DDP - honest opinions

[septembergirl]

Has anyone ever felt like the dining plan was just too much trouble or took too much of your valuable touring time by having a sit down meal each day? I mean, arriving early for your reservation, accounting for time to get to and fro if you don't happen to be in that park/resort, difficulty getting a reasonable meal time, etc.

It seems like if it is free it would be worth it but does having a planned TS every day steal spontaneity from your vacation or touring schedule as opposed to stepping up to a CS place, ordering, eating and moving on in half the time?

[dog-ears]

Well I have never felt that way - I enjoy a sit-down meal, if nothing else, just to rest my feet! We really enjoy WDW better if we take some down time once in a while and not keep up a frantic pace all the time.:turtle:

My only issue with the DDP is that for us it is just a little too much food if we order appetizer, entree & dessert! This coming trip I am going to try to choose "lighter" selections so I don't feel so full. I still think it's a good deal though.:eat:

[WorldTraveler]

If you plan right, the sit down meals are attactions all to themselves. Too many people are missing so much of WDW by not having some.
On crowded days when we can just walk right up and go right in for lunch (I could almost sell my reservation for there are so many people out of luck without reservations)
We get to rest up mid day and then are ready for more adventures.
Counter Service is fine but at the wrong times can really be a hassle.
Besides, each vacation, it allows us to plan ahead and get excited about the tip more.
Next trip July 23 for 4 days. Four dinners at restuarants we have never been to! And this is my 17 year olds 23 or so visit.

[princessimagineer]

i think it depends on the person. some people enjoy spontaniously planned vacations, others would rather know everything is all booked and planned and ready to go befor arriving.

in my oppinion, i dont want to risk there not being openings at the TS i want to eat at at the night i want to eat there, so ADRs make it less stressfull, but thats just me

[Hull-onian]

One of my favorite things to do is to make the ADR's. So far I have been able to get all my requests filled. The best was over at the Poly for the Aloha Show. It was great. But then the Concourse Steak House was good, as was Chef Mickey's, and Boatwrights and Liberty Tree Tavern. Hmmm, I am getting all confused, I love 'em all. LOL.:beer:

[lilmick]

We haven't actually used our ADR's yet (11 days!) but I have to say that we've had a ball making them ~ figuring out when to eat and where and what we can order ~ so I feel like they have already been worth it! And now we just have the food to look forward too! Yippee!:mickey:

[Jodi]

I have to agree with WorldTraveler, some of the sit down restaurants can be attractions themselves. We do plan our days around our ADR's, but, find it very relaxing when we do sit down and eat an awesome dinner. We would not have even step foot into some of these restaurants in the past, without the DDP. I hope they keep it up. (it is the only way I can keep convincing DH to keep going back). :thumbsup:

[LibertyTreeGal]

I Looooove it, the restaurants ARE attractions. I don't look forward to going to eateries anywhere else like I do at WDW

[r4kids]

I really enjoy knowing where were going to eat everyday. It helps because with our large family you don't have the: " I don't know where do you want to eat, I don't know what do you feel like, I don't want BLAHBLAHBLAH, on and on until we have wasted an hour or so. I also like knowing when I get there it's paid for, tip is included and there is a table available for us.

84 days!!!

[Jeri Lynn]

I've had the DDP for two trips and will be getting it for my next trip. I found it very convenient, and it was nice not to have to carry $$ around.

I did find that it was more food than I normally eat, but I was on vacation so all extra calories did not count!!:blush:

[kathiep]

We love making our ADR's.

The meals are pretty much an attraction themselves. We look forward to some of the restaurants as much as some of the regular attractions.

Plus sitting down for a while is always nice.

Making ADR's also eliminates any disagreements on where to eat while in the parks. You've already made those decisions.

You can still find room to be spontaneous but you also know when you get to your dining choice, you don't have to worry about them not being able to accomodate you.

[Natazu]

Disney Dining is as much a part of our trip as any other aspect. We look forward to a nice relaxing meal to cap off our days. The Dining Plan just makes them inexpensive gourmet meals as opposed to expensive ones.

[princessgirls]

The Dining Plan is a beautiful thing for my family.

Here's why I think so:

1. We loved the "all-inclusive" feeling.

2. We would have never done so many character meals and nicer dining.

3. We were all full, satisfied, and extremely happy when the check came.

4. While in WDW for a few days in March it cost my family of 4 (2 adults 2 children) $150 a day to eat in the parks, quick lunch and a character or Epcot dinner.

5. It made our vacation, so nice not worrying how much meals would cost us.

6. Even better, when WDW offers the plan as a freebie, for our trip in August, really it is a homerun!!

OK that's my 6 cents worth.

Julie

[SBETigg]

If you don't typically eat a table service meal a day, I can see why it would be inconvenient. In that case, even if it is free dining plan time, that doesn't mean you have to take full advantage. You could eat the CS meals and do a lot of the 2 ts meals, leaving some days open. Or skip the ts meals when it doesn't fit the schedule.

We typically eat a ts meal a day, so the dining plan is very convenient in that we can pre-pay for our meals (we've never gotten it free) and also, we save money.

[jedi jen]

I love the DDP. I enjoy all the restaurants. The kids do too. We go in July so it is a nice respite from the heat and crowds - no lines, real plates, no fries/grease. ("You want some grease to go with that heat?" :D "No thank you!" :shake::nope:) What a treat. :mickey::woohoo:

[biodtl]

For me, it's perfect. I wouldn't want 2 CS meals OR 2 TS meals in one day, so 1 each is just right.

[tinksmom02]

The Dining Plan is a beautiful thing for my family.

Here's why I think so:

1. We loved the "all-inclusive" feeling.

2. We would have never done so many character meals and nicer dining.

3. We were all full, satisfied, and extremely happy when the check came.

4. While in WDW for a few days in March it cost my family of 4 (2 adults 2 children) $150 a day to eat in the parks, quick lunch and a character or Epcot dinner.

5. It made our vacation, so nice not worrying how much meals would cost us.

6. Even better, when WDW offers the plan as a freebie, for our trip in August, really it is a homerun!!

OK that's my 6 cents worth.

Julie

:ditto: What she said!!

[kaerbear178]

I love it and wouldn't go without. I normally would not be able to eat at these TS restaurants, and they are nicer than where I get to eat at home! I don't need to ride every ride and see every show. I like to be able to sit down and relax without going, going, going all the time.

[GrmGrninGost]

I love the DDP!:mickey:It's hard to imagine, but there was a time I felt like you said. Then we decided to try the DDP. I hope I never have to go to WDW without it again. It's fun to make the ADRs! It's fun to try new places! The food is wonderful! I LOVE the character meals! The TS meals give you a chance to sit and relax and still have a great time! We hit the parks as hard as anyone I know, but we all need a wee little break at times. We just take ours at meal time!

[Tinkerfreak]

We have used the dining plan several times and do enjoy the ts meals. However we do find that too many character meals take up alot of time. My girls are older and have decided to skip doing so many character meals. Last year we did Chef Mickeys for breakfast and it took forever to see the characters. They would get almost to us and then dissappear for a few minutes. We had the same problem at Crystal Palace.
This year we thought about skipping the dining plan but the value is just too good. We do eat a ts every day. We also like not having to worry about how much it is going to cost. I guess my frustration is with the having to make adr's 180 days in advance. We sometimes feel tied to our adrs. We might want to go to MK instead on a certain day but have an adr at Epcot so we feel like we need to go there. So I guess to sum it up:
We love the value and the variety the dp offers but
We don't like the loss of spontanaity and the absolute need for adrs.

[Dedivah]

:thumbsup:We love DDP!! :cloud9:

We get a good CS breakfast at the hotel then head out to the parks. Stop for a snack during the day and by the evening we are ready for a good TS meal. At the end of the trip we always have snacks left over to get stuff for the trip home on a flight that does not provide any meals.

We also love the all inclusive feeling as well. Not having to worry if there is enough spending money for food and gifts. This way we only spend money when we want to spend. We never feel as if we have to spend it. :thumbsup:

[angedeaile]

I guess it depends. I can see how some folks would think it is alot of time wasted.

I think it is perfect for me. On our last trip, we had a TS every day. We love to eat....

Boy was it expensive. So I decided to look inoto the DDP for this trip. I don't want to even think of how much time, effort and money it would have saved me if I used the DDP last year :(

[DivaLuvsDisney]

In the past, I never would have thought of part of the fun of Disney World as being the food. However, with the DDP, we are able to go to restaurants that we've never been to before in some cases, and always enjoy a good, sit down dinner each night. I love eating somewhere that I would never have justified spending money in. We used to do all counter service, which meant mostly burgers. And although they are so good, it gets old after a few days. :sick:

This year we are going for ten days and have planned everything from the places we plan to have counter service, to making our ADR's, to even discussing different snack opportunities. Last June when we had the DDP, we thought the only snacks were water, ice cream, pop corn and fruit! :blush:

So I say: Rock On DDP! :number1:

[January-2007]

Well, I don't think we would ever pay for it, but we're participating in the Free Dining Plan in September and can't wait! We do more lunches and breakfasts than just expensive dinners so we wouldn't normally come out on top. I like the prepaid factor though, that will be a very nice change of what we're spending our money on!

[LandFan]

Nope - we love the DDP! I love to be able to have a sit down dinner every night at some exoctic and fun Disneyfied restaurant. We tend to go all day and EMH in the parks so this is the time to rest and talk about our day before continuing on.

[MsMin]

We love it but I won't be using it on the next trip due to Food and Wine and it's just the 3 of us going (w/ 2- 20 something yr old girls who don't live to eat:blush:).
We just want to save room to try things w/ the Food and Wine b/c we were full all the time.
I loved DDP b/c it gave us the chance to try new places. To eat like we want and not worry about how much we were spending$$$. As mentioned I've spent just as much on a trip w/ just one TS and CS. I loved that it's paid in advance and you don't have to watch what you are spending if you are on a budget!
Last Dec. we had 7 adults, you can't be spontaneous w/ 7 adults, it works better for us if we have a plan so we don't have 7 different itineraries. The TS is our meal time and while last year we had 5 TS the year before we mixed it up w/ a 2TS and Character breakfast so we had a lot of variety.
We love the DDP:thumbsup:

[Seasonscraps]

I don't love having to plan my meals/make ADRs so far in advance, but I couldn't imagine going on vacation and not sitting down to a nice meal everyday. We always did this even before the DDP. It's a nice way to spend an hour or two talking about all the fun we just had and have to look forward to. It also gives us a chance to recharge our batteries a bit.

[BethieTink]

With or without the DDP, we would make ADRs for every night and some mornings, too, of our Disney trips. For us, eating good meals is part of our vacation. We also do not do the parks till we drop. We typically go to a park first thing in the AM, tour till lunch time, head back to the resort, swim, nap, get ready for dinner and then spend the rest of our evening around dinner. Except for MVMCP or MNSSHP, we don't normally go back to a park to go on any rides in the evening, but we will gladly walk around EPCOT for a few hours, having a few drinks and enjoying dinner.

To each his own.

[LSUgirl07]

While I do think that the DDP is great for those who want to have most of their meals planned out ahead of time, I know that it would not be worth it for me, or my family. Don't get me wrong- we LOVE (most of) the sit down restaurants at WDW, but we normally never visit one every day of our trip. So many times we'll start off our day in a 'pre-assigned' park for EMH, but come back to the hotel to relax and decide then where we'll be at night. I think having an ADR for every day for lunch/dinner would force us to have to know which park we were doing what night, what time we had to be there, etc. I would hate having to plan my trip around the restaurants I was eating at. What if we didn't feel like going to Epcot that night? What if we wanted to go resort hop instead? Or watch the fireworks from the beach at the Poly? I guess we're just very go with the flow. But to those of you who use it, more power to ya :thumbsup:

[snifflesmcg]

I LOVE the DDP. Half the fun for me is making the ADR's. I love looking at the menus and pictures of the food and the restaurant itself. A sitdown meal, for me, is one of the highlights of my day. I get to sit down, be waited on, have a great meal, be in air conditioning and rest my sore tired swollen feet, lol. I will never visit WDW again without buying it (or getting it for free in Sept)

[Wells]

On our last trip, we took advantage of the DDP for the first time. Although it was
Nice not having to be concerned with menu prices, I can understand why some people
find it somewhat inhibiting having to be at a particular place at a particular time. I know for us, having to keep a dining schedule prevented us from visiting some attractions and spend less time at some then we would have otherwise liked. This is also way more food than any human needs to eat! At the end of our trip (8 days) we still had two TS and four CS credits left. Our plan for our next trip is to use the dining plan, but to use the TS credits for mostly “signature” dining (2 credit) experiences and CS for lighter lunches and an occasional breakfast. Even with all of the walking involved with a WDW trip, I still gained weight!

[LoriMistress]

If you're on your feet racing to one ride/attraction to the next, it's always nice to take an hour of your time to sit back, relax, in nice air conditioned room, and eat a yummy meal. By the time DH and I are out theree is always a huge line of people rushing to get into the restaurant and waiting over a half hour to be seated.

[Mickey91]

Having to be somewhere everyday at a particular time is a little nerve racking, at least for the planner and time keeper. But, I find it is easier and more enjoyable knowing all the meals are paid for than trying to budget every penny and worrying about the trip home. Plus, we definitely don't skimp on food which makes keeping up the pace of the rest of the day a lot easier.:mickey:

[dolphinmickey9170]

I wouldn't do WDW any other way. After our trip in May, I posted a "DDP Review, cost vs savings" and we saved hundreds of dollars. We love it. First of all, you get to sit down and relax for a bit. Second of all, you get great food. Thirdly, you get to enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant. And, if it is a character meal, that makes it even better. I've gotten some of the best candid shots of my DD at restaurants. Good luch and have fun.

PS: I also find it very rewarding to make my ADR's. It's a blast.