How do you decide if the ddp is worth it to your family?

[freemore]

I have booked room only with a AAA discount when we go to Disney. Didn't even realize they had a dining plan......how do you decide if the dining plan is worth it? Do you pay so much a day for the dining plan?
Does it make you feel less freedom in when you want to eat and where? Thanks

 

[jocktheglide]

from my understand is that if you plan to dine at least once a day its worth it. think of it this way the DDP cost like 40/day for adults 11/day for kids so if you plan to spend more than that per day then yeah its well worth it overall to have it. Also factor in the 3 stars usually take 2 dining plans off your for one....and the princess dining takes two also. thats what i understand...im opting out. gonna go for the disney dininng experience instead.

 

[goofy4tink]

You would pay $38 pp a day (adult) and $12 for kids under 10. This will get you a snack (something under $4), a counter service meal (entree, beverage, dessert) and a Table service meal (appetizer, entree, beverage, desset) a day for each person on the plan.
Now, is it worth it? Only you can make that call. You would have to sit down, with some sample menus, and figure out, day to day, what your family is likely to spend. Then, compare it to the cost of the DDP. Don't forget that all taxes and gratuities are included in that $38 a day per person. But, you would need to book a package...from what I hear you can get a 1 day park pass and pay the room rack rate in order to get the DDP.
I have an AP so I can get the Disney Dining Experience card which allows me to take 20% off most table service meals. I have had to sit, with menus in hand, and compare my costs this way for the past several trips. Being a DVC owner, we can buy the DDP, so I have had to figure out which plan is going to work best for each trip. But a little homework pays off in the end!!

Because I routinely book one table service meal a day, and have the other meal a counter service meal, it usually pays off for us. But, keep in mind...either way, you are going to have to make ADRs if you want to eat at the table service restaurants. This is the end result of the DDP... a lot more people are sitting down and eating!!!

 

[JimMIA]

Read the "Sticky" near the top of this board entitled "PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING." In that post, you'll find a lot of basic info and links to the official DDP brochures, so you won't have to worry about the accuracy of the info you receive.

Basically, if you buy the DDP, you have to book a package which includes a certain room rate, at least a one-day base park ticket per person, and DDP. You have to buy DDP for everyone in your room, and for each night of your stay.

DDP is $38.99 per day for each adult (10+) and $10.99 per day for kids 3-9. That price includes all taxes, and it also includes an 18% gratuity on the Table Service meals. As noted above, you get one TS, one CS, and one snack credit per person per day.

ETA: Usually, you can use an AAA room rate for the DDP package, but I think you have to book the entire package through an AAA travel agent. You can't just book it through CRO at the AAA rate and show your card when you check in.

 

[codygirl5150]

I looked at the menu's on Deb's website and we picked what we would most likely be ordering (be sure to include appetizer, main course, and desert) and added everything up. In my math, I also added 15% tip and tax, and a $3 snack for each day. I think I figured that we'd save about $250 on the DDP. Here's the link to the menus:
http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm
Good luck!

 

[JimMIA]

I looked at the menu's on Deb's website and we picked what we would most likely be ordering (be sure to include appetizer, main course, and desert) and added everything up.

My math is much more conservative. I'm not interested in how much I'll save off menu prices of stuff I would not normally order. So I only count what we would actually spend if we were paying cash. In our case, we still save money with DDP, but many won't. Many prefer the DDE card, but you have to be either an AP holder or Florida resident to get that.

In my math, I also added 15% tip and tax

The tip included is 18%, and the tax in resort restaurants may be somewhat more than normal Florida sales tax (6% in most places). (Not sure about the tax, but I know it's higher on hotel rooms -- 11-12%, I believe.)

 

[codygirl5150]

The tip included is 18%, and the tax in resort restaurants may be somewhat more than normal Florida sales tax (6% in most places). (Not sure about the tax, but I know it's higher on hotel rooms -- 11-12%, I believe.)

Great! Then I'm saving even more $$$!

 

[JimMIA]

Great! Then I'm saving even more $$$!

Yep!

 

[GC&S]

For us, the DDP is a given. We always eat one TS a day and we usually order an appet and/or dessert. So it makes sense for us. It also includes beverage and tip so that's nice too. If you don't eat a lot of TS and mainly do CS, then it's probably not the best choice. The other advantage for me is that I'm not calculating and thinking about how much we're spending on food since it's already paid for.

As far as feeling tied down, you pretty much have to make ADR's whether you have the DDP or not. We're park hoppers and don't tend to stay in one park for a full day so we've never felt as if we're planning our trip around our ADR's.

 

[warriorboy648]

I've been [playing around with the same problem. I looked at the menus of places that my family would like to eat and what we would order if we could order what we wanted. ( Not even going crazy, just meals) I decided that the cost of the dinner, soda, tax and tip would be about the cost of the DDP.

So we would at least break even. I believe we will save a decent amount of money and even more important will be a lot more relaxed about what we eat. I know I would be stressed out every time we sat down and the kids
(12,13 and 15) wanted to order steak. Now everyone can eat what they want and truly feel like we are on vacation.

Hope that helps.

 

[angbuz]

We opted for the DDP when we go in May, too. (Me, DH, DD8, DS4) I wasn't sure if it was going to save us money, but I love the fact that we can eat anywhere and not worry how much it's going to cost us.

I just recently found our spending spreadsheet from 2004 (yes, we kept a running spreadsheet.... what can I say, my DH is in finance!!!) and I added up what we spent last time on food. (We were not on the DDP) We ate at 5 TS's (one being HDDR and CRT). We stopped at WalMart and stocked up on food as we were renting a fridge. We were really on a tight budget so most of our other meals were either breakfast in the room, sandwiches that we packed or just snacks on the run.

The total of what we spent for the 5 TS's and food that we bought from WalMart was almost exactly what we're spending for the DDP and we're each getting one TS, one CS and a snack per day. I was so excited to see that this will probably save us money in the long run.

I just like the fact that it's all paid for before you go and you don't have to worry about what's coming out of your pocket while you're there.

This is our first time on the DDP so I guess we'll have to see for ourselves, but i'm thinking it's the way to go for us.

 

[Disneyof3]

How I figured it out for our next trip is where do we want to eat and then went to allears and figured out what we wanted to eat with no desserts. The reason for that is we usually don't eat desserts while on vacation. Now for us being Canadian and the dollar difference I counted that in too. Now we knew we wanted to do the Hoop dedu Review and CM and Sci-fi, so right there with the 5 of us in my family the ddp has paid for itself. It was going to cost me at least 300 Canadian for just the HDDR. Now mind you this is our first time doing the ddp and I wil be keeping all bills and doing some math when I get home to see how much it really would of cost us. Now If I wasn't doing the HDDR would I be using the DDP, likely not. I'll post when I get back on this topic because I think it affects alot of families for the first time.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Well, the last trip we paid cash for food, our budget was $140 a day. That was for me, DH, ds (then 3) and ds (then 15 months, free at buffets/character meals). Now that the little one is 3 and no longer free, it would be even more. The ddp is $37 (or so) for adult and about $11 per child, which is less than what we budgeted for. Even if you add in the few c/s meals we pay cash for, the ddp still saves us money.

We do usually add a couple extra table service meals, but we choose to pay for the cheaper ones, and we don't mind it.