DDP - Yes or No?

[amy390]

Need to finalize our plans for May '07. Staying at CBR. I was all set to book the DDP for me, DH & 5 yro DD, but, now with all the negative info regarding the childrens menu, or lack thereof, I'm not sure what to do. Should we just pay out of pocket. It will cost us about $700 for the 3 of us for 7 nights on DDP. Also, can we and should we just get the DDP for me & DH?

Thanks so much.

 

[Linda 441]

No, you can't get the plan for just the 2 of you - all in the room have to be on it. But, it is soooo in expensive for the children's price that it is really worth it. If you do just a couple of buffets or Character meals - Liberty Tree for example, or Boma are two that come to mind that we just did - you can't go wrong. They have all kinds of choices for ALL and the kids value of that is more than the whole day of the plan! In fact, for the price of the plan, you can easily get your value out of it with a snack and the counter meal. Then, think about your table service as a bonus (using it for the buffets, etc.) or don't order a meal and share your appetizers and your meal (just don't order extra adult meals with your kids credits later). OR, you can trade a counter service meal for 4 snacks. So, at the Mara at AKL for example, a snack was a large bowl of fruit (not the kids ones - a LARGE one), or a bagel. You could easily get 4 breakfasts for one counter service credit.
I honestly don't see how you can go wrong on the plan. You will average, per adult, $35/dinner, $12/counter service and probalby $3/snack. That's your $100/night right there. Anything your 5 year old eats would then be "free."

Did I confuse you enough?

PLUS, most places we saw were more than willing to substitute items upon request....fries for one of the sides, etc.

 

[bicker]

I agree. The price of the Dining Plan for young children is incredibly inexpensive, so it really is still worth it despite changes to menus. And FWIR, many folks have reported that the changes to the menus aren't as bad as many folks are making them out to be.

 

[LizinSTL]

Need to finalize our plans for May '07. Staying at CBR. I was all set to book the DDP for me, DH & 5 yro DD, but, now with all the negative info regarding the childrens menu, or lack thereof, I'm not sure what to do. Should we just pay out of pocket. It will cost us about $700 for the 3 of us for 7 nights on DDP. Also, can we and should we just get the DDP for me & DH?

Thanks so much.

It's actually closer to $600 than $700 for 2A/1C 7nights DDP.

IMO, you won't be able to eat at Disney for less than that- even doing 3 CS meals a day only....adding occasional snacks and drinks unless you are incredibly frugal and bring a lot of food with you- eat in your room sometimes and/or go offsite to fast food places.

The DDP is an incredible value when you are talking about families with kids. Even if your hypothetical 7 TS meals were all breakfast buffets....your OOP TS meals would cost you approximately $375-500.(various costs of breakfast buffets- least expensive x7, most expensive x7) Unless all your CS meals were under $8 and you skipped all your snacks, you wouldn't "lose" money on the DDP.

Our family had enough food on our 2 adult selections at TS restaurants that our kids could have eaten off of our plates and we'd have all been satisfied. If they merely picked at their food, the DDP would be worth it from a cost standpoint. We did a bunch of buffets- that solves the problem of limited selection on the children's menu (which you'd face on or off the ddp, incidentally.)

Use your dd's CS option for her breakfasts at the resort's cs location. Let her share your CS options for lunch. Choose restaurants that you want to try- order what you want, and if, by some chance you need to pay OOP for something for your dd, then budget for that. It's unlikely that you will, IME.

Your dd's cost is $10.99/night. You'd be hardpressed to NOT spend that on her 1 cs meal and 1 ts meal....heck, her snack can be $4.

 

[deltachi8]

The reports here about doom and gloom on the child menus are over stated, the value is incredible for kids.

 

[Frantasmic]

I'm in the buy the plan bandwagon.

Yes, there may be a few Counter Service places that *might* crimp your style a time or two. However, as others have pointed out, a Liberty Tree Tavern here, an Ohana there, and many other family style or buffets and you have an incredible value as well as a wide variety of food for the entire family.

You won't be "stuck" eating buffets either. Just look at the menus and plan accordingly.

 

[Lewisc]

The kids plan costs around $11/day. The snack is worth $3-$4. A TS character meal is worth around $15 with tax and tip. Even if you wind up paying out of pocket for some food for your kid you'll still "get your monies worth".

Some TS restaurants will give you kids portions of some adult items if you ask.

 

[fantpan]

OR, you can trade a counter service meal for 4 snacks. So, at the Mara at AKL for example, a snack was a large bowl of fruit (not the kids ones - a LARGE one), or a bagel. You could easily get 4 breakfasts for one counter service credit.

This is great to know. Can you do this with the kid's CS as well or just the adult's?

 

[disneymom06]

I am not sure you meant the plan trades 1cs for 4snacks or in actual food that is what it amounts too.

I still vote for the plan. Especially for children, the price is well worth it. Just look at the price of a character buffet with beverage, tax and tip included as well as a snack and it has more that covered it's cost. I didn't even add in a CS. IMO, You really can't lose.

 

[bicker]

The way most folks here describe it, it's three not four, and it isn't a "trade". Rather, at many CS eateries, especially the food courts, there are ways to use your CS credits so you're effectively getting three snacks (one as appetizer, one as entree, one as dessert) in addition to your drink. It's just a coincidental aspect of how you can use your CS credits.

 

[cmwade77]

Absolutely yes, yes you can probably eat slightly cheaper, but you get much better food on the dining plan for only a little more money.

 

[Lewisc]

The resort food courts tend to be the most flexible. It's more of a courtesy than a rule. The policy varies from restaurant to restaurant and may even vary depending on what CM you ask or what day you happen to ask.

Everything POP let me get a drink and two snacks for a CS credit. A poster said Mara let them get 4 snacks and another poster said Pepper Market let them get anything that totaled under a specific dollar amount.

You don't get an appetizer with a CS meal, rather a drink, combo and dessert. A drink and two snacks is basically letting the guest substitute a snack for the combo.

The way most folks here describe it, it's three not four, and it isn't a "trade". Rather, at many CS eateries, especially the food courts, there are ways to use your CS credits so you're effectively getting three snacks (one as appetizer, one as entree, one as dessert) in addition to your drink. It's just a coincidental aspect of how you can use your CS credits.

 

[angelmav]

Well so far everyone weighing in has been a huge proponent for the new kids menu on other posts, and generally in favor of the DDP overall, so Ill play a little devils advocate. Its a good deal if, you would eat 1TS meal a day anyway, you dont go offsite for meals or to other parks during your stay and you make ADR's in advance. Its not such a great deal if thats not how you would plan to spend your time/money.

 

[jaskemr]

I great thing about being on the DDP, when you go there, it's paid for, and you never have to worry about the food, menu prices, if your child eats his whole meal or not. You can order what you want and not have the menu price influence you.

Plus I would agree, you would have to be frugal to beat the price of the DDP, and who wants to be penny pinching on every meal just to come out ahead of what the DDP costs. Get the DDP, forget the food prices, and enjoy your vacation.

We got it on our 2005 vacation (4 kids) and we were stuffed the whole time.
The "snacks" come in very handy on hot days

 

[Dani&TJsMom]

We just got back last week from CSR and were on the DDP. It was me, dh, dd8 and ds3. It was our 2nd time on DDP and we love it. Even without trying to "maximize" the DDP, it was well worth it. There were times we passed on dessert or shared just one appetizer just because it's so much food!

I was very worried about the new kids menu before we left, but it was never a problem. We did half sit down TS and half buffets. Whispering Canyon, Kona, and Le Cellier were very flexible with the kids meals. Also, the counter service meals were great. It was nice getting grapes as a side instead of fries on occasion. There was only one place where I thought the kids menu was limited, but I was allowed to order an adult meal which the kids shared. We never experienced the sugar-free jello for dessert; the kids usually got a chocolate chip cookie or rice krispie treat.

We loved all the options available with the snack credits. Last trip, we were very limited and used it mostly for water. This trip, we used snack credits for carmel apples, cotton candy, cafe lattes, glazed almonds...it was great not having to dip our hands in our wallets for everything!

My vote is definitely for the ddp!

 

[marivaid]

The resort food courts tend to be the most flexible. It's more of a courtesy than a rule. The policy varies from restaurant to restaurant and may even vary depending on what CM you ask or what day you happen to ask.

Everything POP let me get a drink and two snacks for a CS credit. A poster said Mara let them get 4 snacks and another poster said Pepper Market let them get anything that totaled under a specific dollar amount.

You don't get an appetizer with a CS meal, rather a drink, combo and dessert. A drink and two snacks is basically letting the guest substitute a snack for the combo.

Has anyone been able to do this at ASMO or POFQ lately? We will only have the DDP for part of our stay, 5 days, and there's no way we'll be able to use all our CS and snack credits. It'd be great to stock up on some breakfasty snacks and drinks to use during the non-DDP part of our stay.

 

[thunderbird1]

Has anyone been able to do this at ASMO or POFQ lately? We will only have the DDP for part of our stay, 5 days, and there's no way we'll be able to use all our CS and snack credits. It'd be great to stock up on some breakfasty snacks and drinks to use during the non-DDP part of our stay.

We were at POFQ last August, and had no trouble trading our last CS credit for a drink and 2 snacks--I believe we got a bottled beverage (lemonade or something?), a bag of chips and a mickey rice krispie bar.

Even without that, we ate at the POFQ food court quite often during our stay, and could have easily lived for several days on all the drinks (usually juice from bkfst and milk from kids' lunches), leftover "sides" (mainly grapes and fruit cups from kids' meals), and desserts (we never could eat more than 1 or 2 desserts between the 4 of us from our CS meals). Then when you add in the 10 snacks we had to use up, we could have filled the fridge.

 

[fantpan]

We've decided to go for the plan. I hate cooking when I'm on holidays and we'd end up eating all CS meals anyway. At least this way I know we'll eat decently and I don't have to spend my holiday worrying about how much to spend on this or that.

Have a look at the snacks sticky. I was impressed that you could get items like milk, bread, salsa and corn chips etc. with your credits. Hey that's your shopping if you want to cook and still all included.