DDP Value?

[tinkerpea]

We also really enjoy dessert!

So for me again the DDP works well, just because the dessert is huge does by no mean I have to eat it all! I have a few bites and I'm done

We also eat at a lot of signatures and pay OOP for the kids meals so we can use their credits as we always upgrade them, that way it's not a bad use of the credit lol,
For example were doing yachtman narcoosees flying fish and Citricus this trip.

 

[darthtatty]

Op-how many of you are there?

I know you mentioned £1300 but didn't say how many of you there are.

I would personally never buy the dining plan but if it didn't cost that much to upgrade our hotel to another to get 'free' dining then I would.

To buy the dining plan and get your moneys worth, you generally have to order the most expensive items at each meal & snack time.
This results you in having to pay more in tips-if you have table meals.

While I enjoy the 'free' dining, it is too much food. we generally use most of the snack credits to bring sweets home. A lot of the counter service desserts were wasted and we had a few credits left over.

 

[darthtatty]

However not sure I could do 2 weeks of quick service food!

I think you need some more research
perhaps check out the food reports, just in case

there are so many fast food options, that really don't feel like QS food.
eg WPE

 

[orangetiggs]

I love the ddp as we a,ways stay onsite but we do eat offsite too.

Last two times we have shared meals with our under three twins, this year we are all on the ddp and im not worried about too much food as the girls will def eat all oir snacks

As for cs there are so many nice ones that are not just burgers, wpe is by far the best use and we make sure we go a few times. If we are left any cs earl or sandwich on the last day for airport food

 

[disneyholic family]

i buy the dining plan...
there is no question that buying the dining plan is MORE expensive than out of pocket, however, i get so irritated by the high cost of food on property that it destroys my vacation when i pay out of pocket..
when i'm just spending credits, i don't think about it...

 

[tinkerpea]

i buy the dining plan...
there is no question that buying the dining plan is MORE expensive than out of pocket, however, i get so irritated by the high cost of food on property that it destroys my vacation when i pay out of pocket..
when i'm just spending credits, i don't think about it...

This!!
We also feel this way,the 1st time we stayed on site we felt like all our money went on food!
We had DH myself a 3yr old and twin 17 month olds and yet over £1000 was spent on food and we didn't do many TS meals , for a 2 week trip.
This way I buy what I like, and I don't buy the most expensive meal because I want best value for my credit...I get it because that's normally the meal I want, I like lobster & steak!

 

[2Tiggies]

We have a similar approach to Vanda; food fits in with the rest of our plans, not the other way around. I am quite happy to schedule park days and plan around park hopping for parades and shows etc, but resent having meals dictate what I can and can't do and when. For some, a nice sit down meal or regular meals is very important and this can be for a variety of (often practical or necessary) reasons.

We have paid for the DDP, gone without it and paid OOP and over the last few years going in off season, we have had the QSDP free. I would never pay for the regular DDP but right now the QSDP does suit us and I would pay for it rather than go without it.

I get where the OP is coming from if this is about cost. I also priced up values vs mods this year just to see - and the results were the same as before: I could stay at a moderate resort with my CS meals included for the same price as adding the QSDP at a value. To me it is a no brainer, but that is because I have a fairly good idea of our habits and choices.

I'm going to be a bit of a spoil sport here, but have a serious think about going offsite for meals on a daily or almost daily basis. Even with the freedom of a car, that is time consuming and in many ways requires more planning than having ADRs in the resorts or parks because you can't just wait until you're hungry to go out and find somewhere to eat. You need to think ahead because you have to get out of the park, if you are in one, get to your car (pain at MK particularly) and then decide where you want to go and still get there - and back again. I know it works for some so I'm not shooting it down completely but to me, staying onsite makes sense to eat onsite for the most part. I totally get it if you are in a villa somewhere off Disney property. Just a thought for consideration

 

[Elise79]

We have a similar approach to Vanda; food fits in with the rest of our plans, not the other way around. I am quite happy to schedule park days and plan around park hopping for parades and shows etc, but resent having meals dictate what I can and can't do and when. For some, a nice sit down meal or regular meals is very important and this can be for a variety of (often practical or necessary) reasons.

We have paid for the DDP, gone without it and paid OOP and over the last few years going in off season, we have had the QSDP free. I would never pay for the regular DDP but right now the QSDP does suit us and I would pay for it rather than go without it.

I get where the OP is coming from if this is about cost. I also priced up values vs mods this year just to see - and the results were the same as before: I could stay at a moderate resort with my CS meals included for the same price as adding the QSDP at a value. To me it is a no brainer, but that is because I have a fairly good idea of our habits and choices.

I'm going to be a bit of a spoil sport here, but have a serious think about going offsite for meals on a daily or almost daily basis. Even with the freedom of a car, that is time consuming and in many ways requires more planning than having ADRs in the resorts or parks because you can't just wait until you're hungry to go out and find somewhere to eat. You need to think ahead because you have to get out of the park, if you are in one, get to your car (pain at MK particularly) and then decide where you want to go and still get there - and back again. I know it works for some so I'm not shooting it down completely but to me, staying onsite makes sense to eat onsite for the most part. I totally get it if you are in a villa somewhere off Disney property. Just a thought for consideration

Regarding the offsite dining - I think it depends on your touring style. We are usually back at the hotel in the afternoon so getting the car to pop out for dinner is no big deal.

For us food is somewhere in the middle - I do not want to making an ADR for everyday but we do enjoy a proper sit down most days. To achieve this we usually have 2 evening ADRs per week. One will be in or near Epcot on a Tuesday. The other will be a signature. The rest will not be planned ahead.

We also find the quality and choice at most of the Disney TS to be lacking even after our TIW discount. I don't think visiting multiple times a year helps either as I am more willing to see the faults!

The other thing is we stay in a DVC one bedroom and I am happy to use the kitchen and will cook on occasion.

The final thing is we have local friends so visit them for dinner too which is nice but doesn't help convince me that the DDP is good value

Disney love people buying the DP as it keeps them onsite and spending money with them. I would also guess most people don't save anything on the DP and therefore paying Disney even more for the food.

 

[Minniesgal]

We also find offsite dining easy and not time consuming. Added the fact the restaurants are a lot less busy it can be a very nice break from the chaos. Many are as close as a lot of the on site restaurants,

 

[disneyholic family]

This!!
We also feel this way,the 1st time we stayed on site we felt like all our money went on food!
We had DH myself a 3yr old and twin 17 month olds and yet over £1000 was spent on food and we didn't do many TS meals , for a 2 week trip.
This way I buy what I like, and I don't buy the most expensive meal because I want best value for my credit...I get it because that's normally the meal I want, I like lobster & steak!

the trip before i bought the DDP the first time, i really was destroyed by the cost....i understand that i'm paying just as much or more by buying the DDP, but i know myself well enough to know that if i don't buy the DDP, my vacation will be ruined.....so it's worth that extra cost for me to not have to think about how much i'm paying....it's already paid for....done....it no longer hurts!!

it's like pulling a bandaid off quickly, all at once....it hurts like the dickens, but it's over fast, instead of suffering slowly....

 

[Magic Megadegs]

We are on day 4 of our trip today. The food costs are outrageous and certainly not (in our opinion) good value if paying oop compared with offsite choices and quality. We are 2 adults and 2 children and got the ddp "free". We have a heavy selection of character meals as well as Epcot meals. We only have 2 breakfasts booked but are going to switch one to the evening. The breakfasts are calorie fests and for our tastes do not offer as much value as evening meals eg bacon and pancakes versus shrimp and steak (but this is our personal view).

We have so far had days ( using 1 qsdp and 1tsdp and 1 snack credit per day) averaging oop around $220. Would it be worth it oop ? Not in our opinion. Could you do it cheaper? Yes, don't dine at the table service options but the children have loved the characters. So far for us then yes, we wouldn't stay on site without it BUT having done a week offsite first at LBV we averaged $120 per day on food (both sections of trip eating breakfast in the room / villa) and the quality was in our opinion slightly better (however, no characters.)

The ddp for us being "free" is certainly worth it. Quotes for next year for us to get it "free" are £1k more than this year staying similar weeks and same place and I'm afraid that for us does not any longer offer any kind of deal. We would be 'off-siting'.

 

[bobbins]

I think you need some more research
perhaps check out the food reports, just in case

there are so many fast food options, that really don't feel like QS food.
eg WPE

I've been to WDW about 20 times and there probably isn't anywhere that I haven't eaten several times - including WPE.

However while DW & DDx2 will cheerfully have wraps or salads for lunch, I wouldn't! And I still wouldn't have any problem eating a typical Disney table service meal in the evening - Dismey portions are nothing like as generous as most off-site places.

 

[bobbins]

We also eat at a lot of signatures and pay OOP for the kids meals so we can use their credits as we always upgrade them, that way it's not a bad use of the credit lol,

Amazing Disney allow that, but great if you can take advantage of it!

 

[buttercup1982]

So if we have the QS plan but don't use them on some days we could have a table service dining plan with the unused credits? Thanks

 

[2Tiggies]

So if we have the QS plan but don't use them on some days we could have a table service dining plan with the unused credits? Thanks

Unfortunately not. You can't 'double up' CS credits too use for TS

 

[peachiepie]

So if we have the QS plan but don't use them on some days we could have a table service dining plan with the unused credits? Thanks

No unfortunately you can't use QS credit's towards a table service meal.

The value of the dining plan seems to differ on a family by family basis. Last year we got the QSDP free when we booked and upgraded to the standard dining plan, as we wanted sit down meals.
For us the dining plan seemed worth it...we are 2 adults, we don't want starters, always want desserts, pretty much always order the most expensive thing on the menu (we love steak). Now if you don't want desserts, prefer starters, have children who don't eat too much, ect I can see that the dining plan may not work so well.

 

[tinkerpea]

Amazing Disney allow that, but great if you can take advantage of it!

Why wouldn't they?
You can use your credits however you like, so if you want to use all the credits for your room on signature meals and pay OOP for extra meals then Disney are not going to say no to the extra money,
And there not going to stop a child from ordering off the kids menu!
At certain places the kids share a adult meal so that still leaves plenty of credits left over for us to use at signature places,
It works great and were doing it this trip and next trip in may

 

[tinkerpea]

No unfortunately you can't use QS credit's towards a table service meal.

The value of the dining plan seems to differ on a family by family basis. Last year we got the QSDP free when we booked and upgraded to the standard dining plan, as we wanted sit down meals.
For us the dining plan seemed worth it...we are 2 adults, we don't want starters, always want desserts, pretty much always order the most expensive thing on the menu (we love steak). Now if you don't want desserts, prefer starters, have children who don't eat too much, ect I can see that the dining plan may not work so well.

This is why it works well for us too!
We love dessert even I we only have a few bites and we always end up with the most expensive meal as that's our taste so works perfect for us lol.

 

[bobbins]

No unfortunately you can't use QS credit's towards a table service meal.

Funnily enough you can use them the other way around though - TS credit for a QS meal.

We had quite a few QS credits left last over last year. IIRC we were able to use them for snacks for stuff to bring home. I've since read that officially this isn't allowed and they've cracked down on it now.

 

[bobbins]

Why wouldn't they?

No logical reason, I suppose. It's just a surprise that Disney doesn't insist (as they wouldn't benefit from kids ordering cheaper meals) that either everyone in the party uses DDP or pay OOP, not a mixture.

At certain places the kids share a adult meal so that still leaves plenty of credits left over for us to use at signature places,

Do you mean they share meals you pay for? It is one of the "regulations" of DDP that you're not allowed to share meals paid for with TS credits. I daresay some places let it go though. We found side orders very random, some places charged for them and some zero'd out (so it wasn't a case of missing them off the bill) the cost.