savings questions TIW versus DDP?

[jco_direwolf]

But, what TIW gives you is flexibility (i.e. you are not locked into eating x-number of meals and snacks).

You do have to "eat" $375 of food and Adult Beverages at Table Service to hit TIW/DDE break-even.

 

[Tiger926]

We've done DP and DxDP several times, as well as DDE/TIW many times, and we find a bigger savings with TIW. Here is why:

1. Kids - Kids are young (3 and 7), but they eat adult meals (usually share), and have been since babies. They have never eaten a peanut butter and jam sandwich, nor do we eat hot dogs. They eat: steak, chicken, rice and fish.

2. DP is too restrictive - we don't eat desserts, nor drink pop. So, we would frequently not order desserts. Kids love milkshakes though, and they can get that as a drink with TIW, or, order appetizers.

3. DxDP - too many ADRs, and way high tips for 3 TS meals per day. We also don't use the refillable mugs, as we don't drink pop or coffee. We did find a big savings when getting DxDP, as we ate 3 TS meals per day, but it was too much running to ADRs.

4. Alcohol - we do not drink alcohol, so despite some people saying the only way to save is by drinking alcohol, no, it's not.

5. CS - we do not care for CS meals at all. In the 2 weeks we are at Disney, we are lucky to eat 3 or 4 CS meals, and some of those are a quick breakfast.

At this point though, we are restauranted out! We've BTDT with almost all restaurants, including Signatures, so this trip, we ate even more in villa, and we plan on eating even more in our villa next trip. We will still get TIW (unless they raise the cost), as we have a few character meals planned, as well as our must-do restaurants.

We like the flexibility that TIW gives, as well as saving us money, Tiger

 

[Tara]

3. DxDP - too many ADRs, and way high tips for 3 TS meals per day. We also don't use the refillable mugs, as we don't drink pop or coffee. We did find a big savings when getting DxDP, as we ate 3 TS meals per day, but it was too much running to ADRs.

We only do 2 TS per day on DxDP - breakfast and dinner, with one being a 2TS meal each day. (One day that works out to breakfast at CRT and dinner at a 1TS restaurant ).

Plus we have to tip anyway, DxDP or TIW, so I don't see any difference there. The only difference would be if we were eating fewer meals. but my experience is that if we are doing fewer meals, TIW works out better anyway, irrespective of tips.

4. Alcohol - we do not drink alcohol, so despite some people saying the only way to save is by drinking alcohol, no, it's not.

5. CS - we do not care for CS meals at all. In the 2 weeks we are at Disney, we are lucky to eat 3 or 4 CS meals, and some of those are a quick breakfast.

I agree with both of these - it's really rare that we drink alcohol with meal and TIW has always worked out well when we use it. And we just don't do quick service at all.

 

[Tiger926]

We only do 2 TS per day on DxDP - breakfast and dinner, with one being a 2TS meal each day. (One day that works out to breakfast at CRT and dinner at a 1TS restaurant ).

Plus we have to tip anyway, DxDP or TIW, so I don't see any difference there. The only difference would be if we were eating fewer meals. but my experience is that if we are doing fewer meals, TIW works out better anyway, irrespective of tips.



I agree with both of these - it's really rare that we drink alcohol with meal and TIW has always worked out well when we use it. And we just don't do quick service at all.

We don't find value in Signatures. We pay out of pocket if we go to a Signature, and have only used DxDP credits for them (we never used Reg DP credits for Signatures as that would have required OOP meals). DD and I also have low blood sugar, so we still had to pay OOP for snacks or light meals even when on DxDP, as we have to eat very regularly - so Signatures don't work in this respect, as we can't just eat 2 meals per day. We did CRT in March, and paid cash with our TIW card, but we really don't eat at many Signatures at this point.

Tiger

 

[otterpop]

So I just headed over to the Dining Plan forums and found the following discussion:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2541735

People quoted savings from 25% to 40% with the various dining plans.

One poster mentioned you save a lot of money with kids. For example, if you went to a character meal, lets say a dinner at Akershus. The cost of the dinner for a child 9 and under would normally be $22.35 (includes tax). The basic DP for a child 9 and under for one day is 11.99, which also includes a counter service meal and one snack for the day. If you include the price of the CS meal (approx $5.00) and one snack (approx. $3.00), then the savings by using the DP would be about $18. TIW would give you a savings of about $6 (20% off of $30).

Lets look at the same scenario, but for an adult. The cost of the dinner for an adult at Akershus would normally be $40.46 (includes tax). The basic DP for an adult for one day is 45.99, which also includes a counter service meal and one snack for the day. If you include the price of the CS meal (approx $14.00) and one snack (approx. $3.00), then the savings by using the DP would be about $11.47. TIW would give you a savings of about $11.49 (20% off of $57.46). Basically it's a wash.

So, unless I am missing something or made a bad calculation, then it would appear that if you have kids, the dining plan is really worth it. If you do not have kids, then it doesn't matter. But, as almost everyone has mentioned, TIW gives you the flexibility of eating what you want and with the DP, you are locked into eating what Disney gives you (does everyone really need to have a dessert with every meal, probably not, but then again..you are on vacation!!!!).

Also as what was just mentioned, don't forget the $75 you need to spend for TIW up front...

Does my logic sound good or am I missing something else???

Thanks again to all for your comments.

Evan

 

[Tara]

We don't find value in Signatures. We pay out of pocket if we go to a Signature, and have only used DxDP credits for them (we never used Reg DP credits for Signatures as that would have required OOP meals). DD and I also have low blood sugar, so we still had to pay OOP for snacks or light meals even when on DxDP, as we have to eat very regularly - so Signatures don't work in this respect, as we can't just eat 2 meals per day. We did CRT in March, and paid cash with our TIW card, but we really don't eat at many Signatures at this point.

Tiger

Signatures are really the only meals we enjoy. On DDP I don't think signatures are a good deal, either. When just DS and I did DxDP in June, we saved a lot of money eating this way (2 meals/day). But clearly, that's what works for us. It worked out pretty perfectly, in fact. We were at a moderate, so we didn't have a kitchen and the meals provided a great break from the heat. And the late breakfast and then early to normal dinner time spaced food out enough that we weren't stuffed or feeling like we'd just eaten.

 

[jco_direwolf]

Does my logic sound good or am I missing something else???

The BIG thing I think you are missing is you HAVE to buy DDP for length of stay for each guest (yes you can buy it day by day if you make each day a reservation, but that is a lot of work.)

I think it has to do with how much you eat. We eat 1 TS per day, and most days no CS and maybe a QS. And the TS we typically would be out the cost of wine, and a lot of times we wouldn't make the $50 for the meal. This is what I said about you need a baseline to compare. I kept careful track one year, and this was back when DDP include tip and appetizer, and DDE/TIW was a better deal for us.

Yes with the right ADRs and the right orders you can make out on it. But you have to ask if you wouldn't order it out of pocket should you count it as part of your "savings" in DDP? If you do, can I count getting a messed up order and not getting charged for it (same thing food I didn't want, but got it for free)?

 

[dianeschlicht]

We've done DP and DxDP several times, as well as DDE/TIW many times, and we find a bigger savings with TIW. Here is why:

1. Kids - Kids are young (3 and 7), but they eat adult meals (usually share), and have been since babies. They have never eaten a peanut butter and jam sandwich, nor do we eat hot dogs. They eat: steak, chicken, rice and fish.

2. DP is too restrictive - we don't eat desserts, nor drink pop. So, we would frequently not order desserts. Kids love milkshakes though, and they can get that as a drink with TIW, or, order appetizers.

3. DxDP - too many ADRs, and way high tips for 3 TS meals per day. We also don't use the refillable mugs, as we don't drink pop or coffee. We did find a big savings when getting DxDP, as we ate 3 TS meals per day, but it was too much running to ADRs.

4. Alcohol - we do not drink alcohol, so despite some people saying the only way to save is by drinking alcohol, no, it's not.

5. CS - we do not care for CS meals at all. In the 2 weeks we are at Disney, we are lucky to eat 3 or 4 CS meals, and some of those are a quick breakfast.

At this point though, we are restauranted out! We've BTDT with almost all restaurants, including Signatures, so this trip, we ate even more in villa, and we plan on eating even more in our villa next trip. We will still get TIW (unless they raise the cost), as we have a few character meals planned, as well as our must-do restaurants.

We like the flexibility that TIW gives, as well as saving us money, Tiger

You sound like us (only we don't have kids). There is just no way DDP makes any sense to us at all, and we always have the value of the TIW card paid for before one trip is up.

 

[crisi]

btw, we did NEITHER last trip. We didn't stay enough days to make the Annual Pass worthwhile for the TiW card. And actively dislike the DDP. We could have saved some money on the TiW card, but since it was a small group of us, for a relatively short stay (but a lot of signature dining), and our alcohol bill was smaller than usual - we just paid cash.

And alcohol isn't the only way, but its one of the variables that help. So is party size, number of days on the plan, number of signature meals. It would be really hard to break even if on TiW if your WDW stay was one night before the cruise for two people. And really hard not to if you had a party of six who ate table service daily over two weeks and ate about half of the at signature spots.

 

[vicki_c]

As to the kids/no kids question - I have 2 adults and the time I calculated it all out - we had 1 kid and 1 adult kid (age 10) and that's where I came up with my difference of $100 between TiW and DDP.

So it's not automatic that just because you have kids that DDP makes more sense. It again depends on where you eat, what you eat, how many kids, etc.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

When DDP was FIRST introduced our DS was 9 and tip and appetizer were included. Over a 9 night trip we would save about $300.

Once DS turned 10 and they took the gratuity out we stopped saving money with DDP. We had DxDDP in 2008. It was $70 per person, per day, so $210 for the plan PLUS the gratuities. We were eating a buffet breakfast and a signature dinner almost every day, so our tips were increasing our cost by around $55 per day. So, for 3 people, $265 PER DAY!!! Our DS is tiny and prefers to order an appetizer with a kid's entree so having the adult DxDDP for him was a huge waste.

This year we considered the quick service DDP but in the end we decided against it. We loaded a gift card with $1250 (what the plan would have cost) and used the gift card to pay for our counter service meals and snacks. We actually only spent $625 over the course of our 2 week stay. For us, it would have been an ENORMOUS waste of money to have that quick service plan.

We have found with the TiW card we spend about $2200 on food/drinks/snacks for a 2 week trip. The DxDDP + tips over that same amount of time would run more than $3700.

My comparisons are purely what we spend one way vs. what we spend the other way, but for us we come out way ahead with TIW.

 

[Jitzy]

There are advantages to both. I have the TIW card but this summer we purchased the DDP. It was nice not having to worry about the cost of each meal since we were a group of ten. Just take turns paying the tip. It worked out well.

But, I really love my TIW card. We have eaten at V & A twice in the last four months and it has really saved us money.

Also, this last trip, just eating at CS at Pop and SSR, we saved over 20 dollars on food for 2 days.

You really need to look at what resort you are staying if you want to decide between DDP/TIW. SSR is one of the few Deluxe Resorts where you can use the TIW card at the food court. If we stay Deluxe elsewhere, we are likely to get the DDP, or at least the QSDP ~ which our teenage boys love. My DH and I like that because they take their cards and go when they are hungry and we don't have to give them cash. DH also likes the Tangierine Cafe in EPCOT which is a little pricey. QSDP is great for that restaurant, especially if you love their food as much as us.