Anyone do DxDDP just for convience?

[Trina7020]

After we added a day to our trip and have all my ADRs set... I did all the math... and came up with total costs of...

$1097.60 = OOP
899. 09 = DDP (The cost of DDP + some OOP meals)
959.82 = DxDDP

When I figured out the cost though I figured all three as if we ate identically (like on the Deluxe... 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. Not sure if we would really eat that or now. But those numbers are based on the "if" we did.)


Really... either are not that big of a savings. Granted.. we are not doing any 2TS meals, which would greatly raise the value.

I am going back to thinking Deluxe would be so convenient. But really... is it that big of a deal just to charge everything back to our room and pay it off when we are done? DH is really rooting for Deluxe, just b/c he wants to eat when and what he wants without worrying about the cost while we on a vacation. I thinking that we would save several hundred dollars when all was set and done by doing DDP and paying OOP some.... probably save enough to pay all the tips...

 

[a little bird]

Hi there--
I am doing the DxDDP completely for the sake of convenience on my August trip. As a single mom traveling with my 6 year old DD, I hate the pain of navigating a crowded CS place while holding a big tray full of food and making sure DD doesn't get lost or run into by someone. The idea of having a reservation in a nice, air conditioned place where someone will be waiting on us is a big plus, and a big worry off my shoulders. For us, the extra $$ is worth it just for that.
Also, I am a big foodie and am really looking forward to eating in some places I have never had a chance to try. DD also likes going to restaurants and is excited to eat at the Castle, Teppan Edo, etc. She still says that eating was the favorite part of her last Disney trip, and her picture album is filled with the evidence to prove it!

 

[jjohnson]

I'm going back & forth on it myself as we are having TS breakfast 4 out of 7 mornings and we never have enough snack credits.

 

[cmwade77]

We are doing the premium plan for the sake of connivence, we don't want to worry about how many TS vs CS meals we are doing. Also we always want to do some of the included tours, but never end up spending the money to do them, so we will with this plan. Also, we always get the refillable mugs. (Most of the TS locations will refill it for you before you leave, depends on your server though of course) and with the premium plan they are included, as well as the miniature golf and other activities. It is also the only way that I can convince my wife to go to Cirque with me

 

[Trina7020]

I have already booked with the Basic plan.. I can still call and upgrade to the Deluxe right? How long to I have to decide that? We arrive May 31.

Also we will be there 6 nights... but really 7 WHOLE days... we will be in FL by 9am and don't leave the last day until 8pm

 

[Nicole721]

We're doing the DxDDP for convenience (and, well, because there's a lot of places I want to try!).

We figure that all of our meals are prepaid (save for tip) and we don't have to worry about ordering what fits in our budget over what we have a taste for or want to try

 

[carrie6466]

We are doing DxDDP partly for convenience, partly because we were planning a few 2TS meals anyway and a lot of character meals. Also, after figuring it all out based on menu prices and what we ate and spent at 3 OOP character or 2TS meals last year we will save about $200. When I figured it out, the savings was before figuring the snack figures, so I guess we'll basically be getting the snacks 'free'

 

[mickey2000]

IMO DxDDP for convenience ???

 

[Iggipolka]

A few years back, my wife and I did the Premium plan and really enjoyed not having to think about paying for food, tours or recreation. We had paid off the CC we booked with ahead of time and it was such a liberating experience to have a completely paid for vacation. By the middle of the trip, we both agreed that 3 TS meals per day was way too much food, but it was great to have the relaxation of TS meals, instead of the crowds and hassle of CS.
So yes, convience is certainly a good reason, imo, to book the DxDDP!

 

[NMW]

Well the deluxe plan is different than the premium plan in that signatures count as two meals on the deluxe plan. On the premium it doesn't matter. So, with the deluxe plan, you could have breakfast in the morning and then do a signature dinner at night. For lunch, you have the snack credits. That might make it work for some people.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I really want the DxDP, but can't do it. I did a spreadsheet of the places we would go and what we would order and added in the snacks and mugs. Then i compared it to the DDE. No comparison for us.

The thing I worry about is what if someone gets sick? And you have to cancel a couple meals. That money is just gone. With DDE, no biggie.

I also like to have flexibility. Where do you want to go today kinda thing. We travel in the off season and had no problem getting TS the days we wanted them at places we like.

So while the DxDP is SOOOO tempting, it isn't for us.

 

[wdwchamp]

i'm doing the Premium Plan for the convience in late August/Early Sept.

 

[Mississippi Mamma]

DH has resisted taking our family to WDW for twelve years on the grounds that it was "too expensive," "too commercial," "too artificial." I finally talked him into letting us go this spring. He is a real foodie and I think he will love the dining if nothing else. But I knew that if he had to pay those checks for the five of us three times a day it would make him sick. Therefore, I bought and paid for the DXDDP with wine when I booked our trip last October. He howled and yowled when the credit card bill came. He stormed and hollered. But that was four months ago. Now he has forgotten about it. I know that when we sit down to eat and he can order whatever appies he wants (and order for the kids too!) and feel like it is all "for free" he can have a great time. He won't have any problem paying tips with all that other stuff covered. It's not that we need all that food, but I decided to spend some extra $$ up front in order to smooth the way once we get to WDW. That may be the craziest reason anyone has ever given for DXDDP w/wine, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[libinatorsmom]

THere are many resons... convience is a huge reason thought that we choose the DDP... when you did your math did you include the snacks & mug??? more value there too...

I am like you DH with the DxDDP I will not even think about looking at prices just order what i want... I am a price looker... never want to order too expensive...

 

[Trina7020]

My DH is already griping about the prices and we are not even there! lol At least with DxDDP I won't have to hear it on my vacation.

 

[MAKHayes-DisneyDiva]

DH has resisted taking our family to WDW for twelve years on the grounds that it was "too expensive," "too commercial," "too artificial." I finally talked him into letting us go this spring. He is a real foodie and I think he will love the dining if nothing else. But I knew that if he had to pay those checks for the five of us three times a day it would make him sick. Therefore, I bought and paid for the DXDDP with wine when I booked our trip last October. He howled and yowled when the credit card bill came. He stormed and hollered. But that was four months ago. Now he has forgotten about it. I know that when we sit down to eat and he can order whatever appies he wants (and order for the kids too!) and feel like it is all "for free" he can have a great time. He won't have any problem paying tips with all that other stuff covered. It's not that we need all that food, but I decided to spend some extra $$ up front in order to smooth the way once we get to WDW. That may be the craziest reason anyone has ever given for DXDDP w/wine, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I think your reason is brilliant! You've probably already done so, but if not, be sure to make your ADR's! It would be aweful to pay for DxDP and end up eating CS because of the long wait at TS. Enjoy!!

 

[bbyee]

We are doing the premium plan for the sake of connivence, we don't want to worry about how many TS vs CS meals we are doing. Also we always want to do some of the included tours, but never end up spending the money to do them, so we will with this plan. Also, we always get the refillable mugs. (Most of the TS locations will refill it for you before you leave, depends on your server though of course) and with the premium plan they are included, as well as the miniature golf and other activities. It is also the only way that I can convince my wife to go to Cirque with me

Your post caught my eye - it's just my husband and I going in May 09, and I admit I'm not the biggest fan of the DDP after reading the reviews (no app included, can't switch app for dessert, how many credits will we lose, blah blah) BUT the Premium Plan caught my eye not so much because of the food (we'd just pay OOP without it) but that it includes some of the tours and that kind of thing. I just learned about the behind the scenes tours thanks to the boards and we want to do the 7 hr, $200 daylong tour....do you know if that is included as part of the Premium Package? Isn't there also a spa treatment of some sort?

I've seen other Cirque shows so that's not so much of a draw for me/us, nice to know it's offered and I'm sure you'll love it!

 

[Iggipolka]

I just learned about the behind the scenes tours thanks to the boards and we want to do the 7 hr, $200 daylong tour....do you know if that is included as part of the Premium Package? Isn't there also a spa treatment of some sort?

I've seen other Cirque shows so that's not so much of a draw for me/us, nice to know it's offered and I'm sure you'll love it!

We did the Premium Plan a few years back and loved it. Unless things have changed, the 7 hour, day long tour is not included in the Premium Plan, nor is the Dolphin's in Depth tour. These tours are included in the Platinum Plan. We did the backstage tour at Animal Kingdom, which was included and was fantastic. We also did the Keys to the Kingdom tour and another more history oriented tour at MK, Behind the Seeds Tour and the Segway Tour in Epcot. All of those Tours were included

The spa treatment is also not included in the Premium Plan, but is on the Platinum Plan. Details about the 2007 Premium Plan are in the link.

We've seen lots of Cirque shows and also saw the one at Downtown Disney when we were on the Premium Plan. We both agreed that it was the best Cirque we've seen so far. Even if you've seen Cirque before, check it out.

We really loved having the recreation included and went Parasailing, used the Water Mice a lot, rented bikes along the Boardwalk, played mini-golf and went on trail rides. It was so great to have everything pre-paid!!

Quite a fun vacation and while in dollar amounts the Premium Plan may not be worth it for some who break everything down dollar by dollar, it was well worth it for our own personal enjoyment.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

I was really looking forward to the Deluxe Dining plan, but I went against it and booked the regular DDP. Why? It's the tips! Tipping would be a bill when we're all through.

Plus, there's absolutely no way that we're going to eat that much food. We eat a bird-like breakfast of breakfast bars and juice boxes. For lunch, we eat CS. It's quick. And we normally eat lunch around 11:30 to 1PM and the latest.

But then, we eat dinner around 5:30PM. If we eat lunch late, like 1PM, we'll be still full by 5:30PM. And eating later is out of the question, because by eating earlier, we actually lost weight while eating everything we want. Oh, and sometimes, we'll eat a snack, but sometimes we have multiple snack credits on our last day. Plus, we may even forgo lunch.

So regular DDP makes sense. Our ADRs are mostly with restaurants whose prices makes DDP a good value. Plus, we reduce our tipping expense by staying with lunch at CS restaurants. And we like desserts more than appetizers. And we put buffets in the mix for those times that we want an appetizer.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Your post caught my eye - it's just my husband and I going in May 09, and I admit I'm not the biggest fan of the DDP after reading the reviews (no app included, can't switch app for dessert, how many credits will we lose, blah blah) BUT the Premium Plan caught my eye not so much because of the food (we'd just pay OOP without it) but that it includes some of the tours and that kind of thing. I just learned about the behind the scenes tours thanks to the boards and we want to do the 7 hr, $200 daylong tour....do you know if that is included as part of the Premium Package? Isn't there also a spa treatment of some sort?

I've seen other Cirque shows so that's not so much of a draw for me/us, nice to know it's offered and I'm sure you'll love it!

We've used the Premium Plan twice. The 7-hour tour is not included but most others are. Keys to the Kingdom is a great tour that IS included with your plan.

Spa treatments are only included with the Platinum Plan.