I priced the two out, in detail, and the Dining Plan ended up being a much better deal for us. We also don't eat appetizers or desserts, normally, so I didn't include those things in my calculations. The Dining Plan represents a $143 savings over what we would have paid out-of-pocket. The DDE would only save us $180 total, and we'd have to pay for it, plus pay the difference between the six day expiring park hoppers and an Annual Pass, so it would actually cost us about $40 more than paying for everything out-of-pocket.