Semi Spin off! Will you be getting the DDP if FD is not offered?

[Blessedwithboys]

I know tons of us are waiting and *wishing* for FD for late summer/ fall. I am debating whether we should pay OP for the DDP if FD is not offered. What do you all think??

I have only ever went on FD! When I price out my package with and without dining it shocks me the price of adding it. I love the ease of having everything paid for and squared away when we arrive but I think I could save quite a bit if we were not stuck to having to use 6 TS during our trip... 4 or 5 would be adequate. I also know we had TONS like 8-9 snacks left last time and we bought a bunch of stuff to bring home.... so I wonder if its really worth it. I hate having to watch on vacation. I want it to be as free and easy as possible but I think I could probably achieve that same thing by getting a 500.00 Disney GC and a few 100.00 dollar ones and spending off that so it would still be prepaid and anything we did not use on food could be used on souvenirs/tips etc.

 

[RapunzelsGoodMom]

The math has never worked for us so we have always taken the room discount and paid OOP for dining. Every time I run the numbers, we come out ahead by just paying for what we want. We rarely want snacks, desserts are too much after all that dang food, and we feel like we would need to choose our ADRs differently/more to get bang for the buck if we picked the plan. Instead, we just do exactly what we want and pay. We do quite a few character meals and usually one TS per day. But other than that, haven't found the DDP to really add anything for us.

Maybe you could keep an envelop with the $$ you would have paid in dining and just pay your bills out of that? Or disney gift cards for the total? That way, anything you had that was under could be applied to the room instead of food (or souvenirs, etc.).

 

[Blessedwithboys]

can anyone move this to the dining plan board? Thanks

 

[Hopefully]

Yes we will get the DDP when it is not free. It works for us and saves us a bit of money too. It fits our style of eating. We eat a sit down dinner together each evening and we will do that on vacation. Plus we go for Food & Wine Festival, so we easily use our snack credits for that

 

[aubriee]

I know tons of us are waiting and *wishing* for FD for late summer/ fall. I am debating whether we should pay OP for the DDP if FD is not offered. What do you all think??

I have only ever went on FD! When I price out my package with and without dining it shocks me the price of adding it. I love the ease of having everyting paid for and squared away when we arrive but I think I could save quite a bit if we were not stuck having to use 6 TS during our trip... 4 or 5 would be adequate. I also know we had TONS like 8-9 snacks left last time and we bought a bunch of stuff to bring home.... so I wonder if its really worth it. I hate having to watch on vacation. I want it to be as free and easy as possible but I think I could probably achieve that same thing by getting a 500.00 Disney GC and a few 100.00 dollar ones and spending off that so it would still be prepaid and anything we did not use on food could be used on souvenirs/tips etc.

I used to be a big propenent of the DDPs until I realized that I was subconsciously trying to get the most out of it, by ordering the more expensive items, when I honestly would have preferred a cheaper item. Plus since gratuities and appetizers are no longer included, we round up buying gift cards anyway to cover those expenses. Now we just buy Disney gift cards prior to each trip and know everything is prepaid, including tips, appetizers, alcoholic beverages, souvineers, etc. I refuse to skimp on vacation and always order exactly what I am in the mood for that particular meal, whether it be just an appetizer and dessert, two appetizers and desserts, or all three courses. I never worry about what I am spending down there, order exactly what I want whether it be chicken, steak, or just a salad, and yet I always bring money back on those gift cards. I love coming back to a zero balance on my credit card, not dealing with cash on vacation, and having money left over on the gift card for the next trip. Plus using a gift card and ordering exactly what I am in the mood for, I always end up spending less money than I would with the DDP. I don't always want a dessert (especially those prepackaged ones at the counter service restaurants), drink very few sodas, so normally order water anyway, we are not big snackers, so like you always had most of our snack credits left over to get rid of that last day, and alot of times would prefer a couple of appetizers to an entree. Using gift cards lets me order exactly what I want for less than what the DDPs would cost.

Since I have an AP, I can usually get a decent room discount, which beats free dining, so have absolutely no interest in free dining. The only time free dining ever beats the room discounts for us, would be if we stayed in a value resort, which we don't want to do. Even if I couldn't get a good room only discount for an onsite resort, I could still get a good one offsite, like at Bonnet Creek, which also works better for us than free dining. Why pay over a $100.00/night for a Value, when I can get a one bedroom fully equipped condo at Bonnet Creek for less than $100.00/night and we'll be renting a car anyway? The DDP just doesn't make sense for us (even though I used to use the DDP or the DxDDP several times a year, up until last year).

 

[bluejasmine]

We always use the DDP it really does save MY family money. If a RO code saves us more we pay for DDP we have used DDP since 2005!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Minniesgal]

We find you can get value out of the dining plans but only by eating what you have to not what we want to. We are doing TIW next trip and think it will save us a fortune over DDP

 

[bennifer]

I was going back and forth as well for this trip! When it's free, it's a no brainer for us! However, my 18 yr old won't be coming on this trip and the almost 4 year...well, you know how little ones are! One day they are ravenous and the next they might eat an apple and a piece of cheese for the entire day. My husband really is pushing for the DDP even if we have to pay, tho, so we'll probably end up with it regardless! Good luck!

 

[basketlacey]

FD has always proven out to be the best discount for my family so if offered, its a no brainer for us to use the DDP. If we end up booking a room only offer, I am torn. We have had the dining plan for our last 3 trips and loved it. Prior to our DDP experiences we only did 1 or 2 TS meals per trip. We have decided that we love the TS experience and don't want to go back to just a couple.

I think I will attempt paying cash if we book a RO this fall. Then I can compare the experiences for future trips. For me, one of the nicest parts about the DDP, is that I don't worry about the prices when we sit down to eat. I know I can choose to be the same way with cash but I worry if I will really be able to!

 

[TDC Nala]

I wouldn't get DDP even if free dining was offered.

 

[momto2inKC]

We won't be adding the dining plan to our package if it's not free.

 

[smiths02]

We won't be going for a few years, but I can say we won't get any dining plan unless:
1) It is free or discounted (like stay, play, dine)
2) We are going with others and we don't want to have to worry how to parse out dining costs (we paid for it in 2009 and didn't save a ton of money, but we were traveling with the ILs and it was much easier to tell them a package price than to have them have a heart attack every character meal...also easier to split costs instead of FIL feeling like he had to pay for all the meals)

We paid in 2009. I maximized it as much as possible, but even then it wasn't a HUGE savings.
We upgraded to DDP from "free" QSDP in 2011. This is when I found out we don't really eat how any of the dining plans are designed.

1) Not big non-alcoholic beverage drinkers. Maybe 1/2 the time we order a non-alcoholic beverage? So we don't really need these and we definitely don't need the mugs (and we can just bring soda as we drive)
2) Prefer TS but not enough to justify DxDP (with the age of our children, we are not interested in any 2 credit meals save maybe CRT and we don't each need app, entree, and dessert)...so on DDP, we spend OOP for extra TS then have extra CS leftover
3) Don't like dessert with meal especially for lunch...would rather have a snack later
4) Love some snacks that aren't included on DDP...chocolate covered caramel apples, etc.
5) Prefer the character meals for breakfast (which is the cheapest time of day anyhow). We also like a few meals at lunch for a nice break (Sci Fi, Chefs de France) On DDP, I felt like we needed to use or TS for dinner.
6) If we pre-pay for DDP and we miss meals, someone gets sick...then we lose money. If we are paying as we go then it is okay if someone just wants chicken noodle soup for dinner and not the steak OR if we are just too tired to go out and want a flatbread from the resort QS...we haven't lost anything.

 

[GaBelle]

My hubby insists on the DDP... so we will get it regardless.

 

[minnie mum]

Disney would have to pay ME to take the DDP. We save more money with a decent room only discount than we would with FD, and I don't like the restrictions that the DDP places on us. I want to eat what I want, not what would make the most $$$ sense on the plan.

 

[foxtrotter]

No.

In fact, without free dining, I'll cancel our reservation and we'll stay offsite unless I get a great pin code. It seems the room rates have gone through the roof compared to last year. Disney's quoting me $117 a night at the All Stars for mid-September. Crazy! I can rent a nice condo or small pool home for less, even when you add in parking.

 

[Fivemuggles]

Nope. Actually if its not FD we will prob move from POR to somewhere offsite (family of 5 so we couldn't do a value unless we got the suite, which is pretty much just as expensive as a mod)

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

We are a group of 12. If free dining is not offered we will also probably go off site. We might also do two days at Universal as opposed to one.

 

[babydoll65]

The dining plan never works for me.Of course if it's free I would take it but if not I spend much less than what the charge for the qsd. My son is a very picky eater so breakfast tend to cost the both of us less than 10$.I do not eat a dessert with my meals but I might get a snack later in the day.We don't do character breakfasts anymore.(my son feels he's too big for that but I'm not)

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

The only times we have used the DP was when it was free. We would not pay for it because we can eat much cheaper just paying out of pocket. Our kids are tweens and couldn't care less about the expensive character buffets.

 

[DisneyMom5]

IF they don't have FD, and IF they offer a discount that is similar $$$ wise, then yes. DH prefers to have the dining plan. That said, it would have to be a really good non-FD discount for us to be able to go. There are 10 of us...7 of whom count as Disney Dining adults.