loralie said:
As far as the
DDP goes...for me it is not so much about saving money on the food, it is about the freedom to order whatever I want and have it paid for in advance that makes my vacation much more enjoyable for me and my family. To me just that fact alone makes the DDP worth it. I know if I had to physically take the money out of my pocket (or charge it to my room everyday) that I would be very careful about what we eat and I know I would wind up ordering the less expensive things instead of what I really wanted because I would be adding up the bills everyday and driving myself crazy. This way I can be truly on vacation.
Planning is half the fun. I hope to book my trip next week after I talk to my DS's teachers and find out a good week in May to go. I am worried that I will book the vacation and it will be during final exams or other important days.
Have fun,
Loralie
Loralie - I think that's a great reason to do the DDP and glad Disney offers this for the many people who feel the same.
For us, the DDP will not be a deciding factor in what we order or even where we dine. So figuring out the worth for us started with choosing what we wanted to eat that matched our tour plan.
Visiting the parks, after all, is our priority. I suspect some people get so caught up in the DDP equation that they are willing to adjust their daily activities to eat at the restaurants with most $$ value. Hey, different strokes for different folks.
My DH & I made a pact many years ago that we never go on vacation and count pennies. Of course that means we vacation less; often save 2 yrs for a 12-20 day vacation. But we leave having saved enough to do what we please - like you, we think being crazy about $$ on vacation just ruins it so that's the solution that works for us.
I love forums like this that show how every family has a unique way to make their Disney magic happen!
We decided to keep our split stay and do DDP for only 4 nts.
I made some changes and here is what we ended up with:
DDP 4nts- CS
POP Century breakfasts
AK Flame Tree BBQ (OOP kids meal)
Cantina San Migel + Liberty Inn for kid
TS
Kona dinner (OOP kid's meal)
Kona breakfast (OOP - MUST have Tonga Toast!)
Hoop Dee Doo
Le Cellier
Planet Hollywood
(we accounted for sharing @ 2 dinners)
OOP 5nts- CS
POP Century breakfasts
MK Cosmic Ray
DTD Wolfgang Express (+kid's meal)
AK Tusker House
TS
1900 Park Fare Breakfast (our only Character meal)
MGM 50s Prime Time
We built in snacks for OOP days just like on DDP.
Once DD looked at menus we were all surprised there were only a couple of times she chose kid's over adult meals
But still the numbers just don't add up doing DDP for the whole 9 nts we are there (having to pay adult DDP when still buying some OOP kid's meals). By splitting stay and DDP to match our touring & eating style, we will still save $200
on DDP and another $200 by
ditching DDP, and everyone will be happily fed. That savings pays for Cirque and souvenirs!
We like having only 7 TS meals and flexibility to eat other meals when we're hungry over the 10 days.
Our situation may be unique since we have Cirque one night, 1 or 2 nights @ Disney Quest and 2 or 3 days at water parks. The 2-3 nights in DTD limits our dinner choices and makes it hard to park hop without spending way too much time on buses. And I know from experience that trying to get changed for dinner on time, after being waterlogged & fried at the water parks, results in some very un-Disney like behavior.
I just encourage everyone to share menus with their group before committing to either DDP or OOP dining AND consider your touring style/plans when deciding what works best for you.
