DDE vs Dining Plan

[goofy4wdw2]

Which do you prefer and why...Disney Dining Exerience or the Dining Plan? Thank you!

 

[robinb]

I used to like the DDP better than DDE, although we had both. One meal at V&A paid for the DDE card.

I preferred the DDP because we like to eat out and I liked having everything paid for in advance. It also gave me the opportunity to try new restaurants without worrying about the cost or the reputation. I am far more hesitant to try a restaurant with lousy reviews when I am paying for it OOP!

The new DDP, with the loss of the starter and tip, does not seem like quite the deal any longer and we will probably skip it next time.

 

[spiceycat]

DDE doesn't pay in advance that is the DDP.

I like both - but for me the DDP is better. I don't spend enough to make DDE worth while.

 

[ADP]

We like the DDE. We found that we just can't eat as much food as the DDP provides us. I consider that a waste of food, credits and money.

We love the flexibility of the DDE. We can eat whenever we want as much as we want without worrying about wasting credits, food, and money. We also drink alcohol and I like getting the 20% off of that as well.

One other perk with DDE is you get free valet parking at the resorts you are dining. I will say, that I got free valet parking at the Poly in July for 4 nights with the DDE. That saved us $40.

 

[robinb]

DDE doesn't pay in advance that is the DDP.

I like both - but for me the DDP is better. I don't spend enough to make DDE worth while.

I know that! What a silly typo! Thanks for making it clear for others reading .

FWIW, I once compared some of my old stand-by restaurants using the DDP at the current plan (starter, entree and dessert) and pricing for 2 adults and 1 child and the DDE card sharing one starter and one dessert and it still came out cheaper for us to do the DDP plan. Once I removed the counter service meals and the snacks from the $89 total (approx $12 per adult counter service meal, $6.50 per child and $2.50 per snack ... $38.00 total per day) I am left with $51 to "spend" on a table service meal for 2 adults and a child. That INCLUDES tax and tip. Even if I pass on a dessert or order a lighter starter I am still saving money.

Since this is a DVC board I assume that you are not paying cash for a room. If you're paying cash for a room then you need to factor in the difference between rack rate and the Annual Pass rate as well as the cost of a one-day pass per person.

 

[Fitswimmer]

We like the DDE. We found that we just can't eat as much food as the DDP provides us. I consider that a waste of food, credits and money.

We love the flexibility of the DDE. We can eat whenever we want as much as we want without worrying about wasting credits, food, and money. We also drink alcohol and I like getting the 20% off of that as well.

One other perk with DDE is you get free valet parking at the resorts you are dining. I will say, that I got free valet parking at the Poly in July for 4 nights with the DDE. That saved us $40.

We choose DDE too and it paid for itself on our May trip. We usually eat breakfast in the villa, and either have a big dinner or a "dinch" at the parks. We don't usually eat 3 full meals a day...and since we're all adults we like the 20% off the wine and beer too!!

 

[jimmytammy]

DDE for us...I am a big guy and love to eat, but cant eat as much as DDP allows. One big meal a day for us at WDW is a plenty. And that wont cost us $39.99 each per day unless we are eating appetisers, entree, and desserts. Pretty much an entree and drink is all at most meals for us, sometimes even splitting. Plus, with DDP I feel like we would be constantly revolving our day around where our next meal would be.

 

[JimMIA]

With the changes to DDP for 2008, DDP no longer makes sense for our family. So for us, the choice is DDE or eat offsite.

We plan on eating most of our meals offsite, and will not buy the DDE card unless we take (or meet) relatives on our May 08 trip. If it's just our family, we will probably only eat one meal onsite and that's not enough to make the DDE worthwhile.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We're big fans of the DDE. We time the purchase so we get to use it on 3 WDW trips before it expires. Just one meal at V&A covers the cost--and we get to do V&A twice more, not to mention all the other meals!!
As has already been noted, the free valet parking is a nice perk, and the fact that it covers alcoholic beverages is another major "plus".

The DDP just wouldn't work for us. We never do lunch, never eat snacks, always get an appetizer. It doesn't fit our "style" of dining, and I guess that's what you have to determine before you decide which plan is best for you--.

 

[CarolA]

I perfer the DDE. On the DDP it's either eat too much or pay for food I don't need or want.

I would perfer a nice glass of wine to the appetizer/desert LOL! (I have even gotten a nice glass of the South African wines at Jiko "to go" so I could walk around the hotel)

I will do DDP if I meet friends who are on it, but I think about two days in my max on the plan and I know I am not "maximizing" the value. (On my last use my "snacks" were two bottles of water and I just didn't get the desert with my TS meals!)

 

[Mike]

DDE for me. Here is what I posted to a similar thread over the weekend:

I know it is a personal choice and will be different for each family, but I just do not see the value in the DDP in its original form let alone the revised plan. We are a family of 5 (2 A, 12, 10, and 5). We drive down for 2 weeks every July so we always have our car. This past trip, I spent $1580 for the 5 of us to eat for 14 days. We did Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, San Angel Inn, Ohana, Trail's End, and Flame Tree using the DDE card. We used the 30% DVC Discount at Fulton's Crab House. We ate a fair amount of CS and snacks. We enjoyed an occasional drink/wine with our meals. We ate offsite at places like Longhorn Steak House, Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, I-Hop and take-out from Hooters (for the wings of course ). We did all breakfasts in the room except 2 and a few lunches in the room as well.

We ate really well. I am a big guy and I gained weight despite all of the walking we did in the parks. If we were on the DDP, it would have cost me $170/day or $2380. I just can't see eating more than we did or spending another $800. Plus I would not want to have to worry about getting to a restaurant at a specific time every single day.

In addition, I think the selection and the quality of the food at WDW is drastically on the decline while the prices keep going up. IMHO, you can get a much better meal for 50-60% of the price offsite.

 

[JimC]

DDE for us.

1. We don't eat enough to make DDP a good value when we stay on property.

2. We are local and like to eat on property from time to time and DDE is great for that.

 

[Pootle]

DDE for me too.

I was tempted by the DDP when I did a 3-day stay earlier this year before moving on to VB, but in the end, I found that wanting to use it for the best value and the likelihood that I would overeat big-time just put me off.

I've also seen lots of food wasted by families on the DDP at adjoining tables, and I just don't like the way that looks

I'm sure it's a great deal for some, but I like the flexibility of the DDE and not being tied to Disney dining every day.