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You can now purchase a 1-Day ticket to any of the 4 parks and get 3 pre-selected Fastpasses included! No more worrying about missing out on your favorite rides for a spur-of-the-moment trip.
There are several Fastpass package options to choose from for each park. The 3 Fastpass selections are only valid for the itinerary date and arrival window specified. However, there is a way to use the ticket on another date and choose your own Fastpasses.
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This is without-a-doubt one of the most-asked questions I see in my Disney groups. And, I will admit, I didn't know the answer. You see, I have NEVER purchased a Disney Dining Plan. The cost always seemed high to me. I had saved receipts on previous trips and added them up. And my cost was always lower than what I was quoted. On my last few trips, I took advantage of the Free Dining promotion, so it wasn't an issue. But with all the dining talk this week, and seeing this year's prices, I got really curious about what the answer to this question is.
Fair Warning: this post is a LONG one! The reason for that is you can't answer this question with a simple yes or no. There are many variables including your tastes, your eating habits and even when you plan to visit. So because there is no one-size-fits-all answer, I wanted to know if the plans would be worth it for ME. First, I considered my usual trip which is 9 nights/10 days. Then I planned out which parks I would likely visit on which days. From there, I planned out the places I know I like to eat and the ones I am planning to try. And finally, and this is the tricky part, I used the website menus to plan what I would actually order.
I call this the tricky part because this is where the biggest variables come in to play. A common argument I see for the Quick Service plan champions is that you can save money without the plan "if you eat burgers and pizza all week". Well, here's the thing: I LIKE burgers and pizza! Like anyone else, I don't want to eat them for 10 days in a row. BUT, I also don't want to feel like I am "short-changing" myself on credits if I am in the mood to have a burger or a Mickey ice-cream bar. There are some people who make a point of seeking out the most expensive meals available to get the most "bang for their buck". While this economically smart, I don't want to feel forced into ordering things just because they are higher priced. I want to eat what I actually want to eat! So, I did this meal-by-meal breakdown to finally see, once and for all, if the Disney Dining Plan is "worth it" for me. You can compare my choices to what yours would be and see if they would be similar or not. Since the dining plans include tax, I added sales tax to all meals for an accurate comparison. If you want to do your own calculations on anything, sales tax is 6.5% EXCEPT for All Stars Resort. They are in a different county and their sales tax is 7%.
Quick Service Dining Plan
9 nights/10 days. You get: 18 Quick Service Meals (entree and beverage)
18 Snacks
Refillable resort mug
Cost for one adult: $472.41
Is it worth it? My Answer: NO
Things to consider: First is the most obvious, will I eat everything offered? Normally, I would say no. However, changes to the dining plan took away the dessert from the QS meal. Therefore, you may be inclined to use more snack credits than you have before. On previous trips when I had free QS dining, I always had extra snack credits that I used to get snacks to bring home. Therefore, that would be "wasted" money if I was paying out-of-pocket.
Secondly, if you travel during the Flower & Garden Festival or the Food & Wine Festival, you may be more likely to use all your snack credits on the tasting booths there.
Third, the plan now includes specialty and alcoholic beverages. If you do not drink these, that will also change the cost of your meal. Also, using the menus I did, I had a hard time even finding alcoholic drinks at any of the QS places I visited.
In order to make this a fair comparison, I assumed that I would "use" every credit available to me and made my likely choices for those credits to see how it compared to the price. I tried to choose the more high-priced options when available, but did not do so purposely. Like I said, I wanted to compare it to what I was most likely to eat. Here are my results:
DAY 1: My arrival day. I will likely grab lunch at All-Star Music food court before heading out to Magic Kingdom. Realistically, I am not likely to eat 2 meals and 2 snacks on this short day, but for the sake of fair comparison, let's pretend I will. After all, I have a short day when I leave so maybe I will use those "extra" credits that day.
AS Music: Pasta with meatballs $11.79
Drink $3.29
total with tax: $16.12
Pecos Bill's: Southwest Salad with Chicken $12.99
Drink $3.29
total with tax: $17.34
Aloha Isle: Pineapple Upside Down Cake $6.49
total with tax $6.91
Plaza Ice Cream Parlor: Plaza Sundae $5.79
total with tax $6.17
Day 1 Total: $46.54
Day 2: Disney's Hollywood Studios
Rosie's All American Cafe: Cheeseburger $10.49
Large Drink $3.69
total with tax $15.10
ABC Commissary: Shrimp, Fish and Chicken $15.99
Large drink $3.69
total with tax $$20.96
Oasis Canteen: Smores Brownie $4.79
total with tax $5.10
Dockside Diner: Funnel Cake $6.79
total with tax $7.23
Day 2 Total: $48.39
Day 3: EPCOT
Yorkshire County Fish Shop: Fish and Chips $11.49
Drink $3.29
total with tax $15.74
Lotus Blossom Cafe: Shrimp Fried Rice $10.49
Mango Smoothie $4.69
total with tax $16.12
Kabuki Cafe: Kukugori $4.00
total with tax $4.26
Kringla: Berry Cream Puff $5.19
total with tax $5.53
Day 3 Total: $41.65
Day 4: Magic Kingdom
Be Our Guest: Braised Pork $16.99
Drink: $3.29
Total with tax $21.60
Columbia Harbor House: Trio $13.99
Drink: $3.29
Total with tax $18.40
Gaston's Tavern: LeFou's Brew $5.79
Total with tax $6.17
Sleepy Hollow: Waffle with Strawberries $6.79
Total with tax $7.23
Day 4 Total: $52.40
Day 5: Animal Kingdom
Satuli Canteen: Grilled Beef Bowl $12.99
Pandoran Sunrise $4.49
Total with tax $18.62
Flame Tree BBQ: Ribs & Chicken $15.49
Orange Lemonade $4.29
Total with tax $21.07
Creature Comforts: Cupcake $5.19
Total with tax $5.53
Dino Bites: Pretzel with cheese $5.69
Total with tax $6.06
Day 5 Total: $51.28
Day 6: EPCOT
Liberty Inn: Surf & Turf $14.99
Large Drink $3.69
Total with tax $19.89
Sunshine Seasons: Pork Loin $13.99
Drink $3.29
Cheesecake w/berries $4.69
Total with tax $23.40
Boulangerie: Creme Brulee $4.50
Total with tax $4.79
Day 6 Total: $48.08
Day 7: Animal Kingdom
Yak & Yeti QS: Honey Chicken $10.99
Large Drink $3.79
Total with tax $15.74
Restaurantosaurus: Grilled Chicken BLT $12.99
Wildberry Lemonade $4.79
Total with tax $18.94
Eight Spoons Cafe: Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese $6.29
Total with tax $6.70
Tamu Tamu Refeshments: Malva Cake Sundae $5.99
Total with tax $6.38
Day 7 Total: $47.76
Day 8: Disney's Hollywood Studios
Backlot Express: Royal Guard Burger $13.49
Drink: $3.29
Total with tax $17.87
Pizzerizzo: Personal Pizza $9.99
Large Drink $3.69
Total with tax $14.57
Hollywood Scoops: Brownie Sundae $6.69
Total with tax $7.12
Trolley Car Cafe: Banana Nut Bread $3.19
Total with tax $3.40
Day 8 Total: 42.96
Day 9: Magic Kingdom
Pinocchio's Village Haus: Baked Ziti $10.49
Drink $3.29
Total with tax $14.68
Cosmic Ray's: 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken $14.49
Lemonade $4.29
Total with tax 20.00
Auntie Gravity's: Float $4.99
Total with tax $5.31
Friar's Nook: Fried Twinkie $4.99
Total with tax $5.31
Day 9 Total: 45.30
NINE DAY TOTAL $414.30
Now, we need to consider the refillable resort mug. Again, this is an item I may or may not buy if I didn't have the plan. It is only good as the resort, where I don't spend much time. Also, I'm not a coffee drinker. So at best, I may fill it once a day with a soft drink on my way to bus stop. Your use of this mug will determine how much value it has for you. The length of stay mug costs $18.99. Total with tax is $20.22.
Adding that cost to our 9-day total, we have OVERPAID for the Quick Service Dining Plan by $37.83.
Now looking at the examples above, there may be a few instances where you can spend a few more dollars than I have, but not many. Overpaying for this plan may not seem like too much. But I don't like to pay for something I'm not getting. Some people may think having the convenience of pre-paid meals is worth it. But consider this, you can put the $472.41 on a gift card and still have all your meals pre-paid and be left with a balance of $37.83. Also consider this example is for 1 adult. If you are a family of 4, it goes up. If your "kids" are 10 or older, they pay adult price. It goes up more. If those kids are more likely to use a lot of credits on chicken nuggets and Mickey ice cream bars, it goes up even more. So for this plan, a family is potentially paying anywhere up to $200 too much for this plan. I imagine most families can find other things to do with that money.
Disney Dining Plan
9 nights/10 days. You get: 9 Quick Service Meals (entree and beverage)
9 Table Service Meals (entree, beverage, dessert)
18 Snacks
Refillable resort mug
Cost for one adult: $679.41
Is it worth it? My Answer: YES, BUT....
Things to consider: This is where your preferences really come into play. Personally, I never considered buying this plan because I don't do a Table Service meal every day. I find it takes up too much time. So I usually do 2 or 3 over the course of the trip. However, if you do like a sit-down meal every day, this plan may be worth having.
Secondly, because the TS meals include a dessert, you now have a total of 3 snacks in addition to 2 meals. Are you sure you will eat that much food every day? Again, for a fair analysis, I assumed I would "use" every credit I was given.
Third, now that the dining plan includes specialty and alcoholic beverages, there is more value to the plan. Also, these drinks are much easier to find in TS locations so you can take better advantage of it. However, if you do not drink, there will be a difference of a few dollars at your meal.
Some people prefer to use 2 credits for a signature meal. However, doing so may still leave you needing to pay for a meal out-of-pocket. Therefore, to keep this comparison fair, I based it on 9 Table Service meals. Obviously, it's a better value to use your credits on dinner rather than breakfast because dinner is more expensive, but there are so many great and fun character breakfasts, it is unlikely you wouldn't want to try some of them. So for my purposes, I made 2 out of the 9 TS meals breakfast.
Also, this one was a bit harder to determine because the price of various TS meals can vary depending on when you visit. Therefore, I used the AVERAGE of the high and low listed prices.
Just to make things to quicker for me, I kept one QS meal and my snack choices the same as the above comparison and just substituted one TS meal. Here are my results:
DAY 1: Arrival and Magic Kingdom
Kept AS Music and snacks
Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner: $37.28
Day 1 Total: $66.48
Day 2: Disney's Hollywood Studios
Kept ABC Commissary and snacks
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater Dinner: NY Strip $33.00
Milkshake $6.00
Peanut Butter/Chocolate Cake $7.99
Total with tax $50.04
Day 2 Total: $83.33
Day 3: EPCOT
Kept Lotus Blossom Cafe and snacks
Garden Grill Dinner: $44.73
Day 3 Total: 70.64
Day 4: Magic Kingdom
Kept Columbia Harbor House and snacks
Ohana Dinner: $46.86
Day 4 Total: $78.66
Day 5: Animal Kingdom
Kept Flame Tee BBQ and snacks
Tusker House Breakfast" $34.08
Day 5 Total: $79.30
Day 6: EPCOT
Kept Liberty Inn and snacks
Biergarten $42.60
Day 6 Total: $72.27
Day 7: Animal Kingdom
Kept Restaurantosaurus and snacks
Yak & Yeti: Teriyaki Chicken $21.99
Fried Wontons $9.99
Yak Attack (alcoholic) $9.99
Total with tax $44.70
Day 7 Total: $76.72
Day 8: Disney's Hollywood Studios
Kept Backlot Express and Snacks
Minnie's Seasonal Dine $52.19
Day 8 Total: $80.58
Day 9: Magic Kingdom
Kept Cosmic Ray's and snacks
Crystal Palace Breakfast $31.95
Day 9 Total: $62.57
NINE DAY TOTAL: $670.55
The length of stay mug costs $18.99. Total with tax is $20.22.
Therefore, for the total plan value, you actually SAVED $8.86.
Don't forget that your savings can be even more if you use all TS credits for dinner and no breakfasts. So, this plan does seem worth the cost, BUT ONLY if you actually plan to make use of all your credits. Don't forget, that any leftover credits can be used to buy snacks to take home, but it is money you would not have spent had you not gotten the plan. Also, this comparison is based on one person. For a family, your savings will be more!
Now that I have done the math myself, I feel better in making a choice when it comes to purchasing a plan. Of course, these results aren't perfect and not suited to everyone. But, by spelling out exactly what I ate, you will be able to compare it to the things you like and see if it is a value for you. And hopefully, I have finally answered the question of whether or not it is "worth it"!
Discuss this and more Disney fun! Join the BEST Disney SUPER Fans Group on FB!
