I know there are a million threads on DDP but...

[hope3702]

Is it really worth it?

If so is Regular Dining Plan sufficient vs deluxe? I made dining reservations which is basically one sit down a day which we are fine with...But I do have One signature in there...Plus a character breakfast (may want to do sit down dinner that day)...I know it is personal preference but I am curious what others found...

 

[Deb & Bill]

We did it one time when they included the appetizer with the meal, plus the tip. We thought we spent too much time eating or planning on eating. And we were full. We only did the basic plan, not the Deluxe Plan. I can't imagine eating all the food you get on the Deluxe plan.

 

[Sammie]

It is a very personal situation. If you normally eat those types of meals, full service, with desserts, etc. then yes it can save money.

However if buying it forces you to eat more, eat more often, give up park time to make it to a meal, etc. then for us no it is not worth it.

Decide where you want to eat and go to the menus and figure out what you would spend and compare it to the cost of the plan.

We did when it was appetizer, entree and dessert and tip included and over the meals we ate it saved us a lot but we ate more and had less time to do other things.

We won't do it again.

 

[El&Asmom]

As others have said, look at where you are planning on eating and calculate the costs estimated for eating there vs the cost of the ddp. It depends on where you want to eat, and if you will save money based on the costs of those restaurants. I can't fathom doing the dddp. I read a trip report where the family was on that and I got full just from reading the report. I just can't imagine wanting to eat 3 full meals a day especially if buffets are included.

We like the ddp for short trips. (3-4 days). For anything longer, we would rather not eat out that often and plan for meals in the villa. Plus we don't really like very many CS options, and would just prefer to eat lunch in our room.

 

[flipflopmom]

We just got back from a week using the deluxe plan. It was our girls first trip, and they were the right ages (2,9) for us to give it a try. We had 21 credits each, we spread them out for check in and check out days. Twice we did B,L,and D TS, and both nights I was sick when we got back to the room. Breakfast and lunch TS were sufficient for us! We did a lot of character buffets/family style stuff, it would be better for us next year when our girls age up to pay OOP. We liked the appetizers and desserts better than the entrees in most places with regular menus, would probably go that route again.... We did 2 2TS meals, CRT and Narcoosee's. We would probab. do CRT again, maybe not Narcoosee's, especially if paying OOP!

 

[mybabesuz]

For us it was definitely worth it with THREE kids under 9
When all the kids reach full price it might not be so worth it.
So it depends on your situation.
Our kids love the character meals, so we get our money's worth in just one meal for the kids.
It's like getting a CS meal and a snack for them FREE everyday.

 

[hakepb]

The first few times I used the DDP, it was nearly a no-brainer in terms of getting any TS meal (when tip and appetizer was included in the DDP) Even a character breakfast buffet saw a savings (when appetizer was included in DDP), and I felt like I was eating on Mickey's tab. Then they raised prices and took out the gratuity and appetizer and the plan lost its value to me.

IMHO the pricing of the DDP has changed to be run as a pre-paid dining plan rather than a discounted dining plan (I believe Disney used to advertize an appx 40% discount by ordering the DDP). If you can get desireable dinner ADR's (like LeCellier) DDP is still a really nice savings, and I think some kids plans work out well for some families (as long as the kids are happy ordering from the kids menus)

 

[Sandy321]

Is it really worth it?

If so is Regular Dining Plan sufficient vs deluxe? I made dining reservations which is basically one sit down a day which we are fine with...But I do have One signature in there...Plus a character breakfast (may want to do sit down dinner that day)...I know it is personal preference but I am curious what others found...

Like D&B posted when first introduced and included the app and tax and tip - definately no brainer worth it...

now its almost a break even situation!

IF you do have a sit down each day - and you do - then you need to plan the CS meal a day - either share a breakfast and lunch (or in the case of your character breakfast - you will do a CS dinner) or eat breakfast in your room and each have a CS a day - it takes a bit of planning - fwiw I often take the desserts to go and pop them in the fridge for the next day, (for the CS meals - Sunshine Seasons in the Land at epcot really hits the mark for a CS meal!)

And dont forget Snacks!! one a day included - much fun is had at Goofy's in DTD using snack credits -

from reading the threads on the DIS you dont "make out" on the DDP - but you do end up (IFF you use all your credits!!) ahead by 5 - 12 bucks a day (depending on where and what time of year - when Disney upcharges for Buffets during "holiday" times - DP comes more into play! Usually the breakfasts are the "cheaper" meals)

since you will have to tip either with or without the dp it doesnt come into play imho....

for our family - with the DP they get desserts - w/o we skip desserts - so again, its a trade off on "worth"... (the kids say its totally worth it to get desserts!! LOL - I pre plan and put money in disney dollars just for dp so its not a "hit" on check in)

 

[disneynutz]

It is a very personal situation. If you normally eat those types of meals, full service, with desserts, etc. then yes it can save money.

However if buying it forces you to eat more, eat more often, give up park time to make it to a meal, etc. then for us no it is not worth it.

Decide where you want to eat and go to the menus and figure out what you would spend and compare it to the cost of the plan.

We did when it was appetizer, entree and dessert and tip included and over the meals we ate it saved us a lot but we ate more and had less time to do other things.

We won't do it again.

Same here... we have switched to the QS plan. The only way the any plan saves you money is if you eat at the most expensive restaurants and choose the most expensive items from the menu.

Disney knows that you won't and that many Guests go home with unused credits in their accounts. Others use a TS credit to buy a $8 hamberger.

The DDP's make Disney a ton of money. So much so that they have modified their menus to support the dining plans.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

To answer the OPs second question (regular vs. deluxe):

I eat a good bit. More than the average person, I would say. I find the regular dining plan to be plenty for me, especially if you use each meal to it's full potential (entree and dessert).

The deluxe plan is more if you want to do more signature dining, dinner shows, character dining, etc. Not only does the deluxe dining plan come with 3 table service meals, those table service meals now all come with appetizers too. 3 meals a day, appetizer, entree, desert. WAY too much food. Plus two snacks each day AND a resort refillable mug.

Now, if you were to do a lot of signature dining, where the meals cost two credits instead of 1, then you'd want to look in to deluxe dining, because then you'd get your 2 credit dinner, a one credit lunch (counter or table service) plus your snacks.

 

[quirty30]

For our week long stay last month, I suppose in theory we saved money with the DDP. We stayed CL at BC and I think between the DDP and the club level offerings, it was a bit too much food. Even so, we are getting it again for our Sept. trip, but only because we are here 3 nights, but almost 4 full days. So no club level this time and we have 4 days to use up 3 days credits. I think it will work really nicely for such a stay.

I've posted before in other threads, but it's worth saying again - I think it would be great if DDP included the tip and left off the dessert. Just my opinion as I had WAY too much sugar with 2 desserts and sweet snacks every day.

 

[rentayenta]

We did it one time when they included the appetizer with the meal, plus the tip. We thought we spent too much time eating or planning on eating. And we were full. We only did the basic plan, not the Deluxe Plan. I can't imagine eating all the food you get on the Deluxe plan.

Once again MTE. It's just too much food. We did it during on our last trip but only because we did a split stay and could do it for only 5 days. I wouldn't do it for longer than that.

 

[ibela]

I just did an exhausting analysis for the way we eat (we normally eat 3 meals a day) and decided to get the regular dining plan. We are 2 adults, a 3yr old, and an infant and all my TS are buffet dinners (all character meals + Boma) so we will have savings. I considered going deluxe but after checking menus, etc. I figured it would cost us less overall if we get the regular and then pay for 1 or 2 meals OOP (sharing some CS along the way).

You should check the menus and prices here or on allears.net and check to see if it's worth it for your family.

I wanted to add that we're staying for 4 nights and have basically full check-in and check-out days on site so I think that's why we need to pay for a few meals OOP.

 

[Crystal_27]

We love having the DDP while on vacation. In the past, we've always gone with the basic DDP, but for our upcoming trip in June, 2010, we are going to splurge for the deluxe!! And, we don't really do the DDP to save money; it's more a way to prepay our dining plans on vacation, although for the last trip, the DDP still saved us about $200 for 7 nights.

Good luck!

 

[bevis]

We use the DDP every trip. The two important questions for us were - will we eat on Disney property every meal and how much food do we(I) need?
Answers for us - Yes and ALOT!
I hate feeling the need to leave the property to find a reasonably priced meal so eating "Disney food" is a given for us.
As for the amount of food, well, I can't get enough even at a quick service location without spending 15-20 dollars just on myself! She doesn't eat nearly as much but can be somewhat picky, so we use regular DDP and tend to eat at buffets or Whispering Canyon(favorite!) with TS credits. I get all I want and she has a good selection. We crunched numbers a few years ago, of course when app./tip were included, and decided it worked for us. And believe it or not it still does. Staying on property, there is no way I could, for less than 40 bucks, get enough food to hold me for the day. You can easily get better?/cheaper food off site but for us it is worth it to eat where we happen to be (or go where we happen to be eating(ADR's).

 

[hope3702]

Thanks for all the help...This has been about the 5th trip since we bought DVC and never did it...I think deluxe is just too much planning and food...I may go with regular...The only Signature I am doing is California Grill so I just have to see if it all makes sense...One Character meal as well...

 

[Tink6666]

We have used both the regular DDP and the Premium one(back in 2007 when it included both dining and activities) We have saved each time we have used it. We will be doing the regular one this trip, as the deluxe is too much eating for us. We usually do a shared breakfast & lunch counter service and do a table service in the evening. We like trying the different table service and they usually pay for the plan for the day just by going to some of the more expensive table services. Le cellar, Maya Grill, Tony's, Cape May & Crystal Palace will be our big meals this time.

 

[Sandy321]

Thanks for all the help...This has been about the 5th trip since we bought DVC and never did it...I think deluxe is just too much planning and food...I may go with regular...The only Signature I am doing is California Grill so I just have to see if it all makes sense...One Character meal as well...

using the menus at allears.net helped me plan - I figured $3 a day for snack (based on posts that things less than $4 were included - I didnt buy water, but I also didnt look for the $4 options either)

It was easy for us to share a breakfast cs and a lunch cs than have a TS meal for dinner...

again, for our family, the savings wasnt huge, but there was a savings - and for our family it was worth it NOT to have to use money!! (DD had her own card, and loved having control over her snack purchases!!) - I used Disney dollars putting money away each month for the DP

 

[allshookup]

The only way I would do a DDP again is if it was just DH & I & we were only staying a few days & then I would probably do the deluxe so we could eat signature meals each night. I would be sick if I ate deluxe for more than a few days & we are not even close to being lightweights!

My kids are older & the DDP costs us more than if we just eat OOP. I've crunched the numbers & even eating at Le Cellier one night, did not end up being a savings for the whole week. We bring our own bottles of water, we only purchase a few snacks here & there & we are not big dessert eaters. I agree with those that say it's about break even price wise, but I'd rather spend my time eating when or what I feel like & not just because it's on our plan.

 

[TinkGirl]

We tried the regular dining plan for the first time in March, and it worked great for us. I have three teens who like to eat. We certainly didn't NEED dessert at both lunch and dinner, but it sure was fun. We had plenty of food, but we used every credit. That said, it would be nice to have another snack credit per day to use for a drink and a food item. I can't imagine spending the amount of time and eating for the deluxe plan! We will use the regular dining plan again. We just went to Sea World in San Antonio, and really missed the dining plan.