TIW Blackout dates vs. DIning plan

I have a TIW card. My problem is, that at least 5 of the restaurants I want to eat at on Spring Break are excluded under the TIW blackout dates. Would it make sense to do Disney Dining plan? 2 adults, 3 kids aged 12,11, and 5…pls help

Which type of dining plan are you looking at, and what restaurants are you looking to book?

Two of your children are Disney adults. You will pay for 4 adults and 1 child on the dining plan. Will you spend more than 280 a day ( about the cost of DDP for your family before tip?). Do you usually order apps ( not included)? Do you always eat dessert( included)?

My kids are Disney adults, 10&12. We no longer do the DDP because they do not eat $60 worth of food a day. We did it several times when they were 9 and younger but if just doesn’t make sense now. We eat a lot more TS than we do CS, and still come out ahead. If you like the idea of prepaid, buy Disney gift cards in the amount that the DDP would cost. Then whatever is left over can be used for souvenirs or save for another time.

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We were looking at Akershus, Cinderella’s Royal Table, 1900 PF,etc…does that make a difference?

Yep, not all dining plan options are made the same. For example, Cinderella’s Royal Table is 2 table service dining credits. Also, if you are going for Breakfast at Akershus, you are paying the same price in dining plan credits as you would for Lunch or Dinner, even though you pay different prices if you were paying cash. (Breakfast for Akershus is $38-44 for adults, Lunch and Dinner are $39-47.)

And even though some restaurants are the same amount of dining points, their prices can be different. So for Biergarten for lunch, you’d pay $22.

So that means that if you did two meals at Aksershus, you could be paying $94 in cash for two table service credits’ worth of meals. At Cinderella’s Royal Table, you’d’ be paying $44 in cash for two table service credits’ worth of meals (and only get one meal!). For Biergarten, you’d also be paying $44 in cash for two table service credits’ worth of meals, but you’d get two meals. For all of these options, you’d still be paying the same $122 to get two days’ worth of TS credits.

In the end, the best thing to do is to book your ADRs, then add up the prices for the meals and see if it is then worth paying for the dining plan. There are some wonderful tools and spreadsheets out there that can do this all for you, too.

Do not do DDP - while TIW is a real discount, DDP hardly ever is a value. You pay for food upfront that you may or may not eat and you are paying full price.

Just pay out of pocket.

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