DDP Cost Analysis 08

[pinkerbell]

With all the excitement of the FREE DDP I decided I needed to do a breakdown of our trip last yr. I'm a bean counter and enjoy this type of stuff.

We are a family of 4 - Two adults One child and One infant (2 at the time)

Cost for adults is 39.99 so we'll say $80 for the two of us
Cost for a child is 10.99 so we'll say $11 for her

total DDP daily is $91.00

we wrote down our total MEAL price including tax for each table service on our receipt (did NOT include tip)

I am estimating for each of us a counter service for 12.00 and snack for 3.00
we go during the wine and food festival and many snack credits are for more. I know a childs counter service could be a bit less I know many of our adult counter services were more so again, we averaged (conservatively I feel)

our 18 day total out of pocket expense would have been $1,699

the DDP would have been $1,274

a savings of $425

the rest's we ate at are as follows (I rounded to the nearest $)

Chef Mickey $75
Play & Dine @ H&V $68
Coarl Reef $78
LTTavern $80
Boma $77
Spoodles $68
Eating around the world at W&FF (snack credits)
Cindy's HEA 1900 $85
The Wave $89
LeCellier $100
Cape May $52
Yak & Yeti $75
Chefs de France $100
Cindy Royal Table $122

I tried to get as close as possible by taking out any extras like and app or drink, but that happened very infrequently -

My husband does eat red meat and that was often his choice and I do not, so I was often the chicken, fish or veggie choice - I feel our selections represent items from all price ranges and not just the most expensive items.

If you are looking to see if free DDP or another discount code would work better for you I hope this helps!

 

[Sammi2]

I'm in the pre-planning stages and have created a plan for how we would eat if we were not on the dining plan, to compare to the cost of the dining plan. We are a frugal family with 2 adults and 3 young scant eaters. So, for example, going to a buffet that runs $15 per kid is just not going to happen, because its a horrible value for a kid who eats very little. If we were on the dining plan, we would enjoy going to Boma but if we're paying out of pocket, we'll be going to pizza safari.

After studying the menus, I created a list of where we might eat each day. It includes:

Perkins (or similar, cheap, off site place upon arrival)
Cindy's Royal Table (did I mention the kids were all girls)
Casey's Corner
Pizza Safari
Cosmic Rays
Mara
Beaches
Hollywood and Vine
Trails End Pizza take out
Roses and Thorn
A la cart epcot (food and wine week)
and $25 per day for snacks

Considering that we drink water and the 3 kids share 2 kids meals, the total for 5days + arrival night was $705.

I expect the dining plan for 6 nights to cost our family $678 + $60 tips= $738.

So, for an extra $30 I can replace fast food hot dogs with places like Bova, Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, etc.

 

[pinkerbell]

I'm in the pre-planning stages and have created a plan for how we would eat if we were not on the dining plan, to compare to the cost of the dining plan. We are a frugal family with 2 adults and 3 young scant eaters. So, for example, going to a buffet that runs $15 per kid is just not going to happen, because its a horrible value for a kid who eats very little. If we were on the dining plan, we would enjoy going to Boma but if we're paying out of pocket, we'll be going to pizza safari.

After studying the menus, I created a list of where we might eat each day. It includes:

Perkins (or similar, cheap, off site place upon arrival)
Cindy's Royal Table (did I mention the kids were all girls)
Casey's Corner
Pizza Safari
Cosmic Rays
Mara
Beaches
Hollywood and Vine
Trails End Pizza take out
Roses and Thorn
A la cart epcot (food and wine week)
and $25 per day for snacks

Considering that we drink water and the 3 kids share 2 kids meals, the total for 5days + arrival night was $705.

I expect the dining plan for 6 nights to cost our family $678 + $60 tips= $738.

So, for an extra $30 I can replace fast food hot dogs with places like Bova, Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, etc.

The DDP really works for us and looks like it will for you too - this cost analysis doesnt show that often we have an extra bottled drink or bagged snack (carrots etc) that we put in our stroller and use later.

There are a lot of ways to streach the DDP - often at the food court or a counter service with large meals we split them thus saving a counter service credit here and there - which adds up over 14 days - I dont think we bought any out of pocket meals last yr during the 14 days on the dining plan. We eat something small in the room - as you probably know - with little ones this can save a lot of time and get you out the door faster to enjoy more Disney park time -

Just be aware that Cindy's Royal Table cost 2 counter service meals - in the past we have planned this meal for the end of our trip and if we had the extra dining credits used them but otherwise paid OOP for it since at $122 OOP it seems a waste of 2 credits each (lst yr we cancelled 2 ADR's so still used the DDP credits)

Have a great time!