Another Dining Plan Value Newbie Question

Another thing to take into consideration is whether you can get some kind of special deal at the time your booked. ... The thing that swayed us was that Disney came out with a promotion for the dining plan package, lowering the daily price per adult to just over $60. At that price it was definitely worth it.
With meal calculations (and our plans leave out 3 QS credits pp), including the resort mugs, but before snacks & alcohol, we are already about to save close to $200 on our 7 day stay. That's worth it.:)

What time of the year did they come out with the reduced ‘sale’ price for DDP? I don’t recall ever seeing that.

Thanks!
 
Just keep in mind, generally, the dining plans are not designed to save you money. It's possible but you have to run the numbers yourself. We would never pay out of pocket for it. I don't want to concern myself with tracking credits and what's included. We got it once, heavily discounted, and decided it would not work for us.
If the DDP are not meant to save guests money then why would one go that route?
Thanks
 
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I am a Dining Plan convert. We first experienced it with a free dining package. For that trip we were able to maximize our credits because my 2 littles split most meals.

Last month we took the kids for Thanksgiving and repeated the split meals.

So it IS possible for adults to split meals on the DDP? I never knew that. My DW and I frequently do this at home when we go out. That would for sure allow us to extend the 3 day stay’s DDP into the fourth day. We R doing a split stay l.
 
If the DDP are not meant to save guests money then why would one go that route?
Thanks

It's like casinos - some people have to win in order for a large group to be enticed to participate. So it works for some parties in some situations. You can save a decent amount (we saved $300 the first year) if you have young children and do a lot of buffets or character meals. It seems like you can save if your party is all adult and all drinkers on the current plan. But on average, it doesn't save money and benefits Disney. Some people like it because they can pre-pay their meals, try more expensive options than they normally would, or in general not have to think about the costs of meals while on vacation. I think a fair number of people break even so in that case it's worth it if that makes your vacation more stress-free.

Some people do it just because it's offered and they assume they will save money.

Lots of different reasons I think.
 


What time of the year did they come out with the reduced ‘sale’ price for DDP? I don’t recall ever seeing that.

Thanks!
For our January trip. They didn't say it was reduced. It was a package they sold with dining, and after calculating with the cost of our original tickets & hotel package, the dining package came to $60 only.
 
The deal she is talking about is Play, Stay, and Dine. It's not specifically marketed as a reduction in dining plan cost, but that's really what's discounted. You have to buy a room, ticket, and dining plan for the deal.
For our January trip. They didn't say it was reduced. It was a package they sold with dining, and after calculating with the cost of our original tickets & hotel package, the dining package came to $60 only.
 
You really do need to do the math and consider if it works with how and where you want to eat. Right off the bat, even with the recent changes, it would never be of value to us because we don't eat snacks and we wouldn't use the refillable mug. We'd be paying for something we'd never normally purchase. You need to take that into account in addition to actual dining.
 


Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and replies. Looks like we'll be trying it out for our 3 night stay.
 
Looks like you already made up your mind, but I'll still add my two cents. DH and I always travel together, no kids. We like alcoholic drinks with our meals. We will only do the dining plan if the free dining promotion is offered. We don't purchase it. For us, there is never an instance in "normal" life where EACH of us will order a dessert with our sit-down meals. When purchasing the dining plan, you are paying for this as its part of your table service entitlement. We also rarely use all the snacks and feel forced to use them when having the dining plan. When paying for the dining plan, you're paying for all these snack credits, so it only makes financial sense if you'd be buying these snacks anyway without a dining plan.

I agree with PP that the plan is not meant to save money, in many cases. You *can* save money depending on how you eat and what you order, but its small margin of people who actually come out ahead on the dining plan. Disney knows this and prices the dining plan accordingly - you really think Disney is going to offer dining plans that sets them back and saves the guests money? It would be the best kept secret at WDW, and you'd see more proponents of the plan here on the boards. Currently, it seems like the board is 50/50 on for or against dining plans.

All of this said, the value of the dining plan includes something difficult to put a price on - the cost of convenience. Many people like the element of pre-payment for their meals for budgeting purposes and that all-inclusive style of vacation. We like that element too. Some people are willing to pay slightly more for that, or run the risk that they won't come out ahead by pre-paying, and they are ok with that.
 
As many different ways that I have figured, configured, figgered-out...I can't make the DDP financially work for DW and me. Much the same with DVC.

It just doesn't suit my needs.....
 
ROne big factor for our calculations was the fact that you can only get the dining plan if you’re buying the full package through Disney. So for us it would mean giving up the agency exclusive price we got on our rooms (I think we’re saving about $50per night per room right now,and that’s compared to an already discounted Disney price). And we’re planning to get Canadian resident tickets through CAA, at a bit of a discount over what Disney is offering, so we’d lose out on that too.

I keep trying to find a scenario where I can make the DDP work for us, because we are thinking of doing a few special/expensive meals like the Storybook Dining that are good uses of credits. But between giving up the discount and the fact that many meals we choose would not be a good use of credits, I can’t make the math work! Especially because most of our adults are “drink once or twice a week” people—maybe on vacation we’d imbibe a bit more, but still not every meal. And we’d almost certainly leave snack credits on the table.

BUT if you don’t have other discounts to work with, you will enjoy a drink with every meal, enjoy high value meals, eat the snacks, etc., it’s certainly possible to come out ahead.
 

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