Opinions for paying for dining in 2017.

[christianweecare]

DH & I will be making reservations soon for December 2017. We are DVC and will have AP's. We're trying to decide our best payment plan for dining 2017. Undecided about doing the DDP or purchasing the TIW card. It looks like we would need to spend at least $750 to recoup the cost of the TIW; however, we will be getting 2 years worth of trips from our AP's. Any opinions or advice? I could buy gift cards from Target and get another 5% off of dining that way, too. Help me think through this!

 

[Faldred]

Just the two adults? What's your dining style (i.e., how often do you do sit-downs, signatures, order apps/desserts)? How many total nights (and meals) are we talking about here?

 

[christianweecare]

2 adults. Normally one sit down per day. Signature only occasionally. 7 nights. Will use AP over the course of 2 years. We normally purchase the DDP. Just weighing our options for the best deal for us.

 

[supersnoop]

2 adults. Normally one sit down per day. Signature only occasionally. 7 nights. Will use AP over the course of 2 years. We normally purchase the DDP. Just weighing our options for the best deal for us.

DDP will not be worthwhile for your party. TiW will be boarderline; probably worthwhile over two trips. Compare the TiW discounts against your AP discounts to determine where the break-even really is. http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

 

[MamaBelle4]

I chose to do the DDP, but we have 3 kids and an infant, and are doing 6 character meals.
Can't you buy the disney gift cards with the 5% savings, use the TiW discount then pay with the discounted cards?

 

[christianweecare]

I did have the thought of purchasing Disney gift cards at Target for the 5% discount then paying with them. We have AP. Waiting to see what discounts will be available for later 2018. Just can't decide about the TIW.

 

[kniquy]

I am in the same boat as you - DVC w/AP. I think with the variety of restaurants which offer the discounts from either DVC or AP you could probably make out better than with the dining plan. If you think about the savings from TIW you probably need to consider an even higher breakeven when you think about the discounts you would already get with DVC or the AP.

For our next trip we are going to forgo the dining plan because our two oldest boys will then be disney adults. When i priced out a sample of what my family would likely order and compared it to what the dining plan cost would be -- there really wasn't much of a savings - my husband and I often like to just order a few apps or split an entree and each get salads -- with the dining plan the is a little less flexibility. The dining plan tends to be too much food anyways.

I guess the one way to know if it makes sense would be to plan out a sample of where you would dine and what you would typically order. Then compare to the cost of the dining plan. I did it and with all the menu's and pricing online it wasn't too difficult.

 

[christianweecare]

"I guess the one way to know if it makes sense would be to plan out a sample of where you would dine and what you would typically order. Then compare to the cost of the dining plan. I did it and with all the menu's and pricing online it wasn't too difficult."

I just did that and realized that we would probably eat a lot less without the dining plan. I think we will go with the DVC/AP discounts where we can. I don't think the TIW will be cost effective for us to recoup the initial outlay for the card.

I do think I will purchase the Disney gift cards at Target for an additional savings and pay for everything that way. I figure (if nothing else) if I have the amount of what the DDP would cost us plus tips then we should be good to go. Am I thinking this through correctly?

 

[Faldred]

Yeah, gotta agree that DDP won't work for you at all.

Comes down to whether or not you're going to spend enough to make the TiW worthwhile, after recouping its cost and comparing to AP discounts. I'd guess not, based on what I'm seeing here, but be sure to do the math yourself.

 

[christianweecare]

It would be sweet if AP discounts on dining are 20% again for the entire year!