Dining Plan and DDE question

[Hunclemarco]

Hello

We're considering the dining plan.... what benefit would there be in getting the DDE card also? Is there one?

Would it be better to get the DDE card and no dining plan?

Pros and cons of each?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[thesupersmartguy]

I say go for the DDE, it (IMO) better then the DDP.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We had the Deluxe DDP for 7 out of our 16 nights in August and we lost money on it. Next year we will just use the DDE card for the whole trip. The out-of-pocket tips ended up costing so much on top of the cost of the plan we would have been better off not having the plan at all.

 

[DiznyDi]

We enjoyed and participated in the dining plan in 2006 and 2007. We have not used the 2008 plan due to the changes and the OOP tip. We have used the DDE on our May trip and will be using it exclusively when we're there in less than 2 weeks. The current plan has no value to us.

 

[TDC Nala]

I dislike the dining plan. Too regimented. If I use DDE alone I can order two appetizers and no entree or dessert if that's what I want.

But if you eat a lot of counter service, DDE won't do you much good. It's only accepted at a few counter services, and the only park that accepts it for CS is Animal Kingdom.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Count us among those that do not see the value in the dining plan. We always get the DDE card (now called Tables in Wonderland) instead and find that it works much better for us. We are not locked into a certain number/type of meals and we can order what we want to, instead of being limited to certain courses. We find that we come out far ahead of the DDP with the DDE.