Another is Dining plan worth it question

[sejeta]

I looked at the allears web site to see roughly how much it would cost to pay OOP vs DP and its 244 less to pay OOP but this is without snacks and the refillable mugs that is now included with the dining plan.

So my question is. How much would snacks and refillable mugs for 4 people for 11 days come to? Is 244 the average or would that be way off?

I'm torn because I've always gone with the dining plan but my DD12 and DS 9 don't eat much. although that could change come Dec. Given my DD is considered an adult I know I could probably get her and my son to share an adult meal at CS, of course that won't work at TS.

I need pros and cons to consider my dilemma.

Thanks.

 

[TDC Nala]

Refillable mug costs about $16 now. The big question is whether or not your party will use it. If they won't use it, then you can assume that you wouldn't have bought the mugs anyway.

As for snacks, that'll totally depend on what snacks you buy, as buying a cheese pretzel will be worth a good bit more than buying a bottle of water.

 

[Cafeen]

I typically average ~$3 per snack when figuring it out.

11 days or 11 nights? It makes a slight difference.

Over 11 days/10 nights of the plan, using my $3 snack price above, that comes out to $120 on covered snacks. Adding another $64 for 4 mugs, and this is only $184, still far below what you're figuring. With 11 nights, it only pushes the number up to $196, so still quite a bit under. (As a note, for just snacks, to make up $244 in 10 nights for 4 people, you'd have to average ~$6.10 per snack, which is doable, but very much on the high end of the snacking spectrum.)

 

[sejeta]

Its 10 nights 11 days. That's very helpful.

I would probably only buy 2 mugs since I don't want my 2 kids drinking that much pop all week!

Thank you .

 

[darnheather]

If your kids are under ten and you plan to do two or more character meals the dining plan can be a very good deal.

 

[sejeta]

Last time we bought snacks like, pretzels, frozen lemonade, mickey bars, milkshakes and a few bakery items. We didn't use it for drinks other than milkshakes.

A few snacks I know we could share.

 

[Dizneydaz]

You mentioned having your kid's share meals at CS since they will both be treated as adults but you also mentioned that they probably won't be able to share at TS.

You can actually share at almost all TS locations. We have many times. Also, if one (or both) of your kid's wants to order a kid's meal they usually can. You could then pay OOP for it. We did this several times the year DD turned 10. We also paid OOP for her kid's meals when she was under 10 at Signature TS locations. That along with sharing some meals between my DM and myself allowed us to have a few more TS meals.

 

[Marionnette]

Do some more calculations. Begin with the assumption that you have $244 for snacks and mugs.

If you were on the DDP, you would have to get 4 mugs with a value of $64. Ten nights and 4 people would be 40 snack credits. In order to break even on the plan, you would need to average $1.80 per snack ($244 - $64 = $180, $180/40 credits = $1.80). That's certainly doable without any effort. The only question is whether you will actually use all 40 snack credits.

But if you were not on the plan, you would only buy 2 mugs ($32 value), which would leave you with $212 for snacks. Divide it by 40 snacks (which is what you would have gotten on the DDP) and you have to spend an average of $5.30 per snack to spend all $212 in your pocket. Those are some pretty pricey snacks and it's not likely to happen. You would either get more than 40 snacks for your $212 or you would come home with money in your pocket.

So, the chances are very good that you will do better off of the DDP than you will on the DDP. But the amount that you would save by paying OOP will be very little. In your case, I would say that it's almost a wash.

 

[julie4423]

Does your OOP plan include sharing meals and skipping desserts? I know if I were paying OOP, I would likely do things like this. However, I like that I can have whatever on the DDP and not worry about it. Our average snack credit ends up being about $4.50 with tax. So $180 for 40 credits + $16 for 2 mugs =$196. About $50 more for the DP than OOP. I would just do the DP if it were that close because I assume you did leave out some things that it will cover.

 

[KrisM]

Do some more calculations. Begin with the assumption that you have $244 for snacks and mugs.

If you were on the DDP, you would have to get 4 mugs with a value of $64. Ten nights and 4 people would be 40 snack credits. In order to break even on the plan, you would need to average $1.80 per snack ($244 - $64 = $180, $180/40 credits = $1.80). That's certainly doable without any effort. The only question is whether you will actually use all 40 snack credits.

But if you were not on the plan, you would only buy 2 mugs ($32 value), which would leave you with $212 for snacks. Divide it by 40 snacks (which is what you would have gotten on the DDP) and you have to spend an average of $5.30 per snack to spend all $212 in your pocket. Those are some pretty pricey snacks and it's not likely to happen. You would either get more than 40 snacks for your $212 or you would come home with money in your pocket.

So, the chances are very good that you will do better off of the DDP than you will on the DDP. But the amount that you would save by paying OOP will be very little. In your case, I would say that it's almost a wash.

$180/4 = $4.50 not $1.80

Only a $. 80 difference.

 

[dd50]

I found with a child that is 12 sometimes wants to eat from the childrens menu and when I did the plan without the mugs it ended up costing me money because they didn't want the food all the time or didn't really eat any thing except for the desert. I have been paying OOP for the last two years and we eat what we want and I come out better paying OOP. Sometimes I just want something small or even to share.

When I was on the plan the mugs weren't included but I had purchased soda for the room so I was the only one that bought a mug because I like to drink coffee in the morning.