Does anyone forego dining plans to save money?

[MomOTwins]

Character buffets don't cost $50-60 per adult. We regularly eat at character buffets, and even doing that, the DDP is still more expensive than paying out of pocket.

Yes, they definitely do. Here are the latest prices for the character meals we are doing on our upcoming trip, including 6.5% meal tax which is included in the DDP, and not including alcohol which is also now included in the DDP (we often get a glass of wine, so that's $10-15 more per adult). I have done the DDP three times now and always saved money compared to trips where we went without it. Note that in each case, the child's meal alone is actually MORE than the daily cost of of the regular dining plan of $25.75 per day. One you add alcohol to the adults which is not included in the below prices but runs about $10-15 per glass of wine/cocktail, that brings the adult price pretty darn close to the daily ddp price of $75.49 too. So basically, the DDP gets lunch and snacks almost free if you do a character meal for your TS.

1900 Park Fare Adult: $52.19, Child: $30.89
Akershus (lunch) $62.84, Child: $38.34
Hollywood & Vine (lunch - Fantasmic): $61.77, Child: $37.28
Tusker House (lunch - ROL): $55.38, Child: $34.08

 

[leebee]

DD and I do QS lunches, TS dinners, and a snack each per day. I have saved receipts from the last 3 trips and it's cheaper for us to pay OOP. We often eat breakfast in the room- yogurt, bagels, cheese and crackers brought from home- so it's hard to compare, but on our LAST trip we split a QS breakfast, split a QS lunch, and each had one snack and one TS for dinner (which is what we do on the dining plan, and it's plenty of food for us). It still saved us money over the dining plan... about $200.

 

[sjrec]

Not to save money-we prefer splitting meals (it’s usually hot when we travel) and eating in bars-we maybe do two or three sit down dinners in a week. If we travel with my daughter’s family we will do more, but she runs the numbers and it’s better to pay as we go-and if we decide to cancel a dinner it’s not a problem. We like doing breakfast in our villa as well.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Booze has it's own budget.

I like the way you think!

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

I never do the dining plan.

I wouldn't say it's to save money, but I just think it's ridiculous to spend more money on the DDP than I would OOP to eat everything I want to eat. The DDP, for me, doesn't work for the way I like to eat. It is too much food at one meal, it includes alcoholic beverages which I generally don't drink with every meal, and I have food allergies that narrow down my choices at times.

When I was booking my January trip I considered it, but I felt like I was going to be eating WAY more food than I wanted to, and not eating what I wanted, just to get the most out of it. I like to have just a couple appetizers or a side as a meal sometimes, I like being able to have a main from one place and then grabbing a dessert somewhere else, I enjoy the flexibility that paying OOP gives me.

Does it come in cheaper than the DDP? For me, yes, but that's not my main reason for doing it.

Could I probably spend a bit more but strategically get a better value per DDP credit vs OOP using the DDP? Sure. I think it's proven that if you plan and order the most expensive things on menus at the highest priced 1 credit restaurants you can 'save' money. But if you don't want the most expensive item and are just buying it to get your money's worth... that doesn't make sense to me. And I don't want steak every night. So to me, for me, it's a no. Plus I do get an AP discount on a lot of my OOP meals.

I also don't bring my own food into the parks. Partly because I'm lazy. Partly because... it's vacation. And I like food. And I find American foods made gluten free at Disney, which makes me happy lol. WCC made me allergy friendly cornbread! It was so good! and allergy Fried Chicken from 50's! Also grits. We should bring grits to Vancouver. I don't know why we don't have them, but I love them. I'm sure you can find them somewhere, but they aren't common. I also tried white gravy... I'm still unsure about that one.

 

[twinmom2012]

We price out the DDP each year to see if it would make sense for us but we don't usually do more than 1 TS for the week because we don't want to be locked into being at a specific park in the evenings and we don't want to waste our morning in a restaurant (even though breakfast is our favorite meal) so QS restaurants work well for us. If our Kids are tired or the park we are at is too crowded we can easily go someplace else and I have a general idea of all of the QS restaurants I want to eat at so we aren't eating Fries at every meal. For breakfast we pack a small suit case (southwest bags fly free) and bring bagels, cereal, pre packaged pasteries, jelly and peanut butter etc.. to have a breakfast in the room so we are full before hitting the parks. We don't bring food into the park besides little bags of cereal or some nuts to help us get by if the lines are long. Alot of times my husband and I share a QS lunch because you get so much food and we can always pick off our kids plates if they don't eat something.

In the past I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies before the trip and packed them in a plastic shoe box in our carry-on luggage and we had them in the room as a snack, the peanut butter in them fills us up so the kids are less cranky if there is a wait before the next meal. Being prepared with snacks helps avoid meltdowns while on vacation (from the kids and adults)

 

[YesterDark]

Character buffets don't cost $50-60 per adult. We regularly eat at character buffets, and even doing that, the DDP is still more expensive than paying out of pocket.

Just going by Chef Mickeys, Hollywood and Vine, Crystal Palace etc. $60 if you include tip, typical pricing is like 47/51 for an adult.

 

[mydisneyanytime]

We used to get the dining plan when the kids were a Disney "child". Now that they are adults (11, 12) it isn't worth it. They don't eat much and definatly not enough to justify the cost of the plan. We do a sit down each day and a quick service. I do take snacks into the park but not actual lunch food. We do this because my kids, specially DS, is a little picky with his snacks. I did find with the dining plan that we ate more than we usually would with dessert and the kids got more soft drinks that I would normally allow because they were "free". I was really worried about not getting it the first time that we went without it because I thought it was so easy to use and paid for ahead of time. I was pleasantly surprised that it really took much of the stress out of the eating process (not trying to get the most bang for my buck at restaurants). We saved money and put that toward gifts or other experiences. It is really what works for your family but for us there will not be another dining plan trip until my kids pay for their own!!

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm not convinced that the DDP saves us money. I think we pretty much break even on it most years.

But I LOVE the DDP. The one time we didn't have it, it felt as though we were hemorrhaging money.

For us, that 90 minutes or so a day at a table service restaurant is family time. No one is rushing anywhere, no one's feet hurt, no one is complaining about the heat. We're just a family, enjoying a dinner (usually) together.

For us, it's an integral part of a WDW vacation.

 

[robinb]

IMO the DDP has a "sweet spot" for parents of small children (under 10) who go to character meals. Those families save money. Everyone else basically breaks even or they have to find loopholes to make it save money.

We do things a little differently than you. We always eat breakfast in the room but lunch and dinner are usually at a QS restaurant. We fit in a couple of TS meals, but the TS restaurants are simply too expensive to do every day. We also almost always have a car so we do eat some meals offsite. We do this not to save money since we could afford the DDP if we wished to buy it. We do it more to not spend money unnecessarily.

 

[YesterDark]

I'm not convinced that the DDP saves us money. I think we pretty much break even on it most years.

But I LOVE the DDP. The one time we didn't have it, it felt as though we were hemorrhaging money.

For us, that 90 minutes or so a day at a table service restaurant is family time. No one is rushing anywhere, no one's feet hurt, no one is complaining about the heat. We're just a family, enjoying a dinner (usually) together.

For us, it's an integral part of a WDW vacation.

Personally I think that if you break even or within $100 of breaking even, then it's worth it. The $100 is totally worth the easy of mind of not spending money and it's also totally worth the freedom of not caring what you pick on the menu.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

While I know some people swear by it and insist they save $, we've tried the regular DDP a couple of times and the DxDP once and it was nothing more than convenience. For us, the regular plan just didn't fit our needs, so we wound up wasting a lot of stuff we just don't use and paying OOP for the stuff we wanted. For the DxDP, it was mainly a lot of extras we didn't need. Over our last handful of trips, we went OOP and spent less OOP just doing our own thing.

Now as for skipping it for overall budgeting, we're thinking about something in that vein that next time we go. We have just become so frustrated with declining food quality and service at so many TS places that we're going to be doing food differently whenever we go back. I'd have to do the math come the time, but we're toying with the idea of the quick service plan vs. a room with a kitchen (or kitchenette) and grocery delivery for some of our meals. I really don't love to do my own cooking on vacation since it doesn't feel like vacation to me if I'm doing all kinds of food prep (I feel the same way about laundry ), but I may be able to justify a Deluxe Villa Studio if we cover breakfast and snacks from stuff we have in the room.

 

[Rich M]

So if I can sum up what I think everyone is saying that doesn't get the DDP is more that it isn't for you because you don't want to eat the way the DDP wants you to eat and it only saves you money due to the fact that you wouldn't be eating that way. What I really want to find out and I haven't really found someone who does it yet is if anyone has every saved money paying OOP eating the exact same as the DDP. So paying OOP for 2 snacks, 1 QS (Not Sharing), 1 TS (Ordering Entree, Dessert, and Beverage), and buying the refillable mug. I completely understand if the dining plan isn't for you because you won't eat like that but I wonder how much of a saving it really is if you do eat like that and pay OOP.

 

[YesterDark]

I did grocery service a few years ago and it's great. You save on dinner and breakfast depending on your park habits. There are certain better and cheaper ways to eat.

I don't think I'd ever do a DxDP with my family if I was working with a budget. Seems like way too much. The only way I can see myself doing it is if I'm there with the wife and no kids and just want to eat at the best restaurants from lunch AND dinner. .. every day

 

[greg9x]

I'm not convinced that the DDP saves us money. I think we pretty much break even on it most years.

But I LOVE the DDP. The one time we didn't have it, it felt as though we were hemorrhaging money.

This seems to be more the justification of the dining plan for a lot of people... That they don't see the per meal cost since it is rolled up in to the package cost. They are paying the same or more for the food (most times), but don't sense the expense since they just check off a credit.

Think if people were paying cash as they went, their food cost would be more controlled.

Amazing that Disney has manipulated people in to thinking they are getting 'value' from a plan for ridiculously overpriced food.

 

[Rich M]

Amazing that Disney has manipulated people in to thinking they are getting 'value' from a plan for ridiculously overpriced food.

Is it overpriced though if you were to actually eat the exact same way the DDP does and paid OOP? Your are always going to pay overpriced for food at any event style place. I mean $10 for one beer at a game and 20,000 people pay it without even a thought. So you can't really blame them for that at all. There is a McDonalds on property for those that wish to eat at something a little more fair pricing though I am sure they charge a little more then 2 for $5 lol

 

[Aliceacc]

Um, no. I'm fairly intelligent. I've taught college credit math courses. I'm quite capable of simple arithmetic, even without a calculator.

I've done the math. I'm not being "manipulated" into anything, thanks.

As I've stated, we more or less break even.

But when we were paying cash as we went, it got to where I looked first at the price, and that effected what I ordered. I would have the salad instead of the steak because it simply felt as though we were blowing through so much money.

I do agree that the food is overpriced. No big surprise there: it's a theme park. They know that most of us will pay for the convenience of eating on site.

But for us, since we're breaking even anyway on what I would CHOOSE to order, the meal plan is part of the price of our vacation.

 

[SaintsManiac]

The dining plan does not save us money. We canceled it in 2015 and added up all the bills and it wound up costing $400 less to not do it.

We like to do character meals for breakfast, so those are always less expensive. We get the AP discount, so that helps, too. We use our Disney Visa rewards for food.

We like to do quick service and share.

I just find that I have to do too much mental math to make it "worth it." I don't need that stress on top of refreshing for FPs.

 

[monorailsilver]

I have never done dining. I don't ever feel I would save money doing it.

We don't do many sit downs, heck I am cringing at Chef Mickeys for 5 adults in August. We have T-rex but I have a free $100 GC from my points. And I have a bunch of free gift cards from various reward sites that I will use for dining.

We bring our own breakfast and eat in the room. We can split a turkey leg if we desire and then eat ice cream and be full. DH and I will split a salad from the land and then a sandwich. We don't like dessert with every meal and I don't need a drink with every meal since we drink water in the parks.

 

[greg9x]

So if I can sum up what I think everyone is saying that doesn't get the DDP is more that it isn't for you because you don't want to eat the way the DDP wants you to eat and it only saves you money due to the fact that you wouldn't be eating that way. What I really want to find out and I haven't really found someone who does it yet is if anyone has every saved money paying OOP eating the exact same as the DDP. So paying OOP for 2 snacks, 1 QS (Not Sharing), 1 TS (Ordering Entree, Dessert, and Beverage), and buying the refillable mug. I completely understand if the dining plan isn't for you because you won't eat like that but I wonder how much of a saving it really is if you do eat like that and pay OOP.

A regular plan is $76/day for adult.

So a quick service meal is ~$15, 2 snacks ~$10... That leaves ~$50 for the table service meal. The refillable mug is a wash since it's per day cost is a couple bucks/day for a week, less for longer stay.

Yes, you can get the most expensive thing in each restaurant and you would 'save money', but most people don't do that.

I think a majority of people could eat for less than the above, even given the overpriced Disney food.

I know when I have the QS plan, I have snack credits left over at the end since I don't use 2/day normally. (Yes, I use them up on take home snacks, but wouldn't buy that stuff otherwise)

For people who eat a lot of ridiculously priced character meals, the plan probably makes sense. But for 'normal' eating I don't see the value.