when DDP is DEFINITELY worth it

[Lisa F]

I entirely agree with you!! I love the dining plan and not stressing over the restaurant bill when it comes, we have done Disney with and without the DDP and I find myself far more relaxed with! Especially with the price of that OJ!!

Haha I live on Martha's Vineyard and land of the $3.75 chocolate milk separate from the cost of the $8.99 kids meal. I don't eat out a whole lot (i'm just a middle class person working and living here, not super rich) but when we do I often have my child drink water. He is going to be in heaven getting to drink what he wants on vacation!

 

[Lisa F]

That is totally fine if you enjoy that! I hate bargain hunting - I throw coupons away lol - but I do love planning my trip. What's stressful for me is fun for you and that is ok. At the end of the day, I prefer the dining plan. It makes it easier for our family of 5 to split up and do whatever we want and not have to worry about paying for much else.

Oh now that I figured out it is worth it I figured it could help someone who is in a similar general circumstance so they don't have to. And I am DEFINITELY embracing the idea of prepaying it and having much fewer OOP costs. Got slammed with a $1500 room bill on my last trip because we room charged anything (including meals and souvenirs and special event tickets) and although it was completely expected it was still kind of a bummer. I will still have the christmas party and CP package OOP and souvenirs but a big chunk of that will be paid for well in advance just to enjoy!

 

[LONES]

We have never actually paid full price for the dining plan. We have either had free dining, or the stay,play, dine package. In those cases, it has always made sense for us to take the dining plan over the room discount. This year, we weren't able to get the SPD package at POFQ. Rather than switch resorts, we took the very small room discount, and paid for food OOP. We debated purchasing the dining plan at full cost, but chose not to so we could see how we would come out.

We are a family of 4 (3 Disney adults, and 1 child). As it turned out, we came out $348.00 ahead by not buying the dining plan. We ordered everything we wanted, and really didn't think about price. I think if we had eaten our meals as the dining plan dicates (1 table service daily, a drink with every meal, and a dessert with every meal), we would not have come out ahead. However, when left to our own devices, we don't eat that way. More often than not, my husband and one daughter would choose to drink water. Sometimes none of us would order dessert, and sometimes we would order 1 or 2 to share. There was never a time we ordered 4 desserts. It's possible we would use the dining plan again, but I think we learned it's not the "must do" I thought it was!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

There are different types of "value" to the dining plan, there's the strict monetary value whereas, if you are like the OP and you have a party consisting of one or two adults and some children under 10, and plan on mostly buffet/AYCE (at least one per day), you can make out like a bandit on the DDP still, without even going into anything like the subjective value.

There are some who find it valuable to spend $950 on $700 worth of food just because they won't see a bill at the end of the meal - they'll only be paying tips. In essence they are paying the difference for the psychological value of having the bill paid ahead of time. Most guests who are outside the realm of parties with children under 10 doing buffet/AYCE are not saving much if any money by using the dining plan. They are paying for what they see as the convenience. Once you start leaving credits unused, or trading credits for lower cost meals or snacks, down goes the monetary value of what you have prepaid, but the convenience is still there.

 

[Regan117]

There are different types of "value" to the dining plan, there's the strict monetary value whereas, if you are like the OP and you have a party consisting of one or two adults and some children under 10, and plan on mostly buffet/AYCE (at least one per day), you can make out like a bandit on the DDP still, without even going into anything like the subjective value.

There are some who find it valuable to spend $950 on $700 worth of food just because they won't see a bill at the end of the meal - they'll only be paying tips. In essence they are paying the difference for the psychological value of having the bill paid ahead of time. Most guests who are outside the realm of parties with children under 10 doing buffet/AYCE are not saving much if any money by using the dining plan. They are paying for what they see as the convenience. Once you start leaving credits unused, or trading credits for lower cost meals or snacks, down goes the monetary value of what you have prepaid, but the convenience is still there.

This.

 

[NewRVLady]

we never considered it
I don't want a big breakfast-we eat light and get to park at rope drop

We make ressis ONLY for Lunch-we have faves in each park
we don't like buffets

At night we wing it-I DO NOT want to be tied down to a ressie-if there is a parade...if we are tired and just want to hang at the pool...whatever.
we are also sort of Health nuts and do not want to eat SO MUCH FOOD

 

[jzuzphreek]

This is subjective but for me the DDP is always worth it as when I don't have it I stress over the price of every meal we eat and drink we consume. I would much rather budget for the dining plan and pay it in advance than have to think about how much items cost. Last month when we were at our resort and I noticed my DDs orange juice would have cost me $3.99 I was again thankful that was not something I had to think about.

But, that's not the case for all. Just wanted to share how it works for us.

I always have a difficult time understanding this position; but I guess different strokes for different folks. I'd be stressed out that I just spend $900 for $750 worth of food. I'm stingy and worry about the prices, but I could never bring myself to pay more to not worry about it.

To me, the extra cost of the DDP is what I am paying for the "convenience factor." By having the DDP, I know I won't have to come out of pocket on vacation for our meals. It frees us up to spend a little extra on souvenirs and what-not. We're also free to get the most enticing thing we see on the menu without any mental,emotional, or financial-math gymnastics required.

 

[Regan117]

we never considered it
I don't want a big breakfast-we eat light and get to park at rope drop

We make ressis ONLY for Lunch-we have faves in each park
we don't like buffets

At night we wing it-I DO NOT want to be tied down to a ressie-if there is a parade...if we are tired and just want to hang at the pool...whatever.
we are also sort of Health nuts and do not want to eat SO MUCH FOOD

Definitely just a case of different people liking to vacation different ways. If you told me I had to get up early in the morning to ride some rides, I'd punch you in the face lol. (Just a general you, not YOU.)

We like to sleep in, have a big breakfast, meander through the parks (sometimes not even ride anything), and then have a big late dinner. So we've enjoyed the deluxe dining plan so we can use those TS credits for everything and do table service breakfasts and signature dinners, then use snacks during the day in the parks. I don't ever feel tied down to a dining reservation - they're actually more important than the parks for our family. So we plan our parks by which restaurants we will be going to...

 

[Pinkos]

We had the dining plan last May and felt that it was too much food and were convinced we spent more then we would if OOP ( especially if shared some meals bc of large portions).

So this year I did a spreadsheet. I knew where I wanted to eat and relatively what each person would order. I shared meals where I thought we would and ordered no deserts and accounted for no snacks. So when I did the math the dining plan came up 50$ more $$. I was shocked. Bc my OOP plan had water for drinks, no desserts and no snacks.

When u add the convenience factor in ( bc I know like pp I would order slightly cheaper meals if paying OOP), the dining plan is sooooo worth it to my family. There may be meals where there is too much food, but trying to fight with kids re water vs choc milk and no desert while on vacation, plus there wasn't a huge price difference anyway? We will continue with dining plan until it stops making sense.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We had the dining plan last May and felt that it was too much food and were convinced we spent more then we would if OOP ( especially if shared some meals bc of large portions).

So this year I did a spreadsheet. I knew where I wanted to eat and relatively what each person would order. I shared meals where I thought we would and ordered no deserts and accounted for no snacks. So when I did the math the dining plan came up 50$ more $$. I was shocked. Bc my OOP plan had water for drinks, no desserts and no snacks.

When u add the convenience factor in ( bc I know like pp I would order slightly cheaper meals if paying OOP), the dining plan is sooooo worth it to my family. There may be meals where there is too much food, but trying to fight with kids re water vs choc milk and no desert while on vacation, plus there wasn't a huge price difference anyway? We will continue with dining plan until it stops making sense.

I am a spreadsheet maker, too. This year, I did a few different things:

First, I created a spreadsheet of every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I looked up menus for each restaurant, determined what we would probably order, added tip, and determined a total. (I do this for every trip to create a budget). I am pretty conservative - figuring we eat sandwiches or yogurt and fruit in the room for some breakfasts or lunches when we are at the resort, water at meals, no dessert, etc.

Then, I totaled what we spent on food OOP on our trip last year. It was WAY over budget from that trip. So I created a spreadsheet for that trip and determined that if we'd had DDP, we would have spent LESS money for possibly MORE food. (Where this got weird is that DD was two, so she couldn't have had DDP. She eats like a small human being, though, so obviously we bought kids meals for her. When I calculated, I calculated in the cost of a DDP for her, since the ultimate goal was to determine if DDP may be a value THIS year, now that she is three.)

Next, I created a spreadsheet of where we would eat and what we would order if we were on DDP. I called it the "Hypothetical Dining Plan Matrix." That was fun because I put in some super expensive entrees, and desserts, and pricey character meals we would do off the DDP. The cost came down to about what we'd spend to add the DDP, so we just went ahead and did it! I also booked those more expensive character meals, which is super exciting. We wouldn't be going to Tusker House AND 1900 Park Fare AND Garden Grill off the DDP, but DD will love them all.

One thing that aided in our decision is that my parents are traveling with us (via a separate reservation) and they (well, my mom, really) like to have the DDP. So once we looked at the costs and they were equal, the ease of having all of us on the DDP helped seal the deal. Also, as I mentioned before, DD is a good eater. If she has a typical Disney Mickey Check kids meal (sandwich, fruit, yogurt), she will eat the vast majority of it. She's not very picky about food and likes a lot of things, which helps, too. (Hopefully this doesn't change before April - you never know with a three-year-old!)

I should add that my mom is one of those people unconcerned about maximizing the value of her credits. She absolutely loves the convenience and the all-inclusive, package feeling you get on the DDP, so she always buys it.

 

[Lisa F]

I am a spreadsheet maker, too. This year, I did a few different things:

First, I created a spreadsheet of every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I looked up menus for each restaurant, determined what we would probably order, added tip, and determined a total. (I do this for every trip to create a budget). I am pretty conservative - figuring we eat sandwiches or yogurt and fruit in the room for some breakfasts or lunches when we are at the resort, water at meals, no dessert, etc.

Then, I totaled what we spent on food OOP on our trip last year. It was WAY over budget from that trip. So I created a spreadsheet for that trip and determined that if we'd had DDP, we would have spent LESS money for possibly MORE food. (Where this got weird is that DD was two, so she couldn't have had DDP. She eats like a small human being, though, so obviously we bought kids meals for her. When I calculated, I calculated in the cost of a DDP for her, since the ultimate goal was to determine if DDP may be a value THIS year, now that she is three.)

Next, I created a spreadsheet of where we would eat and what we would order if we were on DDP. I called it the "Hypothetical Dining Plan Matrix." That was fun because I put in some super expensive entrees, and desserts, and pricey character meals we would do off the DDP. The cost came down to about what we'd spend to add the DDP, so we just went ahead and did it! I also booked those more expensive character meals, which is super exciting. We wouldn't be going to Tusker House AND 1900 Park Fare AND Garden Grill off the DDP, but DD will love them all.

One thing that aided in our decision is that my parents are traveling with us (via a separate reservation) and they (well, my mom, really) like to have the DDP. So once we looked at the costs and they were equal, the ease of having all of us on the DDP helped seal the deal. Also, as I mentioned before, DD is a good eater. If she has a typical Disney Mickey Check kids meal (sandwich, fruit, yogurt), she will eat the vast majority of it. She's not very picky about food and likes a lot of things, which helps, too. (Hopefully this doesn't change before April - you never know with a three-year-old!)

I should add that my mom is one of those people unconcerned about maximizing the value of her credits. She absolutely loves the convenience and the all-inclusive, package feeling you get on the DDP, so she always buys it.

I am doing MOSTLY buffets on the DDP so "would I order dessert" or "would I order the most expensive thing off plan" doesn't even factor for most meals. The ability to swap drinks or dessert for other snack credits adds a great deal of flexibility to the QS meals as well. I know a lot of people don't like buffets... this was kind of a hold out from my pre-kid foodie days too... but now that I am not traveling as one of a DINK and I am traveling as the single mother of a soon to be 8 year old boy with a big appetite but picky tastes and who does not like to stand in line waiting for characters (it is not a moving queue with a lot of interesting things to see like many of the ride lines, which were not a problem for him but waiting to see Buzz and Woody were pretty torturous!) my priorities have shifted. No it is in general not the most gourmet food but on our last trip I never went away hungry and neither did my son... but we always went away happy. If something isn't good i just don't eat it and get more of what was good and there are always a few things that are super yummy if not super fancy on any given buffet. I may or may not have booked quite so many buffets without the DDP but it feels like a luxury to be able to do so without worry or care.

 

[dkrauss]

I am doing MOSTLY buffets on the DDP so "would I order dessert" or "would I order the most expensive thing off plan" doesn't even factor for most meals.

Excellent planning on your part. You've kept some discipline in your dining plans which is why the DDP will work for you. While not a part of your trip what throws folks off on the DDP is when they schedule 2 credit restuarants, 3 TS meals (way to much food IMHO) and resturants with alchol (which is never included). In those cases you really need to look at the math to see if it saves money.

In your case.............with your plan............it does! Nice

Doug

 

[j2thomason]

I always book the QS dining plan and then upgrade it if I know we will be hitting enough TS restaurants to make it worth the upgrade. I always stay in a value resort because we don't spend much time in our room. I figure booking QS is a no-brainer because I have to eat something....right?!? I also like the idea that I can pay off my trip, with meals included, before I leave home.

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

So I finally got around to putting my restaurant choices in a spreadsheet.

It is just myself and my will be 8 year old son for next December, so 50% of the party in the "kid" range.

Doing the following TS:
Ohana dinner
Tusker House Lunch
Garden Grill Lunch
H&V Holiday Dine Dinner w/Fantasmic Package
Sci Fi Dine in Lunch
Crystal palace Dinner
Ohana breakfast

Total cost of plan: $579
Total value of TS meals: $466

that leaves $113 for 14 QS and 14 snacks. Assuming $15 per adult meal, $5 per kid meal and $5 per snack (totally just rounding there) I'm ahead by $237. I will have a few more expensive adult QS meals (like Wolfgang Puck and Be our Guest) and a few cases where I order my kid an adult meal so I expect that I will realize around a 50% bonus on the cost of the plan.

I had no idea it could be such a tremendous savings honestly but thought I'd put it out there for anyone on the fence... seems silly to have been on the fence now.

I think if your party is ever 50% kids and you are doing a bunch of buffets/character stuff you definitely need to take a look.

2 adults & our 5yr old DS here. We are doing 3 character meals (Crystal Palace, Tusker House & Chef Mickey), HDDR, Whispering Canyon (dinner where hubby will choose the AYCE skillet) & Mama Melrose Fantasmic package - all of those alone made me feel like we were getting good value out of our plan. The added bonus is the QS, the snacks and being prepaid.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Concentrate on having your bill paid before you leave, because it is very difficult to save any money or even break even on the quick service dining plan.

 

[goofynut41]

This is what I was wondering about its just me and my husband but we like to eat at a nice restaurant on vacation and Disney has some of the best!!
That's what we do.. tour the parks and play in the morning and relax and eat in the evening..... So I have booked the DDP too. Hope to get all our reservations!!

 

[jknewberry]

We got free dining on our last trip in Feb/Mar 2012 and loved it. I would have NEVER been able to convince the rest of the adults to spring for the dining plan, but we are going again next year and there likely won't be a free dining offer for those dates and we are likely staying in a DVC property anyways, so we are planning on buying the plan with a counter service and table service meal per day.

What we found was that it was nice to have all the table service meal places and times planned ahead of time- it meant no wasted time trying to figure out what everyone felt like trying and what time each day. When we got there, we could just order a meal rather than look at the yummy options and end up choosing something less expensive than what we REALLY wanted b/c of the price.

The other nice thing was that there wasn't a squabble over the bill- we just traded off who gave the tip and were done with it.

 

[babesboo99]

I agree we used the DDP last year and now we always will. This year we are using the DxDDP we like the ease of ordering anything you want and not having to worry if it's too much or should i order this just order and be happy so for us it is worth it .

 

[ChimCher-ee]

I fall into the "rather prepay and forget it" camp, but more than that, I'm also afraid that without a plan, I would somehow end up spending more. I'd have this mindset of, "oh go ahead and order what you want - - it can't possibly cost more than the dining plan would have!" - - and end up in trouble.

I just don't want to have to keep track of those receipts (and be reminded several times a day of how much I'm spending).

Plus, DD11 likes being in charge of her own food - - she knows the plan rules and takes care of her own ordering (esp at QS meals).

 

[Ava]

Is the QS plan also a good value if you have a 1:1 adult:child ratio?

We've had Free Dining (regular DDP) the last two years in a row, but we're planning to rent DVC next year so that won't be an option. Also, the first year we had 2 adults, 1 child, 1 toddler for 7 nights and thought the plan was great. We had fun at all of our meals, didn't feel tied down, and just about broke even on the value (the cost of our meals vs what the DDP would've cost had we paid for it). Last year we had 4 adults, 1 child, 1 toddler for 9 nights and felt like the plan was too much. We did enjoy most of our meals but in general it was more stressful than fun and we ended up with a bunch of leftover credits that we used up at the gift shop before we went home.

So my previous experiences with DDP have been hit or miss. However, next year we will be 2 adults and 2 children, so I feel like the plan may be a good value for us. I'm not sure I want to do a TS meal every day again, but I think if we want even a couple character meals it would make more sense to get the plan. Or perhaps the QS plan and pay OOP for 1 or 2 TS meals. We also have some dietary restrictions (we're all vegetarian and younger DD is lactose intolerant) that actually make buffets a good option for us. It's so hard to decide because we definitely eat differently when on the plan than we would if not on it. But at the same time, it is nice to have your food prepaid and not have to think about what it costs while you're there. For example, if we don't have the plan I'd probably make my kids share that $4 bottle of juice, or tell them they can't have it at all. On the plan, I get to be nice vacation mommy and say, "Sure, you can each have your own juice!"