My comparison of DDP and OOP

[PaulaSB12]

I go when there is free ddp but upgrade to the deluxe. I wouldn't stay off property again I prefer it especially as I go solo so having a condo is more room than I need and probably makes me stand out too much. There are other singles in the hotel so not so noticeable. As for having somewhere to cook I don't want to cook anything on holiday.

 

[DJFan88]

The following site gives a great analysis of this whole situation.


http://www.easywdw.com/worth-2/figu...ng-plans-make-sense-for-your-group/#more-2722

 

[smiths02]

I just don't necessarily want to eat by the DDP max values "rules" and I think that DxDP is too much for us.

Next trip, I think I am going to budget as if we were on DxDP (put that money aside) and then get what we want. I don't see the "convenience" of having it prepaid b/c I just have more stress trying to make sure we saved money. I guess, I would feel more pressure to order the $30 steak if on DDP than to NOT order it if off the DDP, does that make sense?

 

[cluvsdisney]

I just don't necessarily want to eat by the DDP max values "rules" and I think that DxDP is too much for us.

Next trip, I think I am going to budget as if we were on DxDP (put that money aside) and then get what we want. I don't see the "convenience" of having it prepaid b/c I just have more stress trying to make sure we saved money. I guess, I would feel more pressure to order the $30 steak if on DDP than to NOT order it if off the DDP, does that make sense?

That makes complete sense!!! I know if we worked at it, we could maximize the dining plan but we just don't enjoying eating the way the plan is laid out day after day. I don't care if we spend more OOP than we would with a DP because we are eating exactly what we want to eat, when we want to eat.

 

[chinarider]

This will be our first trip in 6 years. Back then I believe the dining plan was still in the beginning stages ( not as many restaurant options,choice of desert or appetizer and maybe even 2 snacks a day), My DD was 11 then and we both enjoyed it very much ( except we are trying to park plan ahead and minimize the running around to get to the place where the ADR is ). This year we were fortunate enough to get free QSDP and upgraded to the regular. With my DD being 17 now, there are just other places that we want to try and for the minimal cost, it was a no brainer. The TS places that we are trying are
Ohana(dinner), CP (Breakfast before rope drop), Le Cellier (lunch), Rose and Crown (dinner),Boma ( dinner), Mama Melrose ( Dinner, Fantasmic pkg)- we have one other TS that probably will be Liberty Tree (lunch) or Kona (dinner) depending on how the week goes. We dont need lots of character meals or fancy food ( we will be heading out on the Fantasy for 7 days after leaving WDW). I debated not upgrading and giving us more flexibility but, I think this will also make us have some down time and since it will be the first week in June, i know we will be needing it

I also like paying for it all upfront and not being overly concerned about food expenses along the way. Now I need to decide if I want to order water and a few breakfast items from the Garden Grocer (order with tax and delivery would be around $65)- we are bringing Brita filtered water bottles and can pack some breakfast foods in the suitcases

 

[DW2010]

The only thing I like about the DDP is that your food is pretty much paid for up front. I think I'll get a Disney gift card in advance for our food . I'll also bring some cash for tips and maybe for the F&W festival...isn't cash needed to sample the foods?

 

[honeymo78]

The F&W kiosks will take your disney gift card, room charge, credit card or cash.

 

[aubriee]

The only thing I like about the DDP is that your food is pretty much paid for up front. I think I'll get a Disney gift card in advance for our food . I'll also bring some cash for tips and maybe for the F&W festival...isn't cash needed to sample the foods?

Nope, we always use Disney gift cards. We've used them many times at the F&W kiosks. In fact, other than housekeeping tips, bell services tips, and a tip for the DME driver, we never use cash down there. I usually slip a $20.00 bill in with my ID and always carry a credit card just in case, but seldom ever use either down there. We use the gift cards to pay for everything, including our meals (including the tip), at the F&W kiosks, snacks, and any souvineers we might want. I love having the trip prepaid in full before I leave.

 

[danceintherain]

The only thing I like about the DDP is that your food is pretty much paid for up front. I think I'll get a Disney gift card in advance for our food . I'll also bring some cash for tips and maybe for the F&W festival...isn't cash needed to sample the foods?

The actually sell handy mini wrist-banded gift cards to use during F&W (at least they used to)

We've done both, and paying OOP works out best for us right now. We're two adults with an under 3 child. We probably won't get to go back again until 2016 at which point the Dining Plan may win out due to the character buffets.

My husband loves the Dining Plan, because he doesn't have to worry about what he's ordering. However, he also likes to eat a large breakfast, which isn't a good use of dining credits.

Basically, I look at the dining plan as having to spend money to save money. In some cases, you spend twice as much as you would other-wise in order to save 20%, which is how much we "saved" when we did the dining plan. It basically calculated into free desserts, which we ended up eating barely a bite of in most cases. Also, since we were on our honeymoon, we got some "pixie dust" desserts thrown in there. (cupcake after a breakfast buffet anyone?)

I do want to try the Deluxe Dining Plan, because it will give us the opportunity to eat at more of the signature restaurants, but we'll see how that goes.

 

[DJFan88]

I just don't necessarily want to eat by the DDP max values "rules" and I think that DxDP is too much for us.

Next trip, I think I am going to budget as if we were on DxDP (put that money aside) and then get what we want. I don't see the "convenience" of having it prepaid b/c I just have more stress trying to make sure we saved money. I guess, I would feel more pressure to order the $30 steak if on DDP than to NOT order it if off the DDP, does that make sense?

 

[djblu883]

I'm enjoying seeing all the responses. I have a year to get ready and I'm going to be obsessively planning in the mean time.

I did include tax in my estimate, but not tip since we'd have to pay for that OOP on the DDP anyway. I don't really want to add a CS DDP and then pay for a few OOP meals. I think this would cost us more in the long run.

When we are at WDW we typically eat 2 meals per day and have snacks. We usually eat breakfast in the room to save time. I am not a big soft drink drinker so I'd be happy with a cup of water which I can get for free. DD and I can share some meals and be perfectly satisfied. When we don't share at a CS we would both get a kids' meal which is plenty for us and includes a drink.

We do enjoy the experience at TS meals, but DH and I agree that we don't need one of those every day. Five out of 8 days seems to be enough.

I did go back over my plan and added about $150 worth of extras to pad the estimate a bit. Even with that I see a significant savings. I think we are going go OOP for this trip even though we've enjoyed the DDP many times before. It just seems like the best value for us.

unless you are doing CS, MOST Disney TS restaurants won't let your daughter order off the child's menu nor will they allow you to share a meal with your daughter.That being said what we have dome is order an app. for the young one, then a meal we then share, once recieved they can't say anything but they will many times tell you no sharing...and for sure you can't share buffet meals but I think that really is a given...we have gone both ways. WE prefer to do the better restaurants and the savings is thee for sure then when using the DDP plus we like that all our meals are paid for long before we arrive. The only draw back was with the higher cost meals the tips that are " suggested" it makes those meals even more ridulously expensive. I took 600 for tips and other expenses and after 3 days started looking at what we had spent and found if we continued to tip as suggested we would run out of our funds too quickly and then have no tip money at all. I think it was at Yachtsman Steakhouse the tip was 67$. The service was ok but not worth that! Heck I don't even make 67$ an hour and that was all the time we were there!!!

 

[DJFan88]

I think it was at Yachtsman Steakhouse the tip was 67$. The service was ok but not worth that! Heck I don't even make 67$ an hour and that was all the time we were there!!!

OMG! When we had FD I think most of our tips were hovering around $20, more or less depending. I think the food we like is mostly at some of the lower cost places. It's just hard for us all to come up with where we agree upon. I'm not sure a place with a tip that high still qualifies for Free Dining?! (Just speaking here jokingly, not looking for a huge discussion from out there on the value of the Yachtsman Steakhouse meal and how "worth" it is.).

 

[JLS]

I think it has been shown here many times, through different experiences and calculations, that the best way to get value out of the DDP is to go to the high priced buffets and character meals, and ideally have children under 10. The DDP is a very questionable choice for families who have young teens that don't eat a lot but would have to pay adult prices on the DDP. Also for families that enjoy certain breakfast or lunch TS places that are less expensive, you just don't get the value. Its obvious that if you pay $51 for the DDP per day and you use your TS meal on a $13 sandwich or salad, you are going to "lose" money that day because no snacks or CS meals could get you up to what you paid.

For us DDP is still great because we have a "free" child (under 3) and a big eating 7 year old, and we love the buffets and character meals. We tend to save a lot on the DDP.

 

[stayhomemom77]

unless you are doing CS, MOST Disney TS restaurants won't let your daughter order off the child's menu nor will they allow you to share a meal with your daughter.That being said what we have dome is order an app. for the young one, then a meal we then share, once recieved they can't say anything but they will many times tell you no sharing...and for sure you can't share buffet meals but I think that really is a given...we have gone both ways. WE prefer to do the better restaurants and the savings is thee for sure then when using the DDP plus we like that all our meals are paid for long before we arrive. The only draw back was with the higher cost meals the tips that are " suggested" it makes those meals even more ridulously expensive. I took 600 for tips and other expenses and after 3 days started looking at what we had spent and found if we continued to tip as suggested we would run out of our funds too quickly and then have no tip money at all. I think it was at Yachtsman Steakhouse the tip was 67$. The service was ok but not worth that! Heck I don't even make 67$ an hour and that was all the time we were there!!!

I'm not sure you're right about this. When paying OOP AND when using the DDP our family has shared meals at several a la carte TS restaurants and haven't had a problem.

We've shared OOP at Sci Fi, and with the dining plan at Kouzzina and Kona just to name a few.

The servers didn't bat an eye and even brought things out to use on our own plates and in our own glasses (shared milkshakes at Sci Fi along with the burgers).

What places did you go to where you were not allowed to share?

 

[goofy4tink]

I've used the ddp many times, I've had free dining twice, and I've paid oop more times than not....sometimes using TiW. For me, free dining is seldom worth it...I've run the figures and only twice did I spend less when using fd.
The original ddp worked fairly well for us...but then they started tweaking it...no more gratuity included, raised the price, took away the appetizer.
So...last Oct, my dh and I traveled to WDW with another couple. We wanted to have some really nice meals since it was an 'adult' trip. We ate at Flying Fish, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Coral Reef, Brown Derby, Artist Point..in addition to places like Akershus, 50's, Crystal Palace. At least two table service meals a day...late breakfast and then a nice dinner. So, I sat and figured, repeatedly, what my costs were going to be. It was about $750 for each couple for the dxddp. Even when we added in the gratuities, it was still less expensive to go with the dxddp than to pay oop. But...ordinarily, I doubt I would find that to be true. It was only because we had a 2 credit meal each night that it worked for us.
Generally speaking??? I find that using the TiW card and paying oop works much better for us.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

unless you are doing CS, MOST Disney TS restaurants won't let your daughter order off the child's menu nor will they allow you to share a meal with your daughter.

We've had the exact opposite expierences -- we have always shared at TS restaurants and one or another of our kids have ordered from the kids menu (while being over 10) without any hassle.

 

[mom0299]

We've had the exact opposite expierences -- we have always shared at TS restaurants and one or another of our kids have ordered from the kids menu (while being over 10) without any hassle.

This is what I've heard, although we've never done it ourselves. Some people have even said that the waiter will often bring an extra plate if you are sharing. If you are paying OOP I don't know why they would care. Restaurants all over the country let people share entrees. Obviously, I would never try it at a buffet. DD and I just don't eat very much so I think it would work well for us.

 

[cluvsdisney]

The only places I have heard that do not allow meal sharing is Beaches & Cream and Via Napoli. Maybe one other, I can't remember.

 

[Geordietyke]

Really interesting read this thread.

This November we have free DDP (saving us over $1,000) which really was a saving as we got 43% off our OKW stay and 1/2 price Disney tix too (price we paid for entire holiday was never repeated - it went up around $4-5k ).

Anyway, the food aspect will be interesting for us as we only usually eat a small breakfast, 1 course lunch and 1 course dinner at home. We don't drink a lot and rarely snack so it'll be fun fitting in all this food

Either way, the DDP isn't costing us a thing and our holiday worked out miles cheaper than if we'd waited a month later and booked a moderate so we are going to have a fab time

 

[buckeev]

OP here.
......
I think the DDP is great for families with younger children and those who do a lot of special meals......

That's the same conclusion I've come to. We do a significant number of Character meals, so the DDP is a little better deal for us, unless the room discount that I hafta give up is huge.
When we are on a DDP, I carry Disney Gift Cards earmarked for tips, so there's less "sticker shock" when the waitfolk brings the bill around.