Is the DDP worth it?

[Lisa Mason]

I've been to Disney 5 times and have never used the Disney Dining Plan b/4. I'm going w/my family of 4 and didn't know if it would be cheaper to dine without or with it? Can someone please help me. I will be going November 2nd - 7th. Thanks for your input.

 

[Hound 109]

Hi Lisa,

The quick answer is....it depends. You might provide the following info & I bet you'll get alot of advice:

What are the kid's ages?

Do you normally eat a "sit down" meal per day? (or would you want to?)

Where are you staying?

Are there restaurants you really want to eat at? What are they?

Do you guys really like to eat? (or is food just "fuel" to keep you "comando-ing" through the parks).

Does the idea of lots of cool snacks & a few breakfast items on your trip sound good? (Or were you gonna just bring cheeze crackers & pop tarts anyway).

Enjoy!

hound

 

[dbenlee]

Like hound 109 said it all depends. For us (family of 3, DS is 7) it works out great. We are not big breakfast eaters and we would rather do counter service types meals for lunch that don't take long and table service at dinner so we can relax and discuss the events of the day. So the dining plan is great. I have read how others find it to be to much food or the cost to be prohibitive because their children are 10 or over.

 

[Tinksmom5]

I would have to agree with everyone else here.I have a family of 7 myself and I have to say I thought it was a bit pricely when you consider it comes out to around $30 per day per person.That was ofcourse before we went.My in laws were treating us so we went for it and after all was said and done it really was a good deal .We had dinner at coral reef @Epcot one evening and the bill was something like $400 bucks!!!!!!!!!!
Now if we weren't on the DDP I would have died right there.
So depending on how your family eats ,that will determine weather its good for you and yours or not.Good luck with whatever you decide and have a fun& safe trip.

 

[angelmav]

Hey tinksmom were also a family of 7! While we have been to a few of the sit down places before, it really takes away the worry about the food budget and being able to pay it off before your trip, for me is a big advantage.

 

[theblondebee]

I totally agree. All 3 of my kids are teenagers and sometimes their eyes are bigger than their stomachs. It is going to be a lot less stressful for all of us knowing that they can order anything they want and it's OK if they don't feel like eating it all. I am sure we will come out ahead cost wise.

 

[scrapperjill]

I also love the idea of not worrying about the food budget by having it paid for ahead of time.... But Hound 109 had alot of good thoughts to think about first. I could see how if you wern't a sit down type of family...and rather snack here and there and bring some of your own..you could get by with spending less.

We went for the dinning plan last year when we went to WDW (family of 4...with one under 9)...and found the dinning plan GREAT. Like I said I love the idea of having it pre-paid for...but I also really liked going to places like CRT and not worrying about the total on the bill. We're not the kinda family who goes out and spends $200 on a single meal...so it was VERY nice to be treated to those kinda meals every night we were at WDW.