Did the DDP save you money?

[jonimce]

We have never gone to Disney without using a dining plan. This trip was free dinning so I would say we saved a lot of money. LOL

 

[Leigha]

Deb's site, allears.net is THE site to go to for the information! You can't beat it - thanks Deb!

 

[bicker]

With the exception of the DIS, of course.

www.wdwinfo.com

 

[Nancyg56]

Of course I guess what you might be saying is if one was not on the plan, would one eat the exact same meals and the exact same food.

For us the answer would be Yes. We are all creatures of habit. We eat at the same places year after year and unless the items has been dropped, order the same thing. I know boring, to some but comfort to us.

This is how I would answer. Perhap we might choose a CS meal instead of a TS for one night, but we enjoy gathering as a family at the end of the day and relaxing with a nice meal. We are going to try some different TS restaurants, but would still have the same habit of lunch and dinner, with a light breakfast.

 

[bicker]

We definitely would eat differently with the Dining Plan versus without the Dining Plan. With the Dining Plan we won't be doing signature meals, whereas without the Dining Plan we probably would do two. With the Dining Plan we'll make all our full-service meals dinners, whereas without the Dining Plan we'd like have one or two full-service lunches, specifically at the restaurants that are less expensive for lunch. With the Dining Plan we wouldn't consider a table service breakfast, whereas without the Dining Plan we'd almost surely do one table service breakfast.

Also, while we're also creatures of habit to some extent, our habit is to try new things. However, the Dining Plan doesn't specifically encourage or discourage us from that, except that it allows us to order more appetizers, without concern for the cost, especially since we'd probably only eat a little of each when we order one for each person.

 

[Sammie]

We definitely would eat differently with the Dining Plan versus without the Dining Plan. With the Dining Plan we won't be doing signature meals, whereas without the Dining Plan we probably would do two. With the Dining Plan we'll make all our full-service meals dinners, whereas without the Dining Plan we'd like have one or two full-service lunches, specifically at the restaurants that are less expensive for lunch. With the Dining Plan we wouldn't consider a table service breakfast, whereas without the Dining Plan we'd almost surely do one table service breakfast.

Also, while we're also creatures of habit to some extent, our habit is to try new things. However, the Dining Plan doesn't specifically encourage or discourage us from that, except that it allows us to order more appetizers, without concern for the cost, especially since we'd probably only eat a little of each when we order one for each person.

Ok now your previous post makes more sense to me, but see your way of dining is so different from ours.

Having the DDP did not change our pattern of eating at all, it simply saved us money and since we knew before we went what we would eat and where it was very easy for us to check the menu prices and determine the actual savings before purchasing the plan.

 

[magsmom]

We usually budget $100-120 per day with the DDE card.

On this trip, I calculated that EVERY DAY we went over this amount, sometimes quite signifigantly. Yes, we did eat differently, and we tried some wonderful new things (tuna tartare, for one). We also had a lot of shrimp and steak.

 

[rubbergypsy]

you betcha!!! dining plan is the best

 

[DisneyBaby2004]

I think it depends on how much the dining plan is costing you and how much you truly spend for dining each day. For us (there are 2A 2C) we set aside $100 per day for food. We live in FL so we usually take short trips (3days) and the dining plan costs us $97 per day. With that $100 perday, we would skimp/share snacks and counter service or maybe have one TS. So the plan saved us money and we enjoyed eating full meals and snacks.

 

[scubamouse]

I think of it as getting my CS and snacks for free.

We'd do a lot of TS and signature restaurants regardless so it totally makes sense for us. We also used it before and again this year to share CS meals w/my parents who won't be on DDP. There's so much food and among the 4 of us we can usually split and have plenty. It's a nice was to pass some my parents way.