There have been so many posts on the dining situation, I could never figure out why everyone was so far apart on the thinking and then it dawned on me, in most of the discussions we are comparing Apples to Oranges and not really comparing the same options. With that said any Disney Package will always be more with Dining. What it really comes down to is how you eat during your vacation. If you are going to eat in the parks, I really challenge you to add the numbers and compare the packages. If you shop prior to your vacation and you keep food in the room and you make your own sandwiches then the dining plan will obviously never be worth it.
BUT
If you are going to eat in the parks, I truly believe there is value in the FREE DINING PLAN. We just booked a trip and currently have two reservations booked. We have 9 days at Wilderness with Free Dining and Park Hopper Plus, we are going in July and will be at the H2O parks. July 6-15th. The cost is $7,205 for 2 adults and 2 teens ( Disney Adults ) with Park Hopper+ tickets.
I also have a reservation under the 25% off promo. The cost of this package is as follows. 8 day ticket and room is $6087, 8 day ticket with park hopper is $6428, 8 day ticket with park hopper plus is $6513 and 8 day ticket with Park Hopper+ and Disney Dining Plan is $ 9321.
So I subtracted $7205, the cost of the Free Dining Promo from the 25% off room promo which is $6513. That comes to $692
$692 divided by 9 day = $76.88, divide that by 4 and you get, $ $19.22 per person per day.
Again, if you are going to eat at the parks, I cannot fathom how someone would say that Free Dining is not WORTH it.
A quick service meal for four people, getting, nuggets, pizza and Burger would be well over $50, even eating breakfast for four people would be over $40 at a minimum, that's $90 a day in food, and that does not include any drinks, snacks or desserts.
Am I missing something?
We are planning on Eating at Cinderella's Castle, Le Cellier, California Grill, Yachtsmen Steakhouse, Sci Fi Diner, and eating in Star Wars Land, as well as Flame Tree BBQ, Satulli Canteen at least 2x each. At a very minimum that will cost us over $1800 and that does not include the QS meals we will use at the hotel or running thru the park, all the snacks, like a funnel cake, Cheshire cat tail, etc or ANY alcohol if we want.
So again, I will ask, What am I missing?
Please do not tell me that it is cheaper if you don't have the plan, I already mentioned that, it is obviously cheaper if you are not going to eat in the parks, or eat very minimally in the parks and if you are going to go offsite to eat at Taco Bell or Hometown buffet.
Lets compare Apples to Apples and not Apples to Oranges.
Free Dining Promo with Park Hopper+ for 9 days is $7205, If you do the Fun and Sun room offer and you add dining to the 25% off promo with the same Park Hopper+ tickets comes to $9321, that is a difference of $2116, I would definitely feel like I have to use it if I purchased it, but I would not feel the same with it included for $692.
With that said, I do not see value in purchasing the plan unless you crunch the numbers and know how much you are going to eat at meals. I would not be inclined to eat as many TS as we do, without the FREE DINING, we would visit two or three but definitely not what we will do with the Dining credits included.
Let me know what you think and if I did the math incorrectly.
BUT
If you are going to eat in the parks, I truly believe there is value in the FREE DINING PLAN. We just booked a trip and currently have two reservations booked. We have 9 days at Wilderness with Free Dining and Park Hopper Plus, we are going in July and will be at the H2O parks. July 6-15th. The cost is $7,205 for 2 adults and 2 teens ( Disney Adults ) with Park Hopper+ tickets.
I also have a reservation under the 25% off promo. The cost of this package is as follows. 8 day ticket and room is $6087, 8 day ticket with park hopper is $6428, 8 day ticket with park hopper plus is $6513 and 8 day ticket with Park Hopper+ and Disney Dining Plan is $ 9321.
So I subtracted $7205, the cost of the Free Dining Promo from the 25% off room promo which is $6513. That comes to $692
$692 divided by 9 day = $76.88, divide that by 4 and you get, $ $19.22 per person per day.
Again, if you are going to eat at the parks, I cannot fathom how someone would say that Free Dining is not WORTH it.
A quick service meal for four people, getting, nuggets, pizza and Burger would be well over $50, even eating breakfast for four people would be over $40 at a minimum, that's $90 a day in food, and that does not include any drinks, snacks or desserts.
Am I missing something?
We are planning on Eating at Cinderella's Castle, Le Cellier, California Grill, Yachtsmen Steakhouse, Sci Fi Diner, and eating in Star Wars Land, as well as Flame Tree BBQ, Satulli Canteen at least 2x each. At a very minimum that will cost us over $1800 and that does not include the QS meals we will use at the hotel or running thru the park, all the snacks, like a funnel cake, Cheshire cat tail, etc or ANY alcohol if we want.
So again, I will ask, What am I missing?
Please do not tell me that it is cheaper if you don't have the plan, I already mentioned that, it is obviously cheaper if you are not going to eat in the parks, or eat very minimally in the parks and if you are going to go offsite to eat at Taco Bell or Hometown buffet.
Lets compare Apples to Apples and not Apples to Oranges.
Free Dining Promo with Park Hopper+ for 9 days is $7205, If you do the Fun and Sun room offer and you add dining to the 25% off promo with the same Park Hopper+ tickets comes to $9321, that is a difference of $2116, I would definitely feel like I have to use it if I purchased it, but I would not feel the same with it included for $692.
With that said, I do not see value in purchasing the plan unless you crunch the numbers and know how much you are going to eat at meals. I would not be inclined to eat as many TS as we do, without the FREE DINING, we would visit two or three but definitely not what we will do with the Dining credits included.
Let me know what you think and if I did the math incorrectly.