What is your room split? If you have more than one room, you could purchase the plan for just one room & pool the credits to share for your most expensive meals.
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yes this! I like saving money, but if I have to eat more than I normally do to “beat the system”, in the end I will not enjoy my vacation
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Exactly, I dont like being stuffed then having to walk around, or worse, get on a coaster. I always plan coasters at least 1.5 - 2 hrs after a meal.
That is the main reason I don’t ever plan to get a dining plan. I know myself. If I get one I will become completely focused on maximizing its value - “$9 fish covered with chocolate for 1 snack credit? Give me 3”
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I think we “saved” about $150 doing DDP we did 4 character meals with alcohol. I still would have done all 4 and I do like a drink with my meal but not necessarily when it’s so hot. My son was 2 so he was pulled pulled in our plan using our credits. No real value in QS unless you get alcohol except for BOG and WPE. Even with my son not having credits I felt that there were still way too many snack credits. I also felt like I was nickel and dining snack credits to max value and we ended up having some at the end - just use them!
I don’t think I’ll do DDP again even if it results in negro le savings. I like the flexibility not being on it and not stressing about what credits to use, how many are left etc.
I have run the numbers, repeatedly, trying to justify getting the dining plan. My plan was to get the plan for the room with 3 adults and share the credits with the room with 2 adults, a toddler, and an infant. Even with 3 character meals plus Biergarten, our other meals don’t help us reach the break even point. The EEMH we cause us to eat breakfast in the room most days. We don’t eat that many snacks and plan to split them. So, even though I tried very hard to make the DDP save us money, even though I was sure that Disney was offering me savings , I just can’t convince myself that it makes sense for us. I would be spending 10 nights obsessing over, did I get my money’s worth. I have enough to obsess about without adding DDP.
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We are all staying together in a 2-bedroom which kinda stinks because I think this would be a perfect opportunity to share credits. But I don’t think I can take her off because of EEMH and her Fastpasses. We’re also in a DVC room and do plan to do at least some meals in the room or on the grill so I think that’s another strike for the dining plan too.
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Thanks for the assurances guys! I want to try and save money, but it feels easier to do without actually having the dining plan!
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Every time I do the calculations, I can’t get DDP to benefit me.
Just a couple days ago I was reading an article on a Disney site (forget now which one) that was specifically addressing this and how in the last few years Disney has made enough changes to the DDP that make it almost NEVER beneficial to the guests. Not that it can’t be, but usually isn’t. Which makes sense. Disney wants you to spend more, not less. They don’t offer the DDP to save you money, but as an “upcharge” for a level of convenience and splurge factor.
Disney did their own research and found that with a MB, guests spent as much as like 35% more than they would have otherwise. This ties well with research that shows how paying with credit card is easier and actually less “painful” for people than paying with cash because it seems less real. The MB does the same.
So, if you want to save money, paying for it yourself out of pocket can save you more simply because you suddenly become more aware of what you are spending and start making “wiser” (financially, at least) decisions.
Having said ALL that, if you can afford it, and don’t mind paying extra for the “experience” of the MB eating (DDP), go ahead and do it. It isn’t JUST about cost for some people.
For us, it is almost ALWAYS about cost. And, as I said, we save a LOT of money by NOT using the DDP.
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BTW, one thing that I keep seeing on DFBGuide is AJ constantly mentioning how to NOT throw away those snack credits if you are using the DDP. I think she recommends using any extra snack credits you have to stock up on snacks you can take home with you. I’m not sure what those are, specifically, but it seems like some of the pre-packaged candy, etc., counts as snack credits? Something to keep in mind. Since I don’t have personal experience, I can’t give details…but DFBGuide certainly can!
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So I feel like I have just been reading the opposite on here and on chat that since the price of the DDP hasn’t really changed and the food prices keep skyrocketing that it’s becoming a better deal. But it’s not really borne out in my circumstances. I think if I had fewer people or maybe one more character meal. I think alcohol has also changed the “value” proposition. So yes, you can squeeze value out of it if you order a $12 mimosa with your character breakfast, but if I’m paying cash, I’m not having a mimosa at 11am on an EEMH day or else I’ll be sleeping on Eeyore’s shoulder.
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If you are not even using all of your QS credits and you are only paying $200 more with the plan at this point with conservative meal estimates, it would seem like you would at least break even. It may be nice for the experience of being in the bubble and the convenience, especially with so many people. Some people say that the DP gives them freedom not to think about money but we would stress out trying to get our money’s worth. But it sounds like you are coming from it from the bang for the buck view.
So,
(1) Is everyone going to order an alcoholic drink every meal?
(2) Is everyone going to order dessert for every sit down meal and actually eat them?
(3) If you were not on the dining plan, would you order an alcoholic drink every meal for everyone or dessert for every person at TS?
(4) Would you normally eat that much food and/or that type of food?
(5) Do you want to be tied down to eating all that food to get value from the DP?
(6) Would it still be good value to you if you had leftovers you don’t eat?
(7) Do you find value in getting prepackaged snacks and candies with your leftover QS and/or snack credits that you may not normally buy?
(8) WDW is hot and humid many months of the year, limiting people’s intake of food. It sounds like you are going during F&W and it may be hot and humid some of the days.
To us, a dining plan limits flexibility, in terms of making time to eat, eating when we aren’t hungry, and getting to the TS reservations; and it takes away from park time. And you still need to pay gratuity for the TS and I think (someone correct me if I am wrong because I don’t know the age of your child) with 5 adults, 1 child, and 1 infant, 18% gratuity will automatically be added to your bill.
If you reran your calculations with appetizers, food, desserts, snacks, and drinks you would normally order or stuff you would WANT to order, how does the final number compare to the dining plan?
I read that same article about OOP prices rising dramatically over the years compared to the minor rises in DP costs. I have eyed the dining plan longingly each time but the numbers still don’t work for my family of 4.
None of us drinks alcohol. We hardly ever order 4 desserts at meals. DS19 and I don’t eat breakfast, just milk, tea, juice, and/or coffee. DH and DD21 don’t normally eat a full breakfast. At WDW, especially with all the yummy snacks, we usually don’t order one entree per person per meal and sometimes we have skipped meals because we weren’t hungry. We always share a salad at least once a day to get some fiber 
. And there is usually a day, when we order 2 dinner salads and share. Most days, everyone would get their own ice cream, Dole Whip, or Citrus Swirl. Then, we would each pick another snack and share it 4 ways. And we usually do one character meal and one signature meal each trip.
For convenience and to help it feel like you are in the bubble and eat whatever, whenover, put the same amount on a Visa card or gift card. You can even put the gratuity amounts on it. If you use it all, great. If not, Visa is accepted everywhere and the gift card can be spent for the next trip or at Shop Disney anytime.
And you are already paying big bucks for a 2 bedroom DVC room and planning to cook some yummy, homey food for a fraction of the cost to eat out! My kids would be envious because they get tired of eating out so many days but I refuse to cook unless we are in the middle of nowhere. My fall back is to have one instant noodle meal with lunch meat and chicken soup during a long trip, 7+ days.
Yes, character meals are pricey and nobody gets value at all-you-can eat in our family of small eaters!!! For our December trip, we are paying for Story Book Dining, $220 + tax and tip. But we are paying for the experience and entertainment. For that money, we would have liked all seven dwarfs! We are also paying for the Candlelight Processional at Garden Grill, $240 + tax and tip. Originally, it was at Biergarten. But we wanted to see our favorite characters at Garden Grill. Instead of booking an additional character meal, because we couldn’t bring ourselves to pay that cost, we swapped Biergarten for Garden Grill and paid like $32 more total. For the Candlelight Processional Dining Package, we are paying for entertainment by the characters without spending time to stand in line for each one and reserved seating at the Candlelight Processional (rather that wasting time to stand in line).
Really, to DP or not is a personal question depending on your point of view and yours appears to be value. So, I would venture a maybe not.
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Imagine you would pay X if paying out of pocket. Dining plan costs P. Sticker price of every meal you get on the dining plan is S.
It is very common that X < P < S, because behaviour changes with the dining plan.
When that happens, you feel like you are saving money (you spent less then sticker price) and Disney makes more money (you spent more then you would normally would).
It is common to only compare with sticker price when analysing cost without taking account behaviour changes, in which case it is easier to feel that the dining plan is a good deal.
Sometimes the behaviour changes due to the dining plan are exactly what makes the vacation better, and it is worth getting the dining plan even when P > S just to force you to have nicer meals 
Just to say that optimizing for vacation satisfaction is very hard 
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