KellyHonos
DisneyDivaxo
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2018
DH and I went for 2 weeks last fall for our 25th anniversary trip. First week also included our DD for her senior trip. We always stay off site and we were getting APs. I told DH I really wanted to pretend we had a dining plan this trip and budget the money for. So, we budgeted $150/day for the 2, plus, I think $50 a day for the week DD was there. With that, we purchased TIW, paid for some of our daughter's friend's meals, did a tour at EPCOT, dined wherever we wanted (including Shula's on our anniversary, the Luau, and a few other pricey meals). We also bought several souvenirs (we don't typically buy any) and I think we bought a couple of t-shirts and custom buttons pre-trip out of that money. I didn't worry about our budget at all, AND we still had money left over, which we put toward our Jan. trip. We did carry snacks and drinks into the park with us, as we always do and we don't drink alcohol. We would have spent way more money with a dining plan, or not done all those extras.
The general consensus seems to be that going the no dining plan route is more cost efficient (if you don't need all that food and won't be doing character meals) but also takes a certain amount of budgeting to make sure you have enough to afford meals for x amount of days.