Is DDP right for you?

[hokies4life]

We used the DDP during free dining last year and have definitely decided that the regular dining plan isn't the best for us. We ate so much food and were very tied down by our reservations. The quick service plan would work well for us, and any sit down meals we want to have we can pay for OOP. I do find that I'm willing to do the regular plan if we get it free which I'm hoping to get for our honeymoon next year . We don't add extras to our orders so getting 6 or 7 meals for tips only is a good deal.

[Loweschevy]

The dining plans never really fit into our vacation plans. We could adapt our eating styles to fit the plan, but we enjoy the flexibility of being able to eat whatever we like such as appetizers or other starters. It probably would save us money, but we survive without it.

We tend to eat a ts breakfast, lunch is both ts and cs, and we like to eat a ts dinner. We like to try different appetizers, salads and first courses, my parents drink a glass of wine or beer with meals and I do not need desserts for lunch and dinner...I am diabetic, that would be overload even though I would like to eat dessert everytime

[Seasonscraps]

I think if the DP offers meals the way you would normally eat, then it's a good deal. But if you have to alter your dining preferences and order food just because it's included then I don't see the point.

It doesn't make sense for us to get the plan even though we generally have a TS meal every day. We generally prefer to share an appetizer with dinner; sometimes we will get dessert after our meal, other times we might grab something at the resort later or none at all. I would never get a dessert with every meal - especially a prepackaged cookie or something from a counter place when there are much much better options all over disney.

We may spend the same amount or even more on meals then we would with the DP but we are eating what we want to eat and where. We started going off property more for places with more variety - we wouldn't do that if we were on the DP since the meals are paid in advance.

[Figment52]

Not to mention that a lot of great dining has dissapeared due to the dining plan. Menus have changed and become a lot less diverse due to the cost of offering high priced items in a fixed price plan.

[Disney_Barbie]

as a vegetarian, it pretty much is never worth-while for me, since most of the time there is only one entree I can eat, and it almost always tends to also be the cheapest thing on the menu.
Plus, we never get dessert otherwise. Even when we got free dining one year, we just forefeited most of our desserts because nothing sound good to us.
To each, his own. I recommend the plan to some people, because it seems like it will be a great deal for their eating style. For us, not so much.
We prefer TinW personally. THis way we order whatever we want & get it discounted (which granted, not every resturant excepts TinW, but SO MANY of them do now, it's crazy!)

[AllDisney]

We like the DDP..... It's paid for upfront and we don't have to worry about anything except tips. On occasion we have been fortunate enough to get free dining.

I do wish that we could pick an appetizer over dessert.....maybe one day they will make that offer

[DizneyRox]

I do wish that we could pick an appetizer over dessert.....maybe one day they will make that offer

Rumor is in 2011 it will be neither...

[Jared]

Rumor is in 2011 it will be neither...

What's the point of even offering the dining plan then?

[DizneyRox]

What's the point of even offering the dining plan then?

I've been asking that for years...

[PrincessJadesMom]

I love having the DDP, we use it on every trip. I just like to have it all paid for so that I don't have to worry about budgeting out money every day for food.It makes my life a lot easier.

[TheVBs]

I think if the DP offers meals the way you would normally eat, then it's a good deal. But if you have to alter your dining preferences and order food just because it's included then I don't see the point.

I think that's an excellent way to put it! We rarely order appetizers or desserts. The idea of a dessert with lunch just seems crazy to me. We also just don't need a sit down meal every day. Out of a 10 day trip, we might sit down 4-5 times tops. Even the counter service wouldn't necessarily be a good value for us, because we sometimes split meals - especially the DDs. Of course, I'd happily take any free dining plan! But, we would never pay for it again. I can understand the appeal of having your meals paid for in advance, but for us, over-paying for our food is not worth the convenience. If you've paid for food you're not going to eat, you're over paying. Not to mention, we have not always found the dining plan to be convenient - sometimes it creates problems.

[Phantod]

We've done the "free" DDP the last 3 times we've gone to the World. The first time was early in the offering of DDP and it was fine. We didn't have to make reservations, just showed up and you could get in. That sure changed the last 2 times. In fact, on our last trip, we ended up with 2 TS for each of us that we couldn't even use.

How can you plan exactly where you will be at a certain time every day of your trip? Sure, we may know what park we want to be in. But to have to work around our reservations has become a pain. And while it has been alluded to, it takes a bunch of time. On our recent 11 day trip, we spend over one of those days just dealing with TSs. With the decrease in menu items and the decrease in quality of the food, it is no longer worth it for us.

I guess some people consider the Dining to be part of the "experience". You know, we had just as good of a time before it was ever offered, in fact, probably a better time. And we can get much better meals at a much better price at home. But we don't have the amusement parks at home. Okay, we do, since DL is only 400 miles away, but it's not the same thing. That's why WE come. I realize that it is different for everyone, so you have to know what your priorities are.

So next time, we're thinking of doing the quick service. If you know where to go, there are some great quick service meals out there (try Wolfgang Puck's Express at DTD). You don't have to have burgers and fries for every meal. In fact, you don't need to have them for ANY meals.

[nicster]

How can you plan exactly where you will be at a certain time every day of your trip? Sure, we may know what park we want to be in. But to have to work around our reservations has become a pain. And while it has been alluded to, it takes a bunch of time. On our recent 11 day trip, we spend over one of those days just dealing with TSs. With the decrease in menu items and the decrease in quality of the food, it is no longer worth it for us.

So next time, we're thinking of doing the quick service. If you know where to go, there are some great quick service meals out there (try Wolfgang Puck's Express at DTD). You don't have to have burgers and fries for every meal. In fact, you don't need to have them for ANY meals.

The only thing I have to add to the above quote is go to the trip reports ending with She Said - He Said - Final Thoughts the times involved for dining were staggering!

[minnie-mouse]

I find it interesting that most people are saying with the DDP they overeat and it is way too much food. Just because you are allowed to have appetizer, desserts, etc. doesn't mean you have to eat it all! I think we will try the DDp next time and see how it goes.

[Seasonscraps]

I find it interesting that most people are saying with the DDP they overeat and it is way too much food. Just because you are allowed to have appetizer, desserts, etc. doesn't mean you have to eat it all! I think we will try the DDp next time and see how it goes.

I think that comes from the fact that you are paying for all this food in advance and most people do not want to just give their money away.

[DizneyRox]

Correct... Why pay for something you're not going to use? In order to get value out of the dining plans, the cost of what you order should be more that the cost of the plan. Otherwise, save your money and pay OOP. Not ordering a dessert would save you $5 per person at a restaurant usually. Since you would be paying for that on the DDP, why would you just give that money to Disney by not ordering it?

When I pay OOP, I order what I want. If I want the Filet, I'll order it, if I want the garden salad, I'll get that. If I have room for dessert, maybe I'll order that, maybe I've had a bunch of snacks and I don't want it, so I won't order it. My bill will reflect what I actually ordered.

I put the money aside for vacation and put everything on my room card, drop all that onto my Disney Vise for the points and then Chase a check for the bill after my vacation. Having to pay for my meals months in advance gives Disney money to play with that could be sitting in my bank. That's the way I like it.

[AJ Springfield]

In general, package deals offered by Disney have been more about convenience than value. And maybe it's just me, but lately, Disney is doing everything in their power to maximize profits, so it's a safe bet that if they are offering it, it's designed to optimize their bottom line, NOT MINE! Passing on the "opportunity" seems to be the best choice.

I totally agree. They are not in business to SAVE us money, but to offer options that some people are willing to pay for. My family doesn't fall in that category-- We pay for only what we want and not extras that we don't care for.

[diz_girl]

It saved us money when tax and tip were included, but now it doesn't. We frequently eat at buffets and character meals and I usually order the lower-priced entrees, such as chicken or pasta, so it doesn't save us money anymore. During my last trip it was nice to go without the DDP, because I didn't feel tied down to all of my ADRs for fear of wasting a TS credit. We just cancelled the reservation if our schedule didn't work out with our ADR, so that someone else could get the table. It also freed us up to do some TS lunches, and we didn't need to worry that we would be wasting money by using a TS for lunch instead of dinner.

Also, I don't see the big deal about paying for meals up-front with the DDP, because you still have pay for the tip and appetizers or alcohol (if applicable), so you really haven't paid everything up-front. You still have to give them your KTTW card whether you are using your credits or charging your entire meal, so the convenience factor isn't all that great

[wickedgin]

The DDP saved us money on our recent trip. We did a lot of character dining--the cost for Garden Grill alone was more than one day on the DDP. So, as long as my children continue to enjoy those types of meals and the numbers are coming out the same way, we'll probably continue to use the DDP.
We did still spend quite a bit OOP, but we would have spent that, anyway. My biggest complaint about the DDP was the CS desserts. It wasn't that we weren't hungry enough to eat them, it's that they were less than tasty. My son and I are dessert fiends, and even we didn't want to eat some of them. But, next time we'll know which ones to aviod! Had I known, we would have asked for some fruit or something else instead.

[Scrappy2]

I have never used the dining plan just for the cost. We have a large family, at times we are paying for 6 adults since Disney considers a 10 year old an adult. After I have paid for two rooms and 6 park tickets the dining plan was just way to expensive. We usually go in the summer when it is hot and we just do not eat that much food. Our kids al ot of times would just share meals so we came out much cheaper just paying as we go.