DISbot
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2016
So...
First, I have to apologize that I can't count. Final tally is 17 snack credits used, not 14, and something is wrong with my math. This is what I get for not doing it in a spreadsheet...If I have time I'll go back and edit and find my errors.
The Averages
Average QS Meal Spend: $12.27
Average Snack Spend: $5.15
Average TS Spend: $28.04
Average Nightly DDP Spend: $95.21
Average Daily OOP Spend: $46.30, with $15.86 of that on alcohol
Totals:
DDP Cost: $768 (6*2*64)
Total QS Spend: $147.19
Total Snack Spend: $122.52 (Extrapolating out to assume the remaining 7 snack credits were used with an average cost of $5 (ideal))
Total TS Spend: $336.57
Total "DDP" Spend: 606.28
Total DDP "Loss": $161.72
Thoughts:
I may come back and do more math adding in if we had gotten sodas/desserts at TS to see if that nudges towards a closer balance, but in general, the plan would have been a big enough hit this trip I wouldn't have used it.
I suspect this is the case more often than not, and that the list price is very difficult for me to spend given the tendency towards water and not always wanting dessert.
What I found interesting (but not surprising) is that most of our QS meals included drinks, and still only had an average cost of $12 - which in my opinion makes the QS dining plan virtually impossible (take out $10 for snacks and you still need to be getting QS meals of $15+, which didn't seem to be an option around the parks).
I expected the Table Service meals to make up for this deficit, but with a $10 quick service, $10 in snacks, you're still looking at at least $40 per meal. I am curious how that would have played out if we got dessert everywhere...but then we would just have been eating it because it was included, not because we wanted or needed it.
Deluxe Thoughts:
Given these numbers, the Deluxe plan would be very easy to get your money's worth on (which is promising for my April trip - 3 nights DxDP - I'll come back and do another numbers summary if people want, maybe write it up with some pictures even?). A TS was around $25-30, often with us skipping soda and/or dessert. For the Deluxe it's 3 credits that are about $30-$35 each, and they include an appetizer. I would absolutely have gotten some appetizers (more likely than dessert) and given this math an app could make the plan break even pretty easily, as they are more than the desserts.
Adult Beverages/Drinkers on the Dining Plan:
We typically only drink with meals, but we do tend to prefer cocktails or beer over soda. We probably spent about $9/TS credit on alcohol throughout the trip, although it was only 8 drinks between us for the 6 nights. These are probably some of the meals we would have drank a soda at on the DDP, which would probably have been slightly less enjoyable (I like my glow cubes!).
I don't think alcohol will make or break the dining plan, but if you're likely to pick that over soda at your TS restaurants (or drink some before and just have water with the meal) don't factor in the cost of a soda.
Buffets/Fixed Price Menus:
Had we done the DDP I probably would have put more of these into the plan, as they help guarantee that you break even. 1-2 $40 buffets would have pulled up that TS value, but they still would not have made up the $160 deficit.
Signatures on the DDP:
I am more inclined to bypass signatures when you do the DDP, and would recommend just paying for them, even though they can be pricey. Why? Because the value of our dining credit was pulled down by our desire to add alcohol to our fancy meal. So where we were already paying "double" for our soda, we didn't want our soda, so that's $6 knocked off the credit. And while the food is fabulous (I'm not saying skip these places), the prices aren't 3x those of the normal restaurants, so they don't make up for the loss of the soda and the double credit cost. Additionally, these places are where from what I've seen there are great sides or additions that don't count on the DDP (Truffle Fries, etc) which may or may not be able to be swapped for dessert, so it's easier to just plan to pay for these on trips where you don't have the plan in my opinion.
Thoughts on the Money Mindset:
Definitely grimaced at prices more while there, even though I'd done the math and knew what prices to expect. In the future I'll probably do what others have mentioned and throw a ton of money on gift cards (close to the DDP cost) so that I stop grimacing at the prices. While on the DDP there were times that we just split a QS because we weren't that hungry due to our other meals, but this time we did split a QS once or twice because I just didn't want to think about getting another $12 hot dog or $3 drink.
First, I have to apologize that I can't count. Final tally is 17 snack credits used, not 14, and something is wrong with my math. This is what I get for not doing it in a spreadsheet...If I have time I'll go back and edit and find my errors.
The Averages
Average QS Meal Spend: $12.27
Average Snack Spend: $5.15
Average TS Spend: $28.04
Average Nightly DDP Spend: $95.21
Average Daily OOP Spend: $46.30, with $15.86 of that on alcohol
Totals:
DDP Cost: $768 (6*2*64)
Total QS Spend: $147.19
Total Snack Spend: $122.52 (Extrapolating out to assume the remaining 7 snack credits were used with an average cost of $5 (ideal))
Total TS Spend: $336.57
Total "DDP" Spend: 606.28
Total DDP "Loss": $161.72
Thoughts:
I may come back and do more math adding in if we had gotten sodas/desserts at TS to see if that nudges towards a closer balance, but in general, the plan would have been a big enough hit this trip I wouldn't have used it.
I suspect this is the case more often than not, and that the list price is very difficult for me to spend given the tendency towards water and not always wanting dessert.
What I found interesting (but not surprising) is that most of our QS meals included drinks, and still only had an average cost of $12 - which in my opinion makes the QS dining plan virtually impossible (take out $10 for snacks and you still need to be getting QS meals of $15+, which didn't seem to be an option around the parks).
I expected the Table Service meals to make up for this deficit, but with a $10 quick service, $10 in snacks, you're still looking at at least $40 per meal. I am curious how that would have played out if we got dessert everywhere...but then we would just have been eating it because it was included, not because we wanted or needed it.
Deluxe Thoughts:
Given these numbers, the Deluxe plan would be very easy to get your money's worth on (which is promising for my April trip - 3 nights DxDP - I'll come back and do another numbers summary if people want, maybe write it up with some pictures even?). A TS was around $25-30, often with us skipping soda and/or dessert. For the Deluxe it's 3 credits that are about $30-$35 each, and they include an appetizer. I would absolutely have gotten some appetizers (more likely than dessert) and given this math an app could make the plan break even pretty easily, as they are more than the desserts.
Adult Beverages/Drinkers on the Dining Plan:
We typically only drink with meals, but we do tend to prefer cocktails or beer over soda. We probably spent about $9/TS credit on alcohol throughout the trip, although it was only 8 drinks between us for the 6 nights. These are probably some of the meals we would have drank a soda at on the DDP, which would probably have been slightly less enjoyable (I like my glow cubes!).
I don't think alcohol will make or break the dining plan, but if you're likely to pick that over soda at your TS restaurants (or drink some before and just have water with the meal) don't factor in the cost of a soda.
Buffets/Fixed Price Menus:
Had we done the DDP I probably would have put more of these into the plan, as they help guarantee that you break even. 1-2 $40 buffets would have pulled up that TS value, but they still would not have made up the $160 deficit.
Signatures on the DDP:
I am more inclined to bypass signatures when you do the DDP, and would recommend just paying for them, even though they can be pricey. Why? Because the value of our dining credit was pulled down by our desire to add alcohol to our fancy meal. So where we were already paying "double" for our soda, we didn't want our soda, so that's $6 knocked off the credit. And while the food is fabulous (I'm not saying skip these places), the prices aren't 3x those of the normal restaurants, so they don't make up for the loss of the soda and the double credit cost. Additionally, these places are where from what I've seen there are great sides or additions that don't count on the DDP (Truffle Fries, etc) which may or may not be able to be swapped for dessert, so it's easier to just plan to pay for these on trips where you don't have the plan in my opinion.
Thoughts on the Money Mindset:
Definitely grimaced at prices more while there, even though I'd done the math and knew what prices to expect. In the future I'll probably do what others have mentioned and throw a ton of money on gift cards (close to the DDP cost) so that I stop grimacing at the prices. While on the DDP there were times that we just split a QS because we weren't that hungry due to our other meals, but this time we did split a QS once or twice because I just didn't want to think about getting another $12 hot dog or $3 drink.
Nice work on all of your calculations I am sure it will help people!
