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Thoughts on Dining Plan??
- Thread starter Cvones
- Start date
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
We did the standard dining plan (1 TS, 1 CS, 1 snack per person, per day) and although we worked hard to make the most of it (choosing the most expensive dishes at the most expensive restaurants at the most expensive times of day), we broke even -- spending about the same amount on the DDP that we would have spent if we'd paid OOP for the same items.
This isn't really an apples-to-apples comparison, though, because on the DDP, we had to order far more food than we wanted to eat, wasted a lot of things we didn't really want but ordered just because we were supposed to (e.g., fountain drinks, desserts at lunch), and felt forced to order more expensive things even at places where we'd have preferred to eat a less expensive meal (e.g., maybe I wanted a burger instead of that salmon, or an appetizer as my entree). In other words, if we'd ordered what we actually wanted and could actually eat, we'd have paid appreciably less out of pocket than we spent on the DDP (and would have spent less on gratuities at TS restaurants). (In fact, we'd have spent less out of pocket even if we'd upgraded some our restaurant choices from "good value 1 TS-credit" restaurants to slightly more expensive " signature 2-credit restaurant I really wanted to visit" selections.) While I know some people prefer the ease of pre-payment because they don't have to worry where the money is coming from later, pre-payment has no value for me, personally, so long as I've pre-saved the money we're going to spend at WDW.
If you know where you want to eat, I'd suggest giving this calculator a try, and seeing whether you'd actually save money with the DDP or not. http://www.distripplanner.com
This isn't really an apples-to-apples comparison, though, because on the DDP, we had to order far more food than we wanted to eat, wasted a lot of things we didn't really want but ordered just because we were supposed to (e.g., fountain drinks, desserts at lunch), and felt forced to order more expensive things even at places where we'd have preferred to eat a less expensive meal (e.g., maybe I wanted a burger instead of that salmon, or an appetizer as my entree). In other words, if we'd ordered what we actually wanted and could actually eat, we'd have paid appreciably less out of pocket than we spent on the DDP (and would have spent less on gratuities at TS restaurants). (In fact, we'd have spent less out of pocket even if we'd upgraded some our restaurant choices from "good value 1 TS-credit" restaurants to slightly more expensive " signature 2-credit restaurant I really wanted to visit" selections.) While I know some people prefer the ease of pre-payment because they don't have to worry where the money is coming from later, pre-payment has no value for me, personally, so long as I've pre-saved the money we're going to spend at WDW.
If you know where you want to eat, I'd suggest giving this calculator a try, and seeing whether you'd actually save money with the DDP or not. http://www.distripplanner.com
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graphite1326
Well-Known Member
I only get the QS because we don't like being tied down to a schedule and we only get it if it is free. I wouldn't get it if we had to pay for it. It's too much food for us. We split the QS meals as it is and usually have enough left over at the end of the trip to eat all three meals using our dining plan meals in one day for a couple of days (if that makes sense).
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sublimesting
Well-Known Member
If you use it to the max it is only marginally less expensive. But we have found that there were many times we could easily have skipped certain meals due to being stuffed. Sometimes you want just a walk up or a snack but you've got a sit down burning a hole in your pocket ya know. So, very often you'll spend much less without the plan.
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Jaly05
Member
We opted not to do it. we are breakfast eaters and prefer to have a big breakfast every day and then an early dinner and bring plenty of snacks for in between, when I priced out what we'd likely eat I found it was not a good value for us. I could justify spending a bit more for convenience but I didn't want to give up our breakfast reservations just to be able to order food that would make it worth it. We have TIW discount so that made it even easier to give that up.
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FrostyNaples
Well-Known Member
This is such a loaded question. After you read the million or so responses and other threads regarding this, my only advice is to give it a go, and come to your own conclusions. For some its great, for others its not, and everyone else in between has an opinion.
I like to try things out for myself
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disneyfirstLJ
Well-Known Member
The dining plan doesn't make sense for us. I used pricing to figure out what we would spend per day on snacks and meals. Then I bought a gift card for that amount with a bit of a buffer just in case. This helped me budget our food for the trip and I only used that gift card for food, beverage or snack purchases. We spent much less then the dining plan would of cost us. Plus, my daughter and I both order child meals sometimes if we want just a small breakfast or lunch. We sometimes share meals as well. You have to do what works best for your family.
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DarthVader
Sith Lord
I found with the magic bands, it really doesn't matter if you're on the meal plan, i.e., its just as convenient to use your magic band and charge it to the card on the hotel room as it is on the meal plan
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