Is it just me or is the DDP...

[Daisy'sMom]

I am going in a few weeks to spend time with family members. We received the AP discount but my uncle wanted me to look into "free dining". If we had taken free dining it would have increased our price well over 500.00 for us. It was not an option.

[TheVBs]

We would never pay for the DDP again. Love getting it free, but we get much better value paying OOP than paying for the DDP.

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.

Thank you for such a great tip! I never would have thought of this. We rarely eat dessert, so this would be a great option for us!

[2MuchWDFun]

I am going in a few weeks to spend time with family members. We received the AP discount but my uncle wanted me to look into "free dining". If we had taken free dining it would have increased our price well over 500.00 for us. It was not an option.

Daisy's Mom makes a great point--
If you stay in deluxe resorts the room discounts you receive with AP, AAA, and others will usually save more than the cost of the dining plan. This is not so for the values-the per day savings of the room discount is a lot lower. Moderates can be a toss-up.

Everyone's situation is different--as we've seen in all of our posts. You must run the numbers, and know how your family likes to dine. Are they snackers, fast foodies, or prefer table service every meal? Is dining an important part of the Disney experience or are you eating because you have to? How much time do you want to give up to doing TS dining or is QS more to your liking? Do you have kids who are adults (10 y/o plus) in Disney's eyes but don't eat like an adult, yet still have to pay the adult dining plan price?
Do you like the convenience of having most of your food prepaid? What is your vacation budget?
All these factors and more go into making a decision about using the dining plan or not. Just because it works for one family doesn't mean it works for another.

[Fastpasssteve]

If I am going out during a vacation, I am likely to order the Beef Filet no matter if I am on a dining plan or not. I want what I want. That's why the DDP is such a deal for us. We would have ordered the expensive stuff no matter what.

[Belster]

...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!

For me the plan is many things but inexpensive is not one of them. When my family of 5 vacations we like to do things all inclusive. There is nothing worse(I have done it at wdw) than having to have a prep talk before you go to eat...ie...guys I only have x amount of money...you HAVE to order from the kids menu and we will not be getting dessert today. NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!! The DDP is a sense of peace..when I am on vacation that we have planned for all year long, I want to eat things that I would noy normally, and enjoy it all prepaid.

We go during free dining, I know many people say it is not worth it but to me it is. When you have 3 or more people in your party the free DDP is a far better deal in my opinion.

[Seasonscraps]

With the dining plan, I think you really need to do the math to decide if cost effective. As the price of the DDP goes up, so do the prices on the menus. $1400 is a lot of money but if you add up the menu prices of everything you would order OOP it may work out to be more then $1400 or it could be less.


disneyboundagain:

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

I would LOVE this! We go off property to eat and more often then not end up at a chain restaurant.

[Rosemickey68]

As they say to each his own. We have never done the ddp either, but have chose to on our upcoming trip. I agree with the poster who said you have to do the math yourself and your family on whether or not it is cost effective. We did the math for all 3 discounts that were released in August, the free dining was the winner for our family. This was based off of what our plans were and how everyone in our party likes to eat, and where we like to eat. We priced the hotel (reg price vs. the discount), park tix, and dining plans with estimated tax and tip, we totaled those for each separate discount as applicable.
We don't eat dessert at every meal either, however I had read you can ask if they offer a selection not listed, or I assumed if we didn't feel like eating the dessert at the time hopefully there would be a choice that we could take to eat later, such as a cookie or grapes.
Overall, eating at Disney is expensive either way you look at it. We still have our favorite places to eat and so far they have remained good and/or great places to dine. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that this extended free dining doesn't effect those places!

[rubato]

With the dining plan, I think you really need to do the math to decide if cost effective. As the price of the DDP goes up, so do the prices on the menus. $1400 is a lot of money but if you add up the menu prices of everything you would order OOP it may work out to be more then $1400 or it could be less.

I think the key is to add up what you would pay "normally". If you wouldn't buy the most expensive thing on the menu normally, don't use that as your meal price. If you would normally drink water and not order a dessert, so what if that's included in the plan? Also, the more expensive the item you order on your meal plan, the bigger the tip you need to leave OOP. People tend to forget this part of it.

[faline]

We don't eat dessert at every meal either, however I had read you can ask if they offer a selection not listed, or I assumed if we didn't feel like eating the dessert at the time hopefully there would be a choice that we could take to eat later, such as a cookie or grapes.

Keep in mind that you can also order your dessert "to go" if you are too full to eat it at the time of your meal. We did this a number of times while we were on the dining plan and they had our dessert for "breakfast"!

[Belster]

I don't know about anyone else but we would never eat the way we "normally" eat when on vacation. When on vacation you should be treating yourself. Never underestimate the joy of having the little treasures like having dessert after every meal or having free reign of the menu...to me that is just priceless. I really don't know how a family of 4 could eat for less than 153.00 per day at Disney and say that they ate well. Now going off property is another thing, for sure you could eat for less.

[Mr_Increddieble]

All these are great points and well said.
If it were only $153 per day we would sign up right quick. But it's a solid $1400 per week for 3 Adults and 1 Child when you factor in other meals and tips ($200 per day). Remember though that 5 yrs ago you got an appetizer and dessert and the tip was included and it cost less.
So I am asking myself "When does it become too much?"
I think it has reached that point. If money is no object then sure - book it.
We love to stay and eat on-site and so we'll opt for less expensive places. Same magic - less cost (I hope). In the end it's our first trip w/out the DDP. So we'll see how it goes. Worst case I spend the same or only a little more. If it's more then I'll have learned a lesson.

[PinKy]

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??

Really?! We have the exact OPPOSITE experience! Part of the reason we GO to Disney is for the dining!! Goodness - we just love it. I will say this in regards to the rest of the original poster's view on the Dining Plan - I think it depends on what your "dining style" is. We do the Deluxe Dining every year and while it is NOT cheap (I also wouldn't call it outrageously priced), it allows us the flexibility and convenience of paying for our meals in advance (except tips of course) and we do several dining experiences or 2-pointers that we wouldn't normally do. :::shrugs::: Just a preference I think.