Do most people get the Disney Dining Plan?

[ncc1701]

DH & I got back 8 days ago and had free DDP.If we had paid we would have broken even after taking out the cost of the desserts.There is no way paying OOP we would buy 10 desserts EACH for a 5 day stay.More likley 5 or so total.
As it was we came back with 5 brownies from the WP Express in DTD.
I think the only reason it paid off for us was that 4 of our 5 QS meal were at the WP Express. The prices and quality there are higher than most QS in the Parks. Our other QS was in the resort for breakfast the last day.
Our OOP were 3 breakfast (muffin & juice/soda) and 2 ESPN Club meals
We go on vacation usually twice a year for 5 days each time so we have a good handle on what we are going to pay for meals anyway.
If it was free we would do it again but paying for it would depend on the locations available and the price.

 

[ncc1701]

My family used to get the DDP when an appetizer was included with the TS meals and tips were included. Now, I am not as much of a fan. We don't like dessert with every meal and sometimes we would prefer an appetizer. If the plan was more flexible, for example you could choose an appetizer or dessert with TS meals, we might do the plan. I also would do the plan if we went during a free DDP period, but we generally have not traveled during those periods.

Agree with you on the option to switch between a appetizer or dessert for TS meals. DH would much rather have a side salad then dessert.I know people say Disney doesn't do it so they can get you out quickly.However I don't know how much quicker they can be.We hardly had enough time to eat a piece of bread before our meal at TI in Epcot was served.
I would also rather have an other snack and take away the dessert on the QS meal on the DDP.

 

[pooh2001]

First let me preface with... Easter week, no room or food discounts...
That is when we go to WDW in 2010. Disocunts end on 3/27/10. We arrive on 3/31/10


An AAA rate at POFQ is better for us than paying full price for a WDW room and getting DDP.

Also if we stay at the Dolphin, no DDP is available to us.

We have racked up a bit of Chase Visa Disnet Reward dollars.
$1800 worth and will pay for our WDW TS & CS meals during our 10 day Easter vacation at WDW.

I did price out meals from allears menu's and the price was the same for OOP and DDP. We do eat at at least 1 TS and sometimes 2 TS each day - and example would be a 1900 Park Faire late breakfast, no lunch and a 7 PM HDD show. We eat breakfast in the room every AM.

Our exceptions are early entry mornings in the Parks. We do a quick snack in the room, get to the Park at 7 AM and then do a late (10:30 AM) TS breakfast. Again no lunch and then most of the time a TS dinner.

Our young teen DD sometimes likes to have an adult appetizer and a kids meal. If on DDP we would have to pay and adult DDP for her - eevn though she does not always eat adult portions.

As other posters said - no desserts for us, we prefer a salad or soup to begin our meals. Plus on DDP you still have to pay tip and tax (I think), an additional cost.

I would price out both DDP meals and any extra costs (tip. maybe tax) and also what you may order if you paid OOP.
I bet OOP will cost less money and less calories (salads are better than chocolate cake )

 

[mdoc]

We've never done the dining plan and probably never will. We stay at the campground so we never qualify for free dining, even though we're usually paying full freight for our campsite. While we might be able to make out on the dining plan (i.e., eat more $ worth of food than the dining plan costs), we'd still pay more for DDP than we normally pay for food. Between seven people over the past week, we ordered one dessert; we don't eat a lot of table service meals (3 in 8 days on this last trip) and we usually share counter service meals. Plus my kids discovered Golden Corral a couple days ago, and they thought both the food and service was better than the Disney buffets, so we now have another less expensive option.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We have only done the DP once in 30+ trips to WDW. We did it this past March when we paid for our whole family there were 9 of us in our party.It worked out great for such a big party. When it is just my wife and I we never would think of doing the plan. It's just too much food for us. We typically split an appetizer and entree and maybe order dessert. We mainly dine at Signature restaurants.

 

[amyren]

We received the dining plan for "free" when we booked our most recent trip. Nov 19 - 25. We LOVED it. We used every credit and it was nice that it was already paid for so we didn't have to worry about a huge credit card statement when we got back home! I really like the fact that snacks are included. Ice cream, drinks & stuff in the parks is so expensive! On the down side we had to tip seperately, which was kinda a pain.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

After doing several trips with the dining plan, I did a trip without it.

For my next trip, I'm back to the dining plan.

I spent just as much paying oop and didn't get as much value (or meals) as I would have if we had the dining plan.

And I like having extra snack credits to bring home treats - because I need to bring home treats for other people anyways. I manage a team of 8 people - using snack credits lets me bring everyone home a small bag of pretzels or a little box of Minnie cookies or some other packaged treat - this saves me money because I don't have to look for the cheapest thing - I can get them something worth close to $4 each.

 

[ginnymack]

We opted not to do the dining plan on our last trip. We were there for only 4 days and had our 18 month old and 4 year old in tow. We skipped the plan because we did not feel that we could commit to reservations with such a little one. Also, it was the first trip for me, and I wanted to spend every minute in the park that our kiddos would allow. We ate breakfast in our room, took snacks and ate counterservice meals for lunch and dinner. You can check menus to get prices, and tipping is not necessasry. We are planning a trip for next year and are very much looking forward to the dining plan. Our girls are a bit older and will enjoy the experience more. Also we are going to stay for a week - there is only so many burgers and nuggets that we can take!

 

[AliceinHalloweentown]

No, we don't do the DDP nor do we plan to.
I've plugged the numbers in a hundred times, but we wouldn't get dessert at every meal (and probably just one to split if we do), and we like appetizers.

I haven't found a way to come out even, so I'd rather pay OOP.

But, I'll be trying the numbers out and talking to my dad when it comes closer to actually planning the trip.

 

[MerryFlora]

I was tempted by the DDP only because I could lump it in with my package on my Disney Visa and get the 6 mos 0%. But ultimately realized it would cost us more. I planned out some meals using this site, Allears and MouseForLess, and we would spend WAY less OOP. Believe me, we eat alot and like our treats, but it was still less on our own.

DD10 and I sometimes split an appetizer and adult entree. She doesn't want to eat nuggets all week. We dont want to have to make our ressies months before we eat, maybe we wont feel like Italian at 6:10pm on a Monday, 3 mos in the future. Sometime we dont want to take the time for a TS and like to be more spontaneous with our schedule. Maybe grab a hot dog and watch the parade. These are the moments I like to let play out.

Also, we would never get CS desserts, those prepackaged things dont even look good and we are too full, especially at lunchtime. We always hit the bakery or goodie store about mid-afternoon. We also bring our own water bottles into the parks and rarely buy drinks with meals. We ADR maybe one Character Meal and one TS if there is somewhere we really want to eat and think it might be busy.

The only advantage I saw was, again, the pre-pmt, and also we might try places we normally would not want to pay for. But it certainly would not be because it saves us money. The "free" dining package was a much higher price than our 4/3 plus OOP meals.

 

[MAKHayes-DisneyDiva]

We have been on the DDP for all of our on-site stays. We have always saved a little money on the DDP. We liked it best in it's old form, but we still like it.
Our son just turned 10, so I will have to recalculate before we return.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

I love/hate the DDP.We do mostly signature and eat app,entre and dessert for lunch and dinner with breakfast either in the room or coffee and rolls somewhere.So no savings for me.
It does however help tend to herd families away from places we want to spend grown-up time in.

 

[blondietink]

We only do the DDP when it is "free". It costs way to much out of pocket for our family of 4 who all count as adults on the DDP. If we go to WDW without the DDP, we cook a lot in our room or go to cheap places to eat. We always have a car, so that helps. I also don't like to be tied down to a reservation time and planning around that.

 

[SanFranciscan]

We don't really understand how the dining plan works, but it seemed complicated when we looked at it. We like it simple. If there is a restaurant that we really want enough to make the reservation months in advance, we will do so. That is not going to describe many places.

 

[KAA1972]

We love DDP and definitely feel like we get our money's worth (especially when it's free). I'm an uber-planner so I enjoy planning the meals in advance and making reservations. It's been a great experience for us on three WDW trips! Two trips we didn't have DDP and spent waaaay more on food than what we would have paid had we just bought the DDP.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

We bought it for our 20 year anniversary and while I did enjoy it, but $160 per day for my family was too much for us to do every trip. We stay at the Contemporary and it is better for us to get garden grocer and just eat at the TS a few times and CS a few times. For free the dining plan is fine otherwise for my family it cost too much and encourages us to eat too much which is something I don't want.