose the less expensive items/restaurants. When I go to Disney being a glutton is part of what I enjoy. Bring on the steak and lobster, and don't skimp on the desert!

 

[slappy magoo]

We're a family of 4, one 6 year old and one 2 year old. We're booked at many character meals and many buffets, 2 sit down meals per day. As a result, the Deluxe Dining Plan comes across like a value (though we'll pay for it when we get home and have our stomachs pumped).

For my wife and I, it's basically break-even, maybe come out just a few bucks ahead. For my 6 year old, where it's only $30/night (approximately), the fixed price menus make us come out ahead quite a bit. Plus, because of all the buffets, it will be much easier to get food for our 2 year old (kids under 3 don't need to be on the dining plan, and don't need to have a meal purchased for them if they eat off someone else's plate). Doing the rough-math, we're going to save about 200 doing the Deluxe Dining Plan, BUT to be specific, our "savings" are specifically based on the fact that so many of the restaurants we're going to are "prix fixe" buffets. Were we to do as many sit-down meals but not at buffets, where perhaps we'd be more sparing with what we order, not necessarily desserts or appetizers with every meal, it'd probably be better to pay out of pocket.

 

[cbettua]

It didn't work out in favor for our family. I felt it forced us into a eating habit of trying to get our moneys worth instead of how we normally ate. I found that the tables of wonderland is a better option for our family.

 

[Jo DeVil]

We always use the DDDP for Me DH DS who will be 10 when we go this Oct. We normally do either a character Breakfast or a Lunch and then use the 2 remaining credits for the signature meal in the evening, we love to finish the day with a nice sit down meal. We also like a drink with the meal and have a coffee at the end of the meal which is included, also if you can't manage desert we have asked for it to go and then had it later when we are back in the room. We go for at least 14 nights so we like to know that food is all paid for. I have a spreadsheet and I put in what we pay per meal and we have always come out on top. That might just be us and only you know if it is going to be for you. Enjoy your research.
Didn't they do an adults drink dining plan?

 

[LWB]

We have traveled without the dining plan, with the dining plan, and with the deluxe dining plan - I'm a big dining plan fan! Here's why it works for us - character dining. We're going to hit a character meal each morning. Those buffet costs add up quickly. That's not even counting how many table service dinners we end up having. When my girls are old enough for us to be out of so many character meals on the itinerary, we'll re-evaluate its effectiveness. My suggestion would be to figure out the types of meals you're going to eat anyway, then see what plan fits that the best and go from there. You can really save some money, but you gotta choose the plan that works best for your traveling party to be able to see the savings!

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

Maybe I used those spreadsheets totally wrong but we did character meals almost daily as well as sit downs and the dining plan was still more $.

 

[mousehockey37]

Our past two trips we did not do the dining plan, a major factor in this involved dining offsite, or at Swan and Dolphin restaurants that did not accept the plan. This time we are 99% sure we will be on WDW property and I am trying to decide whether we should add a dining plan. The CM I spoke with on the phone (while arranging something else) thought we should add it, specifically she suggested the deluxe dining plan for us. We do enjoy sitdown meals 80% of the time. Anyway, does it really save money? Would you recommend it? I think she said I have until 72 hours before our trip starts to decide so... Thanks for any tips, advice, and help you offer!

As others have probably mentioned (I haven't read through yet)... it'll more than likely depend on the size of your party and how you plan on eating.

Our next trip, we're not doing the plan because it's 2 of us and we don't do character dining. So $60 of food, per day, for the entire stay just isn't worth it to us.