Ddp

[3-MER]

What do you other members think of the DDP? We have never used it, but think it might savw some $$. Any comments would be appreciated.


Thanks

 

[LovinmyDisneylife]

DH and I always get the DDP on every trip. It saves a ton of cash for us and it makes budgeting for each trip much easier. I definitely recommend giving it a try.

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I have done both. The DDP seems to work great when we are traveling with others. For instance in 2008 my Parents went with us. My Dad is 72 and my Mom is 66. We stayed at Pop on a pin code. We also did the DDP. This was done mainly to keep my Dad (depression era child) from gripping about the cost of food. They both loved it...thought it was "the way to go". Daddy in fact told me that several times. After a couple of days they got the hang of it. When went in 2009 with my MIL, she wanted to try it. We love the TS restaurants and she always loved Ca Grill and Brown Derby. She thought she saved money because we tend to throw caution to the wind and really eat on our trips to WDW.

If it were just DH and I, I do not think we would as often because he likes to graze and eat a little all day. I like a hearty breakfast and usually he stays in the room. We both enjoy TS but the rest of the meals he could take or leave it. He really doesn't like the fact that we need to make ADRs.

Basically we do not nickle and dime ourselves in WDW. If we didn't do the dinning plan and had extra money we would spend it on a Disney print or some other expensive dodad. I have tried to add it up before based on a recent trip...to DDP or not to DDP...it actually is a wash for us. Now that we are DVC owners we will probably get the APs and TIW card. I think everyone should try it once and see how it goes. You could also price out items on the menu from Allearsnet.com add it up and see if it would work for you.

We are planning to use it when we travel with MIL this Dec.

 

[dzone1]

Debating this right now. It would definitely be good for the kids and myself, but my wife is lucky to eat 1 meal a day. What to to what to do.

 

[Good Ol Gal]

we've tried the DXDP, DDP and QSP and have enjoyed them all.

Having 4 children (3 of who are now "adults") it worked great!

I don't have to look at that $4.00 price on a snack and cringe. You want it? Sure! It's you're snack for the day.

We really enjoyed the QSP this last trip. Each person got 2 snacks a day and then the QS meals. We had some GREAT food... but we did have a car and were able to drive to different resorts to try different food out.

We always do the DDP when we bring MIL/FIL with us. No need to worry about sticker shock when they look at the menu..... don't worry mom/dad it's all covered.. order what you want!

The DXDP we've tried when switching resorts. so we spread those credits out over 2 days. We've only done that twice. If DH and I were to go alone, with no kids we would probably do that plan the whole trip and eat at some of the more upscale restaurants every day but I don't see that happening

As far as saving $$... we've saved money on each trip with what we ordered. But.. there are those that will say... did you really save money?? Would you have purchased everything if you weren't on the plan??

I would say no to that... I would have told my kids, sorry you already had a snack today, you can't get another. You can't have your own bag of popcorn, you must share with your sibling.... But with the DDP I don't have to! It makes our vacations more of a vacation for me and them.

Of course I did like it better when the tip was included in the price...........

 

[Figment2]

I found recently that DDP is not for me. I didn't realize before the trip what sections of the menu I order from. I found that I prefer to order an appetizer and a salad rather than a meal. Example at Sanaa, I have the tomato soup and the bread service, neither are part of the plan. At Yachtman's I ordered soup & a sald, again neither were part of the plan.

It all worked out in the end as we used the two credits I didn't use at Concourse for two of us at Boma. At Sanaa, I gave my credit to one of our friends visting from Miami. Plus we use the TIW card which gave me a discount on the food not on the plan. The only place the plan worked for me was at buffets.

My suggestion is to look at the menus and determine what section you usually order from.

Cyn

 

[Sandisw]

We have used both the DDP and the QSDP. We prefer the QSDP as we didn't really like being tied down to all those TS meals.

Last summer, we did a split stay so we could do the DDP for a few nights and then the QSDP for the rest. It was great so we are doing it again this summer.

I am hopeful that even when the new system goes in to place, they still allow this when you split stay at different resorts.

We found it was a lot of food but were able to utilize the snacks and some of the desserts (got fruit) from the CS meals to get breakfast. Over the course of the week, the only OOP I had for food was about $20 for a case of water and a few smoothies that the kids wanted that were not covered on the plan (and the tips that I paid for the two TS meals we ate).

 

[SassyLassy]

We are also trying to decide this. We normally do the DDP plan but that was before having the kids and now having the extra mouths to feed at the extra cost. I would say price it out. Look at the menus, see what you would normally order and total the price! If money is less of a concern compared to convenience than I would definitely say go for it!

 

[lucyem]

A lot depends on you and your eating habits. I recently sat down and figured out what we would eat and where for our next trip. The regular DDP would save us about $100-$150 when eating the requirements for the plan. On the other hand we tend to not buy a lot of snacks or desserts. I also often get an appetizer as a meal or we share meals. So when looked at it from that point of view we would not save much at all unless we did all buffet type meals with one price per person for everything.

 

[goodferry]

It is a pretty personal decision. For us it makes sense. We are a family of 6 and my husband is the kind of guy who is nervous looking at the prices of stuff when we are ordering. He will walk two miles to find a water fountain before he will spend $2 for a bottle of water. However, if it's a prepaid plan, he can relax, get what he wants, let the kids get what they want, and not worry about it. It makes the trip as a whole better for all of us since DH is not agonizing over every cent

 

[permavac]

Personally, I find the DDP too restrictive. It's just my DH and me and we spend about the same or a little less per day than what the plan costs and we are able to get what we want to eat. We like appetizers at some restaurants and don't typically have our dessert until a few hours later so with the way we eat, the DDP doesn't work out so well. That said, people with younger children who don't go to Disney too often might find they're saving money since they're looking to try a lot of new places. Good luck with your planning!

Terri

 

[Chuck S]

It is rare for us to order dessert, we do usually order an appetizer. We also prefer water most of the time, or an adult beverage. So the DDP realy wouldn't save us anything, and in fact, ordering what we want costs less than the plan.

 

[Hopefully]

We always purchase the DDP. It works for us and for our style of eating. We are 3 adults and we always have a TS meal each day. This past trip we were 6. 2 were staying off site and meeting up with us each day. But our evening ADR's were always for 6. So DH bought an AP and we purchased the TIW card too. This gave us 20% off the appetizers folks ordered, the 2 OOP meals we were buying each day and the "Adult Beverages"
We believe we saved on the DDP for the 4 of us (not a lot, but some) and we will completely recover the cost of the TIW card on our upcoming trip.
Generally we eat breakfast in the Villa, a CS lunch, and a TS dinner. We were able to use our snack credits snacking around the world at the F & W Festival.
Price it out for yourself, it is really the only way to know for sure.
Good Luck

 

[rkwier]

We have used the DDP, the QSDP and also ordered groceries to prepare meals in our rooms. Each have their merit. For us, length of stay is often a deciding factor. I do not want to have a bunch of food to go to waste, so stays of 3 nights or less we get a dining plan. When we have a longer stay, we order groceries to prepare most meals in our room. We can generally save some over the cost of a dining plan for those long trips.

I liked the DDP because it gave us the opportunity to try several restaurants that we were wanting to for a while. I didn't like that we were tied to ADRs for them. I really liked the QSDP because it included the refillable mugs, which we always purchase. The meal portions are often very large, so DH and I could easily split a breakfast entree for one meal credit. Or, one of us would get a yogurt parfait for a dessert item and use it for breakfast. It was kind of fun learning how to stretch it. In each case where we used a plan, I figured that we would have paid about $10 more if we had purchased those same items out of pocket. The key question to ask is, if you were paying out of pocket, would you select those same items? For us it was yes, so we felt that it had value.

As an aside, one time we were checking out a Mara and I was writing down the totals of the items that we selected. The cashier said "you are keeping track aren't you?" I said yes and that I wanted to see if I had made a good choice. She said, "would you still order these desserts?" We had two of the Mickey shaped rice krispie treats. I held one up and said, "yep, I am a sucker for these things!"

 

[toniosmom]

As others have stated, it really depends on your style. We did the DDP two years ago and I wasn't crazy about it. I hated having a TS meal every day -- having to make reservations for each day of our trip was a pain because we were 8 people and several of us didn't want to be locked in to a particular restaurant six months in advance. The only good thing about the DDP at that time was that we were staying at a value resort (pre-DVC days), so we had that huge food court. I can't imagine having to deal with the small food areas at the deluxe resorts on a daily basis. I'd much rather eat in the room (even if we just order in a pizza).

 

[sissy_42]

I did the QSDP when I took my 2 nephews and their mom. We did have many deserts not eaten at the time, but almost all of them were eaten later in the day as a snack. On the last day we had I think 19 snack credits and 5 meal credits left. We spent that morning at DTD and ate a few things then we hit the candy store there and loaded up on goodies for the trip home and stopped at Earl of Sandwich for meals for the six hour ride, so it worked out perfect for us. We even got a few of the big lollipops as cute souvenirs for friends at home. I know 19 sounds like a lot, but with Quick Service you get two each a day and we were VERY conservative the first two days or so thinking we would run out before our 6 nights were up. DBF and I are going soon and I wasn't going to do any plan, but I made a few ADRs and want to do room service one night so I think DDP will save us at least a little money. And that is a few extra bucks in my pocket!

 

[Dean]

What do you other members think of the DDP? We have never used it, but think it might savw some $$. Any comments would be appreciated.


Thanks

It's a specialty item that depends on how you eat/order, where your reservations are and what your budget is. It can be a great way to try other things or control costs in some situations but it rarely saves money. It works best for shorter stays, more expensive 1 credit restaurants and those with kids 3-9 that eat more like adults.

 

[knockUout]

DDP works very well for our family. DH raises Angus cattle so our 4 boys think that steak is typical dinner fare. They have big appetites (as do they friends they bring along). Three of the boys are over 12 so cost wise it makes $$$ sense because they would order a ribeye or t-bone. DH would be disappointed to not have a TS meal each night. We do tend to be too conservative on using snack credits and end up getting snacks for the flight home. I like the fact that it is paid for up front, no surprises, order whatever you want --We're at Disneyworld!!!!!

 

[Chuck S]

.... order whatever you want --We're at Disneyworld!!!!!

Therein lies the problem for us using the DDP. It isn't really order whatever you want....it is order whatever you want as long as it is an entree and a sugary high fat dessert that we normally wouldn't eat, not an appetizer, a salad or bowl or soup.

 

[wdwfanatic316]

A few years ago we got free dining (pre-DVC days) and while it was fun to try different restaurants that we probably wouldn't have, we felt like it was too much food, and it took out a lot of the spontaneity out of the trip. It was also not really "free" because of the gratuity.

For our trip last Nov, I did a lot of research to determine if the DDP would save us money, and it ended up being a wash, so we didn't get it. Too much "pressure" in case we wanted to cancel an ADR.

But, for our trip this Nov, I think we're going to do the Deluxe DP for the first two nights of our four night trip so that we can use it for the first thee days our our trip.

So, I really think it depends on your situation! Good luck!