We're just finishing up our "experiment week" on the
DDP (today is our last day)...we arrived w/"the plan" of eating what and when we wanted, and then comparing what we would have spent out of pocket, versus what we did spend on the combination of OOP food and DDP cost...
The results (absent one day--today--today we have two CS and two TS credits left, both of which we plan to use...whether we add snacks remains to be seen):
DDP can still be a good value, if you plan for it...for example, we've had two CS meals at Morrocco at Epcot, which were wonderful and which were valued at $39.80 each (could have spent $41.80--each time one of us had a meal that was $2 less than the max). No tax, no tip on CS. So that one counter service "paid for" half of our DDP for that day! Most of our meals, though, we wound up either spending or saving $5-$10 over OOP, and two were really "bad value." (One was California Grill dinner--which we loved--but just did not get two TS credit's worth of food; the other was Brown Derby (we also loved it) at lunch, and that was even worse...our total bill at Brown Derby was $45...and it would have been two TS credits! Very bad DDP value on both the signature spots we tried)...
We also discovered that DDP takes away a lot of the flexibility about eating that we enjoy...e.g., one day we ate at Yak & Yeti at AK at lunch, and another we ate at Beaches 'n Cream--both TS credits, which would have required a CS dinner (or, if you're doing what we were doing, a TS dinner and paying cash rather than using DDP)...
Snacks are in fact much reduced...BCV Market Place still lets you use a snack credit for one of their pastries (which top out at $3.89 in cash), and for a fruit parfait for b'fast (I'm a big fan of that)...but the fudge shop at the Studios (it's going to take me FOREVER to change over from MGM to Hollywood!) will no longer take a snack credit for a piece of fudge (at $3.59)...I've heard (but haven't tested) that any "package food" is no longer on the DDP snack credit list (except the single-serve chip bag)...
Another change Disney has made to both DDP checks and cash checks: they list an 18% tip and a 20% tip; the server points that out, tells you you can add nothing, more, or less than the suggested amount, and asks you to total prior to running the DDP or credit card (or taking cash)...I didn't like this at all...it puts a lot of psychological pressure (at least on me) to give 20% (the difference, even on our big bills, between 18% and 20% made me feel "cheap" to go 18% instead of 20%...and some of the service we got didn't merit a "bonus" tip...I was particularly bothered by this at the "semi-service" places...a 20% tip at CA Grill seems to me to be a very different "service decision" than a 20% tip at a buffet! We had a couple of our best servers at the buffets we chose (Boma, Cape May) and at Brown Derby...no one "bad" but a couple "just fine but not good either"...it was bothersome to tip that 20% for average service at a buffet -- and I was surprised at how much pressure I felt to use the Disney-provided 20% amount (unless I was going up)...also, at CA Grill, we waited for just 5 minutes in the bar area...that server (who noted we'd be seated so soon that it didn't make a lot of sense for her to bring us anything--she gets a gold star for that) told us that Disney CMs are still learning the new plan--and that they don't like it because they "always" get tips greater than 20%! That bugged me a lot...it was irrelevant, since she didn't bring us anything and so no tip was in order...but to be told that the CA Grill servers expect more than 20% was jarring to say the least...
We had also thought we'd try the deluxe plan on an upcoming trip--and choose a signature dining place and/or a dinner show each day...but from our Brown Derby and CA Grill experience, the dining plan is a very bad value for two-credit places...(of course, w/the deluxe plan, the appetizer is included whereas on the base plan we paid OOP for appetizers--typically, we chose one and shared it--if I think about it, that might change my mind...)
So, I think the DDP is over for us. I have a trip coming next month, w/a family including one adult, one 11-year-old and one 9-year-old...currently, we've signed up for the plan, but I'm going to go home and talk to my friend about canceling it...I think it will be an even poorer value given the ages of the kids...the 9-year-old is a boy who's a good eater--he's likely to be unhappy being restricted to kid plan choices (which we decided was not a big deal, as both my friend & I like the kid plan choices so we figured it would all work out) and the 11-year-old is a girl who doesn't eat anywhere near enough (variety or quantity) to justify the kind of careful planning you have to do to make the DDP a value.
Bottom line: if you find it acceptable to peruse menus ahead of time, and plan your meals accordingly, the DDP remains a good deal (even if not as good a deal as it used to be)...but if you like to be more spontaneous about what and where to eat, the plan no longer makes a lot of financial sense...for us, this week, I'm figuring (w/out counting today's snacks), that I spent about $30 total less (for two people, for one week) on the DDP-provided meals than I would have w/out the DDP...$30 is still $30, but for $30 I'd rather have the extra flexibility!
Everyone is different of course...and people who've never used the DDP will like it better than those of us who are experiencing a significant cut-back over the past 2-3 years...
Dani
), basically nothing valued over $2 is allowed as a snack any more. 
