DDP Always Works For Us

[senadler]

We sold our DVC contract (my kids are getting older) and have not been to Disney in several years. I am planning a short trip with just myself and my DS14 in January. Over the years we were always a Deluxe Dining Family. We would have relatives joining us and sharing credits, and it always worked out well for us. Those were the days when you could use kid credits for adult meals. In planning this trip I thought there was no way the dining plan would be worthwhile, but after running the numbers, it just makes sense. Our table service meals will be: Ohana (both dinner and breakfast), Crystal Palace, and Boma. Looking at our QS choices, I expect them to average about $25 a person, considering I will get a alcoholic beverage with mine. I am estimating about a $60 savings over OOP and really do prefer to have everything paid for. There seems to be a lot of opinions on the value of the dining plan, but depending on how you do Disney, I do think it works for some.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

I don’t personally think that anyone comes out ahead on the plan in 2024 but if you ran the numbers and they show that you will save money then go for it!
There are some upcoming Disney gift cards deals that could save you some money to either pay for the plan or to “prepay” for your meals

 

[cattycat2]

I have the DDP right now but debating whether to keep it. I'll have to add extra $ for appetizers and a tip, which makes it more. I don't want to give more $ while being on the DDP.

My question: Will food and/or buffets go up on prices before my December trip?

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We have always calculated and never would DDP save us $$, most of the time it it was more expensive. Your estimate of $25 for QS is a little high, especially for breakfast, our family of 4 usually comes in at just over $40, usually a bounty platter and 3 kids waffles meals. Cosmic Rays, Columbia Harbour House etc. is more like $20 per person, unless everyone has an alcoholic drink. You have to add in the OOP meals unless you stick with just the 2 DDP meals. A big one that people never add in is the tips, people usually order more expensive food at TS which makes your bill to be much higher. We noticed that the tips almost doubled the times we did FD, that was a big eye opener for us.
With all that said, I do believe the less people you have (like 2) it could save some $$$.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We frequently bought the dining plan in the past and also found it worked for us financially but too many of our favored restaurants no longer accept it so it became a no go.

 

[senadler]

We won't use the dining plan for breakfast. I will usually get one platter and we will split, or have snacks in the room. Using the plan for lunch only, with desert seems to be about 25, at least with tax.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

We won't use the dining plan for breakfast. I will usually get one platter and we will split, or have snacks in the room. Using the plan for lunch only, with desert seems to be about 25, at least with tax.

Quick service credits don’t include a dessert.
You would have to pay cash for your dessert or use your 1 and only 1 snack credit for the day to purchase it.

 

[leebee]

The only time we found the dining plan to be cost-efficient was back in the day, when we were doing a lot of character meals. Now? Doesn't work for us, especially when we aren't drinking alcohol. I think that was a big selling point for the new plan- oh look, a free drink- but in the heat of Florida and the exhaustion of 20,000 steps in a theme park, we find drinking to be a bit more than is enjoyable. [Not to say that we don't drink, but if we don't consume that beverage with our meal, the DDP quickly loses value.] The last few times we did the dining plan (because sometimes I get sucked in by what appears to be a deal) was before it included alcohol, and after the trip I calculated that our family of 3 spent about $200 more with the dining plan than if we'd bought the same things OOP.

 

[Pooh2]

For those who have run the numbers, would the dining plan work well if you are trying to do a character meal each day?
This would be for 4 adults, 3 children and an infant.
Looking at the price of character meals is giving me anxiety!

 

[Genie+]

Older versions of DDP had multiple ways to stretch them beyond the cost. This newest version not many.

That being said, I think the group most commonly still finding decent value are those who’d book the more expensive non-al a carte TS meals (like buffets, character meals, O’hana, etc) and order alcohol regularly with meals. If that’s your style most days regardless of this plan or not, the math is going to work much better.

We enjoyed using DDP many times over the years. I can’t make this new version make sense for us personally. I had no problem pushing the 2019 $75pp version past $100 day avg value. At that point Table Service still came with dessert, alcohol option had been added for all meals, 2 snack credits that left plenty for EP food booths, and BoG breakfast still counted as QS credit. That was our last experience.

This one is much harder for us to push past breakeven so it’s no longer worth having such a rigid meal structure. It’s a lot of extra planning, and giving up lounges and 2 credit places that don’t fit well with DDP, etc.

 

[senadler]

With the comments above I’m a little confused on what is included. I thought desert was included with both QS and TS, but looking again it seems only with TS. Is that correct?

 

[Genie+]

With the comments above I’m a little confused on what is included. I thought desert was included with both QS and TS, but looking again it seems only with TS. Is that correct?

Yes. Sorry I said TS before when I meant QS.

TS still comes with dessert.

 

[senadler]

Thanks all for the feedback. I estimated again based on no dessert with QS. Still looks like break even for us with our higher end dinners. With just the two of us there isn't much risk either way. I will just make sure I can get the ADRs I want when our window opens before I add it.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Thanks all for the feedback. I estimated again based on no dessert with QS. Still looks like break even for us with our higher end dinners. With just the two of us there isn't much risk either way. I will just make sure I can get the ADRs I want when our window opens before I add it.

The risk is you get sick, don't want that day's alcohol, feel too full, or are sick of another all you can eat/character experience (which are the ones needed to break even)...then break even becomes a big loss for you (aka big gain for Disney)...

 

[Dawson's Mom]

We looked at the QS plan for our trip Dec. 22-Jan 2 this year. The plan for 2 adults and 2 Disney Adults, total of 4 was almost $3,000.00. The DDP was almost if not over $5,000.00. I know that we are there for 11 nights but I know we would never ever break even. My DS hardly eats anything and DD is a diabetic, so we have to watch what she eats. In the past we've done the plan if it was "free" (I know, not really free). I think when the plan first came out over 20 years ago we paid. At that time we broke even with just 2 adults, probably came out ahead. I'm glad if it can work for someone, that's great! I know it is way more convenient than having to pay at the time or later. We thought about it a lot, but in the end we decided it was too much.

 

[aleria24]

We have always come out ahead using the plan. There are 3 of us and DD will be drinking age this next trip, so the new plan works for us. I ran numbers based on where I think we will want to eat and we come out about $250 ahead. We all love a cocktail, so that what turns the tables for us with the new plan.

 

[Genie+]

Back in 2019 we were excited to try DDP after alcohol was added.

It worked well at table service. Most restaurants have good selection of interesting beverages. The math at buffets works well, just keep in mind a $65 buffet will ring up the $20 cocktail separately and 18% auto-gratuity will be about $15 OOP. Not a big deal, but we noticed what we ordered with credits resulted in higher tips than what we typically run up.

It did not work well at quick service. Basically we found you could either find interesting beverages, or interesting food. Not many places that accept QS credits had both. Most quick service will just have a can of beer or hard seltzer etc… and if you do find a place making fresh cocktails, then the menu usually won’t be a good use of a credit. So I value the included alcohol with QS less. I can pick up a 6-pack of beer for $8. So it’s not adding value the same way a fancy cocktail at TS would.

 

[aleria24]

Back in 2019 we were excited to try DDP after alcohol was added.

It worked well at table service. Most restaurants have good selection of interesting beverages. The math at buffets works well, just keep in mind a $65 buffet will ring up the $20 cocktail separately and 18% auto-gratuity will be about $15 OOP. Not a big deal, but we noticed what we ordered with credits resulted in higher tips than what we typically run up.

It did not work well at quick service. Basically we found you could either find interesting beverages, or interesting food. Not many places that accept QS credits had both. Most quick service will just have a can of beer or hard seltzer etc… and if you do find a place making fresh cocktails, then the menu usually won’t be a good use of a credit. So I value the included alcohol with QS less. I can pick up a 6-pack of beer for $8. So it’s not adding value the same way a fancy cocktail at TS would.

I looked at that. A lot of QS places we want to eat seem to have at least one cocktail we want to try, and we don’t do buffets so no worries there. Most of the QS meals we are looking at come out around $100 for the 3 of us by the time you get food and a cocktail.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Did some math today for upcoming trip. Plan would cost a bit over $1100. Adding up what we would order if on the plan, it would be a bit over $1300 but we also plan to add some apps and more snacks etc on top of that amount. Did the math ordering what we actually would really order on the trip (and I mean what we really would want to eat) it would cost just under $800. On the plan we would order alcoholic beverages we really wouldn’t enjoy that much and a few more meals than normal. We typically share a lot and rarely want dessert at restaurants. Most of the time we just want ice water to drink.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We were big fans of the Deluxe Dining Plan and always came out way ahead. (I have some old posts with my Excel spreadsheets LOL). We decided to give the regular plan a try this go around to see how it compares. I think we'll be slighly ahead due to character meals and our alcohol intake--I have two adult kids who drink so that is a factor. But we'll see. Will report back!