Is it just me or is the DDP...

[Mr_Increddieble]

...just too darn expensive this year. We are 3 Adults and 1 Child. My adult DS, however, doesn't eat the expensive stuff.

$47 per adult x 3 = $141
$12 per child x 1 = $12
Total = $153 per day.

Still have to buy breakfast: Add $30/day
and tip for dinner: Add $20 per day
New Total = $203 per day.
Trip Total = $1421

I haven't done an exhaustive calculation using the Intercot Excel sheet but I think I can beat that and still eat well (Not Narcossee's every night but...)

It seems like it started as a loss leader to get everyone in the restaurants and now it's a huge profit center.

I mean $1400 dollars for the week?
Holy Canoli at Via Napoli!

[BluewaterBrad]

It is not for me either. If it does not work out for you do not buy it. For some people it works out great.................with proper planning.

[mickey_M_lvr]

I guess it depends on when and where you are going. The dining plan is free for a lot of the year. I am not sure I would want to go to Disney without in. I guess it is a convience that I don't wanna live without.

Have a great trip!

[A Big Kid]

Not even worth considering for a second for us.

[disneymom2000]

For what you get with the DDP now it really isn't worth it. They keep adding more restaurants to the 2TS list and it is getting harder to get a reservation. So if you have a five day -four night plan and you eat at Narcoosies and Artist Point for example, then you have used all you table services for the entire trip. Over ten restaurants are listed in the 2TS right now and I believe they are adding to that list for 2011.

[retiredfigment]

I loved the convenience of it, but after doing the figuring, just wasn't worth it. IMHO, my solution was to buy gift cards whenever I have a few extra dollars and use them for my meals and snacks. Still don't need cash at the park and get fuel perks

[magicofdisney]

I think it's just a toss up between DDP and OOP. From my experience, what you get for what they charge at 1TS isn't really worth it either.

[AllDisney]

We tend to use the DDP when it's free. That works for us

[Mousemates]

It usually doesn't work out to be a good deal for us...so when we have a choice between a big room discount or free dining we go for the room discount.

[DizneyRox]

I mean $1400 dollars for the week?
Holy Canoli at Via Napoli!

We spent about $1200 for the three of us for 11 days with the TiW card. $1400 for one week sounds ludicrous... That $1200 DOES include many character meals, dinners, Narcoossees, Princess Breakfast, etc.

[2MuchWDFun]

I think for people on the dining plan who have children who are charged as adults--it is probably not worth the money. Especially if the child doesn't want to eat adult meals.

If you eat at CS meals most of the time with an occasional TS you'll definitely be able to eat for a lot less.

Our family (3 of us) usually only has two meals a day--breakfast-snack- dinner; or lunch and dinner, just depends on our park touring plans. It's easy to use a snack for breakfast--fruitcup, muffin, etc. We are using the deluxe dining plan this December (free dining-upgraded to deluxe). It'll be myself, DH and DS-22--we are looking forward to eating at lots of signature restaurants and Hoop-de-doo.

As other's have said--the dining plan has to work for your family and their dining preferences. It is definitely not for everyone.

[BrerGnat]

I agree with you! It's too expensive. I did it once, way back the year it was introduced. It was "worth it" then, not anymore.

Our family only spent about $500 for a week in WDW (there are four of us). We stayed Club Level and found that was a good value for us, since we made the most of the food offerings. We are light eaters, so it was great for us. We did 4 TS meals (one was "signature") and just ate CS whenever we were hungry. We did a lot of sharing CS meals and "snacking". It was very liberating not to be tied down to ADRs!

[rubato]

We did it this year and did not get our money's worth. First off, my son is 10. Full price for the plan and he's ordering off the kids menus. Also, who eats dessert with every meal? This January we're going back and I booked a room only and was going to buy my tickets elsewhere. Then, I found out we were going during free dining. I ended up getting the QS dining plan for 7 days for an extra $200 over what I would have spent for my room and tickets with a really good discount. I figure that it's not really a great deal, but not bad either. I wpuld never budget for a mug at the resort since we don't drink soda or juice. Then, I don't need to buy a side and dessert with my lunch. I never order dessert with dinner, but would love an appetizer once in awhile. The 2 snacks are almost wasted on us because we're just not big eaters. We'll try to use those credits on prepackaged things that we can take home and freeze. I also don't want to spend my vacation ever worrying about reservations again. I hated having to leave something fun to go eat when I wasn't even hungry. But, when the ressies are so hard to get, you've got to use them.

[disneyboundagain]

...I think I can beat that and still eat well... [/B]

Eat well..... I'm sorry, did I miss where you said your are eating outside the park?

In our opinion, the DDP has absolutely KILLED the quality of food and overall dining experience over the past several years.

We have free dining for our Feb trip, and we STILL plan on eating outside the parks for a couple of dinners.

If you have the transportation means, I would really recommend eating at least a few meals outside the park.

I wonder if there would be any interest in starting a "sticky" thread for places to eat outside the parks??

[Fastpasssteve]

On our many trips, we've never used the DDP. But this time I'm going with a close family friend. We are both people who like to rest a few times during a hard day in the parks and like to eat well.

We are using the Deluxe Dining Plan. We are using some of our credits for signature dining at Jiko, California Grill, Brown Derby, and Artist Point. That freed us up to spend some time at the Food and Wine Festival (using up those snack credits)! We did the math, and for the type of dining we were looking for, we each saved at least $350 each, compared to paying OOP.

However, this is a special trip with special circumstances. It is doubtful we will do it this way next time, but it will be great this time! Perhaps the DDP doesn't fit into your plans every time...adapt, overcome.

[disneyboundagain]

... your ...

... you're ...

Kills me when other people do it.... I know better....

[A Big Kid]

We did the math, and for the type of dining we were looking for, we each saved at least $350 each, compared to paying OOP.

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Did you factor in tips? on the DDP, and even more so with the DDDP, there is a tendancy to order more expensive items on the menu because they are "free." That in turn raises your tip amount.

[PETE FROM NYC]

Last year, in September, we had free dining, and made good use of it.
This year we stayed in BLT, one BR villa, as DVC members, and would have had to purchase the dining plan if we wanted it.
We did some careful planning and figuring, and we decided against the DDP.
What we did was to make breakfast each morning, then make sandwiches to eat in our park du jour. We also carried an insulated jug of ice water so we did not have to buy drinks all day. This way we could splurge on a nice TS dinner each night.

[lynnek]

Being a newbie to the DDp, we chose to try it this time. We actually upgraded to the DDDP. We have three kids, 10, 12 and 2. The older two are billed as adults and haven't eaten off a kids menu in a few yrs. The 2 yr old isn't charged, will eat off our plates. We look at it as a great dining experience--the kids have no restrictions on menu choices which expands their tastes. We take frequent trips to NYC and choose restaurants according to cuisines we want to try. I am actually the more conservative of the group. Also, we will be able to try lots of different things at F&W with snack credits. I know I won't be worried about the kids not liking something--they can fill up at the next meal. I also like the idea of having the majority of it paid for ahead(obviously not the tips). I don't view it as free--I have paid for it in some way, so I do have expectations of good food and service.

[angua85]

I agree that DDP is only a value if you get it free.

But I am really posting to point out that often times you can swap the "dessert" for bags of grapes or apple slices. Even if they are not listed on the menu- I have had cast members offer things off the menu. We also used our "snack" credits for our breakfast. We ended up with unused credits, as we just are not big eaters.