DDP Not Such a Good Deal Anymore?

[dhardawa]

I purchased the DDP a few years back before free dining and thought it was a good deal. This was when it included tips and appetizers. Then I have had it free twice and, obviously, that is a great deal. I'm planning a trip in 2011 now and am considering renting DVC points so I wouldn't qualify for free dining. After taking a good look, I'm not sure this is such a great deal anymore. The price in 2011 for an adult is $46/day (with a snack, counter service, and sit down). When I go look at the menus, I'm going to have a hard time spending $46 a day on food. Don't get me wrong, I could do it a day or two, but every day? I really don't see it. I'm also one who typically doesn't use the snack credits and ends up taking home a bunch of snacks that I bought on the last day to use them up. Has anyone else noticed this?

Another question, can I purchase just a child's dining plan without adult ones? That is the only one that seems like it might still be a decent deal. If I can, I'd probably buy that for my son and just pay outright for the rest of us.

 

[Faldred]

Last question first: no, you have to order the same plan for everyone in the room, or no plan at all.

I do think with the price hikes over the last two years that you have to "work" the plans harder to save money. (Except for Deluxe -- it's still quite easy to be well ahead there... if that's how you want to eat.)

But note that OOP prices will likely increase as well, we just don't know where and by how much yet.

 

[XQIXX]

No, everyone on the reservation has to be on the plan .
I agree that the plan is not a money saver anymore at least not for us.My kids are 11 and 13 and considered adults so it really became an issue when they didn't like the adult menus.
We did the counter service plan on the last trip and that woked out well because we didn't have assigned times to eat and were not forced to try and get the max value from the plan. I think the out of pocket for table service restaurants works because you control when and how you eat, like having an appetizer and no dessert.
$46 plus tax and tip seems like they are pricing it where it is not a value but more of a convenience. I miss the old plan though

 

[mhawk4]

No, everyone on the reservation has to be on the plan .
I agree that the plan is not a money saver anymore at least not for us.My kids are 11 and 13 and considered adults so it really became an issue when they didn't like the adult menus.
We did the counter service plan on the last trip and that woked out well because we didn't have assigned times to eat and were not forced to try and get the max value from the plan. I think the out of pocket for table service restaurants works because you control when and how you eat, like having an appetizer and no dessert.
$46 plus tax and tip seems like they are pricing it where it is not a value but more of a convenience. I miss the old plan though

Is there a place that you can find out how much it costs for the meals if you pay out of pocket?

We are going in December and I am trying to figure out what to do. We are staying DVC at AKV so will have breakfast in the room. I am trying to decide if we should get a dining plan at all or just pay as we go. We are going to have a couple of sit down dinners, one at AKV for Christmas day brunch, one at Beach Club for Christmas Eve dinner, and one at the Polynesia just because we have heard good things and it would be fun.

When we went it May we had the basic dining and it was easy but then again we did not have anywhere to make breakfast and it was easier to hand over our cards than to pull out money or deal with debit or credit cards.

 

[Anthony1971]

You can find Menus at ALLEARS.NET but use it as a guide as it is not always 100% accurate--menus cahnge so no place is 100%...

We only use the Dinning plan on shorter trips 3 nights or less and Feel in 2011 we will just break even or maybe only save a few $
for us it goes like this most trips we will have a TS everyday but for lunch and we may or may not do a CS as well sometimes just a snack. Even if we do a CS we are not geting dessert with it. If you do TS lunch it is hard to break even with the DP much less make it worth while...
If you cut the dessert from a CS you will most likely only save a few dollars if anything at all when doing dinners unless you order steak every night... That is where my problem comes in for 2011 most shorter vactaions are after a cruise which you eat steak on a good number of nights..
The best idea is to look at what you may eat and go from there....make sure you do this after lunch or dinner so you are not hungry...

 

[Nadjalu]

I don't believe there is a place to know how much the OOP increase will be. I know the menus online have a hard enough time keeping items up to date, let alone the prices.

 

[Faldred]

Just remember that during Christmas week, it'll be peak pricing, so the DDP (but not QSDP or DxDP) will cost more per night, but then again, many of the meals will also have a holiday surcharge OOP as well.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I really don't think the DP is worth it anymore. I used it back when tips/appetizers were included as well, and thought it was a much better value. I won't purchase the DP now. The deluxe plan is another story though.

 

[mhawk4]

Just remember that during Christmas week, it'll be peak pricing, so the DDP (but not QSDP or DxDP) will cost more per night, but then again, many of the meals will also have a holiday surcharge OOP as well.

In that case is it better to buy the dining plan so you lock in lower rates or does it not matter?

 

[Faldred]

In that case is it better to buy the dining plan so you lock in lower rates or does it not matter?

Depends on where you plan to eat and how much the surcharges are.

One advantage of a dining plan is that it does lock in prices -- if the OOP costs increase, the dining plan still costs the same as when you booked it.

 

[mhawk4]

Depends on where you plan to eat and how much the surcharges are.

One advantage of a dining plan is that it does lock in prices -- if the OOP costs increase, the dining plan still costs the same as when you booked it.

I am new to all of this, but I like figuring out all of the details about everything.

We plan to eat at Cape May for dinner on Christmas Eve, Boma for breakfast on Christmas, and Ohana for dinner. How can I find out if there is going to be a surchage?

I would appreciate any information that you can give me.

 

[squirrel]

I am new to all of this, but I like figuring out all of the details about everything.

We plan to eat at Cape May for dinner on Christmas Eve, Boma for breakfast on Christmas, and Ohana for dinner. How can I find out if there is going to be a surchage?

I would appreciate any information that you can give me.

I believe there is a surcharge only for the buffet/family style meals during peak times of the year.

 

[catne]

if the plan matches how you want to eat, it can save you lots...we love desserts on vacation...and tend to order the pricier entrees because that's what we like (BIG ol' steaks) We rarely do buffets or family-style meals. Our per-person price at a table service with no appetizer is around $40. So buying a dining plan that costs $42 or 43, even $47 is a no-brainer since in addition to covering that $40 ticket we're also getting a $4 snack and a $15-20 lunch. I do keep receipts, and we routinely save 20-25% on the DDP over the OOP cost of food. When we do the Deluxe dining, our savings is closer to 30%.

Now if you prefer a lot of buffets, or don't want all the table service...if you'd normally split meals and skip dessert...well then No, the dining plan won't save you any money. You just have to look at menus, assess what your family would prefer to eat & where & do the math.

 

[kcbedo]

We are going during the last week of January for a week (2 adults + 2 seven year-olds), and I figure for us it is at least break even with DDP.

The DDP cost is $811, and if we were to do the TS restaurants we have planned, it would cost us $657 OOP. That leaves us with an additional cost of about $22 per day for snacks and other food.

So, if we brought our own snacks and shared meals, we might be able to spend a bit less than $811 OOP, but probably not a whole lot less.

If we take full advantage of all the snacks, deserts, and CS meals, then that would be the equivalent of about $950 OOP. That seems like a lot of extra food that we would probably not ordinarily order, so I'm not sure that I would say we are really saving $140, but at least for us DDP doesn't sound like a terrible deal.