DDP or gift cards?

[JLitfin]

Should I add the regular dining or just use our Disney gift cards to pay for our meals. $45.99 a night seems like a lot to pay for our meals each day and that doesn't include tip. I have done the DDP before with my sister when I didn't have a car but my DH and I will be renting a car on this trip so we can stop by the store before checking in to our room. We are planning on eating our dinners out, breakfast in the room and a lite lunch out. Still trying to decide what to do. DDP or Gift cards.

What would you do?

 

[Sandisw]

I think it really depends on those dinners out, IMO. TS credits allow you to have a drink, entree and dessert. Will you eat that every meal when out? Same with the CS meal credit. My suggestion would be to price out a few meals and see how it compares. But, I also think that you have to decide, even if it is a slightly better value if you want all the food that comes with the plan.

We had pretty much decided last summer to just go the gift card option from this point forward for our summer trips since I just didn't eat all the food that came with the plan. Now, because my DD is bringing a friend who has only been to Disney once so we may end up doing more TS meals than initially planned.

If we do, then I will either go with the gift card or get the TIW card (since I will have my AP) or the DDP. My plan is to go back to Disney in January 2012 with my DH for a 2 night weekend stay and then again in August 2012 for the family trip so I think that the card would pay for itself without a problem.

If you are a AP holder, you may want to consider it.

Good luck!

 

[JLitfin]

I think it really depends on those dinners out, IMO. TS credits allow you to have a drink, entree and dessert. Will you eat that every meal when out? Same with the CS meal credit. My suggestion would be to price out a few meals and see how it compares. But, I also think that you have to decide, even if it is a slightly better value if you want all the food that comes with the plan.

We had pretty much decided last summer to just go the gift card option from this point forward for our summer trips since I just didn't eat all the food that came with the plan. Now, because my DD is bringing a friend who has only been to Disney once so we may end up doing more TS meals than initially planned.

If we do, then I will either go with the gift card or get the TIW card (since I will have my AP) or the DDP. My plan is to go back to Disney in January 2012 with my DH for a 2 night weekend stay and then again in August 2012 for the family trip so I think that the card would pay for itself without a problem.

If you are a AP holder, you may want to consider it.

Good luck!

Good suggestion, I'll price out our meals and see what we come up with, I already have reservations for our dinners, so I'll just pick what I believe we will eat and compare.

 

[Brian Noble]

Every family is different, but we have never (not once) spent as much just eating what, where, and when we wanted as the appropriate dining plan would cost. Sometimes, it is because we didn't quite eat as many sit downs as the DDP would require. Other times, it is because we needed a number of credits between DDP and DxDP. And, once we even had "the right" number of meals, but some of the TS meals ended up being less expensive per credit.

On the other hand, I don't see the advantage to using a gift card unless you just don't trust yourself with room charging/a credit card. It's all eventually coming out of the same pot, and a gift card, once loaded, has to be spent at Disney.

If you happen to be visiting two (or more) times in a calendar year, and could otherwise use an AP, we've found the Tables in Wonderland card to be a good deal. It pays for itself after about $350ish in eligible dining costs, and is more flexible than DDP---it applies to anything at a TS restaurant, including apps, booze, etc.

 

[Sandisw]

Every family is different, but we have never (not once) spent as much just eating what, where, and when we wanted as the appropriate dining plan would cost. Sometimes, it is because we didn't quite eat as many sit downs as the DDP would require. Other times, it is because we needed a number of credits between DDP and DxDP. And, once we even had "the right" number of meals, but some of the TS meals ended up being less expensive per credit.

On the other hand, I don't see the advantage to using a gift card unless you just don't trust yourself with room charging/a credit card. It's all eventually coming out of the same pot, and a gift card, once loaded, has to be spent at Disney.

If you happen to be visiting two (or more) times in a calendar year, and could otherwise use an AP, we've found the Tables in Wonderland card to be a good deal. It pays for itself after about $350ish in eligible dining costs, and is more flexible than DDP---it applies to anything at a TS restaurant, including apps, booze, etc.

If I go the TIW route and gift cards next summer, we thought about putting the cost of the DDP's on them to see how it compares. In addition, I will be traveling with teens and want them to have something that they can use to cover meals when not with me, but not access to charging on my CC.

Our plan is to start with the same amount that the plans would cost and go from there.

 

[JLitfin]

Every family is different, but we have never (not once) spent as much just eating what, where, and when we wanted as the appropriate dining plan would cost. Sometimes, it is because we didn't quite eat as many sit downs as the DDP would require. Other times, it is because we needed a number of credits between DDP and DxDP. And, once we even had "the right" number of meals, but some of the TS meals ended up being less expensive per credit.

On the other hand, I don't see the advantage to using a gift card unless you just don't trust yourself with room charging/a credit card. It's all eventually coming out of the same pot, and a gift card, once loaded, has to be spent at Disney.

If you happen to be visiting two (or more) times in a calendar year, and could otherwise use an AP, we've found the Tables in Wonderland card to be a good deal. It pays for itself after about $350ish in eligible dining costs, and is more flexible than DDP---it applies to anything at a TS restaurant, including apps, booze, etc.

I ordered the gift cards online and paying for them using my Disney Visa reward dollars. I'm either going to order the DDP or charge the meals to our room and pay for everything at the end of our trip using the gift cards. I don't have an AP since we visit Disney about once every two years, so buying a TIW card is out of the question. I believe we are leaning toward the DDP, I figured out our meals and it's not much more then paying out of pocket using the gift cards.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

 

[Alexander]

Every family is different, but we have never (not once) spent as much just eating what, where, and when we wanted as the appropriate dining plan would cost. Sometimes, it is because we didn't quite eat as many sit downs as the DDP would require. Other times, it is because we needed a number of credits between DDP and DxDP. And, once we even had "the right" number of meals, but some of the TS meals ended up being less expensive per credit.

On the other hand, I don't see the advantage to using a gift card unless you just don't trust yourself with room charging/a credit card. It's all eventually coming out of the same pot, and a gift card, once loaded, has to be spent at Disney.
If you happen to be visiting two (or more) times in a calendar year, and could otherwise use an AP, we've found the Tables in Wonderland card to be a good deal. It pays for itself after about $350ish in eligible dining costs, and is more flexible than DDP---it applies to anything at a TS restaurant, including apps, booze, etc.

By using gift cards, it is like having your meals all paid for in advance. Many people like the dining plan because everything (except tips) is paid for before you arrive. By purchasing gift cards in advance, you don't have to pay for them while on vacation or when you get home. It is a psychological thing more than anything!

 

[LauraLea]

Buying gift cards at a grocery store gives me double cc reward points (and at one time is was 5x the points.......oh the good old days of cc reward points).

We love the TIW for the discount on adult beverages and because many times for dinner we may each just order 2 appetizers and skip the entree. Now that the regular dining plan does not include appetizers, many places are putting some nice choices out there again. Also, we feel much less "stuffed" after eating this way. TIW still gives you a nice discount regardless of how you feel like eating at the time.

Laura

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We used a gift card to pay for all of our CS meals and snacks last year because we wanted to see exactly how much we would spend vs. how much a plan would cost. Turns out we spent HALF. The CS plan would have been $1247. We spent just over $600. So, at the end of the trip we had more than $600 left on the gift card to put towards our TS meals that we charged to the room.

This year we'll just charge everything to the room.

 

[JLitfin]

Buying gift cards at a grocery store gives me double cc reward points (and at one time is was 5x the points.......oh the good old days of cc reward points).

Laura

I purchased my gift cards at the grocery store also and received reward points, but this time I wanted to use my reward points so I ordered my gift cards from the Disneyshopping.com site.