Is the Dining Plan Worth It Anymore?

[sxeensweet]

Can you give me your input on my schedule that I listed above, and tell me if you think I should keep or cancel?

I would very much appreciate it. Like I said, last time I just purchased for the ease, didn't really pay attention to what I was spending individually.. Just to the giant bill at the end of our stay.lol

I would love to but I really can't advise just by your selections of restaurants. All you have to do is look at the menus and pick what you will want to eat that's really the only way to actually figure it out. No need for detailed spreadsheets just look at all TS and QS you want to eat at then add up all the food you would order then compare to the cost of the plan total. Also do note you have snacks to figure in there too (1 this year and 2 for next year a day/night) and you get a refillable mug worth $16.99 a person.

 

[21stamps]

I would love to but I really can't advise just by your selections of restaurants. All you have to do is look at the menus and pick what you will want to eat that's really the only way to actually figure it out. No need for detailed spreadsheets just look at all TS and QS you want to eat at then add up all the food you would order then compare to the cost of the plan total. Also do note you have snacks to figure in there too and you get a refillable mug worth $16.99 a person.

Our snacks are fruit, a few dole whip floats and Mickey bars.. But I read someone mention that there are funnel cakes in MK at Gaston's Tavern I think? I haven't been there, but that would be something we would like.
I don't think I will use up a snack credit on a banana again though.

 

[sxeensweet]

Our snacks are fruit, a few dole whip floats and Mickey bars.. But I read someone mention that there are funnel cakes in MK at Gaston's Tavern I think? I haven't been there, but that would be something we would like.
I don't think I will use up a snack credit on a banana again though.

Yeah that's a really cheap snack. Lol But yeah I would love to help you but hard when I don't know on each menu what you would want to eat etc. Also I dont know which QS's you like and what you would eat there too as they vary greatly. So it's really a personal decision and for some they aren't big eaters , or they don't always want desert ,etc etc so it may not be worth it at all for them. For us we watch what we eat at home most of the year so we are big eaters at Disney and love all of our deserts! So we usually get most of our money's worth being food is a huge part of our trip we enjoy.

 

[21stamps]

Yeah that's a really cheap snack. Lol But yeah I would love to help you but hard when I don't know on each menu what you would want to eat etc. Also I dont know which QS's you like and what you would eat there too as they vary greatly. So it's really a personal decision and for some they aren't big eaters , or they don't always want desert ,etc etc so it may not be worth it at all for them. For us we watch what we eat at home most of the year so we are big eaters at Disney and love all of our deserts! So we usually get most of our money's worth being food is a huge part of our trip we enjoy.

We will be coming off of a 7 day cruise before this.. I may need to pack several pair of yoga pants!!! I wish I could just get our refillable mug at AKL during our pre cruise stay, is it rude to take a bottle of water to go from the club lounge?

 

[sxeensweet]

We will be coming off of a 7 day cruise before this.. I may need to pack several pair of yoga pants!!! I wish I could just get our refillable mug at AKL during our pre cruise stay, is it rude to take a bottle of water to go from the club lounge?

No that's what it's there for if you are stayng Club Level. But most now just have a pitcher with water in it that I remember no bottles anymore. You could fill some cups up and put it in a water bottle or tumbler or such.

 

[Chef Mickey]

It is not financial why other than its easier to budget for us by paying it ahead of time.
I have looked at current pricing and we just went last October 2015. This years price of the plan and next year is about the same as 2015 give or take a few dollars, and the menu prices have not changed really since October 2015. I looked at all this the last several months and still nothing has changed for us. It was around $63 a person per day, last year close to the current and next years. I evaluate every single year and we have gone almost every year the last 8 years. And math and accounting is my strong suit and we even with the signatures don't lose an amount to be concerned over if at all. And we eat all our deserts by the way being we love to splurge on food at Disney! Also like I mentioned the rare occasion we do a lunch for a TS we choose one that has the same menu and prices at lunch so that does not affect it either.

Based on responses here, you are in the minority of people who think it's a value. This is just a math problem and for me, it's really not even close. I went to Wharton and I can tell you I wouldn't sign off on this as a money saving alternative to cash. It simply is not cheaper. I'm sure you could somehow construct a scenario of lunches, dinners, snacks, etc that over 8 days would make it closer, but I think you'll lose more times than not.

I mean, in our case, it's around 20% more expensive than cash. I have an Excel doc with the simple math...there is no room for interpretation. My table service restaurants, quick service locations, and snacks make the dining plan a 20% more expensive option. If we eat at California Grill and use 4 of our 16 table service allotments, it's an even worse deal.

The Deluxe might be a better deal as I have only done the analysis on the Disney Dining Plan. Honestly, the quick service plan looks like even more of a rip off.

 

[sxeensweet]

Based on responses here, you are in the minority of people who think it's a value. This is just a math problem and for me, it's really not even close. I went to Wharton and I can tell you I wouldn't sign off on this as a money saving alternative to cash. It simply is not cheaper. I'm sure you could somehow construct a scenario of lunches, dinners, snacks, etc that over 8 days would make it closer, but I think you'll lose more times than not.

I mean, in our case, it's around 20% more expensive than cash. I have an Excel doc with the simple math...there is no room for interpretation. My table service restaurants, quick service locations, and snacks make the dining plan a 20% more expensive option. If we eat at California Grill and use 4 of our 16 table service allotments, it's an even worse deal.

The Deluxe might be a better deal as I have only done the analysis on the Disney Dining Plan. Honestly, the quick service plan looks like even more of a rip off.

We have done deluxe too but mostly we do the regular plan. I never implied it was a value at all nor do I feel it's a "value" so say. I said many times we just like most of our food is pre paid as its easier to budget that way for us.
It has saved us some on occassion as I mentioned as well, but mostly we break even as I pointed out. I mainly am saying we like it pre paid and have not lost much money ever but never have we saved a lot either but rather some as I mentioned on occassion.

 

[bethymouse]

I remember the days when the dining plan used to boast that you could save up to 20%. They don't advertise that anymore. It's a pre paid plan. IMHO it doesn't save you any $$$ unless you eat at all character buffets or a signature restaurant.

 

[Hockey89]

Again I never waste money all year elsewhere so we will do what we want on our vacations and we like that most is pre paid and easier to budget for us this way. We do pay some OOP also so yes the MB is easy but we like the majority to be already paid for. Lots of folks do I'm not the only one that is okay losing a small fraction with the plan but frankly we have personally never lost $150 yet anyway.

I really don't get what is so hard about saving money for food without prepayment.... It truly baffles me.

 

[Courtney6682]

This trip it works for us...my daughter and I spent 2 hrs looking over menu's . With everything we chose, it comes out to 2 ''free'' dinners if we go with the DDP as opposed to paying OOP.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I'm going to break down and just do the math. The Disney Dining Plan (1 Table, 1 quick, 1 snack) is $1020 for 2 people for my dates in September 2016.

How much is Crystal Palace for lunch? I can only get a range on their website. I'm thinking it's something like $35/person, but I can't remember.

Last year my husband and I paid out of pocket for the first time. But beware, if you aren't used to paying OOP. We ate at the Crystal Palace for lunch last year, never giving it a thought. We always ate there on the DP. It came to over $80 for the 2 of us, not including tip. The food was disappointing. Chicken nuggets, assorted salads, and it was luke warm at best. WE were very disappointed at the quality and selection of the food for our lunch. I certainly would not pay that much money for lunch at CP again. Sorry.
We actually saved money without DP. We shared a lot of entrees, and ate 2 times a day with only one "big" meal. We were able to stop at the stands and grab a treat when we wanted to. Before, on the dp, we were always too full from eating everything included. I felt like we were wasting the money if we didn't take advantage of the most expensive entrée, and dessert! Way too much food for us. We were able to leave the meals satisfied and not feeling way too stuffed! So, it worked for us

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I think we do better with the Tables in Wonderland card, especially since we do get alcoholic drinks at most meals, and those are included in the 20% discount. Plus we can use it even when we stay off property (which is about half the time.)

I don't see how DDP would work for us when our favorite restaurants would eat up two credits in most cases. When I have taken (wasted) the time to sit and crunch numbers, it seemed like even for the restaurants that take only one credit, you would have to force yourself to order the one most expensive item on the menu in order to save anything.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We don't use it to save money. We use it to pre-pay and because we love planning out our meals. If we didn't get it, we likely would end up trying to save money by not eating as many table service meals.

That said, we always have trouble using it all despite tons of planning. We usually end up trading snacks in for a quick service on the last day and treating friends (if any are around), or buying souvenir snacks to bring home.

You realize you could get the same "pre-paid" effect with gift cards, right? Best of both worlds.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Last year my husband and I paid out of pocket for the first time. But beware, if you aren't used to paying OOP. We ate at the Crystal Palace for lunch last year, never giving it a thought. We always ate there on the DP. It came to over $80 for the 2 of us, not including tip. The food was disappointing. Chicken nuggets, assorted salads, and it was luke warm at best. WE were very disappointed at the quality and selection of the food for our lunch. I certainly would not pay that much money for lunch at CP again. Sorry.
We actually saved money without DP. We shared a lot of entrees, and ate 2 times a day with only one "big" meal. We were able to stop at the stands and grab a treat when we wanted to. Before, on the dp, we were always too full from eating everything included. I felt like we were wasting the money if we didn't take advantage of the most expensive entrée, and dessert! Way too much food for us. We were able to leave the meals satisfied and not feeling way too stuffed! So, it worked for us

I've paid out of pocket a lot of times and I'm really never shocked by pricing at Disney. I think Crystal Palace is around $35/person for lunch? It's our favorite character buffet and we think it's pretty good and totally worth it. I've been basically every trip I've been (probably 60 times).

I guess you were eating in the kid's section, because there are no chicken nuggets for adults.

 

[21stamps]

I've paid out of pocket a lot of times and I'm really never shocked by pricing at Disney. I think Crystal Palace is around $35/person for lunch? It's our favorite character buffet and we think it's pretty good and totally worth it. I've been basically every trip I've been (probably 60 times).

I guess you were eating in the kid's section, because there are no chicken nuggets for adults.

The only thing I don't like about Chrystal Palace is the past 2 times when I've been for dinner we waited over 30 minutes for a table. As far as food, their salad bar was one of my faves at a character meal.

 

[TheMouseFan]

I can't say that I would ever pay for it, but when we can get it "free", it definitely works better for us than a room only discount. We are a family of 5 with 2 of our 3 kids considered "adults" by Disney. Last year our "free" dining plan would have cost us about $2500 vs. a $600 room discount on CBR. The kids are still young enough that they want to do the character buffets, and I refuse to pay the adult price for those for my two "adults", so we made good use of our dining plan. We are looking at going for 2 weeks next year so we can do Universal and Sea World also. I just priced it out and a room discount of 25% at CBR would be $800 vs. the "free" dining plan value of $4100. I just can't argue with those numbers! Like I said, I would never actually pay for it and we would just eat fewer table service meals, esp. character buffets.

 

[EastTNDisneyfan]

We went the last week of May and there are three of us. After debate, we decided to purchase the dinning plan as we normally do. I kept all receipts just to see if we would come out ahead. Once we got back and I totaled everything up it appeared we did come out a little ahead. However, if I was paying out of my pocket, I would probably not have ordered some of the things I did and probably would not have gotten a desert at every QS either. So with that said it's probably a wash just like folks have been posting on here. I am new to the board but the feedback on here in incredible. Just for example below are the places we had TS:
2 x BOG
Teppen Edo
Whispering Canyon
Tusker House
Mama Melrose
Ohana

 

[Me 'Earties]

Last time we went to WDW (early Dec. 2014), I did a cost analysis of DDP vs. TIW (we are DVC members), but also looked at if the DDP was worth its value. I compared all the restaurants I had ADRs for, which included Boma, Cali Grill, Tony's, Chefs de France, Beirgarten, Garden Grill, 'Ohana and a couple more (lost the spreadsheet but I remember most of it). I also factored in the common quick service meals and snacks, on average, that I would expect we'd spend on. I basically found that the DDP was a wash if compared to the out of pocket cost of the meals (I would assume the items my hubby, first child, and I would get; buffets I knew those price points). When I looked at the TIW, that had a little better savings-but, that was due to the size of the group and how many days we were there, which was 7-8 people on any given day of a 7 day trip (for TIW, I factored in the cost of the membership as well, of course).

The biggest issue for me currently with the DDP is that I felt forced to get dessert, but no appetizer included (which I would rather have, if a choice were to be given)-I guess I feel that to "get your money's worth" you would have to take advantage of the dessert, plus get an expensive entree (which, perhaps is not the way to go about it, I admit). I really enjoyed it more when it was cheaper (I remember when it was like $35/day but that's going back some time!) and you could have an appetizer, dessert, entree, and I am pretty sure gratuity was included-now that was a heck of a deal.

I can see the aspect that you've already budgeted for your meals ahead time/the ease of not having to pay for anything while in WDW, with the DDP. So if it's the case you want one less thing to worry about on the trip, then you go for it.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I've paid out of pocket a lot of times and I'm really never shocked by pricing at Disney. I think Crystal Palace is around $35/person for lunch? It's our favorite character buffet and we think it's pretty good and totally worth it. I've been basically every trip I've been (probably 60 times).

I guess you were eating in the kid's section, because there are no chicken nuggets for adults.

Well, we haven't been 60 times, but we have been several times, starting when MK opened and the buffet was$3.95 each for good food!
When on the dining plan, we didn't notice the food quality too much, but did notice it was becoming on par with a strip mall buffet. The characters are great, as always.
As I stated, it was OUR experience and opinion. Our reservation was late, at 2:30PM, so maybe the items were being kept warmed up from lunch for too long? If you are being picky, the chicken nuggets were on the buffet and tasted like frozen ones. The cost was over 80 dollars if you want to argue that. You are entitled to your opinion, as we are
We were very disappointed with the CP at that time and date. It's nice you are never shocked at the prices at Disney, but if you have been getting free dining for years, then yes, it is a shock on some restaurants. I know, I know, all prices are high at Disney, I get that, but felt that FOR What we got for the 80plus dollars was poor quality. I don't mind spending more than that for excellent food.
I was just preparing the OP for the surprise we got when we paid OOP at the CP. It was not meant as an affront to all those who have had good meals, but just an OPINION and a recounting of our experience for the OP! Afterall, this is a discussion board where we can all share our experiences so others can read them!
Have a magical day

 

[Minthorne]

"If I buy the most expensive entree, eat dessert at every meal when I don't want it and am forced to have as many snacks as I pre paid (or take home overpriced poor quality candy so I don't waste credits) then I might save a little over paying out of pocket for the same items"

The DDP is like going to the car dealer to buy a Corolla for 16k and getting convinced to buy the BMW instead cause you save $100 off the regular bmw price of 45k