DDP: The Good and The Bad

[disneydoula]

For those of you who have done the DDP recently, what are the good points about it? And what are the bad?

 

[stitchlover]

We enjoy DDP. I like not really having to worry about the cost of the food once we get there. i would like to see a few more CS options open. I diet constantly and sometimes the CS options can be limited! When at WDW I try to not to deprive myself but i do like to have two healthy meals if I know I am going to *cheat* one meal.

 

[JimMIA]

We enjoy DDP for several reasons -- it saves us a little money, we like the convenience of it, and it encourages us to try restaurants we have not tried previously.

For negatives, I can only think of one. With the standardization of the menus, I really doubt we would use it for any stays longer than a week. Our typical trip is 4-5 days and we like DDP for that -- but for a long stay, it would be too much similar food for us.

Another possible downside is that there are a lot of good restaurants offsite. We always drive to WDW, so we have a car, and we would eat most of our meals offsite if it weren't for DDP.

We'll see what happens with the 2008 DDP, but if they change it as rumored (removing the gratuity), we have eaten our last meal on DDP. Maybe we'll eat at Columbia and Bonefish Grill instead of CG and LC.

 

[disneyquilter]

DH & I love the DDP. My DH loves the fact that everything is paid for when we get there and I love the fact we can try all sorts of restaurants and that we get an appetizer, entree, dessert, and drink. I love trying new appetizers & desserts.

I can't think of anything negative about it.

 

[TxRabbit]

Some good points:

> The majority of food cost is paid for up front.
> If you want to eat at TS restaurants, it is a very good value.
> There is so much food at your TS restaurant meal, that you really can get away with just one more counter service and snack a day.
> Budgeting more money for food may only be necessary for additional beverages (refillable mugs, alcohol, drinks inbetween meals, if you don't want to use a snack credit for a drink) and those things that you wouldn't want to waste a snack credit on, like fruit (0.99), and for places that don't accept DDP (like mini donuts in BB, etc.).
> Ordering at restaurants can be based on what you want to eat and what sounds good as opposed to what fits in the budget.
> It is very convenient to just keep track of credits, rather than a budget, while living in the World.
> You can use your credits in any order, at any time during your stay, so if you really wanted to, you could nothing but TS one day, nothing but CS another, etc.
> Tip is included.
> There is so much food given with each meal credit, if you are willing to share meals, eating lighter and more often, you could really experience a variety of food during your visit, especially if you eat in Epcot.

Some bad points:
> Children's menus are very limited and rarely different from one restaurant to the next at CS restaurants and children ages 3-9 are required to order from the kids menu.
> There is so much food available to eat, that you may continue eating when you aren't hungry to "maximize your value."
> You may be tempted to order a more expensive item just because it is more expensive, again to maximize your value.

We used the DDP in March and we are using it again in August. It was simple and convenient. Whether or not you are on the DDP, if you want to eat a TS meal, you will need to make ADRs. I think the main selling point is if you want to eat at TS. Then, it is without a doubt a great value and not even a question. I would think that we would have to start to think twice about it when DS may not be happy with the kids menus any longer and see what we would need to do to accommodate him.