Did we save on the DDP

[La2kw]

WDW is inflating the price of food so ridiculously that it is a no brainer to get the DDP.

My solution is to eat off site more, or eat more in my villa. Disney gets enough of my money already.

 

[papamouse1]

I think it depends on how you like to eat. I don't like to eat dessert at every meal. If I took off all the desserts would I save money? I don't like eating TS every day. If I eat CS instead of TS one day would I save money?

The very first time I did the DDP (and had no idea what I was doing) I think I did everything you , and others, describe. I ate EVERY dessert, appetizer (that's when app was included as well), entre, and I got the most expensive thing every time just to get my bargain! By the 7th day, I was literally sick of food. Then we learned how to make DDP work for us. We do not dessert every meal, don't eat TS every day, we don't pick restaurants/meal based solely on cost... and each year we have aved money. Granted, some years we barely broke even with little savings, we have saved. We do a split stay at hotel (3 night and 4 night). We buy DDP for 3 nights, then we have all of the 4th day until midnight before DDP expires effectively spreading all our meals over 4 days. This way we get to try really nice new places, not worry at all about what we are ordering, and don't overload eating every day of our trip. Then the last few days of our trip we tend to just do CS quick stuff, since we have already done the fine dining portion of our trip... main point is, we save money every time!

I have never spent as much on food at WDW as the DDP would cost me. I like TIW because I can order a salad and skip dessert. I can order two appetizers and no entree. I can eat how I want to, not how Disney wants me to, and still save money. I don't drink, and I still save more money with TIW than with the DDP.

Hmmm... I guess I'm a little perplexed. You mention not wanting to do TS every day and do CS instead. Other than Food Courts at the value resorts, I don't think TIW is accepted at any CS is it? TIW does sound like it could be good, but IMO it is just as problematic as DDP. First, you have to be an AP holder or Florida resident. Second, you have to spend at least $375-500 just to break even. Actually more than that if you figure in the extra cost for an AP just so you can get the TIW (Over $350 more for Premium AP). Thridly, it only works for your TS meals.
So... for a family of 4 like mine who don't live in Florida, and only come to WDW once a year, and only do 3, maybe 4 TS meals, we would end up doing the EXACT same thing as with the DDP to try and get our value... order app, dessert, etc. to try and recoup our cost. Besides, I would HAVE to buy AP to even get one, so not worth it.... for us anyway.

Don't get me wrong, if we lived there and were AP holders, or came more often in a year, TIW is the best choice... no brainer.

 

[papamouse1]

My solution is to eat off site more, or eat more in my villa. Disney gets enough of my money already.

That actually sounds nice... but for us would never work. We fly in and no car... plus only there for 7 days and kids have 6 parks (yes even the water parks they HAVE to do, time to travel offsite is time from the parks. And here's the saddest part, we DVC owners and really prefer the 1BR or 2BR units so we have a full kitchen! But we're on vactaion, so the lazy bug bites us hard!
We just don't want to cook any more than pour bowl of cereal in AM or pop pocorn in microwave... kinda sad, huh?

I guess maybe we should be more frugal, but this is our one getaway each year and we like to get lost in the "magic"

 

[2Tiggies]

We just don't want to cook any more than pour bowl of cereal in AM or pop pocorn in microwave... kinda sad, huh?

I guess maybe we should be more frugal, but this is our one getaway each year and we like to get lost in the "magic"

Sounds good to me though. I think that (for us anyway) the whole point of a vacation is to do things I wouldn't normally do, which means spending more money that I could justify at any other time of the year, so that I can NOT have to do things that I usually would every other day (like cook, clean and wash the dishes).

If it makes you feel any better, putting popcorn in the microwave on vacation sounds like a chore to me when I can walk up to a cart and swipe a KTTW card

 

[papamouse1]

Sounds good to me though. I think that (for us anyway) the whole point of a vacation is to do things I wouldn't normally do, which means spending more money that I could justify at any other time of the year, so that I can NOT have to do things that I usually would every other day (like cook, clean and wash the dishes).

If it makes you feel any better, putting popcorn in the microwave on vacation sounds like a chore to me when I can walk up to a cart and swipe a KTTW card

hehe....

I'm with you on this one. don't you find it kind of funny to talk about "saving money" when discussing a disney vacation?
ONe thing I can promise anyone who hasn't been yet... if you're going to Disney then you are going to spend insane amounts of money

 

[smidgy]

well, the way we are able to take as many trips as we do is by trying NOT to spend insane amounts of money, and cut back where we can.

so when we rent points from a DVC friend, we do take advantage of the microwave. when not, we often eat sandwiches in the room.

however, we also have used the DDP, and I DO love it!!!! I had a $42 porterhouse steak at Yachtsman's Steakhouse, without blinking an eye!!!

I just was answering the question of "will you save money?" saving money was the topic. and I still say it depends if you would eat that way (on vacation) anyway.

For us, the DDP does not save money. If we didn't purchase it, we would eat more cheaply. ( If we go during Free Dining, we normally would not pay rack rate for a room.)

but it does give us the option of eating better than we ever do, for less than we would if we bought the same food OOP.

without the DDP, I would never have had the opportunity to experience so many wonderful restaurants on WDW property. and I don't mind at all making reservations 18o days out. we find it exciting to plan where we will eat!!
(friends say, "how do you know what you want to eat months ahead of time?" well, we look at the menus. when I buy tickets for a play, how do I know months ahead of time if I will feel like going to a play that night? to me, it's the same thing.

so I love the DDP. but it doesn't save us money.

just like, if I am planning on going to a Value resort, but a code comes out, I spend a little more to go to a Moderate.
I end up spending MORE money. but I get more bang for my buck!)

 

[papamouse1]

smidgy...

I hope you didn't take my comments about people talking about saving money personally. It was a point of humor... I still find it funny when I meet someone in the park who is walking around with mickey ears, sweatshirts, kids have the Mickey hands eating a $$ waffle cone or churro, and they say, I brought an old ham sandwich in my bag to save money

I totally get the whole being frugal to make more trips. We started giong to DL when my youngest was 3 months old (have picture with Minnie trying to kidnap her). Those first few years before we joined DVC, we really had to get creative to pull it off. One year I literally took our fifth wheel trailer out to LA and parked in a trailer park just down the road because we didn't have the $$ to do the hotel thing. It really is about making memories with the kids isn't it.

And you are correct, if you don't use DDP to your advantage, you will not save $$. It's kind of like buying a 7 day pass to the park but only going 2 days... kind of a waste. Like you said, it is OK to spend the money when you get more bang for your buck, and we have absolutely got DDP dialed in for us so that it gives us more bang for our buck

The OP actually wasn't asking the question can you save money on DVC. She was simply pointing out that she did save money. My responses weren't to try and say DDP is the way to go, all I was pointing out was we have used it 4x... we tracked the cost each time (I think I may be OCD), and we saved every year even though we didn't eat every dessert for every meal or every snack every day or TS & CS every day. We tried that year 1 and it was no fun in the end... too much food too fast. My point is simply you CAN do DDP and save money without doing any more meals, etc than we do in our everyday lives... and we are not big eaters.

Maybe next time you guys go to the world you should try the ideas I and others have shared about doing a split stay and getting DDP for just a couple days. Then you can do a couple really fun meals, get your money's worth out of it, and still use the microwave on other nights to help keep the cost down. We do it this way and IMO we get the best of both worlds... DDP and no DDP

So how often do you guys get to go? If I could go more than once a year, I think I would have to go back to the 5th wheel and PBJ sandwiches

 

[La2kw]

Hmmm... I guess I'm a little perplexed. You mention not wanting to do TS every day and do CS instead. Other than Food Courts at the value resorts, I don't think TIW is accepted at any CS is it? TIW does sound like it could be good, but IMO it is just as problematic as DDP. First, you have to be an AP holder or Florida resident. Second, you have to spend at least $375-500 just to break even. Actually more than that if you figure in the extra cost for an AP just so you can get the TIW (Over $350 more for Premium AP). Thridly, it only works for your TS meals.
So... for a family of 4 like mine who don't live in Florida, and only come to WDW once a year, and only do 3, maybe 4 TS meals, we would end up doing the EXACT same thing as with the DDP to try and get our value... order app, dessert, etc. to try and recoup our cost. Besides, I would HAVE to buy AP to even get one, so not worth it.... for us anyway.

Don't get me wrong, if we lived there and were AP holders, or came more often in a year, TIW is the best choice... no brainer.

TIW is accepted at the CS places in AK, the food courts at the values, and in all the lounges. We've had some nice light meals in the lounges.

We live in California and only go out to WDW once a year. We buy AP's and stagger the trips so we get two trips out of one AP. That works out cheaper than any of the 10 days passes. Now with the Premier pass, we get an even better deal because we live near Disneyland and have always bought AP's at Disneyland. We buy a TIW card and we use it two separate trips.

Trust me, we have been going to WDW more than 20 years and have stayed for at least 2 weeks each trip. I have spent lots of money there and I know how to save money. DDP would not save me money.

 

[riomaggiore]

Are these calculations for 3 nights or 4 nights on the DDP?

Interestingly I ran the numbers for my recent trip in January for 4 adults on DDP for 3 nights.
We ate at Biergarten for dinner, Les Chefs de France for lunch and Akershus for breakfast. Biergarten was our most expensive TS meal, probably due to the fact that it was dinner.

We spent an equivalent of $650 on DDP, completely using up all credits.
I calculated if we had paid regular price for DDP we would have saved 15% which falls in line with Disney's estimate of up to 20% savings on food. But then on the flip side we never would have ordered so many desserts, entrees or drink OOP.

As it was we saved a quite a bit with a discounted DDP so we were quite happy with it.
But I think based on our eating habits, which included sharing meals and not finishing or ordering desserts, and not caring about maximizing savings, I'd estimate an average of 10-15% savings on the DDP over OOP.

 

[papamouse1]

TIW is accepted at the CS places in AK, the food courts at the values, and in all the lounges. We've had some nice light meals in the lounges.

We live in California and only go out to WDW once a year. We buy AP's and stagger the trips so we get two trips out of one AP. That works out cheaper than any of the 10 days passes. Now with the Premier pass, we get an even better deal because we live near Disneyland and have always bought AP's at Disneyland. We buy a TIW card and we use it two separate trips.

Trust me, we have been going to WDW more than 20 years and have stayed for at least 2 weeks each trip. I have spent lots of money there and I know how to save money. DDP would not save me money.

Wow! 2 weeks! Must be nice
We could never get away for 2 weeks to go to WDW.

For us... and others like us then, based on what you said, the TIW wouldn't work. CS in AK is nice but none in MK, DHS, Epcot, waterparks, moderates or deluxes would be a problem. We simply couldn't afford to eat majority of our meals as TS even if we're saving 20%. Especially for just a few days.
We did what you described one year with the AP use over 2 trips and it was nice.
Yep, with so few CS, plus we won't be staying in value resorts (we own DVC), and I am not comfortable taking my kids to a lounge to eat, so wouldn't work for us.
But definitely sounds like in your situation, you have figured out how to make TIW really work for you & it must be a great deal for you... kind of like how we have figured out how to make DDP really work for us with the way we can vacation

BTW Congrats in advance on your 25th coming up! Have a blast on your cruise. Are you going on the new Dream or doing a 7 day? And where in SoCal do you live? We lived in Long Beach for 6 years

Have a great one and thanks for all your insight

 

[La2kw]

Wow! 2 weeks! Must be nice
We could never get away for 2 weeks to go to WDW.

For us... and others like us then, based on what you said, the TIW wouldn't work. CS in AK is nice but none in MK, DHS, Epcot, waterparks, moderates or deluxes would be a problem. We simply couldn't afford to eat majority of our meals as TS even if we're saving 20%. Especially for just a few days.
We did what you described one year with the AP use over 2 trips and it was nice.
Yep, with so few CS, plus we won't be staying in value resorts (we own DVC), and I am not comfortable taking my kids to a lounge to eat, so wouldn't work for us.
But definitely sounds like in your situation, you have figured out how to make TIW really work for you & it must be a great deal for you... kind of like how we have figured out how to make DDP really work for us with the way we can vacation

BTW Congrats in advance on your 25th coming up! Have a blast on your cruise. Are you going on the new Dream or doing a 7 day? And where in SoCal do you live? We lived in Long Beach for 6 years

Have a great one and thanks for all your insight

Aw, thanks. We're going on the Dream since there are no 7 night Disney cruises this summer in Florida.

Both DW and I were born and raised in L.A. and still live in the area.

We are also DVC and we do not stay at the values, though we have gone over for a meal occasionally. I forgot that TIW is also accepted at the Sassagoula Food and Float Factory in POFQ. That's very handy when we stay at OKW. However, we have done WDW so many times, we often go offsite to eat now, as well as up to Universal and the Millenia area.

 

[havoc315]

But I think based on our eating habits, which included sharing meals and not finishing or ordering desserts, and not caring about maximizing savings, I'd estimate an average of 10-15% savings on the DDP over OOP.

I think that's a fair assessment, bit the realization that those savings become less and less every year. A few years ago, when the meal plan was around $36, and included tip and appetizers... then it added up to a savings for just about everyone.

Now, the savings is much narrower. For this year, they raised the price significantly. They eliminated the extra drink from breakfast, which makes it nearly impossible to get any value from using a breakfast credit for CS anymore. (that reduces the value of a breakfast CS from about $10-$12, to more like $7-9).

For people who eat all the desserts, who want all those snack credits and want to use them on expensive items, and people who wants either the most expensive character meals, or most expensive entrees --- the people who order the steak at every dinner -- the savings can still be significant -- it can be in excess of 20%.

For the more moderate eater -- who wants a moderately priced entree for dinner, who will use the snack credits, but may use them for a piece of fruit during the day, the moderate eater who will generally get dessert but might skip it occasionally, the savings are more likely to range from 5% to 15%.

For the "light" eater, who often orders salads for dinner, who generally skips desserts, the DDP would probably be a rip off.

And for those who might save 5-10%, there is the question of whether that rather small savings, justifies the rigidity of being on the DDP. (Having an exact number of TS and CS meals to budget... For us, for example.. in a 5 day trip, I would like to do around 5 TS dinners, 2 TS lunches, and 3 CS lunches... but if I was on the DDP, I'd have to either pay OOP, or sacrifice my true preference and give up a few TS meals, just to make the math work).

If you want tons of TS credits, I see value in the DxDP. But for a family like mine, I see minimal value in the DDP -- (5-10%), that the rigidity just isn't worth it. I'd rather pay OOP for an entree-only meal at a TS-- about $15-$20 (for many TS entrees), then get an "included" CS meal with a $15 value.

 

[havoc315]

however, we also have used the DDP, and I DO love it!!!! I had a $42 porterhouse steak at Yachtsman's Steakhouse, without blinking an eye!!!

Isn't Yachtsman Steakhouse 2 credits? I don't mean to burst your bubble.. but it seems like you paid about $60 worth of credits to get that $42 steak. Assuming you added in a dessert and a drink, you still would have saved a bit of money if you paid OOP.

(Where I got the $60 worth of credits -- I've seen a breakdown somewhere, going off memory... if you are paying $46 for the meal plan... that allocates approximately $30 to the TS meal, $14 to the CS meal, and $2 to the snack. So to the extent you spend more than $30 per TS, $14 per CS and $2 per snack.. you are saving money. If you allocated 2 credits to 1 TS meal, such as a signature meal at the Yachtmans... you would need to spend $60 just to break even).

 

[nebo]

smidgy...

I hope you didn't take my comments about people talking about saving money personally. It was a point of humor... I still find it funny when I meet someone in the park who is walking around with mickey ears, sweatshirts, kids have the Mickey hands eating a $$ waffle cone or churro, and they say, I brought an old ham sandwich in my bag to save money

I totally get the whole being frugal to make more trips. We started giong to DL when my youngest was 3 months old (have picture with Minnie trying to kidnap her). Those first few years before we joined DVC, we really had to get creative to pull it off. One year I literally took our fifth wheel trailer out to LA and parked in a trailer park just down the road because we didn't have the $$ to do the hotel thing. It really is about making memories with the kids isn't it.

And you are correct, if you don't use DDP to your advantage, you will not save $$. It's kind of like buying a 7 day pass to the park but only going 2 days... kind of a waste. Like you said, it is OK to spend the money when you get more bang for your buck, and we have absolutely got DDP dialed in for us so that it gives us more bang for our buck

The OP actually wasn't asking the question can you save money on DVC. She was simply pointing out that she did save money. My responses weren't to try and say DDP is the way to go, all I was pointing out was we have used it 4x... we tracked the cost each time (I think I may be OCD), and we saved every year even though we didn't eat every dessert for every meal or every snack every day or TS & CS every day. We tried that year 1 and it was no fun in the end... too much food too fast. My point is simply you CAN do DDP and save money without doing any more meals, etc than we do in our everyday lives... and we are not big eaters.

Maybe next time you guys go to the world you should try the ideas I and others have shared about doing a split stay and getting DDP for just a couple days. Then you can do a couple really fun meals, get your money's worth out of it, and still use the microwave on other nights to help keep the cost down. We do it this way and IMO we get the best of both worlds... DDP and no DDP

So how often do you guys get to go? If I could go more than once a year, I think I would have to go back to the 5th wheel and PBJ sandwiches

gosh, no. I wasn't the slightest bit offended or anything.


we have done split stay a few times (I posted that under hubby's Nebo name) and stretched out the DDP. 4 nigths at resort #1 with DDP and park tickets. room only ressie at resort #2. use last TS credit first night at the new resort. we also bought a CS meal "to go" from the new resort, put it in the fridge, and nuked it the next day in the microwave at the POFQ food court. also used snack credits for some chips and bakery itmes to use after the DDP had expired.

we usually try to go 2X a year., but then it is just hubby and me, so it's cheaper.


AARRGGHH! I just noticed hubby forgot to log off again, and I forgot to check aga in. this is SMIDGY, not NEBO! (by the way, our jaunts to WDW are heralded in his trip reports listed below:

 

[smidgy]

Isn't Yachtsman Steakhouse 2 credits? I don't mean to burst your bubble.. but it seems like you paid about $60 worth of credits to get that $42 steak. Assuming you added in a dessert and a drink, you still would have saved a bit of money if you paid OOP.

(Where I got the $60 worth of credits -- I've seen a breakdown somewhere, going off memory... if you are paying $46 for the meal plan... that allocates approximately $30 to the TS meal, $14 to the CS meal, and $2 to the snack. So to the extent you spend more than $30 per TS, $14 per CS and $2 per snack.. you are saving money. If you allocated 2 credits to 1 TS meal, such as a signature meal at the Yachtmans... you would need to spend $60 just to break even).

yes , it is a signature restaurant, 2 TS credits. but we did not pay for the plan. this was during "free" dining. (I put "free" in quotes, because to get it, you have to pay rack rate for your room, which we rarely do. we stayed at Pop, so to make it even MORE complicated, you now get only the Quick service DDP for free at a Value resort, so we payed $10 per day each for the 2 of us to upgrade to the regular DDP. IT was still cheaper to do this than to pay rack rate for a moderate resort)

when doing the DDP, whether we pay for it or go during free dining, we always throw in a signature' it's the only way we would go to one of them, and that way it's not SO much food.

but you didn't burst my bubble at all. I have said that I don't think it saves us money.

to me, the best value for a signature is Hoop De Due Revue!
all you can eat, great food, all you can drink beer or wine, a show AND the tip is included!!!! (20% of that Yachtman's bill was a lot! and since I am a waitres, that's what I always tip, unless service is really poor).

boy, when that tip was included, then we really saved! even though we added to the 18% tip that was included, that 18% at every meal sure added up!

 

[papamouse1]

I think that's a fair assessment, bit the realization that those savings become less and less every year. A few years ago, when the meal plan was around $36, and included tip and appetizers... then it added up to a savings for just about everyone.

Now, the savings is much narrower. For this year, they raised the price significantly. They eliminated the extra drink from breakfast, which makes it nearly impossible to get any value from using a breakfast credit for CS anymore. (that reduces the value of a breakfast CS from about $10-$12, to more like $7-9).

For people who eat all the desserts, who want all those snack credits and want to use them on expensive items, and people who wants either the most expensive character meals, or most expensive entrees --- the people who order the steak at every dinner -- the savings can still be significant -- it can be in excess of 20%.

For the more moderate eater -- who wants a moderately priced entree for dinner, who will use the snack credits, but may use them for a piece of fruit during the day, the moderate eater who will generally get dessert but might skip it occasionally, the savings are more likely to range from 5% to 15%.

For the "light" eater, who often orders salads for dinner, who generally skips desserts, the DDP would probably be a rip off.

I think that may be one of the simplest, clearest non-biased assessments I have seen. Good Job! It makes it clear you can save on DDP with varying levels of value based on your personal eating habits and you can lose money

And for those who might save 5-10%, there is the question of whether that rather small savings, justifies the rigidity of being on the DDP. (Having an exact number of TS and CS meals to budget... For us, for example.. in a 5 day trip, I would like to do around 5 TS dinners, 2 TS lunches, and 3 CS lunches... but if I was on the DDP, I'd have to either pay OOP, or sacrifice my true preference and give up a few TS meals, just to make the math work).

Excellent insight! You go to WDW and decide what YOU want to do, then see if it works or not. We would never eat that way (7 ressies would cramp our style), but that's what is cool... you don't have let DDP, TIW or OOP tell you how to enjoy your vacation! Kudos to you!

If you want tons of TS credits, I see value in the DxDP. But for a family like mine, I see minimal value in the DDP -- (5-10%), that the rigidity just isn't worth it. I'd rather pay OOP for an entree-only meal at a TS-- about $15-$20 (for many TS entrees), then get an "included" CS meal with a $15 value.

Definitely sounds like you guys are more of a candidate for TIW if that works for you... if you have AP or FLA resident.

 

[adoucet]

IF you were going to eat that much, THEN you will save money.

when we get the DDP, (sometimes free, sometimes not) we end up with a lot of unused snack credits. (often we "waste" them on a bottle of soda). many times we find ourselves forcing ourselves to eat a CS meal when we weren't hungry, or would have split one. and we definitely would not have gotten the dessert.

we can eat a lot cheaper Out of Pocket. but we do enjoy spluging sometimes, and getting the DDP. to enjoy the nice, sit-down dinners we wouldn't get otherwise.

but,it is a time restraint. having to plan around ADRs. even for the CS restaurants, you still have to plan time to eat them. like, if you just had a big, sit down lunch at coral reef a 1PM, how hungry are you going to be to have a big CS meal, at Epcot,(incl dessert) before it's time to find a spot for Illuminations?
your alternative is eating at the food court when you get back to the resort. now your choices are limited. if you get back in time, you can get a burger, or hot dog (at the value resorts), if not, you're stuck with the "Italian" station (cardboard pizza or chicken parmesan or chicken alfredo.)

we often find we are "forcing" ourselves to eat when we would prefer to have a cocktail and relax at night by the pool.

when we drive, we often have sandwiches in the room now and then. If you have studio, you have the microwave, and can "nuke" some beef stew, chili, etc etc.

we tend to alternate. after a DDP trip, the next trip we are DONE with being "slaves" to "eating".

then.. the NEXT trip.. we are kinda looking forward to the nice table service meals , and ordering whatever we want from the CS, and not "watching" the price.

but, if money is an object, I don't think you are really "saving". JMHO. unless you are big eaters. b ecause I really don't think most families would have ordered as much as what the meal "would have cost" .anyway. (a few times,at CS places, we have given away our desserts to a nearby table with kids)

Out of pocket.: we have EASILY split a funnel cake at Sleepy Hollow (MK) for breakfast. split a taco meal at El Perico (whatever it's called, whenever it's open) for lunch, .

it depends what you WOULD have eaten anyways.

I agree with most of this. The last time we went to DW, my fiance and I got the QS dining plan and we def felt like we were forced to eat a dessert or side item when we didn't really want to and were already full from whatever entree we just ate. I hate wasting food (hence why we felt we were forced to eat) and especially when I have already paid for it. There were even entrees we got that we could have easily shared and still be full! We even had 8 snack credits left over on our last day in which we ended up just getting a bunch of things to take home with us. We obviously don't eat a lot.

I calculated everything we would have eaten if we wouldn't have gotten the QSDP and did not include things we felt like we were forced to eat and we actually would have saved a lot more money that could have went to awesome gifts to take home.

This time around, we were able to get the dining plan for free, so I won't feel bad about what I get or if I don't eat all of whatever is on my plate. Now, if I was to get the Plus Dining plan or the Deluxe, my mind may change, but as for as the QSDP is concerned, we save money NOT getting it.

 

[gonzalj1]

Here goes the DDP debate again...

I totally get that you can eat for cheaper, and that some people get DDP , then let it dictate their trip as they try to suck every dime of value out of it.

But each time we have used it, we have LOVED it. We have never felt like we were "slaves to eating"... in fact the whole restaurant thing is a BIG part of our whole Disney Magic experience! We love trying new places every time... Place that make dining a big memory for us, Teppan Edo, Coral Reef, Flying Fish, Boma, etc..

We eat well, enjoy our meals, seldom overeat, and never leave with snacks left over. We own DVC, so we have the kitchen, but honestly we go to Disney to get away from "home life" and making sandwiches, microwaving dinners, just don't appeal to us. We have laready spent $$$ so we aren't cutting corners on meals... we wanna party for our meals! And the DDP for us is the best way to do it, and has saved us $$ each time.

But hey, that's just us. But just so you know, we don't dine "very expensive" every meal just to get value, we don't force down desserts, snacks to get our money's worth, but we do honestly plan well to include dining as part of our fun.

Doesn't work for everybody, but it does work.

My family totally agrees.

We do the DDP every time. Save substantially every time and don't feel rushed or like we have to eat at certain times or restaurants.

I don't feel like we're big eaters or we choose expensive locations. We pick where we ant without regard to price and we always end up saving at least 15% when you count it all (snacks, tip etc)

DDP is not for everyone but if it fits your vacation style it is a nice option to have that might save big $$.

 

[basketlacey]

I am not really sure if we are going to break even on the DDP on our upcoming trip. The practical part of me keeps thinking - put that money in an envelope (that I am spending on the DDP) and use it to pay for meals.

But the other part of me knows that we won't do 8 TS meals if we are paying OOP. Is that silly? Perhaps. But I don't want sticker shock at the TS restaurants.

My last trip was our first trip on DDP. We went during FD so paid rack rate for our room. It was our first time to really eat that way. Before we had done lots of CS and other offsite choices but very few TS in the World.

I LOVED it. My family loves to eat in restaurants and we had such a great time. This year, my 12 yo dd and I have had a great time pouring over the menus and making our ADRs. So... we are going for it. I think we will save some but I know if we weren't on it, we would eat differently. SO, would we spend less without it - probably. But I won't be nearly as happy!

 

[canoe86]

I always post this in these threads.....

I don't really care if I save or not. I'll take the word of most of you on here that say you CAN save money, if it is close, okay by me.

We love the fact our food is pre-paid. We can order what we want, eat pretty much where we want with no worry. I don't care if I get a cheap snack or expensive one, I can get one, when I want one.

I work all year for this one week at WDW, I want few worries.