I am sure this question has been asked a million times but here goes. Is it worth it? My kids eat like little sparrows I just don't know if it would be worth it. My friend who is going the same time as us signed up for DDP and is talking about it all the time, I am starting to feel like maybe I made a mistake! I don't know what to do now should I get it or not?????
Disney dining plan
- Thread starter Banshee
- Start date
How old are your children? Under 3 is free, and 3-9 is only $11/day. Those are a deal no matter where or how much you eat in WDW.
Do you like table service meals daily, or character meals? DDP is the most cost effective way to do this.
I was NOT going to do DDP. DS12 is "adult"...I KNEW I could feed a family of 5 for less than $140/day! But DM said, yes, but not without a lot of effort..nearly exclusively eating at counter service, sharing meals, saying NO a lot. $10pp for a counter service meal is fairly average.
So now that we have jumped in, I am SOOO excited. I love that we are having a 'real' meal daily--and able to order WHATEVER we want from the menu, not looking at prices as I usually do. My kids are good eaters, and the younger 2 will eat almost anything. DS12 looked at menus and decided he could find something everywhere (or DD9 could order from adult menu and he would order from kids!) Kids can get a special treat daily...dessert from dinner could be the next day's breakfast
I love that that expense is already paid for, and I love being able to say YES to my kids...YES you may order a smoothie instead of water, YES you may have dessert at lunch AND dinner EVERY day, YES you may get a Mickey bar EVERY day!!!! The convenience as well as the many options are what drew me. Could I do it cheaper...probably, but not MUCH cheaper.
We are bringing breakfast bars; will pick up milk, OJ & coffee to breakfast in room most mornings. If we find we are sharing lunches, we may grab some breakfasts, too.
There are many who enjoy DDP for many reasons (convenience, variety, a "good deal", if in perception only). Others feel it is too much food; some feel obligated to eat it all. Many have said the cost is a wash...they really didn't save any $, and they certainly would not order that much stuff. Some do not like needing to have reservations, and having to base their day around them.
I have enjoyed reading restaurant reviews & menus to find where we will eat. I am a foodie, so good food is a big part of a vacation for me. And I am eating at places we would probably never pay out of pocket for.
SOOOO excited! 18 days!
Do you like table service meals daily, or character meals? DDP is the most cost effective way to do this.
I was NOT going to do DDP. DS12 is "adult"...I KNEW I could feed a family of 5 for less than $140/day! But DM said, yes, but not without a lot of effort..nearly exclusively eating at counter service, sharing meals, saying NO a lot. $10pp for a counter service meal is fairly average.
So now that we have jumped in, I am SOOO excited. I love that we are having a 'real' meal daily--and able to order WHATEVER we want from the menu, not looking at prices as I usually do. My kids are good eaters, and the younger 2 will eat almost anything. DS12 looked at menus and decided he could find something everywhere (or DD9 could order from adult menu and he would order from kids!) Kids can get a special treat daily...dessert from dinner could be the next day's breakfast
I love that that expense is already paid for, and I love being able to say YES to my kids...YES you may order a smoothie instead of water, YES you may have dessert at lunch AND dinner EVERY day, YES you may get a Mickey bar EVERY day!!!! The convenience as well as the many options are what drew me. Could I do it cheaper...probably, but not MUCH cheaper.We are bringing breakfast bars; will pick up milk, OJ & coffee to breakfast in room most mornings. If we find we are sharing lunches, we may grab some breakfasts, too.
There are many who enjoy DDP for many reasons (convenience, variety, a "good deal", if in perception only). Others feel it is too much food; some feel obligated to eat it all. Many have said the cost is a wash...they really didn't save any $, and they certainly would not order that much stuff. Some do not like needing to have reservations, and having to base their day around them.
I have enjoyed reading restaurant reviews & menus to find where we will eat. I am a foodie, so good food is a big part of a vacation for me. And I am eating at places we would probably never pay out of pocket for.
SOOOO excited! 18 days!
Thanks Kris! I have all my ADR's already some days we do strictly counter service other days we have ADR's from breakfast right through to dinner. I am gonna have to crunch the numbers again. Thanks for the advice.
BuzzandAriel'smom
DIS Veteran
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Our kids are 3 and 5 and we didn't do DDP this year. We don't enjoy overeating and our kids usually share a meal. We almost never get appetizers AND desserts so DDP wasn't a value for us. We spent $700 for 9 days in food. We saved 200 by not doing the ddp. We still had ADRs like Chef Mickey, Akershus, Crystal Palace, Kona, and Rainforest Cafe. We ate at several CS locations like ToyStory Pizza Palace and other fun themed places.
DDP isn't for everyone.
DDP isn't for everyone.
My DW and DD9 and I saved $367 on the Dining Plan during a 6 night/7 day vacation.
One thing most people don't understand is that you eat better when you're not trying to save money.
Instead of the cheaper cheeseburger and fries, we order the much more expensive baked fish with rice. On the Dining Plan, you look at the most expensive menu items first!
We loved it! And we lost weight on the trip! Probably due to the heat and all the walking exercise, but we didn't gain weight from eating cheap food.
Like another poster said, at just $11 for kids, even if they eat like birds, you'd probably spend more than that on them anyway. Remember you get counter service lunch, a snack (they're gonna get energized by that popsicle), and a table service dinner....
One thing most people don't understand is that you eat better when you're not trying to save money.
Instead of the cheaper cheeseburger and fries, we order the much more expensive baked fish with rice. On the Dining Plan, you look at the most expensive menu items first!
We loved it! And we lost weight on the trip! Probably due to the heat and all the walking exercise, but we didn't gain weight from eating cheap food.
Like another poster said, at just $11 for kids, even if they eat like birds, you'd probably spend more than that on them anyway. Remember you get counter service lunch, a snack (they're gonna get energized by that popsicle), and a table service dinner....
I can say that my wife and I lost money using DDP as we left 4 tables meals, I know we could have used them for snack credits or counter meals but if you do that you are truly overpaying. (also had to shell out about another $20.00 per meal for drinks) we also just couldnt eat that much, there was also a problem getting walkups as I know there always is now. We like to be spontanious and hate to be on a schedule. We always use the DDP as it discounts alcohol also. It also allows us to come and go as we want if we can't get a table we don't lose money as we only pay if we eat. The cost of the DDE pays for itself with the savings from the first 3 - 4 meals, we also go twice a year so we never lose money with DDE. Last year at in December we had great reslts just walsking up if there was no availability we walked somewhwere till there was. Or we would find a lounge until a table was ready, saved 20% on drinks while we waited. (Although there is a rumor they are changing alcohol only discounts)
I'll be dead honest in my opinion the DDP has ruined the service at WDW, with the new changes coming up I can only see it being more confusing and servers getting shafted when it comes to tips. That should really make the service worse. Again thats my opinion, time will tell. For Me Its The DDE
I'll be dead honest in my opinion the DDP has ruined the service at WDW, with the new changes coming up I can only see it being more confusing and servers getting shafted when it comes to tips. That should really make the service worse. Again thats my opinion, time will tell. For Me Its The DDE
CharmedLife
Wisconsin Badger Fan
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I would say part of it depends on if you're going in 2007 or 2008 - there are a lot of changes in '08 that will change the value (no longer including the tax and the tip).
There are benefits - convenience being the biggest one, as well as ordering what you want without worrying about the price. I have no doubt that if we added up all of our actual receipts*, we would definitely have saved money.
Here is the big asterisk, though - we saved money because we maximized what we were getting. I didn't necessarily order the most expensive thing, but I also didn't worry about the price. This was nice, but I ALWAYS ordered the appetizer and dessert whether I really "needed" them or not, because it was there and I felt I had to so I could get the value of the plan. For that reason I gained weight on the trip, even though my entree was always on the "healthy" end (lots of fish, etc.). If it weren't for the DDP there is no WAY we would have ordered an appetizer a piece and a dessert a piece at every single meal, so our overall receipts would have been a lot less.
Another downside to having that many meals is that it's a lot less time you have for the parks. We couldn't figure out why we didn't get to do a lot of our normal stuff, but then figured it was because we spent 2+ hours a day at sit-down meals. Over a 7-day trip, that was over 14 hours that we used of prime theme park time to eat. Usually we take breaks in the middle of the day to go swimming, relax, etc. We just didn't have time to do that on this trip (and it was during slow season) because of all the time we used on dining. Also, DS3 got really "bored" (to use his word) sitting through all of those meals, especially since he's not a big eater, anyway, and we always wound up standing around waiting for our table, then sitting through a long meal.
Finally, as for the kids - I had DD6 and DS3 (at the time), both on the plan. We definitely got a good value for them when you factor in the snack and counter service credits. But my DD was bummed by the selection on the kids' menus (which she HAD to order from). She's fine with the healthier choices (I know some aren't), but sometimes all she wanted was a bowl of soup or a small salad, and she couldn't get that. Also sometimes my kids just aren't that hungry and without the dining plan, I'd have them split a meal. On the dining plan I ordered for both of them because we had credits to use up, but again if you're just comparing receipts - well, my receipts would have been lower without the plan.
I am glad we tried the plan, and since we were traveling with my parents it was nice not having that awkward moment when the check came... but I won't be doing it again. We just plain ate too much food. There are a lot of great, healthy choices at counter service restaurants now, and I just don't want to spend that much time sitting down in a restaurant. We have some ADR's coming up for our trip in January, but only about half as many (4 for a 7 day trip) as we had on the last trip. That is more the norm for us. I think for 2008, we will come out way ahead by paying OOP instead of doing the DDP, especially when you consider the change in tax and tip
There are benefits - convenience being the biggest one, as well as ordering what you want without worrying about the price. I have no doubt that if we added up all of our actual receipts*, we would definitely have saved money.
Here is the big asterisk, though - we saved money because we maximized what we were getting. I didn't necessarily order the most expensive thing, but I also didn't worry about the price. This was nice, but I ALWAYS ordered the appetizer and dessert whether I really "needed" them or not, because it was there and I felt I had to so I could get the value of the plan. For that reason I gained weight on the trip, even though my entree was always on the "healthy" end (lots of fish, etc.). If it weren't for the DDP there is no WAY we would have ordered an appetizer a piece and a dessert a piece at every single meal, so our overall receipts would have been a lot less.
Another downside to having that many meals is that it's a lot less time you have for the parks. We couldn't figure out why we didn't get to do a lot of our normal stuff, but then figured it was because we spent 2+ hours a day at sit-down meals. Over a 7-day trip, that was over 14 hours that we used of prime theme park time to eat. Usually we take breaks in the middle of the day to go swimming, relax, etc. We just didn't have time to do that on this trip (and it was during slow season) because of all the time we used on dining. Also, DS3 got really "bored" (to use his word) sitting through all of those meals, especially since he's not a big eater, anyway, and we always wound up standing around waiting for our table, then sitting through a long meal.
Finally, as for the kids - I had DD6 and DS3 (at the time), both on the plan. We definitely got a good value for them when you factor in the snack and counter service credits. But my DD was bummed by the selection on the kids' menus (which she HAD to order from). She's fine with the healthier choices (I know some aren't), but sometimes all she wanted was a bowl of soup or a small salad, and she couldn't get that. Also sometimes my kids just aren't that hungry and without the dining plan, I'd have them split a meal. On the dining plan I ordered for both of them because we had credits to use up, but again if you're just comparing receipts - well, my receipts would have been lower without the plan.
I am glad we tried the plan, and since we were traveling with my parents it was nice not having that awkward moment when the check came... but I won't be doing it again. We just plain ate too much food. There are a lot of great, healthy choices at counter service restaurants now, and I just don't want to spend that much time sitting down in a restaurant. We have some ADR's coming up for our trip in January, but only about half as many (4 for a 7 day trip) as we had on the last trip. That is more the norm for us. I think for 2008, we will come out way ahead by paying OOP instead of doing the DDP, especially when you consider the change in tax and tip
CharmedLife
Wisconsin Badger Fan
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- Mar 24, 2005
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Ooops - didn't mean to sound so negative. I was just sharing MY experience with the DDP, lots of people obviously love it! Like I said, I'm glad we tried it once, but now we know that it's probably not something we'd do again. Have fun with whatever you do!
Well we actually have a few ressies already. Breakfast at the crystal palace, CRT for breakfast the hoop de do review. Breakfast at Rainforest, lunch at 50's prime time, dinner at whispering canyon. So with all these ADR's maybe it would be worth it? Or are you not allowed to make ADR's on the DDP?
thanks for all the advice Also we are going Dec. 29th to Jan. 6th
thanks for all the advice Also we are going Dec. 29th to Jan. 6th
BuzzandAriel'smom
DIS Veteran
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We really like Rainforest cafe but it is not owned by disney and therefore you will need to pay oop. If you really want a TS per day then yes go with DDP. We don't always need that and we aren't big breakfast eaters so that is wasted on us. At the time period you are going it is wise to make your ADRs like you have. It could be pretty crowded.
DISNEY4XMAS
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HEY
This was the BIG thing that we thought about. Whether to get it or not... Well not me but I had to sell it to my MOTHER. The last time we went to disney there were only 3 adults and 1 child and 1 baby.. and we spent over $500, in five days...just on food! This time we are going and there are 4 adults and 2 children. I showed DM the reservations without the DDP and then with yes I know there was almost a $1600. difference. BUT here was my selling point..... Break down $1600 by 9 nights that =177.77 per day and then divide that 6 people. and that total is 29.00 per person per day to eat. Are you following me because I think I lost myself...LOL
but if you look at some of the cost of the buffets over the holiday season that is the cost of one buffet. So we are eating all day for the cost of ONE BUFFET!!!
I hope this helps!!!! Hope you have a great VACA!!!
This was the BIG thing that we thought about. Whether to get it or not... Well not me but I had to sell it to my MOTHER. The last time we went to disney there were only 3 adults and 1 child and 1 baby.. and we spent over $500, in five days...just on food! This time we are going and there are 4 adults and 2 children. I showed DM the reservations without the DDP and then with yes I know there was almost a $1600. difference. BUT here was my selling point..... Break down $1600 by 9 nights that =177.77 per day and then divide that 6 people. and that total is 29.00 per person per day to eat. Are you following me because I think I lost myself...LOL
but if you look at some of the cost of the buffets over the holiday season that is the cost of one buffet. So we are eating all day for the cost of ONE BUFFET!!! I hope this helps!!!! Hope you have a great VACA!!!
HEY
This was the BIG thing that we thought about. Whether to get it or not... Well not me but I had to sell it to my MOTHER. The last time we went to disney there were only 3 adults and 1 child and 1 baby.. and we spent over $500, in five days...just on food! This time we are going and there are 4 adults and 2 children. I showed DM the reservations without the DDP and then with yes I know there was almost a $1600. difference. BUT here was my selling point..... Break down $1600 by 9 nights that =177.77 per day and then divide that 6 people. and that total is 29.00 per person per day to eat. Are you following me because I think I lost myself...LOL
I hope this helps!!!! Hope you have a great VACA!!!
That is a great deal provided you eat every TS meal, counter meal and snack that is provided, and if you can get reservations to do so. If you leave any credits like my wife an I did you really have to question the value, we felt we left money on the trip, they should make any credits you leave available for 1 full year. If you return in a year you can spend the left over credits then its a value, we really just couldnt eat that much food, nevermind the time wasted as your reservations are never on time, usually 15 to 30 minutes from the time scheduled, then the time the meal takes you have taken possibly 2 hours (at the least ) away from the parks or resort a day, now multiply those hours by the amount of days you are on the trip.........now add the travel time (Disney transportation) to make it to your ADR Meal, that is a ton of time wasted. No spontenaity whatsoever we feel like we are waiting....waiting....waiting.... when we could be enjoying the park or the resort. Upwards of 3 lost hours a day and realisticly you eat for about 1 half hour of that time as they rush you out of the resturants to seat more people. We are true DDE users as you pay as you go (eat) and get a discount on DDE. The deal is only good on DDP if you use it to the full credits you are allowed.(and don't drink alcohol) as thats another $25.00 a meal (for 2 , 1 glass wine 2 mixed drinks)
DISNEY4XMAS
DIS Veteran
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- May 29, 2007
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- 1,324
JUST A THOUGHT: I made all of our ressies for the parks that we are going to be in due to the last time we went almost 6 1/2 years ago we didn't have ADR and we spent well over an hour waiting to get into restaraunts. This time I made plans to eat where we were going to be for the day No extra traveling time. As for DDE we do not live in florida and aren't passholders, so we can't get the 20% off. As for the food choice I have researched each place and made sure that is where we wanted to eat. I have made one table service for each day whether it be breakfast lunch or dinner and then we will use the counter service to balance the other meal for the day. And being that we have three Kids we will surely use the snack options. The DDP may not be for everyone but I was telling about how it is for me and most large families.
Luv2Roam
DIS Legend
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- Jun 3, 2000
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- 15,479
You are stating your kids are light eaters, and you have an ADR at RFC (who does not accept the DDP).
If youre kids are picky eaters, over 10, and other various factors, I would say go without the DDP.
If they are under 10 then I don't see how you could go wrong with the DDP.
But kids who eat a slice of pizza or a small bowl of pasta as a meal are not going to benefit from the DDP if having to pay as an adult, IMO.
What I would like to see happen with all the dining plans is like what they do a little now -- just a dining card loaded with X-amount and guests spend as they wish.
If youre kids are picky eaters, over 10, and other various factors, I would say go without the DDP.
If they are under 10 then I don't see how you could go wrong with the DDP.
But kids who eat a slice of pizza or a small bowl of pasta as a meal are not going to benefit from the DDP if having to pay as an adult, IMO.
What I would like to see happen with all the dining plans is like what they do a little now -- just a dining card loaded with X-amount and guests spend as they wish.
I can see how it would benifit you as you seem as though you will use all he credits. I was just giving a heads up as to why It doesnt work for my wife and I as we didnt use all the credits and hate waiting for dinner rservations. I know it doesnt work this way, (wish it did) Example: 7:00 pm ADR sit me at 7 maybe 7:10 at latest, not 7:30-7:45 and leave me with a family (in waiting area)that has been waiting just as long, (by then the kids are bored and getting cranky, its not the kids fault. By then I'm getting cranky too) So in the long run what should be a 1 hour to 1 and a half hour meal can turn into 2 - 3 hours.
We averaged on our last trip at least 2.5 wasted hours at the table service meal on the days we used it. I do agree that this happens with DDE also, but if I have to wait too long I simply leave. (I'm not leaving table credits, credits I have prepaid for) It only takes 2 to 3 meals at a 20% savings to get the cost of the DDE back. If you leave any credits form DDP theres no way to get them back and you have paid for them.
It is true you have to be a passholder or DVC member for the DDE. So the commen opinions on the boards seem to be that each plan has its advantages and disadvantages for different people.
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