Booked for Xmas - Should I do Dining Package?

[Anjelica]

All - we are booked for our first Xmas trip. We usually do the dining plan for our trips, however I know Xmas can be a little different in terms of Dining, etc. Should we do the dining package? Thoughts?

 

[kiingor]

All - we are booked for our first Xmas trip. We usually do the dining plan for our trips, however I know Xmas can be a little different in terms of Dining, etc. Should we do the dining package? Thoughts?

I would always do dining package... i think its well worth it....
I had it when i was there last xmas and was great. Just purchased again for this easter..
So i say, go for it.

 

[ranthony]

If you usually do get it, then I would definatley get it at Christmas. Many of the buffets charge "holiday prices" at that time which are higher than the rest of the year. On the DDP this makes no difference but if you are paying OOP it adds expense.

 

[goldenears]

We are going in the beg. of Dec. When do the dining prices typically increase for the holiday season?

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

We decided to get DDE this experience this year because it gives you the 20% off of your meals. We will also book a candlelight package.

The DDP just didn't make sense to us this year although we liked it last year. Unless it changes and includes appetizers or gratutity it doesn't make sense to us. We don't want four desserts at every meal LOL. Now if we could pick between an appetizer and dessert ... then maybe. We don't eat snacks everyday either. Depends on what type of dining you are looking for

 

[DISNEY FIX]

We decided to get DDE this experience this year because it gives you the 20% off of your meals. We will also book a candlelight package.

The DDP just didn't make sense to us this year although we liked it last year. Unless it changes and includes appetizers or gratutity it doesn't make sense to us. We don't want four desserts at every meal LOL. Now if we could pick between an appetizer and dessert ... then maybe. We don't eat snacks everyday either. Depends on what type of dining you are looking for

Just an fyi there is no DDE discount for candlelight package.

 

[kiingor]

wow.. i didn't even know they changed this year. Didn't know they don't include appetizer and gratuity anymore. bummer.. now i have to re-think. Anything esle change other the those 2 ?

 

[igitur]

my question is...when are you NOT able to use DDE during the holidays? we're planning a trip Dec. 22 - Jan. 3. and we do have DDE.

Thanks,

Deb

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Just the Holiday (Dec. 25th). But the Holiday pricing will be effect.

 

[danjulia]

What about DDE for New Years holiday? Can you use it then?

Thanks,
Sue

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

I know that you can't use DDE for Candlelight dining package but I think Candlelight is usually a good deal on it's own. I went on Jan 4th this year for a few days and I was surprised that they still considered it Holiday at Cape May. Thankfully we had DDE which saved us $6 a person for that meal

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

I have heard that you can't get a package of donuts with a snack credit and there are reports that many of the things listed for snack are $2 and under instead of $4.

 

[Lesley]

Every time I've calculated dining on the dining plan vs. on our own....even when figuring it in against stuff like only having one meal and a couple snacks a day outside of our villa and alternating counter and table service, the dining plan has come out ahead. Even when comparing to DDE, because we're not "all table service all the time" folks.

Now, if money were no object and you really don't like the whole process of using the dining plan (too many ADR's, whatever...) you can go ahead and pay out of pocket. Or if you're a person who can choose just one special meal and use the kitchen (yes, those "electric range" decorations really do work!) the rest of the time you could save money that way.

What I found quite funny is that when going through old WDW trip planning stuff I saw what I had budgeted for food when my dh and I visited WDW in 1994....$40 each per day. It basically broke down to $10 for breakfast, $10 for lunch, and $20 for dinner each. I think we came in a little under budget.... but not much once we paid for drinks and snacks in the parks. We were staying at CBR, flew in (we didn't have a vehicle we trusted to drive that far at the time!) and weren't old enough to rent a car- so we were a captive audience as far as food was concerned. Everything we ate came from WDW. The funny thing is that 14 years later the dining plan beats that- though it does rely on eating breakfast in our room or using a snack credit.

 

[mikeandkarla]

I have heard that you can't get a package of donuts with a snack credit and there are reports that many of the things listed for snack are $2 and under instead of $4.

I believe the limit is still $4, however it must be a single service item. Package of donuts is not considered single service. You can purchase single piece of cheesecake for $3.59. It may be different at each location.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

FYI... snacks are VERY different. I couldn't even get a single-serving package of diced peaches for my infant (think the size of Hunt's snack pak pudding cup). I was told it wasn't a "snack" (could've fooled me!). My snack choice was basically a bag of pretzels...or a bag of chips...

Consider we generally don't each chips/pretzels... it made the snack option on the DDP pretty useless to us.

Just don't make any assumptions with the new DDP, and then you won't be disappointed when you find out what is NOT included anymore.

(FWIW - the peaches that I wanted to buy had a cash price of well less than $2. So that is definitely not the cutoff.)

I totally understand them eliminating entire boxes of donuts...but a mini-cup of diced peaches If that's not a "snack"...then not sure what is. OH WAIT... chips and pretzels are... So much for trying to pick "healthy" snack alternatives for my kids!

 

[Chellymouse]

The DDP for 2007 was a great value! We saved nearly $500 and ate very well. The jury is out for 2008. Since we have time, we may wait and decide closer to travel. Meal costs have gone up over the past couple of years and we may choose to have groceries delivered for breakfast and lunch then eat dinner at some of the restaurants. The 2008 meal plan is dessert only (no appetizer and I would much rather have an appetizer than dessert) and the gratuity is no longer included. My guess is, the 2007 was too good of a value and that prompted the changes.

 

[JimMIA]

wow.. i didn't even know they changed this year. Didn't know they don't include appetizer and gratuity anymore. bummer.. now i have to re-think. Anything esle change other the those 2 ?

No appetizer included.
Gratuity no longer included.
Price "reduced" $1 for both adults and kids , so it's really only about a 25% price increase!
[ETA - As noted above, the snacks are radically changed from previous years. That's drawing a lot of heat over on the DDP board.]

Also, although not a DDP change, the policy for adding an automatic gratuity has changed. Now, an automatic gratuity of 18% will be added to the checks of all parties of 6 or more regardless of how they're paying, or whether they are even eating. An infant drinking their bottle in a stoller counts as part of the party.

The 18% automatic gratuity also will be added to ALL DDE checks, regardless of party size.