Meals at Disney. Does anyone actually get the DDE

[marvali]

on top of the discount you already get by being a DVC member? How do the two compare as far as restaurants you can choose to eat at and total discount? Is the DDE worth the additional expense?

I can't justify the cost of the DDP for my family of 5. When we are at the parks, it would be really difficult to find the time and the opportunity to use $190/day on food. However, I could see being an annual passholder and spending the additional money for the DDE if the benefits are significant enough over the DVC discount.

 

[global_mom]

We use DDE card as well as DDP. For you Feb. trip we will only be using the DDE since it will just be DH and I. We did 4 OOP meals in Oct. and the savings covered the cost of the card. We then used it for our Dec/Jan trip at 3 places so we have indeed seens a savings. We will use it on our next 2 trips before it expires so it was worth the $65 cost. We most likely wont have it next year b/c we wont do annual passes.

When you use the DDE the 18% gratuity is automatically added to your check regardless of your party size. This was fine by us as it was one less thing that we had to think about.

 

[marvali]

Thanks for the info. Does the DDE come into play a significant number of places you can't already get a discount with your DVC membership card, and is the savings more than if you used your DVC card to justify paying the price to get the card, or can you do just/almost as well with only your DVC discount?

 

[dianeschlicht]

We use the DDE card when we don't have the DDP, and we find the more people we have along, the more we save. It is easy to recoup the cost of the DDE in just one signature meal. Now they are automatically adding an 18% gratuity to all DDE bills, but that is actually a bit of a savings for us, since we normally tip at least 20%. I hate to say it, but Disney automatically adding the 18% will probably result in us just leaving the tip at that. Before, we used to just pay the original cost before the discount, and assumed the 20% discount was our tip.

 

[debaudrn]

DDE is accepted at almost all restaurants and includes alcohol for 20% off. As another person said the larger the party you have the greater the savings. With the 18% automatic tip added it is almost a wash (discount = tip). However, the DVC discount is not in all restaurants and does not include alcohol so ....The value is up to you to determine if it is worth it or not. We use it often and with 3 teens it saves us alot of money.
Debbie

 

[Chuck S]

And the DVC discount is sometimes limited as to time of day, or not available on weekends. DDE is always available, except for major holidays.

 

[LisaS]

Check out this dining discount comparison. It's a bit out of date (I believe the 30% DVC discount at Fulton's is now 20%?) but it's still pretty accurate. Most of the DVC discounts are 10% and available only at lunch so for the most part the DDE gives you a higher discount (20%) at more meals (not just lunch) and at more restaurants. You need to estimate your dining costs to be sure that you will save enough to justify the cost of the DDE card.

 

[marvali]

Wow, great stuff everyone. That should give me just what I need to determine if the savings will pay off for us. At first glance it appears it will, especially with teenagers who tend to eat a lot. I think this provides us better flexibility for eating when we want to, and using the Resort kitchen over going with the DDP.

 

[AKV707]

We use the DDE. Even with just DW and I, in 2 or three dinners, it pays for itself. The DDE discount is better than the DVC one and available almost everywhere. We have our first DDE card now, it will not be our last. The DDE would not work for us. Too much food, and no beverages.

 

[SEC]

We buy DDE because the discount also applies to alcoholic beverages as well as food. The discount is also available at a wider number of places unlike the DVC discount which is limited. The DDE has saved us lots of money and we use it for two trips.

 

[rhodymom]

Ouch when did they start adding 18% on? It's weird because we usually tip 20% but I like the control over deciding the tip based on service....not being told what to tip.

 

[UP Disney]

on top of the discount you already get by being a DVC member? How do the two compare as far as restaurants you can choose to eat at and total discount? Is the DDE worth the additional expense?

I can't justify the cost of the DDP for my family of 5. When we are at the parks, it would be really difficult to find the time and the opportunity to use $190/day on food. However, I could see being an annual passholder and spending the additional money for the DDE if the benefits are significant enough over the DVC discount.

We use the DDE card and make up the cost within the first couple of meals with just DH & I. We love eating at least one meal a day at a TS restaurant.

 

[Anal Annie]

Here's our experience with the DDE card. We are just a family of 3 (DS is 10 so the DDP was NOT a great idea for us since he's considered an "adult"). Anyway, it is valid for 1 year so we purchased it in time for our weeks vacation last August. With our discount it was $65. We eat a lot of CS meals for lunch & often for dinner and it is not good at a lot of CS places. We used it for a character breakfast and at BOMA (with lots of drinks) and all over the AK park. As much as we could use it, we did. At the end of the week I added up our receipts and we had saved $55. OK, ALMOST broke even with it on that trip. We just went again for 4 n. over MLK weekend and were not able to use it nearly as much. It seemed every place we picked to eat did not accept it nor did they offer any other discounts. We just picked the wrong time & place to eat - sometimes it's just hard to plan ahead every meal. The only time we were able to use it was for dinner at Whispering Canyon. We saved approx. $15 I think - so now we have finished paying the $65 fee and are $5 ahead. We will be going again in July and will be able to use it some more - but we'll only be there for 3 n. and I doubt we will get remarkable savings from it - we will probably plan to go to BOMA again tho and that will easily save $20 + probably be able to use it for lunch at the AK park again.

IF we were a larger family or if our 2nd and 3rd trips were a little longer it would've been a real deal. We just aren't a large enough family and don't eat enough table service meals for it to have been a fantastic deal this time around - but I wanted to try it to see how it would work out. We are hoping to take an extended family vacation with up to 16 people in 2009 and while I think it will be hard to coordinate that many people together for meals (and I'm not going to try) I think that there will be plenty of opportunities that we can use it since it's good for the entire table or up to 10 people I believe. It could easily pay for itself in one meal. So I think that we will purchase one again for that trip.

 

[marvali]

Here's our experience with the DDE card. We are just a family of 3 (DS is 10 so the DDP was NOT a great idea for us since he's considered an "adult"). Anyway, it is valid for 1 year so we purchased it in time for our weeks vacation last August. With our discount it was $65. We eat a lot of CS meals for lunch & often for dinner and it is not good at a lot of CS places. We used it for a character breakfast and at BOMA (with lots of drinks) and all over the AK park. As much as we could use it, we did. At the end of the week I added up our receipts and we had saved $55. OK, ALMOST broke even with it on that trip. We just went again for 4 n. over MLK weekend and were not able to use it nearly as much. It seemed every place we picked to eat did not accept it nor did they offer any other discounts. We just picked the wrong time & place to eat - sometimes it's just hard to plan ahead every meal. The only time we were able to use it was for dinner at Whispering Canyon. We saved approx. $15 I think - so now we have finished paying the $65 fee and are $5 ahead. We will be going again in July and will be able to use it some more - but we'll only be there for 3 n. and I doubt we will get remarkable savings from it - we will probably plan to go to BOMA again tho and that will easily save $20 + probably be able to use it for lunch at the AK park again.

IF we were a larger family or if our 2nd and 3rd trips were a little longer it would've been a real deal. We just aren't a large enough family and don't eat enough table service meals for it to have been a fantastic deal this time around - but I wanted to try it to see how it would work out. We are hoping to take an extended family vacation with up to 16 people in 2009 and while I think it will be hard to coordinate that many people together for meals (and I'm not going to try) I think that there will be plenty of opportunities that we can use it since it's good for the entire table or up to 10 people I believe. It could easily pay for itself in one meal. So I think that we will purchase one again for that trip.

Thanks AA. Your situation is similar to ours as far as eating habits. That is why I don't consider the DDP, but was wondering about the DDE. Sounds like with a family of 5, it will pay for itself easily with a little planning ahead. My two oldest have been to a character breakfast, but the youngest one hasn't yet so we will probably be doing that this summer when we go. DW and I also plan to put a little extra time in the World Showcase at Epcot this time, so we should be able to use it some there too. Sounds like from everyone else on here that it is a worthwhile add-on to what we would already save with our DVC membership.

 

[ADP]

One perk of the DDE is free valet parking at the non-DVC resorts. At $10 a night, or parking during a meal at a resort (also $10) the savings can add up.

 

[UP Disney]

We also eat often with friends. The discount is good for up to 8 people at the same table if I remember correctly. We have saved some money for our friends on top of what we have saved for ourselves. We got a great savings at California Grill!

 

[goofy4tink]

I have had the DDE for two years now and love it. I find it is more useful than the DVC discount because it is more usable. The one place I love to use my DVC card at is Picabu at the Dolphin. I used to forget to use it there, but not anymore. That's a great deal.

 

[brianm27]

The DDE card is only good at TS locations except where table service does not exist.

For example, the food court at POFQ is on the list (no restaurant) but POR food court is not because they have Boatwrights. All the CS inside Amimal Kingdom used to be on the list since there were no TS inside the park. I haven't been to AK since Tusker went buffet and Yak and Yeti opened so I don't know about the CS there anymore.

Allears has a list of participating restaurants, but the above description gives you a pretty good guideline.

 

[justloveit]

Yak and Yeti doesn't accept DDE card. That is the only place we have encountered on Disney property that doesn't accept it. We have never done the DDP we have used DDE for 3 years now and have easily recouped the cost of the card.

 

[Aunt Michelle]

I also use DDE. Once or twice a year my Mom and Dad accompany me to WDW and we enjoy eating at places like The Flying Fish, etc. It's great for us because we often enjoy a good bottle of wine with dinner, and sometimes a cordial or specialty coffee for dessert, so getting the 20% off on alcoholic beverages is nice. I'm with the others who said they used to tip 20% and now with the automatic 18% I'll probably just sign the check unless a CM is exceptionally.