One of my unfulfilled desires in life is getting the Disney Dining Plan.
The Disney Dining Plan is where you pay for your food in advance and then get to feel that your Disney vacation is all-inclusive.
You already paid, so you don't have to worry about what you eat and what you spend. You can feel free!
Except it's not that simple.
The Disney Dining Plan isn't an all you can eat deal.
You get...
Points?
I'm not sure what they call them.
As of now, for $75.49 per person you get (per night):
1 Table Service Meal which includes an entree, dessert, and drink. (or you can do a buffet/all you can eat thing)
1 Counter Service Meal which includes an entree and drink.
2 Snacks
1 Refillable mug
And with each of the two meals, you can get a single serving of an alcoholic beverage.
Now what's fun and confusing is this doesn't have to be done in a simplistic daily way.
You don't have to say, It's Monday! Let's go get our table service breakfast. Then later we'll have a counter service lunch, and tonight we'll go get two snacks.
Instead you add up the nights of your trip; then multiply the nights by 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal, and 2 snacks.
So let's say you have a four night trip.
That means you get 4 table service points, 4 counter service points, and a total of 8 snacks.
On your first day, you could have two big table service meals and no snacks or counter service meals.
On another day, you might eat all snacks.
There are stories of people who end up with lots of snack points at the end of the trip and end up rushing to the gift shop to pick up a bunch of Rice Krispie treats.
That just sounds so fun to me.
We rarely buy food at the gift shops.
So to be told we HAVE to buy treats because otherwise we're throwing away money?
I just love that.
Anyway....
Almost every time we go on a Disney trip, Tim and I consider getting the food plan in the future. We do the math; then decide it's not worth the money.
We don't eat enough. The Disney Dining Plan would make us eat more than we usually do.
We also don't spend that much, on food, each day. We don't even usually come close.
Still. Despite all the very rational reasons why we shouldn't get the food plan, I still end up wanting it.
We're going to Disney World in a few days.
I learned something that pulled up my unfilled desire.
Supposidly, you can trade in your counter service meal for three snacks and a drink...as long as you get all of the snacks in one transaction (at one register)
Now this made me think maybe the Disney Dining Plan WOULD work for us!
See, another thing that stopped us from getting the plan is that we're really big on the Epcot food festivals. I think we usually end up getting more than two items a day. We probably are more likely to do ONE meal a day; then spend the rest of the time snacking at the festivals or other places around the parks.
It seemed the food plan would deter us from doing what we like.
But knowing this new rule....
I started doing the math again.
I went through some menus and imagined what I might want to eat that day. I tried to pick expensive things. Like orange juice. You're supposed to order orange juice, because often that's worth more than the other drinks.
Do I want to drink orange juice with all my meals?
Uh...no. Not really.
But that's what life seems to be like on the food plan.
In order to get your money's worth, you need to eat not what you want to eat but what costs the most.
I forgot what I ended up pretend-ordering, but I came up 19 dollars short.
I think the main reason for this is I'm vegetarian.
Vegetarian food costs less at Disney World than the meat dishes.
So....I decided that until Disney creates a lowered-cost vegetarian meal plan, it's probably best that we skip the whole thing.
Then I came up with an idea.
How about make my own food plan?
No I won't get the beautiful delusion of freedom that pre-paying gives you. But I CAN have fun with all the points.
I decided, though, that since this is my own food plan, I can make my own damn rules.
So this is what I have planned.
We are going for five nights.
I get 5 table service meals, 5 counter service meals, and 10 snacks.
That's just like Disney's rules.
And here are where my rules are different.
Just like with Disney, you can trade a counter service meal for snacks. But with my plan, it doesn't have to be all in the same transaction. I can get three different snacks plus a drink at four different places if I want. Why not?
In my plan, I can also trade a table service meal for a counter service meal OR more snacks.
Since a tables service meal includes a dessert, I can get that dessert with my counter service meal. Or I can skip the dessert at the meal and add it to my snack allotment.
What it comes down to is a counter service meal equals 3 snacks and a drink. A table service meal equals 4 snacks and a drink.
Then I thought it over. Do I really want 2 drinks a day? I usually just drink water. Plus, we'll have sodas in our villa, and we can get free soda at the DVC lounge and Club Cool.
I decided I can trade those drinks in for snacks as well.
All together, if I wanted to snack all day and all week, it would come out to 11 snack points per night or 55 snacks for the whole trip.
Other rule tweaks:
With Disney, you have to give up 2 table service credits for room service and the fancy signature dining restaurants.
I started stressing about that, because I had promised Jack we could get room service on our last morning at The Grand Floridian.
I worried this would lead me to starving one day...though that's probably highly unlikely. If we went the snack-wise route, it means I'd still have 45 snacks left for the rest of the time.
But still. I decided I'd just relieve the stress by changing the rule.
So with MY Disney Dining Plan, room service equals one table service credit plus, because of the 3 dollar delivery fee, 1 snack credit.
We're not doing any Signature Dining restaurants this year, but if I do this in the future, my rule is that the entree equals one table service credit and any appetizer or dessert equals a snack credit.
If Disney had this rule, they'd probably lose too much money because the Signature Dining restaurants are quite expensive. And if WE ate too often at Signature Dining restaurants, we'd probably lose too much money as well. But if we limit ourselves to 1 or 2 per trip, I think we'll probably be okay.
You know....
I'm curious, so I'm going to check the math on that again.
If I get dinner, dessert, and a drink at Restaurant Marrakesh, at most that would cost me 34 dollars (tip not included). That's with me getting the vegetarian meal, the most expensive dessert, and orange juice.
If I got the vegetarian entree at Le Cellier, one of Epcot's Signature Dining restaurants, it would cost me 33 dollars. So it comes out about the same.
I think where my rule can get costly is where I say you can get appetizers and/or dessert for a snack credit.
From what I've seen, most snacks cost between 4 and 7 dollars. The appetizers and dessert at Le Cellier range from 9-24 dollars!
So. Yeah. If we go to too many Signature Restaurants and use too many snack credits on appetizers and desserts, we'll probably start crying when we get our bill at the end of the trip.
Other things that could go wrong?
Despite not pre-paying, I might somehow still feel pressured to get in all my meals and snacks. If this happens, I will probably end up feeling very sick to my stomach. My clothes won't fit when I get home, AND we'll be saddened by the bill.
What I hope will happen with my personalized dining plan?
I hope I get to have fun with the points.
It just feels like a cool and exciting game to me.
And I hope it gives me a sort of welcome to order food. I hope it makes me hesitate and worry less about how much I'm spending.
I'm not pre-paying. No. What I AM doing is giving myself pre-permission.
If I am very hungry and/or there are lots of things I want to try, I CAN order 6 snacks at the festival in one day plus eat a table service meal. I probably won't. But I can.
Well....
I think what I might do is update this post after we get back and I'll share how I did.
What was my average spending a day on food? Did it end up close to 75 dollars? Less? Much less? More (heaven forbid!!).
What was my lowest day? Highest day?
Did I end up feeling pressured to eat more than I wanted?
Did the food plan add a special thrill to the trip or did it add an extra bit of stress? Maybe both?
Edited to Add 4/8/19- We're back!
Actually, we've been back for a few days. I've just been lazy about editing this.
So...this is how it went.
I did have fun with the points. I mean it wasn't a ton of fun. But it is something I'd want to do it again.
In the end, I was left with 0/5 table service meals. Though we had only 3 table service meals and room service. Towards the end I converted the 5th one to snacks.
The table service restaurants we went to: Kona...twice! In the same day! A bit nuts. We went for breakfast. Then later Jack wanted to get another table service meal, and for some reason, we decided on Kona again.
Then on our last day, we went to Marrakesh.
I was left with 2/5 counter service meals. I think I must have converted one of those to snacks as well. I'm pretty sure I got only two—the vegetarian korma at Sunshine Seasons and a pizza at Gasparilla Island Grill.
As for snacks, I was left with 8 out of....I'm not sure. Originally 10, but then some of the other meals got converted.
My least expensive day was the first day. $8.28. I got a side of macaroni and cheese for lunch while Jack got a full size meal. Then we went to the Magic Kingdom and I got some lemon soft service. Later Jack was too tired to go and eat again. We had gotten up at 3 in the morning to catch our flight! So I just ate our Amazon snacks in the room.
On my two most expensive days, I spent close to 52 dollars. These were when we had the table service meals. And I'm not including tip. (The real food plan doesn't include it either)
If it was totally up to me, I'd stay away from table service meals and just do snacks and counter service. I'm never very excited about the vegetarian options at the table service restaurant, and I'm always shocked by the prices.
Well...Disney food prices are shocking all around. But at least with some places, you get a fair amount of food.
With Disney, prices are dependent on location and ingredients. A Mickey waffle at the Grand Floridian Cafe is $15 while you can get a Mickey waffle at Sleepy Hollow in the Magic Kingdom for $6.79. Although the Grand Floridian one comes with a piece of breakfast meat. I don't think that piece of meat would be worth 9 dollars, though!
Yeah. I'm looking at the menu again. You can get a side of the breakfast meat for 4.5. Plus the Sleepy Hollow waffle comes with strawberries. Fruit is pretty pricey at Disney World.
As for ingredients. I got a fancy, very artistic salad at Kona. It was not enough for me to eat. Then I got a side of mashed potatoes, and it was too much for me to eat.
The Disney Dining Plan is where you pay for your food in advance and then get to feel that your Disney vacation is all-inclusive.
You already paid, so you don't have to worry about what you eat and what you spend. You can feel free!
Except it's not that simple.
The Disney Dining Plan isn't an all you can eat deal.
You get...
Points?
I'm not sure what they call them.
As of now, for $75.49 per person you get (per night):
1 Table Service Meal which includes an entree, dessert, and drink. (or you can do a buffet/all you can eat thing)
1 Counter Service Meal which includes an entree and drink.
2 Snacks
1 Refillable mug
And with each of the two meals, you can get a single serving of an alcoholic beverage.
Now what's fun and confusing is this doesn't have to be done in a simplistic daily way.
You don't have to say, It's Monday! Let's go get our table service breakfast. Then later we'll have a counter service lunch, and tonight we'll go get two snacks.
Instead you add up the nights of your trip; then multiply the nights by 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal, and 2 snacks.
So let's say you have a four night trip.
That means you get 4 table service points, 4 counter service points, and a total of 8 snacks.
On your first day, you could have two big table service meals and no snacks or counter service meals.
On another day, you might eat all snacks.
There are stories of people who end up with lots of snack points at the end of the trip and end up rushing to the gift shop to pick up a bunch of Rice Krispie treats.
That just sounds so fun to me.
We rarely buy food at the gift shops.
So to be told we HAVE to buy treats because otherwise we're throwing away money?
I just love that.
Anyway....
Almost every time we go on a Disney trip, Tim and I consider getting the food plan in the future. We do the math; then decide it's not worth the money.
We don't eat enough. The Disney Dining Plan would make us eat more than we usually do.
We also don't spend that much, on food, each day. We don't even usually come close.
Still. Despite all the very rational reasons why we shouldn't get the food plan, I still end up wanting it.
We're going to Disney World in a few days.
I learned something that pulled up my unfilled desire.
Supposidly, you can trade in your counter service meal for three snacks and a drink...as long as you get all of the snacks in one transaction (at one register)
Now this made me think maybe the Disney Dining Plan WOULD work for us!
See, another thing that stopped us from getting the plan is that we're really big on the Epcot food festivals. I think we usually end up getting more than two items a day. We probably are more likely to do ONE meal a day; then spend the rest of the time snacking at the festivals or other places around the parks.
It seemed the food plan would deter us from doing what we like.
But knowing this new rule....
I started doing the math again.
I went through some menus and imagined what I might want to eat that day. I tried to pick expensive things. Like orange juice. You're supposed to order orange juice, because often that's worth more than the other drinks.
Do I want to drink orange juice with all my meals?
Uh...no. Not really.
But that's what life seems to be like on the food plan.
In order to get your money's worth, you need to eat not what you want to eat but what costs the most.
I forgot what I ended up pretend-ordering, but I came up 19 dollars short.
I think the main reason for this is I'm vegetarian.
Vegetarian food costs less at Disney World than the meat dishes.
So....I decided that until Disney creates a lowered-cost vegetarian meal plan, it's probably best that we skip the whole thing.
Then I came up with an idea.
How about make my own food plan?
No I won't get the beautiful delusion of freedom that pre-paying gives you. But I CAN have fun with all the points.
I decided, though, that since this is my own food plan, I can make my own damn rules.
So this is what I have planned.
We are going for five nights.
I get 5 table service meals, 5 counter service meals, and 10 snacks.
That's just like Disney's rules.
And here are where my rules are different.
Just like with Disney, you can trade a counter service meal for snacks. But with my plan, it doesn't have to be all in the same transaction. I can get three different snacks plus a drink at four different places if I want. Why not?
In my plan, I can also trade a table service meal for a counter service meal OR more snacks.
Since a tables service meal includes a dessert, I can get that dessert with my counter service meal. Or I can skip the dessert at the meal and add it to my snack allotment.
What it comes down to is a counter service meal equals 3 snacks and a drink. A table service meal equals 4 snacks and a drink.
Then I thought it over. Do I really want 2 drinks a day? I usually just drink water. Plus, we'll have sodas in our villa, and we can get free soda at the DVC lounge and Club Cool.
I decided I can trade those drinks in for snacks as well.
All together, if I wanted to snack all day and all week, it would come out to 11 snack points per night or 55 snacks for the whole trip.
Other rule tweaks:
With Disney, you have to give up 2 table service credits for room service and the fancy signature dining restaurants.
I started stressing about that, because I had promised Jack we could get room service on our last morning at The Grand Floridian.
I worried this would lead me to starving one day...though that's probably highly unlikely. If we went the snack-wise route, it means I'd still have 45 snacks left for the rest of the time.
But still. I decided I'd just relieve the stress by changing the rule.
So with MY Disney Dining Plan, room service equals one table service credit plus, because of the 3 dollar delivery fee, 1 snack credit.
We're not doing any Signature Dining restaurants this year, but if I do this in the future, my rule is that the entree equals one table service credit and any appetizer or dessert equals a snack credit.
If Disney had this rule, they'd probably lose too much money because the Signature Dining restaurants are quite expensive. And if WE ate too often at Signature Dining restaurants, we'd probably lose too much money as well. But if we limit ourselves to 1 or 2 per trip, I think we'll probably be okay.
You know....
I'm curious, so I'm going to check the math on that again.
If I get dinner, dessert, and a drink at Restaurant Marrakesh, at most that would cost me 34 dollars (tip not included). That's with me getting the vegetarian meal, the most expensive dessert, and orange juice.
If I got the vegetarian entree at Le Cellier, one of Epcot's Signature Dining restaurants, it would cost me 33 dollars. So it comes out about the same.
I think where my rule can get costly is where I say you can get appetizers and/or dessert for a snack credit.
From what I've seen, most snacks cost between 4 and 7 dollars. The appetizers and dessert at Le Cellier range from 9-24 dollars!
So. Yeah. If we go to too many Signature Restaurants and use too many snack credits on appetizers and desserts, we'll probably start crying when we get our bill at the end of the trip.
Other things that could go wrong?
Despite not pre-paying, I might somehow still feel pressured to get in all my meals and snacks. If this happens, I will probably end up feeling very sick to my stomach. My clothes won't fit when I get home, AND we'll be saddened by the bill.
What I hope will happen with my personalized dining plan?
I hope I get to have fun with the points.
It just feels like a cool and exciting game to me.
And I hope it gives me a sort of welcome to order food. I hope it makes me hesitate and worry less about how much I'm spending.
I'm not pre-paying. No. What I AM doing is giving myself pre-permission.
If I am very hungry and/or there are lots of things I want to try, I CAN order 6 snacks at the festival in one day plus eat a table service meal. I probably won't. But I can.
Well....
I think what I might do is update this post after we get back and I'll share how I did.
What was my average spending a day on food? Did it end up close to 75 dollars? Less? Much less? More (heaven forbid!!).
What was my lowest day? Highest day?
Did I end up feeling pressured to eat more than I wanted?
Did the food plan add a special thrill to the trip or did it add an extra bit of stress? Maybe both?
Edited to Add 4/8/19- We're back!
Actually, we've been back for a few days. I've just been lazy about editing this.
So...this is how it went.
I did have fun with the points. I mean it wasn't a ton of fun. But it is something I'd want to do it again.
In the end, I was left with 0/5 table service meals. Though we had only 3 table service meals and room service. Towards the end I converted the 5th one to snacks.
The table service restaurants we went to: Kona...twice! In the same day! A bit nuts. We went for breakfast. Then later Jack wanted to get another table service meal, and for some reason, we decided on Kona again.
Then on our last day, we went to Marrakesh.
I was left with 2/5 counter service meals. I think I must have converted one of those to snacks as well. I'm pretty sure I got only two—the vegetarian korma at Sunshine Seasons and a pizza at Gasparilla Island Grill.
As for snacks, I was left with 8 out of....I'm not sure. Originally 10, but then some of the other meals got converted.
My least expensive day was the first day. $8.28. I got a side of macaroni and cheese for lunch while Jack got a full size meal. Then we went to the Magic Kingdom and I got some lemon soft service. Later Jack was too tired to go and eat again. We had gotten up at 3 in the morning to catch our flight! So I just ate our Amazon snacks in the room.
On my two most expensive days, I spent close to 52 dollars. These were when we had the table service meals. And I'm not including tip. (The real food plan doesn't include it either)
If it was totally up to me, I'd stay away from table service meals and just do snacks and counter service. I'm never very excited about the vegetarian options at the table service restaurant, and I'm always shocked by the prices.
Well...Disney food prices are shocking all around. But at least with some places, you get a fair amount of food.
With Disney, prices are dependent on location and ingredients. A Mickey waffle at the Grand Floridian Cafe is $15 while you can get a Mickey waffle at Sleepy Hollow in the Magic Kingdom for $6.79. Although the Grand Floridian one comes with a piece of breakfast meat. I don't think that piece of meat would be worth 9 dollars, though!
Yeah. I'm looking at the menu again. You can get a side of the breakfast meat for 4.5. Plus the Sleepy Hollow waffle comes with strawberries. Fruit is pretty pricey at Disney World.
As for ingredients. I got a fancy, very artistic salad at Kona. It was not enough for me to eat. Then I got a side of mashed potatoes, and it was too much for me to eat.