serenitynow
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2005
Absolutely figure in the cost of tips in table service restaurants in your decision.
We had done the DDP in the past and never added in the cost of tips, since you pay for the dining plan in advance and tip at the time of the meal. We looked at all the food costs after our last “free dining” trip.
We stayed at a moderate and paid to upgrade to the deluxe since we do a lot of character meals. After the fact, once we ran the numbers, free dining cost us about $115.00 each day:
$23.00 per person per day to upgrade (x3 for us)
$45.00 average tip daily at table service restaurant
We ate much more food that’s we normally do and much of the food was mediocre at best. Also, some of the character interactions at the buffets were like a drive by quick picture stop. Not to mention the hassle of having to plan our days around our dining reservations and fast passes. So for us, the DDP isn’t worth it to us anymore, even if it’s “free”.
We had done the DDP in the past and never added in the cost of tips, since you pay for the dining plan in advance and tip at the time of the meal. We looked at all the food costs after our last “free dining” trip.
We stayed at a moderate and paid to upgrade to the deluxe since we do a lot of character meals. After the fact, once we ran the numbers, free dining cost us about $115.00 each day:
$23.00 per person per day to upgrade (x3 for us)
$45.00 average tip daily at table service restaurant
We ate much more food that’s we normally do and much of the food was mediocre at best. Also, some of the character interactions at the buffets were like a drive by quick picture stop. Not to mention the hassle of having to plan our days around our dining reservations and fast passes. So for us, the DDP isn’t worth it to us anymore, even if it’s “free”.