Uh-Oh...Buyer's Remorse?

[LovesTimone]

We have done the world, without DDp with DDP and with DDXDP, I really think that it boils down to where you are in your life, and in your family.

For us this is how it worked out so far,

Young couple no kids - no dining plan - eating on the go being able to afford 1 really great meal, CS and alot of sharing
Couple w/ young kids( infant to 3) - still no dining plan - eating and resting according to them
Couple with young kids (3 to 6) counter service plan would have been the way to go, but was not offered while kids where little.
Couple w/ school aged kids- Free dining - that was huge for us with the kids wanting character dining $$$$ - also gave us sometime to eat grown up food. Also let the kids unwind a bit, this saved us money.
Couple with High school kids - free dining was the way to go so that they could eat when ever and then meet for TS in the evening. We did pay oop for some meals.
Couple w grown kids, We have become foodies somewhere along the way, we paid for DDXDP this past year, and yes we loved it, kids still love character dining and 2TS credits meals. Yes it was alot of food, but we took snack credit for disney treat home with us and made the magic last. We did a couple of counter services and still saved us money.
Couple w/ no kids on some getaways - DDXDDP there are lots of 2TS resturants that we want to go to and go back to and we still love character meals, (SHH!!) do not tell the kids!!!

We feel that vacation time is a time to relax, eat, drink and be happy, So DDXDDP is worth it to us, and worth paying for at this time in our life.
We know grand kids will come along sooner or later, preferable later, so we will change to include them and see what happens.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

We paid for the dining plan once when it first came out and while we did enjoy it, it was way too much food and I drove myself crazy trying to figure out where we were going to be each evening for dinner. Now that we have a chance to go to WDW again, we decided to just go for the good room discount and pay OOP for meals and we will eat mostly CS and probably split most of those as they are quite large. We'll see which we like better (if we can remember since it's been awhile between the trips )

 

[vllygrrl]

We love the dining plan, however taking a room discount does not preclude getting it...if you book online. For our upcoming November trip, we initially booked AKL with a free dining pin I received, then upgraded to DxDP. When the room discounts came out, I rebooked online (I tried to call and have it switched but they can't convert the room discount to a package on the phone). Using the room discount, then adding back the DxDP, saved us $350 over free dining alone...and that's just for 2 adults (doing DxDP because this is a special anniversary trip and we want to go to the signatures each day). Just wanted to point out that this doesn't have to be an either or situation.

 

[figment85]

We opted for the room discount. It's rare for us to have more than 2 ADR meals a trip. We are pretty spontaneous about mealtimes, and wouldn't be relaxed if there was much of a food schedule. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[eyor44]

When my family goes Thanksgiving week, we use the DXDPP as we do at least two TS a day and the dynamics of our family makes it to be cost effective for us.

When I go by myself, I don't get any dining plan. I take something easy for breakfast (bag of bagels works great and there are toasters in the dining area of each food court) and snacks to throw in my bag. I eat very light (rarely full meals) when I am by myself.

 

[aenelson]

Honestly I think it has a lot to do with how you prefer to eat. I have done no-dining and dining. For me I LOVE to eat, so I usually go with the dining. WDW is a dining experience for me, I love trying all the restaurants. This time I am going for my Disneymoon so I want all kinds of new and interesting dining for me and my new DH, so I went with the DDP. It is the first time on the DDP, but we plan to get 2 appetizers, 2 courses, and 2 desserts and just share everything.

 

[aenelson]

Oh and another thought, it totally helped me plan my days at Disney, but then again I don't do the parks commando anymore.

 

[DanitaK]

Deciding between whether or not to do the dining plan really depends on your family's habits. If you are a foodie (like me!) and like to try different restaurants but not worry about how much your meal costs, it makes sense to opt for the plan.

 

[luvmesometigger]

This time the DDP worked better for us then the room rate. And I do like not having to worry about paying for any meals. JMO!

 

[Laurin612]

It's possible for the savings to be better by opting for 40% off a deluxe resort instead of the free dining plan. However, you'd probably be better off with the dining plan for a moderate or value.

For the moderate I booked recently, the cost was $79 per night for a room discount and about $149 per night for the rack rate. I don't know about you, but my family of four would spend way more than the room savings of $70 a day on food!

Consider:

TS: 1900 Park Fare for 4 "adults" - $40.46 each = $161.84

CS: Cosmic Rays: 2 rib/chicken combos - $13.99 each $ = $70.32
2 turkey bacon wraps - $8.69 each
4 sodas - $2.49 each
4 desserts - cake $3.59 each

Snack: Auntie Gravity's - 4 sundaes - $3.79 each = $15.16

Grand total: $247.32 (for ONE day!)

 

[Bephus]

I do room discounts, but I have SAP and got TIW so I save more $ with that and can order whatever I want.
For us the DP didn't make sense for a few reasons

a. We sometimes go just for the day so it didn't apply but TIW isn't attached to a room stay
b. We order apps but rarely dessert with a meal. We also get LOTS of snacks. DH alone would use up all snacks in a day! The man loves his Mickey Bars
c. I like to order "adult" drinks sometimes
d. We often eat breakfast on the way to the park/in the room and then eat one big meal at TS with some snacks to tide us over. None of the plans allow for one meal and several snacks

Anyway, even without TIW, the DP doesn't fit our style so we wouldn't get it no matter what. You need to look at your family and see what works best for you!