I stayed at Disney (first time since a kid), in 2005.
I stayed at Old Key West and had the
Disney Dining Plan (DDP).
We aren't big breakfast eaters, and wanted to have some donuts, coffee, etc for breakfast, some pop and snacks for the evening. (Although on the DDP, you aren't going to be hungry).
Anyways, we flew in and took the Magic Express and DID NOT rent a car, so finding a store to purchase a weeks worth of these items was difficult. What I did, was the day we flew in, and really too tired to go to the parks because of the length of trip and when we got there, was I called a cab, had them take me to a grocery store (I forget the name, but I looked it up on the internet to find the closest "grocery" type store). The cab was prompt, and took me to the store. The cabbie gave me a card with the cab companies number to call when I was done. I called from my cell when done shopping, and another cab promptly picked me up. (Less than 10 minute wait).
Cab fare was about $10 each way.
The savings I had well paid for the cab fare, as I had my wife and 4 kids, a couple teenagers that can eat, and I bought for the whole week. I spent maybe $100-$150 at the store, but that would have cost 3 times that at the little onsite store/gift shop at Old Key West. Plus I did buy some beer too, which is available on site for like $2/bottle/can, but again you can save big time at a grocery store.
I made 1 trip, and when it was gone it's gone, but actually we didn't use up quite all I bought - Mainly due to the fact we had the Disney Dining Plan, and we just couldn't eat much more.
I'm 5'10, 170#, and I just can't eat all the food they give you on the DDP.
I am also not a big "dessert" person, and I was ussually "Full" when it came to dessert, but ofcourse I tried some, and the teenagers had no problem.
Whether or not the Disney Dining Plan is a Good Deal for you depends all on your situation.
I liked it for a few reasons,
1) I paid for it when I booked the trip 6 months+ in advance, so when it came time to go, I didn't have to bring extra money for food, etc.
2) I didn't have to try to talk the teenagers into less expensive items.
3) Everyone could have whatever they wanted and price was not an issue.
4) Everyone could have dessert if they wanted and again price is not an issue.
5) Managing food costs was not an issue, and we could just have fun, eat whatever, and disregard the menu prices (Made me feel "rich" for once not having to watch prices)
6) I saved all the receipts and added them up, and I did save money. But I have to mention, we probably would NOT have had so many deserts if they had not been included, and never figured out the cost minus the deserts (which in hind site, I should have).
7) The food is expensive in Disney, for a family of 6, dropping $75+ for a lunch (hamburgers/hotdogs/drinks, etc was common), But it was included, so we did no food-money management.
8) Tips are included with the DDP
9) Table Service Wait Staff was pleasant and seemed pleased to find out we were on the DDP (probably the guarenteed tip)
10) You don't get so pissed when the younger kids don't eat all their food.
11) My wife did NOT want to cook on vacation, and having to use our credits made sure that this was not going to happen. A happy Wife = a fun vacation.
Certainly you can make it for less $, but it depends on you and your situation.
The DDP card is taken like an American Express Gold Card. I have only one experience and that is with it, but the wait staff we encountered made us feel they were thrilled to wait on us and ALWAYS pleasant.
We had NO Problems finding places that would take it. Even places we just happened upon took it. We did Not find ONE place that didn't take it, but that is our experience and I am sure you will hear other experiences to the contrary. Just reporting my experience (which is all I can do).
We didn't use a table service credit the afternoon we arrived, so we treated ourselves to a "2" tableservice resturant in the the middle of our stay.