Is the DDP a good deal?

[mom2morgan]

I've tried pricing this out a bunch of different ways, and it seems to me that the DDP is slightly - SLIGHTLY- a savings over paying out of pocket. Do others find the same? Here's our eating pattern - we do table service for dinner, and eat at places like Boma, O'Hana, Cape May, 1900 Park Fare- that sort of restaurant. We are a family of 4 with children who are 16 and 11. The 11 year old is a very light eater, so she might be where we could save out of pocket (but not at buffets, obviously). I'm really having a hard time deciding if it is worth it!

[W24toISMdirect]

If you use ALL of you credits on food you absolutely 100% would buy if you didn't have DDP... then yes.

Otherwise, the advantage is Disney's, not yours.

[wdwnomad]

I would say go with the dining plan if you already did the math and are coming out ahead. I know at least for me if I went out of pocket I would think twice about what I was ordering and what it costs. The dining plan takes that part out of the equation and so it is one less thing to worry about.

[BigRedDad]

Disney did not create the DDP to lose money. It was created to collect in advance with the reality that a VERY LARGE portion of people on it lose. During the holiday price premiums, it is a benefit though.

I hated the DDP. The reason is it kept us captive to a schedule. Those TS credits are only good if you get a $30 dinner. If you use a TS credit for a breakfast, there is no way to make up for the cost that day. We wound up skipping 3 TS meals on our trip and lost out greatly on the DDP.

For my family the QSDP is a much better deal. We will have the plan for 2 adults and 1 child. My mother has her own room only reservation. Because of our eating habits, the 4 adult meals and 2 child meals a day will feed all of us each day (2 QS meals to share with 3 adults at lunch or dinner). This way we create our own "family style" meal at a QS restaurant.

[AdventurerKim]

We did the DDP for the first time over Thanksgiving because we got it "free" with the room & tickets package we got. It worked well, but it was a lot of food (desserts with every CS meal was too much), and the TS meals did lock us into a schedule for being at certain parks for those meals. We learned a lot that will be put to use if we do it again, which would only be if it was offered "free" again. We did use every credit so we definitely came out ahead, but I came home feeling more stuffed than on cruises.

[Figment!]

In addition to the direct savings, you may also want to consider other alternative discounts that are not applicable when you use the Disney Dining Plan.

We have yet to use the Plan, because we find we can save more money by staying on a discounted room rate at the Swan & Dolphin than we would by purchasing any of the Disney Dining Plans.

In case you are interested, INTERCOT also has a tool to help with assessing the value of the three Dining Plans base on how you plan to dine on an upcoming vacation:

Disney Dining Plan Estimator Spreadsheet

[kakn7294]

Here are the three reasons we've decided against the DDP in the coming year:

1 - In 2010, there will be a surcharge added to the DDP during certain times of year that may make it a not-so-good deal. There will also be a surcharge added to certain meals but I'm guessing you would have to eat at all those meals in order to still have the DDP make sense during the times of the added surcharge. We don't want to be limited to the places with the surcharge in order to make the DDP worth it.

2 - I have a 10 yo who eats like a bird so paying for her as an adult on the DDP doesn't make sense at restaurants where she'll be ordering from a menu since she can order from either the adult menu or the kid's menu or even just ala carte. Obviously, we'll have to pay the adult price at buffets and family-style places - if we ate at only those places, the DDP would make sense but we don't so it doesn't.

3 - I don't like getting dessert with every QS meal and sometimes don't want dessert after my TS meal. I also don't like feeling the pressure to use all my credits because I've already paid for them. Last year, we had 1 QS credit that we just couldn't use before we left so it went to waste. I feel I have much more flexiblility just eating when I want to eat and what I want to eat.

We've used the DDP several times in the past and have found it to either be a decent deal or at least a break-even proposition. I do like that my meals are all pre-paid but financially, it won't be a good deal for my family.

[mom2morgan]

In addition to the direct savings, you may also want to consider other alternative discounts that are not applicable when you use the Disney Dining Plan.

We have yet to use the Plan, because we find we can save more money by staying on a discounted room rate at the Swan & Dolphin than we would by purchasing any of the Disney Dining Plans.

In case you are interested, INTERCOT also has a tool to help with assessing the value of the three Dining Plans base on how you plan to dine on an upcoming vacation:

Disney Dining Plan Estimator Spreadsheet

Oh, thank you for that! That will make it much easier for me to really calculate :-)

Edited to add that I just plugged in my numbers from my last trip with DDP - according to the estimator, if we had done all the meals we PLANNED we would have saved 21% which is awesome! But...and it is a big but...I came down with a stomach virus and barely ate ANYTHING for the first three days of our trip, and only had orange juice for breakfast and lunch the rest of the time - if you take my meals out, we actually lost money. Which I guess shows one problem of the DDP - which is lack of flexibility.

[mom2morgan]

My daughter (16) really likes the DDP because of "the convenience" - she liked just handing over her card and having it done autmatically. But I remember a LOT of confusion last year over breakfasts - trying to figure out what items we could put together and call a "quick service" breakfast - and we found it was different in every location! In some we got 2 pastries, sometimes 1 pasty and two drinks, sometimes a pastry and a yogurt..it was confusing! I'm thinking - isn't it JUST as convenient to have charging privileges put on everyone's room card so they can still get their food that way? (the first time we went, we didn't have DDP and only the adults cards had charging privileges, so if the kids wanted food they had to have one of us with them, or cash. But they are old enough that I can trust them to use their own cards to charge if Disney allows that? )

[nicster]

We have had the DDP several times, and have decided that we want to try the QSDP next time. The time spent going to the TS restaurants is just not worth the time it takes away from our park experience. (see She Said - He Said - Final Thoughts ) Just to be fair, some of the ts experiences were worth it, but being locked into ressies for so many meals is not. There are many, many cs places that I enjoyed every bit as much as the ts & I love having the flexibility of eating when I am actually hungry, not when I have been scheduled. Hope this helps!

[Gator]

When it was just my wife and I, we didn't use the DDP. We found it better to make ressies for just a few dinners in advance, and then pick some extra places when we were there (if there was room). But with kids, they can't go between meals as long as we adults. So the DDP makes sense, because their plan is so cheap. I'm for it right now, but it would be nice to go back to a time when there was more freedom in dining.

[handmaidenofprincesses]

I love the DDP, but then again, I haven't used it since a lot of the changes were made. Why did I love it? Well, my family and I are all foodies, and some of the best dining in the world is at Disney, so for us, it's worth it!

For example, my dad and I had lunch at Le Cellier steakhouse (granted, this was back when appetizers were included, but still). I had Cheddar cheese soup, filet mignon, and creme brulee for dessert. My dad had Duck Two Ways (a quarter seared duck and duck confit), a New York Strip steak and creme brulee for dessert. In total, the bill came to about $106. We had paid about $35 a day per person for the DDP, so we figured about $20 of that went to a TS meal. Therefore, the $106 meal cost us $40!

Obviously, now that the DDP no longer includes appetizers or gratuity, it wouldn't have been quite such a good deal. However, if it hadn't included the appetizer, we simply wouldn't have had one (it was a lot of food) so the bill would probably have been $75-$80. Still a big savings!

Oh, and all of my unused snack credits were spent on things like rice krispie treats that I brought home for friends and family as souvies!

[mom2morgan]

We have had the DDP several times, and have decided that we want to try the QSDP next time. The time spent going to the TS restaurants is just not worth the time it takes away from our park experience. (see She Said - He Said - Final Thoughts ) Just to be fair, some of the ts experiences were worth it, but being locked into ressies for so many meals is not. There are many, many cs places that I enjoyed every bit as much as the ts & I love having the flexibility of eating when I am actually hungry, not when I have been scheduled. Hope this helps!

We like TS and don't mind being locked into reservations, so the only factor I have to consider is if it saves money or not :-)

[crmark1]

The last time we used it in 07 it still included an appatizer and tip and we came out about $210 to the good. Now Ive done some figures for our trip in April and it comes out about even.

[HoosierDisneyFan]

We are bif TS fans but it is not for everyone.

Cons
You have to have Reservations at most TS locations which puts you on a schedule that some people dislike. This is not really a funtion of DDP but rather of the TS resturants.
The DDP no longer include App or Tip. Before this chnage many people on this message board complained there was too much food on DDP and the service was poor because the wait staff knew they would get a tip anyway (not my experience but that of others)
Some complained that DDP has made the resturants to crowded
The need to made reservations several months in advance. Again this is not really a funtion of DDP but rather of the TS resturants.
Some people who have problems do not understand the DDP that they have purchased.

Pros
If you use all credits you will save money
The food is entirely prepaid (no money worries at the park).
I am a planner. I love planning Disney trips. Planning the parks we will vist each day along with the resturants. This is not for everyone but I love it.
The 1 Snack credit per day allows me to limits the number of time my kid asks for popcorn, ice cream, etc. He konws you get 1 per day. OK this does work as well as I had hoped ...
Before I used DDP, I had not eaten at anyTS resturants. Too crowded (w/o reservations). DDP allowed me to experience a whole new side of Disney!

I woudl suggest you try it 1 yesr to see if you family likes it!

[SuzieN]

I like the DDP because it makes my vacation seem almost all-inclusive and I don't have to worry about menu prices!!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Whether or not the Dining Plan is a good deal varies from family to family...light eaters or people who go to a TS restaurant and order a burger are not going to see any savings....

We find that the plan does save us money and we have the freedom of ordering what we want without having to consider cost of the entree....plus the convenience of prepaying where you don't have to guess what to budget for food.

My advice is to use the dining plan estimator and figure what you are most likely to order and go by the current menu price. This will give you a good idea whether it will be a good idea for you or not.

[PinKy]

I think that the value of the DDP (whichever one you choose) comes in to play when you view your habits while at Disney World. For instance - its very valuable to us to know that our meals our primarily paid for in advance so that we don't have to worry about meal costs (except for tips and any alcoholic beverages) at vacation time. Also - we choose the deluxe DDP so that we have the option of appetizers and dessert during our meal - but often we only take a bite or two to sample the different dishes. As many on here have noted - they do give you quite a bit of food - if you eat it all you're likely to not feel well. So - that takes a bit of getting used to. For us its kind of a "vacation mode" thing. ie. We ONLY do that on vacation. Also - our pattern is to eat where we like regardless of whether its table service OR sit down - we're big fans of Cosmic Rays and a few others - we're not going to skip them just because of a dining plan.... so - you would want to take a look at what your dining pattern is and base your costs on that pattern etc. For us I think that yes - we do save some money - no I don't believe its more than a few dollars - in the end its more of a convenience thing for us. Good luck whichever plan you choose - or if you choose one at all. I hear many people prefer the Dining Experience card (that may not be the right name) or the lower-tiered dining plan.

[thrillme]

The only thing I liked about the DDP is that we got it "sorta" FREE.

Here's the thing with "sorta" free. Originally the room was "discounted". When the "free" dining came out the room was about $300 more but the dining was "free"...uhhhh

Ok...that was a "scam" but the way I figured it...it was going to be easy for the 3 of us to spend at "least" $300 on food for those 3 days. So it was kinda "nice" to be able to pay for everything up front and not owe ANYTHING except for souvineers, and tips. Keeping an estimated tab I think we saved a "little" money but it was hard to add up because there were sometimes I know "I" had no desire to eat but did anyway.

I think the DDP has RUINED things because it's impossible to get into a resturant without reservations and I absolutely positively HATE reservations...but whether you get the DDP or not...you MUST have reservations now. I really can't comprehend how people can figure where they want to eat and when. The only place we enjoy but it's getting a little old is the SciFi Diner. I enjoy it but I wish they'd change the movies a bit to some new "old" ones.

We were eating so often that we really didn't desire "snacks" all that much. We ended up taking lots of those MOUSE ear crispy snacks home.

[pamickeys]

last time we had theDDP was '92 it was totally different back then, but what it did do was teach us to catalog all expences, mostly food. we have NEVER spent the amount of the plan since.some times you just want to eat junk food, and you can't make up that amount. remember Disney is in the business to make money, and if you were coming out a winner on this deal ,then Disney is the loser. do you think they would continue to promote the DDP? you are not putting it to "the man". no one stays in business losing money, except GM.