If you are NOT getting DDP...

[agentpleakley]

tell me your list of reasons why not?


We've done DDP 2 out of past 3 trips. Honestly -- we never ate all the food, we never used all of our CS credits and we usually left with 22 snack credits worth of Mickey head treats. I'm debating on getting it this time or not. Please share your reasons for not getting DDP.

TIA.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I think we saved money last trip, but not a ton. I made ADR's for wherever we would eat, regardless of DDP, not to get "the best bang" for a credit. So we did a few regular TS and a few character buffets. There were a few dinners we went to because they were already "paid for" with DDP that I would have been just as happy skipping and grabbing CS. We left 3 CS credits and a bunch of snacks unused.

I'm not going to make ADR's at the most expensive TS restaurants and eat filet mignon every night of my vacation just to get the most of the plan. Also, the TS took up a lot of "park time" even with me planning meals in the parks we were in to avoid traveling. Even so, there were times it felt like more of a chore to go to dinner than a welcome break. We live in NY and have many good restaurants around us, so really good, gourmet, ethnic food is not a novelty for us.

So with the changes they made (no appetizer, no gratuity) for basically the same price, I don't think we would bother with it because I don't think the savings would be worth giving up the flexibility.

Disclaimer though - we're a family of 3, and my son is young. If I was feeding a group of hungry teenagers, it would probably be worth it. But for my little family, not so much.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

The year that we bought DDP one week and paid OOP another week later in the year - eating out everyday as per DDP, the costs were within $2 of each other all inclusive. The problem for us now is that the kids no longer like the children's menus, we don't want to take too much time away from park touring for eating, and when we do eat out we want appetizers - not another dessert. We've read posted menus for where we want to eat and added up the cost for us all to eat what we want to eat TS and CS and approximate snacks. Bottom line is that we want to eat just over $700 (including restaurant tax) worth of food that would be included in DDP but DDP for the same period of time for our family costs about $870. So unless we get "free dining" so we'll just buy OOP all the appetizers and extra adult meals we want, we are better off paying for everything we want OOP without the DDP restrictions. Besides without DDP, we'll buy and get more than our money's worth out of DDE discount card.
Now, when the kids are older so we don't take as long to tour a park and they are bottomless teens - then we'll pay for and get our money's worth out of DxDDP. Until then, it's "free dining" or on our own.

 

[mom2aredhead]

So unless we get "free dining" so we'll just buy OOP all the appetizers and extra adult meals we want, we are better off paying for everything we want OOP without the DDP restrictions. Besides without DDP, we'll buy and get more than our money's worth out of DDE discount card.
Now, when the kids are older so we don't take as long to tour a park and they are bottomless teens - then we'll pay for and get our money's worth out of DxDDP. Until then, it's "free dining" or on our own.

Thanks for the reminder - I am getting an AP for this trip, and plan to get a DDE card as well. So we'll probably spend about the same amount of money, but have the extra flexibility. Even free DDP doesn't tempt me - I'm paying an AP rate of $164 at AKL, rack rate is $275. I'm saving more money going now and using the room discount than I would with free DDP in September since we're only a family of 2 adults and 1 child. But again, if I had 3 teenage boys, completely different story!

 

[TyRy]

First we tend to get appetizers (soups, salad) and not dessert. We'd still be getting those things and skipping dessert. And when I did a spreadsheet of DDP vs the DDE card we can get since we'll have annual passes, we came out ahead not using the DDP. Will I miss the convenience of having it paid upfront - yep. But saving money helps me get over that little fact

Ty

 

[eliza61]

We tried it once and didn't particular care for it.
1) We tend to have adult beverages at dinner so DDE gave us a discount on that.
2) Had a lot of counter service credits left over.
3) Didn't like having to plan our day around our ADR's
4) I didn't like the automatic gratuity. A few times I recieved lousy service, which happens no matter where you go but It was a pain trying to get the 18% removed and no way am I tipping someone for crappy service.
5) we have access to a car so we can hop off site to some really great restuarants once in a while.
DDE works better for the way we tour.

 

[scubamouse]

We've done it 3x and loved the old plan. We're not doing it this time for a number of reasons

- staying at BCV and going to try and use the kitchen for prepping lunches to go. we already to grab and go breakfasts
- love signature restaurants so barbelling between these and lower cost TS places
- prefer appetizers to dessert
- Have lots of disney dollars from a kitchen renovation
- doing annual pass and DDE
- old plan was a savings, given how we truly would eat there, it's more of a breakeven and not for the things we want.

and most important:

15% of our room rate makes the bar for even free dining quite high.

 

[bumbershoot]

I still have to look at the spreadsheet someone here created (I have a mac and don't have excel so I have to wait to use hubby's laptop to check it out), but I don't think we'll be using it, even though I really want to.

We're vegetarian, and therefore our choices are smaller to begin with. And when you look at the cost of those entrees plus a counter service that day, and knowing that we generally don't get snack items when at DLR when we have a proper meal or two, it seems it's going to be a wash.

I know that I can see some salads and appetizers that we will want as a meal, and since there is no consensus that CMs will allow an appetizer to 'count' as an entree if not also getting an entree, it feels risky to plan on that. And I'd hate to waste a credit getting an entree I don't really want to get, or not use a credit while paying OOP for an appetizer.

I'd like to try Brown Derby, but it takes 2 credits. Since about the only thing on the menu is a noodle bowl for 17 or 18 bucks, it makes NO sense to use two table service credits for each of us to eat there. Even adding in that grapefruit cake I'm so intrigued by it still doesn't make sense for 2 dining credits. And I don't see us eating two table services in one day (if our touring style for DLR can be extrapolated to WDW) to make up for paying OOP for Brown Derby, b/c we just generally don't eat that much while at Disney.

I'm still planning on plugging in ideas of food into that spreadsheet, to see if it's right for us, but at this point I just don't think it's worth it.

I'll mention that we're also a family of three, and DS will be 4 when we visit, and although he CAN eat a lot, I can't see him eating (especially with the vegetarian twist) much from the kid's menus....

 

[patsal]

1. Because it is not all inclusive anymore
2. Because I will not save money--we usually order an app but not dessert
3. We do not eat CS desserts ordinarily and often split meals
4. I want complete flexibility to order what I want when I want it
5. We have never used up all of our snack credits and spend time on the last day running around to use them up
6. DDP doesn't cover the way we eat
7. DXDDP doesn't cover the way we eat
8. I will save money and frustration by paying OOP as I go

 

[agentpleakley]

I still have to look at the spreadsheet someone here created (I have a mac and don't have excel so I have to wait to use hubby's laptop to check it out), but I don't think we'll be using it, even though I really want to.

We're vegetarian, and therefore our choices are smaller to begin with. And when you look at the cost of those entrees plus a counter service that day, and knowing that we generally don't get snack items when at DLR when we have a proper meal or two, it seems it's going to be a wash.

I know that I can see some salads and appetizers that we will want as a meal, and since there is no consensus that CMs will allow an appetizer to 'count' as an entree if not also getting an entree, it feels risky to plan on that. And I'd hate to waste a credit getting an entree I don't really want to get, or not use a credit while paying OOP for an appetizer.

I'd like to try Brown Derby, but it takes 2 credits. Since about the only thing on the menu is a noodle bowl for 17 or 18 bucks, it makes NO sense to use two table service credits for each of us to eat there. Even adding in that grapefruit cake I'm so intrigued by it still doesn't make sense for 2 dining credits. And I don't see us eating two table services in one day (if our touring style for DLR can be extrapolated to WDW) to make up for paying OOP for Brown Derby, b/c we just generally don't eat that much while at Disney.

I'm still planning on plugging in ideas of food into that spreadsheet, to see if it's right for us, but at this point I just don't think it's worth it.

I'll mention that we're also a family of three, and DS will be 4 when we visit, and although he CAN eat a lot, I can't see him eating (especially with the vegetarian twist) much from the kid's menus....

How could I get this spreadsheet? If you don't mind sharing, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[bumbershoot]

I requested it from the person who started this thread, and now it looks like the spreadsheet is hosted online and you don't have to request it by PM anymore!

 

[agentpleakley]

I requested it from the person who started this thread, and now it looks like the spreadsheet is hosted online and you don't have to request it by PM anymore!

Thank you very much

 

[jcc0621]

We actually sat down and figured out where we wanted to eat and what we would most likely get, based on our tastes and DS tastes. Some places we ordered the highest thing on the menu, others we didn't. We never get that many snacks, usually only when waiting for a parade or fireworks show to start and we usually share those. We usually do 1 TS per day. If we do a TS breakfast we don't usually eat lunch and then will have a CS dinner wherever we happen to be. By doing this for each day we determined that the DDP would cost $150 more than what we would pay OOP.

 

[TDC Nala]

Using DDE is a far better deal for me. Used to be when the tip was included in DDP, it was worth using on occasion. Now, the trick is to use DDE and order less food.

 

[sherry8253]

We would have to give up ouf AAA room discount if we added dining. We are AP holders so if the package that allows AP holders to have an AP room discount and add dining is available for us in Dec, we would probably do so if we could add the deluxe dining.

 

[blueroses]

• I don't see pre-paying for my meals as a benefit.
• DDE is a better deal for us.
• I'm not usually big on desserts.
• Most of the restaurants I like are Signature.
• No matter how many times I run the numbers, the Dining Plan never equals savings over OOP for me and my eating habits.

I eat where and when I want when I travel to WDW. It's not just counter service. To be honest even paying out of pocket I don't pay that much attention to the menu costs on vacation. So the idea of getting to eat whatever I want off the menu is what I normally do, not something I would do just because I have already paid for it.

As an example, my last trip was a short 4-nighter and we ate at V&A Chef's Table, Raglan Road (used my DDE card), and I cancelled ADRs at Tokyo Dining and Bistro de Paris because I just couldn't eat anymore big restaurant meals. Of those, only Raglan Road and Tokyo Dining are even on the plan. There are some of us for whom the DDP just doesn't work.

 

[PrincessV]

Never used, highly unlikely we ever will. Here's why:

~ We almost never eat dessert.

~ Appetizers are no longer included, of course, but we rarely get those, either.

~ We don't drink soda/what WDW passes off as coffee/etc. and usually bring our own water. (I'm just partial to Evian and can't stand Dasani.)

~ Between my DS and I, we average one snack item every other day.

~ We don't always eat a TS meal every day.

Add to this a DDE discount on TS meals and we save WAY more money by going OOP.

 

[Fuddrules]

We went in 07 and did the DDP and it was fantastic. We used our TS credits for dinner every night. Both the food and money we spent couldn't be beat. Our children were 9/8/6.

When we return again our children (all girls) will likely be ages of 12/10/8. There's no way paying for 4 adults and 1 child, which will be (inc. tips) about $200/day will be worthwhile.

So no more DDP for me. We'll likely end up in the FW Cabins next time we go which we've done before and like. That will allow us to do part of our own meals as well as eat in the parks a few days and save quite a bit of money.

 

[ekmom]

We are 4 adults, DH and I and 2 college students. We have never done DDP but we also have never eaten many TS meals. For a long time the kids were too picky. We seriously considered DDP this last trip but still decided against it even though we were doing 5 TS meals this time, 3 lunches and 2 dinners. After our return I ran the numbers and concluded that we might have spent about $50 more than the DDP would have cost but then we didn't have to spend a bunch of time thinking about how to use the credits and making sure we got our money's worth. We also had the freedom to go off site and we did that for 3 meals. I suspect we might have spent at least $50 out of pocket if we'd had the plan, just with the things that aren't included on the plan.

I doubt that we'll ever do DDP. We really didn't like having to plan around our ADRs, it cramped our style. We liked most of our TS meals, but we probably wouldn't do that many again.

 

[padisneylover]

We would have to give up ouf AAA room discount if we added dining. We are AP holders so if the package that allows AP holders to have an AP room discount and add dining is available for us in Dec, we would probably do so if we could add the deluxe dining.

Sherry,
I faced this with my upcoming trip in May. After figuring where we wanted to eat and using the dining calculator spread sheet it came out cheaper to use the deluxe plan for us even staying concergie. So I called and found that I could purchase a one day ticket through AAA and then I could add the dining plan and not loose my great AAA discount. The advice was given to me by the people at the ticket office on the annual pass voucher I received. They told me the day of check in not to activate the ticket and to save it and they will credit it back to next years annual pass. If no discount for AP comes out for December I will be doing the same then.