DDP Costs Our experience - Happy! (even more saved)

Allegro

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
357
It feels weird to be back on the boards. But I just sat down and calculated our meal costs for our trip (got back yesterday - 1 Feb) and thought I should share.

1. We enjoyed using the DDP. It was easy and we had no problems whatsoever with the possible exception of having chosen something at Goofy's candy store that wasn't included which I then declined to purchase.
2. We had enough to eat; we didn't overeat (but yes, we did waste food, as some portions were enormous but that extraneous to the issue of the DDP).
3. We used every last credit with only a little bit of planning.
4. We didn't miss the option or ordering an appetizer at all. The one place we did want an appetizer we paid OOP.
5. We ate breakfast in our room most mornings which often consisted of yummy left over fruit salad from a meal the day before.
6. Tipping was easy and I probably tipped more generously than I would have normally (I generally round-up on a 15% tip) because it was printed on the bill and I'm lazy.
7. We did NOT save oodles of cash (nor did we expect to going in) but enough that added to the convenience of the plan would make it a no brainer to do again. We wouldn't have eaten much differently off the plan but I would have cringed in pain each and every time I signed a bill.
7. We would do it again.

Where we ate:

TS:

Chef Mickey's
California Grill
Kona Café
Liberty Tree Tavern
Whispering Canyon Café

CS:

Roaring Forks
Flame Tree Grill
Backlot Express
Electric Umbrella
Columbia House Harbour

Costs for our family of four including DD 5 and DS 3 (both of whom happily and intentionally ate a mind boggling amount of chicken nuggets and fries :lmao:):

food_costs_ddp2343.jpg


Happy to answer any questions!

Edited to say: we DID tip for dinner on the 27th I just missed adding it to my calculations because DH paid the bill (I took my bored and rambunctios children back to the room) and didn't save the tip receipt.

Sorry for my mistakes. Let's just say that thank to weather in Chicago it took us over 20 hours to get home (sleeping on the floor in airports) and I'm still a little punch drunk. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
Thanks for your great post! We too will be using the DDP again this June. We will have two teens with us that are VERY good eaters. They will totally enjoy this plan.

Its almost not a matter of saving money...its a matter of convenience for us. I know in the long run we WILL save some money...but not a huge amount and that's ok with me anyhow.

I always say...a bad day at Disney still beats a good day in the emergency room :goodvibes
 
Thank you for your post! We have been talking about whether to do DDP or DDE on our upcoming trip. We have 3 kids (they will be 7, 5, and almost 2 when we travel). I think it will be worth it for us as well, especially if we do a lot of character meals.

My only concern lies in whether or not the kids will be up for a sit down restaurant meal every night, I don't want it to be a miserable experience for anyone, fellow diners included -- how did yours do?
 
My only concern lies in whether or not the kids will be up for a sit down restaurant meal every night, I don't want it to be a miserable experience for anyone, fellow diners included -- how did yours do?

My kids are high maintenance kids. Trust me I beat them and beat them and still...;) My little one DS (3) is very hyper for the longest while I thought there was something wrong with him but I've grown to realize he is just a spirited little boy.

The kids did wonderfully well. They are really good at taking care of kids in the TS restaurants. They immediately get crayons and a few pages to colour. They get some extra attention and food is brought promptly and without delay. The restaurant my kids were the best behaved at ... California Grill, if you can believe it.

I told DD(5) that our plan was a restaurant to them (character meal) one night and for us the next night. We basically followed this plan and it worked out well. We did Chef Mickey's, California Grill, Whispering Canyon Café, Kona, Liberty Tree Tavern,Tusker House in that order. I have written some reviews on the Review board if you want to read more.

All in all though the kids enjoyed themselves everywhere we ate.
 

How many nights did you stay? It looks like you stayed six nights which would put your DDP cost at $587.76 since you are charged per night of your stay, not per day. Just curious because it looks like you used 6 TS credits also. You might have saved a bit more that you realized.
 
My kids are high maintenance kids. Trust me I beat them and beat them and still...;) My little one DS (3) is very hyper for the longest while I thought there was something wrong with him but I've grown to realize he is just a spirited little boy.

The kids did wonderfully well. They are really good at taking care of kids in the TS restaurants. They immediately get crayons and a few pages to colour. They get some extra attention and food is brought promptly and without delay. The restaurant my kids were the best behaved at ... California Grill, if you can believe it.

I told DD(5) that our plan was a restaurant to them (character meal) one night and for us the next night. We basically followed this plan and it worked out well. We did Chef Mickey's, California Grill, Whispering Canyon Café, Kona, Liberty Tree Tavern,Tusker House in that order. I have written some reviews on the Review board if you want to read more.

All in all though the kids enjoyed themselves everywhere we ate.

Good to know! Thanks for sharing!
 
How many nights did you stay? It looks like you stayed six nights which would put your DDP cost at $587.76 since you are charged per night of your stay, not per day. Just curious because it looks like you used 6 TS credits also. You might have saved a bit more that you realized.

You might very well be right. We stayed 6 nights and 7 days. Hmmm...
 
How many nights did you stay? It looks like you stayed six nights which would put your DDP cost at $587.76 since you are charged per night of your stay, not per day. Just curious because it looks like you used 6 TS credits also. You might have saved a bit more that you realized.

That's what I was thinking.....:confused:
 












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