Dining Plan Convenience???? Where's the Convenience?

Or if you come from the UK where people don’t habitually tip as generously.😉
I know. I think that when you build your budget and you add in restaurants, you really need to add in a budget for gratuities, which can be an afterthought under any circumstance, but moreso if the practice is not common from you. They do add up
 
The thing with the tips is that on the dining plans, it raises the overall cost of the tip. With the dining plan, I'm going to order more food, because its included. But that also increases the overall cost, therefore the overall tip. I think people see it as "I would be tipping anyway" but when you are getting those 4 extra apps/drinks/desserts because they are included, it can increase the tip by quite a bit.

In my experience, the dining plan doesn't suit my family, but my friend with 4 children swears by the deluxe plan because it works for her. However, every time I go with her, she ends up paying for one of my family's meals with her extra meal credits!

People get real worked up about this topic, but I love reading everybody's opinions. I think its great that we all do thing differently, and everybody's experiences can be helpful information for people who are looking into whether the dining plan is right for them.
 
The thing with the tips is that on the dining plans, it raises the overall cost of the tip. With the dining plan, I'm going to order more food, because its included. But that also increases the overall cost, therefore the overall tip. I think people see it as "I would be tipping anyway" but when you are getting those 4 extra apps/drinks/desserts because they are included, it can increase the tip by quite a bit.

In my experience, the dining plan doesn't suit my family, but my friend with 4 children swears by the deluxe plan because it works for her. However, every time I go with her, she ends up paying for one of my family's meals with her extra meal credits!

People get real worked up about this topic, but I love reading everybody's opinions. I think its great that we all do thing differently, and everybody's experiences can be helpful information for people who are looking into whether the dining plan is right for them.

My last trip I used two TS credits on HDDR, where the tip is included. I ended up only needing to tip at two meals as a result. You're also getting drinks included at QS meals where you don't tip. This is a good perspective I didn't think of, though.
 


I love the dining plan but I was very resistant when it was first suggested by a cast member over the phone who saw my dining reservations in my profile. I wish I would’ve listened to her years ago.

We always come out ahead with the dining plan, even the deluxe plan and even after tips. It’s just the two of us and without the plan we would spend over $400 per night out of pocket, just on the meals and drinks. This does not include the mug (which we actually use every morning and night) or the $6 snacks included. The deluxe dining plan is $232 each night in comparison.

I have definitely done budgeted trips with breakfast in the room and splitting entrees or quick service meals. But for me it wasn’t as fun or memorable. I would much rather have lunch with Pooh or eat at one of the restaurants in World Showcase for dinner instead of a frozen pizza or hot dog (and yes I’m aware there are healthier options but the majority of quick service locations will have items that aren’t as healthy and the quality won’t be as good).

I budget a lot in my everyday life and if I’m on vacation I want to enjoy myself. Drinking tap water with every meal and having to share chicken tenders every night isn’t fun. The prices for buffet meals have actually gone up recently and this year we’re saving even more with the plan. I love it and it definitely works for us!
 
I love the dining plan but I was very resistant when it was first suggested by a cast member over the phone who saw my dining reservations in my profile. I wish I would’ve listened to her years ago.

We always come out ahead with the dining plan, even the deluxe plan and even after tips. It’s just the two of us and without the plan we would spend over $400 per night out of pocket, just on the meals and drinks. This does not include the mug (which we actually use every morning and night) or the $6 snacks included. The deluxe dining plan is $232 each night in comparison.

I have definitely done budgeted trips with breakfast in the room and splitting entrees or quick service meals. But for me it wasn’t as fun or memorable. I would much rather have lunch with Pooh or eat at one of the restaurants in World Showcase for dinner instead of a frozen pizza or hot dog (and yes I’m aware there are healthier options but the majority of quick service locations will have items that aren’t as healthy and the quality won’t be as good).

I budget a lot in my everyday life and if I’m on vacation I want to enjoy myself. Drinking tap water with every meal and having to share chicken tenders every night isn’t fun. The prices for buffet meals have actually gone up recently and this year we’re saving even more with the plan. I love it and it definitely works for us!
100% agree

We are going to Polynesian Club Level in June and we are still getting the DDP. We were going to do the deluxe plan until we decided to go Club Level. We prefer to eat at signature restaurants, so the dining plan is an absolute necessity for us. Last April when we went to Disneyland, we had a rough time because they don’t have a dining plan. We only ate at one signature restaurant because we couldn’t afford more than that. DDP all the way!
 
100% agree

We are going to Polynesian Club Level in June and we are still getting the DDP. We were going to do the deluxe plan until we decided to go Club Level. We prefer to eat at signature restaurants, so the dining plan is an absolute necessity for us. Last April when we went to Disneyland, we had a rough time because they don’t have a dining plan. We only ate at one signature restaurant because we couldn’t afford more than that. DDP all the way!
Club Level sounds like a great idea. Maybe our next trip...
 


100% agree

We are going to Polynesian Club Level in June and we are still getting the DDP. We were going to do the deluxe plan until we decided to go Club Level. We prefer to eat at signature restaurants, so the dining plan is an absolute necessity for us. Last April when we went to Disneyland, we had a rough time because they don’t have a dining plan. We only ate at one signature restaurant because we couldn’t afford more than that. DDP all the way!

I know this doesn't matter to some folks, but if you do the math, it is not a good value to do signature dining on the regular plan. It was one of the reasons that I let the DDP go this time since I had two signature meals planned. I know not everyone cares about the "value" but I just thought I'd put that out there.
 
We have found the service sub-par at some of the nicer sit down restaurants when we were on the dining plan AKA tip included.(Odd because I'm an over tipper and would have always tipped more then the included tip for good service!)

We now pay as we go and the service has improved dramatically.
 
I know this doesn't matter to some folks, but if you do the math, it is not a good value to do signature dining on the regular plan. It was one of the reasons that I let the DDP go this time since I had two signature meals planned. I know not everyone cares about the "value" but I just thought I'd put that out there.
That’s one reason why we were going to get the deluxe dining until we booked club level. That would be too much food for us.
 
That’s one reason why we were going to get the deluxe dining until we booked club level. That would be too much food for us.

Oh sorry, I misunderstood. Thought you were going to do Deluxe, got Club Level, and were dropping down to the standard plan (and still doing signatures).
 
Not to derail the thread, but just because a thread doesn't start a specific way doesn't mean that people won't use it for information, so I think it is important to present as complete a picture as possible based on our experiences with trips on and off the plan. I think that someone who is looking at whether a dining plan may work for them may be drawn to a thread that discusses the convenience of the plan, regardless of the original intent.
Exactly why I’m reading this at 2 am 😆
 
I'm taking my 2 teenage daughters (along with my parents, sister and nieces) in October for our umpteenth trip. We've used the DP before when the kids were "kids" but now, there is NO WAY it has any value for ME. First of all, we typically eat one TS meal per day. In between, we "graze", either with snacks or by sharing CS meals. If we eat at a CS restaurant, we frequently order kid's meals or share adult meals since none of us have huge appetites. Second, I have the TIW card, which I treat as my "gratuity" card since it automatically adds the 18% tip. With the DP, the gratuity is in addition to the cost of the plan. Since we are doing all of our TS meals with the group, the 18% would be added automatically to all of our meals. Third, we often like to order appetizers in addition to or instead of entrees. This doesn't work on the DP and would add to the cost. Finally, since we travel during October, we sometimes do a F&W festival event in place of our TS meal for the day. This is not covered by the DP either which would leave us with more OOP costs and extra credits to use up.

Here's our TS plans for October. The estimated costs listed are based either on the actual amount paid (pre-paid events), the most recent AYCE prices that I can find, or the menu prices of the actual menu items that we would order if we were famished (i.e. apps, entrée, dessert...but we always share and we don't each order one for ourselves).

Friday: Dinner at Jiko ($200)
Saturday: Breakfast at O'Hana ($120), Parisian Afternoon (2 people, $125)
Sunday: Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern ($120)
Monday: Lunch at Sanaa ($100)
Tuesday: Breakfast at Tusker House ($120)
Wednesday: Dinner at Hoop-Dee-Doo ($190, Cat 1)
Thursday: Dinner at 50's Prime Time Café ($110)
Friday: Breakfast at Garden Grill ($120)
Saturday: Breakfast at Boma ($90)

That puts our TS budget at $1295. If I add $50/day for a CS meal and another $300 for snacks, that brings the total food budget to $1995. Compare that to the cost of the regular dining plan for 3 adults for 8 nights...$1811.76 which does NOT include any gratuities which would be a minimum of another $175. So, this would be essentially a wash...BUT...as you can see by our plans, I would need 11 TS credits and the DP would only allow us 8. That means that I would need to pay the $1811.76 for the dining plan AND I would still need to pay for at least TWO more meals out of pocket. In addition, I would also have to pay the $125 for the Parisian Afternoon event which is not included in the dining plan, but I did include it in my total OOP budget for comparison. That would easily erase any savings that the dining plan would provide.

I have saved my Disney Gift Cards (earned for FREE by utilizing websites such as Swagbucks, Rakuten and other rebate methods) and I accumulated $1850 worth of them so far. Since my dad is paying for our group breakfast at Garden Grill, I will have plenty left to cover the rest of our meals. For me, it is as close to FREE dining as I can get. I did not pay a single penny for any of my gift cards so ALL of my food is pre-paid for and truly free. I will have no worries at all when I have to pay for our meals. We will eat what we want, when we want and I know that there will be enough on the gift cards to cover it because I know that there is PLENTY of cushion built in. On our trip last year, I came home with over $100 left over and we NEVER went hungry and I never had to tell the girls that they couldn't have dessert:cake:.
I just thought I would pop back in and update. I came back from my trip with over $300 on my gift card...and we did NOT go hungry. We ate everything we wanted and had leftovers.
 
I just thought I would pop back in and update. I came back from my trip with over $300 on my gift card...and we did NOT go hungry. We ate everything we wanted and had leftovers.

Glad to hear you came out ahead!!

Do you now save the Disney gift card for a future trip, or would you be shopping at the Disney Store anyway, and just use it there?
 
I understand people’s desire to have a pre planned budget, but the budgeting convenience is lost in a way because of gratuities, particularly with the deluxe plan. For 3 adults over 7 nights we added on USD 1250.82 in gratuities. Don’t underestimate that cost.
We’re from the UK, where tipping is still *not* the norm, but I always factor in tips when travelling to the USA (although I have noticed that a typical 10% when we first visited in 1997 has now crept up to 20% 🥺 ). We were staying onsite and were on the DDP on our last visit but I’d factored in the approximate costs of the restaurants that we’d booked and the tips were not a surprise - or a problem. The only thing that ‘threw’ one or two servers was the fact that I mostly tipped in cash (to avoid holds on my plastic).
 
The general consensus that I hear about the dining plan that it usually doesn't save money, however people like it because of it's convenience. This has always confused me. What convenience does the dining plan offer?

Dining PlanNo Dining Plan
Tap magic band to payTap magic band to pay
Write in tip & tax on billWrite in tip & tax on bill
Use your credit card to pay for dining plan before travellingElectronically transfer money from chequing account to savings account before travelling to cover food costs. Use this money to pay off credit card when statement comes in.
Worry about not getting your money's worth all vacation, so force yourself to eat the most expensive meal, and eat even if not necessarily hungry.Worry about paying too much out of pocket so try to eat cheaper items on menu & only eat when hungry.
If you eat over and above the budgeted amount of meals on the dining plan, pay for extra items with credit card.If you eat over and above the budgeted amount of money in savings account, pay for extra items with credit card.
If you eat less than the budgeted amount of meals, worry that you wasted a whole bunch of money. Then bring home a bunch of prepaid, overpriced snacks that will probably get crushed in your suitcase.If you eat less than the budgeted amount of meals, spend extra cash on something you enjoy.

What am I missing? If anything, it seems like the Dining Plan is actually less convenient as it traps you into a specific methodology of how you should consume your meals. This is the opposite of convenient.
Well the dinning plan is already paid for except for tips and you can book reservations at hard to get restaurants 180 days out. I’d say that’s a big concurrence.
 
We have found the service sub-par at some of the nicer sit down restaurants when we were on the dining plan AKA tip included.(Odd because I'm an over tipper and would have always tipped more then the included tip for good service!)

We now pay as we go and the service has improved dramatically.
That’s interesting, albeit not what my DW and I found. We were on the DDP for the first time on our most recent trip, which actually encouraged me to secretly book some ‘special’ meals (dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table, character breakfasts at both Crystal Palace and Akershus, as well as the dinner shows at the Polynesian and Fort Wilderness) which we would never have done on cost grounds if paying OOP (these meals were a great success with DW and will likely be repeated on our next visit, whether paying OOP or not). Tips were dispensed in the normal way where not included in the ‘basic’ cost and I saw no variance in the levels of service between our table and those around us (they can’t all have been on the same plan as us!).

Using the double-credit restaurants actually meant that we ran out of TS credits but it gave us the excuse to eat offsite a few of times - and the QS options generally were pretty generous insofar as quantity and quality was concerned, particularly at The Mara in AKL which was where we were staying. And the refillable mugs came in for a hammering - the option to get an orange juice or similar as part of a QS meal and for DW to also get her coffee in the mug was invaluable... 😁
 
With "mousekeeping" there really is an added convenience. You don't have to clean your room. I get that.

With the dining plan, you still have to pull out your credit card and pay (for the tax and tips) or tap your magic band. Your doing the same thing either way.

The only "convenience" I can think of is that with the dining plan, you can make the payment to Disney instead of (1) buying a prepaid visa gift card or (2) putting the money in some sort of savings account. I don't personally see either as that big of pain to pay any more than a dollar or two premium to avoid doing so. Maybe others do?
We like the convenience of just tapping our magic band to pay, BUT we have it linked to our credit card. I save enough to pay it off when we get home. The last time, for 2 adults for 9 days, I saved up $1000.00 to pay for our meals. The cost did not get close to that, and we included all the extras including souveniers in that money. We ate when and where we wanted. Sometimes we just didn't go to a restaurant, but got snacks and relaxed at the resort:) For us, it works.
We used to do the fdp when we did a lot of character meals, but found as we got older (without kids), we do better money wise and health wise by not doing the fdp. It is an individual thing for each family to decide. We like to share meals, or I get the kids meal at times. We also work in our favorite ts at least once. But I can see how it helps with families especially ones with teenagers:)
 
Well the dinning plan is already paid for except for tips and you can book reservations at hard to get restaurants 180 days out. I’d say that’s a big concurrence.
You can book restaurants at 180 days out whether or not you are on the dining plan. Instead of prepaying for your meals, you can simply leave that money in your bank account, put it in a savings account, or even on a gift card which can be loaded into your My Disney Experience profile. I still fail to see how prepaying for something is convenient. Your still going through the act of making the payment (before your trip when you add the dining plan), or after the trip (when you receive your bill).
 

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