Really starting to second guess DDP

[nervous1sttimer]

With the new fall discounts, I could save $700 off our hotel stay by eliminating the DDP and paying OOP for food. But we have ADRs at CRT, Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace, Sci Fi, and MM F! package that are non-negotiables. Those are almost $700 alone, aren't they? I don't think the discount would save us enough to eat for the rest of the week to replace our current FD offer, but all the posts here have really made me start to question how much sense the DDP makes given our eating habits!

 

[nervous1sttimer]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that we are two adults and children ages 3 and 6. My kids are picky and we are all moreso grazers and snackers than "3-squares" types. I worry my kids will not eat much at all at the ADRs, but the character meals are must-dos!

 

[havoc315]

I am not a fan of the ddp in general. But with 2 children, and lots of character meals, the ddp is a pretty good value.

We are going this week. We have 2 children, but opted for a generous room discount. We will eat lots of TS, lots of signature meals, but not fixed price meals.
So where a family of 4 can spend about $130 for Chef Mickey, by paying for ala carte dishes that we actually like, only ordering what we really eat, our family of 4 can eat for $100 at California Grill.

 

[BuzzandWoodyMom]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that we are two adults and children ages 3 and 6. My kids are picky and we are all moreso grazers and snackers than "3-squares" types. I worry my kids will not eat much at all at the ADRs, but the character meals are must-dos!

If you are planning on doing character meals and eating at least one table service meal per day and you are staying at a value resort or a moderate the Free Dining discount should come out way ahead for you instead of a room only discount.

We have a large family and get 2 connecting rooms at a value resort. A free dining discount saves us about $1,400.00. A room only discount would save us about $700.00. We do a lot of character meals and have our favorite restaurants and WDW is part of the whole "magical" vacation, so a free dining discount is a no-brainer for us.

Generally, if you are staying value or moderate a free dining discount will save you more and if you are staying deluxe then a room only discount can save you more - if the discount is more than 30%, if it's 30% or less, it will be about the same or less. That's a generalized statment and can be applied to most, but not all families traveling to WDW. If you have a family of 5, all over 10 years, then a FD discount will probably be better even at a deluxe. If you are a family that packs your own lunches and snacks and eats in your room, then a room only discount might save you more than a free dining discount at a value or moderate resort.

 

[ToddyLu]

Leave your current plan in place. See how it works for you. DH and I no longer do the DDP, we have TIW card....my parents do becasue they like the idea of having their meals prepaid.

Enjoy your trip and know that the DDP is convenient, even if not economical. I had to stop checking the SW site after we bought our tickets...I knew I got an OK deal on our prices and watching it everyday was making me nuts.

I think it is worth it if you are doing character meals. I like the ADRs you have and a couple would be hard to get if you changed. Relax, appreciate the fact that you will have a great trip and ultimately you will build on it. If you listen to the DIS too much....you will go bonkers.

 

[ArmyVet80]

My wife and I get the deluxe dining plan every time we go to Disney World. We got it on our honeymoon back in 2009 and enjoyed it so much that we have decided it was well worth it. Sure it costs a little bit more but we love the TS for all of our meals. We mainly use them on the lunches and dinners. We could save the money and eat more responsibly on our vacation but that is the thing. It is our vacation. The one time (week) a year that we can eat whatever we want and enjoy it. Sure we'll spend an extra couple of hours the week we get home at the gym but it's well worth it.

The added cost is moderate. I will give you that. We are visiting Disney World 9-8-12 thru 9-15-12 and have our dining reservations set. Here is an over view of where we are eating.

9-8: Lunch is at Sci-Fi Diner.. Dinner: Hollywood Brown Derby
9-9: Lunch Tony's.. Dinner: Marrakesh
9-10: Lunch Yak and Yeti.. Dinner: Via Napoli
9-11: Lunch Rose and Crown Pub.. Dinner: Liberty Tree Tavern (MNSSH)
9-12: Lunch Norway (Princesses Lunch).. Dinner: Biergarten
9-13: Lunch Cinderella's Royal Table.. Dinner: Hoop Dee Doo Revue
9-14: Lunch Le Cellier... Dinner: Spirit of Aloha
9-15: Lunch Biergarten.. Dinner: Back in Indiana (Blah)

As you can see we like to eat at Epcot. If we were to spend the money out of pocket we wouldn't be doing nearly as many meals as we are. We are using 19 out of 24 meals per person. The 5 meals left over will be used for breakfast at our resort.

We have 4 places that we are going to eat at that are 2 meal plan credits each. We definitely wouldn't be going to the Hoop Dee Doo, Spirit of Aloha, Hollywood Brown Derby or Cinderella's Royal Table if it weren't for the dining plan.

We do not have children so that also weighs in on our meal plan choices. We also like the fact that you get 2 snacks per day per person. That's a lot of waters, sodas, fruits, ice creams, etc. that we also would not buy even with the extra money saved from not getting the dining plan.

 

[TDC Nala]

Now for me, I never do the dining plan at all anymore. I eat the meals I want, in the places I want, and order what I want. If I want to go to signature restaurants, I go, and pay for what I want to order.

For the OP, with 2 small kids and a lot of character meals, they are one of the few groups that the DDP could actually still mean significant savings.

 

[disneychristmasx3]

My wife and I get the deluxe dining plan every time we go to Disney World. We got it on our honeymoon back in 2009 and enjoyed it so much that we have decided it was well worth it. Sure it costs a little bit more but we love the TS for all of our meals. We mainly use them on the lunches and dinners. We could save the money and eat more responsibly on our vacation but that is the thing. It is our vacation. The one time (week) a year that we can eat whatever we want and enjoy it. Sure we'll spend an extra couple of hours the week we get home at the gym but it's well worth it.

The added cost is moderate. I will give you that. We are visiting Disney World 9-8-12 thru 9-15-12 and have our dining reservations set. Here is an over view of where we are eating.

9-8: Lunch is at Sci-Fi Diner.. Dinner: Hollywood Brown Derby
9-9: Lunch Tony's.. Dinner: Marrakesh
9-10: Lunch Yak and Yeti.. Dinner: Via Napoli
9-11: Lunch Rose and Crown Pub.. Dinner: Liberty Tree Tavern (MNSSH)
9-12: Lunch Norway (Princesses Lunch).. Dinner: Biergarten
9-13: Lunch Cinderella's Royal Table.. Dinner: Hoop Dee Doo Revue
9-14: Lunch Le Cellier... Dinner: Spirit of Aloha
9-15: Lunch Biergarten.. Dinner: Back in Indiana (Blah)

As you can see we like to eat at Epcot. If we were to spend the money out of pocket we wouldn't be doing nearly as many meals as we are. We are using 19 out of 24 meals per person. The 5 meals left over will be used for breakfast at our resort.

We have 4 places that we are going to eat at that are 2 meal plan credits each. We definitely wouldn't be going to the Hoop Dee Doo, Spirit of Aloha, Hollywood Brown Derby or Cinderella's Royal Table if it weren't for the dining plan.

We do not have children so that also weighs in on our meal plan choices. We also like the fact that you get 2 snacks per day per person. That's a lot of waters, sodas, fruits, ice creams, etc. that we also would not buy even with the extra money saved from not getting the dining plan.

Wouldn't you only get 21 credits? Looks like 7 nights.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Wouldn't you only get 21 credits? Looks like 7 nights.

8 days 7 nights. I wondered that exact same thing the first time we went.. Since they say it is based on the number of nights you are there. That isn't entirely true.. It's actually based off of the number of days total you are there. So we get 3*8= 24 per person. I had to call and confirm for our honeymoon back in 2009.

 

[nervous1sttimer]

We are there 8 days, 7 nights as well, and it's definitely credits per night! Sorry about that.

ETA - you might be confused because they don't expire until midnight on the day you check out. You definitely have 8 days to use them, but you will only be getting 21 credits in total.

 

[dynamite100]

8 days 7 nights. I wondered that exact same thing the first time we went.. Since they say it is based on the number of nights you are there. That isn't entirely true.. It's actually based off of the number of days total you are there. So we get 3*8= 24 per person. I had to call and confirm for our honeymoon back in 2009.

?
This is contrary to what I've understood about the dining plans. I know you can use your entitlements over the 8 days, but if you only have 7 nights booked at a Disney resort, surely that's only 7 days worth of entitlements (7 x 3 in the case of the deluxe plan)?

 

[vicki_c]

8 days 7 nights. I wondered that exact same thing the first time we went.. Since they say it is based on the number of nights you are there. That isn't entirely true.. It's actually based off of the number of days total you are there. So we get 3*8= 24 per person. I had to call and confirm for our honeymoon back in 2009.

It's by night, no matter what you experienced or remember from before. It's 3x7 for your trip.

 

[TheRatPack]

We spent over 900.00 out of pocket last year on 6 or 7 table service meals...it may have been 5, I'd have to look. So the dining plan is a great deal for our family of 7.

My kids are 2 full meals and a lighter meal a day kind of kids though, plus we have fruit or other healthy snacks between the meals. While some of the restaurants have larger than normal portions, we've found most of the portions just fine. My kids usually clean their plates.

 

[loveshak22]

There are a ton of negative reviews on here about the DDP. I think it can totally be worth it, especially with the restaurants you have lined up for your trip. If you are would rather save money by eliminating most of your TS reservations and sticking to CS meals then the DDP wouldn't be worth it.

You can solve your dilemma by deciding what you and your family want and then doing the math. Go to: http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm and check out the prices of the places that you know you want to eat. Add up what you think you and your family would spend on a meal at those places and you'll know for sure if it's worth it for your family.

I'm actually thinking that we'll upgrade to the deluxe DDP on our next trip because there are 3 signature restaurants that I really want to try and when I added up the menu prices the deluxe DDP and OOP was about even but then add in the snacks with the DDP and the CS options then it makes sense for us to do the deluxe DDP. Otherwise would say that's ridiculous.

 

[PoohsBees]

Relax- you'll be surprised how much you'll save on the dining plan. We went last spring and (GASP!) PAID for the dining plan and still made out like bandits. (Full disclosure- we paid for the Standard plan for 2 adults- my DD was just under the 3yo cut-off, WHAT a deal that was..free park entry, free dining. Big pluses!!) With little kids- those character meals make the whole thing worth it. We did Akershus, Crystal Palace twice (okay- we're a little pooh-centric), Tusker House (awesome- Goofy kissed her on the head, we still hear about that), Coral Reef for the whole undersea dining thing, Sanaa in hopes of a giraffe dining companion (not so hot for us, no animals came by- and I hate spicy food). Anyway- you get the point, high dollar TS meals. But I didn't even take into account the QS prices when I decided to get the DP. Sure you CAN get cheaper QS- but it was great to get the gigantic hot dog meals at Casey's and sit on the curb to watch the parade (that was well over $20 worth for one QS). Then you have a $5 Dolewhip and a $6 coffee drink... it really adds up. I was very pleased when I crunched the numbers (yes- I made a point to write all the real costs down before they applied our credits, I wanted to know if we had wasted our money). Even with the snacks we didn't use (we forgot about them-oops) we still made out very well over what we paid for the plan. So much so- that when we come back NEXT spring we're gonna do it again, even having 3 to pay for I think it should save us $$.

 

[hulagirl87]

Relax- you'll be surprised how much you'll save on the dining plan. We went last spring and (GASP!) PAID for the dining plan and still made out like bandits. (Full disclosure- we paid for the Standard plan for 2 adults- my DD was just under the 3yo cut-off, WHAT a deal that was..free park entry, free dining. Big pluses!!) With little kids- those character meals make the whole thing worth it. We did Akershus, Crystal Palace twice (okay- we're a little pooh-centric), Tusker House (awesome- Goofy kissed her on the head, we still hear about that), Coral Reef for the whole undersea dining thing, Sanaa in hopes of a giraffe dining companion (not so hot for us, no animals came by- and I hate spicy food). Anyway- you get the point, high dollar TS meals. But I didn't even take into account the QS prices when I decided to get the DP. Sure you CAN get cheaper QS- but it was great to get the gigantic hot dog meals at Casey's and sit on the curb to watch the parade (that was well over $20 worth for one QS). Then you have a $5 Dolewhip and a $6 coffee drink... it really adds up. I was very pleased when I crunched the numbers (yes- I made a point to write all the real costs down before they applied our credits, I wanted to know if we had wasted our money). Even with the snacks we didn't use (we forgot about them-oops) we still made out very well over what we paid for the plan. So much so- that when we come back NEXT spring we're gonna do it again, even having 3 to pay for I think it should save us $$.

I'm happy to read this. I have been reading so many posts about how people are saying that the dining plan isn't worth it and it's making me nervous! We are going with DD in January, right before she turns 3. I'm glad that she will be free, especially with the food because she is extremely picky about what she eats. I like the idea of the buffets because then I can put a bunch of things on a plate and hope for the best with her I know that DH and I will be wanting to take her to a lot of the character meals and have the chance to sit down. I've done the dining plan several times before but it has always been free. I'm worried that I am not getting the best deal, but part of me doesn't want to have to worry about paying for each meal individually, I would rather have prepaid for it. It's our first trip travelling with DD anywhere and I'm trying to make things as easy as possible. If that's even an option