DDP or DDE. Which is better

[zackspal]

New to this. Was wondering which is better, The DDE or DDP. I do have AP.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

New to this. Was wondering which is better, The DDE or DDP. I do have AP.

It depends on your dining pattern at WDW.

For example, if your family likes a big counter service lunch every day and a three-course table service dinner every night, then you can save a lot of money with the DDP. (Yes, I know there's the flexibility to use the DDP CS and TS credits in other ways too; I'm just giving an example.)

However, if you typically don't dine at a TS restaurant every night, or you typically order one- or two-course meals, or you enjoy dining in your DVC villa some of the time, then the economics of DDP become shaky. With DDP, you may just find yourself eating more than you really want.

In other words, there's no one-size-fits-all answer.

We decided that we'll be better off with DDE. I prefer a two-course dinner with wine. Three-course meals tend to be too much food for us, and we're not big on buffets either. DDE provides a discount on the meal and the wine. (With DDP, wine is full price.) Sure, you can get two-course meals with DDP, but it's the third course that really makes DDP a money-saver.

 

[Chuck S]

We normally have our large TS meal for lunch, prefer water as a beverage (though occasionally order another beverage), often we split an appetizer and dessert , but each order our own entree. We tend to eat a lighter CS meal at dinner. Though we do occasionally have a TS dinner. Comparing what we spend with the DDE vs the DDP for our normal dining habits, the DDE saves us money compared to the cost of the DDP. This is for two adults, the DDP probably works better if you have a child or two in your party.

 

[patsal]

Totally depends how your family eats. If you eat the way the DDp is set up with a CS for lunch a TS for dinner and eat a three course meal or do lots of buffets and enjoy a snack per day then with the DDP your savings will be about 40%. If you prefer to eat TS for lunch, not use CS at the parks (excpet AK where the DDE is valid) and eat most of your CS at the resorts, or forgo CS all together in favor of TS then DDE is more likely better for you. DDE and DDP seem to have similair restrictions on restaurants and DDE does not give a discount on snacks. It does however give a discount on alcohol at all TS where it is accepted. With DDE your saivngs will be 20%.

 

[Jynohn]

We prefer the DDE just because it seems to be more flexible. We don't have to keep track of credits, or feel like we have to eat a certain amount to "get our money's worth." We don't usually get a lot of snacks in the park, and usually prefer table service to counter service, so we probably wouldn't use those options on the DDP very much anyway.

With the DDE we automatically get 20% off of each meal, which is about how much we tip. So we just end up paying the original amount of the bill and the tip is taken care of.

On our last trip in January we ended up saving over $300 with the DDE card, and will be using it again next month before it expires. We think it was well worth the $50 investment