$689, are they kidding??

[HHSTigerFan]

LOL, I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go round. I stayed at the RP over at Universal, which is supposed to be a deluxe. The $40 Radisson I stayed at the night before had more to offer, IMHO. Yes, the hotel was prettier on the outside, but the room was smaller, and we had to pay for internet and had no fridge or anything. Only plus was the Express Pass.

I would much rather have my own space and peace and quiet. And people are saying they would never go back to their room mid-day, that that is wasting Disney time. How do you even get to appreciate your deluxe room if you are gone from park open to park close? I guess I will never understand, but I do appreciate that different people enjoy different things. That's not a bad thing.

I don't think DDP is a bad value if you are going to eat all your meals onsite anyway. I just enjoy a break from the parks and eating at offsite restaurants. As I said, other than cinnamon rolls one morning, I didn't cook one time, and I did not lug any food or drinks to the parks, as some people are implying off-site people do. I probably spent a little more total than people who got free dining( I can't go during those times anyway), but definitely quite a bit less than those who pay for DDP.

Marsha

Lets see, our last night was 11 nights at AKL on the deluxe dining plan..

We are on vacation, don't want to cook nor do we want to be stuck in traffic getting into the park.. For us its awesome and if we couldn't afford to do it that way and had to stay in a condo, we would stay home..

 

[torinsmom]

Lets see, our last night was 11 nights at AKL on the deluxe dining plan..

We are on vacation, don't want to cook nor do we want to be stuck in traffic getting into the park.. For us its awesome and if we couldn't afford to do it that way and had to stay in a condo, we would stay home..

Oh, wow, I am soooooo impressed.

See, even if I could afford to do that, I wouldn't. No need to spend money when you don't have to, or at least that is my motto. I won't stay in a fleabag hotel, but a condo in a gated community is hardly slumming it, LOL.

As I have said, we didn't cook at all, and there is so little traffic between EI and Disney that it isn't even funny. I was at the gates to pay for parking at AK five minutes after I left my condo. Onsite, I wouldn't even have walked from the room to the bus stop in that amount of time.

Marsha

 

[HHSTigerFan]

We didn't HAVE to, we wanted to because thats the vacation that works best for US...

 

[CowboyCO]

At the top of many of the pages is an ad for a free DDP when you book a 6 day-5 night package. They are saying that their dining plan is worth $689 That would be more than an average family of four would spend on a month's worth of food. Unless you are going to WDW just to gorge yourself instead of actually doing any touring all that ad shows is what a ripoff WDW food prices are and how much you can save by staying offsite.

I'm sure there are some families who could spend $700 just on one dinner, but this is a budget board so I feel compelled to point out the outrageousness of that ad.

Comparing the cost of DDP is like comparing the cost of staying at Disney to my mortgage. Mod is $159 a day x 30 days = $4,770. I could stay home and pay less than that!!!!

 

[kimmyann]

Just my thoughts, I think everyone should just do whatever makes them happy. I don't think the dining plan is really a rip off, if you were to pay for the same meals it would cost you the same if not more oop. We did a budget Orlando trip this year (disney last year) and we drove to the parks (busch parks) and I budgeted the meals and even packed lunches each day. Would I WANT to do that again...NO. Last year we got the QSDP at disney and I thought it was too much food and thought I would not do that again, after this trip though, we will be getting the plan again for our next disney trip simply because it is easier and not to mention funner because I get things I normally would not get. For me it comes down to peace of mind and enjoying myself on vacation, not working.

As far as disney prices for food...I really think they are very fair, if not pretty cheap. You should come to Kings Dominion in Va, you would be shocked. Really, they charge $6-8 just for fries.

Kim

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I'm in the camp also that I can't be bothered staying offsite or eating offsite.

We tried it once and it just wasn't for us. We like to stay in WDW (yacht club this trip) and eat all our meals on property. We don't rent a car or buy groceries.

For some families it may work. But as I said, we tried it. Just didn't work for us.

Doesn't matter to us how much nicer or how much more room or how it is more inexpensive to some. We budget so much every year for vacations, so as long as I'm within the budget, I'm good.

Seems to some its no hassle but to put the kids in the car, drive somewhere else, eat and drive back, is a hassle to us.

Sure sometimes our meals aren't good, or the buses are overcrowded or we have to wait forever for one , but it works for us.

 

[tkitty]

Like anywhere you go, dining at any tourist attraction is expensive. You can save in many ways- sharing, bringing snacks, and only eating at counter service.
I'm a cheepskate and I find that amount a bit hard to swallow. But, I can say that after my first time using the dining plan (free dining), I will always consider it.
Pros for me are:
Character dining- I never consider it if I'm paying oop.
I never have to think about prices- We order whatever sounds good. It's fun to plan out all the great places we can try.
The men love it! My DH wants to have a sit down "meal".
That splurge makes me feel special and spoiled. I deserve it sometimes!

We even paid for the plan last year when staying DVC, and just figured it as part of the total which was still a fair price.

I think if I was going without the "men", just DD and 2 grandkids, we could get by fine, and cheaply without the dining plan. But I will always weigh the two out. We don't go to WDW as much as I would like, so when we do we are willing spend a bit more to eat.

 

[deerhart]

I would much rather have my own space and peace and quiet. And people are saying they would never go back to their room mid-day, that that is wasting Disney time. How do you even get to appreciate your deluxe room if you are gone from park open to park close? I guess I will never understand, but I do appreciate that different people enjoy different things. That's not a bad thing.

Marsha

On our trip, we were back at our rooms for the day anywhere from 8pm until 1am depending on the night and the park. We had plenty of time to enjoy our deluxe hotel, especially since I spent very little time on buses (worth every penny there!!).

We don't spend from park opening to park closing because my kids would never make it (my kids are dragging by midnight on MK evening EMH). We rarely make it to the parks before 9:30/10 am (none of us are morning people). When we head to the parks we stay out of our room until we are done for the day. On our last trip that varied. For example on Saturday, we were hot and tired so we left DHS by 2pm, went back to our hotel and swam/did hotel rec activities for the rest of the day. That was easy to fit into our plan because our dinner was at our hotel that evening anyways. We probably wouldn't have gone back if it wasn't. There were a number of times we were going to head back to the pool and swim, but it rained instead so we stayed later at the parks.

But then again, we don't usually have to deal with a ton of people in the pool while we are there EITHER since we always tend to go in the late late evening (oh it was WONDERFUL when we were at CBR and the pool was open 24 hours, we would be out swimming at midnight).


Sure I think its a waste of time to go to the parks for 2-4 hours, hike back to your hotel for 2-4 hours, head to dinner, and then head back to the parks for 2-4 hours. Just to much time spent traveling.

But I WILL say that staying at the beach club sure made it a heck of a lot easier to decide to do things like we did the first day (started at AK, rode bus back to hotel, went up to room dropped things off, changed things etc, then went to epcot for dinner and did some EMH stuff, then headed back to hotel for swimming) because we had no real travel time between our room and epcot.

 

[Swimalie]

I haven't read all the responses but I can say, yes it's a lot of money and you can eat a lot cheaper but you can't put a price on seeing a child's face when he gets to eat while seeing characters. You are paying not only for the food but for the experience (and a bit for the convenience).

 

[torinsmom]

If we didn't go to the parks before 10am, we wouldn't take a break mid day either. We are usually done with 5-6 rides by that time. At home, we aren't morning people either, but at the parks, we like to get there before the crowds and heat,and tour hard. We have done the all day touring before, but I found that we both got cranky and it just wasn't a magical experience, LOL. Taking a break keeps us from getting too tired, so we can enjoy our vacation. When we come back in the evening, we are less commando tour people and we enjoy the Disney experience. Sometimes, we tour the same park, sometimes a different one.

My son is too old for the character meals, but we did do those for a few years in there. We paid for dining once and had free dining once as well.

I don't think anyone is wrong for how they do Disney or anything else in their life. If we were all the same, it would be a very boring world!

Marsha