Never been flamed before so might as well start now

[PlutoLuvr]

Sure it is. For one person, even - but for two adults, a thirteen year old and an eight year old? If the average table service check for such a group at a buffet is, say $122 with tax and tip ($29 per adult/junior adult, $11 for the kid, plus tax and tip) the FREE dining plan deal saves them, hold on, carry the four... $122 per day. Now, if that same family were paying for the plan, its daily cost of $124.96 is more than the one meal, sure - but if they get just two bottles of water each day using snack credits, they're already ahead AND they've still got two more snack credits and four Counter Service credits to 'spend'. Yeah, it's a savings.

I could see where it would be a savings for a family staying on site and completely agree with your numbers.

However, to look at numbers and savings staying off site in a house or condo, preparing even one meal a day in a kitchen, eating a small CS meal for lunch and a TS meal for dinner half the week, there's where we saw our savings. It doesn't mean I'm blessed; I'm frugal and like the option of going to Orlando four times a year instead of once.

Here was our average day on our trip in February per person:

Condo - $11.00
Park Ticket - $40.00
Breakfast - $2.00 (made in our kitchen)
Lunch (CS somwhere) - $8.00
Dinner - $25 (not CS -- well, maybe Epcot CS for a night or two)
Cocktails back at condo - $10
Bottled water we bring from home - negligable amount of $$$
Parking (again, per person) -- $1.50

Rounded up, that's about $100 including room, cocktails and three square meals per day.

Same scenario, but rack rates/full price on tix per person, one WDW hotel room, sleeping two adults, to get free DDP:

Room - $70.00 (based on $140 per night for a moderate)
Park ticket - $67
One meal (probably breakfast) OOP - $8.00
Lunch -- $0.00
Dinner -- $0.00
Water -- $0.00

My math comes up to $145 for the day per person. And no jacuzzi in the master bedroom!

Now, I do realize that the park tix will go down in price the longer you stay, but, by the same token, the price for tix for, say, the AP holder will go down, too. Technically, we spend about $0.60 per day for our passes. Of course, you could also bring the DDP numbers down by staying at a value hotel, too, but I'm trying to compare the size of just our space in a condo/timeshare with the space in a WDW hotel.

So I completely agree with you that it's beneficial for some, but not all. And just because some of us don't take advantage of this supposed deal doesn't mean we're blessed. I work just as hard as the next guy to be able to go to the World on vacation.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been reading this one for awhile now. I have to say that, sure, the free dining has probably brought the crowd levels at WDW up a bit. Enough to ruin it for me? I don't think so. I think that once all the schools are back in session (northern states as well) you'll see the numbers go back to closer to the old numbers.
Now....is the ddp for everyone? Absolutely not. I have an AP so I don't book rooms at WDW paying rack rates. I also own at DVC so we can now buy the ddp without addtl ticket purchase. But, you still have to figure out, meal by meal, if the ddp is going to be a good deal for your family. I also can get the DDE card...so had to decide which way to go on my Oct trip. Finally decided that since it was such a close call, numbers wise, that we would go with the DDP. At least that way, there would be no bickering about who pays for what. It's already taken care of....one mom and her dd will have paid for their meal plan, and I'll have paid for the plan for myself and my dd. It's just a matter of convienience for us since the costs is very comparable.
If you like to eat a lot less than what the meal plan offers, then of course it's not the best idea.
But for anyone to make comments about those who participate in the DDP is ludicrous. Some will save money, some won't. It's a choice that Disney has offered us.