Disney Dining Plan Analysis for Family of 5

[HodgesMom3]

Hi HodgesMom3 - I think it is very different, depending on how much you eat. Our family just never ate the quantity of food and snacks they give you with the dining plan. Some families could and would break even, or possibly even save some money. You would probably never know for sure unless you track it at least once.

You can use this site to get a bit of a better idea of what you might spend out of pocket versus the dining plan - https://www.distripplanner.com.

Thank you so much! I did the calculator & it looks like we’re not saving any money either. I guess I’ll have to suck it up now since it’s already added to our trip. Oh well I will know better next time.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Thank you so much! I did the calculator & it looks like we’re not saving any money either. I guess I’ll have to suck it up now since it’s already added to our trip. Oh well I will know better next time.

I would not worry too much - just enjoy yourself and eat well! Remember too that you can exchange a counter service entitlement for snacks that you can take home with you, so you do have some options.

 

[sharonabe]

Thank you so much! I did the calculator & it looks like we’re not saving any money either. I guess I’ll have to suck it up now since it’s already added to our trip. Oh well I will know better next time.

Don't forget, you can get an alcoholic or specialty drink with your meals. Those can go a long way in making the plan work for you. Also, if you have any Disney kids (9 or under), they can get adult QS meals instead of kid's meals, which is another way to maximize the plan.

However, if none of those things are in your favor, you can drop the plan. If you haven't reached your paid in full date, there shouldn't be any charge to drop it. If you have, there will be a charge, and it probably makes sense to keep it.

 

[crazylady]

Very interesting. It seems most of your savings is due to not eating as meany meals. Did you share some QS meals? And on the day you just did one TS, did you just have snacks the rest of the day? I'm not sure that would work doe my people.

 

[crazylady]

Hello,

@sharonabe - I spent an additional $459.28 on "dining" items, in addition to what would have been covered by the dining plan. This would include any extra food items (appetizers, etc), gratuity and drinks above the one they cover with the DDP. This would bring my grand total to $2,456.21, which is still a $493.18 savings.

But I imagine alot of that $459 you would have still spent on top of the dining plan.

 

[HodgesMom3]

Don't forget, you can get an alcoholic or specialty drink with your meals. Those can go a long way in making the plan work for you. Also, if you have any Disney kids (9 or under), they can get adult QS meals instead of kid's meals, which is another way to maximize the plan.

However, if none of those things are in your favor, you can drop the plan. If you haven't reached your paid in full date, there shouldn't be any charge to drop it. If you have, there will be a charge, and it probably makes sense to keep it.

Thank you! We have one that is 7 & she can’t eat a lot at one time but could snack about all day. We’ve never gotten the dining plan before & I’ve worried it would not be beneficial this time since we just changed our reservation to the campground as of today. Trying every little bit to save money!

 

[HodgesMom3]

I would not worry too much - just enjoy yourself and eat well! Remember too that you can exchange a counter service entitlement for snacks that you can take home with you, so you do have some options.

Oh I’m sure we could definitely rack up on some snacks throughout our stay!

 

[dianagail]

Interesting to see! We are a family if 5 going in December...4 a, 1 c. We decided to go with the free dining. The room discount would need to be a record breaker to save us money over getting dining. Of course, we are not upgrading...just getting the basic plan. We are staying at cbr, which has a huge discount as it is (it appears?). So the dining plan for free made sense to us. I will be saving all of our receipts to see how much our food would have cost us for the week.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Hello,

For anyone interested...

We are a family of 5 and have been going to Disney World every January for the past 14 years, always getting the Disney Dining Plan. For the past 2 or 3 years, we have been starting to question whether the dining plan cost was worth it for us, but we always ended up getting it by default. This year we decided to bite the bullet and not get the dining plan. Being the analytical guy that I am, I decided to track all of our meal and snack spendings as if we were actually on the dining plan. The goal obviously was to determine whether we were actually saving money with the DDP or not.

Background Information:
Number of Nights - 9
DDP Adult Cost/Night - $75.49
DDP Child Cost/Night - 25.75
Number of Disney Adults - 4
Number of Children - 1

DDP Per Day Cost - $327.71
DDP Total Cost - $2,949.39

Adult Table Service Credits Starting - 36
Child Table Service Credits Starting - 9
Quick Service Credits Starting - 45
Snack Credits Starting - 90

I would say as a family we are generally good eaters. By this, I mean that when we are at Disney, we like to eat - this is part of the experience for us. Also, we were there during the EpCot Festival of the Arts and sampled quite a bit of the food.

Below is a spreadsheet showing our spending on dining at Disney for the 9 nights we were there. The costs shown are the amounts we spent on items that would have been covered by the DDP only. So gratuity, extra drinks, etc are not included in the prices shown. The credits shown are the number of credits we would have used had we been on the DDP.


View attachment 304027

As you can see, we saved around $950 by not getting the DDP. We ate as much as we wanted and were not cutting back just because we were not on the dining plan. I also noticed that we did not waste nearly as much food as we used to throw away on the DDP. We also felt that we were less pressured to eat and only ate when we were hungry. When we were on the DDP, we would always feel like we had to get a TS meal and a QS meal in every day to make it worth the cost.

In terms of credits, we would have had the following amounts of credits remaining, had we been on the DDP.

Adult Table Service Credits Ending - 0
Child Table Service Credits Ending - 0
Quick Service Credits Ending - 25
Snack Credits Ending - 51

So for our dining and snacking habits, it definitely makes sense to not get the DDP. Of course, others would be different, but this makes the decision easy for us going forward.

For additional interest, we ate at the following table service meals:

Wednesday - Ohana's
Thursday - Trattoria Al Fornio
Friday - Teppan Edo
Saturday - 50's Prime Time Cafe
Sunday - Be Our Guest
Monday - Raglan Road
Tuesday - Crystal Palace
Wednesday - Biergarten
Thursday - Chef Mickeys - Breakfast

This is great - Excel is my best friend when we travel to Disney. I have been doing a spreadsheet each year for years to prove to me that the DDP is not worth it. One year we saved over $1,000 by not doing the DDP - just like you did. It really is unbelievable how much you waste on the DDP - with food and money.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

We are also a family of 5. (As of this year we are all adults) I have been keeping track for 5 years of our food purchases and we don't spend even 1/3 of what the DDP costs.
A good friend of mine takes cruises and loves the all inclusive trips and likes that her vacation is paid for before she even starts her vacation. She has always tried to make me think I am crazy for not doing a DDP. It's completely apples & oranges in comparison of trips #1.....................and #2 I know I am smart to skip the DDP. It just doesn't work for my family. Hopefully others do see an upside for their family to purchase it.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Very interesting. It seems most of your savings is due to not eating as meany meals. Did you share some QS meals? And on the day you just did one TS, did you just have snacks the rest of the day? I'm not sure that would work doe my people.

If you are referring to Friday January 26th, we were at EpCot Festival of the Arts and sampled a lot of the food. Most of these were snack credits, and everyone was quite full.

We shared the odd quick service meal. For example, we were staying at the Boardwalk Villas and ended up eating at Boardwalk To Go quite a bit. We would get 3 hamburgers, some fries, etc. and share them by the pool.

As I mentioned in original post, we certainly did not starve ourselves - we like to eat well. I never once felt like we were not getting something we wanted, but at the same time I did not feel like we were overeating just because we had to use up credits.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

But I imagine alot of that $459 you would have still spent on top of the dining plan.

Yes, agreed. So we would have spent the cost of the dining plan ($2,949.39) plus the $459.

 

[DisneyFive]

Very good analysis. My kind of thing. (I also love spreadsheets and figuring out the cost differences).

We are also a family of 5, but we are all now considered adults on the dining plan. I wouldn't dream of buying a dining plan. Our first 5 trips were with the free dining offer in late September. This got us hooked on TS meals and like you said it's become just as much of a part of our vacation as the attractions at Disney. In 2016 we had to visit in August as our schedules don't allow us to go in September anymore.

We ate just like we would have with the Dining plan, but payed out of pocket. Like you, we saved a ton vs the dining plan.

The only reason to get a dining plan IMO is so that you don't have to think about the cost of meals while on vacation. However, for us that benefit doesn't come close to the cost savings of paying OOP.

Dan

 

[juuuliebeth]

I second the idea of using a gift card to continue the "Bubble" feel. Just hand over the card and keep going. Check the balance just like you check remaining credits. Works really well for me.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks for this-it's really interesting! So often when I go, I wonder whether I should get the dining plan or not, but haven't yet. Your analysis makes me think I may be making the correct decision. Also, if I remember right, don't you still have to pay OOP for the tip at TS restaurants if you're on the dining plan? I last used the dining plan back in the day when you got appetizer, entree, dessert, beverage, and tip was included.

 

[DisneyFive]

Also, if I remember right, don't you still have to pay OOP for the tip at TS restaurants if you're on the dining plan? .

Yes, the gratuity is paid Out Of Pocket in either case.

Dan

 

[Jasperann]

We are a family of 6 (all Disney Adults) and we've decided that we are not doing the plan this time around. We always have so many QS and Snacks left we would have 'spent' over 300.00 dollars if it was OOP on our last trip using up our snack/QS credits on junk. The junk lasted a long time at home...lol And as gifts for friends. (That was AFTER buying two family's lunch with our credits) We may spend 40.00 on snacks to bring home but I know it won't be 300.00 worth and that was basically just using the credits to use them. That and we throw so much food away on the plan. I'm positive we will save money because I know that three of my kids would opt for sharing a chicken nuggets and fries with maybe a side of fries and all be full rather than ordering three separate meals because we feel like we 'have' to use them.

I did a spread sheet kind of like yours but it is a 'before' our trip and if we were to eat 2 meals a day +6 snacks a day... which we don't do now. But I wanted the extreme case. We still will save over $1000.00 and that is after tips are included in the price. We do love the all inclusive feel of the plan but like a previous poster are just doing gift cards with money loaded on it in the cost of the DDP. Then when we save $1000.00 maybe I can buy that purse I have my eye on.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Thank you for taking the time to document your eating habits and cost.
We eat differently so the deluxe dining plan works nicely both in foods we prefer and our cost analysis.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Yes, the gratuity is paid Out Of Pocket in either case.

Dan

I never calculate the cost of gratuity when comparing oop vs dining plans since it will be the same one way or the other.

 

[addiln]

Thanks for the breakdown. We are also a family of 5 and never do the ddp. I debate it each time but always in the end thankful that i did not pull the trigger and buy it. With our DVC discount we save plenty and it we are not big snack people anyways. Also we tend to not need dessert after every meal. I always felt like we were wasting food when we go the DDP. I do enjoy watching people on there check out day rushing to get all the snack credits in and packing them in the bags for the flights home. I just think that the plan is a waste in the end for us and the cost savings as you have shown is just not there.