Is the DDP really worth it?

[MAJ RN]

I am going to Disney in October with my 9 yo son and Mom. My mom has had gastric bypass and does not eat alot. My son is not picky but alot of the TS places offer the same thing. Is the DDP really worth it?. We will be there for 7 days and have made ADR's for dinner every night. I just don't know if it is worth keeping the plan. Thanks for any information and your opinions


Melissa

 

[septbaby]

If you plan to take your son to a few character meals it will easily be worth it. The daily DP fee for your son is only $9.99, no character meal cost that little and you'll still get CS meal and snack for him each day. Your mother will pay full price at any buffet or all you care to eat on or off the Dining Plan, no matter how little she eats.

One thing you can do is have you mother order a kids meal and have your son pick something off the menu at non buffet places. That shoud give her enough to eat and him even more variety.

 

[Krmrr]

As with everything, it depends. But, in general, if you eat one TS per day will the plan is paid for and the cs is free. This is esp. true if you have only "Disney kids" such as your son.

Without knowing you ADR's' it's impossible to estimate, but consider, my wife and I love the Marrakesh. I get the Mediterranean Seafood Platter - shrimp ragout, broiled salmon and seafood bastilla $35.95. I ask and they make it spicy. My wife prefers the Roast Lamb Meshoui - roasted lamb in natural juices $26.95, the mint tea is wonderful and the dessert platter is great. This one meal costs $85 + tip yet the DDP costs us less than $80 per day. Plus, there is a live band and a belly dancer, and it's a hoot when she gets the kids to come up and try.

Sitting and watching the fish at Coral Seas is also fun. I never order fish there it somehow seems wrong. Remember, there is no rule that you have to CLEAN YOUR PLATE.

Have fun and best wishes.

 

[Krmrr]

Since the kids plan is only $10. Consider the kids meal at Coral Seas.

Choose 1 Appetizer, 1 Entree and 1 Dessert $7.49
Appetizers
Celery and Carrot Sticks
Soup of the Day
Entrees
Grilled Mahi Mahi
Grilled Chicken Breast
Macaroni and Cheese
Desserts
Fruit Cup
Build-Your-Own Sundae

Add in the drink and you're over $10 with tax.

If you're thinking buffet,

Consider Biergarten is fairly typical
Dinner - Adult $26.99; Child 3-9 $12.99 Beverages sold separately
Thus, you would spend over $30 for each adult and about $16 for your son.

And you still have a CS and a snack.

Look at the menus for where you plan to go and decide what each of you MIGHT want to try; add it up and see if it's worth it to you.

Good luck

 

[Tricia1972]

I agree with the PP who said look at the menu and see what you think you would eat and go from there.

If your mother does not eat a lot, and you aren't doing a lot of buffets or family style restaurants then it may well not work for you.

Yes - your son will probably spend more paying OOP for his meals than the cost of the plan, but you and your mom are going to be paying $37.99/day.

Kids TS Meals (not buffets) - $7.49 (which includes the drink)
Kids CS Meals - $4.49 (again includes the drink)

So your son, ordering one TS meal and one CS meal OOP will be paying $12.00 per day plus tax (.78) and the DDP is only $9.99 for him per day

Your mom may well only want an appetizer for her TS meals - those are about $12 at the higher end, and a beverage which is $2.19 - so roughly $15 per TS meal (this does not include buffets or family style - where she will pay full price regardless of what she eats - UNLESS she has the card from her Dr. Then I believe you do get a discounted rate for her meals at Family Style and Buffets)

I would guess that a childs CS meal will be more than enough for your mom, so that'll be about $4.49/day for her.

Your mom will be paying $37.99 for roughly $23 worth of plan (including snack)

This will leave you to make up the difference in the plan:

$85.97 - Cost of plan per night for your family
-$12.00 - DS's Plan Value per day
-$25.00 - Mom's very rough approximate Plan Value per day
$48.97 - value needed in order to break even.

It IS possible that you can do this, and break even or even come out ahead. Only you know what you're most likely to order and to eat when you're at Disney.



Also - before I am corrected - I say per day and actually you pay for the plan per night of your stay.

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

I had lap-band surgery a year ago and I still think the DDP is worth is for us.
At buffet's I will use a credit and know that while it is not a good value food-wise, I will enjoy the small amount I can eat and watching the kids with the characters is the main goal.
At full service restaurants I will not order a meal. I might get an appetizer or I might just steal a few bites from the family. Then we'll take the left over credits (4 meals I am sharing) and use them for an extra meal for everyone on the last day- Chef Mickey Breakfast...I will have to pay oop for my younger son, but the adults will be free.

I love the flexibility of the DDP and the fact that while I don't eat much everyone else can go wild.

Sheli

 

[MAJ RN]

Thanks to everyone for your replies, you gave me alot of useful information. We will be dining at Tutto Italia, Yachtsman, Coral Reef, Liberty Tree Tavern, Sci Fi, and Boma. Is the Yachtsman really worth the 2TS credits or can we get great steak somewhere else for 1TS. We have eaten at Le Cellier before but have heard that the menu has changed some and is not as good. Any suggestions would be appriciated. Thanks again for everything

Melissa

 

[septbaby]

If you have your heart set on Yachtsman go; you're worth it.

Now since mama isn't eating much and baby boy could be happy at lots of other places you could consider:

Have steak at Coral Reef. Others seem to like it (I don't eat steak). I'm sure you'll get some other suggestions too for a 1TS steak meal. That would leave you another TS to spend or 2TS if get your steak fix at Coral Reef.

I'd strongly suggest Chef Mickey's for your son. Lots of variety and just so much fun there.

 

[luv2nascar]

We have done DDP before and the only way we will do it again is free dining. We got our monies worth before when appetizer and tip were included. It does tie up alot of your time having all these ADRs and getting there etc. We booked for Sept during free dining so tips OOP aren't too bad. But next we go not during free dining we will try to do more counter service etc. Dessert isn't always my thing and the tips can be quite alot at TS OOP.

 

[donaldndaisy]

I wouldn't do Disney, for more than 2 days, without it

 

[septbaby]

Thanks to everyone for your replies, you gave me alot of useful information. We will be dining at Tutto Italia, Yachtsman, Coral Reef, Liberty Tree Tavern, Sci Fi, and Boma. Is the Yachtsman really worth the 2TS credits or can we get great steak somewhere else for 1TS. We have eaten at Le Cellier before but have heard that the menu has changed some and is not as good. Any suggestions would be appriciated. Thanks again for everything

Melissa

Just took a look at the Children's menus and it appears that the choices for your mom won't be too bad if she chose a child's meal:

TI - she can have a salad, pasta/sub and sorbet
YS - salad, steak/chicken/fish/pasta
CR - soup/veggie sticks, fish/chicken and fresh fruit
Sci Fi -soup/salad, burger/hot dog (not as good as the others)

 

[hapamama]

Please help we will be at DW for 8 Days my sons 11 & 7, DH and myself. I dont think we plan on doing any Character meals maybe a few Table service meals. Is it really a savings I have nothing to compare it to. We were at CSR in 2002 and I do remember the food took alot of our speding $$$. Any info would be helpful!

 

[Tricia1972]

Please help we will be at DW for 8 Days my sons 11 & 7, DH and myself. I dont think we plan on doing any Character meals maybe a few Table service meals. Is it really a savings I have nothing to compare it to. We were at CSR in 2002 and I do remember the food took alot of our speding $$$. Any info would be helpful!

Generally the DDP is not worth it unless you plan on doing 1 TS per day.

If you eat two CS meals in one day you'll probably spend closer to $30 per adult each day you dine like this.

If you do 1 TS per day the favor can fall back in favor of the DDP fairly quickly. Unless you mostly do TS breakfasts or lunches - then the DDP can be more of a wash.

 

[LisaInNc]

If you want to do Yachtsman then think about having your Mom either share an entree with you on one meal or paying out of pocket for an appetizer or kids meal for her. Then you can use the extra credit from that meal for your 2 TS Credit at the Yachtsman.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I wouldn't do Disney, for more than 2 days, without it

I wouldn't either, but it's not for everyone. It works out well for us, and until that changes, we'll use it!!!