Why don't you purchase the DDP?

[tinkerbell60]

I wish the Dining Plan would come up with a Magic Your Way Dining - in which you could choose the number of TS, CS, and Snacks that would fit with your family - just like they do with the park tickets.

 

[waltskids]

We have three main reasons why we don't purchase the DDP at this time:
1.We are AP holders.
2.We use the DDE card.
3.We would never eat that amount of food. Many of the credits would go to waste, so it's better for us to pay OOP.

 

[Lewisc]

I use DDP. It sounds like DDP might not be as attractive next year. Some reasons why informed guests might not purchase the DDP:

1) They intend to spend a significant portion of their vacation off site. Universal, Sea World, Space Center etc.

2) They are in a "commando" mode, prefer to have CS meals and only want one or two TS meals during their entire trip.

3) They like having their full meal as breakfast or maybe even lunch.

4) The restaurants they like to patronize don't participate.

5) They like to skip CS meals and/or most of the TS meals are two credit meals.

6) They have children that have to pay adult pricing but eat very little.

7) Purchasing the dining plan will require forfeiting an otherwise available deeply discounted room rate. AP or FL resident for example.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Did I miss someone's reply to "what's the DDE?"

Anyway, it's the Disney Dining Experience card, available to Florida residents and Annual Passholders (anyone else? Dunno). It gives 20% off food and beverages at a host of WDW dining spots, including V&A's and Bistro de Paris. along with some other perks, like free and valet parking.

Here's the full scoop:

http://allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

 

[kymma]

We aren't getting the DDP for our November trip. I made a spreadsheet and estimated how much we would spend on meals if we paid oop and then totaled up the cost of the DDP. The oop cost was less especially when you add in the tickets that you have to buy to get the DDP (we already have tickets from a previous trip). Also, the DDP is a TON of food. And they don't let you just say no thanks to the dessert or appetizer. So to save our pocketbook some money and our waistlines some inches, we aren't getting the dining plan this trip.

 

[Colleen27]

I wish the Dining Plan would come up with a Magic Your Way Dining - in which you could choose the number of TS, CS, and Snacks that would fit with your family - just like they do with the park tickets.

I'll second that! We actually thought about the premium plan for a minute, but the pricing for that includes all sorts of recreational options that we aren't interested in, so it just isn't worth it. If there was something in between, a dining plan that could be customized for our touring/eating style, we wouldn't hesitiate to buy it. It wouldn't even have to be the great deal that the DDP has been - I'd be happy if they had a system of buying credits for a fixed price per each type that represented an average cost of those meals, because what we miss about the DDP is the all inclusiveness of it not the bargain.

 

[Brian Noble]

We prefer fewer onsite TS meals per vacation---about 2 every 3 days on average. These are typically not signature meals. For us, DDP is an upsell, even though we would be "getting a discount"---that discount is on meals we don't really want.

I've got lots of great restaurants in my home town, so we tend to focus on the "experience dining" restaurants at WDW (character meals, places like Sci Fi/50sPT/WCC, etc.) We save the ethnic/fine dining places for home, becuase, frankly, many of the ones here are better. There are a few exceptions, but they are few.

For example, why spend twice as much at Teppanyaki as we would at our local Japanese teppan grill restaurant---with better food?

 

[mom2aredhead]

We aren't getting the DDP for our November trip. I made a spreadsheet and estimated how much we would spend on meals if we paid oop and then totaled up the cost of the DDP.

I did the same thing. I checked the menus, picked restaurants that we wanted to eat at either way (DDP or not) added up the approximate amount that we would spend on food THAT WE WOULD EAT (not everything that was included in the plan, but the actual food we would realistically consume). I included an appetizer and dessert here and there, but we do not do that at every meal. I also added in things that I would need to purchase OOP for my picky son (mostly adult items at CS - chicken fingers, pizza instead of PB&J) and some breakfast items. We did mostly character meals, BTW.

I was at about break-even.

I probably would have a bit of moeny because we did end up keeping most of our ADR's, but I didn't like the idea of pre-paying for TS because it kind of took away any flexibility we had. This way if we had a change of plans, weren't hungry, etc. we could (and did) call and cancel and just grab CS or something elsewhere.

 

[disneyagain]

We are 4 adults (2 kids 12 and 14), so that's $160/day. We just went down in April (over Easter) and decided to keep track of what we spent on meals, snacks etc. We were there for 7 nights, so the dining plan would have cost us $1,120. We ended up spending about $950 that included our lunchs at PHL and MCO and a $70 grocery bill from gardengrocer and 4 mugs. We had 3 table service meals (Liberty Tree Tavern - Lunch, Fantasmic Dinner Package H&V and Chef Mickey's - Dinner).

We went down for free dining last August and loved that we didn't have to come up with any money while we were there (an occasional extra tip), and my sister and I are going down with our daughters this August for free dining. We really enjoyed trying new restaurants that we normally would not have tried, but making the plans ahead of time and making sure you're at your ADR on time, makes me feel like a clock watcher on vacation.....Worth it for free, but not if I have to pay for it!

 

[denisekayt]

We're another "it doesn't fit our style" family. We prefer to only eat TS about every other day. That allows us to be more flexible with our time, and not feel like there's somewhere we have to be at an EXACT time every day of our vacation.

While we like TS, it's just better for us to not have it everyday.

 

[WDWFWfan]

Did I miss someone's reply to "what's the DDE?"

Anyway, it's the Disney Dining Experience card, available to Florida residents and Annual Passholders (anyone else? Dunno). It gives 20% off food and beverages at a host of WDW dining spots, including V&A's and Bistro de Paris. along with some other perks, like free and valet parking.

Here's the full scoop:

http://allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

Thanks for the reply. I guess that knocks me out of the DDE...not worth the additional cost of AP just for a 20% off savings.

 

[Disney8704]

LOL. No. DDP isnt free anytime with AAA. Its only free when Disney offers it Free in Aug/Sept. Trust me, I think if one of the perks for AAA was to get Free DDP anytime, EVERYONE that could be AAA members, would be a AAA member.

Are you saying that AAA offers free DDP anytime? I am a new AAA member, but they never mentioned this. Is it true? If so, what are the details.



What is DDE and how do you get it?

 

[Disney8704]

Agree! I wish this to. If they allowed this, I would probably be all over buying the DDP. Me and DH havent done it, cuz it just doesnt save us any money. We end up spending more money on the DDP then paying OOP and thats with mainly TS and a couple CS breakfast, water, snack for lunch and TS Dinners. Even eating at some pretty expensive places like CRT, Chefs de France, 50s, Coral Reef and a few others. Plus we dont ever get appitizers - we do here at home but not in Disney, and we hardly ever get deserts and when we do, we share it.

I wish the Dining Plan would come up with a Magic Your Way Dining - in which you could choose the number of TS, CS, and Snacks that would fit with your family - just like they do with the park tickets.

 

[boomhauer]

A few reasons:

1.I have an AP, and I prefer to book a room only reservation seperately, and use the DDE.

2.I don't want to worry about how many credits I have left during my vacation for meals. I've read too many stories about issues people have with the dining plan.

3.The money I save for vacation is for food. The amount of money I would save with the dining plan isn't that significant, especially factored in with the savings from an AP discount and the DDE.

 

[DCDisney]

We've used the plan a few times and it worked out well for us but on our next trip in Jan we will only be using plan if it stays as is. My son will have just aged up to adult prices but won't really eat adult food so we will be pretty close to break even if there is no price change/tipping change. I've made up 2 plans for ADRs for with/without DDP. Without DDP we'll eat more at Downtown Disney and probably do a few less buffets. With the great decrease in what my kids like on the kids menus it will probably be easier to just be OOP and not worrying about what kids meal is where.

Yvonne

 

[PinkTink63]

We do not get it, because it seems like too much food! We would have to pay for an adult for our son, who does not eat that much. My husband would get his monies worth, but I don't feel like it would be a deal for the rest of us! I also, don't want to have to make all those ADR. When we are there, we get in moods for different kind of foods! We don't know what we will be hungry for 180 days before we arrive! Lastly, we love RFC and they are not on the plan!

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Thanks for the reply. I guess that knocks me out of the DDE...not worth the additional cost of AP just for a 20% off savings.

Well, it all depends on all the circumstances. The AP can be cost effective on its own depending on:

How many days you are planning on visiting theme parks in a year and
What other discounts you can get with it

Sometimes there are awesome room discounts for AP holders. The amount saved can equal - or exceed - the cost of the AP. Deluxe rooms can be $75 or more off per night for AP holders. Plus then you can get the DDE card.

However, you cannot purchase the DDP if you are taking advantage of an AP discount. So if you can score a good AP discount and pay OOP for food it is much less $$$ overall than no AP discount and the DDP. That's why I don't buy the DDP.

 

[hedwig]

Why we didn't purchase DDP this year reasons:
1) Got it for free the past two years- always had something left over. (CS and snacks) When not paying for it, I didn't worry about it. If I had paid for it, I would have been obsessed with using it all to get my monies worth. (Would have to pay for it this year)

2) Too much food!! Waste of food. Most of the time couldn't even touch the dessert, if we did it was only a spoonful or two.

3) Taking children this year- 9 and 7. They like to order salads for dinner a lot, or an appetizer for an entree. Even though Disney has increased their child menu offerings, by not doing DDP it gives the children more to choose from.

I always make our ADR's at 180 days out to insure I get what I want. Even though I am not using it this year, I am not crazy to think I don't need ADR's. It is just not a good fit with our families eating habits.

 

[mom1in99]

Well, it all depends on all the circumstances. The AP can be cost effective on its own depending on:

How many days you are planning on visiting theme parks in a year and
What other discounts you can get with it

Sometimes there are awesome room discounts for AP holders. The amount saved can equal - or exceed - the cost of the AP. Sometimes deluxe rooms are $75 or more off per night for AP holders. Plus then you can get the DDE card.

I agree! We do AP's every few years and go 3-4 times in a calendar year. That more than pays for the pass. But if you can't go that many times, even 2 times (almost a year apart) pays for it when you consider discounts, too.

I wait by the computer for the next AP room discount codes to be released and book a room, sometimes saving $25-35 at a value resort. We then do the DDE and eat 1-2 meals each day at the food court (included in the 20% off which is the main reason we stay at the values).

Also you get 50% off mini golf on site, 10% off the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney, 15% off select tours and the DDE at $20 off the Florida resident rate. Some have said it might pay for itself to upgrade one person to an AP just for the discounts.

So, the DDE card is the reason we don't do the DDP. I checked the figures for our first trip this new AP to see about doing the magic your way one day ticket and upgrading to the AP when we got there so we could add the DDP. It wasn't cost effective for us either.

 

[WDWFWfan]

I said that AP would not work for me because:

1. I go to WDW once about every two years for 8-12 days.

2. I always stay at FW in a campsite. This year with the AAA discount (20% for value season) our rate is $41.40 per night including taxes.

3. We will not be eating at many TS restaurants this year. Our daily budget is only $30 per day for one meal. The rest of the meals will be eaten at our campsite.

As a result, our family of four is staying at FW for 13 nights this summer with park hopper tickets for around $1,800 (budget includes everything but gas around $400).

Anyway, spending a couple of hundred dollars extra for an AP does not make since for us considering our total dining budget is only $300.