Would you do it again?

[Katy Belle]

Nope...we won't do it again.

We are a family of 5. I think we did save $. Before I booked it I compared it to what I thought we would eat/spend and it came out within $10. Then you factor in tip, and the DDP would save me $.

I would not do it again because it takes too much TIME. We are NOT a TS a day type family. We could eat CS most days and be very happy. I also disliked the flexibility. Once you are locked into your ADRs you have to stick to that plan. Not for me.

I did enjoy it. The boys LOVED getting desserts. I liked trying TS places. It was fun having so much food and no we did not gain weight. I liked the freedom of having it pre-paid and just buying what we wanted. It really comes down to time and I'm not willing to spend that kind of time in TS places when I'd rather be in a park.

Katy

 

[frndofpooh]

We won't do it again. We had it for our December trip, but will forego it for the June one.

On our previous trips, we always do a TS daily, so "getting to try TS" was not a big selling point for us. As for it being "too much food", we just left over what we did not want to eat. We did try some snack foods that we had previously skipped, but we could do without that as well.


For us, it came down to the children's meals. We were all really disappointed in the food quality of these. They are a great example of, "you get what you pay for". In many instances, my kids just found them to be unpalatable so they ate from our plates. Our kids don't really eat a lot of "kid food", and they also weren't too thrilled with the "chilled chicken" and SF jello option. They eat what we eat (usually in smaller portions, but with DS9, that is not always the case ) and we have decided that it's just easier and less hassle for us to order for them from either menu, without the DDP constraints of who is ordering what from where. I want to enjoy the food on my vacation, and my children do too. I want to know that what they are eating is good for them and has the variety they need to grow properly and at the moment I just don't feel like the kids' meals fit the bill. So, we will happily go OOP for the next trip.

 

[goodferry]

We would do it again, we are doing it again! This will be our third trip on the plan. We order what we want, eat what we want, and with four kids, it's definitely a savings! Two of our kids are "kids" and two are adults.
Not to mention the fact that I can let the kids order what they want and eat what they want and if they try something new and don't like it, that's fine.
Between each of the adults ordering appetizers and a meal plus the kids meals, there is ALWAYS plenty of food for everyone.

 

[goofydad621]

We will do it again for us it is just a matter of budgetting, I love knowing that I don't have to worry about a food budget it is all bought and paid for.

 

[patsal]

For my family it is exactly the way we eat, so absolutely. Even if we don't use every last component it is still cost effective. I have always made ADR's before going on vacation and continue to do so with ease. The first time I used the plan was back in December 2005 for 5 days, then July 2006 for 10 days and I will be using it in July 2007 for 10 days as well.
We eat breakfast in the Villa have lunch where ever we are--no planning goes on here, and then the dinner where we have our ADR. I do not rush form place to place or force feed anyone anything. It is a great way for my children to order what they want and me to do the same. Sonce we are all considered adults for pricing, places like 'Ohana would be terribly expensive without the plan. My children enjoy fine dining and the portions at the "better" restaurants are far from huge. So long as the plan is offered we will use it.

 

[Michigan]

I would never not do it again

 

[CamColt]

We did it when it was free and that was a great deal. I probably wouldnt pay for it though as we don't normally eat that much, I dont get dessert with my meals when I'm full (Id rather a treat out in the parks later at night). Also, I don't usually book packages. Room Only reservations work better for us.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

Love having everything paid for before we leave, and not having to worry about it. (well most things!) I do not cook on vacation, I do not want to eat nothing but fast food, and I will not watch every penny all week long. (If I can't afford it, I will stay home.) I want to relax and enjoy! I think the only time DDP is stressful is if you are too worried about getting the most for your money. If you don't want dessert, don't eat it. You will still come out ahead.

Just my opinion, but I think the overeating comments are rude. Most people eat two meals a day at home, when they are not walking around the whole time. Most of the CS desserts are nothing to write home about anyway. Perhaps Disney should consider eliminating them altogther, and that would take take of the sugar free jello outrage!

Dittos to all of this. We are AP holders, fl residents, and love,love,love the DDP. Makes life so much easier and much more interesting. We go to the nicest CS and TS places, and don't have to "be careful" about what we spend. We almost always come out ahead or break even compared to what we would normally spend. DDP is the best bargain - yes we eat a lot, but when we walk so many miles each day in WDW we need the extra calories - esp. the children, and the snack credits can be used to buy the drinks my kids need during hot and humid days. I don't understand those who say it is too much food - just don't eat it all, as nobody requires you to clean your plate. I also bet that if some of those people added it all up they are probably spending as much or more paying OOP. I hope they never take it away - it is wonderful, for all the reasons above and then some...Enjoy your magical trip to WDW.

 

[ktink]

Yes we love DDP! We purchased it for the upcoming trip. It is alot of food and we normally have a few credits left over but it is an excellent value for our family.

 

[sfbank]

We won't do it again. The main reason we did it last year was so my father and mother would not really know what the meals cost down there. Also so we would not have to fight every meal on who paid-it was already done. We did think it was too much food. We were stuffed! We had 7 counter service and 16 snack credits left our last day and we ended up buying people luch at the Spoodles pizza window before we left. They appreciated it! Then we used the rest of our snack credits to take rice crispie snacks back to DD's class. We always budget and have our money saved for our trip anyway so we will just stick to oop.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

I would (and will) do it again. We love the plan!

 

[HayGan]

Currenly waiting anxiously for our 4th trip with the DDP. We absolutely LOVE it! I would have a hard time doing Disney without it! We enjoy experiencing many of the TS restaurants that we would otherwise pass on because the cost is too high (in our opinion.) The DDP allows us to go to those restaurants and order what we want and not even worry about the price (this is a big plus for DH who always looks at the prices in order to make a decision )

We always end up with extra snack and CS credits at the end of the trip. We just make a trip to the hotel's CS or gift shop and stock up on snacks to take home as well as meals for the plane.

 

[coruth4]

I haven't tried the plan before and am hoping they will release it for free again this August. I think I will end up paying for it if it isn't free though. My biggest concern is the cost effectiveness. I am traveling wiht my two sons - one of which is autistic and only eats grilled cheese. Plus they are both over 10 and count as adults.
That being said - it looks like it will pay off if you book many character meals - which I do. We have 4 character meals (Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace, Liberty Tree Tavern and Garden Grill) plus the Fantasmic Dinner Package. Those 5 meals alone (along with a counter service & snack) would be more than the daily price of the meal plan. We try to have (1) TS meal a day and it gives me an excuse to try new places - like Le Cellier. I don't think I would eat there without the plan because the food seems expensive. But if it is "pre-paid" I am less liekly to look at the prices.

 

[CR88]

We would definitely do it again. We are planning our December trip and my wife looked at me with shock when I questioned if we should do the dining plan again. 4 TS alone exceeded what we paid for the DDP on our last trip and we didn't over eat at all. It was nice knowing that we didn't have to budget for food. Well worth the money in my opinion, there is a lot of food though, good food too. We ended up with 6 snacks and a CS left over so we bought a sandwich and bags of snacks for the flight home. All in all we actually spent less money for 6 days on the plan than we did during our 2005 vacation of only 4 days...even trying to budget.

 

[warriorboy648]

Wow, thanks for all your opinions. It definitely gives me a lot to think about!!!

 

[kdkbrebel]

We are trying it for the first time on our trip this July. They didn't offer it when we were there in 03. I went back and added up our receipts from a 7 night stay in 03 for food, and let me say we were carefully watching the budget, and we spent more then, than the DDP is going to cost us for a 9 night stay for all of us this time. I'd be crazy not to do it .

 

[nluvwithmickey]

This past trip we opted NOT to do the DDP...and thank goodness for that! DD got a reaaly bad stomach virus and we were stuck in the room for 3 days. Needless to say, had we paid for DDP, we would have lost a big amount of $$$ since DD is 10 and now pays the adult price.

For our next trip, we will pay for it since DH is coming along and he eats alot! I have to agree, it is alot of food and not everyone can eat so much. I personnaly love the fact that all is paid for in advance....

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

We are trying it for the first time this August and we have 14 nights of it
I originally thought that it wasn't worth it, but then we managed to book free dining (UK resident) so we of course accepted. Now, after having researched the DDP, the restaurants and menu prices, it seems like it is a brilliant idea There are only 2 of us on our Honeymoon trip to WDW and we never normally get to do many TS when we do Disney (never done Disney World) so to me this is a luxury. Part of a great vacation to me is being able to relax, and not having to worry about the cost of the menu items is a big thing to me. As previous posters have said you don't need to order or eat everything, but as this is my honeymoon, I intend to get full use of the DDP. I like knowing I have the option to order an appetizer, entree and dessert and not constantly worrying about the price.

 

[mirthmaiden]

With a family of 6, for us it was a no brainer about taking the DDP. Last time we stayed offsite and spent our entire time feeling like we wanted to cry when it was time to whip out the wallet to pay for food - and we did all CS meals. This time, we're doing TS meals too (CRT, HDDR, CR, FDP, etc.) and probably paying less overall. I love knowing that it's all taken care of and I don't need to stress about sticker shock and who's not eating their entire meal, etc.

As for food being the focus of the vacation, I look at it like this. I would rather have ADR's ahead of time, have it all paid for, and just relax until it's time to show up than to use up a bunch of time stressing over where to eat, how to pay for it, and then arriving and finding out it will be a 90 minute wait stand-by because I didn't have an ADR. When that happens, food will become the focus anyway except you'll be hungry and not too happy as you're thinking about it.

 

[the Fidge]

We did it lat year and will be doing it again this April. Reason for our family doing it well, I have 2 big eaters DH and DS so it works great for them.

What I also like is the fact that I do not have to work out a buget and then have DH bust it on me and there I am drinking water hoping they serve crackers!!!