Can't decide on DDP vs OOP

[shan981]

I'm sure this is asked all the time, and I tried to do my homework first! I used the comparison tool everyone recommends, and it is coming out saying that we would be much better off paying OOP for our November trip, and I'm honestly surprised considering what I have booked (3 character meals + BOG). My TA claims that "if you do even one character meal, it [DDP] is worth it!" so I expected it to be worth it.

We have over 8 days:
Crystal Palace lunch
Via Napoli lunch
Rainforest Cafe lunch
Chef Mickey's breakfast
T-Rex lunch
Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic breakfast
Beaches & Cream
BOG breakfast

We are 3 Disney adults (me, DH, DS10) and 2 under 2, who I guess really don't figure in at all since they don't gain or lose anything by having the DDP or not having it. We will spend the same amount OOP for them either way. I guess I'm just having a hard time figuring out how many snacks we will want and how much those cost, since I have no idea what they'll be. Based on the above, I figured those meals will cost about $900 (excluding tips), although that includes an extra kids' meal (at non-buffet places) for the 2yos to share, which the DDP wouldn't cover anyway. Any meals not listed above will be QS and on the calculator I used "average QS" since I don't know what it will be. Will we really be able to have 8-10 QS meals, plus snacks, for under $600? That's how much more the DDP would cost.

 

[sharonabe]

How many NIGHTS are you staying?

 

[shan981]

How many NIGHTS are you staying?

Sorry - staying 8 nights, but first night is a separate reservation, so if we did DDP it would be on the 7 night stay.

 

[sharonabe]

Sorry - staying 8 nights, but first night is a separate reservation, so if we did DDP it would be on the 7 night stay.

So you would have 7 TS and 7 QS times 3 people. Cost for 7 nights will be $1585.50

Your buffet meals are close enough to $400 to round to that. Your other meals sort of depend on how you would eat. My family of 4 Disney adults can eat at VN for less than $100 because we share a metzo pizza, an app or two and one dessert. We also drink water by choice. Beaches & Cream is also a very low value with the DDP, so easy to pay OOP.

Are you guys water drinkers or do you want soda/coffee/tea? Will anyone want the alcoholic or specialty drinks that come with the DDP? Do you want three desserts at the table or are you just as happy sharing one or two? BoG breakfast is a QS meal. Will you order 3 adult meals, some kid's meals? Will the 10 yr old want adult meals at TS or kid's meals?

Technically, with the DDP, you would only have 6 QS meals per person on plan left after what you have listed. Even if all three of you "spend" $20 at each of those QS meals, that's only $360. If you use the 2 snacks per person per night and average $5, that's $210.

Buffets + QS + snacks = $970. Now you just have to check menus at the 4 a la carte places to see if the 3 of you (leave the littles out of the equation) would spend $615. If you come even close, then the plan may be the way to go.

 

[Minniemouse07]

While I love using the DDP, some trips it just doesn't make sense.

When it we traveled as 2 adults and 2 kids (under 9yo), the DDP worked in our favor. We would cram our schedule with dinners at character buffets, and hit at least one QS each day. I would also leverage our ADRs to maximize our savings. A TS breakfast costs a lot less than a TS dinner. If we did a breakfast we would pay that OOP and then do a TS lunch another day.

Now, we have four WDW adults (kids are both over 9yo now) and one is super picky so he's still ordering off of the kid's menus. The DDP is an awful idea for us now because my 12yo isn't eating the "adult" meals I'm paying for. So our trips now are OOP.

If I were you, I would walk through your schedule and pick the QS restaurants you could eat at, then pick menu items for each person to budget out what you might spend. Put the meals for the two little ones in a different category. Work our your full dining budget (don't forget to figure out some snacks and include your drink mugs) and compare it to what you are spending on DDP.

There is NO caveat that one character meal will make the DDP worth it. We are doing one during our trip next month and it still is waaaaay cheaper to pay OOP.

 

[jo-jo]

We only did the dining plan once years ago and my DH got sick. It was hard to use up the extra credits.

And if you are the type of person to say, no way am I spending $40 for a steak, I'll get the chicken for $26 (I'm just throwing number out) or we are not getting a $6 sundae for every person. We'll get one and everyone gets a bite. Then get the dining plan, although it might cost more, you'll enjoy yourself more.

I'm a little bit of both. I'll forget the steak but get the ice cream. LOL

Many people use a gift card to fool themselves that it's 'prepaid", so you have to use it.

 

[lisaviolet]

Sorry - staying 8 nights, but first night is a separate reservation, so if we did DDP it would be on the 7 night stay.

I regularly do a separate first night with DVC, and book the dining plan for one night. I book the deluxe, when in that snenerio.

How about the regular DDP or DXDP for one night, and the rest OOP? And maybe reworking some of your more expensive meals into the first two days.

And also if anyone uses the mugs, you have those for your entire stay as well.

 

[lisaviolet]

I'm ridiculous when it comes to deciding on the DDP OP. Most times I do not get it because it's a lot of food/limitations, or I book that first night only.

But then without it I start going "Oh no, not getting that - that's an insane price". Or when I'm in line to pay and some just okay selection is over $20 at a quick service, and I'm paying cash, I sigh.

It's lovely to have a can't win personality.

______________________________________

The alcohol addition does make it a little easier for me though!

 

[lisaviolet]

And if you are the type of person to say, no way am I spending $40 for a steak, I'll get the chicken for $26 (I'm just throwing number out) or we are not getting a $6 sundae for every person. We'll get one and everyone gets a bite. Then get the dining plan, although it might cost more, you'll enjoy yourself more.

I'm a little bit of both. I'll forget the steak but get the ice cream. LOL

Many people use a gift card to fool themselves that it's 'prepaid", so you have to use it.

Missed this.

 

[shan981]

I'm ridiculous when it comes to deciding on the DDP OP. Most times I do not get it because it's a lot of food/limitations, or I book that first night only.

But then without it I start going "Oh no, not getting that - that's an insane price". Or when I'm in line to pay and some just okay selection is over $20 at a quick service, and I'm paying cash, I sigh.

It's lovely to have a can't win personality.

______________________________________

The alcohol addition does make it a little easier for me though!

LOL! This is me, too. One of the main reasons I still keep thinking, well maybe we should just get the DDP. I don’t want to get annoyed with my DH for ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, or with DS10 for ordering a $10 milkshake and not drinking it while we’re on vacation. I do that enough at home, hahaha.

 

[sharonabe]

LOL! This is me, too. One of the main reasons I still keep thinking, well maybe we should just get the DDP. I don’t want to get annoyed with my DH for ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, or with DS10 for ordering a $10 milkshake and not drinking it while we’re on vacation. I do that enough at home, hahaha.

Do the math using those types of things and see what happens. You may be surprised that even with those "expenisive" points, you're still spending less than the DDP. BUT it depends on the rest of the equation.

Like I said, my family drinks water with coffee thrown in there for DH and I at breakfast. On our last trip, we did 3 TS meals, including one character breakfast, the rest QS, never said no to ANY snack, including the $10 pretzel and the $8 shake from 50's lounge, and we still averaged LESS than the QSDP would have cost us for the week.

 

[loves to dive]

Don't use those tools, they are based on medium prices and aren't very accurate. The only to really know would be to look at menus, be honest about what you would really order and don't pick the most expensive thing on the menu unless you know that is really what you would eat and do the math. We found a long time ago that the dining plan was just too much food for us and didn't fit our style of eating. We rarely snack between meals and certainly don't do it every day. Most days we do eat at least one TS meal but sometimes I just want something light so I order a salad and an appetizer and my son and I will share a dessert. Sometimes we just don't want a formal meal at all so we just eat small plates somewhere. We just don't look at the prices on the menu, it is hard for some people to do that but we just don't. We just order what we want. We don't drink soft drinks that often, I always drink water, even at home. Both my son and I enjoy a refreshing adult beverage or two with our meals. If I eat QS, usually it's a kid's meal because I just don't eat large meals and the kid's meals are more than enough for me. The only way you are going to know for sure is to be honest when looking at the menus and do the math. Even then there is no way to know if you really are going to want to eat all the food on the plan.

 

[Araminta18]

My first trip was DH and me alone, and we did the dining plan 'cause I wanted the convenience of being able to order whatever we wanted and not having to think about price. We about broke even (though we did pay for some meals out of pocket), but honestly, it felt like more of a hassle--having to get desserts or appetizers when we normally wouldn't and having to deal with the irritation of some modifications not fitting nicely into the dining plan. This next trip is also just DH and me, and we decided to save up money in advance and not do the dining plan. So the convenience of having it all paid for/not having to worry about price is already there, and I don't have to worry about wasting a dessert or appetizer, or I can order multiple appetizers instead of an entree, and I don't have to worry about "getting the value" out of the dining plan.

But yes, the best advice is to go through the menus, figure out what you would actually order, and then add up the prices and compare to the dining plan.