Will I save money with DDP?

[cdpa4d]

If you are an Annual Passholder get the Disney Dining Experience card. By saving 20% on all of your TS meals and alchohol it would be cheaper than buying the Dining Plan.

I've done the math and the DDE works out to be a little better than the DDP. It may depend on what meals you use with the DDP, but it's very close. The math I did also includes tip and tax.

If you drink a lot of alcohol it's probably even a better idea to go with the DDE.

 

[mom2my3kids]

assuming that you can afford the Disney Dinning Plan, and you're really asking-
"Should we do it, or not?" The simple answer is...

If you want a 1st class trip...
....without any worry about money while on your vacation
.....and feel like you're being treated like the rich & famous
......try some new TS restaurants that you'd normally avoid because of prices
.....and try more TS restaurants or Character meals then on most trips
.....then go for the DDP, they do spoil you

If you've been a penny pincher for so long, that it goes-against-every-fiber in your body to live lavishly(maybe waste some food or credits).... you're better off not getting the DDP

This post, is not a jab at anyone's income or earnings, I know millionaires that pinch pennies, and I know people that don't have an extra dime to spear, yet still "live big" every day

PS
if its a stretch for your trip's finances, to buy the DDP, you can save more money if you bring snacks and don't eat at TS resturants everynight.



.

You forgot to add that some people don't want to be tied down with TS meals.

 

[DiszyDeanette]

I have a question of those of you on the "free" dining plan. I just returned after being there for 2 weeks and had a great time. I wasn't on a dining plan since I stayed at the Swan. I wanted to learn more about it so I inquired with some cast members and they told me there was no such thing as free dining and actually stated to me "when does Disney give anything for free." They told me that you are paying for it and the price is in the package and is hidden.

Is there any truth to this?

We booked 7 days, 6 nights at Coranodo Springs, and were paying for the dining plan. The total was about $3400. When free dining was announced, we moved our reservation back a few weeks to get it, and changed it to 9 days, 8 nights. The cost was $2300. While I agree nothing is "free" when you're paying thousands of dollars, it sure seems free to me.

 

[laceemouse]

Hmm, well if you were to compare what the DDP gives you and how much it would cost to eat that same exact amount without the DDP, yes, you save money.

But you definitely CAN eat cheaper paying OOP, especially if you eat only one or two TS meals during your trip. If that's what you WANT to eat then save money and don't do the DDP.
QUOTE]

You can also save $$$ if you eat at a TS every day but only order what you can eat (for us, that almost never includes both an appetizer and a dessert for each person in the family). We dined wherever we wanted (mostly TS), ordered what we felt like eating, and spent less that what the DDP would have cost us.

If you have to have 3 courses at each meal for each person, then, yes, you should save money on the DDP. There is a lot of waste and/or over-eating on the DDP.

PS- We're not tiny and think we like to eat a reasonable to generous amount of food each day -- the DDP is still too much food for us.

To sum up, it depends where and what you plan to eat.

I couldn't agree more! We are pretty good eaters and almost always have one CS and one TS meal per day on our trips, HOWEVER, we have never once ordered desserts with our CS meal and when we do get appetizers or desserts with TS (which is RARE) we MAY get one of each to SHARE! The plan would cost us 200$+ per day, we never spend that much in actuality and we eat what we want to eat. We have an 8 yr old that eats like a bird, an 11 year old that often PREFERS what is on the kids menu (and we would have to buy the adult plan for him) a 15 year old vegetarian (veggie meals are ALWAYS the cheapest thing on any menu!) a 13 year old and myself who are good eaters but almost NEVER clean our plates or have room for dessert, and dh who eats like a snake (not much for breakfast or lunch but then a pretty big dinner.) It just depends on your family, but it is not worth it to us! My kids will sometimes even eat an appy for their ENTIRE meal! I think having 6 appetizers and six desserts brought to our table would be nuts! If it were just dh and I we might buy it, but not with our gang...and I know what you mean about TS with little folks, sometimes it is just not worth the effort!! (Mine are older now, so I can tell you it does get easier!)

 

[tndisneyfan]

If you don't want to have one "sit down" meal each day I would say don't get the DDP. The DDP is a good deal but it doesn't fit everyones eating habits. I think some people have had bad experiences with it because they tried to make it fit with their eating patterns.

 

[joshsmom]

We're going in May 2007 and I have been going back and forth about this dining plan for months now. Last year when we were there in May, we talked to many people who thought the dining plan was the ULTIMATE in savings and convenience. But after reading here, I don't think its going to be right for us. Often my mother and I or my son and I share food. We LOVE to eat, but it always seems too much for us. So, if we had the dining plan, it seems we would waste more because I know we couldn't each eat an appetizer, meal and dessert.

I'm so glad I found this thread--I feel SO much better now!!!

 

[naz022292]

DisneyFan4: You have to get the dining for the whole time, however, the credits are flexible. The KTTW stands for "Key to the World" Card = this is your room key, charging priv. if you wish, park tix, and if you have dining you use it for that too.

As far as your meals... What you acutally get is "credits".
You get 1 TS (table service), 1 CS (counter service), and 1 snack credit per person for each night you stay. We stayed 6 nights and there was 3 of us so we had 18 of each. You can use them in any order you want. The first day you could eat 2 counter service meals, and another day you could eat 2 table service meals. You can save all your snacks and "spend' them all the last day for stuff for the airport. It is all up to you. (We used our snack credits for bfast). They are all tracked by your KTTW card. You can use your table service credits for character breakfasts and then eat counter service at night.

Wish I was planning the next trip, instead of thinking about the last!

 

[naz022292]

DisneyFans4: I forgot to add the link for more info from disney:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/tickets/packageDetail?id=PackageDetailMYWDiningPkg06Page

 

[DisneyFans4]

Naz-Thanks so much for the info and link...I'm going there right now. I know how you feel. I've been home a week and I'M already planning for the next. Would love to spend like a month there!!!!

 

[Sammie]

You are not missing anything. The DDP can save a person money if they normally eat at least one TS per day and purchase a CS and snack daily also. Many do not do that when on vacation at Disney.

Also it depends on what you would normally order when you dine also. As you said if you don't want the appetizers and desserts you can possibly eat for less.