Here's the math I did when planning our trip in may:
Online it says approx 56 per adult per day and $17 per kid. Weird. seems like a steal for the kids and a ripoff for the adults. So maybe it balances?
my rough math of (56+56+17+17)*7 adds $1022 for the week. Which seems like a lot for two meals and a snack each daily. I remember that last time, with the free dining, we would order two meals for the four of us ( girls were 3 and 1) at quick serve places, also we'd usually share snacks cause they were huge. 4 peoples worth would be nutty.
advantages to this would be that we'd have it for the full length of our stay and that there would be no tension at mealtimes (grandparents have somewhat fancier taste than we do, I'm big on convenience and having some treats on vacation, kids want to try everything they see in the park). I'd stress less on how pricey character meals can be as well as my birthday dinner at Ohana.
I'll try to estimate what we'd likely spend on food if we did our usual living cheap approach. Advantages here are that we'd probably eat less and if I'm honest, probably spend less on food. However, it would involve more planning and be a little more of a hassle to be sure that we got groceries or packed them for lunches etc. We traveled with a suitcase full of food on our stay at fort wilderness.
My planned must do meals this trip:
ohana: 36.20+36.20+18.10+18.10= 108.60
boma: 38.33+38.33+18.10+18.10= 112.86
raglan (estimating 35/ adult, $15 per kid out of pocket)= 100
character dining: 35.99 adult, 17.99 child= 107.96
so for our four "big" meals we're at 429.22.
If we say we'll wind up with one counter service a day, whether lunch or dinner (yogurt, pb&j, and granola bars only get you so far), estimating at $12 /adult and $6 per kid= $36 per meal.* 7 days= 252.00.
There will be some dole whips, fried dough, etc. Call that $10 per day. =70
We'd have to pay for our groceries for breakfast and lunches: yogurt, cereal, milk, oatmeal, bread, pbj, cold cuts, juice boxes, fruit, other little snacks. call it $125 (given what we'd be able to pack in luggage, and getting the rest either in food court or via garden grocer)
let's tally again. 429.22+252+70+125=876.42
Did I forget anything? AM I way underestimating food costs? Tips at table service will be in effect either way so that doesn't matter.
SO the price difference to upgrade to DDP standard is $150. For this we'd get 3 additional table service meals and a bunch of snacks.
When I look at it that way, seems worth it financially. If I want to think about eating healthy, maybe not so smart. I think the grandparents will like getting to sit for a table meal each day, and that the kids will like it that I'll say Yes more often when they eye a yummy snack and bust out the puppy dog eyes. So could we do it cheaper without DDP? Yes. do I think we'll get enough value out of it to make it worth our while this trip? Yes. For peace of mind at not having to settle out bills between my family/ grandparents, and strangely, at having made my dinner reservations ahead of time and being able to say: here's the plan, family. I wound up being able to book a lot of meals that have some sort of bonus feature: fantasmic VIP dining, princess meal with a picture, rose & crown for dinner ( where hopefully we'll be able to be outside for illuminations).
I was surprised at the fact that the kids cost (3-9) was so low. We would pay just about that much for entry to any of the buffet meals, so for them we're essentially getting a snack/cs meal free those days. The other table service meals, well, we'll see.
so those are my two cents. If my math is way off, please don't tell my DH. He's anti-DDP in general. But now that we have it he's compiling ways to wring as much value from it as possible. For him that's almost as satisfying as beating me at Toy story Mania...