How much money do you save by going of the Dp?

[robinb]

The sweet spot for the DDP is families with children under 10 that go to a lot of character meals or AYCA buffets. A list of the pricing for all character meals is found here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/buffet-character-shows-aycte-pricing.3108466/

Let's use a day with dinner at Chef Mickey's as an example:
DDP = $177 for 2 adults and 1 child
TS Meal = Chef Mickey (Adults are $53.25 and children are $25.95) = $132
QS Meal = Average about $15 per adult and $7 per child = $37
2 Snacks $ 4 each for 3 people = $24

You're at $193 before you even add alcohol and the mug. Score!

Let's say that instead of Chef Mickey's you go to Tony's for dinner. Their prices range in the low-mid $20's for entrees. Let's say that you spend $25 + $8 for dessert. That's only $35 with tax. the kid's meal is only $10.

Let's use a day with dinner at Tony's as an example:
DDP = $177 for 2 adults and 1 child
TS Meal = Tony's @ $35 per adult and $10 per child = $80
QS Meal = Average about $15 per adult and $7 per child = $37
2 Snacks $ 4 each for 3 people = $24

You're at $141 before you even add alcohol and the mug. If you have alcohol at both meals you would be able to break even.

OP, if you plan on a LOT of character meals or other buffets, the DDP will probably work out OK for you. If all the adults have an alcoholic drink with every DDP meal you might also break even.

 

[Dreamingoffairydust]

Hey guys! Really sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I think I'm just going to have to go through the menu prices and add up what we're likely to order vs the cost of the dining plan. We're probably going to do a few character meals so going off of the replies that might make it worth it. Thanks for all the help- I really appreciate it. And sorry again for taking so long to respond.

 

[Marionnette]

I believe that is just the dinner. The lunch is still QS.

Unpopular food for thought: I go on vacation to unwind and not think. I plan ahead for months and then enjoy the fruits when we are there. Yes, the DDP can cost more. You can find threads that nickel and dime everything and a million reasons why not to have the DDP. However, we've used it before and I love it. Why? I like ordering what I want to order instead of looking at the prices and worrying about the cost because I only budgeted for a certain amount. We try to maximize the TS credits (using 2 for HDDMR and for an early breakfast reservation). We have snack credits left over every.single.time. You know what? It's fan-freaking-tastic to pull out a Disney snack a week after you've left, so we spend them on ones we can take home and eat later.

Now I can't speak to the DxDP because THAT'S a lot of food and I'd need a wheelbarrow to get around.

And I am just the opposite. When we have done a dining plan in the past, I spent a lot of time thinking about whether the meal my daughter purchased met the "break-even" point and what I would have order the next time to make up the "deficit". I disliked keeping track of how many credits were remaining and planning how they would get spent. And maybe I'm an outlier, but I feel that if I want a bunch of Disney snacks to take home, I'll just buy what I want instead of seeking the ones with the purple and white DDP label.

However, your take on the dining plans is why they are very popular with a lot of guests.

 

[Dreamingoffairydust]

And I am just the opposite. When we have done a dining plan in the past, I spent a lot of time thinking about whether the meal my daughter purchased met the "break-even" point and what I would have order the next time to make up the "deficit". I disliked keeping track of how many credits were remaining and planning how they would get spent. And maybe I'm an outlier, but I feel that if I want a bunch of Disney snacks to take home, I'll just buy what I want instead of seeking the ones with the purple and white DDP label.

However, your take on the dining plans is why they are very popular with a lot of guests.

That's another reason I was thinking of going off the plan. I also like the convenience and not having to worry about prices, but at the same time after looking at our receipts at end of the meal I realized we were at best barely breaking even. Plus there was the stress of using all of our credits. Our flight was really delayed our first day and we ended up missing a meal, so we had an extra meal credit. Trying to figure out a way to use that credit, plus all of our snack credits (meals left us too full to have snacks) added unnecessary stress.

 

[imbatman]

That's another reason I was thinking of going off the plan. I also like the convenience and not having to worry about prices, but at the same time after looking at our receipts at end of the meal I realized we were at best barely breaking even. Plus there was the stress of using all of our credits. Our flight was really delayed our first day and we ended up missing a meal, so we had an extra meal credit. Trying to figure out a way to use that credit, plus all of our snack credits (meals left us too full to have snacks) added unnecessary stress.

If you plan out where you're going to eat ahead of time (make reservations where necessary), you don't need to keep track of the credits. I understand about missing a meal, but that is pretty easy to plug into a breakfast. The beauty of the DDP? It works for some and not for others. I like the flexibility of not being forced into it one way or the other.

 

[Dreamingoffairydust]

If you plan out where you're going to eat ahead of time (make reservations where necessary), you don't need to keep track of the credits. I understand about missing a meal, but that is pretty easy to plug into a breakfast. The beauty of the DDP? It works for some and not for others. I like the flexibility of not being forced into it one way or the other.

The more I think about it the more I realize I would like being off of it better. For example, the dining plan lets you get an entrée and a dessert at every meal. But what if I want an appetizer instead? Or what if I want to go somewhere else for dessert? Not using the dining plan would give a lot more flexibility, but unfortunately I can't make my decision based on that. Looks like I'm going to have to do some serious number crunching to see what works out to be the better value.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Hey guys! Really sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I think I'm just going to have to go through the menu prices and add up what we're likely to order vs the cost of the dining plan. We're probably going to do a few character meals so going off of the replies that might make it worth it. Thanks for all the help- I really appreciate it. And sorry again for taking so long to respond.

This is a pretty good tool and was pretty accurate for our last trip.

www.distripplanner.com

We haven't used the DDP the last two trips. Once because we did an agency exclusive and couldn't buy the DDP and another time because we rented points and I didn't want to purchase the DDP. I would probably only ever do the DDP again if we got it for "free" since there is 4 of us, all Disney adults, and it would save us tons of money over a room discount IF we were in one room at a moderate or value.

Last trip we were there 10 nights and did 13 QS, 10 TS (including character buffet, Cali Grill, CRT, Ohana, BOG, etc), lots of snacks, two nights of drinking/eating around the world and Trader Sams one night and we came out cheaper than the DDP. We ate what we wanted when we wanted and still came out ahead.

 

[Darcy03231]

This is a pretty good tool and was pretty accurate for our last trip.

www.distripplanner.com

We haven't used the DDP the last two trips. Once because we did an agency exclusive and couldn't buy the DDP and another time because we rented points and I didn't want to purchase the DDP. I would probably only ever do the DDP again if we got it for "free" since there is 4 of us, all Disney adults, and it would save us tons of money over a room discount IF we were in one room at a moderate or value.

Last trip we were there 10 nights and did 13 QS, 10 TS (including character buffet, Cali Grill, CRT, Ohana, BOG, etc), lots of snacks, two nights of drinking/eating around the world and Trader Sams one night and we came out cheaper than the DDP. We ate what we wanted when we wanted and still came out ahead.

Thank you for posting this. I used the calculator to price out a trip with a 5 year old next spring. Since we're going heavy on the character meals (one a day) it estimates the DDP will save around $200. I was on the fence about getting it, but now I will buy it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Thank you for posting this. I used the calculator to price out a trip with a 5 year old next spring. Since we're going heavy on the character meals (one a day) it estimates the DDP will save around $200. I was on the fence about getting it, but now I will buy it.

The dining plan was so worth it when my kids were small and we would do 4-5 or more character meals a trip. We would save so much money!

 

[Darcy03231]

The dining plan was so worth it when my kids were small and we would do 4-5 or more character meals a trip. We would save so much money!

I haven't bought it in years since it doesn't make sense for the way we normally eat, but those character meals get expensive! Since this is probably the only time she'll go when she young I wanted to get in as many as possible. I also find it saves time in the long run as we're not waiting in line for pictures/autographs.

 

[GreatLakes]

That's a good way to do it, too. I don't do it that way because I don't want to be stuck with money tied up in a gift card. While my kids were younger and we were making the trip at least once a year I wouldn't mind as we'd use it up on the next trip, but now that they're grown and gone it can be years between WDW trips. I just pay OOP and use my CC (to get the points) and pay it off when we get home.

In addition to putting the money on a Disney Gift card the same predetermined amount can also be loaded on a Visa or Master Card gift card. If you have a local credit union these gift cards have fees as low as $2 to do a one time load.

This is more a general statement to anyone with the same concerns as opposed to the PP I quoted but wanted to keep the context in my reply.

 

[kydisneyfans]

There are instances where I travel to Orlando myself(usually for RunDisney events), and the family joins me the next day. I normally spend the night in a cheap resort or a 1 night in a studio that isn't using many DVC points. I will do the dining plan 1 night to keep the mug for the rest of the week. That will give me a nice dinner, breakfast I buy since it's not a good value on the dining plan, then will likely do a late lunch, leaving the snacks for later then 2nd day. My last tally was $69 in food consumed for the $49 dining plan cost, plus had the mug for the week.

 

[Dreamingoffairydust]

This is a pretty good tool and was pretty accurate for our last trip.

www.distripplanner.com

We haven't used the DDP the last two trips. Once because we did an agency exclusive and couldn't buy the DDP and another time because we rented points and I didn't want to purchase the DDP. I would probably only ever do the DDP again if we got it for "free" since there is 4 of us, all Disney adults, and it would save us tons of money over a room discount IF we were in one room at a moderate or value.

Last trip we were there 10 nights and did 13 QS, 10 TS (including character buffet, Cali Grill, CRT, Ohana, BOG, etc), lots of snacks, two nights of drinking/eating around the world and Trader Sams one night and we came out cheaper than the DDP. We ate what we wanted when we wanted and still came out ahead.

Yeah, I just used it. I out in that we would have one appetizer and one dessert for each meal and put in the restaurants I've been thinking of going to next. Even with two character meals, the calculator has the dining plan as being 100 more than OOP, plus I wouldn't be using all my QS credits, PLUS I would still have to pay 150 because I had too many TS. Thanks so much, I think this has pretty much made my decision.

 

[robinb]

There are instances where I travel to Orlando myself(usually for RunDisney events), and the family joins me the next day. I normally spend the night in a cheap resort or a 1 night in a studio that isn't using many DVC points. I will do the dining plan 1 night to keep the mug for the rest of the week. That will give me a nice dinner, breakfast I buy since it's not a good value on the dining plan, then will likely do a late lunch, leaving the snacks for later then 2nd day. My last tally was $69 in food consumed for the $49 dining plan cost, plus had the mug for the week.

We have done that too. We stayed at BCV for a night because we took an earlier flight. We got the DDP and enjoyed it for the two days (1 day DDP, but used on both check in and check out). We then went to AKV and used the mug there. I'm a little blurry on if the mug just worked or if I had to show them my receipt for the mug to get it activated to AKL.

 

[SharonZ]

I eat where I want, what I want, and when I want. When I had the dining plans, I felt like I was planning my day around my meals trying to make sure I got my money's worth - for me its cheaper to eat OOP. Sometimes I don't feel like a full meal, maybe drinks and appetizers, sometimes snacks throughout the day . . . I agree trying to price out where you want to eat and comparing it to a dining plan.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I eat where I want, what I want, and when I want. When I had the dining plans, I felt like I was planning my day around my meals trying to make sure I got my money's worth - for me its cheaper to eat OOP. Sometimes I don't feel like a full meal, maybe drinks and appetizers, sometimes snacks throughout the day . . . I agree trying to price out where you want to eat and comparing it to a dining plan.

Yes it's very freeing. I have a few lounges on my list to try while at WDW. I'm looking forward to less ADRs and eating what I want.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I have no idea how anyone can make the dining plan into a cost savings measure. It has been years and I'm sure the values have changed but I set up a system of linear equations using the different plans to solve for what they are charging for a snack, counter service, and table service credit. I don't have the results any longer but remember there was no way eating my natural way I could make the cost of the credits equal to or less than the cost of an out of pocket meal.

The only argument I've ever heard that almost makes sense is that it allows for the cost of dining to be predetermined. That is just lazy though. If you really want to have a fixed cost of dining go get a gift card with the equivalent of the dining plan on it and use that. When it is gone you are done eating but unless you make a point of eating the most expensive things at the most expensive restaurants you'll have money left on the card to put towards some other part of the trip.

I agree completely with this. I have even come home with all of the OOP costs of our meals and see if we would have saved money with the dining plan - and every time we would have lost money - in the hundreds of dollars. Pay OOP and you will save money.

 

[leebee]

I'm always tempted by the concept of the dining plan until I look at what it actually cost. For our last three Disney trips, I've kept accurate totals on all our meals. It's anywhere from $250-$400 cheaper for us to pay for our food than to use the dining plan... depending on where/what we eat. We are a breakfast in the room, QS lunch, TS dinner, one snack each family. (OR we share a QS breakfast, share a QS lunch, and each have a TS dinner and a snack).

Things that might change this? We no longer do character meals, but if we were to do them, it might be more cost-effective to have the dining plan. I also think that having an adult beverage as an option with lunch and dinner could make the dining plan more cost-effective, and I KNOW we'd take advantage of that, LOL! However... in our normal way of eating, we might not have a drink at lunch, and probably wouldn't have 2 snacks each (especially with a dessert included with the TS), so I still think we'd make out better paying OOP.

 

[Dreamingoffairydust]

I'm always tempted by the concept of the dining plan until I look at what it actually cost. For our last three Disney trips, I've kept accurate totals on all our meals. It's anywhere from $250-$400 cheaper for us to pay for our food than to use the dining plan... depending on where/what we eat. We are a breakfast in the room, QS lunch, TS dinner, one snack each family. (OR we share a QS breakfast, share a QS lunch, and each have a TS dinner and a snack).

Things that might change this? We no longer do character meals, but if we were to do them, it might be more cost-effective to have the dining plan. I also think that having an adult beverage as an option with lunch and dinner could make the dining plan more cost-effective, and I KNOW we'd take advantage of that, LOL! However... in our normal way of eating, we might not have a drink at lunch, and probably wouldn't have 2 snacks each (especially with a dessert included with the TS), so I still think we'd make out better paying OOP.

Looks like it will be cheaper for me to pay OOP too. Even with two character meals, having one TS and one QS meal each day plus two snacks (basically what you get on the dining plan) I save by paying OOP. I shudder to think how much extra money I spent on the DDP. Far too much food for one person any way

 

[NKHarris329]

There really is no one size fits all answer to this question.

For my family the Dining plan is a huge WASTE of money because we just don't eat that much. For breakfast we have food in the room (bagels cereal or something similar), we carry fruit snacks or granola to snack on at the park, often end up splitting meals, and don't really want to have a sit down meal every day. We do want a nice dinner but with young kids I never know if chicken nuggets are going to be the best ever or poison at any given meal (let alone something more exotic) so I'm not risking a bunch of fancy dinners.

Other families who tend to be bigger eaters, want a daily sit down, or want to eat the most expensive things at the most expensive places (on plan) will benefit more from a meal plan. Also if your really want or need to have a set budget this is the best way to make sure that happens.