DDP, is it worth the money?

[SISSYNBOOTS]

Hi!! i am a bit new at this and i was just wondering what DDE is????

 

[Linda 441]

First, DDE = Disney Dining Experience which is a discount card that Annual Passholders (and Florida residents) can purchase that gives you 20% off most food and drinks.

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.

To offer a slightly different opinion. We are buying the 10-day non-expiring hoppers AND the DDP. We are not planning to use all 10 days this trip. For THIS trip, it is still completely worth it. We ARE staying at a deluxe, we are NOT paying rack rates. It is still going to be a huge savings for us. We would be staying there anyway.
Even the buffet sit down's - the cheapest sit down meals we are planning - are close to the cost of the whole day leaving the CS and the snack "free." When we go to LeCellier, we will pay for a couple of days worth of the DDP with the one meal.
The way I have it figured, the left over days we will have from this trip and previous trips will be enough that we don't need to buy tickets next trip. That one, we won't buy the DDP. So it will still work and still be a savings, just not for EVERY trip.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I too,will be using the DDP for the first time. One thing that helped me decide to go with it, is the TS, which we do every evening for supper, and that tax and tips are included. I was beginning to worry that I had made a mistake in choosing this after reading some of the other posts. They have a lot of negative comments about the food -especially the childrens menus. But, my kids have always eaten the kids menu, so I personally am looking forward to the *new* options on the kids menu. I sort of figured a budget for what we normally spend on food and I am expecting at least a couple of $100's in savings.-Maybe more. Can anyone clue me in as to what the big fuss is some people are making over the DDP? I thought it was a great plan, wonder if I am missing something. Let me add that I strive to feed my kids really healthy food, and they will eat anything I feed them. They even love salad. So, maybe this is where some of the people are having trouble with the kids menus?

 

[karenh1127@h]

Wow! Disney Mommy 3: what great kids! Even salad? My boys are soooo picky! When eating out it is nuggets, grilled cheese, macaroni, or mashed potatos. They drive me nuts! Some of the kids menus have really healthy food on them but mine wont touch it. No carrot sticks or salad for them! I am still up in the air about doing the DDP.....

 

[It's A Happy Day]

The only experience we had with DDP was when we got it added to our reservation during a promo period for free - well we had to forfeit our AAA discount but that was only $100 vs. all the $$$ for the food we ate.

As far as extra money I think we spent MAYBE $30.00 - Really with the DDP there was sooo much food that we weren't hungry at all, took most of our desserts back to the resort with us or picked packaged desserts (brownies) at CS to eat later as snacks. We had snack credits leftover (19) at the end of the trip and used them up to get water, popcorn, and mickey rice crispy treats for the road and to bring home.

I took a lot of time and went through all the menu's on allears. I picked restaurants that fit the taste of our family and in the parks we planned on being in on that particular day - I didn't want to lose time traveling to eat. My children (3 & 4 at the time) are also great eaters (they eat it ALL) and would rather real food - salad, veggies, steak, chicken, etc. but will still eat nuggets, pasta, burgers too so either menu would be ok with us.

The BEST thing about the DDP for us/me is that it is paid for B4 you even get there - wether OOP or getting a promo like we did - we did not have to bring $$$ for food, it was taken care of tips included. Now we did have an occasional snack that wasn't on the plan - hot pretzels, root beer float come to mind - but like I stated earlier minimal extra spending. We also did extra tip a few waitstaff who really went beyond to make out stay extra special but other than that and souveniers everything was paid for before we even got to disney. For someone who wants to budget their spending cash it helps out that the only $$$ you are bringing is earmarked (no pun intended) for souvies not necessities.

 

[Linda 441]

Especially if you have kids and are going to eat TS at any buffets it is so worth it.

I did the math and for us, we are 4 dining adults (kids are 10 & 13) it is still a good deal. Liberty Tree is around $35 with the tax and tip per person. The whole day is only $38 and you get a CS and a snack! Same thing with Boma. I'm sure our meals at Rose & Crown and LeCellier will be a WHOLE lot more than that by the time we are done.

With the 13 year old - who I have to feed hourly - we are making a grocery stop for granola bars and such and will probably have a little more out of pocket - but we also have the DDE because one person with us has an AP. But we plan on using snack credit for breakfast or paying OPP, CS for lunch and then our table service for dinner. I'm SURE we will be saving a LOT of money.

 

[fws]

Yes, you will save money, no doubt about it. Even if you did all buffets, you'd still save. Factor in a couple of the more expensive restaurants and you'll save a lot. Our Le Cellier bill alone was over $190 for 2 adults and 2 teens.

 

[KikiFan]

I'm really excited about using the DDP. We've never gotten it before. The plan is only a little bit more then what I usually budget for food, but we'll be eating a heck of a lot better. That's my one complaint about Disney, half way through the vacation I am sick to death of counter service meals. THis time that won't be an issue. And it's a huge relief knowing that it's all paid for in advance.

 

[JohnathanS]

For us, the DDP doesn't make sense. We often take long (over 14) day trips and only do a table service restaurant 1/2-2/3 of the days we are there. Even then, due to large portions, we will generally get a couple of appetizers to split, split an entree and then split a dessert (unless, of course, its a buffet!). We've found that this gives us ample food and plenty of variety. In addition, we have the DDE card, so that saves us 20% as well.

The dining plan definitely makes sense for many, just not for us.

 

[AmyBWV99]

Do you prepay befor eyou leave for the plan? We're considering using it for our upcoming Xmas trip how long do i have to decide we leave in 43 days.

 

[Linda 441]

Yes, you pre-pay as part of the package. I think you can add it up to a couple of days before you arrive. Since packages have to be paid 45 days in advance, you'd have to pay within a couple of days of adding it I would think.