Should we DDP or not?

[michelle1]

I am not sure what to do for our upcoming trip. We have been on the DDP only twice before and it was free both times. I don't mind paying for it but am not sure if it will be worth it for us. We are small eaters for the most part and found we could have easily shared for the amt of food that is served. For pretty much the same cost we can stay at WL , or, POP with DDP (we have stayed at neither). I will add that when we were on the DDP we tended to eat better and I did like the fact that our food was already paid before we even got there so we didn't have to bring as much spending money. Any advice would be helpful

 

[hellokitty86]

hmmmmm...If I had the choice of either staying at Pop and getting the dining plan, or staying at the Wilderness Lodge and not having it, I would stay at Wilderness Lodge. It is so fun to eat at the sit down restaurants, but Wilderness Lodge is so beautiful and the proximity to the Magic Kingdom is a plus Disney has some wonderful counter service places, especially in Epcot. It is convienent to have all food paid for in advance though..It's a tough call but I would still choose Wilderness Lodge. Maybe you could save up for 1 or 2 table services so you won't feel deprived

JMO.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a wonderful trip!! Pop is a fun resort as well!!!!

 

[mom2aredhead]

How many people? Adults/Kids?

 

[michelle1]

How many people? Adults/Kids?

2 adults and 2 kids (12, 10) who I guess would qualify as adults for the plan. My DD 12 eats off of kids menus because she eats like a bird.

 

[Chloesmom]

This is what I did.. I went thru the allears menus and figured out what we would eat with and without the DDP would cost us. Of course we would not eat as much off of the plan but then there were times that we will share on the plan so it worked out that we will be saving over $100 to buy the plan and we will get more food.
Keep in mind that you can share at meals. We end up sharing at a few CS places so that we can also get breakfast.
If you stay at WL you still have to buy food. I think even if you eat cheap it would be hard to do it for much less than the DP.

 

[mom2aredhead]

2 adults and 2 kids (12, 10) My DD 12 eats off of kids menus because she eats like a bird.

Yup, they're both "Disney Adults"
I think it may be a problem for DD to have kid food (DDP experts please jump in)- I know that bending rules is very anti-DDP.
I agree w/ PP - go to allears and check the menus for where you would go, add up what you would eat, and see if it comes to less than $156/day.
I've been to WL (not stayed there) and the resort is beautiful and you have boat trans to MK which is a bonus. Is there maybe a happy-medium moderate resort that would still allow you to include DDP in your budget?

DDP does not work for our family, so I would not change resorts to include it, but I know it is a vital aspect of a lot of families vacations and saves a lot of people a lot of money. Basically It comes down to dollars and cents, so you really do have to do the math.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

Last year the DP was available, but we did not sign up for it. When we are at Disney, we are more eat and run type folks so we can do more attractions. That's not to say that every meal is strictly counter service. We always have 2 or 3 "sit down" meals. But I did not think that the DP would work, strictly in money terms, for us.

Last trip I saved every receipt for meals and snacks and compared them to what we would have spent on the DP. We saved $150-$175 dollars without the plan, so when I booked the trip this year, we left it off again.

 

[illiniowl]

Well, it sounds like you have already figured out the $$ part for your situation. So I think it really boils down to whether you want to stay at WL and eat fewer/no TS meals or stay at POP and eat 1 TS meal a day. Do you spend all your time in the parks and just use your hotel as a place to sleep, or do you spend a lot of time at your resort? Which is more important to your family's happiness on vacation: the luxury level of the hotel or the quality/quantity of your meals?

We spend every day in the parks but we do take mid-day breaks pretty regularly. So the place we stay is a little more important to us. Food is important too but dining at the higher-end TS places doesn't make or break our trip.

BTW we have stayed at both WL and AKL. WL was fine but AKL was much better for the same price. Newer, more exotic, the animals, the pool is bigger, transportation better. Basically an improved version of WL.

Have fun planning and taking your trip!

 

[LizinSTL]

I am not sure what to do for our upcoming trip. We have been on the DDP only twice before and it was free both times. I don't mind paying for it but am not sure if it will be worth it for us. We are small eaters for the most part and found we could have easily shared for the amt of food that is served. For pretty much the same cost we can stay at WL , or, POP with DDP (we have stayed at neither). I will add that when we were on the DDP we tended to eat better and I did like the fact that our food was already paid before we even got there so we didn't have to bring as much spending money. Any advice would be helpful

Do you want to get talked into the DDP or out of the DDP???

It sounds like you like the way you can "do Disney" WITH it. That should answer your question!

For my family, I'd rather sleep in a modest room with great meals than a deluxe beautful room and eat granola bars and Pb&Js..... it's about how you want to tour the "world", I guess.