DDE for AP holders vs. DDP

[UP Disney]

For a couple that would have trouble eating all the food in the DDP, would we be better to use the DDE as AP holders? We will be there for 5 days in December. We'll be back again in March for 8 days with our daughters DD20 & DD17. They also don't eat an entire entree let alone the appetizer, dessert, etc. Any thoughts?

 

[tkd lisa]

I think this answer depends heavily on how your family plans to eat. DDE is primarily usable at table service (TS) restaurants, while DDP includes a mixture of table/counter service meals. One other thing to remember, is that AP holders get a 10% discount at some of the TS restaurants (particularly in EPCOT).

There are exceptions to the TS rule. In AK, DDE offers you discounts at most of their CS restaurants, since they really don't have TS there (just rain forest cafe). That's a great use of the DDE! I LOVE Tusker House!

Also, all of the values (and maybe some of the mod) food courts take DDE. In fact, they even give you the 20% of the refillable mugs (wish I had known that in March!).

Giving you an idea how it might go, I'll sum up our March spring break trip food-wise.

We made one PS for each day (almost always shared meals at a late lunch because we're small eaters), ate breakfast in our room, had 1-2 snacks a day, then a light shared CS meal at night.

Before the trip, I wasn't planning on the DDE, but when I ran out my expected expenses, I realized that the DDE discount would pay for itself that trip, and since we're so close, we'd use it a lot. The final kicker for me was the possibility of my parking fee being returned if we used the DDE within 3 hours of entering a park (Fl seasonal pass holders pay for parking). So I ordered it and picked up the temporary card the morning we got there.

By the end of the trip, we had saved around $80-$90 using the DDE. So it was worth the money for us. Since that time, I have exclusively used DDE at food courts and beaches and cream. Probably about $25-$30 savings total.

The only time we will do the DDP is this September, during free dining. And even there, I plan on spending almost nothing out of pocket since we'll still share TS and CS meals to cover breakfasts as well.

One final thing to remember is that I think DDP requires you to buy a base ticket in order to qualify for the package. So you have to factor that cost into your budget assessment.

Good luck!

 

[goofy4tink]

What I did was this....head over to http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm
make a list of the places and foods you would most likely eat.....make a listing, with the prices. Then, figure out which way you stand to pay the least. Take that 20% off each meal, but be sure to account for the original $60 for DDE card. Then, total it.
Then, take the DDP, $38 per day, per person, and see how that comes out for your stay. See how the food that you would be getting on the ddp compares to what you would be ordering using the DDE card.
That is what I did in order to figure out which way I should go in Oct. The DDP came to within about $40 of the DDE. So, just for the sake of convenience, we'll be using both. Since we'll be doing some OOP stuff, we can apply the DDE card to that. I've already booked HDDR, using the 20% discount on the late show, so have to renew my card for that trip.
Only you can decide which way is the way to go. But if you compare the two plans, side by side, comparing apples to apples, then you should be able to make an informed choice.

 

[3PRINCESSMOM]

Although AP discounts are not guaranteed and fewer and farther between these days, paying for a "package" with rooms at rack rate vs. rooms with a discount should be part of the equation.

I am going to do a last minute MVMCP trip this year, I think. I will decide whether to do DDP or AP w/DDE much closer to my dates based on release of AP discounts. I have tremendous flexibility on where we stay, so I can wait. However, if there are AP discounts and I can book a value or POFQ then I can not see how the DDP would come close to AP w/DDE, since I'd be able to use the 20% off at the food court in addition to our TS places...??? Of course this type of "fly-by-the-seat-of your pants" planning won't fit many people's style; even for us for our "main" trip it probably wouldn't work. However for this potential "bonus" trip it is okay. Does this make any sense???

 

[MrsG]

We also, for convenience, will use both. We are going in Aug and in Feb so the DDE will be good for both. You also can combine the two at one dinner. For ex. you can order food and then an alcoholic beverage and the DDE will apply to the drinks. We will also use it for the TS lunches on our last two days, because we are using one 2 credit TS and will be short one during the week and one on our last day. So, cost wise, we'll either break even or be ahead of the game.

 

[zippehsmom]

We also are going to using both. We used both in December, and will again this July. This time however, the DDP was a nobrained because we rented points for half of our OKW stay and I was able to get OKW through an Interval trade (best $135 I ever spent). We did not have to buy tickets, we justed added on the Dining plan.

 

[lovesdumbo]

First question would be where are you planning on staying in Dec? You may need to hold off on your final decision until you know if Disney will have AP discounts and how much they will be.

There are 2 issues with AP's and DDP. First is you must purchase a MYW ticket as part of the package to get the meal plan but you can upgrade that ticket at arrival to an AP. The other problem is that you forfit any AP discount on the room but you could book through AAA and get the AAA discount on the room portion of the package and upgrade your tickets to AP's when you get to Disney. You can't get a AAA discount on the room for the free dining deal but I'm pretty sure you can when you're paying for the meal plan. You could also order the DDE card at that point (in Disney) to use for OOP purchases and to use again for your March trip.

SO...I'd say with 2 trips planned it would likely be worth it for you to purchase AP's. Also even with the DDP on the Dec trip it would be worth it for your to purchase DDE. So now your down to would the potential savings offset any additional discount on the room that might be available with AP and would those discounts be released at least 45 days prior to your planned date so you could cancel a package deal if need be before you'd get penalized.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Also, all of the values (and maybe some of the mod) food courts take DDE. In fact, they even give you the 20% of the refillable mugs (wish I had known that in March!).

I was NOT able to get 20% off the refill mug at either ASMo or Pop.

 

[lovesdumbo]

SO...I'd say with 2 trips planned it would likely be worth it for you to purchase AP's. Also even with the DDP on the Dec trip it would be worth it for your to purchase DDE. So now your down to would the potential savings offset any additional discount on the room that might be available with AP and would those discounts be released at least 45 days prior to your planned date so you could cancel a package deal if need be before you'd get penalized.

Just rethinking this....

Maybe you could book a room only and then when/if AP's are released you could either change to AP discount OR change to package with dining.

ALSO....are you going to MVMCP? Do they offer AP discounts on those tickets? So maybe you would want to purchase AP now????

 

[Laurajean1014]

We love DDE (don't have to worry about points, how much to eat, where to eat).

We prefer the fancier restaurants, so DDP would not work for us. Besides, I like the fact that I get 20% off wine and liquor.

 

[1000th happy haunt]

We're DVC members so we are eligible to add the DDP to any of our DVC stays. We tried DDP last month. We have a split reservation and used the DDP for the smaller part of the trip. DH and I both agree we wouldn't like to eat like that for an entire week, but it's fine for a short time. We are also AP holders and have the DDE (purchased it last year).

For our upcoming trip in October we plan to use DDP for part of the stay, but still renew our DDE.

Here's a list of the various discounts you can get.

 

[tiff211]

I was NOT able to get 20% off the refill mug at either ASMo or Pop.

Really? I used DDE for 2 mugs at the POP and got my 20%.

 

[goofy4tink]

Really? I used DDE for 2 mugs at the POP and got my 20%.

Unfortunatly, I think it all depends on the cashier you get! When we were there in August, we were able to apply the 20% discount to our mugs. However, when we returned to POP last month, we had to buy a mug for dh...the discount wasn't allowed. The cashier told me "Sorry, no mugs on the DDE card discount." I was just happy to get the discount at the food court period.

 

[UP Disney]

Thanks for all the info. It is looking like we are going to try the DDP for our trip in December. We'll test it out and see if we think it is worthwhile when we go with my adult daughters in March. I do think I'll also get the DDE since so many people suggested using both. Since it is just the two of us, it is the perfect time to try it. I like that the DDP is prepaid. In doing some comparisons, I don't think we will lose any money on the DDP. Worst case scenario looks like we'll break even. If that is the case, it won't be worth the hassle of trying to keep track of it for our March trip. Thanks again for all the great info.

 

[BCV23]

If someone already said this sorry but don't forget the DDP price includes tax and tip. That savings really adds up.

We have DDE and love it...bought it the first month that it was opened up for other than FL residents. If we could only get one discount, DDE would be our choice.

But the DDP can offers even bigger savings if it fits your style. Someone mentioned "fancier restaurants." The DDP can be used at most of those too and they are only open for dinner anyway. For us, the hardest part of the DDP is finding counter service places we like...we need to do more field research.