Dining plan or not?

[KrisM]

I have us on the dining plan now, but was hoping for it to be free or cheap. No luck with that! I have a room discount instead.

Anyhow, we'll be there 8 nights. Right now,we have ADRs for 6 TS meals that use 8 TS credits. I went through menus and guessed what we'd order for the 1 non-buffet TS and for the counter service meals. I also put in $4 each for a snack each day. I am planning on breakfast in the room and we'll do bagels, granola bars, etc. Because we are signed up for 2 shows, we'll end up short 1 meal, so have to pay OOP for 1 counter service meal.

The numbers (including tax)
40 TS meals: $900
45 CS meals: $350
40 snacks: $150

Total is $1400
Adding 5 mugs (not sure if we'd buy these or not) adds $90 and makes our total $1490.

Total for the dining plan is $1392 . So, I am thinking we are better off NOT doing the plan. I think we won't all be ordering a CS meal every time, as we'll split some things up, especially if we have a lunch buffet at 1pm. I figure we'll do a snack in the mid-morning and then the buffet and then split a few meals for dinner maybe. Another benefit is I can upgrade our HDDR seats to category 1, since cat 2 and 3 are the only ones I can do with the dining plan.

Make sense? Am I missing anything?

[bnme]

I would definitely skip it. We share lunches a lot, especially if we are having a big dinner. May even have an “ice cream for lunch” day. And if you miss a TS, then you are really going to lose out. I know my parents have the Tables in Wonderland dinning discount card. Not sure how it really works or if it would be worth it, but you may want to look into it. It’s a discount card, but it only works at certain restaurants. It is worth it for them, but they are Florida residents so YMMMV. We did the dinning plan years ago and it was a pain. And that’s when it was more worth it because tips were included.

[egoldber]

Well, I always say skip it, because 1) if you don't eat the way dining plan has you eat, then you don't get the real value, and 2) I don't like my touring plans being dictated by reservations.

FYI, Tables in Wonderland is only available to Florida residents, Annual Passholders, and DVC members.

http://tablesinwonderland.com/

Although depending on how many TS restaurants you plan to do, it can be worth it to buy one AP and get the TIW card.

[brittone2]

We were going to skip it, as I think we'd do better without it. However, we now are doing the DDP because of S/P/D. I'm also holding out a sliver of hope for a FD pin, but that's doubtful. Anyway, for my family I think we'd skip the DDP if it wasn't free or discounted. When we were thinking we'd pay OOP, I basically said to DH that if we go over what we would have spent on the DDP, then lesson learned. However, my guess is that we would not have gone over, and even if we did, we would have had a lot more flexibility, which would have made it easier to absorb the extra $$ spent over the DDP cost. That's assuming it would have cost more in the first place.

[Indianamom2]

I'm still not sure which way would have been best for us, but I know we did what you did (went through the menu and guessed, totaled it up and compared) and it came out just about even. We didn't end up doing it, but we might next time, just to see if it makes any difference. I'm not sure it's a huge savings in the end.

[KrisM]

Sounds good. I'm thinking if we're wrong, it'll be less than $100 wrong, so worth the risk to save more, improve some seats, and not worry as much. I like that it's prepaid, but I'd be worried about eating what I was supposed to be eating! I'll save our receipts and see how it turns out

[KrisM]

One more question - if you skip it, do you buy the resort mugs? I drink coke daily and would there in the morning. Kids drink milk or lemonade usually. DH drinks mainly water, but might have a coke or two a week. At $18 a pop, I'm thinking we'll skip it and buy bottles of drinks at a store.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'd hate to lug a mug around. Is that what you'd have to do?

[egoldber]

We do not buy the mug. We generally only eat breakfast at the hotel and DH and I both think the coffee at WDW is barely drinkable. We also usually split a soda when we eat out.

One year we did buy a mug, but that was a time that it was just older DD and I most of the week and we spent a lot more time than usual at the resort.

[hillview]

I'd skip it and the mug. I'd get a grocery service to deliver a 12 pack of coke