DDP vs. OOP? WWYD? (Warning: LONG!)

[kristenrice]

OK, here is the scenario....
We (me, DH, DD4 and DD2) will be travelling to WDW Jan 25-Feb 1, 2008. Our first 2 nights are at Pop Century (room only) and then Sunday-Thursday we are staying in a 1 BR at OKW (courtesy of a friendly DVC'er )

I have been saving and meticulously budgeting for this trip for about 3 years now. My goal was to make sure that ALL of our expenses were covered BEFORE we left home. Using the DDP for our 5 night stay at OKW was going to help because I would know EXACTLY what my food was going to cost for most of our trip. Now, with the changes, I am not so sure the DDP is a good deal for our family. I went ahead and made ADR's at the TS restaurants we planned on eating at (with or without the DDP) so that we could decide on the DDP later. Here's where we are planning on eating (this only includes the 5 days that we would be eligible for the DDP):
Sunday: Breakfast at H&V ($58.97 + $3.54 tax + 12.00 tip) $74.51
Dinner at LTT ($68.97 + $4.14 tax + $13.00 tip) $86.11
Monday: Breakfast at 1900 PF ($48.97 + $2.94 tax + $9.00 tip) $60.91
Tuesday: Dinner at Akershus ($71.97 + $4.32 tax + $14.00 tip) $90.29
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: No TS planned right now due to our schedule.
TOTAL for just these TS meals is $311.82. We plan on doing a CS meal on Monday and Tuesday. Looking at the menus, $20 would be plenty to cover a CS meal for the 4 of us. Looking at our schedule, we would be doing only CS meals on Wednesday(2) and Thursday so I am budgeting $100 for CS meals.

So, right now, our OOP meal plan would cost us $411.82 (roughly). The DDP for our family would be $429.85 + $48.00 in gratuities, totalling $477.85.

But...with the DDP, we would have an extra TS meal plus all the snacks that are not accounted for in the OOP budget. It seems like a no-brainer that we spend the additional $66.00 and get all that extra food.

The problem is that the "itinerary" I've laid out (how rigid can you get with a 2 y/o and 4 y/o?) doesn't really allow for another TS meal. The only possibility is a late dinner after evening EMH at AK on Wednesday. Our kids are night owls anyways. We usually don't eat dinner until 7pm at the earliest so an 8:00 dinner wouldn't be too out of the ordinary. It wouldn't be impossible, but I don't have anywhere in mind at this point. The other option would be a breakfast (at O'Hana or Olivia's probably) on our departure day. Our flight leaves at 2:00pm so we'd have plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast.

Here's what my thoughts are (and I would LOVE to hear yours!)
1) The DDP would get us significantly more food, but we weren't cutting out anything that we'd want in our OOP meal plan so would we really need that extra food?
2) We have gift cards and Disney Visa Rewards in excess of what we would need to cover either the DDP or the OOP plan so both "budgets" are essentially "pre-paid" already. My plan is to charge the meals to the room and then reconcile the charges with the GC's and Rewards.
3) By eating OOP, we would actually spend about $60 less than we would if we got the DDP. Even if we ate at O'Hana on our departure day, it would only add $62 to our OOP cost. Essentially, it would cost us the same amount, but we'd get the snack credits....and probably WAY overeat at the CS restaurants!

What do all you experienced folks here think about all this? I have no experience with the DDP. Our last trip was our honeymoon and we were on the "Gold Plan" which included all our meals. If you were in our situation, what would you do? The DDP or just pay OOP?

 

[DreaminDisney]

I voted dining plan. If it's same price, I'd go with DDP. You won't feel bad not using snack credits if you don't use them but you have them just in case......

 

[rantnnravin]

since you're DVC, i'd probably opt to go with the DDP,
but for others who also need accommodations, i don't think i'd be too willing to give up possible room discounts in order to book the package that is forcing you to eat more than you might originally just because you "can".

however, if you were willing to forgo some CS and utilize the kitchen in the 1-bedroom, then the DDP is looking less appealing.

 

[cukal6]

If it were me I would book the DDP. My DS4 and I did for our last trip and it was wonderful. We did all of our TS for lunch or dinner though because it was a nice break during the day to give us some time to relax. We also used every one of our snack credits!

 

[solgent]

Just want to say this:

You are figuring the OOP cost based on what? The menus posted online? In some case those menus are already out of date, i.e., the prices at WDW are slightly higher than shown on those menus. Prices may continue to rise a bit between now & the time of your trip.

Therefore, your OOP costs are underestimated, whereas the DDP cost is fixed (although the cost of your tips could rise a little bit as the menu prices rise.)

This means you have overestimated the difference between DDP & OOP, and makes DDP look more appealing.

For my family, when we stay using DVC, we get groceries & do lots of meals in the room & CS in the parks. So we would not chose DDP in this circumstance.

You, on the other hand, have TS restaurants that you intend to go to. I think DDP seems like a good choice for you.

 

[Tricia1972]

In your case I would opt for the DDP vs OOP. As you noted, spending $60 on snacks over the course of five days is not unheard of. Even if you got bottles of water each day it's $10 per day for your family ($2.50x4). Going with the DDP you pick up an extra meal plus your water.

For your extra dinner, can you get a late ADR at Boma after AK's EMH?

 

[NMW]

With your situation, I'd do the dining plan. Menu prices go up all the time. OOP may end up costing you quite a bit more when you go.