For all those undecided...

[kkgordon02]

We just got back from 4 nights at the vwl with the dining plan and I kept a careful record of how much our meals and snacks cost (although I don't know why Disney doesn't print you a receipt with the actual amounts! I had to peek at the computer screen at all the cs locations to see the totals). We spent $343.81 for the dining plan (2 adults and 1 child for 4 nights) and spent $472.21 plus tips for all of our food (cs + ts+ snacks). So even though we had no app and had to pay tips oop, we still saved well over a hundred dollars. Every year my husband says it is too much food and we don't need it. He's right, although the food is so EXTREMELY overpriced that if we payed oop I don't think I would want to eat there! We think the food quality i really good and the portions are large, but it really is so expensive! So I think I'll stick with the dining plan for future trips and just try not to eat so much and not worry that the money won't at least even out!

 

[DisOrBust]

My question is would you normally order all the CS desserts. I thought they were marginal at best and would rather waste my calories on a dole whip. So for us that would knock off an extra 12-15/ day we would not normally spend.

 

[patsal]

I think this is where the savings becomes somewhat "mythical". In order to compare DDP and no DDP don't you really have to compare apples to apples? I did that and came out with a $2.00 savings per meal in OOP's favor. When I dropped the dessert that I wouldn't eat at CS and at TS, added appetizers, and only purchased the snacks I knew we would eat--ie: before DDP we never got snacks everyday and even with DDP we didn't that's why we scrambled to use those snack credits at the end--I had savings in OOP favor of $10 per day. True I could order more and eat it, pay tip on it though I don't want it, but why? The $10 more was worth it back when tip was included, it didn't have to work the plan to break even. You didn't have to order both dessert and app to break even, now you really have to do that unless you are planning on the most expensive meal on the menu--but that is not often what I want anyway.
With smaller children and character meals my figures go out the window, but for traditional TS meals it works nearly every time.

 

[Tricia1972]

For us too it doesn't work to compare what the food included on the DDP would cost because we don't order like that normally. Nor do we feel that we are depriving ourself by not ordering desserts at every CS location or even at every TS location.

Another thing we do is share many CS meals. Not to be cheap or to save money, but because we feel there is too much food there for us. We throw some away on the DDP, but feel that's wasteful.

I also agree 100% with DisOrBust about the Dole Whip! I'd rather skip the marginal CS dessert every time and get a good sweet snack later on, and Dole Whip Floats are perfect!

 

[CharmedLife]

I had decided against the DDP, but to humor my husband I calculated out what we were going to pay OOP based on the restaurants that we were going to eat at with or without the DP. I did NOT figure dessert into my calculations, since we wouldn't normally order dessert at either CS or TS. I did factor in the snacks since DH is a soda junkie and I anticipate that we'd be buying enough sodas and waters with or without DP. About half of our meals are buffet, so it doesn't matter if we get dessert or not.

In the end, I was surprised to find that I'd save about $150 with DDP. It was not what I expected, especially taking out the dessert aspect. I think part of it depends on the number of children you have. I have 2 children and 2 adults. I'm basically breaking even on the adults, but coming out ahead on the kids, especially at buffets, where the cost for the child is more than their whole day on the DDP.

I think the DDP is a really good deal for kids, but not great for adults. So if we were just adults going (which we'll do in Sept.) I would pass on the DDP. If we are going with our kids (as long as they still count as kids), it is still a good, albeit not GREAT, deal. For families with several children who plan to do character meals and buffets, I think there is some real savings potential.

 

[JoanneNC]

I am on vacation and already spent a much higher rate on rooms then I would have in other places and a high rate on park tickets - etc that if I gain/lose $100 on using or not using the DDP/DxDP/OOP is no longer worth my stressing over. It's a vacation so I don't want to eat exactly like I do at home..lol

 

[Crystal_27]

I'm basically breaking even on the adults, but coming out ahead on the kids, especially at buffets, where the cost for the child is more than their whole day on the DDP.

I think that you really hit the nail on the head with this statement. I mean, the cost of ANY character meal for a "child" is at least $11.99, so there is a savings of $2.00 a day TS right there, plus you still get a CS and a snack each day. Also, since my 3 year old DD eats as well (or better - LOL) as the adults, we find ourselves needing to find her other alternatives, which are more expensive. Anyway, we found it to be a savings of about $200 over a 9 day period.

 

[LSchrow]

TY for posting your experience, kkgordon02

our "numbers" (DH & self, no kidlets) show that we would save an average of over $50 per night, based on the identical items we had last year (excluding appy's ~ btw, we ate as we wanted, without any thought of "maximizing", just enjoyed a relaxing vacation with good food & great company in a wonderful atmosphere ).

this year, as last year, we will either eat dessert at the restaurant (the chocolate wave at CR gets eaten immediately ), or bring it back to the resort, maybe have it for b'fast (DVC).
snacks are mostly the delicious iced mochachinos in MGM (in oct, we'll use some snack credits for the F&WF) ~ never, ever had a prob using all the credits (btw, no matter which plan one chooses, it is possible to have an unforeseen problem causing a loss ~ since DDE has an expiry date, it is possible to be out the cost of the card). we do enjoy the CS's too, using many at WPE.

simply b/c it doesn't work for some, most certainly doesn't mean it doesn't work for all . i, for one, am glad it is offered (& that it didn't get removed entirely after some of the ways it was being manipulated, e.g. using child credits for adults, etc ). & hopefully, WDW will come up with some more "plans" to accomodate the varying tastes & vacationing styles of others (maybe offer to opportunity to purchase DDE to more guests, or have a MYW dining plan, etc).
btw, the DDP will easily save us about $1,000 during our 2008 trips (one may, one oct)

 

[kkgordon02]

We did all character meals for ts and like stated above, my 3 year old came out ahead plus lunch and a snack! We also don't eat desserts at the cs meals, but we were able to substitute fruit or yogurt at most locations. Also- at the cs locations kids do are NOT limited to the kids menu, so my son had adult entrees basically for free! For our family it truly was a savings. Our character meals were all in the $25-29 range and I don't think we could have gotten through a day at the parks even sharing meals for much less than $8 per adult.

 

[DisOrBust]

The other part of the equation I consider and have posted before.

When we did the DDP our party had the joy of the Stomache bug "run" through our group and it played hell with our ADRs. No refunds remember.

You lose out on the AP room discount.

If you make long or several trips you need to consider AP room rate and the DDE. Which alone saved us 120 at V&A.

 

[LSchrow]

My question is would you normally order all the CS desserts. I thought they were marginal at best and would rather waste my calories on a dole whip. So for us that would knock off an extra 12-15/ day we would not normally spend.

The other part of the equation I consider and have posted before.

When we did the DDP our party had the joy of the Stomache bug "run" through our group and it played hell with our ADRs. No refunds remember.

You lose out on the AP room discount.

If you make long or several trips you need to consider AP room rate and the DDE. Which alone saved us 120 at V&A.

good points ~ the DDP is not for everyone
for us, the DDE would save us money over no discount (of course ), but significantly less than how much DDP saves us. we would also have to pay full price or forego some of our favorite CS & snacks.....& in our many times of using the previous DDPs, we've used all our credits without feeling rushed or that it was anything other than an enhancement to our vacation (we have AP's & go for at least 2 trips, about 20 nights per year ~ so did consider the DDE).
glad the DDE works for you tho

 

[JoanneNC]

The other part of the equation I consider and have posted before.

When we did the DDP our party had the joy of the Stomache bug "run" through our group and it played hell with our ADRs. No refunds remember.

You lose out on the AP room discount.

If you make long or several trips you need to consider AP room rate and the DDE. Which alone saved us 120 at V&A.

Agreed- but you kinda have to plan a trip NOT expecting to have something bad happen like a stomach bug or bad weather to make the water park addition a bad option, etc. Of I guess if you want to plan for every negative thing - you can always wait and pay at last minute higher prices, etc...

 

[JoanneNC]

The other part of the equation I consider and have posted before.

When we did the DDP our party had the joy of the Stomache bug "run" through our group and it played hell with our ADRs. No refunds remember.

You lose out on the AP room discount.

If you make long or several trips you need to consider AP room rate and the DDE. Which alone saved us 120 at V&A.

Agreed- but you kinda have to plan a trip NOT expecting to have something bad happen like a stomach bug or bad weather to make the water park addition a bad option, etc. Of I guess if you want to plan for every negative thing - you can always wait and pay at last minute higher prices, etc...

 

[drumsRdaBEST]

cool

 

[Tricia1972]

Agreed- but you kinda have to plan a trip NOT expecting to have something bad happen like a stomach bug or bad weather to make the water park addition a bad option, etc. Of I guess if you want to plan for every negative thing - you can always wait and pay at last minute higher prices, etc...

I agree, you can't plan on bad things happening on your trip, but I think it's wise to know the pros and the cons of a plan before purchasing.

I think that the DDP and DxDDP work very well for some people and that's fantastic! I also feel that it does not work well at all for others, and that's fantastic too. Each family needs to calculate what's important to them when making their decision, as well as calculate where their savings are or aren't.

I feel that a blanket thread title that indicates that it works for everyone can be misleading. Many people come here and don't post, but they are looking for information on planning their Disney trip to make it the best and most magical trip that it can be. If they just read how it works for those that it works for then they may buy it without looking at different options.

In our case we would have spent a lot more using the DDP this trip, which would have decreased our budget in another area.

 

[TheDizMom]

While I was much happier with the plan pre-2008, I know we will still use it for a couple of reasons. The top is that I can pay for the food before we get there and not have to have that money with us. Most trips we are scrimpin and savin wherever we can to have spending money, to have to worry about food money too would make the trip much more stressful. We will of course need to have tip money now, but still that is a lot less then all the meal funds too. It means since I probably paid for my entire trip 6 months before we leave, I have more money to spend on other things once I get there, and not worry that if we buy this will that mean we don't have enough for dinner. The other thing is that we have kind of figured out how to work the system and stretch those CS and S meals into more. As stated so many of the CS meals are more then we need at one time, so we will often share them, a couple of meals like that and we have extra credits for extra meals. We use snacks mostly for beverages, but we also will use them to make a meal like breakfast. For us I still think it works. It isn't quite as beneficial as it was, but it still makes sense for us.

 

[JoanneNC]

I agree, you can't plan on bad things happening on your trip, but I think it's wise to know the pros and the cons of a plan before purchasing.

I think that the DDP and DxDDP work very well for some people and that's fantastic! I also feel that it does not work well at all for others, and that's fantastic too. Each family needs to calculate what's important to them when making their decision, as well as calculate where their savings are or aren't.

I feel that a blanket thread title that indicates that it works for everyone can be misleading. Many people come here and don't post, but they are looking for information on planning their Disney trip to make it the best and most magical trip that it can be. If they just read how it works for those that it works for then they may buy it without looking at different options.

In our case we would have spent a lot more using the DDP this trip, which would have decreased our budget in another area.

Her title was just "those still undecided" and showed HER results, etc - really doesn't pull people into the thread believing that it's 100% for sure will be the best deal, etc For her family and their eating habits - it will work for her.
Unfortunately - even crunching the #'s I still personally don't know what is best for me. I haven't been to WDW since I was 9 - and this is my first trip as a parent paying. I have no idea how hungry we will be - or how tired we will be - or heck if my 6pm ADR's will be too early/too late or just right. So I have to make my best "guess" again, even after crunching the #'s. Yes everyone's opinions are helpful but subjective. I don't enjoy sharing a meal - plus DH and I like very different things. We eat 3 meals a day at home - why wouldn't we eat 3 meals at WDW- when we are obviously walking more - etc.. These are assumptions I went with.
DDE isn't an option for me - so that was easily removed out of the plan..

Buffet's in general seem like a waste of money because I know I NEVER eat $27.99 worth of buffet food - but I still pay full price and my DH might eat $34.99 of buffet food, - Maybe bad example - but the plans can be happy mediums for some and a starting place in their planning...

Ideally the best for me would be the DDE - but I have opted for the DxDDP - am I worried about making $$ from it - nope so that makes my decision easier.

Everyone is absolutely correct when they say the plans work great for some and terrible for others. It's human nature to "defend" the route you are personally taking and I am not referring to "you" personally. But in general - everyone will post with more support of THEIR decision and even talk down of the decision they didn't select. Again - that's normal.

WDW in general is very expensive - from the rooms to the tickets to the food - and I have never found planning a vacation as equally exciting and STRESSFUL as this has been. Agognizing over whether I made the right lodging choice because boy will I be pissed for spending $500 a night if my room sucks or will I be pissed for only spending $199 a night and my room sucks when I could have afforded more. Same with the # of park tickets or should I hop or don't hop and then there is FOOD. The EVIL part..lol DDP and ADR"s and etc..lol

This better be a great trip Seriously it will be great and the fact that there is scalability - some can spend a week there for $1500 and others for $5000 and still others for $9000 but in the end - everyone is making wishes come true and creating memorable memories and that is what is priceless..

OK done rambling and good luck to those that are still deciding -

 

[traviesojmt]

I really enjoyed using the DP on previous visits. We have used it 3 times in the past. I think that the important thing to remember though is that everyone's situation is different. The DP works great for some and not so great for others. This year, the DP is not a cost savers for us. Being the Disney nerd that I am, I used the menus on allearsnet.com and priced out our meals. Without the DP, we would probably just share an appetizer and dessert. Also, my DS turned 10 for this visit. Now, he is the dreaded Disney "adult" for pricing purposes. While there are a few restaurants that he would order off of the adult menu, he is not a really big eater. My DD4 is also not a big eater. We can easily share 3 meals at CS for the 4 of us. With my children's ages this year, it was cheaper for us to have more flexibility in our eating plans. If both of our kids were still under 10, then I would definitely do the plan again. It wasn't until my DS turned 10 that the plan became cost unefficient for us. There is not right or wrong as far as the DP is concerned, there is only each individual situation.

I am glad to hear that the OP had a good experience with the new plan though.

 

[Tricia1972]

Her title was just "those still undecided" and showed HER results, etc - really doesn't pull people into the thread believing that it's 100% for sure will be the best deal, etc For her family and their eating habits - it will work for her.

I agree with your post, which basically said the same thing that mine did. Everyone needs to make their own decision for themselves. I just want to point out that her title was not just "those still undecided" It's "For all those undecided" and it shares her experience of how it works.

I think that it's perfectly reasonable for all of us to share how it works or doesn't work for us, especially when a thread title addresses "all".