DDp vs DDE excersise

[dianeschlicht]

We have guests going with us for part of the trip in December. For that reason we have 3 seperate ressies for the 10 night trip. The first night in a studio for just us, then 5 nights in a 2 bedroom lock off with guests and then down to a 1 bedroom for the two of us the remainder of the trip.

Our guests were here last night for trip planning, and we wrote down all the costs and savings we had using the DDE card our last trip and compared them to using the DDP. It turned out to be a wash! Kind of surprised me, since we rarely use counter service, but since it is a wash, we ARE going to use the DDP for the 2 bedroom portion of our trip only. That seems like a good way to try it out, and we can use the DDE card for the other portions of our trip.

It seems you COULD get too much food on the DDP, but you really don't have to. We rarely order appetizers and desserts anyway, so I doubt that will change. When we did the price comparisson, it was for what we actually ate, and we still would break even, so I think the DDP will be easier.

Anyone else have experiences that make that theory hold up?

 

[jjohnson]

2005 DDE:

Total $1151
saved $194.71

Did not do DP as we were saving $525 in AP discounts & $360 buying our tickets elsewhere. DP would have cost $875.

2006 DDE & DP

3 nights DDE all sit down meals $513
saved $95 + $300 AP room discounts
DP would have cost $600

4 nights on DP
DP COST: $803
OOP: $49 (not including drinks)
Net savings:$373

Now if I remove all the snacks, dessert & apps we wouldn't normally order our savings drops to $117.

I'm probably going to use it again for part of our stay next year. I'm still undecided as we are now considered 6 adults. We also prefer TS for all our meals.

 

[jdvm]

We strongly prefer the Disney Dining experience card to the Disney Dining Plan, although I usually hear that DDP saves more money. With us it's all about control. With the DDP we feel like we have to plan every activity around meals. We feel like DDP controls us. We feel we have much more freedom with the Disney Dining Experience. Wecontrol DDE. I'm sure everyone doesn't feel this way but that's our take.

 

[OKWMom]

We went on the DDP last year and we did save a great deal. This is our first year as members and we will be getting APs, so I did a similar analysis on what I expected to pay/save on DDE and DDP. It works out that if our eating habits do not change from what they are at home, DDE is the best for us. However, the children really enjoyed ordering desserts at every meal and we thought it made the vacation more fun for them, so we are on the DDP this year. The premium we are paying for a little extra magic for the kids works out to be about $100 for an 8 night stay, so we think it is worth it.

I guess like everything else, savings vary by usage and preferences. We do plan on getting a DDE card and using it for our long weekend trip without the children.

 

[Granny]

Diane...thanks for the thread. We just can't make the DDP numbers work for us. Mainly because we have a car and visit off-site (Sea World, Busch Garderns, occasional Universal) and eat off-site at least a couple of times each trip. So it doesn't work for us normally and we use DDE.

However, we are looking at a December trip where for the first time we won't be going off-site, and we have many more ADR's than usual since we will be there Christmas week.

So we appreciate the analysis that everyone gives. I wish there was some way to make a general statement about "break even" that didn't include exact costs....in other words, something like "if you stay a week and have at least 5 TS meals, DDP will be the better deal". Probably not that easy, but some general guidelines would be very helpful.

 

[starbox]

It seems you COULD get too much food on the DDP, but you really don't have to. We rarely order appetizers and desserts anyway, so I doubt that will change. When we did the price comparisson, it was for what we actually ate, and we still would break even, so I think the DDP will be easier.

By about the third day on the DDP, we stop ordering dessert at CS and often don't use all our appetizers at dinner. I've never looked at the DDP as being about saving enormous amounts of money but I do think it is very, very convenient. I think if you go into it looking just to enjoy yourself rather than to bleed every drop of value from the plan, you'll end up with a great DDP experience.

DS will be 10 next year and the DDE would easily be MUCH cheaper than DDP for us at that point since the boy hates chocolate, fruit and ice cream and therefore won't eat any dessert, there is no way he could ever eat an appetizer and an entree, and his entree tastes are very pedestrian. I'm still leaning towards sticking with the plan though - just because I enjoy the ease of the pre-paid meals. We'll see.

 

[crisi]

So we appreciate the analysis that everyone gives. I wish there was some way to make a general statement about "break even" that didn't include exact costs....in other words, something like "if you stay a week and have at least 5 TS meals, DDP will be the better deal". Probably not that easy, but some general guidelines would be very helpful.

One generality is "if you are a lush, the DDE might save you more money."

Another is "if you are already a Fl resident or AP holder, the DDE is more likely to save you money." 20% discounts when you have a bottle of wine with dinner add up fast.

I think a third is if you are fond of signature dining.

 

[MdmMim]

We're going to give DDP a try if it's available in January. I'm very happy with the DDE, but I think the DDP is worth a shot.

For me, I think it will work when I'm not solo. DD and DSil will be "visiting" me for a week, and that boy can do some eating! DDP will be great when he's around. However, when I'm solo, I don't really make any ADR's and just sort of wing it most of the time, with mainly takeout or CS meals. I have a few TS, but I think the DDE would be best for solo portions of my trip.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We strongly prefer the Disney Dining experience card to the Disney Dining Plan, although I usually hear that DDP saves more money. With us it's all about control. With the DDP we feel like we have to plan every activity around meals. We feel like DDP controls us. We feel we have much more freedom with the Disney Dining Experience. Wecontrol DDE. I'm sure everyone doesn't feel this way but that's our take.

See, I don't think it has to though. I don't intend to do much different, and with the pricing excersise we did, it seems to come out even doing it that way. I just thought it might be nice to not have to worry about tips and tax and dividing bills when we have our guests with us. We will get a good comparison look at it this trip, because we are using the dining plan for the time we are in the 2 bedroom with guests, but we are not using it when it is just the 2 of us in the 1 bedroom.

 

[starbox]

So we appreciate the analysis that everyone gives. I wish there was some way to make a general statement about "break even" that didn't include exact costs....in other words, something like "if you stay a week and have at least 5 TS meals, DDP will be the better deal". Probably not that easy, but some general guidelines would be very helpful.

If you like to eat TS dinners and you eat more than one meal in EPCOT, the DDP is a much better deal. The more time you spend eating in EPCOT (even CS), the more you'll save and the better deal it becomes:

A typical CS in the MK (or MGM or AK) costs our family of four around 30$
A typical CS meal in EPCOT - around 50$

Dinner TS in Epcot is easily in the 100$ range even without appetizers/desserts. You'd have to work to spend more than 100$ on a TS meal in the MK. (Not including the new rip-off priced CRT that is signature dining)

If you plan to use the DDP for character breakfasts or buffets and don't normally eat TS once a day, it won't save much but it will still be convenient.

If you do mainly signature dining, the DDE will probably be a better deal.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'm a bit confused here.... You don't HAVE to order the appetizer or dessert to use the plan, do you?

 

[Laurajean1014]

I just thought it might be nice to not have to worry about tips and tax and dividing bills when we have our guests with us.

You don't tip the waitstaff? Am I reading your post correctly?

I didn't think DDP included tip?

We do it easy - just divide the bill by how many people and multiply by that number your party. In April, it worked like a charm. Even with us having drinks and wine.

Our last trip, we ate (dinners only - not going into lunch, etc). Flying Fish, Jiko, CA Grill, Citrico's, Flying Fish, France, Japan, Germany and Jiko - again.

DDE worked perfectly in all of these restaurants! No hassles whatsoever.

 

[starbox]

I'm a bit confused here.... You don't HAVE to order the appetizer or dessert to use the plan, do you?

You do not have to order the dessert and appetizer. We've skipped them. You are also welcome to order water instead of tea or soda.

 

[starbox]

You don't tip the waitstaff? Am I reading your post correctly?

I didn't think DDP included tip?

DDP includes an 18% gratuity. Any additional items you order (like alcohol) will have the 18% added into the additional bill.

As a result, waitstaff CMs do tend to "encourage" you to "go ahead" and order all of your appetizers/desserts because it increases their tip. If I were a CM, I'd the DDP because it guarantees a level of gratuity per table & most people, left to their own, do not tip very well - especially at a place like WDW.

 

[bobbiwoz]

...

We do it easy - just divide the bill by how many people and multiply by that number your party. In April, it worked like a charm. Even with us having drinks and wine.

.

You are so lucky! We have good friends, very very good friends, but once it was downright painful at the end of the meal. She was getting the prices down to the penny (watch out for math majors, wait, I'm a math major too! ). Now, we just say, we'll pay (we have the DDE card), and you guys can bring a check and we'll figure it out afterwards, and that works fine.

Bobbi

 

[dianeschlicht]

You don't tip the waitstaff? Am I reading your post correctly?

I didn't think DDP included tip?

We do it easy - just divide the bill by how many people and multiply by that number your party. In April, it worked like a charm. Even with us having drinks and wine.

Our last trip, we ate (dinners only - not going into lunch, etc). Flying Fish, Jiko, CA Grill, Citrico's, Flying Fish, France, Japan, Germany and Jiko - again.

DDE worked perfectly in all of these restaurants! No hassles whatsoever.

According to the web site, DDP includes tips.

 

[dianeschlicht]

You are so lucky! We have good friends, very very good friends, but once it was downright painful at the end of the meal. She was getting the prices down to the penny (watch out for math majors, wait, I'm a math major too! ). Now, we just say, we'll pay (we have the DDE card), and you guys can bring a check and we'll figure it out afterwards, and that works fine.

Bobbi

LOL, we have one friend who figures a tip down to the penny too! So embarassing! He also only tips 15%.

I think it is very appropriate to include more tip with the DDP if you are one who usually tips more in the 20% range. DH said he would feel more comfortable with that as well.

 

[thelobstershanty]

We used the DDP in June and loved it. We always eat dinner at TS restaurants and we usually always order appetizers, so using the DDP was perfect for us. We hardly ever order dessert and even with the plan we would always get the dessert to go and enjoy it later at our villa. For drinks we used our DDE card for the 20% discount.
I think you should try the DDP. You might really like it and you have the perfect set up because you can get the plan for just 5 nights. It is very easy to use and many wonderful TS restaurants are only 1 credit, so it is really a value.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We used the DDP in June and loved it. We always eat dinner at TS restaurants and we usually always order appetizers, so using the DDP was perfect for us. We hardly ever order dessert and even with the plan we would always get the dessert to go and enjoy it later at our villa. For drinks we used our DDE card for the 20% discount.
I think you should try the DDP. You might really like it and you have the perfect set up because you can get the plan for just 5 nights. It is very easy to use and many wonderful TS restaurants are only 1 credit, so it is really a value.

That's why we decided to try it those 5 nights of the trip. If we like it, we'll likely do it again. That's providing it's available again!

 

[castleri]

See, I don't think it has to though. I don't intend to do much different, and with the pricing excersise we did, it seems to come out even doing it that way. I just thought it might be nice to not have to worry about tips and tax and dividing bills when we have our guests with us.

This is exactly our thought as well- We have anywhere from two to five checks per table possible so the dining plan will save all that dividing the check up. Everyone can order what they want that is included or not order dessert, drink etc and no one has to divide it all up at the end. We have 3A on one reservation and 4 A 1C on the other so maybe when we all eat together will have to have the waiter do two checks but that is better than getting the tin snips out to cut those pennies in half.

I didn't realize about the 18% added on to the DDE bill when we also had the DDP and added an additional tip to that as well as additional on the DDP portion in the way of cash on the table. Bet that was one happy waiter. We usually tip a little more but not enough to bring it up to about 30%. We will check the bills a little more closely this time.