I did the Math!!!

[wdwdancerwannabe]

Well, with all the hoop-la re: tips and no appy's, I decided to take the time to do the math to determine if one was significantly less than the other.

I will be happy to email the spreadsheet I made (completed and fill in) - PM ME!!

The 'math' is based on the following factors:
14 Day Trip
2 adults
1 10 year old (who counts as an 'adult')
1 5 year old

MOST of the calculations are based on the most expensive selection from the menu.

There are NO Signature Restaurants or Dinner Shows.

When we pay OPP, we don't get desserts - so, I DID NOT include dessert prices when determining OPP expenses. I'd rather get ice cream/dessert for snack later after walking the parks - not all at once.

Occasionally, appy's ARE counted in.

6.5% Sales tax is calculted
18% Tip for TS's is calculated

At the end, I added $15/day for the family Snack budget (I bet, though, we would spend more than that!)

The following CS's were included: (there are actually less than 14 CS's)


El Pirata Y El
Flame Tree BBQ
Typhoon Lagoon CS
Pepper Market
Cosmic Rays
Pizzafari
WolfGang Puck Express
Blizzard Beach CS
Captain Cooks - 4 Times

The Following TS's were included:
Chef Mickeys
Garden Grill
Prime Time
Liberty Tree Tavern
Maya Grill
Ohana
Ohana Breakfast
Hollywood & Vine
Kona Café
Mama Melrose
1900 Park Fare
Le Cellier
Tusker House
Crystal Palace

Cost of DDP: $1735.23 + 251.77 Tips: $1987.00

Out of Pocket Meals W/ TAX & TIPS:
$2135.00 + $15/day for snacks = $2345.00

CONCLUSION::: In this specific situation, it is $358 CHEAPER for us TO GET THE DPP!!!

 

[Melissa_E]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one figuring savings! It looks like it will work out really well for you!

 

[IggyLans]

I did the math for our trip in December, taking in account the restaurants we would like to eat at, and we're ahead over $400 with the DDP, so it looks like we're doing the DDP, although it is not as convienient as in the past, it still will save us some money on food.

 

[patsal]

Really, everyone should do their calculations. It will be different for each family depending upon what and where they like to eat. We're a family of four, all adults 16yo and 12yo) and with my math we will be saving about $40- per day by not using the DDP.

 

[JoanneNC]

I did the math and even more unsure of what route...

OOP is definitely the most expensive

DDP is a good start - BUT we are a family of 4 (DH and I like to eat at the nicer places - DS5 likes his sushi/seafood, so he is expensive normally - and DS 18 mths well he is just along for the ride..

DH/DS are apps lovers and I love my deserts..

So - between the signature meals/characters meals - OOP is insane for us.
We don't care for the pizza/burger option every day.

We are also staying AKL Club level so can have quick breaksfasts to save time/enegry, etc..

DDP is not enough credits and we will have multiple meals OOP and DxDDP is too many credits since breaksfast will be club..

 

[LSchrow]

see, our teachers were right:
MATH IS GOOD!!

glad it worked out for you ~ another example of why each person needs to get out those calculators & see which way is best for them

btw, works for us too.......minimum of $300 savings for our 7 day trip in may (that's a lot of money we can spend on margarita's now!)

 

[Tricia1972]

I am glad that you did the math and that it works out for you!

Yes I agree, each family needs to do the math for themselves. I did the math too and we are saving over $400 by not doing the DDP.

 

[DisOrBust]

but please consider......

If you get sick, or its too hot to eat, the credits are non-refundable.

Would you really eat all the CS desserts IF they weren't included?

Potential AP rate on room and using DDE instead.

When I do the math for our family it doesn't work in our favor to use the DDP since the tip is out.

 

[katieloubear]

From what I have looked into, it is well worth it for us. Since we have never been and will do TONS of character meals. That in it's self is worth the dining plan

 

[ProudMomTo3Boys]

I sorta did the math, because really who knows what you are gonna want to eat in a few months, however it really doesn't seem like a good deal for us. our youngest is going to be 3 in March so we would have to pay for him, but he doesn't eat all that much and could easily eat off my plate. The kids pretty much told me they would rather not go to so many sit down restaurants. So for us this year we aren't doing it. I could eat cheaper than the almost 1200.00 it would cost us.

 

[LSchrow]

I did the math and even more unsure of what route...

OOP is definitely the most expensive

DDP is a good start - BUT we are a family of 4 (DH and I like to eat at the nicer places - DS5 likes his sushi/seafood, so he is expensive normally - and DS 18 mths well he is just along for the ride..

DH/DS are apps lovers and I love my deserts..

So - between the signature meals/characters meals - OOP is insane for us.
We don't care for the pizza/burger option every day.

We are also staying AKL Club level so can have quick breaksfasts to save time/enegry, etc..

DDP is not enough credits and we will have multiple meals OOP and DxDDP is too many credits since breaksfast will be club..

do you live in Florida or have an AP? b/c the DDE might be a good option then.
else, consider doing the higher priced TS's on the DDP (check out the menus), & the balance OOP. (the 2 TS's required for signature dining are often not the best use of credits, so you might do those OOP).
the only way to really find out which way is best for you is to look at each menu, consider what you would prob order (remember tax is included on DDP; since tip is a constant (not included on DDP, DDE or OOP), i exclude it from calculations).
in our many trips using the DDP in all its changing forms , we've found it a consistantly excellent value for us (btw, without any stress or scrambling involved, we've always used all our credits....not a a hassle or inconvenience to pick up lunch wherever we are or whenever we chose , plus we have the luxury of looking foward to a great dinner without "sticker shock" every eve. while we all know the DDP is not for everyone, its flexibility & value enhances our vacations btw, in our case, the DDE would save us about $100 over OOP, but DDP saves us $100's more than DDE.)
i think it's great that WDW offers so many options for so many different vacationing styles

 

[mismom]

Thanks for starting this thread. It is encouraging to me that others are trying to figure all the math as well...
I'd jump on the dining plan in a minute but I'm debating about our 10 yr. old. I know it'd be worth is for me, my husband, and two daughters (7 and 3) but more likely than not our 10 yr. would prefer a kids' meal.
So for those of you who have done the coparison how did you go about it. This will be our first trip so I don't have any knowledge other than what I have read on the boards, which is a super resource! I have a few character meals picked out and a couple of CS places to try. Did you try to figure out where you would eat each meal and then look at menus?? Any help would be much appreciated for this first timer! Thanks!

 

[LizinSTL]

Thanks for starting this thread. It is encouraging to me that others are trying to figure all the math as well...
I'd jump on the dining plan in a minute but I'm debating about our 10 yr. old. I know it'd be worth is for me, my husband, and two daughters (7 and 3) but more likely than not our 10 yr. would prefer a kids' meal.
So for those of you who have done the coparison how did you go about it. This will be our first trip so I don't have any knowledge other than what I have read on the boards, which is a super resource! I have a few character meals picked out and a couple of CS places to try. Did you try to figure out where you would eat each meal and then look at menus?? Any help would be much appreciated for this first timer! Thanks!

I have a 10 yo and a 7 yo travelling w/ me this year. Here's the way we are looking at it.

At Boma, Park Fare, Ohana breakfast, Ohana dinner and any other fixed price meal we are going to do, she'll be the adult price anyway whether she eats a strawberry or 5 servings of prime rib. Since those 4 meals are absolutes for us, I figured out the cost of them vs the cost of the dining plan... ($372 for those 4 meals vs 7 nights on the DDP $868) so for another $500 I get 3 more TS meals, 28 CS meals and 28 snacks. Our other TS meals are Teppan Edo, WCC and Olivia's Cafe. Those should run between $80-100 pre tax; Snacks, I'm estimating to be $2.50 each ( a bottle of water or mickey bar) and that leaves about $155 for 28 CS meals. That's soooo easy to do at Disney $5.50 on a CS meal?

 

[sdb72]

Its a wash for me.. we are staying at the cabins so we have a kitchen so of coarse we could save considerably but not taking that into consideration,, and if we were staying somewhere else.. I did the math for our family,, I did forget the tax.. I didn't know their was tax on food,, so I was loosing $253.. by doing the DDP.. even more now that I know about the tax.. so no way until they go back.. I would even be willing to pay a bit more,, up to $40 a day and go without the snack even..

 

[pickles]

just did some very basic math for us
we like ts meals
our list is LTT
boma, beirgarten, Marrakesh , cellier, scif fi, H and V, CP and Konas

It will be my son 11 and I..I just did the math if we ate like we typically would..no ap, no dessert, choosing the meals we will probably choose our thing comes to about $357 not including a meal for breakfast nor a cs for lunch

Our deluxe cost over 4 nights is approx $560, but we have really 5 days to use it, so for $200 more I get desserts if i want, appetizer if I want, plus breakfast at Boma's every am and some cool cups to bring home to the ones left behind this trip. I won't have to bring water this trip, just use my snack credits(I hate WDW water). It's a good value for me if you don't consider the weight gain.

 

[dmurphy42]

Our actual experience on the DDP for 9 days 1/5/08 to 1/13/08 was as follows:
2 Adults
9 days at a rounded cost of $1260
All Table Service locations
6 Signature Locations
No attempt to order based on price
Actual Receipts including tax of $1777
Total tips of $345
Snacks and Mugs not recorded but estimated at about $140
Total cost of $1605 including tips
Total value of $1917

 

[LSchrow]

Thanks for starting this thread. It is encouraging to me that others are trying to figure all the math as well...
I'd jump on the dining plan in a minute but I'm debating about our 10 yr. old. I know it'd be worth is for me, my husband, and two daughters (7 and 3) but more likely than not our 10 yr. would prefer a kids' meal.
So for those of you who have done the coparison how did you go about it. This will be our first trip so I don't have any knowledge other than what I have read on the boards, which is a super resource! I have a few character meals picked out and a couple of CS places to try. Did you try to figure out where you would eat each meal and then look at menus?? Any help would be much appreciated for this first timer! Thanks!

for the amt of nights you will be there:
look at the menus of the TS restaurants you would choose. add up what your family would normally order (include entree, beverage, & dessert if applicable).
look at the CS options. add up the cost of what you would order (again, include entree, beverage, & dessert if applicable).
add in the cost of a snack (most single serve items under $4).
add in the tax (pretty sure it is 6.5%).
total the cost of the DDP for your family (per night: $37.99 for adults, $9.99 for children ages 3-9, no tax added). then compare the two totals to find your "best fit".
the menus (including prices) are here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm

fyi, there are a number of TS (e.g., Tutto Italia, Chefs de France, leCellier, capt'n jacks (lobster), etc) that have a few higher priced entrees, but are included as 1TS on the DDP. also, there are a few CS restaurants (Tangierine cafe, wolfgang puck express ~ highly recommended, etc) where a CS can easily cost about close to $20 OOP, but 1 CS on DDP.
just to warn you the value of the DDP (as well as the DDE, OOP, & off-site eating) varies from one family to another ~ the only real way to tell if it would be good for yours is to "crunch the numbers".
btw, how exciting ~ your first trip?! the restaurants at WDW can be experiences unto themselves; just ask if you want any suggestions.
hth

 

[mismom]

Thanks for your help!

 

[puddleduck]

When we go in the fall, it will be our third time doing the dp. Even when I figured it with the new plan and add the cost of tips, we come out saving atleast $300. Like a pp stated our 12 yo will be counted as an adult at buffets anyway. I also like that I don't have to look at the price when my 12yo orders carefully weighing whether or not I think he will eat enough of it to justify the price. He has gotten to where he wants to order off of the adult menu now. When I do my calculations, I take the average price of the meals on the menu and still come out to the better on the dining plan. We love to do ts restaurants when we vacation and we do enjoy ordering desserts and such while on vacation. Do we eat like this at home when we go out? No, but we sure do while on vacation, even to nonDisney destinations. So, for us, the ddp not only saves us money, but it is convenient.

 

[Jildaljam]

I would like a copy of your speadsheet please, this will be the first time for us on the dining plan and I'm sure it will be a great help in planning our ADR's.

Thanks Jill

Well, with all the hoop-la re: tips and no appy's, I decided to take the time to do the math to determine if one was significantly less than the other.

I will be happy to email the spreadsheet I made (completed and fill in) - PM ME!!

The 'math' is based on the following factors:
14 Day Trip
2 adults
1 10 year old (who counts as an 'adult')
1 5 year old

MOST of the calculations are based on the most expensive selection from the menu.


There are NO Signature Restaurants or Dinner Shows.

When we pay OPP, we don't get desserts - so, I DID NOT include dessert prices when determining OPP expenses. I'd rather get ice cream/dessert for snack later after walking the parks - not all at once.

Occasionally, appy's ARE counted in.

6.5% Sales tax is calculted
18% Tip for TS's is calculated

At the end, I added $15/day for the family Snack budget (I bet, though, we would spend more than that!)

The following CS's were included: (there are actually less than 14 CS's)


El Pirata Y El
Flame Tree BBQ
Typhoon Lagoon CS
Pepper Market
Cosmic Rays
Pizzafari
WolfGang Puck Express
Blizzard Beach CS
Captain Cooks - 4 Times

The Following TS's were included:
Chef Mickeys
Garden Grill
Prime Time
Liberty Tree Tavern
Maya Grill
Ohana
Ohana Breakfast
Hollywood & Vine
Kona Café
Mama Melrose
1900 Park Fare
Le Cellier
Tusker House
Crystal Palace

Cost of DDP: $1735.23 + 251.77 Tips: $1987.00

Out of Pocket Meals W/ TAX & TIPS:
$2135.00 + $15/day for snacks = $2345.00

CONCLUSION::: In this specific situation, it is $358 CHEAPER for us TO GET THE DPP!!!