Dawn sent me the following message about how she saved $800 on the cost of her trip…
We decided against the basic dining plan because for 10 days for 3 adults would have been $1759.80. And I knew I could do better than that. So, I kept all of my food receipts. We spent $959 on food! And that includes sit downs at Park Fare, Crystal Palace, Ohana, Be Our Guest, Cape May Café, and Rainforest Café (we did have a $50 gift card for that I had earned from Swagbucks).
We never bought any drinks (except Lemonade slushes a few times). I packed water bottles in our checked luggage and took advantage of the free ice waters. I packed 3 boxes of Crystal Light singles packets. Now, we did buy a large pepperoni pizza 3 times! $16.50 including tax. That’s way cheaper than a $33 quick service meal for the 3 of us. We saved $800.80 by not getting the meal plan.
While the dining plan was not worth it for Dawn’s family, it might be for yours. You can read Is The Dining Plan Worth It? for more information.
Learn more about Walt Disney World Dining and get suggestions for where to eat, how to use the Disney Dining Plan and more.