Hello!
My wife and I are planning on making a 9 day trip in mid-may, staying on-site the entire time. According to the website (is this the best place to book?) the Magic Your Way + Dining works out to about $1000 more, or $111/day for both of us.
What are the average costs of dinner at a sit down, lunch at a quick service, and snacks?
Thanks!
Steve
Too much free time on the web cam!
Check allears.net for menus and pricing. Also for TS meals make sure you can get ADRs for the places you want. Reservation windows open 180 days (yes 6 months!) in advance and popular places and character meals fill quickly.
Since your trip is fairly close, I'd check menus to figure out where you'd want to eat, then see if there's availability, then add the dining plan. You don't need a hotel reservation to make ADRs. Meals are allocated by how many nights on your reservation, not how many days. So if you are staying 8 nights you'll get 8 TS, 8 CS and 8 snacks per person. You can use them in any order you choose. You get them all at check in and have until midnight on the day you check out to use them.
Shannon
Mommy to 3 Princesses and 1 Prince
Miss M(11), J(8) and R(5), and Mr. N(4)
You can review menus (with prices) right here on MousePlanet for all the in-park eateries, plus most of the more popular resort restaurants. Just click on the Walt Disney World link at the top of this page, and there's a section on Dining.
An important thing for me to bring into the $ equation - is will the dining plan CHANGE the way you eat. If you normally average a TS, and a CS each day and eat dessert at each lunch and dinner, then it likely won't change how/what you eat, but if that's not your normal approach, then you should bring the 'change' to your dining habits into consideration.
Cathy
great, thanks!
I assume the $1000 includes tax, which would be added onto the prices on the menus, so I'll have to figure out that rate to do proper calculations.
We eat lunch/dinner almost every day, even at the parks, and we want a slower pace (hence the 9 days there), so having sit downs every night will help accomplish that, I think.
Too much free time on the web cam!
I see (elsewhere) that you and your wife haven't been to WDW for quite a few years.
While you are looking over ADR availability, you might consider enlisting the services - at no charge to you - of a dedicated TA who specializes in Disney. There is one associated with this site, and although I have never used her services, she is highly thought of in this community.
“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” - Roy Disney
Thanks, Barberella. I will keep that in mind. We are no strangers to the parks, mainly Disneyland. I have been over 100 times (and stood in line from 3am on the 50th anniversary), but getting the advice of where to eat, etc, would be nice.
I also see that Disney released their new iPhone app today, and it allows you to set up ADR right from the phone, so we might begin that once we have the room booked.
Steve
Too much free time on the web cam!
^ Have you worked out upgrading to a Premier pass - with room discount - and a TiW card? If you and the missus enjoy an adult beverage with your meals - there could be more flexibility and savings over purchasing the dining plan.
“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” - Roy Disney
Not yet, that is on the list. The hotel package is 30% off for the next 4 days, and includes the tickets, but not necessarily dining, so I have to account for that as well.
Too much free time on the web cam!
You don't have to get a Premier pass to get the room discounts/TIW card, you just need a regular annual pass.
(The Premier pass is for both DL and WDW.)
Cathy
^ Yes, that's true. However, as the OP has been to Disneyland over a 100 times, purchasing a Premier Pass over a WDW AP is something that he would want to consider.
“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” - Roy Disney
For a May trip the clock is ticking. Can I suggest that you book your ADRs now, even if you haven't decided how to pay for them yet, that way you won't be disappointed. But note.. Some ADRs now have a credit card hold on them, so cancel them in the window for cancellation if your plans change.
If no-one out there understands, start your own revolution and cut out the middle man (Billy Bragg)
If that's the same app that I have, it's not true that you can make an ADR right from the phone. It looks like you can, but when you branch down to the final page it's got a phone number for Disney Reservations. Very misleading, if you ask me.Originally Posted by sriggins
Dan
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
- James Taylor
Get the meal plan. Well worth it in IMO. And nice not to have to lug out the Visa at every turn, yes either way you pay, but while you are in vacation mode, its nice when everything is included.
I'm sorry to repeat myself but I am panicking for you. At WDW ADRs can be booked 6 months out and whatever you decide about the meal plan your window is now not a big one for getting what you want. No point buying the meal plan if all your first choices of restaurants are fully booked. I'm trying to be helpful!
If no-one out there understands, start your own revolution and cut out the middle man (Billy Bragg)
And I'm not really sure it is worth it anymore. I keep doing the math, and only if you go to the most expensive non-signature restaurants every night will you maybe save a little money. For instance, on days where you eat at a place like Sci Fi, the food there just isn't expensive enough to justify the cost of the table service credit you'd spend there. Trust me, I used to save a ton of money using the plan, but as the years went by and they kept raising the price, it is just not a money saver anymore.
I would advise you to:
1) make the ADRs as soon as possible, regardless of whether you get the plan -- trust Scoob on this, she knows!
2) Once you have an ADR for each restaurant, eat a "mock" meal using the menus posted on-line. Don't factor tips in, because obviously the plan doesn't cover them anymore, just consider the entree, the dessert and a non-alcoholic drink. Decide whether you will use your counter-service for lunch or breakfast, and maybe do a little checking to see how much you might spend there. Add in about $3.50 for each snack credit each day (that's a pretty good average; you'll spend more some days and less others) and then see if you would have spent more out of pocket or more for the cost of the dining plan each day.
Also, don't forget that some restaurants like Le Cellier will eat up two dining credits.
Again, I think the days of the dining plan saving you money are long gone. If you get it for free, go for it; I'd take it in a heartbeat, but as much as I love the notion of it, it just isn't for me anymore.
1999 - Coronado Springs (1 night); 2003 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2005 - All Star Music (7 nights); 2007 - POP Century (10 nights); 2008 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2009 - POP Century (10 nights); 2010 - Dolphin (2 nights); 2011 - POP Century (7 nights); June 8-18, 2012 - POFQ (10 nights); next trip,June 18-22, 2013 - POFQ (5 nights). If I'm not at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, I'm not really happy.
I agree with my friends Scoob and Pete. I used to say it was a great boon, but not anymore. If you happen to hit it during free dining, of course, that's worth it. If you're needing to all eat at different times and with different groups, then it can be very convenient. But if you're trying to save money, you have to plan VERY carefully to make it worth the cost. I think paying out of pocket is probably cheaper now.
Working hard for that next WDW trip! December 2013
we've never paid for the dining plan, but have used it several times during the "free" dining promotions.
that being said, we did a lot of planning and price checking to find the "value" of the various credits and see what we could get. keep in mind our dining experiences really didn't change because of the free dining plan because we already knew where and when we wanted to eat; we just wanted to apply the credits to get the most value from the plan.
here's a quick summary of how it worked for us:
1. a single table service credit has a value of about $30 - they are very effective at the "buffet/family style meals" where everything is included (think 'Ohana, Garden Grill...) and pretty good for regular meals as well (remember no appetizer but free dessert rule). When you use them for the signature meals (Brown Derby. Cali Grill, Jiko) the single credit still has about a $30 value but the out of pocket expenses for appetizers can sway this back and forth.
2. a single counter service credit has a value of about $14 - this was more difficult to validate because these meals include dessert (which we rarely felt were worth it). There are some great values to be had at some CS spots (Flame Tree -ribs, beans, cornbread, Columbia Harbor House - fried shrimp, fries, apple tart, Pizza Planet - pizza, salad, drink, and cookie...)
3. a single snack credit tops out at about $4 - and includes the cookies, snacks at the glass counter stands. we tried to avoid using them for bottled drinks or the smaller snacks just to squeeze out the full value.
these are recent calculations from our January 2012 trip. might help determine the worth of the dining plan.
Your calculations come out to $48 and the dining plan is $52 this year........
Shannon
Mommy to 3 Princesses and 1 Prince
Miss M(11), J(8) and R(5), and Mr. N(4)
Even when the dining plan is free, we prefer to take advantage of room discounts instead. I don't enjoy having my dining habits dictated to me when I'm on vacation. For example, on our last trip DH and I went to Cali Grill. DH ordered the sushi, an appetizer, and an entree. I ordered an appetizer, then another appetizer for my entree. Neither of us were interested in dessert. The appetizers would not be covered under the dining plan. Could we have found something else we would have enjoyed on the menu that was covered by the DP? Sure. But why order your 2nd or 3rd choice rather than what you really want? Plus, we also had alcoholic beverages, which are not covered by the DP.
Between the room discount and saving on food in other ways, we probably came out about even. For example, my DD10 and I often shared entrees and we did not eat TS meals every day. Also, there were a couple of times that I just wasn't hungry and skipped meals or just had soup, salad, or a snack.
I believe that this person was on the "free" version.
In any case, we made it worth it when it was "free" by using it for: Teppan Edo, Chefs de France, Akershus, 1900 Park Fare, BOMA, Cape May Cafe, Wolfgang Puck Express, Flame Tree BBQ and Sunshine Seasons.
These meals would have been quite pricey. They happen to be some of our favorite restaurants but also some of the more expensive so it absolutely worked for us.
Formerly tinkinparis
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