Dining plan?

[Disneylover99]

It is not an issue of me liking the plan or not, my personal feeling on the subject are irrelevant. It has nothing to do with my family or anyone else's vacation style. The numbers don't lie, and the DDP cannot save money and is not worth it no matter what your families vacation style is. It is just foolishness to claim that someone has found a magical way to work the numbers so their family, and their family alone, have found a way to beat the system that the bean counters have carefully crafted for Disney's benefit. In real life it just doesn't work that way and it is wrong to suggest the DDP saves anyone money.

You've got a severe case of tunnel vision when it comes to the dining plan. That much is clear. I don't know a thing about your prior posts. Did you have a traumatic experience on the DDP? I just can't believe that you're actually calling people who have saved money on the DDP liars.

 

[Figmentmommy]

The worst part about the plan is the rules, even when money isn't a consideration. The DDP tells you exactly what you must eat and where you must eat. The service is better if you pay OOP. If you receive substandard service and you are paying OOP, the cost of your meal could be refunded to you. With the DDP there are no refunds; even if the restaurant manager refunds the credit, you are still stuck with the credit at the end of you trip and your money is wasted. OOP can charge meals to magic band just like DDP. There is no actual advantage the DDP provides and it severely limits guest freedom of choice and that is not even considering how much more DDP cost.

I have never experienced a difference in level of service - Dining Plan or OOP. I have also never been told exactly what to eat or where to eat. Our dining style and choice of locations are the same either way. You've also stated that the DDP forces every person in your dining party to order the same way. That's not accurate. Some in your dining party might not use the DDP and could very well order a different way and pay OOP. If you're referring to the same party staying on the same resort reservation then yes - all would need to either have the DDP or not. In that case each family/resort reservation party would need to justify for themselves if the DDP was a fit for them or not. If you like to order an entree, dessert, and non alcoholic beverage at your meal then it suits you. If not, then it doesn't. DDP vs OOP is not an all for one and one for all across all Disney guests. To each his/her own.

 

[maxiesmom]

Are you allowed to eat at 9 TS and 5 QS restaurants during your stay during your? Answer - No, The DDP only allows you to use 7 TS credits. That means you are not allowed to eat wherever you want. You can do that if you want when paying OOP. Are you allowed to order appetizers, salads or desserts during your stay? The answer is, no. You can only order what Disney says you can order. When you order OOP you can order what ever you want and it will be cheaper. Do I need to link a list of the DDP rules for you?

I think you need to read the rules. You are allowed to order whatever you want. What plan you have decides what is covered. But you can can order whatever you like.

Any many of us are smart enough to account for out of pocket items. And yet sometimes the plan still saves me money

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm not calling anyone a liar. There is no reason for personal attacks. What should be done by anyone who is offended by my objective analysis is they should re-evaluate the perceived value they think they obtained by using the DDP. After closer examination they will ultimately reach a similar conclusion that there is no real value in the DDP.

Your posts are faaaaaaaar from objective. ROFL!!

 

[Figmentmommy]

Are you allowed to order appetizers, salads or desserts during your stay? The answer is, no.

As a matter of fact dessert is included in all but the Quick Service Plan.

 

[amberpi]

Having weird Dis issues at a friend's house...

Was just saying that not having the DDP does not mean you're eating cheap.

 

[Disneylover99]

I'm not calling anyone a liar. There is no reason for personal attacks. What should be done by anyone who is offended by my objective analysis is they should re-evaluate the perceived value they think they obtained by using the DDP. After closer examination they will ultimately reach a similar conclusion that there is no real value in the DDP.

I'm not offended. It's just hard to have a rational discussion with someone who speaks in absolutes on this matter.
Btw, are you talking about saving money or perceived value? I see this as two completely different things. If I'm buying the buffets cause I enjoy them and I would do so oop, I'm saving money on the plan. You might want to rethink that.

Enjoy your oop dining experiences. Peace out.

 

[GillianP1301]

I'm not calling anyone a liar. There is no reason for personal attacks. What should be done by anyone who is offended by my objective analysis is they should re-evaluate the perceived value they think they obtained by using the DDP. After closer examination they will ultimately reach a similar conclusion that there is no real value in the DDP.

I've evaluated it many times, did the math and in my current situation, I come out ahead. I'm confident in my calculations and certainly know more about my own situation than you do.

Why do you have such a difficult time understanding that not every family and how they dine is identical? Quite frankly, if you can't grasp something that simple, I have very little faith that you can actually accurately complete a cost analysis of a dining plan and discredits any claim you try to make.

Enjoy dining at Disney for how best it suits your family, but you should probably hang up your advice hat on this topic until you can actually accept counter arguments and varying opinions.

 

[LaidBackDad]

As a matter of fact dessert is included in all but the Quick Service Plan.

Thank you for finally agreeing with me

You proved my point, when paying OOP you can get a QS dessert. DDP does not allow for it and proves 1 of the many restrictions on the DDP. Well done. thank you.

 

[Figmentmommy]

Thank you for finally agreeing with me

You proved my point, when paying OOP you can get a QS dessert. DDP does not allow for it and proves 1 of the many restrictions on the DDP. Well done. thank you.

Desserts were included in QS up until this year, where now you get an extra Snack credit instead. In my opinion - opinion not fact- QS desserts are not all they're cracked up to be so I'd much prefer the additional snack.

 

[LaidBackDad]

I've evaluated it many times, did the math and in my current situation, I come out ahead. I'm confident in my calculations and certainly know more about my own situation than you do.

Why do you have such a difficult time understanding that not every family and how they dine is identical? Quite frankly, if you can't grasp something that simple, I have very little faith that you can actually accurately complete a cost analysis of a dining plan and discredits any claim you try to make.

Enjoy dining at Disney for how best it suits your family, but you should probably hang up your advice hat on this topic until you can actually accept counter arguments and varying opinions.

So.... you are saying every person in your family ordered the most expensive entree, everyday, for every meal, and every person wanted to order drinks and every person wanted dessert every day for every meal. Your actually saying every person never wanted chicken, or pasta, or fish, or anything else other than the most expensive item. You are asking us to believe all of this and you never changed any plans during your trip and everything went exactly as you calculated and somehow. despite being mathematically impossible you somehow managed to save money. Since that is what you are claiming, I would only suggest you seriously consider letting someone else do the math for you next time.

 

[kitkat4622]

This has become way too exhausting. The same misinformation and twisting of threads happens across many of LaidBackDad's posts. Think it's about time this thread came to an end.

who knew my pretty basic question would cause such an uproar....I too think a moderator should close this thread.....

 

[LaidBackDad]

who knew my pretty basic question would cause such an uproar....I too think a moderator should close this thread.....

Another ridiculous rule of the DDP which you don't have to worry about when you pay OOP...

You aren't charged $50 fee if you change your mind 8 days before your vacation and decide not to pay OOP

 

[IrishNYC]

Are you allowed to eat at 9 TS and 5 QS restaurants during your stay during your? Answer - No, The DDP only allows you to use 7 TS credits. That means you are not allowed to eat wherever you want. You can do that if you want when paying OOP. Are you allowed to order appetizers, salads or desserts during your stay? The answer is, no. You can only order what Disney says you can order. When you order OOP you can order what ever you want and it will be cheaper. Do I need to link a list of the DDP rules for you?

Yes, please do LINK TO the rule that says I cannot eat differently than the meal plan I have paid for. On my last trip I had the DDP for 7 nights. We ate at 9 TS, including one 2 credit TS, and 6 QS. The DDP police didn't come and arrest me, and we still SAVED MONEY.

Thank you for finally agreeing with me

You proved my point, when paying OOP you can get a QS dessert. DDP does not allow for it and proves 1 of the many restrictions on the DDP. Well done. thank you.

No one proved your point on anything. You can get a dessert at QS with a snack point. What restriction are you referring to? Proof via link, please.

Seriously, what did the DDP do to you that you are hurting so bad over it?

 

[GillianP1301]

So.... you are saying every person in your family ordered the most expensive entree, everyday, for every meal, and every person wanted to order drinks and every person wanted dessert every day for every meal. Your actually saying every person never wanted chicken, or pasta, or fish, or anything else other than the most expensive item. You are asking us to believe all of this and you never changed any plans during your trip and everything went exactly as you calculated and somehow. despite being mathematically impossible you somehow managed to save money. Since that is what you are claiming, I would only suggest you seriously consider letting someone else do the math for you next time.

So.... you are saying every person in your family ordered the most expensive entree, everyday, for every meal, and every person wanted to order drinks and every person wanted dessert every day for every meal. Your actually saying every person never wanted chicken, or pasta, or fish, or anything else other than the most expensive item. You are asking us to believe all of this and you never changed any plans during your trip and everything went exactly as you calculated and somehow. despite being mathematically impossible you somehow managed to save money. Since that is what you are claiming, I would only suggest you seriously consider letting someone else do the math for you next time.

I'm not saying any of those things. Your presumptions are incorrect, which is hardly shocking.

And my math is good in fact I'm so good at math it was my major in University, so no worries there.

But since you are clearly a whiz yourself and obviously know the size of my family, our ages, which dining plan we use, where we eat and what we order, you can go ahead and knock yourself out and calculate it yourself.

And with that I'm done because your claims are ridiculous and ignorance only amuses me for a limited amount of time and that time is up.

Happy Dining!

 

[Dakota731]

[/That's your scenario only using an average priced meal at a signature restaurant and it's still way cheaper. Are you trying to prove it's cheaper for someone eat at signature restaurants than character meals or did you only eat at AYCTE every night for dinner?QUOTE]

But you didn't add dessert into your figures for m, and I always get dessert so the dining plan would be cheaper in my case. My point is that everyone eats differently on vacation so they need to figure out which methods fits their budget. And yes we will be doing several character meals since we have a two year old, and their high prices were another determining factor in our decision that the dining plan will work in our favor.

And I don't get your theory that you get better service paying OOP. Servers get larger tips on the dining plan where desserts, drinks and the most expensive entrees are used to calculate the gratuity, so I would think servers love tables on the dining plan!

 

[Dakota731]

But you didn't add dessert into your figures for me, and I always get dessert so the dining plan would be cheaper in my case. My point is that everyone eats differently on vacation so they need to figure out which methods fits their budget. And yes we will be doing several character meals since we have a two year old, and their high prices were another determining factor in our decision that the dining plan will work in our favor.

And I don't get your theory that you get better service paying OOP. Servers get larger tips on the dining plan where desserts, drinks and the most expensive entrees are used to calculate the gratuity, so I would think servers love tables on the dining plan!

 

[mcurran]

LaidBackDad is correct saying the ddp is more restrictive than oop. Not because of any restrictions on food but because oop you can choose to have more ts or qs if you wanted and if you were on ddp you couldn't end up paying for extra meals and letting credits go unused. Frankly to one extreme you could choose not to eat anything and oop that's $0 which no ddp can compete with. Absurd comparison? Sure.

I have also heard people using snack credits to fill suitcases with gift shop treats which would seem more likely than not that the ddp may not have been the best investment for that family on that trip because I would think it unlikely those people would have bought those snacks if they weren't "free".

I think that "free" is a dangerous word. Free snacks. Free desert. It's not really free it's part of the plan you paid for.

Planners who make up a large portion of disboards should be critical of the plan they are buying or not buying and compare to how they would have spent their money if money is the driving factor. Ask yourself if you would have bought that desert if it weren't included. Ask if you would have eaten at as many ts if you were paying oop. To each their own and let the math win one way or the other if $ is the primary decision factor.

But many people also consider it a convenience to prepay and not look at prices for a vacation. Comparatively similar to how someone would view traveling to an all inclusive resort (I know the ddp falls drastically short of an all inclusive but making an analogy). If I chose to stay at an all inclusive I know that value is factored in. I can choose to be a glutton and "get my money's worth" or simply enjoy not having to worry about how much being nickeled and dimed will add up to. Peace of mind means something to some people.

Anywho it's not a one size fits all plan. But it's merits deserve consideration for your particular scenario and vacation lifestyle.

 

[maxiesmom]

[QUOTE="mcurran, post: 57333668, member: 470767"

Anywho it's not a one size fits all plan. But it's merits deserve consideration for your particular scenario and vacation lifestyle.[/QUOTE]

And this is the problem with everything LaidBackDad posts. He refuses to comprehend this! I too am done trying to have a discussion with someone who only wants to think their way is the right way for everyone. It is not.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Its not for everyone...I think for a lot its more for convenience. I did think about it but it did not work for us we would of spend hundreds more but I can see where it would be easy to just have it all paid for..It was really nice when it was free, also I think it depends on the ages of the group. For parents with little kids I think it would work better then parents with kids over the age of nine, it gets expensive..but hey to each their own..