DDP vs. OOP??? Which was the better deal? RESULTS ARE IN!!

[maggiew]

DH and I went to WDW for an anniversary trip. Just the 2 of us. I flipped back and forth between DDP and paying OOP? I calculated, recalculated, estimated, switched ADRs, etc. I was a mess and very indecisive. In the end, we went with paying OOP because we like Table Service restaurants but felt the Deluxe DDP was too much food for us. Another factor was that we had Give a Day tickets for a free Disney Day. If we wanted the dining plan, we had to get a package and so we lost the $$ value of the Give a Day tickets - which added to the cost of what the dining plan would cost us. Plus we were staying at Pop Century, so if we wanted any dining plan besides the free Quick Service Plan, we would have to pay to upgrade.

Here is the cost comparison.

Room only discount + upgrade GAD voucher to 6 days is $791.
I made a spreadsheet of the ADRs I have and what we would most likely order, and the total was $750.
So, room only discount, upgrade GAD vouchers + OOP food = $1541. Throw in a Dole Whip or 2 and we are at about $1600.

If we switch to "free dining" and upgrade the QSDP to DxDDP, it is about $1800 including room, tickets and food. (plus we would use our GAD vouchers for fastpasses)

We would definitely get more food on the DxDDP than what I estimated we would order. But we wouldn't order that in the first place?? Also, my estimated food would only be 16 credits, so I would have to add 2 credits. That would bring us up to the $1800. But again, I don't have that scheduled now.

So ... how did it work out???

Stay tuned.

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Here are a list of the restaurants we actually ended up going to. We switched a little from my original ADRs.

Day 1:
Lunch - Via Napoli
Dinner - Chefs de France

Day 2:
Lunch - Sci Fi
Dinner - Kimonos

Day 3:
Lunch - Liberty Tree Tavern
Snack - Pecos Bills
Dinner - Dessert Party!!

Day 4:
Lunch - Rainforest Cafe at AK
Snack - Wetzel's Pretzels
Dinner - California Grill

Day 5:
Breakfast - Pop foodcourt
Lunch - Via Napoli
Snack - Pop foodcourt
Dinner - Il Mulino

Day 6:
Lunch - Teppan Edo
Snack - Beaches and Cream
Dinner - House of Blues at DTD

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Day 1: Via Napoli lunch

We arrived late Sunday night to WDW. On our first full day we went to EPCOT. We wanted to try the new restaurant in Italy for lunch. So when World Showcase opened, we headed to Italy. This restaurant was still in the soft-opening phase, so they weren't taking ADRs. It was walk up only. So we put our name in and waited around 5 minutes.

We started with the house salad. It is served family style for $3 per person with a minimum of 2 people. I asked for the dressing on the side because I usually do not eat dressing/condiments, but DH likes dressing. The waitress told us this was impossible since it comes out already mixed. I said ok, but try. I thought DH would be eating the whole salad by himself. But when it came out it had the dressing on the side in a little gravy boat. Yay!

I usually squeeze a little lemon on my salad, but I wasn't pushing my luck with the waitress so I just ate the salad dry ... which I don't mind doing.

Then we shared an individual sized pizza margherita ($16). Although, I am not sure why they call this individual since the size was so large. But we knew that ahead of time by reading the DIS boards and looking at pictures. I am so glad we didn't get the large size!

This pizza was soooo good. The crust was crispy yet a little chewy. And the mozzarella was nothing like we get on pizza here in the States. YUM!

We decided to end with the Apple Cake ($8).

It was really good. The apples are cut into little pieces. I thought they were actually golden raisins, but DH said they were the apple pieces. After we got this dessert we kind of wished we hadn't because we were too full at this point. Although the dessert was really good.

I had a lemonade and DH had a coke ($3 each).

House Salad for 2 $6
Individual Pizza Margherita $16
Apple Cake $8
Lemonade $3
Coke $3
Subtotal $36
Tax $2.34
Total $38.34

I won't include the tip amounts in the running total since it isn't included in the dining plan either.

DH and I give this new restaurant 2 thumbs up.

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Day 1 Dinner: Chefs de France

DH and I went to Paris last summer. So I thought eating at Chefs de France would bring back nice memories from our trip. The waiters here all start out talking to you in French. If you can reply in French, they seem to continue to speak to you in French. DH speaks French pretty well (school boy French, not fluently or anything) and I can speak and understand a little. Enough to order food, ask directions, etc.

DH chose to get the Prix Fix menu ($39.95). He chose the French Onion soup, the Beef Short ribs and the Creme Brulee.

French Onion Soup

Beef Short Ribs

Creme Brulee

DH also ordered some wine. He chose the Beaujolais Villages wine ($6.95) because that was the area of wine country that we visited when we were in France. He enjoyed it.

For my meal I had the Beef Tenderloin ($34.95) and a coke ($2.95).

They also bring a lovely loaf of French bread to the table.

DH had coffee with his creme brulee.

And since we had a 5 pm ADR, we got to see Remy!

Prix Fix meal $39.95
Beef Tenderloin $34.95
Coke $2.95
Wine $6.95
Coffee $2.95
Subtotal $87.75
Tax $5.71
Total $93.46

Our waiter, Lidio, complimented DH on his French at the end of our meal. That made DH happy.

We both really enjoyed our meal. The service was better than we had in France (which is usually about non-existant!) plus we got ice with our coke. Woo hoo!

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Day 2 Lunch: Sci Fi

This restaurant is a family tradition. We have gone here on every trip so far. It makes a nice break in Hollywood Studios since it is nice and dark and cool (we always go during the hot summer).

DH and I usually share the steak sandwich, but they took this off the menu.

DH ordered the Beef and Blue ($15.99) and a Bud Light ($5.25).

I ordered the burger ($12.99) and had a cherry 7 up ($3.19).

The burger had cheddar and bacon on it. It was good. I ate a little more than half of it, which is pretty good for me!

We decided to share the apple crisp ($6.99) for dessert.

We were really too full for dessert, but can't pass up a good apple crisp.

Our waiter took our picture.

Beef and Blue $15.99
Bud Light $5.25
Apple Crisp $6.99
Burger $12.99
Cherry 7 up $3.19
Subtotal $44.41
Tax $2.89
Total $47.30

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Day 2 Dinner: Kimonos (at the Swan)

We wanted something light for dinner since we were so full from lunch. We also were planning on going to the second showing of Fantasmic, so it had to be nearby.

DH ordered the Tom Yum soup ($4.25) which was a spicy vegetable soup.

He also ordered some sushi.

Jalepeno rolls ($12) and yellowtail nigri ($6.75)

I ordered the Tempura appetizer ($13.25) since I am not a fan of sushi.

It included 4 shrimp, 4 green beans and several zuchini or squash, if I recall correctly.

I ended up ordering a side of white rice ($3.25) because I found I couldn't just eat the tempura without something else. I didn't get a picture because I ordered it later on after we were already eating. It was just a regular bowl of white sushi type rice.

DH ordered the Lockwood Chardonnay ($9.25) and I had a coke ($3).

Before we left for WDW I had ordered some restaurant.com gift certificates. It cost me $2 and it was valid for $25 off our meal total.

Tom Yum soup $4.25
Tempura Appetizer $13.25
Jalepeno rolls $12
Yellowtail Nigri $6.75
Lockwood Chardonnay $9.25
Coke $3
Steam Rice $3.25
-$25 restaurant.com gift certificate
Subtotal $26.75
Tax $3.14
Total $29.89

We really enjoyed this restaurant and will be back. DH said the sushi was good. He felt he could have done without ordering the yellowtail since there were 8 jalepeno rolls. Both of those together was a little too much for him (although he ate it all!)

We did not have an ADR and were able to walk right in. I had an ADR at the Flying fish, but we decided to cancel there and come to Kimonos instead. We just weren't able to have a full meal at the FF since we weren't super hungry.

There were only a few people in the restaurant when we arrived (around 7:30 pm). But it slowly filled up as we were eating. There is also a little counter (maybe 4 seats) where you can sit and watch them make the sushi.

We had no problem using the restaurant.com certificate. They did automatically add an 18% gratuity to the pre-discounted total.

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Day 3 Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern

The menu at LTT looked good and we had never been there for lunch before. So I made an ADR for here. We have been to the dinner with the kids back when it was a character meal.

When we arrived at our table, there was mickey head confetti all over the table in celebration of our anniversary.

About half way through the meal, DH asked why there was "this micky head stuff all over the table" because he didn't see it on anyone else's table. I told him it was because of our anniversary. He didn't really believe me but agreed in the end since he didn't see anyone else with mickey heads on their table.

I couldn't decide what to get - either the pot roast or the turkey. I figured I would be eating a lot of red meat this week, so I chose the turkey.

The Pilgrims Feast ($14.99) was really good. It had 2 big slices of turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and stuffing. Some people say the stuffing is Stove Top. But I don't think it tasted like Stove Top - at least not the kind I make. It tasted a little more corn-bready to me. But it was good, none-the-less.

You can't see the stuffing, but it is under the turkey.

I also had a coke ($2.69). DH had a Diet Coke ($2.69). He also got the Colony Salad ($13.49).

Diet Coke $2.69
Colony Salad $13.49
Coke $2.69
Pilgrim's Feast $14.99
Subtotal $33.86
Tax $2.21
Total $36.07

The only thing I missed about this meal was the delicious butter that I remember from the character dinner. I am not sure if they still serve this at dinner, but it was soooooo good and I was looking forward to that. I guess they don't serve bread with the meals at lunch. Otherwise the meal was to our liking.

Maggie

 

[mimi'sgirl]

Love your review..can't wait to see the outcome. We have always paid OOP but were able to get free dining this year. Since we are doing more ts meals I thought it might work better. I also plan on keeping a total to see if it was worth it.

 

[maggiew]

I didn't make an ADR for dinner tonight since we had the Wishes Dessert Party scheduled. Our lunch ADR had been for 11:50. So around 5 pm or so we decided to stop and get a snack so that we could last until our dessert party but we didn't want a full meal so we could enjoy the desserts at the party.

So, we ended up going to Pecos Bills since we were nearby. We shared the Pulled Pork sandwich with fries ($8.89) and a coke ($2.19).

I got a little bit of cheese sauce from the condiment bar to dip my fries in. Yum!

The pulled pork was really good. The BBQ sauce reminded me of a kind of BBQ sauce you get from a bottle - I think maybe Sweet Baby Rays???? I don't know. It seemed familiar to me somehow.

This was a nice snack for us. It was really the only counter service that we had during our trip. This place was kind of neat because it had little computer kiosks where you order your own food on a touch screen and then go pick the food up at the counter. Maybe they are all that way now?? I don't know.

Pork Sandwich with fries $8.89
22 oz coke $2.19
Subtotal $11.08
Tax .73
Total $11.81

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Day 3 Dinner: Wishes Dessert Party

I booked the Wishes Dessert Party the day they released our dates. I am not sure if it was because of that or because it was our anniversary, but we had the best seat in the house for the party. We were right in front of the castle. Plus the table had celebration confetti on it too.

The view from our seats:

We did have to go and stand at the rail for the fireworks. We might have been able to stay in our seats, but people were lining up against the rail and we weren't sure what the view would be like from the seats.

DH and I think this was definitely worth the price. You might not get your money's worth out of the food alone. But the location, the fact that you don't have to stake out your spot a couple hours ahead, and the lack of a "crush" make it worth it to us. We would continue to book this every trip, provided the price doesn't become too ridiculous.

I am not including the cost of this in my calculation since it wouldn't have been included in the dining plan so we would have had to pay OOP for this anyway.

Maggie

 

[Ullis]

Great reviews! I'm really interested in the outcome - we plan to go OOP for the first time next year. So glad you liked the dessert party (we are going there for my birthday in october - hope we'll get that great table too).

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

i really am enjoying your reviews

 

[DLo]

enjoying your reviews and pics. I have an adr at via napoli and think I will pay oop so I don't have to worry about what is on ddp. thanks for the tip on pizza size and salad - will probably share with my mom. We are going to sci fi too - enjoyed it last year. Looking forward to the rest and the big conclusion

 

[lizzyb]

Great reviews! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[maggiew]

enjoying your reviews and pics. I have an adr at via napoli and think I will pay oop so I don't have to worry about what is on ddp. thanks for the tip on pizza size and salad - will probably share with my mom. We are going to sci fi too - enjoyed it last year. Looking forward to the rest and the big conclusion

I have read that with the DDP you can get the individual pizzas only. You can't put in 2 credits and get the large. So you would each need to get the individual pizza if you use the DDP. Although I also read that they will allow you to get the individual pizza with 1 credit and then share that.

Maggie

 

[darthtatty]

great reviews

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Wonderful review. We love visiting France too (I love Eze and Cannes), we always go to Chefs de France to remind us of our trips to France.

 

[butiflfeet]

Chefs de France reminds me of my trip to Paris too! I have to go there every trip and fortunately I haven't be disappointed yet

I'm looking forward to seeing if the DDP or OOP wins!

 

[DiggleBelle]

Really enjoying your review and great pics! Hope OOP wins because that's what I'm doing in December.

 

[rugman1969]

I'm curious, are you only eating on Disney property? Not having the dining plan you should have the opportunity to go off site. This may tend to be less expensive than on site, such as TGIF's and outback?