Meal plan or not???

[Disney Daddy]

We are thinking about getting the meal plan for out trip in May.

Our ages:
Me (32)
Wife (29)
DD (3)
DD (1)

I know my youngest eats free for the most part. In my mind, I am thinking without the meal plan, we would spend about $150 a day on food. The meal plan would only cost me $638 for 1 snack, 1 QS, and 1 TS. I would still need to come out of pocket for some meals.

The grand daddy of meal plans would be a waste for us because we don't want to spend too much time sitting at the dinner table.

What do you all think? Buy the meal plan or not?

--Buzz

 

[brianheather]

Hi Disney Daddy,
I have to say that I Love the meal plan, and of coarse it is only 2 adults in our party and we have a bounceback for free dining in Sept. But It gives you a nice break in the evening to sit down and have a good meal, see a show, or have a character dinner. I know there are people that do not like the dining plan, I guess it all depends on what you eat. We went to Coral Reef 2 years ago and we each got a Filet Mignon, an appetizer(when they did that) and a drink (soda) and it would have cost us like 150.00.

 

[bradandsarabr]

My only concern with the DDP is the ages of your children. Will your kids allow you to sit in a restuarant every night??? At 1 yrs, we couold not do this.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

The money is surely only a bi product. If you wouldn't normally eat all that food (all be it standardised and mediocre) its not really a saving.

The value of the meal plan isnt always cut and dried. We have used it and we have avoided it. It really comes down to what you plan to do.

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

We just added it to our plans. We decided since we already had 4 ts places picked out that it would be worth it for us. We have to pick 3 more but that won't be a problem. We may end up using 2 for a signature place for our anniversary.

As for getting it with kids that young, it depends. I know our kids wouldn't have eaten that much when they were that young. It just wouldn't have been worth it for us. If you kids eat a lot then go for it. Only you know your eating habits.

 

[New2WDW]

We are thinking about getting the meal plan for out trip in May.

Our ages:
Me (32)
Wife (29)
DD (3)
DD (1)

I know my youngest eats free for the most part. In my mind, I am thinking without the meal plan, we would spend about $150 a day on food. The meal plan would only cost me $638 for 1 snack, 1 QS, and 1 TS. I would still need to come out of pocket for some meals.

The grand daddy of meal plans would be a waste for us because we don't want to spend too much time sitting at the dinner table.

What do you all think? Buy the meal plan or not?

--Buzz

Hey Buzz!

2 adults ($39.99 x 2) + 3 yr old ($10.99) = $90.97
So it obviously is less than your bugeted $150 per day.

With small kids it is nice to have sit down meal to relax and take a load off your feet. With this said take in a late Breakfast Buffet with characters and then have a snack at lunch and then eat an early dinner at a counter service. Or flip it and do a CS and then a nice character dinner.

My family loves the Dining Plan because it allows us to relax and enjoy restaurants that we would not normally get to go to due mainly to price.

I would encourage ya'll to do it and even if you need additional meals you have about $60 left in your original budget.

Hope this helps. :wave:

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I like the DDP. You can eat at the pricey character buffets without having to worry about the little surprises like holiday fees.

 

[Bolna]

I personally prefer the flexibilty I have if I don't have the mean plan. I personally really enjoy appetizers and don't really want dessert with every meal. Also we often share meals at TS restaurants or even at CS perhaps with an additional side. Also, one trip I was not feeling too well for two days and was really glad that I did not feel that I had to eat a huge TS to not loose money on the plan.

I think it really is a question of personal preference!

 

[nibblesandbits]

I would suggest seeing if you can get the ADRs scheduled for the places you want to go most first, then if you got the places you wanted to eat nailed down, then get the dining plan. Otherwise, if you can't get places you really want to eat at, it won't be worth the money either.

 

[Monty]

Lots of people use and enjoy the plans. For me, it's not worth it. I get better savings using the Tables in Wonderland discount [I'm an AP holder]. For some it isn't the value as much as the feeling that everything is already paid for and they don't need to budget specifically for food.

I find the regular dining plan to be far too much food for myself or my son. I tend not to eat many CS meals and book more TS than the plan allows for so I end up with left-over credits. Snack credits go almost exclusively to Dole Whip Floats and the remaining credits to trip-home snacks bought at the last moment.

I only use DDP now if it's free and there are no resort discounts that are saving me more than what I would eat. This August I'm not even looking for the free dining because I got 40% off at Beach Club for a water view. Free dining isn't worth the savings I got.

 

[Kristamouse]

We are in a similar situation with ages and kids. We are both 30 and the kids will be 5, 4 and 10 months for our next trip. We have used DDP in the past when our kids were 3+ 2 and 1+2 and they easily at 10.99 in food a day at WDW food prices. We loved being able to sit down and chill for a meal much like what the OP said. We have found that the sit down meals are a great way for everyone to recharge. We also ate in the more family friendly TS's, no Artist Point or V&A here. So our kids being little wasn't much of a big deal and we were not the only families with preschoolers by far at any of the TS's. It was a great chance to have one on one time with the Characters with out haveing to wait in line and we have some pirceless footage of our DD age 2 trying to feed the Prince at 1900 Park Fare her fries... too cute! Anyway we have done it with ours when they were your kids ages and are doing again this trip. Since you are only paying for one kid you will probally do a little better since they can share.
I know some on this board aren't very kid, stroller, baby, friendly but we have been taking our kids since the oldest was 18 months and his little sister was 6 months and have always had great trips. I TS restruants do a great for families with small kids and I have never had a problem with others at the restruants looking at us because are kids are there. PS I think my kids eat better in WDW because everything is plated so cool and we tell them that Mickey himself is eating the same thing they are...

 

[erstwo]

Go for it!

You won't regret it. One bonus - QS and TS meals for your DD (3) will come with 2 sides. Usually a 3 year old will only eat one side per meal, so you'll be able to use the other side - package of grapes, applesauce, carrots, etc. - for an afternoon snack later! We think this is an added bonus.

Have a great trip!

 

[Dwarful]

I like the DDP. You can eat at the pricey character buffets without having to worry about the little surprises like holiday fees.

Amen to that! We weren't going to do the DDP this year because we had a few problems with it last year. However, after looking at the Allears website and seeing that holiday pricing would be going on from May to July 11th (I thought that was a mistake!) we decided it would be easier to go with the plan. Example one dinner buffet $28.99 so for $11 more a day we have the snack and counter service meal. Also, the one thing we noticed last summer was the price increases on the counter service meals.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Also, the one thing we noticed last summer was the price increases on the counter service meals.

The thing I noticed in Dec was the price increases period! VFM doesnt exist in the Disney dictionary.

 

[epcotWSC]

I could only see it being worth it if you want to get the most expensive meals.

 

[swimmom]

I could only see it being worth it if you want to get the most expensive meals.

All it takes is a couple of "most expensive meals" to come out ahead especially with the increase in price on the counter service meals. On our last trip we saved almost $300.00 and we didn't always order the most expensive items.

What I like most about the meal plan is that the majority of our food is pre-paid. We are not big breakfast eaters so we are good with a counter service lunch and we have come to enjoy the break in the day by sitting down for awhile to a table serive meal for dinner.

 

[Dwarful]

I agree that becasue of the increased cost of all food & bev. in the parks the regular food plan can at least be a break even. If you do any of the character buffets between May -July 11 when they are doing the 'holiday' pricing, the meal plan is def. a break even or even a saver. For example if we eat dinner at Crystal Palace (which is something we do every trip..meal plan or not) then we would pay $28.99 per adult and the $11.99 (or was it $12.99?). Well, the child's plan paid for itself not counting the snack and counter service. The adults in our group would still have $11 on their plan to cover their snack ($4 or less) and counter service meals which can easily now run $9 + for food and drink, toss in the dessert and its even more.

 

[CBOMB]

Amen to that! We weren't going to do the DDP this year because we had a few problems with it last year. However, after looking at the Allears website and seeing that holiday pricing would be going on from May to July 11th (I thought that was a mistake!) we decided it would be easier to go with the plan. Example one dinner buffet $28.99 so for $11 more a day we have the snack and counter service meal. Also, the one thing we noticed last summer was the price increases on the counter service meals.

The thing I noticed in Dec was the price increases period! VFM doesnt exist in the Disney dictionary.

All it takes is a couple of "most expensive meals" to come out ahead especially with the increase in price on the counter service meals. On our last trip we saved almost $300.00 and we didn't always order the most expensive items.

What I like most about the meal plan is that the majority of our food is pre-paid. We are not big breakfast eaters so we are good with a counter service lunch and we have come to enjoy the break in the day by sitting down for awhile to a table serive meal for dinner.

I agree that becasue of the increased cost of all food & bev. in the parks the regular food plan can at least be a break even. If you do any of the character buffets between May -July 11 when they are doing the 'holiday' pricing, the meal plan is def. a break even or even a saver. For example if we eat dinner at Crystal Palace (which is something we do every trip..meal plan or not) then we would pay $28.99 per adult and the $11.99 (or was it $12.99?). Well, the child's plan paid for itself not counting the snack and counter service. The adults in our group would still have $11 on their plan to cover their snack ($4 or less) and counter service meals which can easily now run $9 + for food and drink, toss in the dessert and its even more.

Increasing the food prices definetly makes the Demon Dining Plan appear attractive. The Mouse is merely devious, not stupid.



It still amazes me that they eliminated the appetizer from the table service meal, and eliminated the tip. Those two things are a big chunk of change. Yet people still rave about the great savings. Oh, I forgot, they lowered the cost of the plan by $1.00.

Does anybody remember the variety of food choices you use to have at WDW? Does anybody remember when the food prices were merely high, not outrageous? How about making same day PS (ADR)? Remember when dining was a real experience at WDW with food that was actually very good? Yes, the DDP has done wonders for my WDW vacation experience. I can now pay in advance for mediocre food that I will schedule to eat 3 months from now.

Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah!

 

[fosse76]

The money is surely only a bi product. If you wouldn't normally eat all that food (all be it standardised and mediocre) its not really a saving.

The value of the meal plan isnt always cut and dried. We have used it and we have avoided it. It really comes down to what you plan to do.

The previous two times I went to Disney I had the free dining plan, but didn't when I went this past January. Financially, I think I would have broken out evenly based on what I spent. However, I would have saved money if I had the dining plan ONLY because of desserts...which I didn't have when I paid out of pocket. So you do save some money. If you don't normally order a dessert then I would say don't get it, because you might end up spending slightly more than if you'd paid for the same items out of pocket. If you normally get a dessert, than I say get it, because you will see savings (of course it all depends what you order).

I discovered that the free dining works as incentive to buy the dining plan on the next visit...I never realized how disgusting Disney's counter service food was...those chicken nuggets can't possibly be made out of chicken!

 

[Dwarful]

Well, I made some mistakes on my calculations. I swear Disney is raising the price of the food to encourage people to go back to the Dining Plan. We are going June 6 - June 13th. During this time according to the another website, this time frame will be 'holiday pricing'. I was wrong about the holiday pricing in my previous post. Holiday pricing at buffets jumps to an outrageous, totally not worth it, highway robbery price of $34.99 per adult, and $16.99 per child (3-9)! So our options are pay out of pocket. OR pay for the dining plan at $39.99 adult, $11.99 kids ( I think?)
Here is what our day at the Magic Kingdom looks like:
Breakfast at the resort, in room, or a snack credit at the Main St. Bakery

Lunch Cosmic Rays-3A, 1C.
husband: bacon chz.brgr $7.59, sml. soda $2.09, dessert $3.59=13.27
me: BBQ Pork wrap $7.59, sml. soda $2.09, dessert $3.59=13.27
daughter: turkey wrap $7.59, sml. soda $2.09, dessert $3.59=13.27
youngest daughter: kids meal $4.49, dessert $1.19=$5.68

Use snack credits on Dole Whips if we didn't use them all at bakery

Dinner at Crystal Palace $34.99 per adult (3)
$16.99 per child
For a total dinner cost of $121.96 plus the recommended tip of $21.95= $143.91 (are they really serious here????)
The total cost of the dining plan for our family (2 adult, 1 tween and 1 child) would be roughly $132.96 per day. The one dinner at the buffet nearly breaks even without the snack or counter service meal. I honestly think Disney has raised food prices to encourage people to use the devalued dining plan. I remember the quality and variety of food available. Like I said in other posts, we were not even thinking of doing the dining plan this trip because we were so disappointed last year. Then we found out our early June trip was considered "holiday pricing" ..which to me seems like "summer vacation price gouging to cover the buy 4 get 3 free offer we are using at the Yacht Club. However, I can tell you one thing, if service is not good (it wasn't last year at a few of our favorites) I won't be leaving $25 tips at the buffets!

Someone please correct me and let me know if I have my numbers wrong.