what is the best dining plan calculator?

The best calculator is to total up what you will order and compare.

Personally, we find we are usually within 10% one way or the other of our OOP cost, but with the dining plan, we order what we want and without it we often just go for the cheapest thing in the menu, compromising what we really wanted.

So that and the fact that my meals are prepaid are worth it, but the trick is leave no credit on the table, even if you have to get snacks to take home at the end of your trip. Also if doing character meals you can come out way ahead.

I agree that the only way to determine the value vs the OOP is to do your own math. The online calculators have not really been updated to include the alcohol or increased cost of food.
 
I just returned from a 7 day trip and brought $1200 in gift cards to pay for meals. Everyone was able to order what they wanted, it was pre-paid, and I did not have to worry about using credits. For a 7 day trip with 4 adults, it ended up saving me $500-800 by NOT using the DDP.

I did the same in August. $1,800 in gift cards, which would have been the cost of DDP and tips. Came back with $100, after eating really well. It gave us more flexibility - meals were shared entrees with appetizers and no desserts. Drinks were of the adult nature, few soft drinks. Only one CS meal the entire trip, but TS at least once per day. Our first meal was two of us at Le Cellier. We split an entree, had two appetizers, a side (or was it two?) and a couple drinks. Omg, after that meal, I HURT, it was so much food (and sooooooooo good). So the rest of the trip we slowed down on the quantity of food, trying for more variety with smaller portions. We learned to love appetizers and lounge food.

I've always thought that the difference is whether you would buy soft drinks and desserts or not. We drink water and rarely have dessert, so our OOP was always lowered by that.
 
I buy discounted gift cards and then pay for the dining plan with those, Disney still gets their money, but I end up saving close to 15% most of the time after all is said and done.

Same here. I pay for my entire trip with discounted gift cards. 5% off at BJs, plus 2% BJs rewards for buying them there. Then I use my Discover card 5% cashback at wholesale clubs. 12% off (though 2% is in the form of BJs cash, which I use to buy more giftcards!! But, in the end..I still overspend!
 
For future reference, the trail mixes are really good and resealable and snack credits (at least most are), wishing we would have used our friends left over snack credits before leaving to get more. Also much of the stuff from the caramel shop in Germany travels well and all of the smaller bags of Werther's are snack credits and while we wouldn't have normally bought Werther's at Disney World, we would have bought them here because we like them, so saved us some money that way.

Thanks for the tips! We will definitely have to get creative next trip. She bought the snacks as "souvenirs" for friends, and packed the chip and dale snack mix in her lunch for quite a while. Since we didnt do any of this until the last day and I had packed up 99% of our stuff the night before, I just shoved it all into the suitcases when we brought them curbside. My luck, it brought the luggage over the weight limit and I had to open my suitcases on the sidewalk and repack everything multiple times. Nightmare! Note to self: buy lightweight snacks and eat more ice cream on vacation!!
 


I have messed with lots of them and I have found in my case https://www.distripplanner.com/ as closest to my own calculations. For me/us, prefer and love the idea of the food, paid for with the DDP and just going for it, no carrying around gift cards in the park, if it goes over, meh oops if it is under meh.....just go have fun, eat away, drink away, enjoy the time in Disney......
 
So no...we took a big loss! But I LOVED having everything paid for ahead of time! This year you would think I have learned, but we are back on the deluxe plan again. Of the 30 credits we each get, I already know we will leave many behind. Most of our dinners this time are only 1 credit. Im struggling to find places to use the credits, but want to try new places and feel we have done all the 2 credit meals enough. I only want TS and sadly they dont offer a plan with only 2 credits per day.

Why don't you just pay OOP? You know you're overpaying before you ever get there. Why not take the money you would prepay for the DxDDP and buy a prepaid Visa or something like that? You'd still have everything paid for ahead of time and you'd save money.
 
Why don't you just pay OOP? You know you're overpaying before you ever get there. Why not take the money you would prepay for the DxDDP and buy a prepaid Visa or something like that? You'd still have everything paid for ahead of time and you'd save money.

I love having my food prepaid as well, however it needs to make financial sense before i book a plan. I do not mind breaking even, but I will not go into a plan knowing I will lose money.
 


Why don't you just pay OOP? You know you're overpaying before you ever get there. Why not take the money you would prepay for the DxDDP and buy a prepaid Visa or something like that? You'd still have everything paid for ahead of time and you'd save money.

Honestly, I dont do it because Im stupid! There is no reason...just way more convenient to over pay for convenience. Never thought of a prepaid Visa though. Still wouldnt have a bill waiting for me at home after my trip and no left over Disney money on a GC. Hmmmmm.
 

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