Welcome back to Disney 101! Last time Jenn took us through her way of doing dining which is without the Disney Dining Plan. Today we are going to dine at Disney my way which includes the Plus Dine plan. If you missed our preview post all about how each of us do Disney you will want to catch up here before reading.
I actually saved most of my dining receipts from my most recent Disney vacation so I am going to do a daily breakdown so that you can see how much we would have spent if we were not on the Disney Dining Plan.
These are our vacation stats so that you know how I arrived at the prices:
We are a family of 5.
2 Adults
3 Children ages: 2 (at the time of this trip), 6, & 14
We ate at 9 Table Service Restaurants on our vacation.
- Chef Mickey Breakfast-3 adults @ 30.88 and 1 child at $12.99 total: $105.63
- Biergarten- 3 Adults @ 35.14 and 1 child at $17.03 total: 119.45
- Crystal Palace Breakfast- 3 adults @ $24.49 and 1 child @ $13.84 Total: $87.31
- Chefs de France- total for 2 adults and 1 child (I was sick this day) $107.52
- Le Cellier- total for 3 adults and 1 child $ 158.39
- Ohana- 3 Adults at $35.14 and 1 child at $17.03 total: $122.45
- Sci-Fi Dine In- total for 3 adults and 1 child is $92.70
- Coral Reef- total for 3 adults and 1 child is $156.24
- Via Napoli- total for 3 adults and 1 child is $ 146
This is a total of $1095.69 for Table Service Meals.
I would also like to figure in the resort refillable mugs that are good throughout your stay. We like to make sure each one of us gets one on our vacation. The total for 4 mugs was $57.96. Keep in mind that as of 2012 the Disney Dining Plan now includes the resort refillable mugs for FREE!
We dined at several quick service locations throughout Disney World and here is the total for each location.
- Flame Tree Barbecue total $66.82
- Toy Story Pizza Planet total $51.63
- Pecos Bill’s total $ 52.83
- Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe total $49.53
- Columbia Harbour House total $53.93
- Tangerine Cafe total $65.96
- Sunshine Seasons total $61.53
- We ate the rest of our counter service at Pop Century with a total of $ 88.39
This is a total of $490.62 for quick service restaurants.
I did not keep track of the snacks that I purchased but the snacks are valued at $4 per credit so that puts us at: $144
Cost of food for the week: $1788.27
Cost of the Plan: $1349.64
Tips for the week: $197.22
Total with Tips: $1546.86
We saved: $438.63 on the Disney Dining Plan this does not include tips as we would need to pay for them either way.
The Bottom Line:
No matter which way we do it for my family we like to have everything prepaid. When we have opted out of the plan we feel like there is just too much conversation surrounded around what to order and how to save. The Disney Dining Plan gives my family the freedom of choice. Yes, it is true…we do not NEED the dessert with our meals, but we are on vacation and we like to have the option.
What are your thoughts?
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10 Comments.
We always get the Disney Dining plan because you just can’t beat the savings and the convenience. I’m glad they came up with it!
We have gone with and without the dining plan. With the dining plan was definitely less stress about money since it was basically already paid for and we could get whatever we liked and not worry about how much it cost. When we went without, we had the hassle of eating breakfast in the room & making up sandwiches and snacks for a day at the park and then carrying all the food with us for half the day. We would buy one meal a day. We saved a ton of money though, because when we pay out of pocket for meals, we wouldn’t get half the food we got on the dining plan. But I loved giving my kids the experience of character meals when we had the dining plan. I would have never paid out of pocket for those meals (I’m too cheap to pay $100+ for a buffet lol). I’m torn, I would go to the parks either way!
This is a great article. I find that many guests don’t know that the Disney Dining Plan (Plus) covers Character Meals and Dinner shows (except for some Category 1 seating), plus they don’t know that they can use the credits in any order such as using 2 Table-Services one day and 2 Counter-Services the next. And many guests like to save their Snack credits until the end, and then load up their carry-ons for the plane ride home. I am so glad you took the time to do a breakdown to show how much guests can save. Thanks Kelly!
I’ve been running the math trying to talk myself out of the Deluxe Dining plan, but even with the fact that I am a vegetarian and my husband only eats fish occasionally we come out about even. Three different scenarios put us at less than a $50 difference. If we get free dining the savings is huge. Even if we don’t I would rather pay the extra $50 and have everything prepaid! I am a stickler for savings and have a hard time going for the extras when I have to pay out of pocket, so I’m hoping the meal plan helps me indulge without feeling guilty. Oh, and that $50 difference did not include the mugs or snacks, just actual meals!
We are headed to Disney in Sept…and using the dining plus.. I think its a great option!
We get the DDP every time we go to WDW because it’s so convenient and we eat all types of foods so it makes it easier to use this option. We’ve also learned to go to character dining for breakfast instead of dinner so that it only uses up one table credit and not two. Great article! Thank you for parsing out the costs!
Glad to see that the plan benefited you in terms of cost. That was one of my biggest deciding factors on the dining plan.
I belive each time we use the DDP (2 adults) we save a couple hundred dollars. I will keep track when we go in December.
We would love to know how it works out for you. Thanks for stopping by!!
[…] I’d like to help you decide HOW you want to dine in Disney. I am also going to skip the Dining Plan. You can find information about that other […]