Is the AP worth it?

[bunkkinsmom]

So here's a ? for the math wizards....

9 of us in a GV last week of Jan. We are planning on the DDP, 3 kids but one is 2, so no plan for her. Would it be worth the extra $ to have one of us buy the AP and DDE instead, or for that matter, in addition? We absolutely will do a sit down every day. Frankly, they are pretty spontaneous, but the reason for the trip is for us to be together, so I can see them waiting forever to get a table together. I can see appetizers and stuff, not a lot of alcohol, but we love our sit down meals. What do ya'll think?

 

[bunkkinsmom]

anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

 

[browniemtb]

Tough question.......How long is your stay? Anything over roughly 9 park visits makes the AP worth it. The DDE actually works great as long as you plan on sit down meals at some of the nicer places to eat. On our last trip we had AP's with both the DDE and DDP. We ended up using the DDE card only 2x but took advantage of the quick meals and character dining with the DDP. My opinion with kids the DDP works well for us.

 

[dvcdisney]

iMO, everything else aside, if you plan on going into the parks for 9 days or more AND/OR you like to park hop AND/OR you will be going more than once within a year of each visit then it would be worth it.

(Removed this section, because I thought the limit was less but as shown by the next few posters (the limit is 10), I'm mistaken. )

Now if you are getting the DDP, I don't see why you would need DDE, there is plenty of food with the DDP. And as the pp mentioned, DDP is great for the kids meal. But you do have to figure out if it's worth it for 6 adults. We have the same situation in which we want a sit down meal for dinner EVERY night. So for us it was worth getting the DDP and we have AP's, but never purchase the DDE. If we decide to go with DDE, we would forgo the DDP.

JMO

 

[Chuck S]

The DDE is good for up to 10 people that dine together on the same ticket.

Here is a way to give a rough estimate of whether the DDE will work for you. Look up the menus at the able service and buffet restaurants. Pick the items you think you will order. Add the cost up, do not add tax or gratuity, as that is roughly equal to the DDE discount. Add any likely counter service meals.

Now take the DPP cost for your family and add 18%, as gratuity is not included in the DDP.

Go with whichever total is lower. But remember that the DDP is less flexible than the DDE, for instance, DDP includes dessert, not an appetizer, so even if the costs are equal, you may not get what you want with the DDP.

In our case, we usually have our Table Service meal at lunch time. We usually both have an appetizer (soup or salad) and occasionally will split a lunch entree, but usually each order our own. Water is usually our beverage of choice. So for us DDE is much cheaper than DDP, and allows to order what we really want to eat, instead of what Disney wants to feed us.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The DDE is good for up to 10 people that dine together on the same ticket.

Here is a way to give a rough estimate of whether the DDE will work for you. Look up the menus at the able service and buffet restaurants. Pick the items you think you will order. Add the cost up, do not add tax or gratuity, as that is roughly equal to the DDE discount. Add any likely counter service meals.

Now take the DPP cost for your family and add 18%, as gratuity is not included in the DDP.

Go with whichever total is lower. But remember that the DDP is less flexible than the DDE, for instance, DDP includes dessert, not an appetizer, so even if the costs are equal, you may not get what you want with the DDP.

In our case, we usually have our Table Service meal at lunch time. We usually both have an appetizer (soup or salad) and occasionally will split a lunch entree, but usually each order our own. Water is usually our beverage of choice. So for us DDE is much cheaper than DDP, and allows to order what we really want to eat, instead of what Disney wants to feed us.

Very well said, Chuck. We have used the DDP several times, and while we liked it when the grandkids were there (no begging for extras, we already paid for it type of thing), we really have decided the DDE works best for us too. Like you, we often prefer to have our sit down meals mid day, and only do evening meals when the restaurant of choice is only open for that time. For example, we love Jiko, so we often make the earliest possible reservation there. On the other hand we also love Teppan Edo, and we usually do that one midday between 11:30-3:00.

 

[crisi]

We thought so for a similar trip. Ten people. The DDP would give us some more flexibility and more predictible costs (we could split the party more often while still enjoying the program), but we are doing some signature dining which means inefficient use of DDP credits and the DDE discounts alcohol. I wasn't impressed with the DDP when we used it (back when tip was included). Because we had credits, we felt we had to use credits and get the most from the program - it was really an EMOTIONAL burden (and one that is my own fault, I'm not blaming Disney for my emotional burdens), particularly those counter service and snack credits - with the DDE, if we spend and eat, we spend and eat, if we don't, no big.

We might save more with the DDP - or maybe we'd spend less (similar but different), but I don't think we are as happy.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Crisi, that is exactly why we don't ever intend to use the DDP again. We liked it the first time when it was just the 2 of us and the tip and tax was included. We used it for signatures, and on the days we didn't have a signature, we were happy with a counter service...BUT (it's a big but), we found at the end of the trip we had so many counter service credits left over, that it seemed like a waste. We then did the DDP one more time when the grandkids and their parents were there. It was their choice, because they didn't want to handle money for each transaction. It worked out okay, but it was difficult keeping track of credits for 6 people versus 2. We ended up paying for meals above the DDP because of the signatures. Now this year with the changes and the fact that we can no longer get an appetizer (we don't do desserts), and the loss of the tip, it makes no sense at all for us. We will used the DDE and given the records we kept when we did the DDP, I'm quite sure we will come out money ahead. We used the DDE before, and now after trying the DDP, we will be going back to it.