Hello, Tracey,
Thank you for your question about the
Disney Dining Plan, which can be a way to save money through careful planning. For example, when we have used it, I did a lot of research beforehand about the best way to use our dining credits so that we'd be making the most of our investment. I did this by having my family look over the menus of restaurants we planned to dine at and make their hypothetical selections. This gave me an idea of how much we might spend out of pocket compared to the daily cost of the Disney Dining Plan so I would know if it would save us money. For us, too, it was a way to truly plan for the cost of our trip as we paid for nearly all of the trip prior to our arrival. I'll also admit it was a treat for my normally frugal family to have the chance to ignore the prices on menus when ordering!
Part of this research also involved reading others' analysis of the dining plans that I would encourage you to do, too. Here are some more detailed articles that break down the dining plans so you can get an idea if they are worthwhile for you:
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Disney World Dining Plan from 9/1/2015 from Touringplans.com
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The Basics: A Cost Analysis of the Disney World Dining Plan by Robert Blaszkiewicz
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Disney Dining Plan v. Paying Out of Pocket by Tom Bricker
-Disney Dining FAQ from Disneyfoodblog.com
If you look these over and feel you still have more questions, please let us know. We are happy to help! -
Kara