Anyone else not doing DDP this trip?

[tndisneyfan]

We're not doing DDP this trip. We used it in '05 and '06 and loved it. Now that gratuity isn't included and no appetizer it's not as good of a deal. We probably would break even but would rather spend less money paying OOP. This trip we are staying six nights and only made two ADR's. Doing a sit down meal every night just takes up too much park time.

 

[Lintasare]

Personally I like the DDP and will always do the DDP free or not. Why? My sister and I love to sit down and have a nice meal at least once a day while at WDW. We are pretty much going every year at this point so if we miss some ride time by take an hour and a half to eat it doesn't bother us. We know we will be back at another time to catch what we missed. I like knowing that the majority of my food is already paid for when I get there. I crunched some numbers based on the average cost of a CS meal, snack and a TS meal without the app and to me the DDP is still a good value. Plus I don't mind paying OOP for an app if I want it and tip. in fact I like being able to tip according to the service I receive. While the majority of the time I have gotten great service there are times I have wanted to reduce the amount because of an inattentive server.

So for me it is DDP all the way.

 

[NHGoofy]

Not purchasing the DDP. We're leaving Sunday for 7 days. Have AP's and doing one TS each day using the DDE. Also worked the numbers and it was a better deal for us! We had the DDP free several times and purchased it for a trip last winter, but the 2008 plan just did not work. Of course, we'll know for sure when we get back!

 

[hulagirl87]

No DDP this time for us. Not only is it too much food, we were looking to save a little money. So we chose a few sit down meals that we really didn't want to miss and then we will do counter service the rest of the time. I felt too stuffed last time with DDP and felt like I was forced to get the food.

 

[NHGoofy]

Question: I know you can always add more to the 18% mandatory tip added to the 2008 DDP for exceptional service, but are you able to reduce the 18% tip for bad service?

 

[disneynewbee]

We won't do it this time either. Our 14 yo dd is an adult and eats less then the little ones so it's just not worth it. Also we used it on our last trip and I felt like we were constantly having to get to a lunch/dinner reservation. We don't snack alot so we had a ton of snack credits left over. We did get stuff from the food court to take home but in the end it just wasn't worth it. Not to mention I don't want my smaller children to have such limited food choices.

 

[Tricia1972]

Question: I know you can always add more to the 18% mandatory tip added to the 2008 DDP for exceptional service, but are you able to reduce the 18% tip for bad service?

18% is automatic for the DDE (Disney Dining Experience Discount card) and parties of 6 or more. If you are one of these groups, you will need to talk to a manager to have the automatic amount reduced.

All others can tip what they feel appropriate.

 

[ransom]

Well, the old DDP was a super good deal, for sure. We're glad we got to use it two years in a row. It saved us a bundle!

The current DDP is much less of a good deal. And since we plan to go for 10-12 nights once a year for the foreseeable future, it makes more sense for us to get annual passes and the DDE (Disney Dining Experience) card. I figured it out, and DDE will save us about $12 per person per week versus any other option, given how we actually eat. That's not a lot, but it's something!

So, we won't be using DDP this year. And as long as it stays as it is and we continue to take nice long WDW vacations annually, we probably won't ever be using it again.

(However, we *will* be buying the Deluxe DDP for my parents, because it's nearly all-inclusive (other than tips) and will make it easy for us to pay for their food without them feeling awkward. "It's just part of the package!")

 

[ilisao]

We did the dining plan in May and while we saved money for the food we ate, we know we never would eat that much normally. Furthermore, we constantly felt like we had had to eat, that we were just tied to meals too much. Thus, next visit we won't do the dining plan.

 

[NHGoofy]

18% is automatic for the DDE (Disney Dining Experience Discount card) and parties of 6 or more. If you are one of these groups, you will need to talk to a manager to have the automatic amount reduced.

All others can tip what they feel appropriate.

I thought the 18% gratuity for 2008 was mandatory whether you were a party of 1 or a party of 8 or more? 18% would be automatically added to your bill regardless if you were on the paid or free DDP, DDE, cash, credit, etc. ? Anyone know for sure? Thanks.

 

[duketennisgal]

We've done the dining plan on our last 2 trips but decided against it this year. It was great before, but with the new additions I decided to look more closely at the numbers. I figured out how much it would cost us to eat how we normally would versus the price of the dining plan and we come about about $400 - $500 ahead by not using the dining plan. I prefer having everything paid for in advance but it's just not worth it this year.

 

[Tricia1972]

I thought the 18% gratuity for 2008 was mandatory whether you were a party of 1 or a party of 8 or more? 18% would be automatically added to your bill regardless if you were on the paid or free DDP, DDE, cash, credit, etc. ? Anyone know for sure? Thanks.

I do know for sure.

DDE = 18% Mandatory Gratuity regardless of party size

Groups of 6 or more = 18% Mandatory Gratuity (Reduced from 2007's parties of 8 or more)

All parties of 1-5 who are NOT using the DDE are free to tip as they feel appropriate.

There was a lot of guess work and misinformation thrown out around here and every other Disney message board when DDE announced their plan, but this is what ended up being the truth of it all.

 

[patsal]

Not using the DDP this year for a 12 day trip should save me around $800 by my calculations. Without the appetizer and tip included it will cost me too much. We often didn't get dessert and witha dessert included in the CS we really didn't want a snack. Now we can eat the way we are used to and save money.