My two sentence DDP Financial Analysis

[GillianP1301]

See we've been and always go on the DxDp. First time, we literally ate most of our trip. It was HORRIBLE. I mean 3 sit down table services was just so time consuming alone, and I even mentioned to DH on one of those services that I wasn't even hungry but alas we went anyway. Now we still go on the Dxdp but changed the way we use it entirely -- we have a character breakfast, skip lunch, and have a nice enjoyable signature dinner. It doesn't work for everyone, but for us, it works out great.

This is very similar to my experience. The first year with DxDP we ate too much and weren't always hungry. The following years I changed my approach. We still do 3 meals a day (our preference), but I don't stuff myself every meal and I spread the timing out a bit better and I also throw in the odd QS meal while still coming out ahead on the financial side. It works well for us.

 

[DAlston4485]

We love the dining plan as well. We have done the quick service dining, regular dining plan, and no dining plan. While we saved money without dining, it's only bc we ordered what was cheap. Not what we actually wanted. I don't even care if I pay more for the dining plan than what I actually eat, I just like having it payed for and don't have to worry how much everything costs once we are there. My kids and I also love snacks so we love getting the snacks on the dining plan.

 

[Lesverts]

I think that Tracey has the best approach to the dining plan. It is not about every trip. It is about, this is the kind of trip I want to have. Does a dining plan make sense? If you are going commando or traveling for the signature restaurants or are you hitting up one of the festivals. Are you set in your eating habits or are willing to eat the way a dining plane is set-up for a given trip. What are your trip goals? Who is in the party.

I have 3 trips planned for the next year. 1 the DxDP makes sense because it is a long split stay and one of the goals is to try out a lot of the signatures. The next is a family trip with a 4 y/o, a vegetarian and a picky eater. DP not worth it nor will it be utilized effectively. Final trip is planned for sometime after TSL opens in 2018. This trip is going to be primarily about attractions and utilizing the lounges and QS for meals. DP not worth it.

Dining plans are not one size fits all, or fits every situation even within the same family. Trip goals, personalities, desires and priorities dictate what is useful or not.

 

[kiford]

Sounds great. Your family is the exact opposite of mine, we would choose dessert over appetizers, we drink soda like crazy and will fill it up at the resort to take in the park (which we would do even without DDP), and we'll probably have all of our dinner reservations made and menus reviewed before we even leave. We will be an extended family of 9 on our next trip at AKL.

And that`s why no one can tell someone else whether the DDP is worth it or not. It`s a totally individual decision based on how you dine. All anyone can do is tell you their experience or why they decide to do or not. Sounds like it might well work for you. DH has friends who go to WDW for the first time, hear about the DDP and ask him to ask me if it`s worth it. That`s when I give him a list of things to ask them to consider first. I think they`re just hoping for a Yes or No answer which I simply cannot give.

 

[LoopyDoopy]

Even if the poster did that. He/she won't know until the actual trip what s/he ends up eating that day or if a meal gets cancelled, etc.

For us, my DH got sick one night of our trip when we had a dinner planned. I ended up taking the kids to avoid meal cancellation, to get the kids out of the room, and to get the custom cake we had ordered. Anyhow, I was planning on buying my DH a $60 steak. If on a dining plan, we would have to figure out how to use those credits (which would have been hard since DH also ate pretty light the next day). As it was, I just saved the $60.

Yeah. That's true. Plans never go perfectly.

I have a day planned at Epcot where we're just going to go to every country and do quick service "around the world." Paying out of pocket is very freeing.

 

[LoopyDoopy]

Poster clearly said tbey looked at the menus and calculated it both ways?? And its not all that hard to do - there's even a website that figures it all out down to what your restaurants are, tips, snacks, etc.

It's not as easy as you make it sound. You have to know in advance ALL of your plans and what you will order in advance. Then plug in all the numbers. Then there's the question of how do you count the perks like the refillable mug considering it only works at the resorts and not the parks. You also have to take into account 2 point places unless you're on the deluxe plan. If you think it's simple, then there's a good chance you made a mistake.

I would probably do the deluxe plan if I was traveling with another family and we could split it between us. We could do a "spouse swap" between the rooms, that way there's a magic band linked to that room in the other party. Another idea might be to get a room key card for the room with the dining plan to use by the other family. But, do I really want to get involved with splitting up a dining bill over 6-8 days with another family?

 

[Nancyg56]

The way I see it, if I eat like I usually do off of a menu, perhaps bypassing what I really want for something that doesn't cost quite as much, the DDP will most always be more expensive than out of pocket.

If I instead go in with the attitude that, hey, I'm on vacation, and by golly, I'm going to order what I really want regardless of price, there's a decent chance DDP will save me money.

Make sense?

Maybe yes. Maybe no.

Interesting, I actually looked at a handful of menus before I posted this. That's why I posted. I guess we have different preferences.

I know how my family eats so I know that we will save if I use a ddp. We order desserts and we like beverages with our meals. We have been often enough, and I know my crew well enough that I can almost order for them.

Yes, you did that for the entire trip for every dining experience?

You really do not need to do this. If you know how your crew will likely order you can determine if the plan will work for you.

This reminds me of the family next to me at a restaurant a few years ago.

Kid wants some dish, I have no idea what. He was NOT allowed to eat that because "it doesn't cost enough. The only way DDP makes sense is if you eat the steak" So they all ate steak regardless of what they wanted LOL!

Yikes! I think that more often not having the DDP would have the opposite effect. "No you cannot have the Mickey Bar, it is too much money." "No, you must share your dessert, three ways." "No, you cannot order soda or punch, drink water."

 

[jsternad]

Yes, you did that for the entire trip for every dining experience?

Yep, we do that every time.

 

[djc9699]

We save money having the dining plan every time. My son did not go to two table service meals last time so my daughter and I made another ADR and ate another table service meal. We eat what we want. My daughter will eat steak or ribs (or both) for every meal if allowed. We don't want to eat a burger or chicken nuggets for every quick serve so we find places that have vegetables (Cosmic Rays, Fife and Drum) and my daughter will eat at least 2 if not 3 snacks a day and dessert. She is a gymnast, cheerleader, sports nut so never sits still. We drink soda with our meals and I actually priced out all of our meals and what we are likely to eat this December and came out a little over $400 ahead for a 14 night stay. We are hoping for free dining and then we will be even more ahead. We will do the CP package, ROL package, and Fantasmic package, do Hoop Dee Doo or Spirit of Aloha (undecided) and eat at our favorite places. If I want something cheap, I will eat something cheap and not think twice about it. When we use the dining plan, we eat what we want. I don't normally want appetizers, but if I do I will order one. Could we eat cheaper? Sure, but we wouldn't eat the way we want to. We will be there at a busy time and I would rather have a table service meal either late afternoon or early evening almost every day than try to get a CS somewhere for both meals.

That's the beauty of a Disney vacation. We all have choices and can tailor it the way we want. We choose to have the dining plan or not, what days we go, what resort to stay in, etc. We stay at POP and I would never stay at a Deluxe again, but would never doubt the value of it for someone else. We like the Star Wars dessert party for the seating and find value in that even though others don't. We are all different and that is good. Otherwise we would be fighting over the same resort room, ride, ADR, or spot on the sidewalk.

 

[wajones2]

We have had DDP twice. First time 5 night Fall trip when DD was 3 and it was free with Magic your way package. On this trip I booked all table service as character meals and we used all quick service and snacks day by day as designed. It worked so well, when we used DVC points for a June 7 night trip when DD was 5, we decided it was worth purchasing. It was sweltering the entire week, heat index 100+, we were miserably hot. We ended up using all table service plus some. We checked balance 2 days before we were supposed to leave and we still had 18 QS credits left. We were able to convert them to snacks (post change) 3 snacks = 1 QS at the resort, but couldn't do this in the parks. I ended up going to the store in the resort the last day and trading remaining QS for packaged snack items to take home. We haven't done DDP since.

 

[jsternad]

It's not as easy as you make it sound. You have to know in advance ALL of your plans and what you will order in advance. Then plug in all the numbers.

My husband did this in less than an hour in an excel spreadsheet. I know my family, and I can tell almost right away what they all would order. We've known ALL our plans for several months since I made all our dinner reservations and FPs months ago and have each day planned out.

Ex- One day of our upcoming trip we are eating Bfast at Ohana, Lunch at San Angel, and Dinner at Via Napoli. The Dining plan costs $67.33 a day for me to eat, and everything I would pick out on this day equals out to $101. A savings of almost $34. I'm sure we won't save this much money every day, but it's pretty easy to use a calculator.

 

[snoopy352]

Lots of posts about dessert and whether you eat dessert or not making the DDP worth it. With the recent flexibility giving the option to replace dessert with a snack for CS meals and/or to replace dessert with soup or salad at TS meals, this whole dessert "argument" is moot and invalid. I agree with all the people saying that the DDP is not a slam dunk win or loss - it just depends on the family.

 

[sharonabe]

Lots of posts about dessert and whether you eat dessert or not making the DDP worth it. With the recent flexibility giving the option to replace dessert with a snack for CS meals and/or to replace dessert with soup or salad at TS meals, this whole dessert "argument" is moot and invalid. I agree with all the people saying that the DDP is not a slam dunk win or loss - it just depends on the family.

Not true. First off, you no longer get a dessert with your QS meal; it is entree and drink only.

Second, the replacement at a TS is not guaranteed It is TOTALLY up to each restaurant what or if they will allow the sub, and we've seen reports of the same restaurant allowing it one day and not the next. Even if it is allowed, the price of dessert is usually $8-$10. A cup of soup or side salad is nowhere near that amount, so you're losing money.

 

[snoopy352]

Not true. First off, you no longer get a dessert with your QS meal; it is entree and drink only.

Second, the replacement at a TS is not guaranteed It is TOTALLY up to each restaurant what or if they will allow the sub, and we've seen reports of the same restaurant allowing it one day and not the next. Even if it is allowed, the price of dessert is usually $8-$10. A cup of soup or side salad is nowhere near that amount, so you're losing money.

Not true. They added a second snack to the DDP each day and removed the dessert from the QS meal - that's the entire point of my post.

Can't dispute anecdotal instances - can only say that in the 30 or so times we attempted to sub a soup or salad for dessert, we were allowed to do so. Have heard that Trattoria is tough on that though.

 

[Masonmj84]

When we first starting going to WDW, we did DxDP and quickly got hooked on eating that way (we typically do 2 TS meals per day, one being a 2 credit restaurant).

Now, we go OOP for a few reasons: (1) DW usually prefers the vegetarian entree and is typically not hungry enough for an app, entree, and dessert; (2) I once got sick on a trip and couldn't eat for about 3 days and couldn't take advantage of our dining credits; (3) we sometimes like to eat order-off-the-menu breakfasts at places like Kona and Whispering Canyon, which aren't a great value on a dining plan (versus paying OOP); (4) we like to do split stays, and, on such trips, it's somewhat of a pain to use the dining plans.

But even when we go OOP and are having a signature dinner, I'm always tempted to order the filet because it's a good, safe choice (ultimately, I end up ordering it for about half of our signature dinners but those are the meals I usually enjoy the most). So, if I were going to WDW alone, the DxDP would probably save me some money (provided I didn't get sick).

 

[kiford]

With the recent flexibility giving the option to replace dessert with a snack for CS meals and/or to replace dessert with soup or salad at TS meals, this whole dessert "argument" is moot and invalid.

That's valid only if: (a) you would eat at CS places (we don't - TS only) or would use a snack (we don't); and (b) a cup of soup or side salad is sufficient replacement for a more interesting appetizer for us (it isn't). Thus the "dessert argument" is not moot for us. It still wouldn't work for us not to mention the rest of the plan doesn't work for us. But I do agree that the added flexibility will perhaps make the plan work for more people than it did before.

 

[ErinsMommy]

It's not as easy as you make it sound. You have to know in advance ALL of your plans and what you will order in advance. Then plug in all the numbers. Then there's the question of how do you count the perks like the refillable mug considering it only works at the resorts and not the parks. You also have to take into account 2 point places unless you're on the deluxe plan. If you think it's simple, then there's a good chance you made a mistake.

This looks pretty easy to me. While I'm sure its not 100% accurate because it depends on what you choose to eat/not eat but it gives people a pretty solid idea of what the average cost will be. I dont think anyone is looking to get down to the penny. http://www.distripplanner.com/

 

[bwbuddy5]

This looks pretty easy to me. While I'm sure its not 100% accurate because it depends on what you choose to eat/not eat but it gives people a pretty solid idea of what the average cost will be. I dont think anyone is looking to get down to the penny. http://www.distripplanner.com/

Great points. And, whether we decide to do DDP or OOP, I won't worry about it after I make my decision - after all, I'm on vacation.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Great points. And, whether we decide to do DDP or OOP, I won't worry about it after I make my decision - after all, I'm on vacation.

We never regretted Dxdp, except when I get home and have to go back to my boring meals.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

We always do the DDP. Because we have gift cards and will spend most of our time at the Flower & Garden, we've chosen to forego the DDP THIS WEEKEND (!!)

For us, we're big eaters. Going strictly by the DDP, we'd be out maybe $100-$200. In the grand scheme of things, we pay the extra money to not worry about it. Plus, it gives me an excuse to cram sweets down my throat all trip.