DxDDP only saving me $60

[ML_LovesDisney]

I did the spreadsheet that someone on here was nice enough to share, and DxDDP saved me only $60 with my ADR's. PLUS I am ordering things on the DxDDP I wouldn't order without the plan, like dessert (DH and I would just split something at most), so really it's saving me nothing, although I love the convienence. I'm seriously reconsidering getting it and just paying OOP, and then I could go off-site (my mom is visiting with a car, so we could go wherever). People who pay OOP and have analyzed the numbers: is paying OOP actually better? I will have to cancel DxDDP today since I am leaving in 12 days WOO HOO

 

[TDC Nala]

You'd have to decide if the convenience is worth it to you. If you really are going to eat offsite or order much less than what you'd be entitled to on the plan, then you won't be saving money with it, so it's all about the convenience.

 

[bytheblood]

For $60, it might make more sense to just pay out of pocket. You can then decide when you want dessert and not feel like you have to order it. Also, if you don't feel like a $35 steak and you feel like a $21 chicken, then you can order the chicken and not feel like you are not receiving your monies worth.

 

[pearlieq]

For that amount, I would scrub the DxDDP.

You'll save money paying OOP since you won't be ordering nearly as much as you would have on the DDP, or probably eating as many meals. Not to mention that you won't have to tip as much on a lower bill. That, coupled with the potential savings of eating offsite, seems to make DxDDP a poor fit for your vacation.

You'll also probably feel a lot better since you won't be so stuffed with all those extra appetizers, desserts, specialty beverages, and snacks that you'll get simply because they're included. Or maybe that's just me.

 

[Moms]

I, too love the convenience of the DDP but after having paid for it a couple of years ago will not again. We are going this September and will have the plan for free (free is good) but will still pay oop for a dinner at BlueZoo.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

For that amount, I would scrub the DxDDP.

You'll save money paying OOP since you won't be ordering nearly as much as you would have on the DDP, or probably eating as many meals. Not to mention that you won't have to tip as much on a lower bill. That, coupled with the potential savings of eating offsite, seems to make DxDDP a poor fit for your vacation.

You'll also probably feel a lot better since you won't be so stuffed with all those extra appetizers, desserts, specialty beverages, and snacks that you'll get simply because they're included. Or maybe that's just me.

You're not alone, I did EXACTLY that last time especially for signature restaurants! I wanted to get my money's worth! LOL DH wants to do it for the convienence he says, at least this time, and see how it ends up. The reason we wanted DxDDP is because we got basic last time and ended up spending an addt'l $400, which equals the cost of the DxDDP anyway, but since it's summer and HOT I doubt I'll eat as much as in Feb.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

if its just $60 savings I would just OOP. We have done regular dinning when tip/appertizer was included but we don't eat much Counter food so we had 6 left and OOP for alot of the meals and we bought alot of bottle waters. Now we are going DxDDP b/c we love to eat at signature dinners and my son loves all the character meals and I know we will be getting alot of bottled water so DxDDP works for us but if I see its only $60 in savings I would just pay of pocket.

 

[Sandisw]

If you are finding that you are only getting savings because you are basing it on what you are allowed on the plan vs. what you would actually order and it is still only a $60 savings, then I would probably pay OOP.

When we figure out whether the plans will be a good deal, we look at what we would order and then compare the price to the plans.

We have done them for several of trips and just came back. We realized that it really is too much food, especially for me, so next year, we are going without it.

We will load a Disney Gift card with the same amount of money as the dining plan and then just pay with that. I have a feeling that it will still have money on it at the end.

 

[EclecticWAHM]

I think it really just depends on what you'd order. For our 5 night/6 day stay we ended up saving almost $500 if we'd paid OOP for what we got, so for us it was a great deal. I really enjoyed the flexibility of the DxDP and found it to be a good value for us. We even ended up canceling 3 of our TS meals and doing QS for those and still saved that much.

 

[BenjaminB]

Hey, not sure if anyone replied to your comment yet regarding bluezoo. Just wanted to give you a heads-up, they have a $25 for $10 on "www dot restaurant dot com" (Sorry for spelling it out, i don't have 10 posts and it won't let me add a link) I just bought mine tonight, if you look up the code you can get it for $2. Let me know if you need any help finding it! Every penny saved, is something more fun we can enjoy in Disney right?

- Benjamin

I, too love the convenience of the DDP but after having paid for it a couple of years ago will not again. We are going this September and will have the plan for free (free is good) but will still pay oop for a dinner at BlueZoo.

 

[starann]

If you are using it for the convenience, how about not getting the DDP (or any variation of the same) and just putting the amount you would have spent on it on a GC prior to your trip. You still have the convenience (in the fact you don't have to carry anything other than the gc with you) but can order what you like.

the Disser I orginally suggested this for did this and with the left over amount (it was a pretty hefty amount since they weren't big dessert people either) she aplied it to her room charges. She had the same convenience of the DDP, but actaully SAVED money by not getting it!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

If you are using it for the convenience, how about not getting the DDP (or any variation of the same) and just putting the amount you would have spent on it on a GC prior to your trip. You still have the convenience (in the fact you don't have to carry anything other than the gc with you) but can order what you like.

the Disser I orginally suggested this for did this and with the left over amount (it was a pretty hefty amount since they weren't big dessert people either) she aplied it to her room charges. She had the same convenience of the DDP, but actaully SAVED money by not getting it!

That's a good idea! Yeah the gift card option sounds like a better idea since it's more flexible.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I used a spreadsheet and in the end my family is saving around $370. I am gonna make ADR's for places we want to eat at, not where I'm getting the best value. (Hey, we are on vacation). All of my meals will be TS though. I would not even consider doing any CS when I have the option to do all TS and there really isn't much value per credit if you use CS. OP: Are you gonna use all TS meals if you choose the DxDP? This would make a huge difference in savings.

 

[maggiew]

Another thing to consider, if the savings is really a wash, its better to pay OOP in case someone gets sick and doesn't feel like eating or leaving the room. That would be a big waste.

I did a comparison for our trip next week. I make a list of what I expected we would NORMALLY order. The price of this was less than the price of the Deluxe DDP. Not much, but it was less. Now, of course we would get a LOT more food if we got the DxDDP because I only included appetizers in my calculations at 2 restaurants and only a couple desserts. But we wouldn't normally order that, so I didn't factor it in.

We are going next week without a DDP. It seems to fit our eating habits better. I plan to keep track and do a review when I get back comparing what we spent with what we would have spent on the DxDDP.

Maggie

 

[Brian Noble]

For me, I have to be saving a non-trivial amount of money to get the dining plan---you are giving up flexibility if you get a plan.

$60 is still in the trivial range in my book. I would skip the plan.

 

[HeidiLowe]

I'm kind of in the same boat. However, I know we would save more than $60, but it's not worth it to me if, say, I would want three apps as my meal at a signature place, with no dessert or entree. I want that flexibility and the DDP doesn't give it to me.

I'm going to do the Visa gift card route, put the cost of the deluxe meal plan on it, or at least close, and call it good.

Also, we're trying to avoid booking a package, just doing it piece by piece so we don't have to prepay anything, well, just the one night hotel rate.

 

[Singinglizzie]

I'm curious - what did you decide?

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I used a spreadsheet and in the end my family is saving around $370. I am gonna make ADR's for places we want to eat at, not where I'm getting the best value. (Hey, we are on vacation). All of my meals will be TS though. I would not even consider doing any CS when I have the option to do all TS and there really isn't much value per credit if you use CS. OP: Are you gonna use all TS meals if you choose the DxDP? This would make a huge difference in savings.

No simply because I have a 2 yr old and it's not humanly possible to make her sit that much I recalculated some stuff on my spreadsheet and am now showing a savings of $260. I think before I left out snack credits and that's why it was so low. But I also did an OOP comparison for what I would order if NOT on the dining plan (like no app or dessert) and it's about the same as what I will pay for DxDDP. SOOO it's not saving me any money but it IS allowing me to eat like a pig for a week which I normally NEVER do. Like others have said, it's vacation, I'm just obsessing at this point, this is me repeat 11 days out! LOL

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I'm curious - what did you decide?

I am going to stick with the DxDDP for a couple reasons, one being, I tried to look up 1 TS ressies to replace my signature meals if I were going to be paying OOP because paying cash for some of these meals I really don't feel is worth it (I have Narcoosee's, and Yachtsmans Steakhouse), and I do want to have some good meals AND DH says just try the DxDDP this time, and if we don't feel it was worth it, we will not doing dining plan again. Thanks for all the input everyone, it really helped me think it through

 

[mickeysgirl17]

No simply because I have a 2 yr old and it's not humanly possible to make her sit that much I recalculated some stuff on my spreadsheet and am now showing a savings of $260. I think before I left out snack credits and that's why it was so low. But I also did an OOP comparison for what I would order if NOT on the dining plan (like no app or dessert) and it's about the same as what I will pay for DxDDP. SOOO it's not saving me any money but it IS allowing me to eat like a pig for a week which I normally NEVER do. Like others have said, it's vacation, I'm just obsessing at this point, this is me repeat 11 days out! LOL

Yeah, it can be tough with the young ones. You'd probly be better off with just the DP then.