The officially un-official tips and what we learned from our trip (All Star Sports)

[microscopes]

IMHO "Value" in the dining plan isn't just about dollars or saving money. It's about what benefits us greatest as a family. We are DVC and purchase the dining plan every time. Most of our TS meals are character meals because that is what we like, to us it's worth it. We would rather go to a character meal than wait in the hot sun or wait in line period to meet a fav character.

And this past year, with the introduction of the Star Wars meals, it was WELL worth it. Yes, we had to use two TS credits for our SW breakfast, but guess what? We didn't have to wait in line for my boys to see Darth Vader and Boba Fett, and to us that was priceless.

We also like the fact our DP is paid for up front and we have very minimal bills when we return from our trip. (Just paying for souvenirs and incidentals.)


OP you stated your DD was 8 month old. I would be interested to see how your opinions on Character Meals change in a couple of years.

You still haven't tackled the value aspect.

You could do those character meals for the same money, or LESS, out of pocket.

 

[twolittletinkerbells]

1) Why would you count drinks at ASsports when a drink cup is included? Take that money away.

2) The lunch dessert is where Disney also makes a lot of money. Many people dont eat the lunch dessert. You save that $5 x amount of people x amount of days on OOP typically.

3) highlight item??

4) Why would you count resort drinks when you have a resort cup?

You including about $15 worth of stuff that is nonsense and you know it.

When you are ordering oop you DO NOT get free drinks. Y must payfor them buddy.

 

[bjam12]

The heck with the money difference. If we didn't have the dining plan I would have to deal with my wife freaking out about the cost of each meal each day. If she can just order the plan it doesn't freak her out. We also wouldn't be doing a table service meal every day because the cost would also freak her out. You may think that is stupid but I'm the one married to her and if it helps keep her happy and able to enjoy the vacation then I don't care what anyone else thinks.

I think people that get so angry that other people use the DDP can't understand the peace of mind it can bring to others having that budgeted and paid for. Then they'll mention getting a prepaid card so it is all paid in advance and you don't have to worry about the budget. Oh no! How much is left on the card? I better get this cheap thing or skip that table service meal. Time to start yelling at the kids for not eating their expensive meal. No thanks. I'll just scan my magic band and get what I want. Same for everyone else in the family.

Yep. You just described my family.

 

[microscopes]

See post above this one. How you did this while ordering apps also is really weird. I would like to see the breakdown myself. But, saying this I only get DDP when its free because it doesnt work for my flexibility.

It's not that difficult.

It's basic math.

Disney calculates the dining plan pricing assuming youre ordering towards the top end of the menu (pricing wise).

You could order a $50 steak and $7 desert.

OR

You could order a $25 pasta meal, $10 appetizer AND a $7 desert for $15 less than the above option.

This isn't difficult. Its common sense and basic arithmetic.

 

[microscopes]

When you are ordering oop you DO NOT get free drinks. Y must payfor them buddy.

There is a cup -- ya know, the same one that comes with the dining plan, for $2.50 per day ..... and you get AS MANY DRINKS AS YOU WANT with it! I just came back, and thats how our whole group did it!

 

[flutterby3744]

I just calculated our food costs from our trip a week ago. We did the reg dining plan for our 4 "adult" 1 child family. For what we got, we broke even - almost exactly. This is the first time we've done the dining plan, and I must say I loved the ease and convenience. My DH struggles with sticker shock...big time. Even if we have a budget of say $200 for a meal, and the meal comes in at $185, he still has a small heart attack that we are paying that much. So for us, the DP was a win. He didn't have to die a little inside everytime a bill came.

Then again, I didn't go into it expecting to get a great deal. I expected to break even. I wasn't born yesterday, Disney isn't giving away anything for free!

Would we do it again? Possibly, for the convenience. Honestly, it is ALOT more food than we are used to. If we weren't on the dining plan we probably wouldn't have eaten nearly as much as we did....and we wouldn't have come home with 2 bags full of sugary snacks that my kids are now fighting over

 

[twolittletinkerbells]

1) Why would you count drinks at ASsports when a drink cup is included? Take that money away.

2) The lunch dessert is where Disney also makes a lot of money. Many people dont eat the lunch dessert. You save that $5 x amount of people x amount of days on OOP typically.

3) highlight item??

4) Why would you count resort drinks when you have a resort cup?

You including about $15 worth of stuff that is nonsense and you know it.

But your point is apples to apples disney makes money unless you buy the most expensive item. Apples to apples includes dessert, and you specifically stated you bought DESSERT and APPS.

 

[microscopes]

The heck with the money difference. If we didn't have the dining plan I would have to deal with my wife freaking out about the cost of each meal each day. If she can just order the plan it doesn't freak her out. We also wouldn't be doing a table service meal every day because the cost would also freak her out. You may think that is stupid but I'm the one married to her and if it helps keep her happy and able to enjoy the vacation then I don't care what anyone else thinks.

I think people that get so angry that other people use the DDP can't understand the peace of mind it can bring to others having that budgeted and paid for. Then they'll mention getting a prepaid card so it is all paid in advance and you don't have to worry about the budget. Oh no! How much is left on the card? I better get this cheap thing or skip that table service meal. Time to start yelling at the kids for not eating their expensive meal. No thanks. I'll just scan my magic band and get what I want. Same for everyone else in the family.

This is an issue about not being informed.

Inform your significant other that you aren't going to spend more money paying out of pocket.

Stick to the DDP "rules" and order. You'll most likely pay LESS.

 

[microscopes]

But your point is apples to apples disney makes money unless you buy the most expensive item. Apples to apples includes dessert, and you specifically stated you bought DESSERT and APPS.

What are you talking about? I stated 5 different things and you picked out ONE.

 

[iheartglaciers]

However, if you're doing free dining and have four adults in a room the math is a lot different. You're not paying full price for the DDP, you're paying the room only discount that you've chosen to forego by doing free dining. (20% RO discount vs. free dining). When you have four "Disney" adults in one room, this often makes the DDP less than full price (not always, have to do the math by resort and discount individually)

Yeah we're staying at Pop, so forgoing the dining plan would have only saved us $20/day. So we're essentially paying $5/day per person for the QS dining plan. That would've been a great deal, but we did upgrade for $18/person to the regular dining plan, so we're paying $23/person per day. That's still a good deal, but we're a unique situation with 4 adults in a value room.

 

[twolittletinkerbells]

There is a cup -- ya know, the same one that comes with the dining plan, for $2.50 per day ..... and you get AS MANY DRINKS AS YOU WANT with it! I just came back, and thats how our whole group did it!

Not necessarily. Predicated on length of stay.

The mugs cost:

$8.99 for one day
$11.99 for two days
$14.99 for three days, and
$17.99 for Length of Stay.

 

[microscopes]

Not necessarily. Predicated on length of stay.

The mugs cost:

$8.99 for one day
$11.99 for two days
$14.99 for three days, and
$17.99 for Length of Stay.

What EXACTLY is your point? Just spell it out. You keep jibbering on. Of course its predicated on length of stay. 80% or more of people go to Disney for 4 or more days...

 

[microscopes]

Yeah we're staying at Pop, so forgoing the dining plan would have only saved us $20/day. So we're essentially paying $5/day per person for the QS dining plan. That would've been a great deal, but we did upgrade for $18/person to the regular dining plan, so we're paying $23/person per day. That's still a good deal, but we're a unique situation with 4 adults in a value room.

Free Dining is a completely different monster and much more affordable.

 

[flutterby3744]

There is a cup -- ya know, the same one that comes with the dining plan, for $2.50 per day ..... and you get AS MANY DRINKS AS YOU WANT with it! I just came back, and thats how our whole group did it!

But with the DDP you get your cup AND a drink with meal. For example, we stayed at POR and ate QS there 3 times. Each time we used our refill mug for our drink and got bottled water with our meal. Then we save the bottled water for the parks. We got the smart waters so that is $16 each meal worth of water that we would have payed oop for in the parks. Win.

 

[twolittletinkerbells]

What are you talking about? I stated 5 different things and you picked out ONE.

Look again. You listed 4 items. 3 of those were about sodas. I gave you pricing on the mugs. The other was dessert, but you stated you bought dessert.

I gave you actual pricing on a oop vs ddp without buying the most expensive item anytime and the price was the same. Comparing equally. But, if you are not going to eat this way, then sure you can save money. But your blanket statement is incorrect.

 

[microscopes]

Look again. You listed 4 items. 3 of those were about sodas. I gave you pricing on the mugs. The other was dessert, but you stated you bought dessert.

I gave you actual pricing on a oop vs ddp without buying the most expensive item anytime and the price was the same. Comparing equally. But, if you are not going to eat this way, then sure you can save money. But your blanket statement is incorrect.

Im asking what your POINT is.

80% of people go 4 days or more. So its going to be $2.50 per day for almost everyone who goes.

So im asking again - what is your POINT?

That the Dining Plan is worth it because there are som restaurants where you can order one of the more expensive meals, but not THE most expensive? Bahaha.

No.

 

[twolittletinkerbells]

And the only time you can use the mugs is at your resort. In the park oop you pay for drinks.

 

[ibela]

You're missing the kids prices. Children under 10 are $19/night. A character meal is ~$19. Their snack and QS meal (~$12 each per night) is covered at no extra cost from the dining plan cost. I now go to the same character/fixed price meal (which is how we typically eat, character meal or fixed price like 'Ohana). Dinner is about $40. QS meal is another ~15-20, snack another $5. Basically about the same OOP as DDP except we also get the refillable mug (which we would get if paying OOP). So we're saving on the 2 kids and all getting mugs (~$75). Not a huge savings, but a savings of about $270 over our 8 nights nonetheless. If we get some of the larger QS meals and share, we get additional mileage for more meals too.

Not really trying to debate, just showing you "other math".



We need to eat regardless, we don't need to wait on lines to take a picture. If I can save any time from the blistering August heat (when we go) and take the same pics in A/C while eating, bonus. Food quality is no different if you're paying by DDP vs OOP.

On a separate note, I just ordered the Memory Maker and am excited for all our ride photos and magic shots.

You still haven't tackled the value aspect.

You could do those character meals for the same money, or LESS, out of pocket.

I addressed the value aspect.

ETA: We use QS desserts typically on either a) extra bottle of water when allowed; b) ice cream/ice pop which we can get after the meal, we go in Aug; c) something that can be brought back to the room or carried in the park to eat later.

Adding - don't think you intended to make this a DDP debate, not sure how to bring this thread back on track.

 

[microscopes]

But with the DDP you get your cup AND a drink with meal. For example, we stayed at POR and ate QS there 3 times. Each time we used our refill mug for our drink and got bottled water with our meal. Then we save the bottled water for the parks. We got the smart waters so that is $16 each meal worth of water that we would have payed oop for in the parks. Win.

Ohhh. I see what you did you little scammer you

Ok, good work on that value

 

[microscopes]

And the only time you can use the mugs is at your resort. In the park oop you pay for drinks.

The resort is where she ate. READ.