DDP For You?

[Scar]

After almost 10 years I've decided to do my first poll.

We've been reading a lot of posts lately about the Disney Dinning Plan. So where do you stand? For ease, consider any of the plans for your choice.

ETA: This is for future visits. If you have done it in the past, but will not in future, your answer is "never". (This edit was after diz_girl voted)

Personally, I will never do it again. I don't "need" a Table Service restaurant everyday, and I usually go during the food and wine festival, so it just doesn't work out for me.

[Kenny1113]

I Agree! When there was free dining I priced it out and it still was not enough shavings to do it! As fl resident I think there is more savings in fl res tickets and room rates than the free dining!

[poeticeclipse]

Being a non-AP holder, non FL resident, and someone who stays on property the entire vacation... it definitely makes things easier for me.

If the DDP did not exist my family would not eat at table service restaurants. The price just would not suit our budget and I can think of more efficient ways to use the money.

That being said, since we started using the DDP, it's become a highlight of our vacation. We're foodies and enjoy eating a nice meal and trying new things that we wouldn't be able to eat in our small city in Michigan.

I've went during free dining twice and felt that it was a good deal. Sure, you pay rack rate for your room, but if you were planning on doing the DDP you might as well eat free if you can.

[Strmchsr]

After dropping 130 lbs last year I've found I just plain can't eat that much food any more. My family is the same way. The DDP is just too much food and not a good value for the money you pay. So, we've started going OOP. We do 3-4 TS places over the course of stay, but we usually just bring a PBJ sandwich with us for lunch so we're not overly stuffed. Having done the math even considering my previous eating habits, though, I'm still not sure it's a great deal, other than the convenience of prepaying.

As for your poll, regardless of the DDP, though, I definitely would rather take a room discount over the "free" DDP. Unless we're at the values the room discount is the better deal.

[diz_girl]

I voted 'Sometimes', as I've done it once out of my last three trips. The time I did do the DDP was in 2007, when both the appetizer AND tip were still included in the DDP price. I was pregnant at the time and had no problem with the DDP being too much food. Now that the appetizer and tip are out, the DDP doesn't offer the same value for me. While I do like to eat at a TS restaurant every day, it isn't necessarily for dinner, as I love breakfasts at WDW (especially at Kona Cafe, GF Cafe and CP), so that makes the DDP even less of a value for me. I did it once and liked it, but the plan has changed since then, so I don't know if or when I'll do it again.

[forever a child]

I wouldn't mind trying it. We have never used it. DD loves to eat...but I hate to be scheduled out everywhere! So at this point since it is no longer "Free" we are paying OOP. Room discount and GAD ticket savings were a better deal than the Gift card and having to pay for dinning. But if it were free and we could stay during value season...well, I would probably try it then!

[BugeyedMuggy]

I voted to take the room discount. The problem with free dining is that it is usually during F&WF so we are eating all day anyway.

It was a much better value when it included app & Gratuity. Now it's not really a savings unless you order the most expensive entree and dessert, but then you pay more in tips.

[Scar]

As for your poll, regardless of the DDP, though, I definitely would rather take a room discount over the "free" DDP. Unless we're at the values the room discount is the better deal.

I agree. The only reason I put that in there was in case some people did not know the free dinning is always rack rates, but room discounts come after the booking period ends. (I think I got that right.)

[kakn7294]

For us, it depends on the circumstances. We've done both. This trip we have opted to forgo it as it would be $47 per person per night and our youngest daughter, who has turned 10, doesn't eat enough to make it worth that amount of money per day for her. Plus, with our restaurant choices this time, the dining plan would only save us about $40 -
$80 for the entire trip IF we all got only the most expensive items on the menu. I can easily make up that savings by not getting desserts at all TS meals since we don't always want them anyway, never getting dessert with the CS meals, and allowing DD10 to order whatever she wants whether from the adult or child menus. We also plan to get the TiW card as well so we'll have that savings too once the card pays for itself.

[kakn7294]

After dropping 130 lbs last year I've found I just plain can't eat that much food any more.

Congrats Chris! That's a great accomplishment!

[Strmchsr]

But if it were free and we could stay during value season...well, I would probably try it then!

The problem is, it's never free. It's "free". As Scar noted above, when they do "free" dining you pay full rack rate on the rooms which means the "free" dining isn't always as good of a discount as the other package or room only discounts.

Congrats Chris! That's a great accomplishment!

Thanks Kathy!!

[SallyMcQueen]

I chose if it was free. We got the DDP last time we were there and the concensus was that its totally worth it for adults, not worth it for the kids IMO. Our DD hardly ate anything, she's kind of picky and just not a big eater anyway. I think next time we go we'll just forgo the DDP. We'll have 2 kids this time, but again our DS doesn't eat that much when we go out to eat. I'd rather order one thing for both kids and have them split it. Also, my kids would be happy to eat PBJs every meal, which is something we could bring with us and save tons of money.

Plus like PPs have said its just a ridiculous amount of food. I remember on our last night I went to the snack shop at the resort and just went to town using up all of our snack credits.

[eeyorepoohfan]

My hubby and I went in December and got a great deal for our trip. We decided not to add the dining plan because we didn't feel we would have spent that much on food. We took just over $300 cash for our trip for food. Our vacation was 6 days and 5 nights. We actually came home with money. We found that we were able to share meals at some counter service places. Or some of the meals were large enough that we would just get a snack later on. Plus, carrying a Camelback for water, kept our drink expense pretty low. We also carried snacks in our Camelback. We are used to being frugle eaters, so even on vacation we are still in that mentality without sacrificing anything. We did splurge and get yummy snacks and treats almost every day too. We found that for breakfast at POP Century I would get a bagel with cream cheese and my hubby would get a danish. Since we bought the refillable mug on our first day, no drinks were needed. Breakfast was around $6 each day for the two of us! So no dining plan for us.