To Dine Plan or not to Dine Plan – that is the question.

[AirGoofy]

Like the rest of us, I want to get the most value for my money. And, I have tried to beat the Di$ney magic with the DP and DxDP. I went OOP last year and again this year. So, let’s take this for a spin. We can continue our mature (burp) and intelligent (fart) conversation. What do think? Vote now. Is it better to DP or not to DP?

 

[AirGoofy]

So, here is my report. These were my ADRs and food costs for last week’s 6 night trip.

CM Breakfast TS
1900 Park Fare TS
Rosie’s and FairFax Café QS
Backlot Express Snack (beer)
Sci-fi TS
Sunset Market Snack
Captain Cook’s QS
Casey’s Corner QS
Aloha Isle Snack
TurnStile Cart Snack
Lunching Pad Snack
Cove Pool Bar Snack
Narcoossee’s 2 TS
CRT 2 TS
Storybrook Treats Snack
Liberty Tree TS
Lunching Pad Snack
SOA 2 TS
Contempo Snack
Fulton’s TS

Totals. My total OOP cost was $1293.45.

From the list above, there are 11 TS credits, 3 QS credits, and 9 Snack Credits.

For the regular DP, the cost would be $695.76 (is there tax on that?), but I went over on TS and snacks. So, if you added in $600 more from Narcoossee’s, SOA, and CRT breakfast, then it is more.

If I went the DxDP, the cost would be $1211.76, and I need to eat more meals and snacks.

Conclusion: I spent $80 more OOP that with DxDP. But, I was able to pick non-DP restaurants and had front row center seats for SOA (Category 1 baby). The other advantage was that I did not have to keep up with credits, and end up with 40 snack credits at the end of the trip like I usually do. Plus, I was able to eat the way I wanted. And, the greatest part from the math above, my numbers includes alcohol purchases.

Analysis: Now, clearly we can make a case that I ate way too much. And, I would have had more value for my money in purchasing DxDP as I would have received more food. Yeah, like I really needed to eat more food. If you were to receive the DP for free and did not have to pay the higher resort costs or “rack rates”, then it would be a great deal. And, pre-paying a meal plan and not going “extras” is a great way to budget for some people.

Plan: This is the second year in a row for me and I think I will continue to go the OOP route, using my DVC discount. I really need to pick more DVC discount restaurants. Also, I need to plan to eat less

 

[Laura8880]

Honestly, The DxDp works for me and my husband. We try to go a week where they are offering free dining and then we upgrade. We are not DVC members though, so for us the Dining plan is the way to go. There is A LOT of food with this plan, but we do take advantage of the signature dining restaurants. I understand your point though, I think crunching the numbers and evaluating it the way you did makes paying OOP worth it for you.

 

[twokids0204]

If paying OOP for the DDP, I do not think it's worth the $$$.

The only way to make it pay off, is to get the most expensive things on the menu, every meal.

Sometimes, the $34.00 steak is not what you are in the mood for, when the $17.95 chicken parm would hit the spot.

Sometimes you may want to skip that extra dessert and grab a Mickey Bar later.

With that said however, I am a BIG FAN of free dining.

Actually I think I bolded the wrong part of that sentence, let me try again.

With that said however, I am a big fan of FREE (anything).

 

[twokids0204]

If paying OOP for the DDP, I do not think it's worth the $$$.

The only way to make it pay off, is to get the most expensive things on the menu, every meal.

Sometimes, the $34.00 steak is not what you are in the mood for, when the $17.95 chicken parm would hit the spot.

Sometimes you may want to skip that extra dessert and grab a Mickey Bar later.

With that said however, I am a BIG FAN of free dining.

Actually I think I bolded the wrong part of that sentence, let me try again.

With that said however, I am a big fan of FREE (anything).

With that said as well... if you DON'T take advantage of Free Dining, you can then take advantage of other discounts that may be offered, i.e. Resort discounts.

 

[AJRitz]

I think that you really can't make a generalization that a dining plan is always better/worse. It's very circumstance dependent. As a general rule, the larger your party and the more adults you have, the better deal a free dining discount becomes (because a room discount doesn't amortize over additional guests in the room like free dining does); and the more expensive the resort the better deal a room discount is.

We've done both the regular DDP and the QSDP. For us, under the plans as they existed this year, the QSDP fit the way we liked to tour better. We ate at table service restaurants on our first and last nights, and paid for those out of pocket. Quick Serve dining, with two snacks a day, was a great value. I'm not sure it would be as good a value next year, when QSDP drops down to one snack/day. We got the QSDP during a free dining discount. I considered upgrading us, but the trip was only 80 days away at the time we booked, so a lot of table service places we would have wanted to enjoy were already booked up. Ultimately, I think I'm glad upgrading didn't work out, because we used our time much more efficiently with the QSDP than with the DDP. Table service meals not only take longer for the meal themselves, but there's always the check-in and wait to be seated delay, and the time it takes to get to the restaurant from wherever you are (or the need to plan your days around your meals).

 

[baseballmickey]

We did the regular DDP for our last trip. It was our first time using it. I think it worked out for us for that trip. We used the last of our QS and snacks (3 of each for 3 of us) at DTD on the last day before we flew home. In addition to the DDP, I did buy some drinks and a couple of snacks OOP.

I personally loved the fact that I could order the most expensive thing on the menu. In the past I always chose something more economical and saved my "splurge" meal for only one night. This past trip I was able to get exactly what I wanted every night.

We are planning to buy APs for our next trip, and will give TIW a try.

In the future, once our ADRs are made, I think I'll pull up the menus, add up a possible price on what our meals would cost, and compare to see if it looks like it will be worth doing again.

I agree that it depends on many factors, but if you like to plan your meals, I think you can get a good idea if it's worth it for your family or not.

 

[disney67]

This is a great ? and I will say I might not be the greatest on this subject but this is my take of it . We are DVC members and when i stay on points I op not to get the DDP (REG) the 111 . Because we travel off property alot and with coupons and a good budget plan I can deffinetly save more off property .
The only time i have had the DDP was twice once was free not turning that down and the other was when i had a daddy daughter trip and i thought it was not worth it at all , but that is my fault for not using it properly and going to high end meals cause daughter like the buffet and CS meals more .

 

[AirGoofy]

Totals. My total OOP cost was $1293.45.

From the list above, there are 11 TS credits, 3 QS credits, and 9 Snack Credits.

For the regular DP, the cost would be $695.76 (is there tax on that?), but I went over on TS and snacks. So, if you added in $600 more from Narcoossee’s, SOA, and CRT breakfast, then it is more.

If I went the DxDP, the cost would be $1211.76, and I need to eat more meals and snacks.

DW pointed out that the 1211.76 total neither includes alcohol nor tip on all those TS restaurants. So, it looks like I came out ahead this way. Plus, as others mention, there is a lot of time spent eating dinners. I don't mind to take the time on non-park days.

 

[IamTrike]

sounds like it worked out very well for you. I had to go with "other". We've done DDP on some trips, but its not a must. For us there are a lot of variables so we evaluate it every trip.

 

[afwdwfan]

We are going QSDP this time. We will eat a few TS meals, but pay out of pocket. I just don't like dining plan for those meals, because it basically dictates what you can or can't order if you want to get value out of the plan and you have to eat too many TS meals which takes up valuable time. I want to be able to go in and just get an appetizer if that's all we want.

QSDP on the other hand, I do appreciate. We are going to be eating QS meals and snacks anyway. I like having that dining plan for those credits. I feel like we get our money's worth out of it and I appreciate the convenience of having it already covered.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I've gotten the dining plan twice, but only when it was offered for free. I doubt I'd pay out of pocket for it--too much of a cheapskate. I'd just bring food with me or eat at some quick-service places instead.

 

[IamTrike]

We are going QSDP this time. We will eat a few TS meals, but pay out of pocket. I just don't like dining plan for those meals, because it basically dictates what you can or can't order if you want to get value out of the plan and you have to eat too many TS meals which takes up valuable time. I want to be able to go in and just get an appetizer if that's all we want.

QSDP on the other hand, I do appreciate. We are going to be eating QS meals and snacks anyway. I like having that dining plan for those credits. I feel like we get our money's worth out of it and I appreciate the convenience of having it already covered.

This is a great ? and I will say I might not be the greatest on this subject but this is my take of it . We are DVC members and when i stay on points I op not to get the DDP (REG) the 111 . Because we travel off property alot and with coupons and a good budget plan I can deffinetly save more off property .
The only time i have had the DDP was twice once was free not turning that down and the other was when i had a daddy daughter trip and i thought it was not worth it at all , but that is my fault for not using it properly and going to high end meals cause daughter like the buffet and CS meals more .

Both of these make a lot of sense. One variable that doesn't seem to get taken into account when people calculate the value of dining plans is if you will have a car, and how much time you plan to spend off property. I think for us the dining plan becomes an even better value as our kids get older and we can spend more time in the parks. During the past couple trips our typically has us at a park from Rope drop until a little after lunch and we usually get back to the parks around dinner. With that kind of schedule it would be easy to eat 1 or 2 meals a day outside the parks if we were trying to really save money.


Mark, I had to pay for the DDP on the last date trip with DW because I am too much of a cheapskate. She knew I would be fretting over money the whole trip if I was paying for everything OOP. By doing the dining plan we got to make ADR's at 3 places we typically wouldn't have tried with the kids and DW didn't have to deal with me trying to order a glass of water and the cheapest thing on the menu at every place. Of course on our up and coming date trip el cheapo won out so we are going sans dining plan.

 

[jbschafer]

... and DW didn't have to deal with me trying to order a glass of water and the cheapest thing on the menu at every place. Of course on our up and coming date trip el cheapo won out so we are going sans dining plan.

We have only done the QSDP once (the second time will be on our trip in December). Both times it was part of free dining so it was a no brainer.

Like PP I am cheap and inclined to order the cheapest thing off the menu (or the biggest thing and hoping we can share between two people). I like the freeing nature of not paying attention to prices and grabbing that second (or third) Dole Whip and not worrying about it. Of course if I had to pay full price for the plan I probably wouldn't get my money's worth either.

 

[trennr]

I like the Standard DDP...close 2nd is the QSDP.

Though with prices increasing...seems less and less a value.

I kinda like the system they have out in Disneyland...where the plan is for a specific number of meals/snacks verses based on length of stay.

I do like the conveniance of having it all paid for up front though (less tips).

TIW...I do not like because of the forced 18% gratuity...do not have it...as I'm not an AP holder...but just don't like an impossed charge like that.

 

[AJRitz]

I like the Standard DDP...close 2nd is the QSDP.

Though with prices increasing...seems less and less a value.

I kinda like the system they have out in Disneyland...where the plan is for a specific number of meals/snacks verses based on length of stay.

I do like the conveniance of having it all paid for up front though (less tips).

TIW...I do not like because of the forced 18% gratuity...do not have it...as I'm not an AP holder...but just don't like an impossed charge like that.

Except that, if you look closely, the Disneyland program doesn't really work like that. The Disneyland plan only covers a set dollar amount per meal, and you have to pay the difference if you spend more. And there's no refund if you don't spend all of the voucher amount you've purchased. There's absolutely NO benefit to the Disneyland program.

 

[trennr]

Except that, if you look closely, the Disneyland program doesn't really work like that. The Disneyland plan only covers a set dollar amount per meal, and you have to pay the difference if you spend more. And there's no refund if you don't spend all of the voucher amount you've purchased. There's absolutely NO benefit to the Disneyland program.

He's the details man.

Guess what I was truly thinking would be a blend of the 2 programs... Buy a WDW DDP with Credits (not Vouchers) for x# TS credits and x# QS credits and x# snacks. Or even purchase on a per credit basis for the uber-planner.

Total "new" non-existing idea.

 

[cj9200]

Never tried the dining plan and never will. Some people love it, I absolutely hate it. Especially now with the changes in how the plan works. It used to be a much better deal.

The biggest one is that in order to maximize the benefits of the DDP your vacation has to be centered around food. “Sorry honey, we can’t do X because we need to get to Y because if we miss it, we loose money we already paid.”

Too much food. If you are not overly hungry you have to order (and then try to eat) everything that you get on the plan because you don’t want to skip it knowing you already paid for it.

I love a good steak. Give me a great piece of cow and I am happy. But there are times I want something else. Do I maximize my value by ordering a big hunk of steak when I really want roasted chicken just because it is the most expensive item on the menu?

Free dinning is not free. You need to pay rack rate which can be much higher than another rate that is also available.

Because of the dining plan the menus are dumbed down and almost exactly the same anywhere you go. It also makes it harder to get a reservation because of the problem of people making multiple reservations and not canceling them.

I understand the convenience of having your meals prepaid. I heard other people put the cost of the dining pan on a prepaid card. That way when you arrive your meals are already paid. You can splurge and enjoy what you want when you want. Maybe even have money left over.

Wish they never came up with this idea. If you can get the TIW card do it. It is a much better deal. The discount includes adult beverages, and the price for the card could be paid off in just a couple of meals. I know a lot of people can’t which is a shame. Another reason to move to Florida.

 

[jbschafer]

Free dinning is not free. You need to pay rack rate which can be much higher than another rate that is also available.

It isn't free. But that doesn't still make it a bargain in the right situation. As a PP pointed out this all depends on the situation.

For my trip in December we have booked two rooms at Pop. The rack rate is $95/105 per room per night during our stay. We are getting five adult and two kids QSDS plans with our "free dining" Even if I ate no snacks and skimped and saved and ate EVERY meal off property at McDonalds I'm pretty sure that my costs would be 80-100 a day for my meals. The discount at Pop wouldn't make up for that. I save money taking their "free" food and gain the luxury of eating on site at my desire (that's what I like about QS - no ADRs)

Now I DO sympathize with the "dumbed down" menu conundrum. Disney is in a bind on that. What's the incentive to serve good quality food if you are giving it away with no real profit. Having said that, we have found that by paying attention to where we eat we can still find good choices.

 

[disney67]

Both of these make a lot of sense. One variable that doesn't seem to get taken into account when people calculate the value of dining plans is if you will have a car, and how much time you plan to spend off property. I think for us the dining plan becomes an even better value as our kids get older and we can spend more time in the parks. During the past couple trips our typically has us at a park from Rope drop until a little after lunch and we usually get back to the parks around dinner. With that kind of schedule it would be easy to eat 1 or 2 meals a day outside the parks if we were trying to really save money.


Mark, I had to pay for the DDP on the last date trip with DW because I am too much of a cheapskate. She knew I would be fretting over money the whole trip if I was paying for everything OOP. By doing the dining plan we got to make ADR's at 3 places we typically wouldn't have tried with the kids and DW didn't have to deal with me trying to order a glass of water and the cheapest thing on the menu at every place. Of course on our up and coming date trip el cheapo won out so we are going sans dining plan.

Im going to say im with you on the water !!!
but we always get a car and i will say i cannot get half the restaurants that are in the wdw area here in NY . and alot of my sit down meals do not also take as long as some of the sit down restaurants on property usually we go late to eat so it usually is in and out and the biggest drive is like tops 10-15 minutes .
And the other big thing about this topic which is the reg DDP to QS my biggest thing if i was paying is that the reg plan is like 10.00 more so to me if I was going to pick one i would have to pick the reg dinning plan to me you get more bang for the buck