DDP, is it worth the money?

[SISSYNBOOTS]

Going to WDW December 1-9 for the first time in many years. We have never used the DDP, but decided to try it for this trip. To anyone who has used it in the last year or so....was it a good bargin? It seems to me like it will be easier to not have to deal with prices and money. But I was wondering if you end up paying more, less or the same? And if there are plenty of CS places that accept it?

 

[rsschneck]

We just used the dining plan for our October Trip.

We went to WDW for 2 nights, 4 night cruise and back to WDW for 2 more nights. So, the dining plan was used for 4 nights. There was 2 adults and 1 9 year old ($347.88 for 4 nights on the dining plan). We saved $199.03 and we ate pretty basically.

TS: Coral Reef, Cape May for Breakfast, LTT and 1900 park fare
CS: Liberty Inn, ABC commissary, Blizzard beach @ the Lodge and Sunshine Seasons for breakfast

Snack: Epcot food and wine for Lobster Roll, Escargot, popsicle
MGM for pretzel, chocolate covered banana and churro
BCV for 2 boxes of donuts, coke, water, gummy mickey's and milk

We saved money and it was easy to use. Save your receipts and check your accounts because we were charged twice at Coral Reef and had to straighten out our account. A couple of the snack carts were having a hard time getting our card to run through their machines. We liked ordering whatever we wanted @ Coral Reef and not looking at the prices.

We are headed back for Christmas and will be using the dining plan again! I have less buffets picked out and more elegant TS restaurants picked out for Christmas. In a week's time between the dining plan and the 4 day cruise I did not gain a pound. I can't believe it!

 

[SISSYNBOOTS]

Congrats on not gaining a pound. I'm not expecting to do quite so good in that area, but if I can keep it under 10 I might survive....LOL.

In our party there are 5 adults. Four of us will be in the parks all the time and eating basically every meal there (the fifth person will be visiting family in the area part of the time).

So far we have reservations to eat at the Sci-Fi Drive-In, Cinderella's Royal Table, Plaza Restaurant, 50's Prime time Cafe, Donalds Breakfastosaurus, and the Hoop-De-Doo Revue. We realize many of these take more than one Sit Down meal so we will have to pay at some places. But we are thinking on some of the Sit Down and CS meal we might be able to share since we like to pick and snack a lot throughout the day. Did anyone in your party ever share any of the meals? Do you think anyone would say anything if you did?

Also, I know it is way off subject--but have you every done the Around the World at Epcot on a Segway Tour??

 

[fws]

We just got back from 9 nights on the DDP and saved just under 500$. We could have saved far more, but as we have a picky teenager had mainly buffets and a character breakfast, plus weused 2 credits each for the Hoop Dee Doo. Even using the DDP this way, it was still fantastic value for money. We actually enjoyed the buffets more than the menu meals. I thoroughly recommend it.

 

[Lisa F]

I haven't used it recently as we haven't been to WDW recently but when we used to go, we used to average about $100 per day for food for the two of us (including a nice table service a day). I figure at $80 for the two of us, it's about a 20% savings over our old habits and it sure looks like plenty of food (we'll get to try more than one appetizer and one dessert, we generally split one appetizer and one dessert and each order our own entree at most restaurants).

It's not our intention to try to "maximize" the plan so we'll see how we end up coming out in the end.

 

[rsschneck]

Did anyone in your party ever share any of the meals? Do you think anyone would say anything if you did?

Also, I know it is way off subject--but have you every done the Around the World at Epcot on a Segway Tour??

We tasted each others desserts and shared fries with our DD. I don't think anyone would care if you shared.

We have not done the Segway tour.

 

[monte]

My niece (29) and I were there in Jan.06, for 5 nights and saved about $450. on meals. We thought it was a great plan and enjoyed eating at the various restaurants. When I return in 2008 I definately will be on the plan again! Enjoy your trip.

 

[dgaston]

We have shared several counter service meals while on the dining plan (Pecos Bills, Rosie's American Cafe (ordering a double burger and an extra bun)), Pepper Market at Coronado Springs (the rib-eye), and at other times have split meals even at Le Cellier. If we do that, we sometimes both order an appetizer, and I believe you could pay for the extra one out of pocket. The folks at Disney will sometimes even divide your Table Service meal in the kitchen.

 

[jessieroo]

It is the best thing! Now that both my girls are teenagers it worked out great for us. When they went out on their own all they had to do is swipe that card and they didn't have to carry money on them. It really worked out great. It was such a relieve knowing all I needed to bring with me was spending money.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I think it's worth it if you normally eat the amount of food the plan provides. However, if you're a fairly light eater, or prefer counter service over table service, you might come out ahead by paying for your meals out-of-pocket. We enjoyed using the plan during the free dining promo, but I don't know that we would ever pay for the plan as it would be approx. $160 per day ($1,120/week) for my family of four and that's normally more than we spend for food during a typical visit to WDW.

 

[LillersMom]

Just got back last night and from looking at our dining summary it looks like we saved between $130 and $150/day for our family of five with lots of yummy food and treats.
We usually choose to dine at failry expensive restaurants normally so it really works out for us.

 

[aclov]

For DH and I it was a good deal. We used it for the first time this past August and it was nice to order what we wanted without having to worry about cost. We also got a chance to experience some nice dining options that we probably wouldn't have done. A word of caution as others have said - you get alot of food and we DID end up gaining weight. We usually don't order dessert or get just one appetizer so it was way overeating for us. Unfortunately, we still haven't lost the weight!

Oh, we came out around $150 ahead.

 

[madduck]

We were down this summer for 12 days. We saved about $100 a day for 3 people. We chose alot of expensive restaurants.Looking at your list of reservations I dont think youll save as much but you definately will save.

 

[pigletforever]

It was awesome for us for several reasons. I liked the fact that I didn't have to budget while I was there to eat. I could have what I wanted with out worrying abotu price. I also liked that DS17 could go off with a friend and I didn't have to worry about him having cash. I would say on average for our family of 4 we saved about 125-150 a day with the plan.

 

[Laura]

We didn't use the dining plan, and we had a TS meal for every night we spent there. We ate as we normally would have. Once home, I calculated the cost, and we would have spent more money using the DDP. It was pretty close to even, but since the price of alcohol was unknown, it was included in my calculations--therefore, it was cheaper for us the way we did it.

 

[TMEF23]

My opinion on the dining plan is as follows:

If you plan on eating at Table Service Restaurants every night, it is worth it. Just by paying for the Table Service, which includes your drink, appetizer, entree, dessert, tax and gratuity you are almost at what you would pay for it. The nicest thing I have found about the DDP is that you don't have to worry for paying for food your entire trip. You just give them a room key and you are free to go!

My past two experiences with the DDP was when it was for free. However, we are planning a trip in February and have added the DDP to our package!

 

[TMEF23]

Did we share?

On my last trip, in August, my grandmother and my mother shared a TS one day at the ESPN CLUB. Between the 2 entrees we ordered for 3 people, we had more food than we knew what to do with. I even had half of my wrap put in a box to take with me, so I could eat it by the pool the next day!

We also found that we had a lot of extra snack credits in the end. I used my snack credits to by goodies to bring home to the kids i tutor!

 

[DisneyMom5]

For us it is. We ate better quality/nutritionally and quantity.
We had free dining, and because we have a large group it was cheaper for us than getting a room discount.
We liked not having to carry much cash.

We would pay for it, both because it gives us more options AND because it helps us budget.
If you don't do sit down restaurants, its not a good deal. But if you want to do even a couple of character meals, it would be beneficial in the end to have the plan.

Either way, happy eating! LOL

 

[goofy4tink]

We used the DDP two weeks ago. I also have the DDE card. When I was in planning mode, I sat with the menus for the places we were planning on eating. I compared the cost using my DDE card versus what it would cost using the DDP. It came out pretty close. Because we had two families traveling on one reservation, I decided that I would go with the DDP just to keep things simple....none of that 'well, you paid last night, I'll get this one' or 'can we have two split checks?'. Yes, we spent a bit more doing it with the DDP but it was very convenient. We ended up leaving 4 counter service credits behind and a few snack credits.

We always eat one good Table Service meal a day, usually dinner. But my dd, 13, isn't a huge eater. She will have a cheeseburger or such. We really don't get our monies worth from the DDP with her.

I think that for future trips, we will use the DDE card rather than the DDP. Just works better for us.

 

[gina2000]

The one thing that people aren't talking about is ticket prices. We've bought 10 day non-expiring hopper passes. The cost per day is peanuts compared to even a 5 day pass. If you usually buy passes to encompass a couple of trips and decide to do the DDP, you'll lose that cost savings. Also, if you usually stay offsite and pay nowhere near WDW resort rack rates, you'll lose that savings.

Now if you always stay onsite at a value resort, always only buy tickets to last one trip and tend to only eat counter service, you'll do well. Paying rack rate on a deluxe wipes out the savings from what I have calculated. Buying 5 day tickets instead of 10 day tickets covering 2 trips wipes out the savings.

So consider your needs before you purchase. The DDP doesn't work for our family but it may for yours. Also, with all the hoopla about the kids' menu, you should carefully examine that menu before purchasing. Purchase at the last minute so you are fairly sure of what your child will eat.

Good luck with your choice.