Does anyone NOT do the DDP?

[KorieDWnut]

I always used to think it wasn't worth it for us. And I think we will either break even this time, or save a little bit but I am doing it this year for the first time so that it will be prepaid before we get there.
We always have the same issue when it comes time to actually take the trip....spending money. Things come up and we always end up with less than we wanted to take, which results in many many CS meals, sharing meals and tight budgeting on food. I hate it. I really do. This way, we will have our food paid off and we can actually ALL have our own meals and have 5 sit down meals as well.

It comes down to convenience to us. Also, dh and I argue about eating, when to eat and what to eat each trip. This will force us into decisions, hopefully relieving that decision stress from us.

 

[SuperTink]

We did it last year and had fun, but we really ate more than we wanted and the $$ value was just not there for us. Also found the scheduling demands/restraints stressful.

This year we will again eat breakfast in the room (love gardengrocer!)-grab something light for lunch and maybe do a couple of TS for dinner in the 5 days that we are there. We figure, with our short trips, time is worth more than food.

Other people love the DDP, so I'm glad the option is available for them!

 

[tink too]

We've have never used it - yet. I won't rule it out altogether though, but DD6 is such a light eater, it just wouldn't be beneficial for us at the moment.

 

[shortypots]

I'm torn on the dining plan now. Before when it included the app and dessert it was great because that is how we eat when we go out, even if we don't eat all of it. But, now without the appetizer, we would be spending quite a bit out of pocket, so it sounds like the deluxe plan is more suited to us now, but the folks going with us cannot afford that kind of money.

Although one big benefit is you kind of know how much you are going to spend, give or take before you even get there. It does tend to be pretty restrictive though. At least if you are paing oop, you can choose sit down or CS.

Hubby liked the plan because he wasn't afraid to order the expensive items on the menu. Apparently at home if it looks too expensive he won't order it. If we were in Disney OOP, I think he would think twice about a lot of the things he would order.

 

[gina2000]

We've never done it for a couple of reasons.

First off, we like to park hop if a park is crowded. We never wanted to come back to a park for a dinner reservation if the park was crazy crowded. And the restaurants were so booked that it seemed impossible to cancel an ADR (or whatever they're now called) and book another.

Some nights we just aren't hungry and cancel dinner....or eat a later dinner....or snack. Once you've paid for it, though, it's a waste not to eat dinner.

Some days we go to US/IOA and don't eat at WDW. We try to head to DTD on days we're at US/IOA but that doesn't always work out. Again, the ADR situation made it impossible to change plans.

And now with the elimination of appetizers, it's just not worth it to us. I'm not a dessert eater so that's wasted on me.

I think you get the picture.....

 

[JimMIA]

We've enjoyed DDP in previous years, in spite of the fact that it really didn't save us much money. We're 2A/1C, and on our average 5-day trip, we'd save $75 or so. With the changes this year, DDP costs us money if I do a realistic, legitimate analysis.

In addition to that, we've been disappointed with the menu standardization over the last 3-4 years. I don't know if that is because of DDP or not, but the quality and character of the menus have deteriorated noticeably. They're really on the verge of getting back to the "bad old Disney food" of a decade ago. By our 5th day, we've been getting pretty darned tired of Mouse food, and I would never consider DDP for more than 5 days because it's just the same old stuff.

So this year, we are branching out. We have an ADR for the princess breakfast at Norway, but that is mostly because we're meeting some newbie friends there. We will eat the rest of our meals offsite. We're going to try Charlie's, and we are looking forward to a meal at Columbia. Other than those two, we'll probably eat casual dinners offsite. We'll eat better than we do with DDP, and we'll probably save a few bucks in the process.

 

[phragmipedium]

We're not doing it again. It's just DH and I, and we had it for free on our honeymoon in August 2006 - it was pretty amazing. We would have paid for it for our anniversary trip in August 2008, but the changes no longer make it worth it to us for a few reasons:

-I much prefer an appetizer to dessert, and we wasted a lot of dessert when we had the dining for free. I'd have to pay for my appetizers out of pocket now. I normally don't order dessert for myself and I don't imagine we'll get more than one or two to share this time around. And I can't justify paying DxDP prices to myself, nor can DH.

-We are doing some expensive TSs (Le Cellier and Coral Reef), but we're also doing some where we'd have to be strategic to feel like we were getting our money's worth (lunch at LTT, 50's Cafe). Often I don't want the most expensive thing on the menu anyway and sometimes I like to make a meal of two appetizers.

-I had a hard time coming up with enough TSs that I really, really wanted to do, especially since DH thinks leaving a park to go to a resort restaurant is time-wasting. When we decided to pay for it ourselves, there were only two TS's we *had* to have, and three more that we really wanted - two of them are lunch. If it's offered for free (doubtful as we'd need the same dates as it was offered for in 2006), I'm quite certain we could find a few more. But not if I'm paying for it myself.

-It gives us the freedom to try places not on the plan without "I'm wasting pre-paid money" guilt.

-It's *hot* in August, especially to this Oregonian, and I feel like I could make it around the parks more easily and better enjoy my time if I wasn't loaded down with a ton of food.

-I ran the numbers of the restaurants we wanted to go to with the items we'd want to order, and found that we'd be coming out ahead (and not wasting desserts) by paying for it ourselves and only going where we wanted to go. I think that's the best way to determine if it's a good deal for you or not, so if your family is the very spontaneous type, it might be hard for you to do. I knew looking at the menus pretty much exactly what DH and I would order and was able to calculate pretty accurately what our costs would be with the plan and without. I do have to convince DH to still order whatever he wants even though we're paying at the end of the meal...but I think it'll be possible. And I ran the numbers with the most expensive thing I think he'd like, so I feel pretty confident with my decision.

 

[froggygrrrl]

We did the DDP in 2003 and 2004 when the dining credits were "Magical Wishes" and you could have two TS meals a day if you wanted (instead of 1 CS and 1 TS). Boy, did we put that to good use!!! There were several days where we had 2 TS meals, complete with appetizers, entrees, and desserts!

It was my first trip in 2003 and DH's first trip in a long time. We really didn't know what we were getting into and I don't think I have ever felt so stuffed for so many consecutive days! I don't have any excuse for the gorging that ensued in 2004 (other than that it was our honeymoon and I felt like I was able to finally eat after months and months and months of wedding planning.)

I wouldn't be against the DDP on some future trip, if only for the convenience...although even some of that has been taken away with all of this tipping controversy. But until I feel like I'm ready to eat my body weight several times over in a single week, I doubt we'll be partaking in the DDP any time soon.

 

[Uncleromulus]

DDP holds no attraction for us whatsoever. We never eat lunch, don't do CS, rarely have a snack, and avoid buffets.
For us the DDE is much better.

 

[n2mm]

We use to love the DDP but starting January 2008 with the new changes, no more DDP for us. We now use our DDE card exclusively and save alot more money and can have 2 TS meals a day instead of 1 CS and 1 TS for the price of the DDP. Bring back the old DDP and we'll buy it again, but not the new 2008 version!

 

[jodifla]

We have never done the DDP. Too much food, too many TS meals for us DVC owners and too expensive (although the old plan was a really good financial deal -- if you could manage to eat all that food).

And also, once I saw the HORRIBLE effects of the DDP (unremarkable food, bad service, jam-packed restaurants) on Disney Dining, it became a stance of principal.

Things are already improving at Disney dining now that the DDP isn't dragging everything down.

 

[MisunderstoodLilo]

We don't do the dining plan. I eat when I'm hungry, not when I think I'm going to be hungry 6 months before my trip.

While I personally don't use it, it IS a great plan for those who like one sit down meal per day. It's a great savings, even with the changes to this year's plan.

 

[budbeerlady]

It is still an alright savings. But this trip it wont have Dh, he is our big eater. I am a vegetarian, my entrees are not going to be $30 steaks. So I broke evenish last year, this year I will just pay oop for our food. DD has done all the character buffets before so we are going to CS alot and eat at the 2 rainforset cafes with gift cards from My points.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Just wondering if we were the only ones who opted to not do the dining plan? We are DVC members and can add on the plan if we want, but we have figured it to be much cheaper if we don't. We still do lots of restaurants that we love, but try to save money other ways. Just wondering if others thought this way too?

I guess I should say that we have done the DDP - and I LOVE it so I am in no way putting it down. We just have a toddler and have figured that it wouldn't be worth it to us. So nothing against the DDP....

That the tips and the appys aren't included any more makes it much tougher to break even or come out ahead by using the plan. Used to be, we could throw in a character breakfast or two or one of the less expensive options such as Biergarten and still come out ahead on the plan. Not so much any more. This also shows up at dinner in that the flexibility to order something that isn't one of the more expensive items on the menu and come out ahead is also gone. I think the changes have turned the plan from a good value for many to a decent value for some.

For us, the kids getting up there in age means we won't be doing character meals as much and thus won't have as many planned sit downs in our mix. So for us, it makes sense now to be off the plan. We'll still take advantage of the free food if they offer it and we can take advantage of it. It's still the best promo we can get at a value resort.

 

[disney queen]

since we have the AP we also have the DDE card. it comes out about the same for us.

 

[Quicklabs]

We did the DDP in 2007, but won't do it when we return. The value isn't is as good as it was before, especially since it is so easy to make our meals in our villa. Most importantly, the food quality had really diminished since the DDP. Plus, I didn't like having to plan my day around my TS meals in the evening. Glad I did it once, but that was enough.

 

[nicolemm]

We did it in October but I don't think we will do it again. I was less than impressed with the TS options for kids. And often ordered and OOP adult entree for my kids to split. I couldn't believe night after night they were offered chicken fingers, PBJ and Mac and Cheese.

It was also so much food, we ended up with extra kids TS and extra CS credits!

 

[disneywith4boys]

We used the plan in '06, but for this trip in Oct. we are not. With 4 kids from 4 to 9 years, it is just too hard to find CS where all 4 like the kids meals. We will be paying OOP for many adult meals. Like at CHH we will do better splitting 2 adult tuna sandwiches between the kids than enjoy the sandwiches while they have to eat the terrible kids choices. I'd rather have everyone happy on vacation than worry over what places we need to eat at that we can find something they all would like. Just not enough kid choices (usually 2) on the kid menus for families with more kids.

 

[disneywith4boys]

We did it in October but I don't think we will do it again. I was less than impressed with the TS options for kids. And often ordered and OOP adult entree for my kids to split. I couldn't believe night after night they were offered chicken fingers, PBJ and Mac and Cheese.

It was also so much food, we ended up with extra kids TS and extra CS credits!

I agree. The kids choices at TS are too much like lunch foods. Its too hard to find a variety of foods for kids so they're not eating the same meals lunch and dinner. In the past with the appy on the DDP, I would order the adult meal one of the kids would like and have the appy as my meal, and split some of the main dinner. Also my twins were under 3 last time, so they were able to eat some of the kids choices. We had more flexability.

 

[YesMickey]

I agree. The kids choices at TS are too much like lunch foods. Its too hard to find a variety of foods for kids so they're not eating the same meals lunch and dinner. In the past with the appy on the DDP, I would order the adult meal one of the kids would like and have the appy as my meal, and split some of the main dinner. Also my twins were under 3 last time, so they were able to eat some of the kids choices. We had more flexability.

Yes, the ddp is not good for a family 1. that has 10-13yr. old kids due to adult cost or 2. if you have finnicky eaters that will only eat chicken nuggets etc. My kids(see below) love "good" food and it is great for us. The ddp cost us apprx. $98/night and if you chose your meals wisely you make out very good. For instance we eat ts at places like Coral Reef, LeCellier, Wolfgang puck etc. At Coral reef this last time our meal came up to $95+-. So the CS and snacks that day were basically free. By the way my kids will get broccoli instead of fries. At coral reef they both got grilled Mahi Mahi and loved it. And that same day we ate a Sunshine Seasons for CS and it came up to $45 because they have chef made desserts that run about $3.50 a piece and the entree is over $9. You have to make the most of it, for it to be worth it.