{"id":13755,"date":"2017-03-06T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themagicforless.com\/tmflblog\/?p=13755"},"modified":"2024-03-13T17:58:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T21:58:22","slug":"disneys-dining-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themagicforless.com\/tmflblog\/disneys-dining-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney’s Dining Plan: Is it a good deal for your trip?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, it really IS a good deal! \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Its confession time:\u00a0 \u00a0Although I help other people plan their Disney trips, I tend to under plan my own.\u00a0 After hundreds of trips to \u201cthe world\u201d since\u00a0 my first annual pass purchase in 2002, I\u2019ve pretty much seen and done it all in the parks.\u00a0 There are things I love at Disney and tend to do every time, but while I stay in Disney hotels, I often meet friends off site for food and would even park hop for cheap eats.\u00a0 I also tend to go to the same restaurants every trip.\u00a0 In fact many of my friends and colleagues remind me that there are more than 10 restaurants at Disney!\u00a0 Because of my general loose park touring style I do not book vacation packages with dining plans for myself.<\/p>\n

Why Disney’s Dining Plan?<\/span> \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In early December I booked a trip with a check in date of Dec 31, 2016. Normally I book farther out but my college student daughter really needed the break to do something fun.\u00a0 When I saw how stressed out she was, toiling away with things like Statics and Dynamics, Calculus and Physics, and other subjects of which I have little understanding, I decided she needed a trip.\u00a0 With hotel (Disney\u2019s Coronado Springs Resort<\/a>) booked, and air secured with Southwest thanks to my Rapid Rewards points, it was time to think about meals. Normally I have a rental car and go off site for some food. \u00a0I also tend to dine at Disney Springs<\/a>\u00a0: Raglan Road<\/a>, House of Blues<\/a> and Earl of Sandwich<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0part of my rotation, mainly because I can get decent food and not spend a fortune. \u00a0Earl of Sandwich is probably the best bargain in all of Disney… but it is just sandwiches and salads and it also comes with horrendous lines most of the time. I do not do character meals or buffets on my typical trip mainly because of cost.\u00a0However car rentals for this time of year were astronomical in price and I wasn\u2019t going to spring for one.\u00a0 Without a car I\u2019m locked in to Disney for food, and my normal budget is about $50 per person per day. \u00a0Lines and wait times at Disney Springs would also be horrible. \u00a0I started thinking that it was time to add Disney\u2019s Dining Plan as I would probably eat a whole lot better than usual as well as experience things I haven\u2019t done for a while if I did the splurge.\u00a0That meant I had to make reservations and come up with a way to best use this plan. \u00a0By now I was only two weeks off from check in so I was really late to this whole planning thing. \u00a0My goal was to at least break even for the amount I paid and minimize my time trying to get to those meals.\u00a0 The boundaries I set for this trip were as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No buying extra food. The dining plan had to cover us for the time period we were using it.\u00a0 I will confess to having bottled water \u00a0(which you can buy by the case in the shops at the resorts\u2014but in my\u00a0situation I brought it from the house as I had already been in Florida for 11 days), and I also had my usual granola bars which accompany me in checked luggage for all trips. We drank all the water\u2014the granola bars came back home.\u00a0 I actually did not buy anything until the last day where I *had* to have a certain snack.<\/li>\n
  2. The meals had to be reasonably healthy. I don\u2019t live on burgers and fries or chicken tenders at home, and I can\u2019t remember the last time I had a quick service hamburger at Disney.\u00a0 There are PLENTY of really great meals at Disney which are good and good for you, and aren\u2019t swimming in grease or fat or calories.<\/li>\n
  3. Snacks for this trip could be a splurge, and preferably something I normally would never buy if I didn\u2019t have a dining plan. Sharing was optional this time (normally we share snacks at Disney.)<\/li>\n
  4. If DD left and did something on her own, she had to photograph the food and the menu, and keep the receipt. (This was research after all!)<\/li>\n
  5. All dining credits had to be used by the time Magical Express picked us up as they expired at midnight on date of check out. No leaving anything at Disney.<\/li>\n
  6. Adult beverages would be ordered, but are not included here because they are not part of Disney\u2019s Dining Plan. However they are on my receipts.\u00a0 Amount paid for these are not on the summary spreadsheet.<\/li>\n
  7. Gratuity\/tipping is not part of the dining plan and these were paid via room charge.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    With the check in date of December 31, 2016,\u00a0were on the 2016 Disney\u2019s Dining Plan (DDP.) \u00a0This included one (1) Table Service meal credit (entr\u00e9e, dessert, beverage), one (1) Quick Service meal credit (entr\u00e9e or combo meal, dessert, and beverage) and one (1) Snack credit per person at a cost of \u00a0$63.70 per person, per night of stay.\u00a0 With the goal of breaking even with what I paid for the plan I had to do some character meals\u00a0or buffets and the better restaurants. \u00a0We weren’t going to visit inexpensive places like The Plaza Restaurant<\/a> or the Sci Fi Dine In<\/a>\u00a0as I would not likely hit my\u00a0breakeven point. \u00a0(The 2017 Disney\u2019s Dining Plan has had small changes, and a small increase in price.\u00a0 The change was removing the dessert from the Quick Service meal, and adding an extra Snack.\u00a0 I thought this was a great change.) \u00a0Prices below were menu prices at time of purchase without tax.\u00a0 Amount of value includes 6.5% Florida sales tax.<\/p>\n

    Day 1:\u00a0 Friday, Dec 31, 2016-\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We had already been in Florida for about 11 days and we arrived to Coronado Springs around 1:30 pm.\u00a0 Check in was a long and tedious process due to a lot of people in line; I do not do online check in as I like to speak to a real person at arrival and find out if my room is ready as I like to drop off my own belongings.\u00a0 Got to my room by 2:30 pm and we turned around and walked back to the front of the hotel to meet a friend and go to Animal Kingdom.\u00a0 We all entered the park but she quickly bailed out on us as she had been sick and was not up to crowded theme parks.\u00a0 Our party of three was now down to two, so we toured the park a bit and had dinner at one of my favorite locations, Tusker House<\/a> Restaurant.\u00a0 Cost:\u00a0 $45 per person, and one Table Service meal credit on Disney\u2019s Dining Plan. The food was excellent, as usual, and we both agreed it was the best tasting meal of the trip. Tusker House never has disappointed me and they had no problems with our decrease in table size either.<\/p>\n