DDP vs No DDP when cost difference is $48

[justme0729]

I added up that our meals are going to cost about $666 plus 8 snacks would be worth at least $40 at $5/ piece (i.e. probably popsicles/ ice cream bars/ Starbucks/ cinnamon rolls etc.) so that equals $706 and the dining plan is $754.24.

Would you get the dining plan for $754.24 or prefer to keep your flexibility by not having it? We have 2 kids under 3 so I could see maybe cancelling a meal the morning of, changing plans, etc. but the dining plan would let us order 2 alcoholic beverages at each meal which would end up "saving" us money (but we wouldn't be ordering those if not on the plan... it would just be a bonus). We plan to use our quick service meal credits at the Polynesian pool area most likely (where we're staying and planning lots of pool time) and eat table service meals at Woody's Round Up, Ohana breakfast, 1900 Park Fare, and Teppan Edo.

 

[starry_solo]

I'd get it.
Did you also include the cost of the refillable mugs? We haven't done the DDP when we've gone (3 adults in one DVC room) but if we did a split stay again, I would consider getting it on one of the resort stays.

 

[_19disnA]

The various Disney dining plans aren't about saving money and more likely related to pre-paying for your meals. Disney likely also wants you to eat every meal on-site, so pre-paying is one way to insure that. LOTS of older threads about that.

 

[Disneylover99]

I would never choose to pay for the dining plan. Keeping meals/snacks flexible is so much more enjoyable IMO. Plus, you never know when someone is going to be feeling under the weather and you end up cancelling dining reservations or ditching snacks, leaving you with extra credits you’ve paid for but don’t really need or want.

If you’re planning on alot of resort time, I’d buy a bottle of wine or special drink you like to enjoy at your resort.

 

[keishashadow]

OP -

don’t forget to factor in Tips on the TS meals into your equation

are you eligible for any discounts on TS (AP or DVC)?

life is short, if it’s something you want to do, enjoy. $50 one way or the another stretched out over what appears to be a 5-6 day trip isn’t going to tip the scales.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I love the DDP. We would never pay for the alcohol with a meal, but when it's included, we will get drinks. It makes it feel more like a holiday too. Yes, we would save money not getting DDP and not having alcoholic beverages, but it's nice to splurge on holidays. We do make it work (get the most expensive snacks, never use snack credit on a bottle water etc). And, as previous poster mentioned, $50 spread out over a holiday isn't going to make a huge difference money wise. If it makes your holiday more enjoyable and easier (alcoholic beverage, mugs, etc) then I'd say go for it. It's definitely a personal decision.

 

[bsmcneil]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I love the DDP. We would never pay for the alcohol with a meal, but when it's included, we will get drinks. It makes it feel more like a holiday too. Yes, we would save money not getting DDP and not having alcoholic beverages, but it's nice to splurge on holidays. We do make it work (get the most expensive snacks, never use snack credit on a bottle water etc). And, as previous poster mentioned, $50 spread out over a holiday isn't going to make a huge difference money wise. If it makes your holiday more enjoyable and easier (alcoholic beverage, mugs, etc) then I'd say go for it. It's definitely a personal decision.

this is me 100%

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Don’t know if it changes your calculations much but I’ve just noticed a Mickey icecream bar is now over $6
I don’t usually buy the DP (our trips are 14+ nights and it’s just too much food and money) but for sake of $50 I absolutely would. It will give you freedom and a sense of indulgence plus relieve the stress of paying for everything oop especially if the prices have risen as much for other snacks as the Mickey bars have

 

[jo-jo]

Even though I’m cheap, for $50, I’d go for it. We don’t drink ,so it would be a waste on us, but for you. Worth it.

A lot of people say too much food, but you have 2 kids under three. Plenty of mouths to use up snack credits or extra CS. Plus the mugs.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I did similar math in 2019 when I was traveling with 3 five year olds. Our "moderate splurge" budget had us doing a couple of character meals and the rest sharing QS or TS, not getting drinks, and being conservative on our snacks. For $200 more, the DDP meant we went hog-wild with character meals for our TS, got the snacks we wanted when we wanted, etc. We definitely got more than $200 worth of value out of upgrading: the math said we saved several hundred dollars versus paying out of pocket, but we never would have done all those meals OOP, so take that with a grain of salt.

We found doing our big meal at lunch with characters was the best for our girls. Even if we woke up late or were crashing earlier than expected, we always needed lunch and the air conditioned break from being on our feet was perfect. And, although I absolutely would have been stingy with myself paying cash, I loved every sip of morning Starbucks or afternoon adult beverage that I allowed myself since it was covered by the plan.

 

[eticketplease]

If you factor in the mugs as @starry_solo mentioned that drops the price down to a $4 difference. Even though we would get a discount at the TS restaurants on food we would probably get the plan as alcohol is never discounted now that TIW is gone. That is as long as the snacks aren’t being used last minute for Goofy candy co or Rice Krispie treats.

 

[eticketplease]

I did similar math in 2019 when I was traveling with 3 five year olds. Our "moderate splurge" budget had us doing a couple of character meals and the rest sharing QS or TS, not getting drinks, and being conservative on our snacks. For $200 more, the DDP meant we went hog-wild with character meals for our TS, got the snacks we wanted when we wanted, etc. We definitely got more than $200 worth of value out of upgrading: the math said we saved several hundred dollars versus paying out of pocket, but we never would have done all those meals OOP, so take that with a grain of salt.

We found doing our big meal at lunch with characters was the best for our girls. Even if we woke up late or were crashing earlier than expected, we always needed lunch and the air conditioned break from being on our feet was perfect. And, although I absolutely would have been stingy with myself paying cash, I loved every sip of morning Starbucks or afternoon adult beverage that I allowed myself since it was covered by the plan.

I would just add on don’t try to over analyze the snacks.

That is what killed it for us. I kept saving the credits to use around world showcase and that didn’t work too well. On that trip we had brought DS friend and our neighbor down and we only ended up with 2 Mickey bars, 10 Rice Krispie Treats and like 50 bags of gummy candy!!!!

If you want a snack just get it!!

 

[lowlight]

I understand why some people like it, but it seems like extra calculations needed on a vacation. Is this a snack credit? Do I need to save credits for that? How many credits do we have left? It’s like a fancy term for money.

 

[loves to dive]

If it works for you, go for it. Personally, I never would. Too many variables and too rigid for our style. We like to eat what we want when we want. We don't make ADRS in advance, if we want a TS meal we just find one the afternoon of for that evening. We rarely snack between meals and rarely eat a whole lot of sweets. If we do eat a "snack" it's usually for a small meal. I don't drink soft drinks (although I do enjoy a refreshing adult beverage) and usually just use the free coffee in the room in the morning then drink water the rest of the time. I don't eat large meals, if I'm eating a QS meal (which I don't do but for breakfast most of the time) it's a kid's meal and then I usually have the cutie left over for later in the day. I wouldn't like the trouble of trying to figure out if a place was on the plan or if I was getting the best bang for the buck. I, also, don't stress about the cost of my meals since I just eat what I want when I want. There are days I'll have a kid's QS breakfast, maybe go to LaCava and get some queso and guac and a marg for mid-day then eat at food booths at Epcot for supper.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

DDP has never come close to being worth it for us, but I totally respect those who buy it and use it because it makes their trip better. For me, with all the planning and effort that already goes into a WDW vacation, I don't also want to be counting meal credits and snacks trying to get my money's worth. We're also fortunate to have AP and DVC discounts, and we hardly drink, so we feel we're just fine OOP.

 

[Once.Upon.A.Time]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I love the DDP. We would never pay for the alcohol with a meal, but when it's included, we will get drinks. It makes it feel more like a holiday too. Yes, we would save money not getting DDP and not having alcoholic beverages, but it's nice to splurge on holidays. We do make it work (get the most expensive snacks, never use snack credit on a bottle water etc). And, as previous poster mentioned, $50 spread out over a holiday isn't going to make a huge difference money wise. If it makes your holiday more enjoyable and easier (alcoholic beverage, mugs, etc) then I'd say go for it. It's definitely a personal decision.

We feel the same. We would also normally skip dessert or share one, but since it’s included and it’s a vacation, we both get one.

 

[randumb0]

Am I the only one that read DDP and thought they meant Diamond Dallas Page?

 

[keishashadow]

I understand why some people like it, but it seems like extra calculations needed on a vacation. Is this a snack credit? Do I need to save credits for that? How many credits do we have left? It’s like a fancy term for money.

compared to the hoops most go thru to plan a successful trip, the calculations are negligible once you wrap your head around the basics Of the DP

The snacks on DP easily identified on the boards at the site

your receipt has the entitlements left, easy to take a screen shot

if we want a TS meal we just find one the afternoon of for that evening

If you are flexible about when, where and what you eat, could work out.

Pickings are usually decidedly thin, especially for the popular venues other than cancellations opening up. have been in that position multiple times when my party decided they wanted to do a TS onsite after all.

To me, that is beyond stressful. last thing I want to be doing is sticking my nose in phone even more at disney via stalking a reservation cancellation.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I wouldn't get the dining plan even more so because of your children's ages because just like you said plans are likely to change. Take this for a non-judgemental comment that it is meant to be but you've got really young kids are you actually anticipating drinking the alcohol to the extent that comes with the dining plan? I like beer just like the next person so that's why I meant it in a non-judgemental way just saying you might be overestimating the usage you'd get out of that "benefit" and the DDP was increased in costs to account for alcohol when it was added several years back.

What you might do if you think you're going to spend that amount either way is put it on a gift card and think of it as just Disney money in general. So flexibility-wise you end up not going to that meal or getting that snack but you now have shifted that money onto getting merch. If you don't think you'd want to buy merch or even use it for your hotel stay then putting it on a Disney gift card may not make as much sense.

In general even in the past I saw a lot of posts when people got the DDP coming home with excess food because they had snack credits they needed to use. That's a downside to the DDP.

I'm very much like you OP in that it can be harder to order something when paying high attention to cost but I also know how I am in different places. At Disney I have no interest in getting the DDP because it doesn't suit my food needs, my desire for flexibility, and my way of park touring. But we did an all-inclusive resort in Mexico for our 10th anniversary and took a luxury cruise months later where obviously there's accounting in the booking price for what's being included and doing so allowed me to not think about the pricing the same as I would had we done it differently.

 

[loves to dive]

If you are flexible about when, where and what you eat, could work out.

Pickings are usually decidedly thin, especially for the popular venues other than cancellations opening up. have been in that position multiple times when my party decided they wanted to do a TS onsite after all.

To me, that is beyond stressful. last thing I want to be doing is sticking my nose in phone even more at disney via stalking a reservation cancellation.

It really depends on what you want. I have never had any problems getting something day of. I don't dig around or stalk reservations. Usually around 2 or so when I'm back at my resort resting, I'll open the app. and see what's available. It helps that I always have hoppers of some sort so the park doesn't matter. It also helps that I don't do buffets and like to try new things and could care less about the "must do" or character meals. We have always done it this way, even back before there was such a thing as an app. and you had to go to GS in the parks and have one of them look it up. The only ADR I've ever made in advance of a trip was V&As and that was on a whim the week before the trip. That was a lie, I did used to make the reservations for the pairing meals they used to have during F&W. Not planners in our family, we don't buy Genie+, we rarely used FP or FP+ when they were around, we just like to go where the wind blows us. We used to get the DP way back when it was actually 3 TS meals a day and dirt cheap. A few times doing that and we knew it wasn't for us. Too much food and too much trying to figure out if this restaurant was on it and worrying about if we were going to use all our credits.