Totally lost in which dining plan to select--help!

[bmmilan]

None. Unless you're an expert, you're going to waste money. Skip the dining plan and pay cash.

I agree. Didnt do the dining plan this last trip. Saved our family of 4 $1000.

 

[homerdance]

We're a family of 4--2 adults, a 12 year old that eats like a grown up and a picky 8 year old. I'm clueless about which dining plan to get. I know we would like sit down dinners every night, and a light quick lunch every day. As for breakfast, we would like to have it at the hotel before heading out the parks. What's the recommendation to select a dining plan? tks!!

For us, the dining plan has always saved us money, always. We do mainly character buffets though, and don't use it for any table services that are 2 credits, except CRT (because we want to not to save money). There have been 2 times in the last 5 years we have used a DDP credit for a non character meal, and both were so I could get prime rib. We have a child under 10, who actually likes the adult versions of the QS meals, and using snacks at whatever events they have at EPCOT (F&W/Arts/F&G) we come out a bit ahead. (and using discounted Gift cards to pay for it offsets some of the missing discounts). Avoiding certain food types also means we recognize a lot of savings in our QS plans. Also, the last trip, being able to replace a drink with a beer/drink at our resort (as we already had the stupid cup) was savings i didn't count on or add.

But that is our family, and our plans. I would agree, that most people are money ahead buying gift cards at whatever discount you can find them at (Target 5% off, Sams Club 3-5%+any other incentives, BJs, etc) amd using that money, plus whatever other discounts they are offering. Its a great budgeting tool also. We have used that for our kids "fun" budget. Our last trip by using gift cards, we saved around $300. Eating at Character experiences is fun for us, but it is very time consuming for most, and isn't worth it. It's about an extra 45 minutes per meal to eat at a character vs. normal restaurant, which is time away from other stuff at the park. I am always amazed at the family that eats a chef mickeys but doesn't interact with the characters, because the food isn't that good for the price.

Like people have pointed out in this thread, most average users don't get a good value on the DDP. If you feel like you need to get your money out of it, you are doing it wrong. If you ordering up just to save money, that is wasteful. Eating a most table services and using a DDP credit is a waste. They have added some hidden value by allowing certain premade drinks, but mostly, you break even at best.

And at the end of the day, if you do the DDP, just snap a picture of your bill at each restaurant, and do the math when you return. You most likely will be in the group of "didn't save that much or any". Most restaurants offer other discounts such as AP, DVC, and Chase discounts.

But i personally wouldn't recommend it to save money, unless you do the math (which is hard) and can justify it.

 

[aliceismad]

FYI - A lot of the online calculators aren't actually valid because they are not accounting for if someone orders a cocktail or wine (they say they do but when we ran numbers it is a miss) and usually pick an "average" entree price

That's a good point. I have a spreadsheet somewhere that relies on you actually entering a value for each meal, but it requires some work to look up menus, guess at what you would order, etc. (Of course if you're a crazy person like me, you like to look at the menus anyway.)

 

[dreski]

I get DDP almost every time we go. I have myself, DS 25 and DD 21. Even when they were younger still got the DDP. DS has always eaten like an adult, DD eats like a bird and I can pack it away. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet but this is what I do, I look to see what sit down's we want especially now that some require 2 dinner credits. Total up the credits needed and then decide on the regular or deluxe plans. Even for us the deluxe is too much food in reality. Also for breakfast we use our snack credits, you get 2 per night. The resorts quick service have a great selection of "snacks" that double as breakfast foods. In most cases we have made due with the regular dinning plan. Again though, between DS and myself we can put away a lot of food in one sitting. Another tip, use the sit downs for dinners and not lunch. You get more bang for the buck. Like some have said, you really need to look at this closely before deciding. The only time I didn't get DDP was when it was just DD and myself.

 

[MickeyCB]

We made out very well with the DDP this last trip in December. One of the things I pay attention to, is if we're not going to have enough credits for all of our table services, then I plan ahead and pay cash for the one I know will cost the least.
We have also found we tend to do better with the dining plan if more of our kids (young adults) are along. If it is just my husband and I, I think we do better without it.

 

[WDWTrojan]

Thank you for all your excellent advise. You have helped me made sense out of all of this. I think skipping the dining plan is the best thing for us since I mostly eat vegetarian and I don't drink alcohol nor sodas, my husband is a healthy eater, neither of the adults are BIG eaters, and most of the time we order 2 desserts for our family of 4 and only during dinner time.

The other thing with the dining plan is that it really only makes the most financial sense when you get the most expensive items on the menu. Considering you're going to be ordering vegetarian, those items will be pretty cheap so you're essentially paying for lobster but only getting a vegetables.

 

[dontknow]

Like some, the dining plan (not the deluxe) has made sense as we've done mostly character meals, tend to order the most expensive things we like and have a child who has always been under 10.

This years upcoming trip will be the last though as the character meals will end and our child will be above 10 going forward.

Any further trip will be absolutely no dining plan. I've run the numbers (ballpark) every trip and we 'just' breakeven or make out (slightly). This will no longer be the case after this year.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Did the dining plan once, and I ended up giving half of my food away to family members who were not on the plan. It was just simply too much food. After three days of eating large meals in the Florida heat to make sure I was getting the full value of the plan, I gave up.

 

[Patcheslee]

Pick the TS you want to eat first, then which QS meals you plan to use. It takes a bit of work to actually get what you are going to spend but that's the only way to really know if it's worth it.
For us it is worth it because I have high metabolism, eating 3 meals a day and snacks between keeps me from being hangry 2 hours after a full meal.

 

[Stinger]

My family will not go if we don't have it . We always get the regular . Sometimes it's free sometimes we pay .
The value for us is it's one less thing I need cash or cards for while in the parks .
I'm sure we don't save a lot of money if any with it , we just like the convince of it .
At the end of each trip we will go to the food court and buy breakfast or dinner for random people with left over counter service (pixe dust ) and bring back as many snacks as we can .

 

[Tom P.]

Take the money and put it on a gift card. Boom, prepayment achieved. Enjoy the extra $300!

Psychologically, this doesn't work for me. I know, I'm weird.

But if I have the money on a gift card, I know I could spend it on any number of other things. I'll still be thinking about cost of things, and thinking that I shouldn't splurge because I could use that money elsewhere.

If I have the dining plan, it's all paid for and I'm only spending credits that I can't use for anything else but food. That "feels" different to me than a gift card.

 

[Nunu]

A few years ago, we added the dining plan to our trip. We enjoyed it. Back then it was easier to get advanced ressies to the restaurants we wanted. Did it on a couple of trips, but I guess we are getting older and can't eat as much as we used to!

Then we tried the Quick service dp and it was a better value for us, until one day we realized that in reality, we just got a cup of soup and maybe half a sandwich for dinner.

These days, we prefer to pay cash, not only are we saving quite a bit of money, but also saving ourselves from the discomfort that came from over indulging!

Whatever option you choose, enjoy! Have a great trip!

 

[bigrigross]

We actually looked at doing TiW for our family of 9 for this upcoming trip in may. But due to us doing all Pre-Fixe meals and Character dinings, TIW was actually worse than the Dining plan. But I will agree that if you eat at menu restaurants, you are better off paying for cash. And another but, I dont have to worry about spending money down there so the little bit we save or extra we pay is worth it. I am not sweating if I overpay 50 to 100 bucks for the week.

 

[Hockey89]

Psychologically, this doesn't work for me. I know, I'm weird.

But if I have the money on a gift card, I know I could spend it on any number of other things. I'll still be thinking about cost of things, and thinking that I shouldn't splurge because I could use that money elsewhere.

If I have the dining plan, it's all paid for and I'm only spending credits that I can't use for anything else but food. That "feels" different to me than a gift card.

Yeah, it is not and probably costing you money... This line of thinking amazes me...

 

[Tom P.]

Yeah, it is not and probably costing you money... This line of thinking amazes me...

To each his own. There are many things that people spend money on at Walt Disney World that amaze me. Everyone can spend their money how they choose.

 

[bigrigross]

Yeah, it is not and probably costing you money... This line of thinking amazes me...

So does the people who think the dining plan doesnt save money. People who are planners like my wife and I have saved over 200 bucks on the dining plan per trip. When we go out, we like to indulge so yes, I would rather have the lobster or the steak when I am on vacation. Other people are not like that and its fine.

And honestly, I am with Tom. Even if I was losing money with the dining plan, the convenience is still worth it to me. I scan my band and bam, food is paid for. No bill to pay when I check out. Convenience is worth it to some people. Its why paying for unlimited drinks on cruises is worth it to people or club level is worth it. Its about convenience for people.

 

[Janir]

None. Unless you're an expert, you're going to waste money. Skip the dining plan and pay cash.

Unless youre eating everything at every meal , Cap's right. You will save money by buying your meals seperately.
Do a quick spreadsheet for the meals you may have, and compare between dining plan and out of pocket, then start takign out extra desserts and such and see that your out of pocket can go down but your DDP won't.
Ulitmately DDP advice I think of as a PER guest/group situation question that can only be truly resolved by analyzing your eating pattern plans against DDP and menu prices.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Unless youre eating everything at every meal , Cap's right. You will save money by buying your meals seperately.
Do a quick spreadsheet for the meals you may have, and compare between dining plan and out of pocket, then start takign out extra desserts and such and see that your out of pocket can go down but your DDP won't.
Ulitmately DDP advice I think of as a PER guest/group situation question that can only be truly resolved by analyzing your eating pattern plans against DDP and menu prices.

Alcohol is the big new wildcard, too. Big kids who are DDP adults but under 21 have almost zero chance of breaking even now that alcohol is included for 21+.

 

[Janir]

I agree. I have never purchased a dining plan, BUT ...

I overhear a lot of people at their tables or in quick service lines bemoaning how hard it is to use their dining credits before they leave. At the same time, there are probably people for whom the plans are not enough food. I think the best idea is to embrace the flexibility of cash! Better yet, use your Disney Chase Visa card or Tables in Wonderland (only use Tables card if you are not an AP).

Keep in mind a TiW costs $150 to get. Then you get to start calculating 20% savings against the $150.
Compared to the 10% DVC/AP and not drinks, I did a quick calculation for just myself and DW and I didn't break even to our DVC 10% until our 2nd trip at the end of the trip. That's with a ton of ADR planed for TWO trips.
I'm still waffling on TiW as it will be roughly a wash in cost, but do I want to get it, just to have it and get in on the TiW potential special perks that might be available with a cost wash. Flip side $150 now gets us a few extra things like a VR sessions at Disney Springs.

 

[Dave B]

Alcohol is the big new wildcard, too. Big kids who are DDP adults but under 21 have almost zero chance of breaking even now that alcohol is included for 21+.

Under 21 just gets me extra drinks at dinner, still a big perk to the family of four with 2 real adults and 2 teens, that are charged as adults