DP or No DP that is the ?

[java]

I go through this every year. To dining plan or not and always end up NOT.
We are a family of 6 with 2 adults, 2 "disney adults" and 2 children.
Meaning it would run about $185 for our family a day for dining.

We are staying concierge and while I don't expect a "meal" in the lounge I know last year we certainly saved dessert for the lounge. (boardwalk inn- gets their desserts from the Boardwalk bakery- yummy!!)
So if it were Appetizers and Dinner I would be all over it as we do like our calamari. But now with the no tip, and the no appetizer- dinner and dessert and tax only I don't know.

The only reason I am considering it is exactly the reason I didn't do it last year.
The Holiday Surcharge on buffets. I was so ticked about that that I didn't do any of them at all. And I didn't do the dining plan because I know that's why they added the surcharge.
But this year I'm thinking it might be nice to do a character breakfast(I missed it last year) and it would be nice to not be concerned with the surcharge issue.
We do eat at the nicer places even with the kids. But I'm thinking maybe we'll only do ts meals on half the days? Then it wouldn't be worth it.
But I could easily fill the schedule everyday with ts.

What to do what to do.
So why did YOU decide to GO with the dining plan.

 

[Disneynut322]

I am listening and watching the answers to this question as it is our question as well. We have done the dining plan in the past that included appetizer and tip -- then it was a no brainer. Since we don't love desserts anyway, we are just not sure it is a good deal for us. Waiting to hear others responses!! We also have AP and the 20% Tables of Wonderland discount and wondering if that is better than the DP.

Dining plan fans -- what are your answer? We are listening!

 

[Faldred]

We also have AP and the 20% Tables of Wonderland discount and wondering if that is better than the DP.

In my opinion, TIW beats DDP and DxDP hands-down. By a preliminary calculation, I'll be "saving" 25-30% using the DxDP, but that presumes I would have bought an appetizer and dessert for each member of the party at every TS (non-buffet) meal. I think in reality, I'll more or less break even, but get a heck of a lot more food.

With TIW, you have a lot more control over what you eat, and all of it is covered by the plan. You also aren't bound to using a specific number of meals (and possibly of different types) per day. You could split an appetizer and dessert and not "waste" credits. If I'm not mistaken, TIW includes alcoholic beverages as well, right?

The only comparative advantages of the dining plans are that they're pre-paid, and the convenience of being able to order pretty much anything without worrying about the cost at the time of the meal. The former advantage can be attenuated with TIW by using a pre-paid card of some sort specifically for dining, allowing you to budget it ahead of time.

 

[minniebeth]

Well, the surcharges is what would throw me off, but otherwise this is my 2cents:

We have done trips with and without the DDP...

We have done a concierge trip with the DDP and it was wayyy too much food.
We have done a concierge trip without the DDP and found it was just right for us.

We are not big dessert eaters and share a lot of meals, even CS.

Of course with buffets and character meals, you will be charged per person, but I still think personally, it is better especially with the gratuity not be included to go w/out the DDP.

One trip we found the DDP was worth it, but then we did another trip where we added all of our recepits up and found we broke exactly even and then another trip where we saved over $150 over what the dining plan would have cost (my most recent trip) oop and that week included Tutto Italia, and California Grill.

We have done free dining and that was fun becaue we got to do Hoop De Doo with it which probably wouldn't have done otherwise.
Crossing fingers to do free dining again, hopefully.

All I can say, is that Disney is definately making it hard to NOT be on the DDP, as the prices are just getting out of hand. I noticed that the drink prices were out of control (for example, $3.99 at Tutto Italia for an iced tea per person...) So that in the future, it may not be feasible NOT to do DDP w/o some type of meal plan....

anyway, for now I say no DDP, you can still have some splurges and balance it out with the rest by choosing carefully, sharing large portions, grazing rather than eating large expensive meals.

It also depends on how much flexibility you want to have. I am a compulsive planner, but on our last trip I wanted to be flexible and not tied down to a schedule, so we didn't want the DDP for that reason as well, and we loved it!

I know it's a hard decision, but good luck with what you decide and have fun!

 

[3boymthr]

We're primarily doing DDP for the ease of knowing our meals are paid up front - DH would freak out if the meals were paid one at a time. I have to admit I would probably only book 4 or 5 TS meals instead of the 6 I'm booking. But since the 5 & 6th meals basically work out to be a free meals for us I don't have a problem booking them.

On the regular DDP I think most people probably save 15-20%. It's probably closer to the advertised 30% when the holiday surcharges kick in. The CL throws me though. I have to do a little more monetary analysis. I think you have to look at how much you will be paying OOP for your appetizers. Would you get calamari at every meal or only one or two? How much does that really add to your bill? Are you absolutely going to skip dessert at every meal or are a couple of the meals you are already going to do lunch or character breakfasts? Those deserts that you wouldn't eat are only about $6-8 per person per meal and . Is that more or less than the amount you would save in the surcharges?