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

[chocolateMinnie]

Can't believe I've only just found your wonderful reviews and excellent pictures.

We do this oop v ddp every trip based on where we definitely want to eat and what we would eat anyway and until free ddp last October never did anything but pay oop. This trip though we calculated on our poor sterling v dollar interest rate and the number of shows/2ts meals we would have done anyway and calculated that we think our cheapest option is dxdp.

Very interested to see how your trip turned out in terms of $$$$

 

[vettegirl]

Great reviews!

 

[Grammyof2]

Great reviews!

I can't wait for the final numbers. Are you going to add in the cost of the certificates?

I am going in December and have decided to pay OOP and use my TIW card. I just think it will work better but I am anxious to see your outcome.

Thanks for all the hard work

 

[maggiew]

Great reviews!

I can't wait for the final numbers. Are you going to add in the cost of the certificates?

I am going in December and have decided to pay OOP and use my TIW card. I just think it will work better but I am anxious to see your outcome.

Thanks for all the hard work

Yes. I will include the cost of the certificates. They cost me $2 each for a total of $6 for the 3 I purchased.

Maggie

 

[Symans3honeybees]

Did any of those certificates have expiration or blackout dates?

 

[maggiew]

Did any of those certificates have expiration or blackout dates?

They use to expire in 1 year. But these ones do not have expiration dates. I have read that they did away with the expiration dates. The only exclusion that I saw was the HOB one was not good at the Gospel Brunch.

Make sure you check the fine print. A couple require 2 entree purchase. Kimonos just required a $35 purchase (no entree requirement). They also automatically add 18% gratuity on the pre-discounted price.

The following are restaurant.com certificates that I can remember being available:
House of Blues
Kimonos
Il Mulino
Shulas
Garden Grove
Andiamos (at DTD Hilton)
a couple for Universal hotel restaurants??

Maggie

 

[NOLAdisneymom]

Looking forward to the end result!

 

[justmama]

I'm looking forward to the results as well. This is one of the best reviews i have read. Thanks for posting.

 

[maggiew]

OK. So here is the GRAND SUMMARY!! I first want to remind you of the object of my review. Before leaving for our trip, I had a hard time deciding between the dining plan (all three versions!) and paying OOP. I flip-flopped on what was best for us. I drove myself crazy with options. In the end, I decided that none of the dining plans worked for us. But in the back of my head, I was really still wondering if that was true. So, I decided to do a comparison of what we spent OOP and what the dining plan would have cost us.

Factors I had to consider:
1. I had Give a Day tickets for the 2 of us for a free Disney Day. If we bought a package, I lost the value of thest tickets because we would have to purchase tickets with the package. Yes, I could use the package tickets at a later time, but I didn't want to do that.
2. We were planning on staying at a Value Resort. So if I wanted anything besides the free QSDP, I had to pay to upgrade 2 adults.
3. DH and I both eat light. I can never finish an entree. Sometimes if I want an appetizer, we share. But then I eat even less of my entree.
4. DH tends to order things like entree salads for his meal. I didn't think it was a great use of credits. DH would never in a million years order the steak or whatever just because it was the most expensive thing and would give us the best bang for the buck.
5. We like to eat table service meals. Although, I wouldn't have had a problem eating a CS meal if we got the regular DDP, because I know the good places to go to. Its just that we wouldnt choose to go there unless we had to on the plan. KWIM?


So, we went in to the trip with the intention of eating where we wanted, when we wanted and how much we wanted. We paid NO ATTENTION to price of the food or restaurant. (This is both in terms of ordering cheaply to make OOP seem cheaper or ordering expensive so the DDP would have won.) If we wanted something, we got it. If we didn't, we didn't.

I did, however, read on the Budget board a few days before we left about the restaurant.com certificates that were available for some Swan and Dolphin restaurants. They looked like places we might want to try, so I bought them. I figured at $2 each, I was willing to lose the money if we never used them. So, I brought the certificates with me as a "just in case we might want to go there". However, the certificates did not drive our choices. DH didn't even know I had them until we actually used them.

So, on with the calculations. These include cost of food and tax. Not the gratuity. And I am subtracting out the cost of any alcohol, since that isn't included in the meal plans either.


Via Napoli $38.34
Chefs de France $93.46 - $6.95 (wine) = $86.51
Sci Fi $47.30 - $5.25 (Bud Light) = $42.05
Kimonos $29.89 - $9.25 (wine) + $2 restaurant.com cert = $22.64
Liberty Tree Tavern $36.07
Pecos Bills $11.81
Wishes Dessert Party (not including price since OOP either way)
Rainforest Cafe $24.88
Wetzel's Pretzels $8.18
California Grill $134.66 - $14 (wine) - $6.75 (beer) = $113.91
Pop Food Court Bkfst $4.68
Via Napoli $29.82
Pop Food Court Snack $3.83
Il Mulino $55.73 - $15 (wine) + $2 restaurant.com cert = $42.73
Teppn Edo $69.55
EPCOT snack $2.55
Beaches and Cream $11.06
House of Blues $23.49 + $2 restaurant.com cert = $25.49

TOTAL: $574.10

Wow. That was the first that I had calculated the total! It was a lot less than I expected.

 

[wzd081]

Rainforest Cafe isn't on the dining plan either

 

[maggiew]

Comparison 1:

What we did:
Pop with discount code + GAD ticket upgrade + food = $1365.10

With dining plans:
With QSDP $1165.56
With DDP $1305.56
With DxDDP $1725.56


Hmmm. That is interesting. We came out about even with the DDP (free QSDP upgraded to DDP). I was leaning towards getting the DxDDP. And if I had chosen to get a dining plan, that would have probably been the one I purchased.

So, I am not sure about the results?? What would I do next time? Don't know!!! I think we got better quality food paying OOP than we would have received on the DDP since we ate table service each meal. I think I have ruled out the DxDDP for the future, however.

I am not sure if this review and calculation was helpful for anyone. Maybe I just muddied the waters??????? I guess I need to go back next year for more research since this year's experiment was inconclusive.

Maggie

 

[maggiew]

Rainforest Cafe isn't on the dining plan either

Yes. I know. We would have eaten at different places had we been on the dining plan. I am just trying to make a comparison of what we spent vs. what we would have spent ... theoretically. I wasn't figuring in restaurant choice. In addition, if you notice, I did not consider how many credits would have been used, etc. Just how much money we would have laid out.

Maggie

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

I have been lurking and enjoyed your reviews. I agree your 'findings' are interesting. You did get to eat at several restaurants that are not on the dining plan so that is a plus. We generally go Deluxe but last year we paid OOP to eat at Il Mulino.

We also like to stay at POP so I booked with free dining next year but paid to upgrade to deluxe. I know that we will come out ahead of the game because we plan to eat mostly signatures for dinner. But there are restaurants that we would like to eat at that are not on the dining plan.

One of these trips we will have to try OOP to see what our results are.

Thank you for the time you put in!

 

[ilovepete]

Very interesting to see the results! It seems it really varies based on what you would order specifically. If you are like your DH and would order a salad regardless of if you are on the plan or not, I could see the plan not being as good of a value.

 

[wzd081]

I understand. As everyone else said thank you for your "research". I really enjoyed reading both your reviews and your comparison of OOP vs DDP.

 

[Grammyof2]

Wow that was really interesting.

I have struggled with this over our December trip and finally decided to pay OOP. I did FD twice back when it included tip and appetizer and paid OOP the 1st time for a couple of extra meals at places not included and the 2nd time when it was only myself and DH we had 7 CS meals left.

This time I already have tickets from previous trips and the 2 FD trips that are only going to cost a bit over $300 to upgrade for our entire trip for 2 adults and 2 kids, including 2 AP's. I got 40% off room only at Poly so I figured that was the better discount. With the AP's I will have TIW card also.

I studied menus and even have an excel spread sheet but realized even if it is a wash we will have the meals we want, where we want and I won't be worried about using credits, etc.

My 2 grandchildren are 7 and 9 and would be limited to a children's menu and that wouldn't always work for them. Often when we dine out at home the 4 of us will order 2 appetizers, 2 meals and a dessert or 2 to split. I want this to be a vacation and not to worry about what is covered, making sure the credits get used, paying OOP for the things the kids want to eat and wasting what we don't. I imagine we will also eat at a couple of places not covered on the dining plan.

I think I will save all the receipts just to see where we stand when we get back.

Now tell me how to get these $2 dining certificates, please!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Thanks for taking the time to do a cost comparison and reviews.

 

[maggiew]

Now tell me how to get these $2 dining certificates, please!

You can go to restaurant.com and type in Orlando for location. Many restaurants pop up, but most are off Disney property. There are several, however for Swan and Dolphin and DTD. Also Universal, if you are going there.

Normally, restaurant.com certificates cost $10.00 for a certificate worth $25. But they ALWAYS have sales on these. Wait for a code and then buy the certificates. When I bought these certificates, there was a code for 80% off. So the certificates were $2. I think they start each month at full price, then put out codes for 50%, 70%, 80% etc. You have time before December to wait for an 80% off code.

Be sure you read the fine print of each one. They differ. Some say 2 entrees required. Some say just a $$ amount required. A couple exclusions apply, like the House of Blues was not good on the Gospel Brunch. And I think the Garden Grove one was not good on breakfast? I didn't get that one, so I am going from memory.

Maggie

 

[DisOrBust]

WE waffle over this every time we go. I always say we ARE NOT going to use the DP again but then get to planning and end up on the DxDP. THe only consideration is if we get APs again, I would get the TIW.

I think the CS service a WDW has really gone down the tubes since 1998 and find it hard to eat there since the good old days. IMHO most of the CS desserts are crap and not worth the calories but to get your DP value the dessert must be eaten. The exception is the food at cosmic rays and some of the WS restaurants.

The bigger bonus for the DxDDP is my kids eat much better! It's not just fries everyday at lunchtime. We usually do a character breakfast and sig dining for dinner with snacks in between and my girls love having 2 snack credits a day.

The bad part of any dining plan is if your under 9 the menus suck, They constantly repeat ( and that is also getting to be the case on the adult menus too.) For my 7yo we end up sharing our own meals with her since their is plenty of food but it was a disappointment for her not to get to order real food. At AP she asked the server for a differnt kids menu since it was the same one she had seen all week. I did give up and order OOP for her at few places such as Kona and CG since she likes sushi so much and there was no way anyone would share with her.

IF I didn't have kids and therefore no need to do character meals then I wouldn't do any DP but Disney has the prices set so high at the character meals that it's cost prohibitive not to use a DP.


I miss they days of just worrying about getting the PSs, bow I worry if I'm being cost effective or not.

 

[dixonsontour]

Really enjoyed your review thanks for taking the time to do this