On the fence with DDP

[plymouthmom]

Heading down in March for my first DVC visit. I cannot make up my mind if we should do the dining plan or not. I know we would use the kitchen for breakfast and maybe one or two dinners. I just like option of having it all planned out but wondering if it is worth it having a kitchen?

Hmmmm.

Also wondering, can we prepay before check in? Thinking Disney would not turn money away?

 

[nikkistevej]

We liked having the kitchen, but mostly liked the frig and microwave- which is in the studios. We did DDP a couple of weeks ago, and although we cooked in our room 2 meals, we mostly ate out. I think for our next trip in August next year we are getting a studio.
Oh almost forgot, I believe you have to let them know in advance if you want the DDP, but you might want to see if someone else knows how far in advance it is.

 

[Disney_Villain]

You can add the DDP to your reservation at any time before you leave for your WDW stay (not upon check-in).

As for paying for the DDP, you must pay the full balance for the DDP upon check-in.

We liked having the kitchen, but mostly liked the frig and microwave- which is in the studios. We did DDP a couple of weeks ago, and although we cooked in our room 2 meals, we mostly ate out. I think for our next trip in August next year we are getting a studio.
Oh almost forgot, I believe you have to let them know in advance if you want the DDP, but you might want to see if someone else knows how far in advance it is.

 

[BCV23]

DVC now says the DDP must be added to the reservation at least 48 hours prior to checkin. I agree that the wording used to be just "prior to checkin" but now it's 48 hours.

And just to be clear, one pays at checkin. I think there's no way to do it prior to that.

 

[PEANUT1]

Honestly, we don't use the kitchen at all. I like having the fridge and microwave...but the rest is lost on me.

As for the dining plan....try it. If you don't like it, at least you tried. We did it on our last trip. We had breakfast in the room (cereal, fruit, pop tarts etc) and ate out the rest of the time.

 

[Halle]

We've done DDP twice with mixed reviews from our kids (mid 20's). We always stay in a 2brm and for the most part have breakfast in the villa with one or two breakfast buffets in a 7 day period. The complaints were that they were sick of eating CS at the Boardwalk, not enough options there and they didn't like the fact that we were tied to eating on property. We always have a rental car and enjoy a few favorite restaurants for lunch and dinner offsite. I felt that it saved us money. We ate at signature restaurants for dinner. I don't think the new DDP is as user friendly $$ wise, the old plan included the tip. We won't use the new DDP because of the changes.

 

[DeeCee735]

We did the basic and the deluxe plan, first night we stayed in AKV we had the basic, and then for the rest of the trip we stayed at BWV and had the deluxe.

I don't think we will do it again. The basic is one CS, one TS and one snack, left us "wanting", don't really like CS every day. The deluxe was 3 TS including dessert (but not appetizer) and 2 snacks. We don't sit down for three meals, 2 yes - 3 is too much, although we did use two TS at signature rests., but I don't like the fact that it's just dessert and not appetizers. I'd pass on dessert usually, and would prefer a side salad or appetizer instead, so we'll probably not go with the DDP next January (or this October trip, with my friend).

 

[rinkwide]

When considering the dining plan I think the most important question is: What's your BMI?

 

[kimberh]

I figured the prices of our meals last trip before I left, I had the DDE card, We spent about the same with tip and were really full. We are not desert eaters, we are appetizer people, which we did order. I just hate ordering what we are not going to eat, and not getting what I really want. We ate TS every night, at good restaurants. You need to figure what are your families habits and then decide.

 

[sailors_wfe]

IThe deluxe was 3 TS including dessert (but not appetizer) and 2 snacks. We don't sit down for three meals, 2 yes - 3 is too much, although we did use two TS at signature rests., but I don't like the fact that it's just dessert and not appetizers. I'd pass on dessert usually, and would prefer a side salad or appetizer instead, so we'll probably not go with the DDP next January (or this October trip, with my friend).

I have a question about this... DH and I are planning on doing the Deluxe Dinning Plan this Sept for the first time (we've done the Basic DP twice this year) but one of my big points was the appetizer was included with the Deluxe... is this not true? I checked on the website and this is what it says

1 adult table-service meal includes 1 appetizer, 1 entrée and 1 dessert (lunch or dinner only), 1 juice (breakfast only) and 1 single serving non-alcoholic beverage, or 1 full buffet.

Were you told you couldn't get the app.? Just curious so I know what to be prepared for next trip.


BTW- we love the dinning plan it still provides more then enough food (i do wish you had a choice of app and dessert on the BDP)

 

[JimMIA]

I think the value of DDP depends greatly on your family's normal eating habits at WDW and whether or not you have a car. If you don't have a car, you're a captive audience for eating onsite, so you'd have to at least look at DDP.

After several years (5-6 trips) with DDP, we did our May trip without DDP because of the menu standardization over the last few years and the radical changes in the dining plan this year. We ate MUCH better offsite for about the same price.

We ate at Charley's Steak House and Columbia, both of which are fine-dining restaraunts better than anything at Disney. If we hadn't hit those two, we would have saved significant $'s, but we ate like we enjoy eating on vacation. We also actually enjoyed getting away from Disney for a couple of hours! I doubt if we'll ever go back to DDP.

That said, DDP will still work for many families. I think you have to ignore the menu-price marketing trap and just figure out what you would really eat if you were paying cash. Then compare that to DDP.

(If you compare the inflated menu prices of stuff you wouldn't really normally eat to the cost of DDP, of course DDP will show a savings. But that's the bogus comparison the Disney Dining marketing kids are hoping you'll make. The plan is structured to show a savings in that phony comparison.)

 

[plymouthmom]

Lots of good info! When we did DDP last October I had everything planned down to the milisecond as far as food. I know I would still need to do ADR's in advance even if we don't do DDP. We have a party of six so the changes don't affect us as much as other families. Frankly the appetizer and dessert was too much anyway.

Don't think we will rent a car this time out as it was nice but not necessary last time. We will be at OKW so lots of options to dine in DTD. We LOVED Wolfgang Puck Express last time out.

Thinking maybe a no right now.....but of course with 9 months till the trip I have lots of time to change my mind...


And....for the record my BMI is 15, love that cowbell.

 

[JimMIA]

We have a party of six so the changes don't affect us as much as other families.

You are aware that -- with a party of six, no matter how you pay for your meal -- you will have an automatic 18% gratuity added, right?

And also, that the gratuity is no longer included with DDP?

Both of those changes were effective 1/1/2008.

 

[plymouthmom]

I knew the gratuity was automatic, but i thought with parties of 6 or more it was still included?

I will check out the official website to double check. That was one of the selling points for me last time around, the whole tip included thing,

 

[disneynutz]

Heading down in March for my first DVC visit. I cannot make up my mind if we should do the dining plan or not. I know we would use the kitchen for breakfast and maybe one or two dinners. I just like option of having it all planned out but wondering if it is worth it having a kitchen?

Hmmmm.

Also wondering, can we prepay before check in? Thinking Disney would not turn money away?

If you love to eat and want to make eating the focus of your vacation, go for it. Have you checked out the DDE card?

 

[melk]

Not sure if you have kids and their ages, but that is the deciding factor for us. I have two kids that by Disney standards pay the adult price for DDP. This is so not worth it for us, they still eat like birds! If all my kids were 9 or under, I would definitely do it, but not now, just not worth it financially.

 

[Chuck S]

I knew the gratuity was automatic, but i thought with parties of 6 or more it was still included?

I will check out the official website to double check. That was one of the selling points for me last time around, the whole tip included thing,

The gratuity is no longer included for anyone on the plan. The difference is with parties of 6 or more you will be presented with a pre-calculated 18% tip that is payble by cash, room charge, or credit card.

For parties of six or less, the gratuity is not pre-calculated and it is not presented as an "amount due."

 

[JimMIA]

I knew the gratuity was automatic, but i thought with parties of 6 or more it was still included?

I will check out the official website to double check. That was one of the selling points for me last time around, the whole tip included thing,

NOPE. No gratuity. Think 25-30% price increase!

That's the big reason why we went offsite.

 

[JimMIA]

I will check out the official website to double check. That was one of the selling points for me last time around, the whole tip included thing,

The official Disney sites are so clunky, it will be hard to find that info.

Here's a link to the DIS DDP board's 2008 DDP FAQ thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1545287

If you scroll about halfway down the very first post on that thread, you will find links to ALL of the various official DDP brochures. You'll find that they specifically say the gratuity is no longer included, as of 1/1/2008.

It's a huge change in the plan, and one that many people who have used the plan previously are still not aware of.

 

[dopeygirl76]

As previous lovers of the DDP - we went without for our trip in April. We were also not happy about the changes and we did eat more than we would have normally when on the DDP. We used our kitchen, even on the DDP we ate breakfast in the room - usually cereal or donuts (back when a whole box was a snack!!). This time around we did some lunches and dinners in the room. But my biggest difficulty NOT doing DDP was that I did not want to miss out on some of our favorite experiences (1900 Park Fare is just one!!). So we decided what meals we would eat out and what we would eat (NORMALLY) and the savings was really in favor of not doing DDP even if we ate out every meal. The menus on ALLEARS.NET really helped us figure this all out!!