Disney Yacht Club and Dining Plans

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Originally Posted by YorkshireT

There is possibly going to be no free dining deals.

I was saying if there’s no free dining deal, pay out of pocket, don’t pay for a dining plan, as out of pocket per meal is often cheaper.

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Depends what they want to do. If spending as little as possible on food is the goal then not buying a dining plan is the way to go, eat QS, share meals etc. However if they want some nice sit down meals, some fine dining, some character meals (obviously assuming these are all back to normal), then buying a plan will make financial sense.

We went last year without free dining, didn’t buy a plan and liked the flexibility, having no restrictions on where and what we ate, i.e. not having to balance our QS vs TS and being able to pick what we want from the menu.

We were supposed to go this year in December and I added a purchased dining plan on. I was wondering if I should drop it so in lockdown boredom I decided where I would use all the credits and then I costed up what those meals would cost OOP. The dining plan was cheaper and that was without my costing in desserts or alcoholic drinks, if I had done that the purchased dining plan would have been hugely cheaper.

With even more time on my hands and in recognition that we might make different choices if not on a dining plan, I did a cash dining itinerary and then costed that up. Our goal would not be to spend as little as possible though, we like having nice meals so I didn’t cut them all out but did drop the character meals. It was the cheapest, but only just, but we had missed out on some experiences and that was without adding in the value of snack credits.

I think December 2021 will be our return date and if there is no free dining, I will definitely be buying a dining plan.