How Many DVCers Get the DDP?

[TheDuckRocks]

I voted "sometimes" on this one as I see now being a DVC member we may travel slightly differently than we have in the past as we know we'll be going back in the future.
I am the odd ball that actually likes the ADR system. It keeps me from knocking my misguided hubby to the ground and ripping out his vocal chords when he asks once too often, "Where are we going to dinner tonight?" and me being hauled off with the police. I tend to follow the Jack Bauer method of showing my displeasure.

[lockedoutlogic]

I personally don't think the DDP is going anywhere in the near future. It seems like it's become pretty popular even though I agree it has ruined casual dining in WDW. I absolutely miss the times when we could just walk up and wait 10 to 15 minutes for a table anywhere in 'the world'. Unfortunately that's just not the way it is anymore, so yes, I will be among those who will be on the phone or online booking my dining reservations 6 months in advance to make sure I get to eat where and when I want...it's just the nature of the beast right now. And I'll do that whether or not I'm on the DDP...

it's not going anywhere....we all know

and it's kinda disheartening to hear you booking your reservations six months out....it just is silly and basically leaves no flexibility in the vacations for thousands if not millions....

I love going to WDW and knowing 3 months ahead of time all the places I can't eat at

[mjaclyn]

I wanted to add that I'm booking six months out by necessity - if I don't do it then I won't be able to eat at Le Cellier or California Grill or CRT. There are a lot of places that you CAN actually still get in on short notice, I just don't happen to like them very much.

[lockedoutlogic]

I wanted to add that I'm booking six months out by necessity - if I don't do it then I won't be able to eat at Le Cellier or California Grill or CRT. There are a lot of places that you CAN actually still get in on short notice, I just don't happen to like them very much.

i completely understand....

but the term "short notice" is completely up for debate now...

there are large blocks of the calender where the flexibility has gone down to zero....

and what's "short notice"? 3 months out? an entire season ahead of time?

i think not....but your fundamental point is taken: "what are you gonna do?"

[Ian]

Honestly for our next trip we just are flat out refusing to make ADR's. We're going to just deal with whatever we can get and if we have to eat CS then we have to eat CS.

Our last trip was just so over-scheduled and we became such slaves to our ADR's that it almost ruined the vacation.

We're not making that mistake again!

[mjaclyn]

That happened to us when we tried to do the Deluxe Dining Plan. I felt like we were constantly eating and many times we had to stop what we were enjoying in order to rush over to another ADR. I find that we normally eat at 1 TS and 1 CS per day anyway, so the DDP seems to make sense for us and the fact that I don't want to have to eat at Biergarten or Nine Dragons for every TS meal, means that I'm going to have to make ADRs.

[Ian]

Yeah, that's what kept happening to us. Because we tend to favor the Epcot restaurants for dinner, we constantly find ourselves married to being in Epcot at the end of the day.

We're always running from park to park trying to catch up with wherever our ADR's are!

[dlpmikki]

I miss the casual dining and the greater choice. Disney are losing money on me because I now eat offsite a lot more where I get the casual dining and better choice as well as a cheaper price.

[Aurora]

The only time we used DDP was when I, my parents and my sister went down solely for the DVC meeting in December. Four adults, four days, no tearing through the parks to do everything, and very leisurely sit-down meals. This was when appetizer and tip was included also. It was great. We never once paid extra for even a drink, and we were never hungry.

An adult trip is probably the only scenario when we will get DDP. I won't do it with the kids cause we just need more flexibility in terms of where we are during the day. And they are at the ages now (13, 11, and 4) where even character meals get old if we're spending tons of Disney time sitting in a restaurant.

[lockedoutlogic]

I miss the casual dining and the greater choice. Disney are losing money on me because I now eat offsite a lot more where I get the casual dining and better choice as well as a cheaper price.

I agree...but in a different way....

my inlaws like to stay at old key west (i'm more of a beach club/animal kingdom/wilderness lodge type cat) and we used to go to olivia's on a whim almost religiously (paradox intended)...we would end up eating several breakfasts, a lunch or two, an maybe a dinner as well....

well...about 3 years ago....they started turning people away during maximum capacity times due to "fully booked"....
....so even now when we go - and the place is kinda dead, we really haven't returned to Olivia's nearly as much...
and their Quickserver is terrible....a really bad excuse for a bite

so now things tend to be really "welcome home"....consisting of groceries from the Supertarget on OBT ending up on the counter for breakfast and snacks....

which i had always previously contributed to disney's coffers to get prior....

[Tinkermom]

We always use the Tables in Wonderland (TIW) card instead and save 20% on food and alcohol.

Ditto! We bring dry goods from home - cereal, poptarts, mac n cheese, snacks, coffee, etc for breakfast and snacks.

[Seasonscraps]

We don't get the DDP. We don't necessarily average a TS meal a day and the ones we do have are not generally restaurants that particiapte in the plan. We pick up a couple of things for the room - some drinks, breakfast stuff and snacks - then sort of wing it.

[seanyred]

I checked no but my first DVC trip is still yet to come...49 days!!!

Anyway I was going to add the dinning plan but then we decided to return in March so we purchased the annual pass instead. Which opened the door for Tables in Wonderland. My major concern with the DDP is that we would become a slave to our ADR schedule. With my DS and my DW who is newly expecting, I just couldn't justify spending the money upfront. At least this way if I miss a ADR I won't feel like I'm loosing money.

[mjaclyn]

Yay! After looking at the menus for Food & Wine this year I am VERY happy to have booked the dining plan because almost all the food items can be purchased with a snack credit!! Yum Yum! I think we'll pay oop for the popcorn and mickey ice creams and pool our 18 snack credits for new england lobster rolls and canadian cheddar cheese soup!

[jensantuit]

We just got back from the World yesterday. This was our first DVC stay and we didn't purchase the dining plan. Our main reason was that we couldn't get enough reservations to make it worth while to purchase the dining plan. This was our first time not having the DDP and I have to say it was kind of nice to not have to rush around dining reservations. We did have 3 character meals which we just paid out of pocket for and we did purchase the Tables in Wonderland.
For our next trip in December, we have again had a hard time getting reservations so I doubt we will purchase the DDP this next time also, we will just use our Tables in Wonderland again.

[MinnieMommie]

The dining plan works well for many people but since we have been DVC members we haven't felt the need. I like to feel unscheduled while at Disney and the plan makes me feel too tied to a dining schedule rather than having a leisurely feel to my time. We have talked about maybe doing the plan again at some point while having a split stay. Right now I enjoy making reservations at our favorites and then winging the rest.

[SignguyTom]

Personally, I like the DDP. I wish it still included the tip and appetizer (at least a CHOICE of appetizer OR dessert) but oh well.

The ADRs and crowds are just part of it for me. We combat this a little by doing our TS meals during lunch. It is less crowded (but have never been during free dining) and frees up the rest of the day to do some park hopping or anything else spontaneous. Lunchtime ADRs seem less like an appointment and more like a break.

Sure, it would be nice to be able to walk up and eat when & where you want, but the convenience of having it pre-paid (at check-in) is worth it to me. We use the credits and charge the tip and alcohol to our room.

Just a note - When I see crowded restaurants, even in WDW, it tends to feel like there might be relief in sight for the cruddy economy. Busy places are almost always a good sign. I understand there is an element of illusion here, with free dining promos and such, but it beats these places closing up or becoming 'seaonal' due to lack of interest or poor park attendance.

My only gripe with the DDP is that the menus are starting to all look the same. Dumbing down to the masses, so to speak. There doesn't seem to be as much for the more adventurous eater anymore. It has been many years since we were there for the Food & Wine Festival, though. Maybe there is more variety then...?

The bottom line for us, actually, is the bottom line. We tend save $15-20 per day as a couple. It varies when the kids are along.

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

We have never had the Dining plan. Our oldest was only 9 months when we became DVC members. My parents have been on the plan 3 times and they love it.

This trip coming up (in 9 days) we will be doing the Quick Service dining plan for DH, me and my oldest... the youngest is only 2 and the way the 4 year old eats, they can split a meal. We like that our meals are paid for in advanced and my kids are snackers by nature anyways. We really want to play our meals by ear but, also don't want to have to worry about paying for everything "out of pocket." I know, its all physichological.

We are going with a group of 13 and everyone is on some form of a dining plan. We have 3 TS ADR's that we are paying out of pocket. We wanted to do a couple of nice meals (with characters of course) but, didn't want to do one every single day.

so, for us, for this trip, we said yes to the DDP.

Maybe the next one will not make sense for us to do it.... who knows.

[Friend of Figment]

We're sometimes people. We have TIW this year, because of the kind of trips we are taking. Other times we have used the deluxe DP. I like having the flexibility to choose the option that is best for that trip.

[mjaclyn]

Just wanted to say that we did get the dining plan this time, but it didn't end up working out for us because DH got sick towards the end of our trip. :-( We had to cancel 2 of our TS meals and ended up with 3 extra CS meals the day we were leaving and couldn't use them. I also ended up using a couple of snack credits for 0.79 Chip and Dale pretzels because that's all the Marketplace shop had at the Contemporary. Usually the DDP works out for us, but this time it didn't. :-(