Which is a better value?

[havoc315]

Just a little hypothetical game....

Option 1:
Food court bagel and cream cheese for breakfast.

Lunch -- Columbia Harbour House Fried Fish basket, plus soda, plus Apple Crisp dessert

Dinner -- Tony's Town Square -- Grilled Pork Tenderloin, plus soda, plus Cheesecake dessert.

Or... Option 2:
Breakfast -- Grand Floridian Cafe, Ham and Cheese Omelet with potatos

Lunch -- Tony's Town Square, Meatball sub. No dessert, drink water.

Dinner -- Artist's Point -- House-made White Truffle Gnocchi - with Tomato-Fennel Broth, Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula, and Parmesan Reggiano. Drink water, skip dessert.


Option 1, on the DDP, is basically the exact same price as Option 2 -- OOP.

Of course, if you did option number 2 is basically impossible on the DDP. (You'd have to pay OOP for 3 TS credits worth of food).

I don't really have a point. I simply surprised myself when I realized I could eat 3 high quality TS meals, for the same price as the DDP which only includes 1 TS meal.

 

[Huff]

What you show is not a good value of the DDP and would be better to just pay OOP for your meals.

Here's a typical day for us on DDP.

Breafast we bring cereal and snacks with us and buy milk at resort.

Lunch Sunshine Seasons Mongolian beef, Cheesecake and soda
Dinner Coral Reef, NY Strip Steak, Gelato, Soda
Snack, Ice Cream at Fountain View Cafe

Total for lunch, dinner and snack would be $61 + tax = $65
Cost for DDP is $45

Don't forget that DDP includes taxes. OOP you would also pay tax. DDP allows you to order higher priced items than you can afford if paying OOP.

 

[havoc315]

What you show is not a good value of the DDP and would be better to just pay OOP for your meals.

Here's a typical day for us on DDP.

Breafast we bring cereal and snacks with us and buy milk at resort.

Lunch Sunshine Seasons Mongolian beef, Cheesecake and soda
Dinner Coral Reef, NY Strip Steak, Gelato, Soda
Snack, Ice Cream at Fountain View Cafe

Total for lunch, dinner and snack would be $61 + tax = $65
Cost for DDP is $45

Don't forget that DDP includes taxes. OOP you would also pay tax. DDP allows you to order higher priced items than you can afford if paying OOP.

I disagree... in part. The tax is about 6%, and it is true that I usually leave it out in my math.
Cost of DDP is $46 though, not 45. And at many times per year, it is $48.

Now, my argument is that the DDP is providing lots of filler-- lots of ice cream, desserts, and sodas. But you can actually save money and get *more* expensive entrees, by paying OOP.

So let's use your examples.
You have went OOP for breakfast.
Lunch -- Mongolian Beef from Sunshine Seasons: $9.99
Dinner -- NY Strip Steak at Coral Reef: $31.99

So the entrees were only $42. So for $46-$48 dollars, you got $42 worth of entrees, plus lots of filler. (2 sodas, 2 servings of ice cream, plus 1 serving of cheesecake).

You also paid OOP for breakfast -- Call it about $4 in breakfast costs.

So you paid for the day, between $50 and $52.

For the same price range...
I could have started with breakfast at Sunshine Seasons:
Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Croissant $5.99

Then repeat your same lunch:
Mongolian Beef -- $9.99.

And for dinner, Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon - with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle and herb butter sauce $34.99

Yes, I'm drinking water and skipping desserts. But I'm getting better meals.
Instead of the strip at Coral Reef, I'm getting the truffled Filet at Les Cellier (2 credits starting soon). Instead of cereal and snacks in the room for breakfast, I'm getting a hot bacon, egg, and cheese croissant.

 

[pauly's girl]

Havoc~ you make sense and I get your point but most people do not want only water with meals....also a snack during the day is helpful (even if it used for a drink on hot days). The dining plan is great for people who enjoy certain things that is why it is an option and it seems a quite popular one. I enjoy the convience of having everything pre-paid before we get there and not worrying about what we spend on dining. Also adding in the taxes which I know you stated you don't use in your math can make your daily oop much more. When you are eating an extra meal out tax is included and higher priced menu items will also increase the tax therefore further increasing your oop.

 

[basketlacey]

It is interesting that the math comes out so close. For us, one of the biggest benefits was not having to worry about it because it was already paid for. Our kids could order what they wanted and so could we. Paying out of pocket we would have ordered fewer desserts but we probably would have added an app or two over the course of the vacation.

Actually, to be perfectly honest, without the DDP, we would have eaten at fewer table service restaurants. But we really enjoyed them!

 

[2Tiggies]

Your analysis shows that you have waaaaaaay too much free time on your hands

Seriously though, that is quite interesting. It just goes to show that what you think you get is not always what you really do get.

What your findings do show however, is that for those who do not care for dessert (and many don't), the dining plan is NOT getting them the best value according to their preferences. However how does option 2 compare price-wise to the cost of the DDP for an adult for one day? (Sorry, I didn't do the math - I am taking your word on it )

 

[rubato]

Havoc, I am in complete agreement with you! The way my family eats doesn't include sodas or milkshakes or lemonades with our meals, ever. We always drink water. We also don't eat desserts, except at home once every couple of weeks. I would much rather pay out of pocket to eat at better restaurants and eat better entrees with the occasional salad or soup. Thanks for the example. Just proved my point.

 

[havoc315]

Your analysis shows that you have waaaaaaay too much free time on your hands

Seriously though, that is quite interesting. It just goes to show that what you think you get is not always what you really do get.

What your findings do show however, is that for those who do not care for dessert (and many don't), the dining plan is NOT getting them the best value according to their preferences. However how does option 2 compare price-wise to the cost of the DDP for an adult for one day? (Sorry, I didn't do the math - I am taking your word on it )

Lol. I have been a obsessive about the ddp math.

The prices for both options, were essentially the same.

I have basically come to the conclusion, that for me (just talking about my family), the ddp gives poor value to adults.
But IF we are in the mood for a lot of high end food, the deluxe plan does provide value. Ironically.

 

[lemonsours]

I enjoy the convience of having everything pre-paid before we get there and not worrying about what we spend on dining.

This is exactly our feeling--prepaying takes the guesswork and worry out of it. Even if we don't take advantage of the sodas and desserts it's still an advantage to us because it's already taken care of. And it's nice to have the option *to* take advantage of them-after all it's vacation!

 

[2Tiggies]

Lol. I have been a obsessive about the ddp math.

The prices for both options, were essentially the same.

I have basically come to the conclusion, that for me (just talking about my family), the ddp gives poor value to adults.
But IF we are in the mood for a lot of high end food, the deluxe plan does provide value. Ironically.

I have to give credit to whoever was and is behind the Disney Dining Plans It certainly keeps our brains active. Left side especially

 

[THREEAMIGOES]

As silly as it seems, what I like about the DDP is that is forces me to take time out of our touring plan to eat. I am a go-go-go type of person and if it weren't for the prepaid meals we would definately be missing some lol!

We're not big dessert people so at TS we sometimes skip the dessert. I know that we have essentially paid for it already, but at least we are not forcing ourselves to eat it or pay gratuities on an item we will not eat.

Have fun eating!

 

[MSLRAC]

Havoc~ you make sense and I get your point but most people do not want only water with meals....also a snack during the day is helpful (even if it used for a drink on hot days). The dining plan is great for people who enjoy certain things that is why it is an option and it seems a quite popular one. I enjoy the convience of having everything pre-paid before we get there and not worrying about what we spend on dining. Also adding in the taxes which I know you stated you don't use in your math can make your daily oop much more. When you are eating an extra meal out tax is included and higher priced menu items will also increase the tax therefore further increasing your oop.

I agree. We don't want to go on vacation and drink nothing but water, limit or deny snacks to the kids, eat cereal or pop tarts for breakfast, order entrees based on price, skip desserts, skip appetizers, etc. So not only did we opt for the dining plan but we also went deluxe and loved it. I can see how and why it doesn't work for every family but it does for ours and no matter how I do the math, it's a huge savings for us.