disney dining plan for a family of 5...

[Disney Family 5]

I am breaking down our total for our upcoming trip and have some dining plan questions. For 5 of us-me, DH , 10, 6, and 3- it is going to be 892.96 for 5 days.

We will be getting our own breakfast, so this would be a lunch and dinner thing. Do you all think this is really worth this much extra $$? Does it cover tips and taxes at each meal?

Do you just pick anything on the menu? I guess I don't have enough details to make sure this is right for us. Last year the meals that were really expensive were The Brown Derby, Nine Dragons, stuff like that. But, I don't remember any of them being over $100.00. Can someone please clarify and help me out with this? I tried to pull up the rest. that are on the plan, and I can't get them to come up!!

If this is not 100% worth it, I would rather use the $$ for other parts of the vacation---like my airfare!!!

HELP!!!!

 

[Disney Family 5]

okay--I just read the dining plan FAQ and answered some of my own ?s!!!Ha!!

I guess what I want is some one who has done this to say Yes do it!! Or No, it was a waste for us!! My oldest is 10, so he HAS to order off the adult menu? And we pay $37.99 a day for him-right? I want to make sure I understand all this!! Thanks guys!!

 

[formernyer]

Given the ages of your kids, it will almost certainly be worth it unless you weren't planning on eating in the parks without it.

You'll most likely be able to cover a few breakfasts with the plan, in addition to lunch and dinner. If you ordered 5 meals (one per person) you'd have WAY too much food and you'd be wasting it. My recommendation would be to order 3 adult meals and share with the younger kids. The servers will be more than happy to bring you extra plates.

Each TS meal you order comes with an appetizer (some of which are large enough to be a small meal), an entree, a dessert, and a beverage. The CS meals are a bit smaller, but some places offer huge CS meals as well, so you should also be ok with just 3 meals split 5 ways with the CS meals. Your leftover credits can be used to purchase breakfasts...no need to worry about the leftover credits being "kid's" credits...they can be used for adult meals. The only time you'll be unable to use the younger kid's credits for adult meals is if you try to order more than 3 meals at a time.

If you're not interested in meal-sharing, you can pay for kid's meals for the younger kids OOP (since they're only about $4 to $5 each) and then use those kid's credits at a later time to purchase adult meals.

Note - you can't meal-share at buffets (which includes just about all of the character meals). You'll need to use 5 credits at those meals.

 

[formernyer]

My oldest is 10, so he HAS to order off the adult menu? And we pay $37.99 a day for him-right? I want to make sure I understand all this!! Thanks guys!!

Yes, he will cost $37.99, but his plan should be enough food to also feed at least one of your younger kids as well.

He does not have to order off the the adult menu, but even if he orders from the kid's menu he'll still be entitled to an adult appetizer and an adult dessert. In addition, most places are apparently pretty accomodating if you tell them that he doesn't like the adult choices, but would like an adult-sized portion of a kid's menu item instead. So you might be able, for example, to order chicken fingers but you'd get 5 or 6 instead of just 3.

 

[TSM1993]

On TS you get an app, meal, soda, and dessert, plus tax and tip
On CS you get a meal, soda, and dessert includes tax.
Snack is a soda,box of popcorn, and certain other items not sure heard rice krispies mickeys but not sure usually around 2.50.

This is my first time using ddp but did some fiquring on a couple of places we are going.

LTT ( Liberty Tree Tavern) Dinner TS - $27.99 x18% tip from what I read here thats what they get ( forget tax amount)= $33.02 doesnt include CS or snack yet which means if you add the 2.50 to 33.02 = 35.52 which means your CS is almost free. Again not including tax on any fiqure but tax is included in dining plan.



W.C.C. (Whispering Canyon Cafe)
22.49 Skillet
4.05 18% tip
$26.54 Total need to add tax yet to this total
2.50 Snack
29.04 Total dinner and snack
8.95 left Which CS will take up plus also doesnt include the tax which is paid for already by DDP

Ohana ( dinner)

$25.99 dinner
4.68 Tip
30.67 total
2.50 snack
35.35 total with snack and dinner
only need 2.64 to use on CS to get your 37.99 worth

Hope I helped and didint confuse you further.

 

[formernyer]

Does it cover tips and taxes at each meal?

I forgot to answer this part of your question. Yes, tax (6.5%) and 18% gratuity are included in the plan. The tax and tip are based on the entire meal purchase, not just the $37.99 that you pay. If you "spend" $50 on a 1 credit TS meal, you're actually getting more like $63 value...and that's just the TS meal alone. You also get the CS meal and the snack on the plan.

 

[formernyer]

On TS you get an app, meal, soda, and dessert, plus tax and tip
On CS you get a meal, soda, and dessert includes tax.
Snack is a soda,box of popcorn, and certain other items not sure heard rice krispies mickeys but not sure usually around 2.50.

"Soda" can actually be any soft drink and, in some restaurants, a milkshake or smoothie.

Snacks include a frozen ice-cream novelty or fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single serving box), single piece of whole fruit, single serving Grab Bag of Frito-Lay's Chips, 20 oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or 24 oz. Dasani Water, medium fountain soft drink or apple juice. Most resorts also include Mickey Crispy Treats. Many resorts will allow other (better) items, but it's very hit or miss and depends on the individual cashier.

Breakfast credits do not include dessert. Breakfast TS meals might not include appetizer (Disney offers conflicting literature on this).

This is my first time using ddp but did some fiquring on a couple of places we are going.

LTT ( Liberty Tree Tavern) Dinner TS - $27.99 x18% tip from what I read here thats what they get ( forget tax amount)= $33.02 doesnt include CS or snack yet which means if you add the 2.50 to 33.02 = 35.52 which means your CS is almost free. Again not including tax on any fiqure but tax is included in dining plan.

Ohana ( dinner)

$25.99 dinner
4.68 Tip
30.67 total
2.50 snack
35.35 total with snack and dinner
only need 2.64 to use on CS to get your 37.99 worth

Hope I helped and didint confuse you further.

These are good examples for a worst-case scenario on the plan. I don't mean "worst" in terms of the restaurants you chose. I'm referring to the cost-benefit analysis. Buffets tend to be the cheapest TS meals. If you dine in a sit-down restaurant like Le Cellier or Coral Reef you could end up "spending" $50+ on your TS meal alone.

 

[formernyer]

W.C.C. (Whispering Canyon Cafe)
22.49 Skillet
4.05 18% tip
$26.54 Total need to add tax yet to this total
2.50 Snack
29.04 Total dinner and snack
8.95 left Which CS will take up plus also doesnt include the tax which is paid for already by DDP.

You forgot beverage and dessert (plus tax/tip on those items) which would add approximately $10 to your total. In addition, a few people have also managed to get an appetizer with the skillet (although most have not been able to).

 

[disneymom3]

I think TSMs point was that even if you don't always order a dessert and app, it can still be a good deal.


Disney Family--I think you should do some thinking about what restaurants you want to eat at and evaluate from there. This site will help you a lot www.allearsnet.com ON there, under Dining, Deb has all of the restaurant menus with prices. There is also a page that lists all of the restaurants on the plan with click thrus directly to the menus. It is very helpful. I have gone through this same thing and have waffled on whether we would get it or not having one child over age 10. The main thing is that if you go to buffets or all you care to eat dinners your 10 yo is going to be charged as an adult, so make sure you work that into your calculations. I think the best way to do this is to go through the menus and make a list with prices of what you probably would eat. Or choose a midrange item for everyone. If you would normally eat apps and dessert include those otherwise don't. Don't forget drinks, taxes and tip of 18%. Then see how much you would spend average on your trip. Also def take into account sharing counter service meals. My kids usually do pretty well with the TS meal sizes, but the counter service really go to waste if we don't have them share. (Except the mac and cheese in the Land--they love that stuff and all have to get their own.)

It's complicated especially with those borderline kids. I know in my calculations we will have to take into account that at some places--like The Land--DD will def want a kids meal so we will be buying that OOP and using the credit for a breakfast along the way as well as a few others I am sure. There will also be TS meals that she will get the kids meal and our plan will be the same, to save that TS and use it at a 2 credit place.

Good luck. Be sure to check out those menus. That is the best way to know for sure.

 

[Zoemakes5]

I would say "it depends".
Could you go to the parks and spend less money than what you do with the plan, YES. You could do all counter service, you could split meals, you could eat some of your meals outside the park, heck you could eat at DTD at the McD's there.
However, IF you would likely plan to eat at a TS restaurant or character meal more than twice during your stay, then yes, it would be worth it. If your family is such that you could share meals, then yes it's worth it. If you would already want to do TS each day, OR if you think that you'd like to pay a bit more so that you could do TS each day, then YES it's worth it.
For most sit down restaurants, Disney or not, I've been hard pressed to be able to purchase a drink (non-alcohol), appetizer (each not one for the whole family) entree and desert for less than $30 per adult. A good example, recently we went to Houlihans (not top of the line, but kinda nice). DS, DD, and other DS each had a kids meal. I had one alcholic bev. and DH had one coke, we didn't have appetizers at all, but we did have a dessert that DH and I shared. The bill came up to $75, my alcohol was 7 of it.
The real "catch" as to whether it's a good deal for you is whether you'd be likely to eat TS each day, or whether you'd want to do table service each day "if you could afford it". For us, I think once a day (either breakfast lunch or dinner) would make sense. A character breakfast and off to the park, the German Beergarden for lunch or one of the MGM restaurants for dinner isn't a stretch.
Breaking it down, 178+ change per day for a family of five on vacation isn't too bad. But, I've done Disney for a lot less. I CAN do Disney for a lot less. For me, many times adding the dining plan would mean not going. I CAN feed the family for about $80-100 a day, if I need to. But, that would mean NO sit down dinners, CS or fast food only. And, you do have to stay on site to get the dining plan, and for us, sometimes staying on site would mean no trip.

 

[karla63]

Where could you use the CS or TS for a breakfast meal? Not really interested in any of the character meals!!

thanks

 

[Zoemakes5]

Where could you use the CS or TS for a breakfast meal? Not really interested in any of the character meals!!

thanks

You can use a CS or TS credit for any meals, breakfast included. So any non-character sit down or any counter service that provides breakfast will work. As an example, I believe Boma, Whispering Canyon, and the Maya Grill are non-character all you can eat breakfast buffet (according to Allearsnet). There are others, like Rainforest Cafe, that are sit down and not all you can eat. I don't know all the counter service locations, but I would think that any that serves breakfast would qualify.

 

[3mousehouse]

I am breaking down our total for our upcoming trip and have some dining plan questions. For 5 of us-me, DH , 10, 6, and 3- it is going to be 892.96 for 5 days.

We will be getting our own breakfast, so this would be a lunch and dinner thing. Do you all think this is really worth this much extra $$? Does it cover tips and taxes at each meal?

Do you just pick anything on the menu? I guess I don't have enough details to make sure this is right for us. Last year the meals that were really expensive were The Brown Derby, Nine Dragons, stuff like that. But, I don't remember any of them being over $100.00. Can someone please clarify and help me out with this? I tried to pull up the rest. that are on the plan, and I can't get them to come up!!

If this is not 100% worth it, I would rather use the $$ for other parts of the vacation---like my airfare!!!

HELP!!!!

We have a family similar to yours (DH, DS 9, DD 7, DD4 and me) and we used the dining plan this spring break and saved over $400. Some of that is due to the volume of desserts you get. We usually don't do dessert at lunch (much less one for each of us) and at dinner we would normally split 1 or 2 between the 5 of us. Even if you took out those desserts, we would have still saved money. And it was fun trying so many different things - afterall, you are on vacation . I posted my dining reviews on 2 threads in the restaurants forum if you want to see what we ate. Have a great trip either way !

 

[formernyer]

There are others, like Rainforest Cafe, that are sit down and not all you can eat.

Rainforest Cafe is not on the DDP

I don't know all the counter service locations, but I would think that any that serves breakfast would qualify.

You can get CS breakfast at all of the resorts and several park locations. It is generally not a good value for the credit, unless you shared a bunch of meals to conserve "leftover" credits for breakfast. At breakfast you won't get a "dessert." You're basically limited to a combo meal and a drink. For example, you can get a Mickey Waffle with bacon combo and a drink, but that's it. You used to be able to add a pastry, muffin, yogurt, fruit, etc for "dessert" but not anymore. If you use a credit for CS breakfast, it's going to only be about a $3 to $5 meal.

I used some credits for CS breakfast at the resort because I shared lunches/dinners and used the saved credits for breakfast. One way that I tried to get a little more value out of the deal was to get refrigerated bottled beverages as the drink. It was ok to include a 22oz powerade, nesquik, OJ, etc. with the DDP credit. I used those credits for powerades (which I took home for my son's baseball games) and we drank from our refillable mug during breakfast.

 

[formernyer]

We have a family similar to yours (DH, DS 9, DD 7, DD4 and me) and we used the dining plan this spring break and saved over $400. Some of that is due to the volume of desserts you get. We usually don't do dessert at lunch (much less one for each of us) and at dinner we would normally split 1 or 2 between the 5 of us. Even if you took out those desserts, we would have still saved money. And it was fun trying so many different things - afterall, you are on vacation . I posted my dining reviews on 2 threads in the restaurants forum if you want to see what we ate. Have a great trip either way !

You were in a perfect position for the DDP...it's a great value for the 9-year old and 7-year old. It's a little harder for the OP because she needs to justify spending $38 per day instead of $11 per day on her 10-year old. I still think it's probably worth it to her if she plans to use the 10-year old's adult meals to feed the two younger children, but it definitely requires a lot more analysis than it would when you're dealing with three kids under 10.

 

[disneymom3]

Where could you use the CS or TS for a breakfast meal? Not really interested in any of the character meals!!

thanks

Kona and Concourse Steakhouse (even though that seems ood) have breakfast menus and no characters. Trails End over in Fort Wilderness has a breakfast buffet, the Grand Floridian Cafe has a very nice breakfast menu as does the Yacht Club Galley.

My favorite of those would have to be Kona. Of course, it's just kind of a favorite of mine. We have always had awesome service and great meals there.

 

[Thmacs1]

I don't think your math is quite right.
3 adults $38 x 5 days=$570
2 kids@$12 x 5 days=$120
total$690

We just returned using DDP for the first time with our sons 15 & 11. We had a great time. It costs us about $150 day to have the plan. I figure the way our family eats we would have averaged that per day. I guess it really depends on how much your family enjoys dining out and spending time in resturants. We generally have a great time dining out as a family and the DDP gave us freedom to eat whatever we felt like that day regaurdless of cost. I can't say I feel the plan saved us money because we would not normally order that much food. We had a great time though and we look forward to doing it again.

 

[Disney Family 5]

I don't think your math is quite right.
3 adults $38 x 5 days=$570
2 kids@$12 x 5 days=$120
total$690

We just returned using DDP for the first time with our sons 15 & 11. We had a great time. It costs us about $150 day to have the plan. I figure the way our family eats we would have averaged that per day. I guess it really depends on how much your family enjoys dining out and spending time in resturants. We generally have a great time dining out as a family and the DDP gave us freedom to eat whatever we felt like that day regaurdless of cost. I can't say I feel the plan saved us money because we would not normally order that much food. We had a great time though and we look forward to doing it again.

That is what I got!! But they quoted me that price. So, maybe it's something extra that I am not seeing. We love to eat out as well!! That is part of the Disney experience for us. We do a diff. country everynight and look at it this way- Even if it's $80 or more for that meal, we are experiencing that country without leaving the US!! You know? So, that is justified! We usually don't order the appet./desserts because of the cost- but if it's included, we may do it this time.

I will have to go to the website (allears) and work it out. My 10 yo son can sometimes eat a lot- so, I just need to do the math I guess.

Thanks for all your input and for answering me back so quickly! It would be worth it to a degree just because of the tax and tip being included. We wouldn't have to deal with that!