Dining plan?

[nextbigthing]

Looks like the dining plan for a quick service meal, table service meal, snack and mug is like $64 per day.  I'm not sure if this is worth it or not, especially with a toddler who may be unpredictable.

What do you love/hate about the plan?

[alleinesein]

Disney has prices for most of their restaurants online. You might want to take a look at the restaurants you are interested in to see if the dining plan would be cheaper or cost more. There are ways to work the system and get more bang for your buck on a dining plan but for the most part Disney is making money off of them.

[alleinesein]

Found my math post I did on this a few months ago

Look at the menu prices for the places you have booked and do the math. Most of the casual FS F&B locations run $15-$30 and the nicer FS and buffet locations run $30-$60. If most of your FS meals are dinner and you are big beef and seafood eaters you might save a few $$ on the dining plan but if the majority of your meals are lunch it will be cheaper to do it on your own.

Basic Cost breakdown/examples (using EPCOT dining for examples)

Plan cost $61.82/pp

#1 More Bang for your buck

Snack @ Kabuki Cafe
Kakigori $3.75

Lunch @ Sunshine Seasons (QS)
Cuban Sandwich $13.49
Tiramisu $4.99
Iced Coffee $5.19

Dinner @ Chefs de France (FS)
Beef Tenderloin $35.99
Creme Brulee $8.99
Beverage $2.99

Total $75.39 ($13.57 'savings' before tax/tip)

#2 Losing $$$

Snack
Seasonal Fruit $3.19

Lunch @ San Angel Inn (FS)
Enchiladas Verde $18.95
Dessert $7.95
Beverage $2.99

Dinner @ Les Halles (QS)
Jambon Beurre $7.50
Napolean $4.25
Beverage $3.50

Total $48.33 (plan costs $13.49 more)

It all boils down to your eating habits. If you eat dinner as your FS meal and lunch as your QS meal you can save some $$ if you order the more expensive items on the menu. If you aren't a big eater the dining plan can be a huge waste of money.

Read more: pandce.proboards.com/thread/520539/disney-dining-tell-get-plan#ixzz4D2BTOFL4

[curbsideprophet]

I could never get the calculator to come out ahead with the plan.

[lala]

I think it's a waste of money unless you are seriously eating all character meals - which is not my thing.

I want to eat what I want to eat at a restaurant. So sometimes that means appetizers and no dessert or just entrees. The only non alcoholic beverages we drink regularly are water & coffee - so soda or juice with a meal is a waste on us. Overall I think the dining plans have dumbed down the menus. When it first started it was a great deal, now, not so much.

Kids under 3 eat for free at buffets anyway and I'd have little ones eat off of my plate or just order them a side here & there.

[lala]

Yea, I guess the prepaid thing never made sense to me b/c we wouldn't go on vacation without money put aside to pay for it. But I am not an all inclusive vacation person; so we just plan & travel differently.

minniemouse - for us it's not even too much just lack of selection or the wrong selections, KWIM?

[stephm0188]

For adults only, I wouldn't do it. Whn you factor kids into the average, it can sometimes make more sense because the cost of the dining plan daily for them is usually less than the average cost of one meal.

[chicago]

We did it when we went in 2007 and it was great. Back then it was appetizer, entree, dessert, and it was just H and I. We did a lot of table service meals and ate a ton. It was worth it. Now it's more expensive and includes less. With DD, I wound up canceling a lot of table service meals bc of how our days were going, so it wouldn't have made sense. I'd definitely try to calculator and determine if it would be worth it.

[lala]

Jun 30, 2016 10:45:35 GMT -5 chicago said:

We did it when we went in 2007 and it was great. Back then it was appetizer, entree, dessert, and it was just H and I. We did a lot of table service meals and ate a ton. It was worth it. Now it's more expensive and includes less. With DD, I wound up canceling a lot of table service meals bc of how our days were going, so it wouldn't have made sense. I'd definitely try to calculator and determine if it would be worth it.

It included tax & tip, too! We did it then as adults and it was a complete steal at something like $33/adult. It didn't include a mug then, though. 

[ilikedonuts]

I think its only worth it if you do character meals/buffets for everything and do them for lunch/dinner when the price is the highest.

[cbwm1]

We went last October, and we're going back in December. We're going during free dining, which totally makes it worth it to us. LOL.

It is a lot of food, but we're going to be smarter about how we use our dining credits this time - eat breakfast using a QS credit, use a snack credit for lunch, then do TS for dinner. We are planning one day at Universal, so we will only use maybe QS credits that day for breakfast. By not using our TS that day, it allows us to do a TS meal that's two credits.

So, I think the key is to go during free dining.

[bronxgirl]

We got the dining plan for our first trip b/c we wanted to do a lot of character meals. We ended up doing all character meals for TS. I kept track of what our meals/snacks/drinks in the refillable cup would have cost and we absolutely came out ahead. ( apparently I have expensive taste at the QS places). It worked really well for that trip, but for our second trip we no longer felt the need for character meals and primarily ate QS so we saved more money (and time) by skipping the dining plan.

[read247]

IMO it really depends on how you eat. The dining plan is a complete waste for my family. We prefer a light breakfast in the room before we head out and other than one or two character meals don't care for TS restaurants, instead opting for snacks throughout the day and maybe a stop at a CS location when we get hungry. Locking ourselves into ADRs that require us to choose a time, place, and type of cuisine months in advance isn't a good fit for us. Also, the dining plan includes entree, dessert and beverage for meals. If you're more interested in appetizers than dessert, you've got OOP expenses. Gratuities are extra in most cases (dinner shows, CRT and some in room dining are exceptions) so you still have costs there. All in all we enjoy ourselves more and actually save money skipping the plan.

[kaycee]

We always do free dining, but we keep a running tab of what we "spent". Last time I got sick and ditched my plans for ordering the most expensive things and just ordered what I thought I could keep down and we still spent more than the plan would have cost us.

Like on our next trip I just calculated one random day of our plans and just my food without using the refillable mug would cost $78.

It does not make any sense if you normally share meals or buy fruit as your snack. We like it because it makes the trip all inclusive and we can eat extravagantly. We never eat out at home, so we go all out there.