Well, we got back from our 7 night, 8 day Disney trip with the Deluxe Dining Plan. If you have read my posts before you know I am a big proponent of the Deluxe Plan. Well, not anymore, I saved a whopping $109 dollars over 8 days by using the Deluxe Dining Plan. 7.54 percent was our savings, that is a tiny percentage compared to the commitment you make to eat at Disney Restaurants.
We all ate more than we normally would have chosen to, our choices were limited if I would have prefered to have poutine instead of an appetizer at Le Cellier I would have had to pay extra. If I was paying out of pocket the choice would have been mine to make. So when you add that in it makes it less of a convenience.
I knew that it was not going to save me a ton of money but I never would have guessed I would have saved only a little over a hundred dollars. That even adds in the snacks we purchased to use up our credits that we did not need. Most every meal my husband barely touched his dessert so that would have saved a lot by just not ordering those.
I do like having my meals prepaid for it was nice to not have to worry about the bill or what we decided to have especially at places like Le Cellier and Be Our Guest. I do feel like pre purchasing gift cards or mastercards would make more sense then at the end of the trip what you did not spend on meals you could spend on souvenirs or just take back home.
Its not like you will be surprised by the prices so you can plan ahead. We averaged $38 per table service credit, or $114 per day. I really think that next time I will not purchase the dining plan, I will do the the math ahead and if its close (it was this time but I wanted the convenience) plan to pay out of pocket. We had all of our meal ADRS ahead of time so I could estimate the cost as well.
