We used to do it when the kids were smaller and did tons of character meals but it's just not worth it anymore.
Last trip we did the Labor Day exclusive and had no choice but to pay OOP. We stayed for 10 nights/11 days and ate wherever and whatever we wanted. It was my SO's first trip so I wanted to give him the full experience. My son was 15 and DD9 but she ordered off the adult menu a few times. We did 9 TS which included Ohana, Chef Mickey, CRT, CG, VN x 2, B&C, Kona and BOG. We also did 15 QS meals, ate and drank around the world two nights, a night at Trader Sam's and did a lot of snacking. We paid about $2300 for our food, snacks, alcohol and tips. Had we done the
DDP it would've been $2040 (back in 2015) BUT that doesn't include our alcohol, our night at Trader Sam's and drinking and snacking around the world. I believe when I did the math after our trip we would've had to pay $500-800+ extra over the DDP since we actually used 12 TS credits and 15 QS credits plus tips. Let's not even get into our Trader Sam's night and nights of drinking around the world.
Next trip I'm renting points and didn't even think about adding on the DDP. It's just DD12 and myself and we aren't making many ADR's (3 over a 9 night trip). We want to try out some lounges, maybe share apps, do same day ADR's, try more QS places so we don't want to be tied down to a plan.
