Am I the only one who *hates* the DDP??

eliza61 said:
Wow that's alot. I have 2 teenage boys and we don't spend 300 bucks a day on food. Can I ask how many ts are you guys are eating a day.

Last year, we ate a ts almost every day including appertizers and tip and we average only ~170 a night (average) We only had really 2 nights where we approached the 250 buck mark.

But let me ask you, with the free dining if you are eating that much you are you some thing OOP or do you upgraded to deluxe dining, do you guys do a lot of character meals?

We only ate dinner at TS other than a few TS breakfasts which included CRT. But like I said we didn't look at the menu and say "you can't get that it's too much money". We only go on vacation once in a while and don't skimp on anything. If we want a snack we get a snack. If we need a drink we get a drink. I'm pretty sure our dinners cost your nightly average alone. I know everyone's eating is different but I would rather eat a nice sit down dinner than a QS meal three times a day. Next trip I think we will end up doing more Character meals as well.
 
For us, when free DDP is offered, this is hands down our BEST discount. We are intelligent enough to know its not free per se but it works for us when its free.

The attitude that those of us who love this discount are somehow not quite smart enough to understand how it is in fact a discount, frankly come off as condescending.


To each their own.".



Well said. I agree.
We can only go to WDW in Sept and Free Dining is only promotion offered at that time. AND we don't go to Disney for the food.
QS for breakfast, snack for lunch, TS for dinner, not compicated at all. Works for us.

:earsboy:
 
Amy&Dan said:
For us, when free DDP is offered, this is hands down our BEST discount. We are intelligent enough to know its not free per se but it works for us when its free.

The attitude that those of us who love this discount are somehow not quite smart enough to understand how it is in fact a discount, frankly come off as condescending.


To each their own.

very well said. :)


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LaurenT said:
Hate is a strong word, but I wouldn't do the DDP. And, FD...well, it isn't really free, is it? You're paying rack rate to get that "free" which could be a substantial difference from another discount you could be taking advantage of.

I use TIW. My friend and I just took our girls. We were there for 9 days. Ate TS everyday, drank wine or margaritas every day, got the appetizers we wanted, etc.
In the end it averaged out to $80 a day for each of us ($80 for me and my DD and $80 for her and her DD), so that's $40 per person per day for all meals with drinks, appetizers and tips included. We ate at Le Cellier, Marrakesh, the Wave, Mama Melrose, Sanaa, Flame Tree Barbecue, Restaurantasaurus, Rose and Crown, The Fountain (discount honored due to mix up), Cape May breakfast, San Angel Inn, Wolfgang Puck, Captain's Grille, Big River Brewery and Bongos (I may be forgetting some).

I'm pretty sure if I added in the tips, alcohol and appetizers to the DDP (since they're all OOP on DDP) the cost would be significantly higher. Or, I could just make myself eat dessert and avoid all alcohol and appetizers....that would be a big drag on my vacation.....

I'm so happy you posted this! We just decided yesterday that we aren't going to do the ddp. We did the math (and calorie count) and TiW is a much better choice for our family. One question though, the tips are included on your bill for TiW, no? It's added in automatically I thought.
 


You'd actually be much better off with TiW and a room disocunt..

Tiw isn't available to everyone. Don't you have to be a Florida resident or an annual pass holder to purchase a Tiw? Also do all restaurants offer a Tiw discount?
 
scrappinam said:
Tiw isn't available to everyone. Don't you have to be a Florida resident or an annual pass holder to purchase a Tiw? Also do all restaurants offer a Tiw discount?

DVC members can also get the TIW. We much prefer it over any of the dining plans and one meal at V&A pays for the card.
 
The real problem with the DDP is each restaurant gets a fixed dollar amount for each meal served no matter the menu price of the meal. These amounts, of course, are separate for signature dining, regular table service, quick (counter) service, and snacks.

This has led to unreasonable pricing for buffets for people paying OOP as the amount paid to them by DDP is significantly less than the menu price and they have to make it up by charging more for those paying OOP.

And also for the regular meals, the top-end food is limited. I have noticed there tends to be about a $15 range between a restaurant's lowest and highest priced entrees. The restaurants cannot afford to increase this range, so the upper end quality is limited.

And they can't have a separate menu for DDP as people will complain about discrimination. And they cannot mark items on the menu that are not subject to DDP and must be OOP as people on the DDP will claim they did not notice the restriction.

And, of course, human nature being what it is, many people taking advantage of "free" dining will look to the high end of the menu.

But from my understanding they still have to tip for that item right?
 


Food at Disney is extremely overpriced. It was overpriced in 1980 and it still is in 2012. Disney isn't losing money on their restaurants. Restaurants are making money from the dining plan. Quality isn't suffering because restaurants can be higher end as signatures. If you can eat in Disney restaurants for less than the dining plan costs per day, then the restaurants are definitely making money on the plan. Guess what....If Disney wasn't making money with free dining then they would stop offering it. The dining plan keeps people on Disney property and spending money at Disney (instead of say Universal).
 

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