Do you do the DDP?

[Puccaw]

Just wondering what you all do?

 

[Satisfactualfam]

We used the DDP on our last trip in 2006. We took advantage of the way they pooled the credits & payed for our DS out of pocket & used his credits on our adult TS meals. We were able to squeeze more TS meals out of the trip using the DDP that way--BUT NOW it's a different story.

I still like the idea of prepaying for meals up front even though I'll still be out of pocket each meal for gratuity.

 

[patsal]

Loved it the way it used to be. Won't do it again unless it is all inclusive and has the appetizer back in. Currently the plan is no savings for us!

 

[pepperw23]

Love the Dining Plan.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

I choose other. we purchase the disney dining experience. the way we eat at disney the discount is a better deal for us. The DDP is usually more food than we eat, so eating like we normally do with the discount is cheaper.

 

[DrDeb]

i'm still a believer in the DDP...we like certain restaurants for dinner and i
think we come out ahead...i also like prepaying altho i'm not wild about no appetizer and having to THINK about gratuities now

 

[magicalfoursome]

We thought the old dining plan was a good deal but since the changes our family is better off doing OOP. We will have more flexibility -our family prefers appetizers over desserts, sometimes I eat kids CS for lunch, and my picky DS10 will have a choice whether to order off the adult menu or the kid's menu. As he would be considered an adult on the DDP it would cost more and he might actually prefer something from the kids menu at certain restaurants.

 

[TPCShauna]

Did it last time and LOVED it! Going deluxe on our next trip because I don't eat fast food.

It's a huge savings for us because we eat "expensive" normally so would be paying mucho dinero OOP. We also that it is prepaid!

 

[TDC Nala]

Used it a couple of times and can do much better with DDE. Won't use it again unless under special circumstances.

I like the 2 credit restaurants and the ones that are not on the dining plan. I don't particularly like the 1-credit restauants.

 

[Pirate Me]

Sometimes we do, and sometimes we don't. Last time we had it was before knowing about DIS. We ended up with a lot of leftover credits! This year, we have everything planned out so it should work out well.

 

[churchpilot]

This will probably be the last time we use it...our 3 and 7 year old still enjoy the Character stuff and we wouldn't normally eat that many expensive meals. Next year we will probably just do CS with the odd TS.

 

[davinakb]

I choose other. we purchase the disney dining experience. the way we eat at disney the discount is a better deal for us. The DDP is usually more food than we eat, so eating like we normally do with the discount is cheaper.

Same here. We rarely snack or eat CS; prefer TS and signature dinning. So with no app in the plan, we're better off paying OOP for what we want (can share apps, desserts, whatever) with the DDE. Plus we get the discount on wine, parking. FWIW.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We use the DDP because it works well for us. We still pay OOP for 3-4 TS meals over the course of a 10-day trip, but when we add it up, we still come out ahead. Both of my children are still kids in Disney's eyes though, I think that makes a big difference.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I'll do what ever is the best deal for me. If DDP is the best deal, then I will use it. If I can get a better discount some other way, than I will do without it. My next trip is during free dining. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

We find that with the exception of a few 'snacks,' it's generally plenty of food for us. But then, we've been able to share. I use the DDP snack credits for bigger snacks and pay oop for smaller snacks sometimes.

 

[catne]

We loved the DDP. Went in May 2007, no DDP, paid OOP. That was o.k.

Went in May 2008 with DDP...saved money (not a huge amount, but $$ is $$!) But we did like the pay-in-advance feature. We liked having the ADR'S (we are plan-ahead-types anyway.) And we definitely end up trying more restaurants & choosing different items on the menues because of the DDP...we're not looking at "cost", we're just looking at what sounds good.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I chose other because it depends on the type of trip we have planned. When we go at the holidays we'll have 3 character meals and the CP dinner package so it was a good deal for us to get the DDP. The trip we took in the spring the plans we had weren't as conducive to using the DDP so we paid OOP.

 

[blanq]

We used the DDP 2x last year, once for a 9 day trip in January and the 2nd time for a 10 day trip in October. We liked the plan and felt it was a good value, although we went when tips were included and you received an appetizer with your TS meals. It was an awful lot of food, and I hate to admit we wasted quite a bit of it. I think that, given the changes to the DDP and knowing that we really don't need that much food, we will go the OOP route for our next trip.

 

[wifey]

We have not used the DDP before but we have booked it to try on our next visit On previous trips we would not have been able to justify the price and choices as we have a child who knows exactly what he likes to eat, we've expanded his menu choices since the last trip Since we'll be visiting at a later time of year we hope that the parks will be less hectic and that the CMs will be less stressed. It did seem less complicated to have the food included on the KTTWC for other guests so we are going to give it a go.

 

[bytheblood]

Yes. However, depending on what the 2009 changes bring, we may not use it.

 

[mamatwotimes]

We are trying the DDP for the first time this year. I hope it is worth it. I'll let you know.