Disney Dining Plan is it worth it?.

roylanc

theDizneytaffy
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
When booking your Disney World Vacation 1 of the biggest questions you may ask yourself is do I need To purchase a Dining Plan.


What is the Walt Disney World Dining Plan?
I suppose I should start with a quick overview for those of you that don’t know much about the Walt Disney World Dining Plan.

What it is is a dining service that you purchase ahead of time, that covers the cost of the majority of your meals for your Walt Disney World stay.

There are a few different plans.



For this exercise I will only be focussing on the Regular Dining Plan.

This is the plan most associated with Guests staying on property.

1 Table service meal per guest per day.

1 quick service meal per guest per day
2 snacks per day.



And probably the biggest question is The Disney Dining Plan Worth it.?
Is it going to save me money.?
Should it be something I need to do.?

Now I believe the honest answer is YES / NO / MAYBE!.

Your probably thinking what!!.

Well we are all different in the way we approach the dining plan.
If you are a large family with fussy eaters you may be limited to the cuisine you can look for.
Or you may be vegetarians?
You may have allergies that can limit your eating.

See where I am going with this.!
We are not all the same in our tastes & eating habits.
So saying yes it will save you money could be considered a lie & the same goes for no.

Now some people will save on the standard dining plan.

So for this little Blog I am going to focus on the Regular Dining Plan.
That is:
1 Table service meal per guest per day.
1 quick service meal per guest per day
2 snack per day.
The Current cost is $69.35 per Adult per day.
So for this exercise it's 2 Adults at $69.35 = $138.70.

Now we stay on property for 14 day's.
But this exercise is going to be over 5 day's, so you can get a feel of the pricing.
Also because after 5 day's I decided to stop recording what we were eating & at where to enjoy the vacation more.
I do not know what the Tax was on all these items are, so at the end I calculated at 5%.
Please be free to correct this if I got it wrong.

Staying At The Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Day 1Breakfast at The Mara
African-inspired Breakfast Platter - - $9.49 x 2 = $18.98
Orange Juice -$3.49 = $6.98
Spent the day Magic Kingdom
Snack 1 Pinapple Dole Whip Float At Magic Kingdom = $5.49 x 2=$10.98
Snack 2 Mickey Pretzels with Cheese Sauce = $6.00 x 2 = $12.00
Dinner at Be our Guest
Sautéed Shrimp and Scallops - with Seasonal Vegetables and Mushrooms served in Puff Pastry with a Creamy Lobster Sauce - $29.00
Grilled Strip Steak = $35.00
1 Grey Stuff 1Chocolate cream puff both $5.00 = $10.00
2 Sodas at $2.99 each = $5.98

Day 1 total Running Costs = $128.92

Day 2
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Mara
2 Muesli Type Yogurts on the snack plan $4.59 x 2 = $9.18
A morning At Animal Kingdom.
Flame Tree BBQ for Lunch
Ribs & Chicken Combo = $16.46
Smoked Turky Sandwich =$ 9.99
2 x Bevarages = $3.69= $7.38
Snacks at Tamu Tamu for 2 x Mickey Icream Sundaes = $4.49 = $9.98
1900Park Fare for Dinner
All you can eatBuffet = $59.99 x = $119.98

Day 2 Total Running Costs= $172.94

Day 3

2 Muesli Type Yogurts on the Snack Plan $4.59 x 2 = $9.18
Morning At Disney Springs
Lunch At Blaze Pizza
2 x build your own Pizzas = $9.65 = $19.30
2 Fountain Beverages = $3.00 = $6.00

Back to the Mara
2 snacka x Zebra domes = $3.69 = $7.38

Polynesian Village Resort
Ohannas for Dinner
All you can eat Family Meal = $59.99 x $119.98
2 snacks x Dole Whip from Pineapple Lanai = $5.29 = $10.58

Day 3 Total Running Costs = $172.42

Day 4

2 Muesli Type Yogurts on the Snack Plan $4.59 x 2 = $9.18

Off to Epcot
Lunch At Katsura Grill
1 x chicken & Beef Teriyaki = $12.00
1 x Chicken Cutle Cury m= $13.00
2 Beverages = $2.59 = $5.18

Evening At DHS
Fantasmic Dinner Package at Mamma Melrose.
Starters
Calamari = $12.00
Mozzarella & Tomatoes = $9.50
Entree
Seafood Arrabbiata = $23.99
Penne Pasta Chicken & 4 cheese sauce = $20.00
Desert Sampler = $6.00
2 Beverages = $3.69= $7.38

2 snacks of Mickey Ears ice cream at Fantasmic = $3.29 = $5.58

Day 4 Total Running Costs =$123.81

DAY 5

2 Muesli Type Yogurts on the Snack Plan $4.59 x 2 = $9.18
Magic Kingdom for Morning & early Afternoon.

Lunch At Pecos Bill's
2 x Southwest Burgers = $13.99 = $27.98
2 fountain Beverages = $3.69 = $7.38

2 snacks of Dole Whip Floats $5.49 = $10.98

Dinner at Sanaa AK Lodge

Indian Bread Service = $11.49
Lamb Shank = $27.99
South African Braai sampler plate = $29.99

2 xTrio of Deserts = $7.49 = $14.98
2 x beverages = $2.99 = $5.98.

Day 5 total Running Cost = $145.95

5 Total running cost if out of pocket = $744.04 + 5% tax = $781.44
On Dining plan the cost would have been = $693.50


As you can see a saving of $87.94.

So for the exercise of our 5 day plan it saved money.
No tips have been included so you would have to factor in between 18% & 20% for tips.

But there are so many way's you could lose out as well.
The restaurants with 2 meal credits will considerably reduce your savings.
Also if you preferred the cheaper items on the list it will reduce the savings.

We were at Disney world for 14 day's & used up 2 dinner credits on a number of meals.
So overall we probably lost out.
But our dinning plan was free with our Vacation Package!.

Depending on what you book where you eat & what you order will determine if you save or lose out.
That is where the NO/YES/MAYBE is the answer.

Let me know your thoughts & how you plan your dining ADR's.
 
We had the QS dining plan last time and got tired very quickly of the options, especially as my sister is quite fussy. This time we've gone for the Disney Dining plan and we're looking forward to more variety! Also my sister is vegetarian now so it's even harder to find suitable options for her but looking through the menu's we've found some great options on the dining plan. Plus the benefits of not having to plan our money for meals when we arrive. I'm a fan of the plan.
 
We save money by paying out-of-pocket. We did the dining plan once, and utilizing all the credits forced us to eat more meals than we normally would, & take a bunch of extra snacks home, which normally we would never do. Paying out of pocket, we choose where we want to eat solely based on preference, rather than having to take credits into account. I've also priced dining plans online and found that even if utilizing all the credits by choice, we wouldn't be saving money.

OOP is also easier. Tallying up credits in my head on vacation is not my idea of relaxation; it's so much easier to just swipe my Magic Band and pay.
 


We had the QS dining plan last time and got tired very quickly of the options, especially as my sister is quite fussy. This time we've gone for the Disney Dining plan and we're looking forward to more variety! Also my sister is vegetarian now so it's even harder to find suitable options for her but looking through the menu's we've found some great options on the dining plan. Plus the benefits of not having to plan our money for meals when we arrive. I'm a fan of the plan.
We are fans of the DDP as well. Due to my wife working in a school our holiday's are limited to school holiday's. So we always book for the DDP free offer.
 
We save money by paying out-of-pocket. We did the dining plan once, and utilizing all the credits forced us to eat more meals than we normally would, & take a bunch of extra snacks home, which normally we would never do. Paying out of pocket, we choose where we want to eat solely based on preference, rather than having to take credits into account. I've also priced dining plans online and found that even if utilizing all the credits by choice, we wouldn't be saving money.

OOP is also easier. Tallying up credits in my head on vacation is not my idea of relaxation; it's so much easier to just swipe my Magic Band and pay.
Hi Shanti, We are limited to the time of year we can get out to Disney World, due to my working in a school. This may limit us to the time we visit, but we are fortunate to get the Free DDP each time we stay on property. We have stayed in a villa twice & like you did find it easier to keep track. This year we have booked 5 signature restaurants which will free up our time for not worrying about using the meal credits up. We enjoy the free DDP & take advantage of it as much as we can. Now if we could get out to WDW more frequently our dining habits would probably change considerably if staying on property with no DDP.
 
Hi Shanti, We are limited to the time of year we can get out to Disney World, due to my working in a school. This may limit us to the time we visit, but we are fortunate to get the Free DDP each time we stay on property. We have stayed in a villa twice & like you did find it easier to keep track. This year we have booked 5 signature restaurants which will free up our time for not worrying about using the meal credits up. We enjoy the free DDP & take advantage of it as much as we can. Now if we could get out to WDW more frequently our dining habits would probably change considerably if staying on property with no DDP.
Yes, free dining is definitely a deal for many people. I was just comparing the difference between purchasing a full-price dining plan vs. paying out of pocket. The latter is definitely cheaper. But if you get free dining, that can be a great deal!
 


We had the DP for the first time in April..as it was free.! Really enjoyed it but was a lot of food for us...we usually use the TIW card saving 20%. However we did book again with free dining as soon as we returned!
 
We love the dining plan, as we tend to order the more expensive things on the menu (steak ect) and I'd rather have the food paid for before we arrive rather than worrying about how much it's costing when we get there, but I realise this purely psychological for me!
 
OP is definitely right in the YES / NO / MAYBE answer! For us, OOP is cheaper - we can't eat the portion sizes that are served (two QS meals will usually do three of us), and we tend to go for the least expensive options each time anyway. We used the free DDP when it first came out (and when you got a whole lot more included on your plan than you do now) and that was worth it, but we found we spent most of the holiday eating, trying to make the most of the free benefit! Now, we use TIW and eat at our leisure, as and when! Last time we used DDP, we had so many snacks left that we used them to purchase Minnie Cookies and were set for gifts for friends and family!

We love the dining plan, as we tend to order the more expensive things on the menu (steak ect) and I'd rather have the food paid for before we arrive rather than worrying about how much it's costing when we get there, but I realise this purely psychological for me!

So we don't overspend, we've now taken to purchasing a gift card or two at the beginning of the trip and loading it up with the 'food money', so the food is effectively 'pre-paid' and the cash in our wallets is ours :)
 
We hate using th DDP find we have to eat way more than we want to get the value and we find we actually do t like eating out every day. We used it once and never again
 
We love the dining plan when 'free. We 're not big eaters so probably not good value for us but there is something really refreshing on holiday of looking at a menu a nd not having cost in the back of your mind. I also love picking restaurant on merit and not getting g annoyed if the kids don't eat what's been paid for.
 
We love the dinning plan in all forms, we had free dining a few years ago and it changed our touring style, we went all out on our honeymoon and did the delux, yes it's too much food, but we did character breaksfast and a sig restaurant every day! It was magical.

This trip we have opted for the quick service plan, is it more expensive then paying out of pocket? Maybe? First it depends on the exchange rate but, like others I like to have my food all paid for. We have added the Bon voyage breakfast, but other then that we can go cash and worry free! Just scan and go! How magical
 
Had it free twice and this year we have bought the plan for six adults. All meals are now booked in and we will be paying the gratuity and alcohol out of our Caribbean beach nightly gift card ( we booked before they announced the refurb, closure and building works)
 

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