Alternative to the DVC dining plan?

[eliza61]

Happy new year gang,

I've got a crazy idea kicking around in my head and would like some opinions. Please feel free to tell me "You've lost your mind!! . My family & I (DH and 2 DS 13 & 15)are going to WDW for a 10 day vacation at the VWL this August. We get the MYW park hopper premium passes, since we do love the water parks. My idea is this. Instead of getting 4 adult MYW passes for ~ 1300 bucks + a dining plan, I was going to get 3 adult passes and 1 AP and a Disney Dining experience card for $60.00 bucks. The difference in price is $150.00 more but the DDE allows me to get a 20% discount on my totally food bill at virtually every single restaurant at WDW. Over the 10 days I think I would definitely save the 150.00 price difference. There are some days where we do 2 sit down meals in a day so we could possible go through the meal plan allotment fairly quick, beside the fact my 2 teenage DS eat as if the were linebackers for the NY Giants and after a morning running around MK a counter service meal is pretty much a snack to them. Has anyone have DDE? How did folks with ravenous teenagers make out with the dining plan ( I know its fairly new to DVC members)?

Thanks for your help

Eliza
8/1999 Ft. Wilderness Cabins
8/2001 Ft. Wilderness Cabins
8/2003 1st time DVC members Beach club villas
8/2004 Old Key west
8/2006 Villas at Wilderness Lodge

 

[snowbunny]

I don't think it sounds crazy, you should do what works for you.

We're not going to use the dining plan this year, we'll get one AP as was suggested to me on these boards, and then go with the DDE. We rarely use counter service and prefer breakfast in the villa, so the dining plan is not a good fit for us.

 

[DisFlan]

No, you're not crazy. We did this last October. You might spend a bit more than if you bought the dining plan (depending on your eating habits), but it gives you much more flexibility. We eat very few counter service meals, we mostly eat breakfast in the villa and we often eat two table service meals a day, so going with an AP and the DDE fit our eating style better than the DP would have if it had been available.

DisFlan

 

[Dean]

Not crazy at all. You may want to pull up the menu's and go over some of your usual types of meals and compare to the DDP to see what's best for you. If it's about break even, go with the DDE. In part it depends on your alcohol intake. Teenagers that eat like it can get their money's worth of the DDP in many cases but you'd still have to weigh the other two's usual dining habits. The DDE will give you more flexibility but you'd all have to be together to get the discount, or at least one of the card holders would be. I assume you're planning on using the plus options on days you don't go to the parks and having park days left over for next trip. If you can get 2 trips out of one pass, the PAP may be as good or better value. Remember you get some discounts by nature of being a DVC member.

Another option might be a split stay at 2 resorts and only get the DP for a portion of your trip. Another issue is whether you could get a second trip on the one year of DDE as well.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Happy new year gang,

I've got a crazy idea kicking around in my head and would like some opinions. Please feel free to tell me "You've lost your mind!! . My family & I (DH and 2 DS 13 & 15)are going to WDW for a 10 day vacation at the VWL this August. We get the MYW park hopper premium passes, since we do love the water parks. My idea is this. Instead of getting 4 adult MYW passes for ~ 1300 bucks + a dining plan, I was going to get 3 adult passes and 1 AP and a Disney Dining experience card for $60.00 bucks. The difference in price is $150.00 more but the DDE allows me to get a 20% discount on my totally food bill at virtually every single restaurant at WDW. Over the 10 days I think I would definitely save the 150.00 price difference. There are some days where we do 2 sit down meals in a day so we could possible go through the meal plan allotment fairly quick, beside the fact my 2 teenage DS eat as if the were linebackers for the NY Giants and after a morning running around MK a counter service meal is pretty much a snack to them. Has anyone have DDE? How did folks with ravenous teenagers make out with the dining plan ( I know its fairly new to DVC members)?

Thanks for your help

Eliza
8/1999 Ft. Wilderness Cabins
8/2001 Ft. Wilderness Cabins
8/2003 1st time DVC members Beach club villas
8/2004 Old Key west
8/2006 Villas at Wilderness Lodge

If you do a search of some of the DP vs DDE threads, this is planning to be done by many people. Actually, My wife and I are taking 2 trips in 2007 and are getting APs and the DDE and will be doing both that and the DP. The DP is a better value than DDE IF you actually EAT all of the food included (if not then it is not as good a value); since we do take full advantage of this, we will use DP for 1 TS meal and use our CS for either breakfast or lunch. The rest of the time we will use DDE for either a 2nd TS or eat out of the villa or just pay full oop for a CS. We will also use it for Alcohol, etc. If you do have two ravenous teens, then this might work for you too. They will get A LOT of food on the DP, and for any additional meals you have the DDE.

Best I can recommend is look at the menu pricing and figure out an idea of some of the places you will eat and figure out if you will just eat entrees, or if you will eat Appetizers and Dessert. This will give you an idea of what the best choice for you is.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Not a crazy idea at all to use the DDE card instead of the dining plan. We would never use the dining plan because it doesn't fit our style, but we saved a LOT using the DDE card over 10 days for 5 of us.

I have just one question.... If you are traveling 10 days this year, and I assume you plan a trip for next year, why would you not buy the discounted APs instead of the MYW passes? We usually find the APs to be a better value if you go every year and can skew the dates by a week to get two trips on 1 pass.

 

[eliza61]

Hey Diane,

Thanks for the great tip! Usually I do get the AP for everyone but it just so happen that 2007 is my husband's 45th birthday. We plan on exchanging our points for Spain & Italy but I'm definitely leaning toward the DDE card.

Eliza

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

We just got back and did the same. We had 8 people (3 "adults", 2 teenagers, 3 kids). Because we ate at quite a few character meals, the DDE saved us $. Everyone ate what they wanted vs feeling obligated to go to a counter service b/c it was on the plan. We went last year on the plan and while it can be great, we felt like we were obligated to use every snack and counter service...plus it's nice not keeping track! Good luck!

 

[Muushka]

the DDE allows me to get a 20% discount on my totally food bill at virtually every single restaurant at WDW

Not sure if you realize that the DDE is not valid at most of the counter service restaurants. My husband was hesitant getting the DDE because there are a few CS that we enjoy, but we did get it this past Dec and he was very happy that we did. And we are just 2 adults.

 

[Alexander]

Not sure if you realize that the DDE is not valid at most of the counter service restaurants.

This is a good point. If you think you'll mostly be eating CS, then, be sure to check the list of restaurants that participate. The only other thing to think about is if you go with the meal plan, the teens can use the credits of other members who may not eat as much. Also, if the teens are going to be going out and about on their own, they will have the credits on their room keys. Otherwise you'll need to be with them with the DDE card.