Some thoughts on DxDDP

[ML_LovesDisney]

Hi all, I am here now and it is my last night But we are here to discuss DxDDP not my pity party. We did DxDDP for 4 nights since we did a split stay so we could try it out since DDP was definitley not enough food for us. I calculated how much we spent on DxDDP ($935) and we paid $651.

Sooo that is a good deal, definitley. BUT i recalculated minus some of the snack (2 a day times 3 people is a LOT of snacks) and dessert at every restaurant except buffets and I would've spent $841. Yes, that is STILL a good deal. The only problem is I was eating in order to get my money's worth, such as a TS for breakfast and dinner when I would've been happy eating at the QS in BCV or a protein bar or something and even when we wanted to sleep in and skip breakfast I felt I was flushing money down the toilet if I missed my TS meal so I made sure we went!

I am glad I experienced it but I had to spend wayyyyy too much time getting from my hotel to MK to the monorail to get to other resorts for our reservations and it wasn't fun after once or twice. I'm very glad I had the experience but I would not do the DxDDP again unless I really didn't care about spending my whole day transporting to restaurants and my 5 yr old often complained "we're eating AGAIN?!!?"

It is a GREAT way to try a lot of restaurants and expensive items and not feel guilty, so I don't regret it at all, but next time I am going to try preloading a gift card with $1000 and use that for food and see where it gets me.

 

[catne]

thanks for your report.

We've done both the DDP & the DxDP...and not sure I'd want to do the Deluxe with little ones. Can see your point, there!

Glad you did have some fun with it, anyway...it is a great way to check out more restaurants but if it messes with your schedule or sleep, well, you're right: not a good match at this stage of your life.

Hope you've had a great time there...and safe travels home

 

[Wendybird55]

This is our thrid year going DxDP...I was going to do DDP this year, but after figuring things out DXDP was the way to go money wise.

First with DxDP - we never have to lay out any extra money for food...only tips. We like breakfast on vacation. We're early people and enjoy to start the day with a good breakfast, plus DS (who is almost 4 this is 1st year we're paying for his plan) is a picky eater and breakfast is the one meal he eats alot the food so I know he starts the day with a good meal.

We usually do CS for lunch so we don't have to worry about being someplace at a certain time. This year I booked 3 lunch ADRS, but if we don't make them because we're busy in the park, that's OK we'll do CS. We're leaving Friday and form what I hear about the the heat down there I figure it would be nice to have a rest in a nice AC restaurant in the afternoon.

I agree you don't want to spend time going from restaurant to restaurant and traveling from place to place to eat so we plan our meals and restaurant according to the parks we are at so that they are nearby and easy to get to. We go to monorail restaurants when we're in MK, etc.

I think there are WAY too many snacks and with the 3 meals we don't use them much, However, at the end of the trip we use our snack credits to get things like lollipops, boxes of Mickey Cookies, etc. Snacks we can bring home for us or little souveniers for others and snacke we can have on the plane ride home.

Plus DxDP allows you the opportunity to try 2-credit meals. As you said some mornings you just want a simple breakfast and can use a snack credit and can then use 2 Credits for something else. Last year we did Mickeys backyard BBQ. This year Cinderellas Castle. With a little one it's hard to try the "fancy" signature restuarants. Plus DS enjoys all the character meals we get to go to.....

For us a perfect dining plan would be 2 table service meals a day with choice of appetizer or dessert (some meals I'd rather have an appetizer then dessert ) and 2 Snack Credits.
Plenty of food...we can have our morning breakfast...snacks in the afternoon and enjoy a nice dinner...

I'm sure there are others who have an idea of their perfect meal plan...what's yours?

 

[Tricia1972]

Hi all, I am here now and it is my last night But we are here to discuss DxDDP not my pity party. We did DxDDP for 4 nights since we did a split stay so we could try it out since DDP was definitley not enough food for us. I calculated how much we spent on DxDDP ($935) and we paid $651.

Sooo that is a good deal, definitley. BUT i recalculated minus some of the snack (2 a day times 3 people is a LOT of snacks) and dessert at every restaurant except buffets and I would've spent $841. Yes, that is STILL a good deal. The only problem is I was eating in order to get my money's worth, such as a TS for breakfast and dinner when I would've been happy eating at the QS in BCV or a protein bar or something and even when we wanted to sleep in and skip breakfast I felt I was flushing money down the toilet if I missed my TS meal so I made sure we went!

I am glad I experienced it but I had to spend wayyyyy too much time getting from my hotel to MK to the monorail to get to other resorts for our reservations and it wasn't fun after once or twice. I'm very glad I had the experience but I would not do the DxDDP again unless I really didn't care about spending my whole day transporting to restaurants and my 5 yr old often complained "we're eating AGAIN?!!?"

It is a GREAT way to try a lot of restaurants and expensive items and not feel guilty, so I don't regret it at all, but next time I am going to try preloading a gift card with $1000 and use that for food and see where it gets me.

Enjoy your last day in Disney! Thanks for sharing how the DxDDP didn't exactly work for your family. It's definitely not for everyone (even the DDP isn't for every family)

I love the pre-loaded gift card idea! I've heard others mention it and I think it's a fantastic way to make your own dining plan and make one that works for you. The bonus is that your left over credits(dollars) are yours to do with what you want. They don't expire at midnight the day you check out.

 

[Aimros]

Thanks for your report! I've been debating on upgrading our DDP to the DxDP for our honeymoon, but I'm worried about exactly some of the things you mentioned (such as eating only to get our money's worth, waking up to go to a TS breakfast when we want to sleep in, and feeling like we're spending our whole trip traveling to resorts to make our restaurant ADR's). I ultimately decided that the DxDP won't be for us this time around, as we would like to spend our honeymoon relaxing and not rushing around eating... I'll be paying OOP for any extras we might want.

Enjoy your last day!

 

[CajunMomof3]

We have done both the DDP and the DxDP, and, unlike everyone else, we have opted to go with the DxDP again. We like trying new things- so the apps and desserts work for us. We also seem to be gluttons for punishment- so we love the planning part of fitting all the pieces together. Also, I am doing a low-carb diet so the CS meals don't always work for me- especially at breakfast. We always save some money using the plan, but, as others mentioned, it could be due to trying to "get our money's worth." The one thing that has really worked for us is the planned break in our days. And my husband just likes the idea of being able to eat whatever he wants and not worry about budgeting once we actually get there!

Just wanted to throw in my two cents worth!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I agree that it is definitley worth it if you want to try a lot of 2 TS meals because you don't feel quilty eating the surf and turf plus app plus cheesecake! My perfect DDP would be eaither appetizer or dessert as someone else said, I am definitley too full at the end for dessert.

 

[Colleen27]

We have done both the DDP and the DxDP, and, unlike everyone else, we have opted to go with the DxDP again. We like trying new things- so the apps and desserts work for us.

It works for us too, but largely because we signature dinners. Other than our Epcot days, we eat a different 2 credit dinner pretty much every night on the plan, and my DH would keel over at the prices if I suggested doing that OOP! We're currently planning DxDDP trip #3, a four night trip featuring three signature meals, and after this trip the only one of the signatures that we haven't tried will be Citricos.

 

[AggieTexan]

We're planning to have the DXDP for our short (4 night) visit next June. We're really not CS people, so our plan is to do 4 signature dinners (all at resorts), 3 TS lunches in the parks, and a TS breakfast the morning we leave. We'll use snack credits for breakfasts on the other days. Looking at the menus, this will save us about $200.00 if we order everything...appetizers, entrees, and desserts. I can see us ending up wasting a lot of food, though. We'll probably order 2 different appetizers and desserts to share, but I'm not sure we'll be able to finish all of them!

 

[Minniemama350]

SInce becoming AP holders we have made our own DDP by using TIW and gift cards. We eat much more sensibly and still enjoy whatever we want. We love the idea of the DDP, but the way it is now, you aren't ahead unless you are someone who really does eat a desert at every meal and has a habit of picking the most expensive meal on the menu all of the time. Enjoy your trip finale!

 

[princesspeach]

We did dxdp and it worked perfectlly for our eating style. We did rope drop early lunch and then a late signature dinner. My kids, 2 boys, are grade school age and can go non stop from 7a to 10p. I never felt like we spent to much time eating , but we prefer to only spend about 6 hours a day at the parks. We love to hang out at the pool. I loved having everything prepaid, but I would have preffered not to have the desserts. That being said I dont' know if I'll do it again or upgrade to an Ap to get the TIW card. I kind of like the freedom that the TIW offers.

 

[Faldred]

Yeah, everyone is going to be different. DxDP works for our family because we have autistic twins -- keeping them to a schedule helps them adapt to the new environment better, and this also allows us to do a lot of character meals, which get the meet-and-greets done without having to deal with lines. (We've also become masters of the fast pass/rider swap system to avoid long waits anywhere.)

It also helps that we're early risers in general, so getting up for that 8 AM ADR isn't a problem. At all.