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Disney has a deal that you can get the Dining Plan for FREE when you book a stay at one of their select resorts during certain dates. We will be visiting the parks during the free dining plan, so this is something we could take advantage of. We have a larger family, so in order to get a room that we would all fit into we would have to stay at the Disney’s Saratoga Springs, for a whopping total of just over $8900 (that price would include our park tickets and food). Seriously, that is way to much!! Plus, we wouldn’t have enough space in the room for all of us comfortably.
I knew we could get a better deal (and more room) if we stayed off property. Plus, we came up with a way to create our own FREE Disney Dining Plan. Since January, I have been saving all of the gift cards we have gotten. Plus, we have redeemed our reward points for restaurant gift cards. With the gift cards we saved, we should be able to pay for most of the food during our vacation.
Here is what we have saved so far:
$400 in Disney gift cards ($200 was for applying for a Disney Visa (2) and another $200 in Disney reward dollars we earned) – We will use this money for the Disney themed restaurants we plan to eat at.
$120 in Target gift cards (These came from Target store deals and rewards programs) – We will use this money to buy food that we plan to cook in the home we are renting. I get to shop at a Super Target! Woo Hoo!
$100 in The Cheesecake Factory gift cards (The came from rewards programs) – This will cover dinner for our family
$75 in Restaurant.com gift certificates – I checked the restaurants in the area and found 2 that would work well for us.
$75 in Visa gift cards – These will help to pay the money that is remaining from our Restaurant.com meals
$50 in Panera Bread gift cards (These gift cards come from Mypoints rewards) – These will give us lunch out.
$25 Costco gift card – I will use this to buy snacks we can take into the park each day
Total = $845 in FREE money for our food
So, we will have our home, which incidentally is WAY bigger than the hotel we would have gotten, with 5 bedrooms,a kitchen, game room, laundry and our own private pool + park tickets + food paid for with gift cards + rental car + parking it all comes in at right about 1/2 of what it would cost us to stay on property. That is some serious savings!
Now, I am not saying that the FREE Disney Dining Plan is not a good deal, because it may work out to be a great benefit for some, but for our family by doing a little math and making some different plans we were able to create our vacation for thousands less.
What are your thoughts on the Disney Dining Plan? Has it been a big money saver for your family?
crunchy says
I don’t care for the dining plan. I think it is too much food and since it began the menus at the restaurants have become, with a very few exceptions, less varied and less interesting.
Leslie says
I love the Dining Plan. I would definitely NOT call it a money-saver. For me though (being frugal), I love to be able to order whatever I want including drinks and dessert, rather than ordering the most inexpensive item and drinking water 😉 We’re about to be a family of 5 so on our next trip we won’t fit into a regular hotel room and I might feel differently!
Nancy says
Christy what a fantastic idea. I love your plan for saving up all those gift cards and rewards points for your Disney meals! We have been able to, in some years, apply our Disney Visa rewards dollars for a signifcant portion of our dining, and it does feel pretty good to do that. I will say that for our family of 3 (two adults, one teen) there is no question that the Dining Plan is a saving for us. We always eat our evening meal at a Table Service restaurant, so we absolutely save money doing this by using the Dining Plan. Yes, it’s a lot of food, but getting dessert to go each night means not buying snacks that evening…and our snack credits always go for breakfast items, so we spread everything out, and it works for us.
dusten says
I would recommend something like a 2br DVC villa either by renting points or through CRO, pay for ticket, food, etc piecemeal. Renting points allows you privileges such as no per person charge for more than 9 ppl in a 2br villa. Your cost would be closer to 5k.
dusten says
Forgot to mention that with a villa you have a full kitchen and can save 100’s by getting groceries delivered to your room when you arrive, then prepare sandwiches, snacks in-room and take them into the park in a cooler… place them in a locker when you get there so you don’t have to carry the cooler around.
Jennifer Roman says
Hi Christy,
I am new to your site and want to say thanks for creating a web site for us “smart moms” to save more money. I just wanted to make you aware of the visa gift card that you plan on using for your dining bill. I get many visa gift cards for birthdays and holidays and I was told from a representative when I activated it, that I will be charged additional fees just for using it at a restaurant. You may want to call the 1-800 number before using it. It will probably be better to pay for souvenirs than to waste $20 on unnecessary fees. Enjoy your trip and thanks for a great idea to save more money while on vacation.
Christina says
I am new to your web site as well. We are leaving for Disney in 16 days. Im not sure if there is any or those food coupons you were talking about available? Im from Rochester Ny if that helps. I grew up going to Disney every year since I was 2. Its way different then being the one planning the trip now. Thanks for your great ideas and help. Also, how do you get all the gift cards?