anyone else NOT doing the DDP? - plus, TOP 10 list!

[esmetutu]

With sad hearts DFi and I have decided that the dining plan will not
be good for us and DD6. It's a shocking conclusion, I know, but we
thought long and hard about it while stuck in traffic yesterday.

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AN "ALL-IN-GOOD-FUN" TOP TEN LIST OF WHY THE DINING PLAN JUST ISN'T FOR US​

1. ADRs are nuts! How am I supposed to know 180 days in advance what time I want to eat and where for 7 days straight?

2. Counter service at WDW is good! Tangierine and the Noodle Station are just two that come mind. It's much more than just burgers and fries.

3. DD6 shouldn't have dessert at every meal, and neither should we.

4. We just won't/can't eat 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 beverages, and 2 desserts at our table service meal.

5. I hate wasting food! And the the rooms don't have microwaves for re-heating leftovers.

6. We are BIG breakfast people and the dining plan just isn't good for breakfast.

7. We love to snack! We usually only eat breakfast and late lunch/early dinner.

8. The dining plan's snacks are boring. Where are the soft pretzels, kakigori, school bread, and Dole Whip?

9. Let's say one of us gets sick, or just isn't hungry... There goes the $ we spent for the days's dining plan. DDP=stress!

10. But hey, we would take it if Disney offers it for free (and not just during hurricane season!).

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Anyone care to add to the list?

 

[FINFAN]

You are NOT alone on this.....the one thing I keep wondering is, if we DON'T do the plan, and need ADR's anyway due to crowds, we are now eating at places that cost more, take longer, tips etc., and not getting the food "freedom" of choice. It's like getting the negatives (crowds, pre-planning) w/out the benefits....but, while DH can put it away, NONE of us needs to, and my kids are lightweights, kinda picky, but are now charged adult fees anyway at TS. Also, I am wondering about the snacking/grazing method that we usually do...and breakfast. I know we can use the CS tickets for breakfast, but we tend to eat in the room while getting ready so I have usually spent on groceries for that anyway...so that does affect the savings. HOWEVER.....this trip we are celebrating a birhtday and an anniversary, so DO plan on at least 1 character meal and O'Hana's, Sci Fi and Mama Melrose's...so in our case this trip I bet we come within a few hundred either way. I am leaning toward NOT doing the DDP simply because of the flexibilty of our hunger pattern, it will be August with hot tired crowds( not US , of course :rolleyes) who want to take advantage of their meals and a/c so I think it will eat up into our park time, plus we do not need to be overfed in the heat....Basically, if we can get the resort of our choice and the savings of the dining plan allows for this, then we most likely will. One downside for us tho is that we are arriving a day before the plan starts, and we need tickets. So we will have to pay OOP for food the first day, and we do have 4 waterpark passes left over from old tix, so we can use the first day for that, but I do not like being locked in like that...what if it is not a good WP day? What if one of us gets a nasty sunburn and it wrecks the rest of the trip? I know to try and avoid this, but it can happen.I also do not like the penalties of a package plan...we are going during hurricane season, and I know you can spend another 120 for insurance, but room only bookings allow you to cancel 5 days out, penalty free. DECISIONS, DECISIONS.....Either way...WDW is a blast to go to!
Have a great trip!
OH YEAH, DH will most likely induldge in a drink or 2 while dining.......once he sits in that restaurant chair...with a drink menu nearby.....on vacation......
so THAT parts not free!
Pam

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I don't think it would work for DH & I, either. I'm still doing some number crunching, tho.

We're APHs, Florida residents, and we own a timeshare off property. We're taking our normal four-day weekend getaway in September, but paying full price for a WDW hotel room and tix doesn't seem to justify a few free meals for us. We also have a few "must-do" restaurants in Orlando that aren't Disney-related.

Although, I'm reading good stuff about the dining discount card for APHs, which is just 20 percent of your total bill, alcohol included . It's good for a year from purchase and we don't have to keep track of how many CS points, TS points, etc, we've used.

As a Floridian, I'm glad to see places like WDW making an effort to get tourists into our state in September -- keeps my taxes low -- but as a local, I might try to avoid eating anything other than a quick CS at the parks during this free DDP.

Also, I totally agree with No. 1 on the list. I can barely plan a week's worth of meals at home. Who wants to deal with that on vacation??? I guess some like it, but I don't know what I'm going to feel like eating 114 days from now, or at what time.

 

[tmt martins]

We are just not big eaters at all I will get the DDE card most likely as we are taking Parents

 

[pedro2112]

AN "ALL-IN-GOOD-FUN" TOP TEN LIST OF WHY THE DINING PLAN JUST ISN'T FOR US​

1. ADRs are nuts! How am I supposed to know 180 days in advance what time I want to eat and where for 7 days straight?

As another poster stated, obtaining ADRs in advance of your vacation is now practically a necessity whether one has the DP or not. You don't need to get them 180 days in advance.

2. Counter service at WDW is good! Tangierine and the Noodle Station are just two that come mind. It's much more than just burgers and fries.

Then the DP is perfect for you as you get one Counter Service meal per day!

3. DD6 shouldn't have dessert at every meal, and neither should we.

I agree. When we were on the DP, we didn't order dessert at every meal. Just because one is on the DP doesn't mean one has to force themselves to eat unhealthy. We saved plenty of money without everyone eating all the appetizers and desserts.

4. We just won't/can't eat 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 beverages, and 2 desserts at our table service meal.

You don't have to eat all that. Again, we saved plenty of money and didn't order everything we could have.

5. I hate wasting food! And the the rooms don't have microwaves for re-heating leftovers.

Then order just what you feel you would eat.

6. We are BIG breakfast people and the dining plan just isn't good for breakfast.

Excellent point.

7. We love to snack! We usually only eat breakfast and late lunch/early dinner.

Sounds like the DP fits well with you then.. you get two meals plus a snack. If you want more snacks, then you can pay OOP.

8. The dining plan's snacks are boring. Where are the soft pretzels, kakigori, school bread, and Dole Whip?

Excellent point. Water and a small box of popcorn do get old really quick.

9. Let's say one of us gets sick, or just isn't hungry... There goes the $ we spent for the days's dining plan. DDP=stress!

Good point, although the credits are pooled so if you miss a meal you can make it up later in the vacation.

10. But hey, we would take it if Disney offers it for free (and not just during hurricane season!).

 

[drogerstn]

Sounds like the DP fits well with you then.. you get two meals plus a snack. If you want more snacks, then you can pay OOP.

IF one of the two meals is a TS meal and IF the user would spend around $25 or more on that TS meal when paying OOP. Most breakfast and lunch TS meals cost less than this.

 

[minniemousefan]

There are some really good points on here! For us, we used it the first time on our last trip and we really enjoyed it. I guess I'm going to do a little spin on the OP 10 list I'll give you a list of the things we enjoyed and a list of things that we didn't enjoy.

Keep in mind, as I'm typing this I have just today made reserv for the free ddp in sep.! I can't imagine that we could eat any cheaper than free

Positives:

1. We were able to eat at many restaurants that we normally could never have afforded.

2. We were able to order more food than we normally would have been able to afford (catching a theme here? ) Like appetizers, lobster bisque soup, desserts, anything not served in a paper boat!

3. Our boys were able to do a character meal almost everyday - we normally would have had one on the trip and that would have been our ONLY ts meal.

4. Because we basically had to have adr's, it forced us to plan out more of our trip, which allowed us to see more than if we would have done our normal wandering method.

Negatives:

1. This is a positive / negative We had to adhere to a schedule because of the ADRs. That, like I mentioned before, helped us to do more, but we were all worn out and sometimes didn't feel like walking another inch, let alone back to the hotel to get ready and back again.

2. Even though we had adr's, we still had to wait at every restaurant that we went to. We waited about 45 min to an hour at a couple .

3. Unless you get the park hopping pass (we didn't) you are forced to either eat at a hotel or the restaurants at the park that you're in for the day. I would have enjoyed going to a couple different places in parks that we had already visited.

4. For our children 5 and 8, the ts started getting old by the end of our stay. They knew it meant another sit outside in the heat while we waited and then another loooong meal and a loooong wait for the 'check'. I think for younger children the cs (outside of one or two character meals) may be the best bet.

It's interesting to see what others have to say on this

 

[Mrs Incredible]

We would have liked to do the dining plan - not just to eat all that food, but just because the price looked so good to me. We are from the UK, and though restaurant food prices in the USA are quite low compared to here - the tax and HUGE tips that seem to be expected really push up the prices (and we like table service). In the UK we often don't tip at all (and definitley not if there is anything we don't like about the meal or the service), and its not expected the way it is for you guys. So we thought it would be a good deal mainly because of the tax and tip being included. Anyway, our tour op doesn't do it and we can't add it any other way. We've just decided we will enjoy eating where we want and what we want. Have made some great ADRs and looking forward to it. By the way, we do tip at WDW, we realise its just the thing you do so we grit our teeth and get on with it! Don't want you to think we are mean or anything!!