Should I pay OOP for a DDP?

[Toraliina]

Hi we are 3 DIsney adults (me, DH and DD11), and 2 kids (DS9 and DD4) visiting WDW from 10-15th Dec. We had booked a MYW package but after the fall room discount came out, went with it, and now Im considering whether to pay OOP for the DDP?

We have 3 char meals lined up: CRT Lunch, H&V Lunch & CM Breakfast. Also ADRs at Le Chef (for lunch) and Tokyo Dining (dinner). The cost of the 3 char meals for 5 of us (as they are not to be shared) is about $500. The total cost of our DDP is $923.00.

I've been poring over menus (frankly none of my other family members can be bothered except me!) trying to work out whether i would spend more than $423 for our other meals at WDW. DD11 is not a big eater so really not sure if it's worth it either. The kids and dh are big on soft drinks but not me. We don't plan to bring/order much for inroom breakfasts, probably just some cereal etc we can pick up from the hotel shop, alternating with CS breakfasts from Contempo (yes we are staying at CR).

Any help will be most appreciated.. thank you.

 

[TDC Nala]

I'm not sure what you mean by paying OOP for the DDP. The DDP is available only as an add-on to a MYW package (except for DVC members), must be added to your room reservation ahead of time, and cannot be purchased when you arrive at WDW.

If you have a room-only reservation you will need to cancel it and book a package reservation to add the DDP, and do that no later than 3 days before you arrive (remember that you need to cancel a room only reservation at least 6 days before you arrive to avoid forfeiture of the cost of one night's stay.)

 

[sharonabe]

Free dining is offered during your dates, but may not still be available. Is the room discount you're getting better than free dining? I'd check those numbers and see first.

If you keep your room discount, then you do need to consider not only how much you'd spend on those TS meals, but the other meals as well. The only way you can do that is to guess what people might eat. If your 11 yr old will want kids' meals instead of adult meals, you'll probably do better OOP. If you're wanting the sushi at Tokyo Dining, you'll do better OOP as I'm not sure those are included on the regular DDP.

Sorry, we're not much help, but doing the math really is the only way to decide.

 

[ccgirl]

Hi we are 3 DIsney adults (me, DH and DD11), and 2 kids (DS9 and DD4) visiting WDW from 10-15th Dec. We had booked a MYW package but after the fall room discount came out, went with it, and now Im considering whether to pay OOP for the DDP?

We have 3 char meals lined up: CRT Lunch, H&V Lunch & CM Breakfast. Also ADRs at Le Chef (for lunch) and Tokyo Dining (dinner). The cost of the 3 char meals for 5 of us (as they are not to be shared) is about $500. The total cost of our DDP is $923.00.

I've been poring over menus (frankly none of my other family members can be bothered except me!) trying to work out whether i would spend more than $423 for our other meals at WDW. DD11 is not a big eater so really not sure if it's worth it either. The kids and dh are big on soft drinks but not me. We don't plan to bring/order much for inroom breakfasts, probably just some cereal etc we can pick up from the hotel shop, alternating with CS breakfasts from Contempo (yes we are staying at CR).

Any help will be most appreciated.. thank you.

Personally, given that I would not go with the DDP. I find I can usually eat less expensive than it cost for the DDP. Sometimes we split meals or I would rather get an appetizer for a meal. YMMV.

Keeping looking over the menus and add up what your family would eat and see if it would come to $423. Unless you are adding many more TS restaurants, I doubt it will. Good luck with your decision.

 

[1mama2three]

The first time we had the dining plan was in 2011 and we got it for free. We really enjoyed having it, so we decided to pay for it ourselves for our 2012 trip (because we also had several character meals planned). I tried crunching the numbers several different ways, and we ended up decided to add it on. The whole trip I kept thinking that I "had to get my monies worth, and ended up eating WAY more than I should have. We booked a lot of character meals because the kids like them and the seemed to be a better value than other restaurants, but overall we enjoyed the non-character meals more. They were more laid-back and for the most part I didn't like the offerings on the buffets.

We also went during May (versus previous trips during January), and we just weren't as hungry this time around. We looked at the receipts and if we hadn't had credits that we had to use, we would have spent less on food than I had anticipated when I added the plan. After this trip we said we'd never again pay for it ourselves. If we are planning a trip and get it for "FREE", then fine. If not, next time around, I'm going to take my chances and pay for everything OOP.

 

[1mama2three]

I forgot to mention that we ended up splitting a lot of CS meals, so that saved us a lot of money. We'd always start off by buying 2-3 CS meals for the (6) of us, and if we were still hungry we'd go back and purchase something else. We never ended up having to return for more food. It was always more than enough food for our family.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

We're going the same dates and the cost of kids buffets alone make it worth it for us because the kids are getting pretty much a free lunch and snack on days that we do buffet. It makes up the difference for our party at least. It just depends on how you eat. Tokyo Dining can average $30/adult easy and then $10 per kid. Same with Le Chefs. Counter service runs us as a family of 4 about $40 with drinks. Then the snacks. So you just have to look it all the way I think and think about how you eat.

 

[Toraliina]

thanks everyone!
I think I will keep the ddp for now. Been looking and trying to guess and while I think we may share CS (and TS!) credits sometimes, we will probably end up using the saved CS for our breakfasts. Snacks will definitely come in handy and something I have not budgeted for (its always so easy to "just pick up an ice cream" from the vendor etc!!) and if I have extras - i will use them for souvenirs !
(now, let's just hope I don't change my mind again before the 45 day mark..)