DDP: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (long)

[All Morganic]

Just got back last night from 8 days o' Disney and the DDP. Our party consisted of 4 adults (me, DH, DF, DM) & our 2 kiddos, DD5 and DD3.5 and let me say IMHO (and DH's) there was just too much food. You felt like you were eating all of the time, to the point where there were times it just wasn't enjoyable. Yes, there was a certain monetary value in getting the DDP, but realistically if we were paying OOP, we would not have ordered as much food thus would have saved money or at least our waistlines

Also, IMHO, think that so many TS meals really sucked away our time in the parks. If you are doing TS, expect to spend 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from your "play time" (and we went during off season!)

I know that there are others who don't agree with this, remember this is just MY opinion - the children's meals, especially CS left something to be desired. No, they (mostly) were down right gross. I guess I would have liked the flexibility of ordering something off the adult menu and splitting it between them. Also, the CS side items were a choice of 2 - grapes, baby carrots or applesauce. How many grapes, baby carrots and applesauces do you think get thrown out every day in Disney? Just some food for thought

Oh, one more little tidbit about the credits - TS credits are separated by adult and child. CS meals at this time are not. I certainly wasn't looking to take advantage of the DDP, but a couple of times I used my children's CS to get adult meals - like pizza and hamburgers (which were hard to find in childrens CS). I was having a hard time convincing my girls that cold chicken was yummy (I tried it - it wasn't!)

Another bad thing with CS meals is that when you asked questions about it, depending on who you asked you got different answers. An example: In Roaring Fork, one employee said that 3 items made up a CS credits, whether they be a drink, enteee and dessert OR drink, entree and side item. The next day we were told not so - it must be drink, entree and dessert. So, if your using the DDP, keep asking different people the same question and sooner or later someone will answer it the way you want it to be answered.

When we left, we had 4 TS childrens credits remaining. We also had 15 snack credits left and went to Goofy's Candy Co. on our last day and stocked up on souvenier snacks.

Okay, I guess I've covered the bad (too much food and not enough flexibility with children's meals), the ugly (my waistline) so now onto the good.

We did have some pretty good food and also some outstanding food. My favorite TS meals were Prime Time Cafe, 'Ohana, Le Cellier and the BEST - Jiko!!! This was worth the 2TS credits and by far the best meal of the trip.

I think the biggest value for our family was in the character meals, because we would have been paying for those one way or another.

I'm not sure if we were treated any different by the waitstaff being on the DDP. All of our service was fine - not outstanding, but certainly acceptable. I figured since they deal with huge amounts of people this was probably the norm service wise. No real complaints though.

Below I'll list all of the restaurants we ate at. Let me know if you want any specific information about the restaurant or the meals.

Roaring Fork (at the Wilderness Lodge)
Prime TIme Cafe
Columbia Harbor House
'Ohana
Akershus (Princess Lunch)
Le Cellier
Tusker House
Flame Tree BBQ
Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
Whispering Canyon Cafe
ABC Commissary
Tangierine Cafe
Jiko
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)

Was the DDP a good value? If you are the type of person to order an appetizer, entree and dessert at every meal for EVERY PERSON in your party, then yup, it's a good value. Also, if you don't mind taking huge chunks of time out of your day then it's probably good for you.

If you like to have flexibility, especially with the kids meals, and like to sometimes eat a little, sometimes eat a lot then this probably isn't the best plan for you and your family. Also, remember, you get a huge dessert after every meal. Do you need a dessert after every meal? I could have said no, I really wanted to pass up those desserts but since I "paid" for them, I ate them.

 

[jodifla]

Good post. Too many people seem to be all ga-ga about all the money they are saving, when they wouldn't order that much food in the first place!

We use the DDE, which is a MUCH better deal IMO. We saved a lot of money, ate EXACTLY what we wanted, and got discounts on alcohol as well. Also a deal killer for the DDP is the pretty lousy CS menu for kids.

And we weren't a slave to the DDP and ADRs.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Did you use the ddp for HDDR? If so, where were your seats.

We did it 2 years ago on the ddp and we were seated front and center. It was the best and dh was picked to be Davey Crockett's angel (I almost peed my pants it was so funny).

We'd like to do it again in August, but would not enjoy it as much if we had to sit in the balcony or way in the back.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Our family loved the dining plan. We stayed at pop century for 8 nights. Overall, we didn't mind the time spent away from Playing in the parks since I timed everything ahead of time so that we wouldn't miss anything major. I also enjoyed being able to order whatever we wanted and enjoyed being able to get an appetizer and dessert with virtually every meal. We ate like kings and I liked this since we were on vacation. We normally don't order this much food either, but it was nice for a change.
I agree that the kids meals are horrible and disney needs to make a change regarding this. It wouldn't be too bad if you had kids who aren't picky and if you only vacationed for a few days, but what about those of us who have picky kids or will vacation for longer periods? Kids will get tired of the same choices over and over, and how do explain to a child when the parent is having a really good dessert and they have to have grapes or applesauce as thier dessert???
On the plus side, we didn't have to carry much cash around since everything was paid in advance and there was many many restaurant and food options and varieties. We will definetely do the plan again.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Good post. Too many people seem to be all ga-ga about all the money they are saving, when they wouldn't order that much food in the first place!

We use the DDE, which is a MUCH better deal IMO. We saved a lot of money, ate EXACTLY what we wanted, and got discounts on alcohol as well. Also a deal killer for the DDP is the pretty lousy CS menu for kids.

And we weren't a slave to the DDP and ADRs.

ITA! Great Post! Plus, we get advance notice of all the special upcoming dining experiences.

 

[All Morganic]

Did you use the ddp for HDDR? If so, where were your seats.

We did it 2 years ago on the ddp and we were seated front and center. It was the best and dh was picked to be Davey Crockett's angel (I almost peed my pants it was so funny).

We'd like to do it again in August, but would not enjoy it as much if we had to sit in the balcony or way in the back.

No, my parents paid OOP for us to go so we could sit in front. Yeah, if you use the DDP, you're going to be in the back or upstairs. It was worth the extra money - the show was great and the food was really good! Plus then DH and I had some extra TS credits to use for a date at Jiko!

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

I know that there are others who don't agree with this, remember this is just MY opinion - the children's meals, especially CS left something to be desired. No, they (mostly) were down right gross. I guess I would have liked the flexibility of ordering something off the adult menu and splitting it between them. Also, the CS side items were a choice of 2 - grapes, baby carrots or applesauce. How many grapes, baby carrots and applesauces do you think get thrown out every day in Disney? Just some food for thought

Oh, one more little tidbit about the credits - TS credits are separated by adult and child. CS meals at this time are not. I certainly wasn't looking to take advantage of the DDP, but a couple of times I used my children's CS to get adult meals - like pizza and hamburgers (which were hard to find in childrens CS). I was having a hard time convincing my girls that cold chicken was yummy (I tried it - it wasn't!)

I completely agree with you and I have also used one of my adult CS credits for my children. Also, I know which cold chicken salad you are talking about it and it is pretty disgusting.

 

[GC&S]

Good post. Too many people seem to be all ga-ga about all the money they are saving, when they wouldn't order that much food in the first place!

We use the DDE, which is a MUCH better deal IMO. We saved a lot of money, ate EXACTLY what we wanted, and got discounts on alcohol as well. Also a deal killer for the DDP is the pretty lousy CS menu for kids.

And we weren't a slave to the DDP and ADRs.

So if you use the DDE, you don't need ADRs? I thought regardless if you use either, you would still need ADRs. We've always used the DP (it is a good deal for us because we do tend to eat TS everyday and usually order an app and/or dessert). But if you mean you weren't a slave to ADRs because you had the DDE and you didn't need ADRs, maybe we should look into that.

 

[Katiebell]

We use the DDE, which is a MUCH better deal IMO. We saved a lot of money, ate EXACTLY what we wanted, and got discounts on alcohol as well.

Yes, it does sound like a much better deal with no waste. But isn't it only available for DVC members and FL residents? If it was available to the general public, I'm sure lots of people would be more interested in the DDE rather than the DDP.

 

[thunderbird1]

So if you use the DDE, you don't need ADRs? I thought regardless if you use either, you would still need ADRs. We've always used the DP (it is a good deal for us because we do tend to eat TS everyday and usually order an app and/or dessert). But if you mean you weren't a slave to ADRs because you had the DDE and you didn't need ADRs, maybe we should look into that.

No, you still need ADR's for your TS restaurants. I'm guessing she just doesn't have one every single day or, if she does, either doesn't mind having breakfast ADR's (not as good a "deal" on the DDP, but with DDE, 20% off is 20% off) or doesn't feel bad about cancelling an ADR (no "use it or lose it" like with the DDP).

Yes, it does sound like a much better deal with no waste. But isn't it only available for DVC members and FL residents? If it was available to the general public, I'm sure lots of people would be more interested in the DDE rather than the DDP.

It's only available to FL residents and annual passholders, not DVC members (though the two groups do tend to overlap). We had it a couple of years ago when we had AP's, but they've increased the FL resident price and now charge extra for an additional (spouse) card, so I don't think it's as good a deal as it once was.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

We are passholders/fl residents,2 ad and 3 children, and DDP is the best deal out there for us. We have DDE and before we used DDP it was the best...We figure we come out about even as far as expenses for food on DDP but we eat well on DDP, and would try to economize by not trying the nicer TS places before DDP.

We use all our credits-If we need snacks or drinks,and have run out of snack credits,we just use a couple of CS credits and split the drinks, just whatever it takes to use the credits to our advantage. Casey's is good for this-lots of food for snack break and use only 1 or 2 CS credits-just an example. Near end of trip we calculate how many of each credit we need to use up, and just do it. SO MUCH FUN!!!Just go with it and enjoy-it really is nice!!!!

 

[Barbers2005]

I loved the DDP. It was a ton of food, but we stopped eating breakfast about 2 days into our trip (except dd4, she had some fruit in the mornings). We ate lunch a little early, had a snack in the afternoon and then a late dinner- worked great. Dd4 liked pretty much everything she tried for cs lunches, and a couple of times dh or I would switch our fries for her applesauce or carrot sticks (only so many fries you can eat, kwim?). I would probably do the dining plan even if it didn't save us any money b/c it was nice to have all the meals paid for in advance and not worry about the cost of food on vacation. Dh goes a little bonkers when he sees that constant money flow from his wallet into WDW restaurants.

 

[countrygrl]

We are visiting Disneyworld in May. Can someone please tell me what DDES' are?

 

[patsal]

Another instance where what is good for some isn't good for everyone. We always travel during peak times in July and and welcome that 1-2 hours out of the heat and crowds! We also do a few signature dining experiences to allow for a few days of spontanaity with no TS. It is a ton of food, but we share, and dont' worry about maximising the plan. We know we will break even at least so no worries there. I also have no one under 10 so the ickky kids choices don't play a role in my choices.

 

[patsal]

We are visiting Disneyworld in May. Can someone please tell me what DDES' are?

The DDE is the Disney Dining Experience Card it offers discounts (20%) on TS meals and select CS where no TS is available (AK, Value resorts, etc.). You can purchase one if you are a Florida resident or if you have an Annual pass.

 

[SnowWitch]

Another instance where what is good for some isn't good for everyone. We always travel during peak times in July and and welcome that 1-2 hours out of the heat and crowds! We also do a few signature dining experiences to allow for a few days of spontanaity with no TS. It is a ton of food, but we share, and dont' worry about maximising the plan. We know we will break even at least so no worries there. I also have no one under 10 so the ickky kids choices don't play a role in my choices.

Agree totally!!! When we travel during June and July we really enjoy getting out of the heat for a couple of hours. Although my DH and DS (16) always order their own app., entree, and dessert (they tend to nibble at the dessert), DS (14) and I share an app., entree, and dessert. Some may frown upon that but, oh well.....Even sharing we still leave more than full. Our daughter was free last year and will be for 2 more years, so she wasn't on the plan. We did however order off of the kids menu when we were rodering items we knew she would not like. We have not experienced the new kids choices yet. After reading the reviews I'm very interested to see what she thinks.

 

[samiandsky]

Okay, I'm sure this has been asked, so dont shoot me for asking again, but we are going in 2 weeks. We had the dining plan in October of 2005, and loved it. This time, we're paying 700.00 for 7 nights, out of pocket for our family of 4. DID THEY CHANGE the plan? I keep hearing about the children's menus... can someone please tell me about this, and what exactly it means?

For instance, we're doing Chef Mickeys breakfast,Polynesian Resort character breakfast, Cape May Cafe breakfast, princess breakfast at epcot, play and dine at hollywood and vine lunch, basically, all character breakfasts, lunches, or dinners, like crystal palace for dinner one night.
Aren't all of these places buffets???

What places seperate kids from the adults?

Please warn me ahead of time...my trip is fast approaching!

THanks in advance!

 

[JimMIA]

Another instance where what is good for some isn't good for everyone. We always travel during peak times in July and and welcome that 1-2 hours out of the heat and crowds!

I agree, although we approach it a little differently. We usually use our TS credits for dinners, and we book them late (after 7:30, and often after 8:00). For us, a nice relaxing dinner is the perfect end to a great day.

We also do a few signature dining experiences to allow for a few days of spontanaity with no TS.

We've been thinking about doing that, but I keep seeing the signature dining (especially Yachtsman) getting panned so badly that we haven't tried it yet. We may yet try that on our May trip. If we do, we'll probably do CG.

It is a ton of food, but we share, and dont' worry about maximising the plan.

We don't share -- other than to taste a little off each other's plates -- but we still find we get excellent value. In my cost computations, I compare the daily price of the DDP with what we would normally eat for dinner, including tax and tip. (NOT appy, entree & dessert, but what we would really order if we were paying cash.) I don't assign any value at all to the CS and snack credits, although we usually use all of them. We come out ahead financially, even disregarding the CS and snacks.

Aside from the cost savings of DDP, many posters get DDP just because their food costs are pretty much taken care of prior to arrival. That can be a big factor for folks on a tight budget.

Two additional benefits for us are that we try new restaurants that we probably never would have tried, and also we enjoy the character meals (although we've been to just about all of them and are getting a little tired of them).

As far as too much food, I've never had a server hold a gun to my head and force me to eat anything yet. We do order an appetiser (usually soup or salad), entree, and dessert to make sure the server gets their full tip, but we rarely eat the desserts. I don't think we have ever eaten all three desserts at any meal (me, DW and DD4-going-on-24). I'm sure it's quite possible to overeat on DDP, but we don't.

[ETA - I also think it matters how long your stay is. We live only 4 hours away, so we do two or more 3-5 day trips a year. Especially with the menu standardization Disney has recently implemented, I'm not at all sure I would use DDP for a longer stay -- a week maybe, but certainly not longer than that. In a short trip, we get enough variety, but everything would start to taste the same after a week, I'm afraid.]

 

[Tina G]

I agree that each person has to do the calculations and decide what is best for them. Everything I had heard was the DDP was a big money-saver but when I did the calculations for my family of 3 (me, DH, and DD 8) we would pretty much break even. I guess a lot depends on what you order at TS restaurants. We don't usually order expensive items. I don't eat seafood and usually order a chicken dish which is generally on the cheaper side. We never order appetizers or dessert with our meal but prefer to eat snacks between meals. So for us, the DDP is not a money-saver. ALso depends on where you want to eat - we had 2-3 places planned that didn't accept DDP so then we would have been pushing to use our other credits.

I think if your family eats a lot, likes to order expensive items, and you are completely flexible about where you want to eat, then the DDP would make sense. But don't assume it's a great value for everyone. Do the calculations after you make your ADRs and see what the totals will be. The best part is you can add the DDP to your trip anytime before you arrive so you can't wait until you know your schedule and ADRs to decide.

 

[kat08]

We are doing the DDP for our upcoming trip in May. For us, it seems like a great deal because we have a 2 yr old DS. His park passes are free and he is not included on the DDP. So... appetizers will come in handy to feed him. We won't have to order additional menu items, except maybe at QS places. Not sure how that's going to work out yet.

I have a question on this subject... At buffets, will they let us get a plate for a 2yo without charging us? The DDP "rules" say that they can share off of the adult plates, but what about buffets?