No Longer Have DDP Envy..

[Merriwind]

Another non-DDP family here.

We stay on property (DVC). We have APs and DDE. We bring yogurt, peanut butter, a loaf of bread and a bag of fruit for breakfasts for less than $20 total. (This way DD9 can eat the minute her ravenous little body gets out of bed!) DD9 and I usually share CS meals. DH will sometimes contribute a bite or two. Sometimes DD just wants soup for dinner. A huge cost difference for us is that we prefer to eat our TS meals at lunchtime--much cheaper than dinner prices. Plus, we never order appetizers or desserts (unless I'm having an appetizer and a dessert as my meal-yum!). I am very petite--and a small eater. DH is Type I diabetic; he doesn't need to eat lots in one sitting. I just can't get it to work for us.

I keep wanting to try DDP, but everytime I crunch the numbers, it's not even close.

Glad it works well for so many.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

It just really goes to show you how different people are! We're on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and are considering doing a few days of the premium plan during our honeymoon. We found out this last time that we'd much rather take the time and sit down for a character meal for lunch or take a very early buffet breakfast and then have a nice sit down dinner than do counter service. We like to take our time when we eat, and we're two people that don't need much sleep at Disney so honestly the extra table services don't take that much out of our day.

We learned this when we were at Chef Mickey's at 7 AM, then did Garden Grill at 11 and Coral Reef at 5. We didn't really eat any snacks and were satisfied all day... and we wished we would have had the premium plan at that point.

It's all about what you want and your priorities. For us, food and rides are priorities. We utilized EMH and love staying at the resorts on the complex. But we're also only the two of us. We have no children, and we commando the parks, rarely taking breaks which builds up quite a bit of an appetite!

Personally? We're looking forward to free dining in September which we got by booking with the bounce back program. We'll learn to eat those counter services I'm sure... just keeping my fingers that Electric Umbrella is open when we go back!

 

[Dragonfly0521]

We don't do it to save money. Depending on where you eat... you could save a lot... or not at all. (Coral Reef was a huge savings! Great food that we never would have ordered if not for dp). I loved it with my whole family DH, DS-10 (adult price), DS-7, and DD-4. The best part is when the kids order a meal and when it comes they are too tired or hot to eat! When you pay oop, that could put us in a foul mood! But this way... it was paid for nearly 2 months before and we didn't think twice. We also did a dinner show that I am not sure we would have splurged on without the DDP. Now, it's the only way to go for us! We will be using it again this coming January.

 

[NMW]

We are totally the opposite of your family. We would never stay offsite, or rent a car, and we despise CS meals. Well, let's just say that DH and I don't really care for them. We eat two TS meals per day every day-breakfast (either resort or character) and dinner. We have done this every trip since our first time pre-kids in 1995. We also do a couple TS lunches a trip, so those days it's 3 TS a day. We really started doing CS lunches with the kids in 2005. We do early breakfasts (8-8:30) and late dinners (7-7:30). We found that our kids were starving from all the walking and wanted lunch every day during that trip. When they were smaller, we would just really do mid-day snacks. So we were launched into doing CS lunch on the days we did not do a TS lunch. We've always been planners/ADR makers, so the DDP has no effect on that.

We compared 2 trips 2005 (no DDP, just the DDE card) and 2006 (DDP and the DDE card). We ate about the same on both trips. Bottom line, the $$ we saved with the DDP in 2006 blew away our 2005 trip using only the DDE card. I mean it was huge! Basicly, the money we paid per day for the plan covered the cost of our TS dinners. In some cases, the money a TS dinner cost us was even MORE than the DDP would have cost us per day-even WITH the DDE's 20% off!! That's like getting CS lunch for free every day-always about $50-$55 for the 5 of us. Plus, we got a snack every day. It's about $12-$15 for the 5 of us to all get a soda or bottle of water from the snack carts. Which we normally do every day.

For our family it's a great deal, but not perfect. What I really want is a DDP that has 2 TS meals per day-they can keep the CS! I want Magic Your Way dining plans, like the tickets. At least that's what I'm hoping for!

 

[HaleyB]

I have looked at numbers a lot today.

Even if we only do TS half the nights we are there paying OOP only works out to be about $15 less a day. Right now. If they offer a good AP rate for the dates of our trip I will have to look again. It is a long trip so we plan to stay at a Value right now.

If an ok AP rate comes out (like $15-20 off a night) it is going to be a hard call.

 

[Kellyscrapbooks]

I don't have an annual pass (next holiday is likely to be 2009, 2008 is going to be Norway for snorkelling with wild killer whales and a trip to the panda breeding centre in China) so I can't get the DDE card. So for me the ddp is perfect (got it free again which helps)

Can I be jealous of YOU?!?!?!
How awesome to be snorkeling with whales and going to see pandas!

 

[mylittleprincess]

I am reading all of this & now questioning whether I should cancel the DDP. We have never done it before. We are a family of 4 with 2 girls, 5 & 12. Is this worth it? We are also going in December where parks are closing early. I do not want my entire trip sitting and eating just to get our moneys worth. It appears to me that you PAY for the convenience. Any thoughts whether we should cancel??

 

[MaeDaisy]

LittlePrincess, you have to eat, right? If you do your CS a little earlier or a little later than prime eating times, you can easily have that done in less than an hour. And if you plan your TS for the same park you're at, that shouldn't be much more than an hour, 90 minutes tops. Rather than seeing it as wasting time, think of it as a nice, well-needed break in your day. With the ages of your kids, plus 2 adults, I think it would probably be a good deal for you. Your 5 year old will only cost 10.99. A kid's CS is 3.99, and a kid's TS averages around 7 bucks plus tax and tip. There's your 10.99 right there, so it's like getting the snack for free. And while your 12-year old will be priced as an adult, that means they get to choose from the adult menus (including adult desserts!)

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

I am reading all of this & now questioning whether I should cancel the DDP. We have never done it before. We are a family of 4 with 2 girls, 5 & 12. Is this worth it? We are also going in December where parks are closing early. I do not want my entire trip sitting and eating just to get our moneys worth. It appears to me that you PAY for the convenience. Any thoughts whether we should cancel??

Only you can know that. Sit down with menus (like on Allears.net) of the places you want to make reservations for each night. I gotta tell ya, even during the NYE rush we spent at most an hour and a half at a restaurant, and that was a character meal!

Take the menus of the places you'd like to eat and take some samples of things your family would like. Add it up. Does it come up to more than the price you're initially paying for DDP (And not just for table services, but counter services too)? Do you WANT to eat a Table Service every night? (Even though you don't have to... we often have a breakfast TS and then a Dinner TS and no TS the day we get there and the day we leave) Or are you happy with one or two table services and the rest counter services?

Only you can decide if it's worth it for you. For FH and I, it's a resounding yes! I've looked at some of our tabs, even Chef Mickeys was over 50 dollars and we still had another table service that night... Coral Reef was well over 100 dollars! When I'm only paying 38/39 or nothing (yay free dining!) for the dining plan and the meal was over 50 dollars a person (including tax and tip) it's well worth it in my opinion!

 

[mylittleprincess]

Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. Very good points. I think we may just keep it & try it out. I do want to do some character meals that we did not get to do in December. How does that work? I read you have to use 2 TS for a character meal??

 

[Kellyscrapbooks]

Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. Very good points. I think we may just keep it & try it out. I do want to do some character meals that we did not get to do in December. How does that work? I read you have to use 2 TS for a character meal??

Actually most of the character meals are only 1 TS credit. The ones that I can think of that are 2 include Cinderella's Royal Table, Hoop De Doo Review and Mickey's Backyard Barbeque.

Hope that helps!

 

[mylittleprincess]

Actually most of the character meals are only 1 TS credit. The ones that I can think of that are 2 include Cinderella's Royal Table, Hoop De Doo Review and Mickey's Backyard Barbeque.

Hope that helps!

Thanks it does help!! Now any character meals that you suggest for my 2 girls?? We just did CRT dinner & Storybook Lunch in December. I wanted Chef Mickeys but booked.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. Very good points. I think we may just keep it & try it out. I do want to do some character meals that we did not get to do in December. How does that work? I read you have to use 2 TS for a character meal??

Nope, all character meals except for Cinderella's Castle are 1 TS. I have to suggest Garden Grill for lunch in Epcot... the character interaction there was AMAZING! We had SO much fun... look:

It's now a must do for us for every trip

 

[mylittleprincess]

Nope, all character meals except for Cinderella's Castle are 1 TS. I have to suggest Garden Grill for lunch in Epcot... the character interaction there was AMAZING! We had SO much fun... look:

It's now a must do for us for every trip

That is cute!!! Ok I will surely try there!! Is that a sit down? Is this one that books up so I have to call 6 months ahead??

 

[Dogslider]

I would 2nd the Garden Grill. We did this for the first time in a few years last October and everyone loved it. Our youngest son is 16 so we didn't do the character meals for awile. We have now added 5 & 3 yr old grandsons to our household. My son said if we are going to do any character meals this trip, that he votes for the GG. He enjoyed the food and put up rather well with the characters. Chip and Dale are always fun.
In October, we decided we that we didn't care for the offerings that others seem to rave about at Sunshine food court and checked for openings at GG. Luckily we were seated within 15 min. This was at lunch though. I would make an ADR, but you probably don't have to call that far ahead.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

That is cute!!! Ok I will surely try there!! Is that a sit down? Is this one that books up so I have to call 6 months ahead??

It is a sit down, for lunch we just walked up and 5 minutes later we were seated. The resturant seemed empty to us! A bunch of empty tables! We got there around 11:30 as well.

I'd go ahead and make a reservation if you want to, since I'm not sure how busy it will be when you are there.

Oh, and just so you know, don't look down at the floor! The resturant itself rotates (you can see part of the Living with the Land ride! Dale at the time would hang over the side and tease people in the boats LOL!) albeit very slowly, but you notice it if you focus on one thing for a period of time or look at the floor for a period of time. We really didn't notice it otherwise

 

[Pir8girl]

Wow, after reading everyone's posts, I'm just a bit more confused. And we leave tomorrow!

What is a DDE? And how do you qualify?
We are on the DDP and I'm worried that my 7 year old son won't like the kids meal choices. There's nothing to him, but he eats like a teenage boy and prefers salads over chicken nuggets.

And we only get 1 TS per day, right? So if we want a sit down breakfast, we need to pay oop?

Thanks,

Pir8girl

 

[Texas lady]

I did two trips last year both on the DDP, once with the family and once with just DH and me..(25th ann,)
What we did was.. look at the list of restaurants on the dining plan, and see what has counter service.. WE were at the CBR, we would get one CS breakfast, and split it, and we would be in the park for lunch and get one CS for lunch and split that also. They don't care how many your order, as long as you have credits, as many people know most places are a mad house, so usually one person go and gets a table and one orders. When we shared a CS it was usually burger or chicken strips. OR if we were hungry we each get a CS, depends just how hungry you are. When we when with the kids, same thing, and as far as TS,Everyone would order something different and everyone shared it, no one cared.
Heck We were at the SCI FI and my DD ordered a sundae and was full by desert, and a little girl at the next table commented that looked good, my DD asked her if she wanted it, and her parents let her, my DD never touch it, our waiter didn't care, it was paid for.

I don't know why everyone is having a rough time with this.
If it pays you to be on it great, if not don't get it.

 

[Katiebell]

You leave tomorrow...ACK!!! Do you have any ADR's???

DDE is a discount only available to annual passholders and FL residents. If you don't have any ADR's for your TS meals, you will need to see what restaurants are taking walk-ups. If your DS doesn't like the CS kids' meals, try buffets and character meals for your TS meals. He'll have all the same choices as adults on buffets. I know you are probably super busy tonight if you are leaving tomorrow, but at least glance at the menus on AllEars tonight if you get the chance. Have in mind a couple of CS restaurants that everyone in your family would be ok with for each park. Kid's choices sound the most varied and sophisticated in Epcot and DTD at WPE and EOS. If the CS in the parks is a bit skimpy for him, or he doesn't like everything in the meal, see if your meal is big enough to share some with him (especially the dessert) or use snack credits wisely to get him something extra.

You can use your TS credit for a sit down breakfast, but then you would probably end up using the CS credit for dinner that day. That might work a few times if you got the latest breakfast seating or the earliest lunch seating at a character buffet, would tide you over for most of the day. Garden Grill in Epcot is supposed to be one of the more possible walk-ups if you don't have ADR's. Another possibility if you like a sit down breakfast is to use CS credits for breakfast platters in your resort's food court, use snack credits during the day, and try for an early TS dinner. Good luck and have a blast!