Help me decide....is DDP right for us?

[ohiominnie]

We are going for two weeks at the end of November/beginning of December. This is our ump-teenth trip to WDW so we are very familiar with the restaurants and know where we want to eat and all that (we already have ADR's for all of our TS meals) I just can't figure out if we want to add the dining package. We are DVC and will have a villa so we can eat some there (mostly breakfasts) and we have the DDE card which gets us 20% off.

Here's the thing....we'll be travelling with my parents the first week, then they'll leave and my dh's parents will join us. We typically make a TS ADR for each day, and eat a CS meal each day. The third meal is either breakfast (in the room) or, if our TS for the day is breakfast, our lunch will typically be quick snacky foods. Usually once or twice a trip we will be SO involved in what we are doing (swimming, or whatever) that we will call WDW dining and cancel our TS ADR and just grab a pizza in the WL merchantile or some other similar thing.

We are NOT huge eaters. In fact, my very petite dd hardly eats anything at all but as a 12 yr old she would be charged as an adult.

My diabetic mother would be overwhelmed by the food available and would eat most of it---the whole time saying "this is way too much food, but I can't waste it."

I cannot see my family of 5 "adults" and one child sitting down to 5 appetizers, 5 entrees and 5 desserts and a kids meal for our TS meal. Typically IF we get an appetizer it's one for the whole table to share. Sometimes dh and I (or my mom and dad) will share a meal (as long as it's not a buffet) And oftentimes we for-go dessert because we have something specific in mind for dessert (i.e. we're eating in Japan, but we want dessert in Norway) We will NOT take food back with us to our villa. We usually hang out in a park after meals and besides, who wants THAT food the next day when your credits are allowing you to get FRESH food.

We are doing hoop-de-doo one night so I know extra credits can be used for that, but honestly, it's so much stress to worry about who has to share or what meal we MUST skip in order to use credits for HDD.

Comments please on if you think with this sort of scenerio we'd be better WITH or WITHOUT the dining plan.

THANKS in advance.

 

[bicker]

For us, the decision basically came down to the fact that the cost of the DDE card was enough to make it worthwhile for us to get the Dining Plan. Since you have the DDE card already, and given the circumstances you described above, I feel you'd be much better off without the Dining Plan.

 

[loralie]

It sounds like you already made up your mind that you don't want to do it...so don't do it.


For us the DDP was worth it. We are big eaters and we like knowing everything was paid for in advance. Being able to order whatever we wanted to without looking at the price was such a big relief for me. I know if I had to take the money out of my pocket each time I would just order the least expensive meal and not what I really wanted to eat. It was fun for the kids too to let them have the snacks and not have to say no all the time. I looked at it like it saved us from stress instead of creating stress.

Have fun, I would love to go for 2 weeks.

Loralie

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

As soon as I read the lenght of your stay, I thought "these folks need a DDE card"! I would stick with it. You aren't big eaters ... that answers Your question right there.

 

[LizinSTL]

I'm offering another opinion. I DO think that the dining plan may work for you. First- you need to look at where you are planning to dine. Then you need to figure how many are fixed price and how many are a la carte. You do not need to order all the appetizers and desserts to which you are entitled to come out even or ahead on the dining plan. You don't need to eat only expensive dinners to come out even or ahead on the dining plan. The DDE is nice, it's a great discount but it really only covers the tip- that is already included in the DDP. So you need to glance at the menus and ballpark your bill- add in the tax and tip and see if you are at about $25-30 pp/per TS meal. If so, then the DDP is a good deal for your family.... if you are well below an average of $25-30 pp/per TS meal then stick with the DDE.

You CAN use the DDE in conjunction with the DDP though. Since you already have it, it's helpful for any OOP expenses.

My initial thought would be to have 1/2 of your party order using the DDP and the other half just get an entree using the DDE at a couple meals to allow enough credits for your 2TS dinner show. Assuming you are using Adult TS credits for Adult dinner show, it's not against any rules and it's not cheating in any way.

 

[ohiominnie]

It sounds like you already made up your mind that you don't want to do it...so don't do it.

Well, no. I haven't made up my mind. The problem is, everyone talks about what a GREAT deal it is, and I love a great deal. Just running through the things in my head I don't know if it's a great deal for *us.* Hence my need for advice.

I do not want to change our eating habits just to take full advantage of the dining plan.

 

[ohiominnie]

I'm offering another opinion. I DO think that the dining plan may work for you. First- you need to look at where you are planning to dine. Then you need to figure how many are fixed price and how many are a la carte. You do not need to order all the appetizers and desserts to which you are entitled to come out even or ahead on the dining plan. You don't need to eat only expensive dinners to come out even or ahead on the dining plan. The DDE is nice, it's a great discount but it really only covers the tip- that is already included in the DDP. So you need to glance at the menus and ballpark your bill- add in the tax and tip and see if you are at about $25-30 pp/per TS meal. If so, then the DDP is a good deal for your family.... if you are well below an average of $25-30 pp/per TS meal then stick with the DDE.

You CAN use the DDE in conjunction with the DDP though. Since you already have it, it's helpful for any OOP expenses.

My initial thought would be to have 1/2 of your party order using the DDP and the other half just get an entree using the DDE at a couple meals to allow enough credits for your 2TS dinner show. Assuming you are using Adult TS credits for Adult dinner show, it's not against any rules and it's not cheating in any way.

Hmmm.....interesting. See, this makes it more confusing for me--just all the planning on how many meals we should do that for and who eats what when. I guess worst case scenerio we run out of credits on the last day and have to pay OOP, right?

 

[Luv2Roam]

Since you have the DDE, kitchen facilites, people coming and going, health concerns, etc, I would stay with what you have and not the DDP this time around.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We are in the same boat where it MAY be slightly advantageous to get the DDP, but running the math and trying to account for spontaneous changes of plans just makes it stressful! Also I think people tend to eat more to try to get value from it. Who needs that? Be free! Eat when, where, and how much you want and don't worry if you change your mind about ADR's. At least that's what I've convinced myself to do!

 

[LizinSTL]

Hmmm.....interesting. See, this makes it more confusing for me--just all the planning on how many meals we should do that for and who eats what when. I guess worst case scenerio we run out of credits on the last day and have to pay OOP, right?

It's really not complicated.... really. You could just use all your credits and then pay OOP at the end if you need to, yes. OR you could see how folks feel at mealtime- not really hungry?? Just use 2 or 3 DDP credits and pay OOP for the extra entrees and beverages. Don't preplan it, just play it by ear.

I really do not think you can lose money on the DDP if you eat an average of 1 ts meal per night of your stay and eat a CS meal another time during the day. We did not maximize it by any means, but we ate 7 TS meals over the course of our 7 night vacation. Just those TS meals more than paid for the DDP. It was like our snacks and CS meals were "free" with purchase. The thing that cinched it for us was that tax and tip was included. You have to add 24% to any TS meals to get the real "value" of the DDP. Since our entrees were close to $25 at a couple meals and the cost of the buffets we visited were pretty close to it.... we didn't need to stretch our $$.

For example, lunch at 50 PT cafe with only 1 dessert ordered and soft drinks for 3/4 of us- our bill with tax and tip was more than our total cost for the DDP for the day. Our bill at Chef Mickey's for breakfast was only $20 less than the entire day's DDP cost. We got 4 CS meals and 4 snacks on top of that.

 

[ro80]

It is a great deal - if you are big eaters. We are so we do the DDP all the time. Like you said, 5 apps, 5 entrees, 5 desserts, that's alot of food for small eaters If when you go out to dinner in general you would never order like that, why bother? It would just be a waste of food. You have the DDE so that's great. Take advantage of that. Basically by doing the DDE you are having your gratuity paid for. I just think that if it's causing you to be stressed out about it, simply don't do it. Somewhere down the road when you go again the time might be right to try it. Cross it off your list of things to do and have a GREAT TIME!!!