To do Dining Plan or not? Need help

[wgbuck]

Ok, ... here's the quandry, ... My wife and I are taking our 4 year old and 2 year old in late October. We're trying to decide if its better to do the dining plan or not. We've got a discounted room (FL residents), so the free dining plan isn't option, since you've got to pay for the room at full price.

We'll be their 6 days. Probably do 2 character meals (one being CRT), and maybe 1 other table service meal. All other meals will be counter service meals.

I'm very much a planner, and I've run the numbers multiple times, ... but everytime I get a different answer. Thoughts?

[Seasonscraps]

If you are only planning to do 3TS meals (using 4 credits) over 6 days, I don't see how it pays to get the plan.

[crltkcagle]

I think the dining plan is a great option. The food can be so expensive there so if you are on te dining plan you know when you get there that all your food is paid for already.

[lighteningqueen]

Last year we decided not to do the plan and I think we came out 200.00 ahead. We did 4 character breakfast, Crystal,1900,Tusker,Captains grille. We ate a bit later in the morning around 9:30-10:00am so that we could do all day to eat again and then did CS. We only did 50's prime and O'Hana's for TS at night and will never do o'hanas again. The meat was fatty not done, never filled our extras on the table for 5 of us they brought sized to 2 people. Just very disappointed for 30.00 each. But what you might do is look at the menus, decide what you will probably eat for all of you and do the math. I realize the kids will probably have to eat mid day. But eating a huge break buffet we 5 did much better. 18.99 per adult for all you can eat is great for going all day then around 10.00 each for CS so 29 versus 40.00 is a savings but some days we saved even more as Captains Grille is only 15.00 for buffet over at the Yacht Club We were there for 9 days. I am not sure what to do this time. TS is quite expensive for the level of taste of the food on Disney prop. It just has gone down hill as far as goodness and the waiters sure have changed, rarely speak or work for their tips it seems. Our worst were ohanas and Wilderness canyon, 50's not a bit of fun at either this time. Before when tips were included they really were fun to go to.

[princessesmom]

To make it worth the price you have to use the TS credits. With what you are planning to do, it will almost definitely be cheaper to pay oop for your meals. People make a big deal out of pre-paying, and while it is nice to have things paid ahead of time, it doesn't make sense to pay extra for that feature. Just put the money you would have spent for the dining plan aside and use it to pay for your meals while you are in Disney. The CS meals are very large, so in many cases you can share and won't need to order a meal for all 4 of you, anyway.

[DNS]

Some people swear by this plan, but we have figured pricing out many times and it just would be more expensive for us to do the dining plan. It seems that it is really an individual preference. One thing that we always consider is that we do not like to eat heavy meals there because we feel bogged down afterwards. I have no idea how you were checking your numbers but maybe you could try to figure how much you usually spend a day vs. dining plan - Info Central on this site is very helpful when trying to figure pricing for food.

[KAT1811]

If you are only planning to do 3TS meals (using 4 credits) over 6 days, I don't see how it pays to get the plan.



:ditto:

For us it really isn't the pricing (which one is a little cheaper) but the ease of the plan. We did not do it on our last trip (DH wanted to try without) and we wished we just got it and just went. We like to pay prior to arrival and not have to be bothered (for the most part) when we get there.

If you are not planning on doing a TS each night it most likely won't be worth it for you.

[#1donaldfan]

....this past week was our first experience with the ddp.....we are split 50 / 50, my DW and I, that is.....I liked it, she didn't .....

....so I don't suppose I help much with the exception of, if we paid out of pocket the food we received we saved multiple $$$'s.... but not being on the plan, we most likley wouldn't have ordered so many desserts and such.....it's a good plan, but certainly needs a "tweaking"........I wish they offered a choice between appetizers and desserts....:confused:

[DANAM]

I am a firm believer in the plan. For our family it is wonderful. But I do cook a meal every evening and we normally eat something light for lunch. We also don't eat much fast food so burgers and fries twice a day isn't an option for us. I feel that we have saved 100's over the past 3 trips we have taken.

Here's why it may not work for you. You have mentioned you will only do 3 table services. Right there I wouldn't do the plan. Now if you deceide to go ahead and pick 6 table service I will mention one other thing to you. Your 2 year old will not be on the plan. You will have to share food off your plate for that child. Table services are usually not a problem for us because you can do buffets but CS were. My son want the Mickey plate like big sister who was on the plan. I suggest getting an extra plate. And I admit once or twice we did have to buy a kids meal for my 2 year old.

[KAT1811]

........I wish they offered a choice between appetizers and desserts....:confused:

Me too!!! :thumbsup: That has been my stance since the change. I'm not a big dessert person but love appetizers!

[momofdisneyprincess]

I was just trying to figure out the same thing for our upcoming trip. I am afraid I am an obsessive planner. Anyway, with 3 character meals and maybe a couple of other TS meals, it probably won't be worth it for you if you are looking to get the most for your $$. I took a look at the menus of places we were more likely to eat at, guesstimated how much we would spend, and then compared it to the dining plan. Children's meals will run you anywhere from $5 at most counter service places to $7.50 and some of the table service places. An adult meal, I was figuring $10 for a Counter Service. That would mean that we would have to spend $52 for dinner per adult and $10 for dinner for a child in order to have the Deluxe Dining plan worth it for us. If we do a buffet for breakfast we will usually only eat dinner and skip lunch in favor of a snack.

We did take advantage of the free dining last year to try this out. It was A LOT of food. We also had to make ADR's so needed to know which parks we were going to be at which days. Again, I am a planner so I didn't mind. The rest of the people in my party weren't so happy about it though.

In short, if you think you will spend more than $72 per adult and $21 per child a day on food then the DDP is worth it. Hope this helps.

[Disney Doll]

Sounds like your family and my family have similar dining styles. We only plan a couple of ADRs each trip and for everything else we eat CS. I did the math when the dining plan first came out and there's no way we would normally use that amount of credits. For us paying out of pocket is certainly the better option.

The whole prepay thing is such a big deal to a lot of people, but I personally don't get it. We save for our trips in advance so essentially everything is prepaid. When I'm in the world I just swipe my Visa and I pay the bill with the money I had set aside when I get home. I don't have to keep track of how many points I have used or how many I have left, or what counts as a snack, or any of the other irritating things I hear dining plan customers asking about. I buy what I want and don't worry about it. :thumbsup:

[Disney Doll]

We also don't eat much fast food so burgers and fries twice a day isn't an option for us.

Those who think CS dining is all burgers and fries are missing out! I think that's a common misconception. I'm not into hot dogs, burgers, or chicken fingers, but I'm always able to find a week's worth of CS dining that doesn't include any of those. Disney has plenty of variety and it's easy to find healthy options even at CS locations.

[DANAM]

Those who think CS dining is all burgers and fries are missing out! I think that's a common misconception. I'm not into hot dogs, burgers, or chicken fingers, but I'm always able to find a week's worth of CS dining that doesn't include any of those. Disney has plenty of variety and it's easy to find healthy options even at CS locations.

I guess I should have mentioned we normally will stay over a week and we personally like to sit down and relax for dinner. I know there are some really wonderful CS choices out there but for my family we don't mind putting out the money for at least 1 table service per day. The quality at Disney TS is alot better than most CS you will find.