Question about DDE Card.

[NoVaDVC]

I have read a lot of threads comparing the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) with savings using a DDE Card. My question is, What is the DDE Card? Who is eligible to buy one? What is the Cost? How much does it save you? What does DDE stand for? I have been a lurker on this board for many months, but just registered.

 

[BCV23]

Welcome to the DIS!

DDE stands for Disney Dining Experience. FL residents or anyone with an AP (annual pass) can purchase the membership. For AP holders, it is $60 for the first card.

DDE provides 20% off the bill for food and alcohol at most WDW table service restaurants. Those at the Swolphin are not included and some at DTD are not...Wolfgang Puck comes to mind. It is also good in hotel lounges. Since there are no TS restaurants in the AK yet, it can be used at CS restaurants there as well as the value resort food courts.

Both DDP and DDE can provide significant savings. If you prefer only TS meals, DDE is better IMO. But the savings for either will vary by family.

 

[JimMIA]

Two additional things about the DDE.

One, if you think you are going to be split up during parts of your stay, you may want to get a second card for spouse/SO so you will both get the discount when dining seperately. There is a charge for the second card now, and I think it's $20-25. The cards are good for a year (actually about 13 months).

The other thing is the DDE card can be used for up to ten diners at any meal, as long as you're dining together (that doesn't mean you have to be at the same table, but in the same group), and everybody is on the same bill. That makes the DDE especially handy if you have a large group, or if you have friends joining you for a meal or two.

 

[shovan]

It is also good in hotel lounges. Since there are no TS restaurants in the AK yet, it can be used at CS restaurants there as well as the value resort food courts.

Thanks BCV23, I didn't know this about the card!

I know we saved more than the cost of the card on a four day trip for just 2 adults! & with none of the difficulties managing DDP!! It works great for us.

 

[DVC Grammy]

One more thing about the DDE is that the 20% off also covers "adult" beverages. Other than the tip, DDE applies to the whole bill.
The amount it saves someone depends upon how they eat (and drink ).

 

[byoung]

With family of 10 in May 2005 we saved over $600 in 5 days with the DDE card.

 

[LisaS]

There is a good description of the DDE here, along with a list of the restaurants that currently accept it: http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

 

[Ksp]

We made back our initial $60 within the first day of our stay; using DDE is easy and you have to love taking that percentage off the check total!!

We were just down during the F&W Festival and used both the Disney Dining Plan (where you pre-pay approximately $40/per adult each day you are there).

We stayed in a studio this trip, so I thought it a good idea to try the dining plan. When we have an actual kitchen, we will often have dinner in the room -- possibly just leftovers, but I do cook small dinners while we are there. It's nice to get us all in one spot w/out lots of other people.

The studio's kitchen is pretty limited, so . . . we took the plunge at got the DDP.

Although that brought our usual daily food costs up, it did certainly take the stress of me to be creative in the kitchenette of a studio.

We were able to use the DDE on top of our DDP quite a few times; anytime we had alcohol with dinner, we saved 20% off the price. Also, if DH was still hungry (yes, it can happen!) we were able to utilize the DDE to get a discount on any different desserts/side items.


If the DDP becomes a staple at WDW, I think we would get it anytime we were to stay in a studio. Most likely wouldn't get it if we were in a larger room w/kitchen faciliies, though.

 

[castleri]

Am still debating about getting another DDE card since the trip I would benefit most from contains 4 days that are on the black out list. It was great for our Sept trip but expired in Oct. Now I have to think about how likely we are to save $60 if there are 2 of the 5 days we have 4 people in the group and 2 of the other 5 days with just 2 of us that are blacked out. We are not planning on a lot of TS meals so will give it a little more thought as Kimonos is one of the places we plan to frequent. Can always call and pick up a temporary card when we get there if we decide just before we go that it will be worth it. It did work very well this past year since we had three trips using it and one of them was 10 days with the DDP and it helped with those adult drink bills.

 

[NoVaDVC]

Thanks for the information. It was very helpful. I had the DDP in April when I was at WDW. That's when we took the DVC tour and bought. Now we are going back in 10 Days. There will be 8 of us (taking the in-laws). DW, DS10, DS5, and I are going to get the annual passes, but the in-laws are getting 7 day park hopper passes. We already have ADRs for all of the nights. DSIL is leaving after 5 nights, so we have to figure out what to do with her "extra" meals. It worked well for us last time, although I ate more than I usually would. It is nice to not worry about how much you are spending on meals. The big savings over what we would have spent if we paid for the meals was a bonus.

 

[dcal]

We're owners and AP holders this year. We have two more trips planned in the next five months with the AP.

We're thinking of the Dining Plan, or meal plan now offered to members. Is there a benefit to buying both the dining and DDE? That is,an additional savings beyond the alcohol?

So, does anyone get the dining plan and the DDE card as an AP holder?

 

[dwelty]

This card sounds like a good investment. It's a shame WDW does not offer Dinning discounts with their Annual Pass. We have a Disneyland Annual pass and receive a 15% discount at ALL TABLE SERVICE LOCATIONS for no additional cost.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

This card sounds like a good investment. It's a shame WDW does not offer Dinning discounts with their Annual Pass. We have a Disneyland Annual pass and receive a 15% discount at ALL TABLE SERVICE LOCATIONS for no additional cost.

The WDW AP does give dining discounts at several restaurants throughout WDW.

 

[dwelty]

The WDW AP does give dining discounts at several restaurants throughout WDW.

That's good to know since we will be getting AP's on our december trip! Is it 15% like at Disneyland?

 

[goofy4tink]

That's good to know since we will be getting AP's on our december trip! Is it 15% like at Disneyland?

If I remember correctly, it's about 10% and usable mostly at lunchtime. I don't think I have ever used my AP for a discount on dining...I buy the DDE card. That has saved me a ton of money.

 

[The VWL Five]

We love our DDE. So far in two visits (11 days total) we saved $650. Have one more trip of 8 days planned so looking forward to cracking the 1K mark.

To us since we eat breakfast and lunch back at the room most days the dining plan is not ideal. The DDE savings comes in handy for us.

Enjoy