Should we do the DDP? Help me to make the decision....

[WL Lover]

Ok so my family and I will be going to WDW soon, and have never really thought that the DDP was worth it. This year, I am thinking differently though. We are staying 6 nights 7days and are eating out 5 days. We mostly like late lunches, but DH is always about making sure we are full and loves any kind of chocolate snack. I have been hearing about these amazing cupcakeslove and am wondering if DDP would cover that, all of our lunches, and other little snacks/drinks. Would we be wasting money? If you have any experiences (good or bad) with DDP please share! Thank you!

 

[stripesace]

Wife and I did the math on our trip, and honestly we would have probably been better off paying out of pocket, especially with our table meals. We think 1 Quick Service and 1 Snack wouldn't be bad, paying for the table meals out of pocket, isn't a bad deal. But even then, out of pocket seems more economical, for us.

 

[JCMHutch]

DH & I have done dining on the last 3 trips and for us it is so worth it. DH likes to eat out while we're on vacation and has a big appetite (he will finish my meal most nights). We'd spend more on food than the cost of the DDP. I also like the fact that since most places take DDP, we don't feel limited on our meal choices. If I were paying OOP, I don't think we'd have tried half the restaurants we have gone to because of the cost.

An added bonus is with DDP is that the entire trip is paid in full when we go. The last two trips, thanks to free gift cards at check-in and our Disney Dream Dollars, we didn't even need to bring spending/tip money.

 

[PinkEars]

We did dining plan on our previous trip and opting not to on our next. Cost wise sounds like it wouldnt benefit you if you only eat one meal a day with snacks? if i read that right.

We just thought it was a real pain to make sure we had adrs to cover our table credits but then if we changed plans while there then we had to get another table or pay out of pocket and use meal later...it just wasnt for us.

Granted it was very convienent having everything paid for. But alot of snacks my son wanted wasnt on the plan. ALOT of snacks are on the plan but just figures our luck lol

 

[smiths02]

Since you are all Disney adults and you are planning on all lunches, then my gut instinct would be that it is not a value for you.

Of course, you can do the math yourself using menus on this site to guess what you might order...where will you be eating? what would you order (would you always order drink, dessert and entree?)

 

[TDC Nala]

If you aren't attaching much value to DDP as a convenience and are looking at it as strictly a moneysaving device, you need to check on where you plan to eat, add up what your family would order, and see if you would outlay more or less cash than you would if you purchased DDP or if you would break even. Take into account the snack credits, plus drinks and desserts at every meal. Ask yourself if your family would order the way the dining plan requires you to order. For example, if you're going to skip the desserts at most meals, it may not be worth it to you to prepay for meals with desserts included. If you break even you should take into account the "convenience" you could achieve by prepaying all your meals. Remember on the regular dining plan, the least expensive one that includes table service meals, on a 6 night trip you will have 6 TS, 6 CS and 6 snacks per person to use.

 

[Tara922c]

We did it for the first time last year, and now my DH wont go without it. I am not sure how much money we actually saved, but when we paid 42 a day per person, and one buffet is 35 I am pretty sure we came out ahead. I liked the fact that our food was paid for before we even stepped on the plane. We did the regular meal plan, and paid out of pocket for breakfast at CRT, lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and a few bottles of water. I also loved the fact that we weren't worrying about how much food cost while at the world. I know, I know we are on vacation, but the cheap in me still comes out when I am forking over a weeks worth of groceries for one buffet style dinner.

 

[rachel09985]

We did it for the first time last year, and now my DH wont go without it. I am not sure how much money we actually saved, but when we paid 42 a day per person, and one buffet is 35 I am pretty sure we came out ahead. I liked the fact that our food was paid for before we even stepped on the plane. We did the regular meal plan, and paid out of pocket for breakfast at CRT, lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and a few bottles of water. I also loved the fact that we weren't worrying about how much food cost while at the world. I know, I know we are on vacation, but the cheap in me still comes out when I am forking over a weeks worth of groceries for one buffet style dinner.

Keep in mind it is now $45.99...I still think it would save me money but maybe only 20-30 dollars per person. I love knowing our food is paid for as well.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

The DDP is basically just a "convenience" IMHO you just pull out your room key and poof it's done . . .but if you sit and do the math, you spend less on OOP by $5 - $10.

The only time I found the DDP worth the price was when it included your appetizer and tip . . .

 

[minnie mum]

We love the DDP, and have used it the last 3 times, and will on our upcoming trip as well. However, we try to maximize it's value: schedule our TS meals for dinners, use CS for lunch, and our snack credits for breakfast.

Not sure that this would be worth it for you if you prefer your main meal for lunch. Also think that this would be problematic for you at this point. If your trip is in less than a month, you might have a hard time getting ADRs for your dates. If you can't maximize the use of your TS credits (really hard to do without ADRs), then you'll be better off just paying OOP.

 

[baler31]

The DDP is basically just a "convenience" IMHO you just pull out your room key and poof it's done . . .but if you sit and do the math, you spend less on OOP by $5 - $10.

The only time I found the DDP worth the price was when it included your appetizer and tip . . .

While I agree with most everything, I disagree with "convenience". We don't like to have to check if a restaurant is on the DDP. We prefer to decide on appetizer and/or desserts. To me the plan requires too much planning, I would prefer to just purchase what snack or meal I want. Also, we never order dessert with every meal. I did find it more appealing when it included an appetizer and tip as well.

We pay OOP and have always spent less than the DDP would have been.

 

[Figment2]

Did it once and won't do it again. The Tables in Wonderland card works much better for us. I'm more of a salads & appetizers person and those aren't part of the plan. The only place it worked was at buffets.

I agree with TDC Nala. Go through the menus and decide what you'd be ordering. Just remember, soups, salads & appetizers aren't part of the plan.

Cyn

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

If you aren't attaching much value to DDP as a convenience and are looking at it as strictly a moneysaving device, you need to check on where you plan to eat, add up what your family would order, and see if you would outlay more or less cash than you would if you purchased DDP or if you would break even. Take into account the snack credits, plus drinks and desserts at every meal. Ask yourself if your family would order the way the dining plan requires you to order. For example, if you're going to skip the desserts at most meals, it may not be worth it to you to prepay for meals with desserts included. If you break even you should take into account the "convenience" you could achieve by prepaying all your meals. Remember on the regular dining plan, the least expensive one that includes table service meals, on a 6 night trip you will have 6 TS, 6 CS and 6 snacks per person to use.

Great tips here. Do the math to figure out what is best for you.

 

[tinkerpea]

Hello.
We have done a few trip[s staying off site so not being able to have the DDP and then we started staying on site, so the 1st yr on site we dint have the DDP and since we do kind of like you as we have 3 boys and also enjoy late lunches and getting up and out early,but we still really enjoy having our late lunches in wonderful places, we found we spent alot of money on food!
The next time we went we got married at the Pavillion and decided to get the DDP as we wanted all our saved cash to go on treats etc, i can honestly say i found it to be the most wonderful thing, I really enjoy the planning but also did at least 4 or 5 on the day choices and never had a major problem with getting somewhere nice to eat, I will never do disney again with out the DDP, nearly everything under $5 counts as a snack o lots of yummy treats, the QS point of your package you can get 2 driks at breakfast or a drink and a side, not having to use your snack points for drinks addes up to giving you more for treats,IMO i find it really good value but thats because i hate eating rubbish for the whole trip and we do alot of Charecter dining with our children, I would still do it when we go without our children at the end of the yr though as its peice of mind that we will never be without food!

That being said if your more of a fast food type persons it proberbly would not be worth getting and the QS would be more benefit with its 2 snacks a day! HAVE FUN