Dining plan cost OUTRAGEOUS for 2012

[SLJ6974]

I think the cost of the DDP is really starting to tip the boat for many people now in 2012. I just wonder how much higher it will go and people will still pay for it in the coming years. Its demise may be on the horizon and that may be just what Disney wants.

 

[no capes darling]

Correct. She could eat the "children's station" at the buffet, but will pay adult prices.
The ddp does make sense for families who do dinner (not breakfast or lunch) buffets almost every night.
But, if I had an 11 year old, I'd skip the dinner buffets -- whether on the ddp or oop, you are basically paying $35-45 for the child to eat $3 worth of chicken nuggets and meet characters. (if you use the ddp, then you are effectively paying about $36 for every TS) Characters available for 'free' in the parks.
Yes, there is a certain convenience to meeting characters at a meal instead of getting in line at a park -- but you can also accomplish that at breakfast and lunch buffets, for less than the cost of the ddp.

But they don't have to eat from the children's station.... Not all kids wish to live on chicken nuggets and mac and cheese all week. When ours was younger we opted to do a lot of buffets because she wanted a bigger variety of items that weren't foods that were consistently tan in color. I don't get the whole concept of "kid friendly food", but I know others will disagree with that.

Ultimately what it boils down to is some people think it's a good financial deal, like my husband. I disagree, aside from the convenience of paying for it in advance. But to me, there are some things just not worth arguing about. The value of the dining plan is one of them- value is something that is perceived differently by most everyone. Just because it does or doesn't work for you doesn't make it right/wrong/better/worse. It is what it is.

 

[cmurray234]

I haven't read all of the posts, so I'm not sure in what direction the discussion is going, but here is my input: TIW rules. I love being able to eat and drink at most TS establishments (and some CS places) with the TIW discount. We have enjoyed the dining plan (free and not) on previous occassions, but ultimately I enjoy the freedom of the TIW discount and all it has to offer.

If TIW were available to me, I'd get it in a hearbeat. Total bummer that it's only offered to Florida residents and AP holders.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Free Dining, the plan will save most family configurations money

Free Dining upgrading to DXDP, a pretty good deal.

Paying full price for the dining plans? Not likely to save any family configuration much of anything based on todays prices. Its now a convenience plan. So many posts relate the DDP to past trips and what was saved as the reason to carry it forward. Giving Disney your $$ in advance to LOSE flexibility...not the best idea in my book, but YMMV.

I always calculate exactly what we would spend with and without the dining plan (for instance, we would NOT get dessert at a CS restaurant OOP). Anyway, I add it all up then compare it to the dining plan. I have found that buying the regular dining plan has saved us money. My kids have both been 9 or under so that has factored into the value for us. We notice it saves us the most money at the fixed price buffets and character meals (like Ohana and Akershus). It has even saved us money at the 2 credit meals (especially the ones where tip is included). But I look at the overall amount of money we would spend OOP and compare it to the dining plan. So far, we have saved money (and gotten 'free' desserts because I don't include that in our calculations).

It can save a family money but you really have to do the math to determine!

 

[havoc315]

But they don't have to eat from the children's station.... Not all kids wish to live on chicken nuggets and mac and cheese all week. When ours was younger we opted to do a lot of buffets because she wanted a bigger variety of items that weren't foods that were consistently tan in color. I don't get the whole concept of "kid friendly food", but I know others will disagree with that.

It completely depends on the child. While I used chicken nuggets as the example, what I was really saying --- is that most 11 year olds are not going to eat enough to make a $40+ buffet worthwhile.
Sure, some 11 year olds will want the variety of salads, the differently spiced proteins... but most 11 year olds I know, will stick to moderate portions or pretty simple fare.

I would never group all children together -- I need to get my 4-year-old a sushi roll from California Grill. But I still wouldn't pay $40+ for a buffet for her.

 

[havoc315]

If we did character buffets, I would completely agree with you. But most of the buffets we do, do not have characters. Appreciate your thoughts! This is definitely an interesting topic.

Other than Cape May, are there any other Disney buffets without characters?

 

[disney*mom*82]

At first we were big on the DDP, we would say that we dont want to go to WDW without the DDP. Well, we got it "free" several times and paid for it a few, but this summer we went to WDW for 2 weeks and no free dining was being offered, so we chose to do OOP. We decided that we would eat as we want, not forcing anything like I feel we do sometimes but not trying to be super cheap either.

I have no complaints about eating OOP. We ate everywhere we wanted to, got snacks when we wanted, etc. We averaged $100 per day on meals and each person was allowed 1 snack per day if they wanted. We were just fine, and now we say we will never pay for DDP again. If it works out to be "free'" for us, we may do the package (like we are in March).

But honestly...we are a family of 5 and had plenty to eat each day with the average of $100 per day. Granted we rarely go desserts, but normally we wouldnt anyways. If there was something we really wanted (PBJ shake at 50'sPT or a dough bar at DTD, creme brulle at Raglan Road, etc.)

 

[TDC Nala]

Other than Cape May, are there any other Disney buffets without characters?

Boma, breakfast and dinner
Biergarten
Tusker House dinner
Trial "buffet" at Pepper Market
The Wave, breakfast
Trails End
Captain's Grille breakfast
Hollywood & Vine dinner
Plus a breakfast at the Swan that only has characters on weekends, Fresh at the Dolphin (used to have at least a partial buffet), and one at Shades of Green. These would not be on DDP.

 

[verdi73]

We are going in June 2012 and purchased the dining plan. Our son will be considered a Disney "adult" this time so our trip was more, but he is one of those kids who doesn't eat mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets. He likes to eat salads, steak, fish, scallops, etc. so this time meals won't be a battle at Disney because he can order off the adult menu instead of the kids menu. Last time we were giving him food off our plates because of the lack of choices on the kids menu.

 

[marx]

This price increase affects those upgrading dining plans with free dining. I have a free dining resv at POP in August (via Bounceback) which includes the QS plan. I was going to upgrade to the DDP for 2A and 2C which in 2011 would have been $22/day, but now is $39/day. The cost to upgrade my resv to a Moderate resort is about $80/day. I think it might be better to upgrade the resort where I get the DDP included than to just upgrade the dining at the Value.

 

[SLJ6974]

This price increase affects those upgrading dining plans with free dining. I have a free dining resv at POP in August (via Bounceback) which includes the QS plan. I was going to upgrade to the DDP for 2A and 2C which in 2011 would have been $22/day, but now is $39/day. The cost to upgrade my resv to a Moderate resort is about $80/day. I think it might be better to upgrade the resort where I get the DDP included than to just upgrade the dining at the Value.

And believe me, the difference in the value and moderate hotels is amazing.

 

[momof2cutegirls]

Other than Cape May, are there any other Disney buffets without characters?

I was specifically referring to Cape May dinner, Boma & I would throw OHana's dinner in there since it's priced like a buffet. Those are definites for us. Doesn't matter if I've paid up front or pay there, my 11 DD is going to be charged the same price.

 

[momof2cutegirls]

We are going in June 2012 and purchased the dining plan. Our son will be considered a Disney "adult" this time so our trip was more, but he is one of those kids who doesn't eat mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets. He likes to eat salads, steak, fish, scallops, etc. so this time meals won't be a battle at Disney because he can order off the adult menu instead of the kids menu. Last time we were giving him food off our plates because of the lack of choices on the kids menu.

Our DD11 falls in this category as well. And we have another DD9 who will gladly help finish off her plate as the kids plan may not be enough at some places. Do we save a boatload on Dining Plan...absolutely not, but we definitely come out ahead and enjoy it so that is what matters to me.

 

[sammyjo1871]

First time to WDW in Feb 2012. Haven't added dining plan yet but have been considering it. We're going for 6 nights, 1 adult & 1 child.

My son will just be 5, so I have 4 character meals booked, as well as T-Rex. Recently read that T-Rex is participating in 2012, hopefully that was good info. Before seeing that, since that meal would have been OOP for sure, we only had 2 character meals planned to help save money. But we definitely would rather do more of them, and we both enjoy desserts, so even a few bites of one that is included with the plan sounds great! I'm sure we wouldn't order it otherwise.

So, I'm really leaning towards the plan, but want to run the numbers. I know that tip is not included, but is tax included in the pricing for the plan? Also, I assume I need to add in the taxes if I'm running OOP numbers?

 

[LJSquishy]

First time to WDW in Feb 2012. Haven't added dining plan yet but have been considering it. We're going for 6 nights, 1 adult & 1 child.

My son will just be 5, so I have 4 character meals booked, as well as T-Rex. Recently read that T-Rex is participating in 2012, hopefully that was good info. Before seeing that, since that meal would have been OOP for sure, we only had 2 character meals planned to help save money. But we definitely would rather do more of them, and we both enjoy desserts, so even a few bites of one that is included with the plan sounds great! I'm sure we wouldn't order it otherwise.

So, I'm really leaning towards the plan, but want to run the numbers. I know that tip is not included, but is tax included in the pricing for the plan? Also, I assume I need to add in the taxes if I'm running OOP numbers?

You have all of your info correct. Tax is included in the DDP price, but not tips. When calculating paying out of pocket for meals you will need to add in tax which I think is 6.5% but I am not certain so perhaps someone else can chime in...and also of course tips are additional with that as well!

 

[djblu883]

Recently we went on the DXDDP to enjoy fine dining and the cost of the meals for what we got was way over the cost of the plan but also ridiculous ! Steak and garlic potatoes for 60 bucks? Really? One meal we had was over 300 and the expected TIP was over 60 dollars for food that cost possibly 40 bucks at BEST to prepare. I took 300 in tip money and ran out after a few days. That is insane!!! Could I have eaten cheaper? You bet ya! Will I do DXDDP again? Doubtful!!!! Sadly those eating and paying OOP get charged those same ripOFF prices!!!



QUOTE=cmurray234;43542821]We've always done the DDP on our WDW trips. In fact, our first trip ever was the year they started the dining plan, when tip, appetizer, meal and dessert was included...ahh..those were the days....

Anyway, I just called to add the DDP to our trip in February. The CM told me that the 2012 dining plan cost was $55 per adult and junior and $19 per child!!! I've looked at these numbers for an hour and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how the DDP saves any money.

Yes, they're adding in a refillable mug, but even with that, I can't make the numbers work out. Somebody please help me out here. There is NO WAY my 9 year-old son is going to be able to eat $19 worth of food from the kids' menus. I just don't get it.


ETA - I was misquoted for the 2012 rates. Pardon my (that is to say Disney customer service's) error. The rates are the previously posted $51.44 and $15.00 for childrn.[/QUOTE]

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I always calculate exactly what we would spend with and without the dining plan (for instance, we would NOT get dessert at a CS restaurant OOP). Anyway, I add it all up then compare it to the dining plan. I have found that buying the regular dining plan has saved us money. My kids have both been 9 or under so that has factored into the value for us. We notice it saves us the most money at the fixed price buffets and character meals (like Ohana and Akershus). It has even saved us money at the 2 credit meals (especially the ones where tip is included). But I look at the overall amount of money we would spend OOP and compare it to the dining plan. So far, we have saved money (and gotten 'free' desserts because I don't include that in our calculations).

It can save a family money but you really have to do the math to determine!

This is basically what I do, when I say something is a 'good deal.'
This is a little like those threads that ask what's the best time of year to go....there is no one answer: some folks HATE cool weather/some hate rain/some hate heat. Some folks hate crowds, others hate short park hours. Some folks prefer the status of being able to stay at the most expensive resort in the most expensive season, others are willing to do almost anything to minimize how much they spend, even if it means losing half their vacation time.

Any answer is subjective, and a matter of what details you value. Further diffferent resorts/dates/airfare (or other transportation to WDW)/weather/family make up - are all HUGE variables.

How you value your food choices is another big variable.

The variety of options, I think, is one of the things that has made WDW such a great place to visit!

Much of the time, I pick a resort and rough dates, then I price out all the options: room only deals, AP, DDP, package deals, airfare, tweaking dates, tweaking duration, different resorts. I sort of have a ruinning idea of what deals offer the lowest price for what I want - and which options I'm willing to tweak. Over the years we've tried nearly every option. We've tweaked our overall budget quite a few ways. Just about every option has pros and cons.

 

[Don Disney]

It's really quite simple for us-"Free Dining" or off property.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Sure, some 11 year olds will want the variety of salads, the differently spiced proteins... but most 11 year olds I know, will stick to moderate portions or pretty simple fare.

It depends how much walking they've done that day!

The kids in our family, who might not ordinarily eat much, can really pack away the food after a full day in the parks.

I'm not questioning your excellent post, but what we've seen in our extended family is that the picky kids - i.e. the ones who would NEVER order a full sized portion of something 'weird', WILL sample new foods at WDW. Since WDW is a happy place full of fun, they temporarily dispell their normal hesitation. Any place that has Mickey waffles can't be all bad!

That's one of the real benefits of taking 11 year olds (and picky adults!) to buffets. Boma, in particular, is coming to mind. If they TRY a new dish with an open mind....that maybe all it takes.

Seeing a kid who lived almost entirely on 'white' food (white bread, fries, cheese, bananas, yogurt, plain noodles) try and enjoy: curry, fresh salads, orange squash soup, strawberries, salmon, etc. Was worth far more than we paid. Especially since it started a certain child on a life-long path of much better eating habits!

 

[angelmav]

Our DD11 falls in this category as well. And we have another DD9 who will gladly help finish off her plate as the kids plan may not be enough at some places. Do we save a boatload on Dining Plan...absolutely not, but we definitely come out ahead and enjoy it so that is what matters to me.

But your still assuming that you will always come out ahead, which was possible in 2010 (going by your past trip ticker), not so easy unless everything goes perfectly in 2012, and even then the savings is minimal if your paying full price for the plan.