DDP Is it worth it?

[KAYLI'S DAD]

Looking for info and opinions on the DDP. What are the positives and negatives on this. I was told by the cm it was $35 day per person. Our trip consists of 6 adults and our daughter who will be 21 months.

thanks for the input.

 

[Shmily1]

It really depends on your family's eating habits. If your family wants pizza or chicken fingers for most meals (like my DD) then it's not a good deal. If you want to do the signature meals, character meals, or some of the higher end TS meals, then it is a good deal. One meal for four of us at Coral Reef was over $225, but we were on the DDP so that made the day a good deal for us. Very many meals at a cheaper TS resort would not make it worth it. Having everything paid for in advance--totally worth it!!! I just have to know that we will be purchasing pizza later on!!

 

[KAYLI'S DAD]

What is TS? We do eat at a lot of restaurants like italy, canada at epcot, Brown derby and so on. There are no limits to what restaurant you go to?

 

[DisneyLover75]

From my perspective (I've used the DDP three times now) it's worth it. For me, it's good not to have to worry about budgeting money for the meals. I'd rather just know that whatever money I need to bring along is just for souvenirs (although now I'll have to worry about gratuities.. sigh) All the same, between being able to eat in the more expensive restaurants, which I certainly wouldn't if I were paying out of pocket, and knowing that 95% of my dining cost was covered already, it's a no brainer for me.

 

[DisneyLover75]

What is TS? We do eat at a lot of restaurants like italy, canada at epcot, Brown derby and so on. There are no limits to what restaurant you go to?

TS = Table Service

Most of the table service restaurants at Disney are included on the DDP, but there are certain places (I think Brown Derby may be one of them) that require two table service credits to dine there. Cinderella's Royal Table, California Grill, Yachtsman Steakhouse and Narcoosee's are among the "signature" dining experiences and they require two credits.

It would still be worth it if you really wanted to go there, but you'd have to be willing to forego a table service meal on a different night of your stay.

I probably don't explain it as well as some of the others.

 

[KAYLI'S DAD]

So what are you entitled to? The cm told me I think 1 snack and 1 sit down meal.

 

[Markstudy]

Now that Disney is raising the prices on the Character meals... (all of June holiday pricing) and more photo packages added to princes diner in Norway.

All of a sudden the math for DDP 2008 has shifted in a positive direction, compared to when we did our calculations a few months ago.

 

[idtwinsmom]

Try looking here:

http://www.allears.net/pl/packages08a.htm

 

[christy08]

Here's more about the 2008 plan:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/tickets/magicYourWay/index?id=PackageDetails2008PlusDiningPage

There's a link on the web page with a list of participating WDW restaurants. I think it's still a good value and I think we'll be adding it for our family of 4 this fall. Enjoy!

 

[caroline1851]

Isn't it $38 or $39 per adult (over 10), not $35.

You can eat:
1 snack
1 counter service
1 table service

Figure out where you would eat with it and wehre you would eat without the plan and see what's the better deal.

I'm doing it because i like the ease of having all of my food pre-paid.

 

[auntie]

What is TS? We do eat at a lot of restaurants like italy, canada at epcot, Brown derby and so on. There are no limits to what restaurant you go to?

From what you've stated, I think it would be worth it for your family. It is especially worth it if you are having a table service(TS) meal each day. Roughly it's about $40.00 a person. For adults. around $10.00 for kids..although I don't believe their is a charge for the 21 month old. We used the plan last year for the first time, and we loved it. I'm not so thrilled that this year, they don't include the appetizer or the gratuity. That being said, the we found the plan to be convenient, and we ate in places we might not have otherwise. I was feeding an almost 16 year old growing boy..and you can't fee them for $40.00 a day anywhere! I was paying adult rate for everyone, but I think that for the kids..the $10.00...I mean you spend that on one meal at McDonalds...so it's definetly worth it.
We will likely do it again if we go this year, even though it doesn't include the appetizers. The best thing to do is pull up the menus of the places you are planning to dine in. You can do that here. Then figure out what a meal would cost you as opposed to be on the dining plan. Honestly in the restaraunts you mention.(we ate in many of the same) almost one entree is going to be close to the $38.00 dollars. So when you figure in that you are also getting a counter service meal and snack credit. It came out a better option for us, and we didn't worry about price. We ordered whatever we wanted. As it was already included. The kids liked that!

 

[pgsahm2]

We have never used the dining plan before but I just booked a trip for August with my sister. It will be just she and I traveling for 5 days. We are planning to eat breakfast in our hotel room (food we've brought from home) and then eating lightly for lunch and then a bigger meal for dinner. Would we be better off doing the dining plan or just winging it? We don't plan on making any reservations and since it's just us 2 we plan on eating whenever we are hungry (this will be nice since I'm used to eating when my kids are hungry!).

If we bring breakfast foods and don't plan on eating two big meals a day, can we get away with $25 or $30 for food per person per day? I know we're talking about only $15 a day difference, but over 5 days that's quite a bit. Especially since this is a cheapie, budget trip. And the idea of being locked into using the meal plan concerns me. I am hesitant because I don't know enough about it I guess.

Any help is appreciated! Sorry to hijack the post!

 

[auntie]

I think a counter service lunch is gonna run you about $10.00 a person, if you get a snack or ice cream or something during the day you are looking at around $4. - $5.00. Again, I think you have to think of it this way..if for 5 or $10.00 more a day, you are able to have that counter service meal..anywhere..you don't need to make a reservation for that. You can pick up something in the Parks(remember expensive) and then also have a nice sit down meal in the evening. It might be worth it. You are talking about a total of $160. to $200. for each of you for meals for your stay..if you do the dining plan. Will you spend less than that if you don't use it? I bet it would be close, and you won't have as many dining options available to you. Then again, only you know what you will spend for meals. If you were planing on figuring a couple of hundred for meals..then I'd go with the plan. Honestly, if it's just you and your sister, you might want to relax and enjoy a couple of table service meals without kids! If you can afford it, it's a good value. If not, and it's a more budget concious trip, you certainly can get by without it.
I think it all goes back to where you want to eat. If you look at the menus, and know you are going to patronize these restaurants..even the counter service meals..you can pull those up and get an idea of what they will cost you. Then you are able to make an informed decision as to whether it will be worth it to you. What's worth it to one person, may not be to another.

 

[Disneyhappy]

We have never used the dining plan before but I just booked a trip for August with my sister. It will be just she and I traveling for 5 days. We are planning to eat breakfast in our hotel room (food we've brought from home) and then eating lightly for lunch and then a bigger meal for dinner. Would we be better off doing the dining plan or just winging it? We don't plan on making any reservations and since it's just us 2 we plan on eating whenever we are hungry (this will be nice since I'm used to eating when my kids are hungry!).

If we bring breakfast foods and don't plan on eating two big meals a day, can we get away with $25 or $30 for food per person per day? I know we're talking about only $15 a day difference, but over 5 days that's quite a bit. Especially since this is a cheapie, budget trip. And the idea of being locked into using the meal plan concerns me. I am hesitant because I don't know enough about it I guess.

Any help is appreciated! Sorry to hijack the post!

If you do not plan on making priority seating reservations, I would not recommend the dining plan as you will likely have a hard time getting walk up ressies when you become hungry at the restaurants that would make the meal plan cost effective for you.

 

[BabyFu18]

I have a question about the basic dining plan, to add the dining plan on to your package (room and tickets) do you have to have the same amount of days on your ticket as you do on the dining plan?

Example if we are going to be in Disney for 11 days, but only get 8 day tickets, can we still use the dining plan for the 11 days we are there or only for the 8 that we've bought tickets for?

I'm just not sure if the dining plan is good for my family or not, normally we we eat breakfast in the room (something light we bring from home), skip lunch (or again something light) and then eat a nice dinner. The thought of us all eating a full lunch then a big dinner and still a snack throughout the day seems like to much food to me. But the idea of going to a lot of different restaurants is nice.

It's a hard decision, especially since without the dining plan my family will probably stay at SOG but we decide we want to trying the dining plan we have to find a disney resort to stay at. They should extend the dining plan to SOG guest, that'd be nice.

 

[ldisney]

We used the dining plan on our stay last year. It worked well for us because we are not big breakfast eaters, but knew we needed something to hold us over until lunch. We used our snack option for breakfast (At WL, we could get a bowl of oatmeal or a bagel or doughnut for that option) and used our refillable mugs that we purchased day one for our beverage each morning. When we go on vacation we always go to a "sit-down" restaurant (waiters/waitresses, real silverware and plates, etc.) for dinner, so we would use our counter service for lunch and had reservations for dinner. We made good use of the many drinking fountains in the parks for refreshment during the day (We were there in July - I think we found almost all of the fountains!) and maybe splurged on a drink in the afternoon if we needed a break. The only drawback was that, if we wanted a signature dining restaurant, we would have had to pay out-of-pocket for one of our other table service meals in order to use two credits for the signature dining.
I hope this helps. Have a great time on your trip.

 

[auntie]

My daughter was the same way...not much of a breakfast eater..but she would eat fruit for breakfast, and used her snack credit for that. We would often pay for breakfast,,if we ate it, as it was the cheaper of the meals, and then use the CS for lunch and we almost always had a sit down dinner. One night we didn't want to , and wound up using two table service credits to eat at a signature restaraunt..The Brown Derby. It was our last nights there, so it was a nice way to end the trip.

 

[caroline1851]

We have never used the dining plan before but I just booked a trip for August with my sister. It will be just she and I traveling for 5 days. We are planning to eat breakfast in our hotel room (food we've brought from home) and then eating lightly for lunch and then a bigger meal for dinner. Would we be better off doing the dining plan or just winging it? We don't plan on making any reservations and since it's just us 2 we plan on eating whenever we are hungry (this will be nice since I'm used to eating when my kids are hungry!).

If we bring breakfast foods and don't plan on eating two big meals a day, can we get away with $25 or $30 for food per person per day? I know we're talking about only $15 a day difference, but over 5 days that's quite a bit. Especially since this is a cheapie, budget trip. And the idea of being locked into using the meal plan concerns me. I am hesitant because I don't know enough about it I guess.

Any help is appreciated! Sorry to hijack the post!

I wouldn't get the dining plan if i were you. You could have 2 snacks (including using one for breakfast) and 2 cs meals / day for probaly $30.00. If you don't want to make adr, you problay won't be able to get into any nice ts places, so it seems the ddp would be a waste.

 

[Shmily1]

With the places you like to eat, I would say it would end up being a good deal for your family. You can always try it and then you will know for your next trips.

 

[Tara8595]

We'll see if this posts right. I have done the numbers, and it really looks like it's worth it for a typical vacation (for me anyway) Even if you only plan to do a couple of sit downs and a buffet or 2 (on a 5 day trip), it still pretty much comes to even - so you might as well get the dining plan and then feel like you can splurge on dessert or whatever.


DAY 1 2 3 4 5
Breakfast Ohana 20 CCSC 6 Bakery 6 Boma 18 Bakery 6
Lunch Le Cellier 29 CHH 10 Cos Rays 10 Counter 10 Counter 10
Dinner Counter 10 Crystal 29 Counter 10 Counter 10 Counter 10
Totals 59 45 26 38 26
Total for trip 194
Divided by 5 38.8

The only way you come out ahead is if you regularly share meals with someone in your party - when Mom and I go,we do this all the time so it's cheaper to not add it. But my partner is a vegetarian and I'm a steak-eater, so when we go, we get the plan.

Of course, if you really don't think you'll do any buffets or table-service, then you're better off not getting the plan. But keep in mind that a counter service does cost about $10 (Almost everything is $6.95, and drinks are $1.95 plus tax) - so the difference in this and the dining plan that allows you some nice sit-down meals, is trivial.

If you want to do the numbers for yourself - check out the menus on allearsnet.com - they have all the food and prices and you can do what I did and plan your meals and do the math.

Hope all that helps. I was actually surprised to find that even if it's not free, the dining plan is a good deal.

But if you get it, you HAVE to make your dining reservations, otherwise you could get stiffed on the table service.