Dining Cost

We did the dining plan back in 2010 when our kids were 7 and 3, respectively. Haven't done it since, and won't ever do that again.. It just wasn't for us. The kids are light eaters and picky ones at that, so I felt we didn't our monies worth. Also, it seemed our days revolved around our dining plans, which I didn't like either. Some nights I just wanted to grab a pretzel (&Beer;)), or just head back to the room, and instead we were obliged to make our ADR. So I won't do the dining plans again. I'm not saying they aren't a good deal and worth it, It just didn't work out for us.. I was a Disney novice at the time as well

Buffet prices really can vary a good bit. You can expect to pay around $23-$33 per adult and $13-$18 per child. As far as the dining plan goes, I have ran the numbers for most of our trips and have found that we spend about the same if not a little less without it.

Our conclusion is the same as scrappy's but we are traveling with no children, so I'm not sure how that dynamic affects your ability to come out ahead with DDP. allears.net has full menus with reasonably accurate pricing so that you can get an idea of how much a buffet might cost your family at any given restaurant.

Thank you everyone
This helps alot.

We love the Dining plan but I have not been with children. One of our favorite things to do is eating while we are there, so for us, it was worth it. We kept a running tab and found we saved about 20% with the dining plan.

I generally agree with what everyone else has said, except for the fact that you are wanting to do a lot of character meals. Those tend to be more on the pricey said and generally the dining plan will save you some money on those meals. Like AliceMouse said, approximate prices for buffet meals are all listed on AllEars.net so you can crunch the numbers to see if it would be worth it for you guys.

I think this may be of use to you.

http://www.distripplanner.com

IMO the dining plan is more for ease than just cost. With it I knew in advance that my meals were paid for and I did not need to skimp on my choices of place or dish due to money. It is also so easy to just use the magic band and presto all done

I agree with Brinbunny, I love the ease of paying before and not having to skimp on things while I'm in the World. My DH and I get it because it makes things easier. We also base pretty much everything we do around food and love having ADRs to go to.

Brinbunny Thank you so much that website was a big help for me.
Normally when I have gone I have always done the dinning plan. And love the ease of not worrying and being able to sit down for a break.
But DH has not been in almost 20 years and his main focus is rides rides and more ridges...LOL

When using the standard dining plan, we usually come out about the same as if we would have paid cash. The only plan that has saved us money has been the deluxe, and that's largely because we eat at 2 credit meals and use snacks for breakfast or lunch with it.

The place that the dining plan really shines for my family is in its convenience and being able to pre-pay for the plan. If that doesn't matter to you, then paying out of pocket should be about the same cost.

This

Just wanted to say hi IsabelSnow! Missed seeing you around the board!

This past trip was our first in a long time (4 adults, one a picky eater) without DDP and we all missed it so much. I found myself looking more at the portion cost than the meal itself at times and we definatly lost some variety in the amount of different places we would usually, on DDP, eat at. We ate A LOT more at the hotel (POR) which luckily had quite a variety on offer, but in the parks it was a little harder. We also tended to make a DIY breakfast in the hotel room of bagels from the hotel store and free jams/butters from the food court. We missed our sit down meals. We had booked two to pay OOP for, both at The Plaza (MK) but again, you found yourself questioning dessert and drink options because you knew it was coming out of our 'food fund'. Overall, not having it made me soo much more conscious of what I was eating and spending - I'm on holiday, I don't want to have to worry about anything, especially a trip we've waited and saved so long for!

The meals have always been a big part of our holiday, I can't imagine going back without DDP now. NOT having it saved us a few $$ but not as much as we expected when the average cost of a meal (no desserts or drinks) was coming close to $40+ , 3 times a day, not including snacks etc.