What???? No Dining Plan...Are you Crazy Mom??? - Our Dining Experiment

[tyandskyesmom]

Hey, I'm trying to make the best of it...we are at Mickey's house after all, how bad could it be???

But, I know, I agree. I suppose if I did not know any better and I had never fallen in love with the deluxe dining plan, may, just maybe, it would seem more thrilling.

But, it had to be done...I guess, the way our family functions, and the fact that at home, we don't eat or cook fancy...I had to prove mostly to Cary, but I guess a little to myself because I was curious even though just planning a budget for a trip like this was horrible, that we are (at least while in The World) deluxe dining people...oops, I'm getting too much ahead of myself!

I mean I am glad we did it so we can stop wondering what it would be like...and we did have some decent food. But even my reviews are lame...like, what's there to really say about a hot dog and some nuggets???

I guess there are resort snobs who won't stay any less than deluxe...and there apparently dining snobs who won't eat any less than deluxe! LOL...we fall into the second category! Although, I am doing a mock trip planning (because I realistically am not planning to real planning for another two years or so) to hit deluxe dining venues without the plan and only ordering what we actually want...and maybe using the gift card plan for the amounts we would need...but I don't like the idea of gift cards because the way my life rolls, I would end up having to cancel for a monetary reason but all my money would be untouchable...so maybe that last minute running around town buying up all the gift cards it on the agenda.

But forget you ever read this post and pretend you have no preconceived notions about the end result of this experiment...

 

[Candycane83]

I have to say, it's great to experiment. I will say I think you will have better results for that next trip you are planning but still not as much. Like @Lisa F I'm on the deluxe dining plan for half of my trip. I'm paying OOP for the other half and will see the result of that after this trip too

 

[Disney_traveler]

Random story, but somewhat related....

We were at the food court in The Land at Epcot (that's sunshine seasons, right?) and I wanted one of those big sandwich pieces. I got the second to last piece and the girl working said, "you're my lucky winner today!" And gave me the other portion on the same plate. I was thinking "ok guess I'm paying for 2 pieces of sandwich". Got to cash register and was on dining plan but wasn't charged extra money or any credits. I still wonder how that happened.

 

[Lisa F]

Hey, I'm trying to make the best of it...we are at Mickey's house after all, how bad could it be???

But, I know, I agree. I suppose if I did not know any better and I had never fallen in love with the deluxe dining plan, may, just maybe, it would seem more thrilling.

But, it had to be done...I guess, the way our family functions, and the fact that at home, we don't eat or cook fancy...I had to prove mostly to Cary, but I guess a little to myself because I was curious even though just planning a budget for a trip like this was horrible, that we are (at least while in The World) deluxe dining people...oops, I'm getting too much ahead of myself!

I mean I am glad we did it so we can stop wondering what it would be like...and we did have some decent food. But even my reviews are lame...like, what's there to really say about a hot dog and some nuggets???

I guess there are resort snobs who won't stay any less than deluxe...and there apparently dining snobs who won't eat any less than deluxe! LOL...we fall into the second category! Although, I am doing a mock trip planning (because I realistically am not planning to real planning for another two years or so) to hit deluxe dining venues without the plan and only ordering what we actually want...and maybe using the gift card plan for the amounts we would need...but I don't like the idea of gift cards because the way my life rolls, I would end up having to cancel for a monetary reason but all my money would be untouchable...so maybe that last minute running around town buying up all the gift cards it on the agenda.

But forget you ever read this post and pretend you have no preconceived notions about the end result of this experiment...

oh it is clear already you are not loving your non dxddp experience. BUT there is better food to be had than pizza and nuggets and I expect you will find it! I'm just not much of a qs girl myself to be honest. I finally embraced it for this trip and just went deluxe. I was going to do regular but couldn't get excited even about the best qs choices and was missing out on some ts i wanted to do. oh well. score one for gluttony lol

 

[alex9179]

I'm sorry that it felt like a big compromise. We've never done the dining plan, I prefer TS and share with someone or get an app if that's my preference, and never felt like I was "taking one for the team". A QS dominant trip wouldn't work for me, either, but you made a decision to go while keeping costs down. Hopefully you all had fun, but it seems like you've realized that waiting and saving for what makes the whole family happy is the way to go. Next time! It's what we do, too

 

[tyandskyesmom]

The waiting and saving wasn't the issue. We (or at least part of the "we") wasn't sure he was convinced that Deluxe dining plans were the way to go...and I just cannot seem to make the regular dining plan make sense for us so I don't even thing that's an option...we would opt for appetizers over dessert usually. But since he wasn't convinced and our dining dynamic had changed quite a bit, I was curious. Plus, there were a lot of newer QS places popping up that looked interesting. So, we had to do it.

I am always "taking one for the team"...I eat just about anything where as the rest of us are more picky. And when it's my actual money (dining plans don't feel like money) I am cheap! It wasn't like I was complaining...I just don't usually choose chicken nuggets as my meal.


We do have some better food...some I might even rave about. But the whole dining experience is not the same. And that took some getting used to. But I also think that that is why the Deluxe Dining plan has been our choice...it makes everything feel like a true vacation...now cheapo mom is encouraging everyone to order the most expensive thing on the menu!

 

[Lisa F]

The waiting and saving wasn't the issue. We (or at least part of the "we") wasn't sure he was convinced that Deluxe dining plans were the way to go...and I just cannot seem to make the regular dining plan make sense for us so I don't even thing that's an option...we would opt for appetizers over dessert usually. But since he wasn't convinced and our dining dynamic had changed quite a bit, I was curious. Plus, there were a lot of newer QS places popping up that looked interesting. So, we had to do it.

I am always "taking one for the team"...I eat just about anything where as the rest of us are more picky. And when it's my actual money (dining plans don't feel like money) I am cheap! It wasn't like I was complaining...I just don't usually choose chicken nuggets as my meal.


We do have some better food...some I might even rave about. But the whole dining experience is not the same. And that took some getting used to. But I also think that that is why the Deluxe Dining plan has been our choice...it makes everything feel like a true vacation...now cheapo mom is encouraging everyone to order the most expensive thing on the menu!

I totally get it. I think though that having kids who are disney adults but still light eaters (at least your daughter is, right?) does take some of the value away from the plan. I THINK if say pretended you were doing DxDDP and booked all of the same restaurants. but then just ordered what you truly felt like (no taking one for the team, mom). I THINK you might come out ahead. it is a LOT of food. It works out for me because I am managing to structure my vacation so I have it for 5 FULL days for 4 nights and we are doing 2 meals a day. We are doing a lot of character meals because my kiddo loves them and he is the prime age for them. But the kid credits are where you really make out. With all of those adult credits you would find yourself maybe having fewer meals (only 2 a day), splitting more apps or getting your own app and splitting an entree and probably not having so many desserts (personally I am happy with a bite or two of something sweet at the end of a meal). But it does require retraining yourself to LET IT GO. it's rough. I know. I think this is why people fight about the DDP like it's the most important thing in the world. It's vacation and we all just want to feel good on vacation. For different people it is different things! You obviously love the DxDDP for the freedom it gives you. I was the same way with the regular dining plan... wanted to take advantage of the kiddo savings to do somethings that made me oop (like H&V seasonal dine with F! package).

Still looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

[Mrs. Inc]

Joining!

 

[gorkt]

We never do any dining plan because we are grazers by nature, and just don't eat big meals and steaks, like to split meals and plates etc etc... The dining plan just doesn't work for us and every time I price it out, we end up winning by going OOP.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Not everyone is dining snobs, I would rather have a counter service meal then one of those fancy meals..dont get me wrong but for us fancy is Ohana

 

[DisOrBust]

We have stopped using ANY DDP. However, the sticker shock when paying OOP can be intimidating. I have found we eat what we want( beside the lobster at Narcooses,lol) and save ALOT in the long run. I was burned on the DDP. We had the stomach flu go through our family and it played total hell on my dining planning and I was scrambling to use up credits. That did it for us and I am so much happier not having to plan an invasion.

 

[dnllmz]

I'm following along. I'm liking this experiment so far. I really enjoyed your Christmas dining review and how you included the actual costs vs table service credits.

 

[alex9179]

Yep, that's what Tyler said when I first told him we were going back WITH NO DINING PLAN! Then he asked how he was going to have a steak for every meal without a dining plan. Yep, he did.

But this idea was born for two reasons. One, because we did not expect to even be back so we were doing this cheap (I don't quite know how well that worked out for us, we'll find out together) and two, because on our last trip (December 8, 2015 thru January 1, 2016) we used the Deluxe Dining Plan for 14 days...as was normal for me and the kids for about the past 8 years. But now that we added Cary and both the kids are adults, we found it a lot of food and a lot of ADRs with FP+ "appointments" and our dining dynamics had changed a bit. SO we wanted to go the exact opposite extreme (Deluxe Dining Plan with 2-3 meal per day to no dining plan, paying out of pocket for everything) to see which fit up better now or where we needed to be on the dining plan spectrum.

So welcome to our experiment!

I guess that I misunderstood this comment.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I'm reading along! We have to decide in about 2 weeks whether we want to upgrade our free qs plan to the regular dining plan. The family says "No way! Let's just eat whenever we're hungry wherever we happen to be!" This mom says, "Y'all are gonna get so sick of quick service it's not even funny!" We'll be in the world for a total of 12 days! We do have an EMM planned along with a Tusker House breakfast and Whispering Canyon lunch, but that's it for meals that aren't quick service as of now. I'll be anxious to see your reviews and hear how it went!

 

[Mrs. Inc]

I'm reading along! We have to decide in about 2 weeks whether we want to upgrade our free qs plan to the regular dining plan. The family says "No way! Let's just eat whenever we're hungry wherever we happen to be!" This mom says, "Y'all are gonna get so sick of quick service it's not even funny!" We'll be in the world for a total of 12 days! We do have an EMM planned along with a Tusker House breakfast and Whispering Canyon lunch, but that's it for meals that aren't quick service as of now. I'll be anxious to see your reviews and hear how it went!

I agree with you...twelve days of quick serve.....I don't think my stomach could take it!

 

[mickey2minnie1]

I am in. I could never do all CS, so this is interesting. I have to sit and relax, and I just love character meals. However, if it was the only way I could go, I could do it for a few days, otherwise I would save for a future trip.

I can see why you want to prove your point.

 

[njgrl622]

Following! I thought about not doing the dining plan this time (we arrive next week!) but went with it anyway. I just don't want to have to think about budgeting for meals. So now I'm thinking "I'm pre-paying".....I don't expect to save money since we don't always want the $30 steak and dessert with every meal.

 

[nmccrea]

Following. We are going back in August 2017. The last 2 times we have done the regular dining plan and was planning on going without this time, but this might change my mind

 

[pepperandchips]

Fun experiment! Can't wait to see the final results and how it all worked out. We usually do a mix of signatures and counter service here and there if we are busy in the parks. I have always been interested in the dining plan though!

 

[Smbmoyers]

Subbing on this report. I binge ready your Christmas of 2015 report and it was so much fun! I'm excited to see how it all went without the plan.