Dining plan?

warrior64

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Can you only purchase the dining plan if you book through disney? I have always booked vacations directly on disney.com. Havent been in a few years and wow has the price increased! Any suggestions on how or where to book and save a little money?
 
Can you only purchase the dining plan if you book through disney? I have always booked vacations directly on disney.com. Havent been in a few years and wow has the price increased! Any suggestions on how or where to book and save a little money?

You can only book the DDP through Disney or a Disney approved travel agency. The DDP is not usually a way to save money; it depends on how you like to eat and who is in your party. The best way to see if a plan is good for you is to FIRST decide where you want to eat and then check the plans.

As for saving money, you may want to visit the budget board to get some tips and tricks. https://www.disboards.com/forums/budget-board.22/
 
I think that the best way to save money is to know what it is you want for your family and tailor your trip to that.

For instance, look for discounts that are released for the resorts and travel during the reduced cost seasons. Disney resorts are pricy but there are times of year when the cost is higher. I avoid those times.

For food, take time to think about how your family likes to dine while on vacation. Be honest with yourself. Do you like alcohol with dinner? How about beverages in general? Are you happy with water and would you only get a beverage if it was "free?"

Do you like desserts and would you order one at every TS meal you book?

How about character meals and buffets? booking any?

Snacks? Does you family buy snacks a few times a day?

For lodging, what will you be happy with? If you use the resort as part of the vacation, make is a larger part of the budget, however if not, scratch Deluxe.

I think that time invested upfront saves money. I always plan our meals before even looking at dining plans, and I plan our park days. I find it is less expensive for us to buy the package of tickets that encompasses the entire trip and then just hit the parks daily, even if for a few hours. I also think knowing how my family really eats is relevant to what I book. I can plan that we skip meals, and tell myself they wont want snacks, but the reality for us is different. Spend time researching meals and cost out a likely budget of what your family will want. Do not add tax on anything that would be covered on the plan when you compare the costs. Once you have your personalized sheet you can then determine if a plan will work for your family, and if so which one.

I think hoppers are not necessary with a decent plan and is the first place I pare money off unless we are in Epcot resorts, or if we know that the parks are going to be very hot or busy. If I had to shave money off, I would skip them completely no matter where we stayed.

I believe that with a family food is going to be the largest part to budget, and lodging and tix right after that.
 



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