Will Using a Disney Dining Plan Save You Money?
That's a good question. Disney says that if you use one of they plans you'll get a 20% - 40% discount off your restaurant bills. That sounds like a really good deal, but is it?
In January of 2009, Disney added the Quick Service Plan to the other dining plans to give guests a complete range of discount packages to choose from. There are 3 basic "dining" plans to choose from. They range from the Quick Service to the Deluxe Package. Here's a synopsis of each. (All meals are per night of your stay)
- Quick Service - 2 meals (at Quick Service locations) and one snack. Includes a refillable mug. 2009 price $31.99 for adults, and 9.99 for children (ages 3-9) per night of your stay.
- Dining Plan - 1 Quick Service meal, 1 Table Service meal (at all participating restaurants) and 1 snack, Includes a refillable mug. 2009 price $39.99 for adults, and $10.99 for children (ages3-9) per night of your stay.
- Deluxe Dining Plan - 3 meals and 2 snacks per person. Includes a refillable mug. 2009 price is $71.99 for adults and $20.99 for children (age 3-9)
Disney has some other plans but they include recreation activities.
The fine print - all guests listed in your party must be on the plan. The plan must be booked for the entire length of your booking. Gratuities are not included.
Back to our question, will the plans save you money?
If you use them to their fullest, yes they will. But using them to the fullest is not an easy task. Let's look at an example day from each plan.
The Quick Service plan -
- Breakfast - $6.99 for a Ham and Cheese Omelet (most expensive thing on the menu) at the Everything Pop at Disney's Pop Century - Refillable mug used for drink.
- Lunch - $8.48 for a combo hot dog meal and soft drink at Casey's Corner in the Magic Kingdom.
- Snacks - 4.94 for a Mickey ice cream bar and a soft drink.
Day total $20.41. If you are staying 5 days the prorated portion of the refillable mug would be $3.00. That brings the total to $23.41. That's a long way from $31.99.
You have to work pretty hard to make the Quick Service plan a good deal.
The Dining Plan -
- Breakfast - $6.99 - I'm a creature of habit. (Same as above.)
- Dinner - $30.99 - Adult price at 'Ohana.
- Snack - $2.59 for a Mickey ice cream bar
Total $39.57. Again the prorated cost of the refillable mug is $3.00.
This one almost makes sense. You can save money using a Disney Dining Plan by choosing Disney World restaurants where the meals cost more than average.
The Deluxe Dining Plan -
- Breakfast - $16.98 - Steak and eggs and juice at Kona Cafe.
- Lunch - $31.75 - Tacos de Pato, Tacos Al Pastor, Flan de Vanilla at San Angel Inn in Epcot.
- Dinner - $41.95 Shrimp Cocktail, Nihonbashi, Chocolate Ginger Cake at Teppan Edo in Epcot.
Total $90.68 - Now that's a good deal.
Yeah, a real good deal if you want to weigh 700 pounds when you get through with your trip. Three full-service meals a day is a lot of food. It's also takes a lot of time. Each sit down meal takes about an hour and a half. That would be over 4 hours a day eating meals not to mention about a billion calories.
The Disney Dining Plans are designed so you can prepay your meals and to make you think you're saving money. They are not designed to help you save money. Disney is in business to make money. They are pretty good at it.
The Disney Dining Plans can be affordable if you are careful to choose higher priced restaurants for your meals. But for the most part these plans only make sense for Disney.
The best thing about the Disney Dining Plans is once or twice a year Walt Disney World offers them for free.
Recommended Reading:
"Key 2 Disney Dining is a complete blueprint for obtaining Disney dining reservations quickly and easily - without the stress."
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