Is the dining plan worth it for us? College Couple

[Brianna E.]

Hi! I am pretty new to this but every time I have a question I am on here looking through the forums and I figured why not make my own.

My boyfriend and I plan on traveling to Disney World in May 2017, we just went this past July but it was with family and we did not have to pay and we did not stay on Disney property. Now we want to go ourselves and stay on Disney property. It would be his second time (he is now obsessed from our trip in July).

So we are currently booked May 20-26 staying at Caribbean Beach Resort, we purchased 5 day tickets with a park hopper and the second level standard dining plan. We had a plan to be able to pay for it in full before April and due to unforeseen circumstances we will be cutting it real close to the deadline to pay it by which is April 20th and we are scared we aren't going to be able to pay it in time. So we spoke about maybe getting rid of the park hopper or the dining plan and just shell out the money for food when we get there.

To be honest I really do not think it is a good idea to get rid of it, but he has been mentioning it. The reason I don't think it is a good idea is because my boyfriend eats as much as a small family(not kidding) LOL.
With me I eat breakfast and I am good until like dinner time. I am just not sure what to do. He is not one to skip a meal to save money. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'll take any!

Thank you in advance!

 

[BlackCauldron]

The general consensus is that paying for the DP out of pocket is never a good deal. Getting it for "free" as part of a package is a bit of a different story, but based on your comments, it sounds like you actually purchased it.

Essentially, the only way to recover the cost of the plan (i.e. - to break even) is to eat at the most expensive one-credit restaurants AND order the most expensive things on the menu.

The best advice would be to take a look at the menus of the places you plan on eating, get a general idea of what you would order, and keep a running lists of costs. I think you will find that your running tally will almost always come out to be less than the cost of the plan itself.

 

[Brianna E.]

The general consensus is that paying for the DP out of pocket is never a good deal. Getting it for "free" as part of a package is a bit of a different story, but based on your comments, it sounds like you actually purchased it.

Essentially, the only way to recover the cost of the plan (i.e. - to break even) is to eat at the most expensive one-credit restaurants AND order the most expensive things on the menu.

The best advice would be to take a look at the menus of the places you plan on eating, get a general idea of what you would order, and keep a running lists of costs. I think you will find that your running tally will almost always come out to be less than the cost of the plan itself.

I've actually only put down a deposit and a few payments, and when I was speaking to a customer service rep she said I can always change my reservation up to 30 days before! I hope this is true or else I am stuck with it but the only reason why we initially put it on our reservation was because he actually eats so much, it is amazing lol. But yeah I am going to crunch numbers and what not. Thank you.

 

[Weather_Lady]

What Black Cauldron said. Paying out of pocket is likely to be a far better deal, but do consult the menus and do the math. If your BF is a big eater, simply select "family style" and buffet restaurants where it's "all-you-care-to-enjoy" (e.g., Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner, 'Ohana, Tusker House, Crystal Palace, Biergarten), so he can fill up as much as he wants without having to order multiple, expensive items a la carte.

In the meantime, start saving. If you have a birthday or other gifting holiday and people ask what you want tell them "Disney gift cards" so you can put those toward food expenses. Plan to pack a variety of snack/breakfast foods to bring with you (and to drink free iced water, available from all CS locations, when you're thirsty), so you don't have to pay inflated park prices for those items.

Another way to "save" on food costs (or any Disney vacation cost) is to get a Disney VISA card. Pay it off faithfully and in full every month (so you're not incurring interest charges). The VISA will get you a 10% discount at some on property restaurants and shops, and as you use it you'll accrue rewards dollars which you can redeem for Disney gift cards.

Finally, I do think it's wise to rethink the parkhoppers if money is tight. If anything, I'd add a day or two to your tickets so you can visit a park every day plus a couple of them twice (which should be far cheaper than the parkhopper upgrade).

Good luck!

 

[Brianna E.]

What Black Cauldron said. Paying out of pocket is likely to be a far better deal, but do consult the menus and do the math.

In the meantime, save up for your food costs. If you have a birthday or other gifting holiday and people ask what you want tell them "Disney gift cards" so you can put those toward food expenses. Plan to pack a variety of snack/breakfast foods to bring with you (and to drink free iced water, available from all CS locations, when you're thirsty), so you don't have to pay inflated park prices for those items.

Another way to "save" on food costs is to get a Disney VISA card. Pay it off faithfully and in full every month (so you're not incurring interest charges). The VISA will get you a 10% discount at some on property restaurants and shops, and as you use it you'll accrue rewards dollars which you can redeem for Disney gift cards.

Finally, I do think it's wise to rethink the parkhoppers if money is tight. If anything, I'd add a day or two to your tickets so you can visit a park every day plus a couple of them twice (which should be far cheaper than the parkhopper upgrade).

Good luck!

Interesting thought about the park hoppers! Thank you so much. It wasn't tight until recently we wanted to make his first "real" Disney experience as best as possible and just go all out and we saved money for so long for it and had to give some of it up unfortunately.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Interesting thought about the park hoppers! Thank you so much. It wasn't tight until recently we wanted to make his first "real" Disney experience as best as possible and just go all out and we saved money for so long for it and had to give some of it up unfortunately.

It happens to the best of us. Rest assured you are still going to have a fabulous time. Don't believe all those shrill, "when at Disney, you MUST do this and you MUST buy that" blog postings and lists that are all over the internet. All those extras are totally unnecessary. I've visited WDW on a shoestring (I never even ate a meal inside one of the parks until my fifth visit, except for picnic lunches we brought with us!), as well as on a "once-in-a-lifetime, let's pay for some extras" extravaganza, and the fun quotient was equally high regardless!

 

[Brianna E.]

It happens to the best of us. Rest assured you are still going to have a fabulous time. Don't believe all those shrill, "when at Disney, you MUST do this and you MUST buy that" blog postings and lists that are all over the internet. All those extras are totally unnecessary. I've visited WDW on a shoestring (I never even ate a meal inside one of the parks until my fifth visit, except for picnic lunches we brought with us!), as well as on a "once-in-a-lifetime, let's pay for some extras" extravaganza, and the fun quotient was equally high regardless!

Thank you, another question.. what do you think about switching to the value resorts? Any thoughts on this or recommendations for one of them?

 

[Weather_Lady]

Thank you, another question.. what do you think about switching to the value resorts? Any thoughts on this or recommendations for one of them?

I haven't stayed at any of the Values myself (only the FW Campground, moderates, and on one occasion, a DVC room on rented points). However, if you check out the reviews here (under the "reviews" tab above, or in various threads in the "Resorts" forum - it seems like Pop Century is the most beloved although reasonable minds may and do differ), you'll find that they are consistently well-reviewed. The primary "downsides" I see mentioned (comparing them with moderates) are the bed size (full instead of queen in the standard rooms), slightly smaller room size overall, lack of an in-room coffeemaker, and the lack of an overhead shelter at the bus depots. For a young couple, I can't imagine any of these would be a deal-breaker, especially if you don't plan to spend a lot of time in the room, but the choice is yours.

...also, make it a habit to check the WDW website every morning to see if "Special Offers," such as a room discount, have been released for your travel dates. (Last year, May offers began coming out in December, but they've been released as early as November in prior years.) You might see a room discount or package deal that will reduce your costs further, and if one is released that doesn't apply to your reservation as it is currently structured, you can call and have your present package modified to match the terms of the offer, if you wish.

 

[Brianna E.]

I haven't stayed at any of the Values myself (only the FW Campground, moderates, and on one occasion, a DVC room on rented points). However, if you check out the reviews here (under the "reviews" tab above, or in various threads in the "Resorts" forum - it seems like Pop Century is the most beloved although reasonable minds may and do differ), you'll find that they are consistently well-reviewed. The primary "downsides" I see mentioned (comparing them with moderates) are the bed size (full instead of queen in the standard rooms), slightly smaller room size overall, lack of an in-room coffeemaker, and the lack of an overhead shelter at the bus depots. For a young couple, I can't imagine any of these would be a deal-breaker, especially if you don't plan to spend a lot of time in the room, but the choice is yours.

...also, make it a habit to check the WDW website every morning to see if "Special Offers," such as a room discount, have been released for your travel dates. (Last year, May offers began coming out in December, but they've been released as early as November in prior years.) You might see a room discount or package deal that will reduce your costs further, and if one is released that doesn't apply to your reservation as it is currently structured, you can call and have your present package modified to match the terms of the offer, if you wish.

Wow. You have been super helpful. Thanks a bunch to the both of you guys. I am going to take a lot of this into consideration!

 

[megkennington]

My husband and I always stay at the values (although one day we'd like to splurge), but we spend so little time at the hotel we don't find the extra money is worth it. We just push the two fulls together so we're at least sleeping closer together. Park hoppers are a must for us because we want to cover as much as we can in the 4 or 5 days we have. This will be our first time with the dining plan and we chose to go with it so we feel like things are "all inclusive" even though we've already paid for it. My husband is a big eater too and it sure does get expensive or feels expensive when he orders a lot or makes frequent snack trips!
Changing your hotel to a value may be the easiest way to save money without cutting anything out, but some find greater value in your resort than we do. Whichever way you go, i'm sure it will be great!

 

[anchorman314]

Finally, I do think it's wise to rethink the parkhoppers if money is tight. If anything, I'd add a day or two to your tickets so you can visit a park every day plus a couple of them twice (which should be far cheaper than the parkhopper upgrade).

Interesting thought about the park hoppers! Thank you so much.

Weather_Lady is right about additional days costing less than a Hopper, but I wanted to possibly clarify one bit, as I interpreted it two different ways. The current plan is May 20-26 with 5-day tickets. So I'm guessing that would be parks on May 21-25, with the 20th and 26th as non-park days. (Or some other combination of 5-park, 2-no park days.) If you get 6- or 7-day tickets without the Hopper, you cannot go to more than 1 park each day. You would just have one-park-a-day admissions for 6 or 7 days.

Hope this helps. Good luck, and enjoy!

 

[I_Dream_of_Disney]

This Thanksgiving, my wife and I are taking our first trip to The World since our Disney-moon 25 years ago...and without kids! While we love Pop Century and Art of Animation, this trip we are trying All-Star Movies for something different. We looked at a moderate resort, but could not justify the price difference. We are a rope-drop family and only use the room to sleep. For us, saving money on the room was an easy choice.

 

[Dianak28]

In regards to park hoppers, I always think they are worth the splurge But about the dining plan- I am planning a trip with friends in January and we are also college students! We originally planned to do the regular disney dining plan, but after consideration we decided against it. I have done it in the past, but adding up all the prices you probably won't save that much. It comes out about even. What we have decided to do is each of us get a $450 disney gift card specifically to use for dining. (this is for 7 day trip so you can adjust the price according) We found you have more flexibility not being on the plan and if you have money left over you can use it for souvenirs or online! This way if you're tired of eating one day you don't feel the need to use up your meals because they are already paid for. Hope this helps!

 

[BlackCauldron]

If money is tight, it might be worth looking into switching over to a value resort. Doing so would yield a fairly substantial savings over your current cost, which means you could likely add another day or two to your trip. While I prefer the moderate resorts myself, I have stayed in values before (All Star Movies and All Star Music.) I've had family who has stated at POP. If yo do decide to switch to a value, I would check availability at POP first.

If you don't plan on spending much time in your room and want to be at the parks from open to close, moving down to a value might be a good idea. Removing the park hopper is a trickier question, and more of a personal preference. Is there any specific reason you wanted/needed the park hoppers, besides the added flexibility they offer? I've toured the parks with and without the hoppers. With proper planning, I feel like you can easily get by without them.

 

[BlackCauldron]

In regards to park hoppers, I always think they are worth the splurge But about the dining plan- I am planning a trip with friends in January and we are also college students! We originally planned to do the regular disney dining plan, but after consideration we decided against it. I have done it in the past, but adding up all the prices you probably won't save that much. It comes out about even. What we have decided to do is each of us get a $450 disney gift card specifically to use for dining. (this is for 7 day trip so you can adjust the price according) We found you have more flexibility not being on the plan and if you have money left over you can use it for souvenirs or online! This way if you're tired of eating one day you don't feel the need to use up your meals because they are already paid for. Hope this helps!

Saving the gift cards for your dining costs is a really good idea. If you have a Target Card, or are a Sams Club Member, you can purchase them at a percentage off, which means free money for you to spend.

 

[BlackCauldron]

Also, as WeatherLady said, keep an eye out for discounts. Given your May travel dates, I would almost certainly expect at least a room offer to come down the pike

 

[Minthorne]

@Weather_Lady and @BlackCauldron summed up the DDP well. I totally agree with them.

I'd switch to a value. The value resorts are where I stayed when I went back in my 20's - they are fun and clean and totally Disney. I don't think the small differences from the Moderate would bother you and it would put more cash in your pocket for meals and such.

 

[hanwill]

Think of this... If you're not really going to park hop, don't get that option. You won't miss it... Also, If you feel the need to, switch to the value resorts. I'm a hotel snob and found the values just as delightful as the deluxe hotels. They are just different...especially if you are just in your room to sleep. The buses still take you to the parks the same way, and they are all very well themed. For this trip, maybe save on the hotel. You won't miss the difference.

 

[Brianna E.]

If money is tight, it might be worth looking into switching over to a value resort. Doing so would yield a fairly substantial savings over your current cost, which means you could likely add another day or two to your trip. While I prefer the moderate resorts myself, I have stayed in values before (All Star Movies and All Star Music.) I've had family who has stated at POP. If yo do decide to switch to a value, I would check availability at POP first.

If you don't plan on spending much time in your room and want to be at the parks from open to close, moving down to a value might be a good idea. Removing the park hopper is a trickier question, and more of a personal preference. Is there any specific reason you wanted/needed the park hoppers, besides the added flexibility they offer? I've toured the parks with and without the hoppers. With proper planning, I feel like you can easily get by without them.

We want the park hopper so we do not have to cram everything in one park in one day, because we did this in July and it was his first time and he did not really get to take in the parks beauty because of us focusing on the rides and stuff and unfortunately we can't stay any longer because of work, and we didn't think it would be a good idea to buy 7 day tickets just incase of travel problems of any sort on the first day. But mostly yes you are right it is due to the added flexibility and being able to just go to whatever park whenever.

ALSO, to your other response I think before I change anything I am going to hope that maybe they do come out with special offers for when I am going like weather lady said! That would solve all my problems without having to make any changes.

 

[Brianna E.]

In regards to park hoppers, I always think they are worth the splurge But about the dining plan- I am planning a trip with friends in January and we are also college students! We originally planned to do the regular disney dining plan, but after consideration we decided against it. I have done it in the past, but adding up all the prices you probably won't save that much. It comes out about even. What we have decided to do is each of us get a $450 disney gift card specifically to use for dining. (this is for 7 day trip so you can adjust the price according) We found you have more flexibility not being on the plan and if you have money left over you can use it for souvenirs or online! This way if you're tired of eating one day you don't feel the need to use up your meals because they are already paid for. Hope this helps!

This is actually a great idea, because I am afraid my dining plan will go to waste!