Free DDP for 2 adults = not worth it?

[scottishgirl87]

Hi all,

This is really hypothetical at the moment. Boyfriend and I decided yesterday to do a 3 night/4 day trip to DLRP in September. We last went in 2009 and it only cost us around £275 each (flights and staying at DLRP), this time it's looking like costing us around £400 each and then obviously with food/spends on top we're easily talking a grand. It's got me thinking that rather than DLRP that £1000 could go towards WDW next year. To be honest though, it'll be really hard to convince the boyfriend, as much as he's desperate to go back we're at the moment looking to buy a flat (haven't found one yet!) and he's adamant we can't go to WDW until we have somewhere to live! He's the sensible one, whereas I'm the I don't want to be a growed up one

Anyway, enough waffling, I'm trying to do sums to see if I could convince him otherwise. Last trip to WDW in May 2010 cost us £1200 each for EVERYTHING - flights, 1 week at Pop, 1 week at RPR, 10 day MYW Park Hoppers and Flexticket Plus'. I think nowadays I'd be hard pushed to come close to that price, right? Flight prices alone seem to be the killer and going from Glasgow only makes it worse, would be happy to go from Manchester but only if there's a substantial saving involved.

Completely going off what I'm getting at....looking at prices for 2013 and obviously the Free DDP entices you in. But am I the only one that thinks for 2 adults it really isn't worth it? Now we can go anytime really, loved May last time and I've also previously been (without boyfriend) in October and loved that too, for next year I would love May but I'm thinking September to give us longer to save. As I said, we stayed for a week at Pop the last time and would happily stay there again, price with Disney is £532 for a week, to get any DDP we'd have to go to a Moderate, CSR/POR/POFQ all coming in at £840 for a week. Then we're looking at £492 for 2 Ultimates, looking at the 10 day MYW Park Hoppers we had last time this would be £434 (going by 2012 prices and today's exchange rate).

So really to do a week at Pop, with a 10 day MYW Park Hopper I'm looking at £966, whereas to do a Moderate with Free QSDP and 14 day Ultimates would be £1332 or to get Full DDP I'd have to go to SSR/OKW which would be a total of £1569.30. Granted with Moderate upwards you're getting a $200 gift card, equating to about £125, it still makes the prices £1207 or £1444.30.

I just don't see us spending £366 at Quick Services or £603 on Quick Service and Table Service to justify it. Due to the portion sizes we generally have breakfast, that lasts us until dinner where we usually have a main and a dessert, more often than not just a main due to the portion sizes! If you're a family then it does seem a great deal but for just 2 adults I don't get it? The above prices are only for 1 week as well, it'd obviously cost even more for 2 weeks.

Thanks to anyone who is still with me! Just writing it all down has helped me work it out a bit better. Looking for anyone who can convince me otherwise

 

[flortlebap]

I looked at this too.

Breakfast per adult, for what we eat, was $15 each per day. Then add on snacks, Nd a quick service meal, and you're looking at around $40/day in food which is covered by the QSDP (although you'd only get one snack credit in 2013).

I love POP, but we chose CSR, as for a room of four people, to save around $120/day, it paid for itself. You'd have to do the math, but personally I'd pay a little extra to upgrade from POP to a Moderate, so for us it was definitely worth it. The rooms are bigger and you get quiet pools, and a restaurant, etc. plus I find them less crowded.

 

[flortlebap]

Ooh also look at quidco or topukcashback - we got 5% cashback, which is going towards spending money!

 

[scottishgirl87]

Thanks flortlebap. I'm Quidco obsessed so would be going down that route anyway!

Would love to stay at OKW or SSR but for just us 2 it really doesn't seem worth it! I understand what you're saying though about a Mod, I suppose we'd have to weigh it up! I think it also puts me off having to buy the 14 day Ultimate as there's no way we'd do 14 days at Disney, as much as we love it. And I know we can save money by getting MYW tickets.

 

[scottishgirl87]

Sorry, me again, just to through into the mix again . Last time we booked Pop on the US website as it was cheaper. Obviously 2013 isn't out on the US website yet, but just priced the same week for this year and I'm looking at $1450 - £900 - for Pop, plus 7 day MYW Park Hoppers and Quick Service Dining Plan. Seems like a much better deal to me? I looked at Mousesavers Historical Discounts and Free Dining has been on offer in the US the last few Septembers. Or for CSR with Full DDP (not Deluxe) works out at $1935.62 - £1200.

Totally justifying all this to myself and I know when BF gets home from work he'll say no

 

[heatherbelle]

The way I look at is, paying for the park tickets gets me the free food. I make sure that I take full advantage of the fantastic eating places we go to. If I wasn't on the dining plan, we would be staying off-site.

You always pay more for a Disney hotel than off-site and of course a delux is more expensive than a Moderate. You are paying for location.

I would go for the dining plan and try and maximise the food you eat on it. For example look at the menus on all ears for prices and somewhere on these boards there is a really good trippie from someone who has done the counter service only dining plan and had some fab meals.

For this years plan we paid the price of the seven day ticket but are being given 14 days. I don't know if that is on offer with the UK 2013 offer. Might help with your pitch to the BF!

 

[flortlebap]

We did find that 14 days was cheaper than 10, oddly, but I doubt it would be cheaper than 7!

I think DIY and using the US site may be the way to go for you guys. I think they offer the Deluxe Dining Plan with Deluxe hotels whereas we only get the standard DDP. So I think with a moderate, yes you'd get the regular DDP through the website.

1200 seems okay to me, but our price was 1400 each in summer, not including park tickets but including flights and for 14 days.

 

[wayneg]

Next year the prices we have are not worth it for 3 of us, a studio at OKW works out at £162/night, after discounts it brings it down to £142/nt, Offsite we spend around £90/night for a room & food. Its not worth £50/nt for us to stay onsite.
If we were still going to stay onsite in a value or moderate then the difference to upgrade to OKW is minimal and would do it.
If we were staying offsite then eating all our meals in Disney then again it would proably be worth taking the OKW deal.
For us the best option is looking like staying & eating offsite unless Disney drop the prices or CO release lower rates.
You have to price up all options and go with what you are happiest with, we are luck enjoying offsite as much as onsite.

 

[scottishgirl87]

Thanks everyone for the opinions! As an update.....he hasn't said no

Basically it will depend on flight prices and I'll need to wait until October/November for them so fingers crossed!! Have decided for the timebeing not to bother booking the 2013 offer through Disney UK and hopefully get a better deal on Disney US like we did last time.

 

[disneyholic family]

DD did the US free dining at Pop Century (upgrading it to full dining).
It was just for her and a friend. It worked out much cheaper for just the two of them.
i didn't buy them a ticket. they had to buy 2 day tickets as part of the package. But DD already had an annual pass, and for her friend i bought a 14 day ultimate ticket in the UK.
so basically, the 2 day tickets were throwaways.
But since they were going for 14 days, it was the only way to go (the US package tickets only go up to 10 days and aren't nearly as flexible as the 14 day ultimates).

 

[scottishgirl87]

DD did the US free dining at Pop Century (upgrading it to full dining).
It was just for her and a friend. It worked out much cheaper for just the two of them.
i didn't buy them a ticket. they had to buy 2 day tickets as part of the package. But DD already had an annual pass, and for her friend i bought a 14 day ultimate ticket in the UK.
so basically, the 2 day tickets were throwaways.
But since they were going for 14 days, it was the only way to go (the US package tickets only go up to 10 days and aren't nearly as flexible as the 14 day ultimates).

It's good to hear of someone else doing it this way! Although I think the rules have changed now, you used to only have to buy a 2 day ticket to get DDP in the US but I think they changed it so you need to buy a ticket covering your stay (same as UK). I could be wrong though.

 

[ben1993]

We are just 2 adults too and have considered the DDP but we just don't spend enough on food normally to justify it I think. Would love to try many different restaurants but it all comes down to price.

 

[CupcakeLisa]

For us it is totally worth it! We are on honeymoon and would have been staying at OKW anyways. So for us the 40% discount and free DDP is an amazing deal!

 

[higgy66]

For us it is totally worth it! We are on honeymoon and would have been staying at OKW anyways. So for us the 40% discount and free DDP is an amazing deal!

You have hit the nail on the head

So far for us we've stayed on site and as long as fund poermit we will continue to do so. Therefore the free dining is a complete bonus as we would have been buying the disney tickets anyway.

However, if we usually stayed off site then I would have to do some serious maths and work out all the figures to see if it benefited us or not

 

[Samaya]

Hi all,
As I said, we stayed for a week at Pop the last time and would happily stay there again, price with Disney is £532 for a week, to get any DDP we'd have to go to a Moderate, CSR/POR/POFQ all coming in at £840 for a week. Then we're looking at £492 for 2 Ultimates, looking at the 10 day MYW Park Hoppers we had last time this would be £434 (going by 2012 prices and today's exchange rate).

So really to do a week at Pop, with a 10 day MYW Park Hopper I'm looking at £966, whereas to do a Moderate with Free QSDP and 14 day Ultimates would be £1332 or to get Full DDP I'd have to go to SSR/OKW which would be a total of £1569.30. Granted with Moderate upwards you're getting a $200 gift card, equating to about £125, it still makes the prices £1207 or £1444.30.

Reference your question 'Free DDP for 2 adults = not worth it'?

Well, for two adults in 2013 then possibly not, but there might be another option worth exploring and that's renting points from a DVC member.

The cheapest resort and time would be in an Old Key West studio between October 1st and November 26th 2013.

A 1-week stay during that period would require a maximum of 78 DVC points and points can be usually rented from US DVC members between $10.00 and $13.00 per point, or from UK members between £6.50 and £7.50 per point.

Lets say you purchase at $11.50 per point, the cost for those 7-nights will be $897, approximately £585.

Optional: If you want to add the Regular Dinning Plan (these are DVC 2012 prices) $51.54 x 2-adults x 7-nights = $721.46, approximately £470.
Or for Disney Quick-Service Dinning Plan which is $34.99 per night, total for 2-adults for 7-nights, approximately £323.00.

Optional: Adding two 14-day 2013 UK tickets, £492.00 from Disney.

Therefore, a 7-night stay at a Disney Deluxe Resort in a studio at OKW with Quick-Service Dining and 14-day park tickets for two cost about £1,400, very similar.

But, if you don't want to add the dining plan as you want the flexibility to eat off-site and you also want a Deluxe Resort then it's a far cheaper option to rent when compared to booking just an Old Key West studio through Disney.

Interested to read what others think for just a party of two travelling?

 

[Ciorsdah]

DBF and I are travelling with VH and staying at POR, with our package we got the mod hotel, car hire, UK pick up and drop off to the airport, QSDP and park tickets (inc Universal Studios and IOA) and flights for little over £1500 per person.

I dont tend to eat much each day, so the DDP would have been a waste for me. The QSDP works for us because I can use my snack credits when I'm hungry, and on small portions of food and we can share a "meal". DBF is a fussy eater, and didnt like the idea of booking TS places in advance so he had no choice but to go QSDP (!!!). Looking at where we can/can't eat it doesnt seem too restricitve and we have booked a couple of TS places on "special occasion" nights.

Interestinly my very good friend went with her 3 children to WDW last year and had the DDP (3 adults and 1 child price) and did not feel she got the benefit out of it, purely because 2 of her kids eat like sparrows and they were the ones she was paying an adult price for, the wee boy eats like a horse and ended up swapping most of his food with his sister who had the "childs" meal and he would have the adult meal. Alot of food was wasted apparently.

But it really is different strokes for different folks. If you and DBF enjoy eating out and you can book reservations in advance, then if you are getting the DDP free then you should make the most of it. I fyou both have smaller "snaking" appitites like mine, perhaps it may not be worth it or worth looknig into renting the DVC points as per Samya suggestion.

K x

 

[flortlebap]

Did you end up with a week? It seems kind of expensive if so, I'd have been looking at pricing up 2 for better value for money if you did!

 

[scottishgirl87]

Reference your question 'Free DDP for 2 adults = not worth it'?

Well, for two adults in 2013 then possibly not, but there might be another option worth exploring and that's renting points from a DVC member.

The cheapest resort and time would be in an Old Key West studio between October 1st and November 26th 2013.

A 1-week stay during that period would require a maximum of 78 DVC points and points can be usually rented from US DVC members between $10.00 and $13.00 per point, or from UK members between £6.50 and £7.50 per point.

Lets say you purchase at $11.50 per point, the cost for those 7-nights will be $897, approximately £585.

Optional: If you want to add the Regular Dinning Plan (these are DVC 2012 prices) $51.54 x 2-adults x 7-nights = $721.46, approximately £470.
Or for Disney Quick-Service Dinning Plan which is $34.99 per night, total for 2-adults for 7-nights, approximately £323.00.

Optional: Adding two 14-day 2013 UK tickets, £492.00 from Disney.

Therefore, a 7-night stay at a Disney Deluxe Resort in a studio at OKW with Quick-Service Dining and 14-day park tickets for two cost about £1,400, very similar.

But, if you don't want to add the dining plan as you want the flexibility to eat off-site and you also want a Deluxe Resort then it's a far cheaper option to rent when compared to booking just an Old Key West studio through Disney.

Interested to read what others think for just a party of two travelling?

I am actually considering renting DVC points the next time we go, so thanks for throwing that out there

Did you end up with a week? It seems kind of expensive if so, I'd have been looking at pricing up 2 for better value for money if you did!

Not sure if this was aimed at me? Only priced up a week as we will most likely do a week at Disney and a week at RPR, although nothing definite.

I understand what everyone is saying about DDP, don't get me wrong I'd love to try it! It'll all depend on the deal nearer the time, to be honest.