Does anyone LOVE the DDP besides me?

[DisneyBabies]

I was just wondering if anyone LOVES the DDP because the majority of the posts that I have read indicate that people don't like the DDP.
We like it because we tend to structure our breakfast and dinner within certain times, so making ADR's is no big deal to us. And our DS can get really cranky if we get off track with our meals. Since we don't get to go to WDW very often, we like to make sure that we get to dine at the places that we like or want to try (even though we've only been once, we still have favorites :D). Not to mention the fact that all our meals are paid for in advance with the DDP and I think that has to be the biggest reason we LOVE the DDP. I contracted ODD (Obsesive Disney Disorder) after our first visit, so I think planning our days in the parks and where we are going to eat is fun!
So, who else LOVES the DDP? And how often do you get to go see Mickey and friends?

[PetefromRI]

We've only used the plan twice,once 2 weeks ago,and although nothing could beat the old plan,we intend on using this plan everytime that we go.I love it and the new QS plan looks pretty good also for families with little ones that might not be able to do a table service meal.We love eating at a TS every night!

[wdw_bound]

Big fans here. We first tried it in 05, and wouldn't consider a trip without it now. In fact, we are trying the DxDDP this next trip (a one-time extravagence to be sure).

The DDP accomplished Disney's goals as far as our family is concerned - we used to eat off-property or mostly CS and have one character meal per trip. Now we only leave property once - to go to SuperTarget to get some basic supplies for the room. We enjoy all kinds of different TS options thanks to the DDP. I don't think the all-CS option will work for us, but it might free up some seats at other TS locations, making it a little easier to get ADRs at Le Cellier and a few other toughies.

As for the advance planning, to me that's just about as good as the actual trip. I create a grid and pore over it for months (in fact, it's next to the computer right now), tweaking it here and there. I am excited to be able to book future ADRs online (that way I can print my own list pre-trip).

DH, who is NOT the Disney addict I am, likes the DDP as well, and considers it good value.

[luvdiznee]

Wouldn't say I love it, but since it has been out, the one time we didn't have it when we went, we did feel kind of lost. :mickey:

[tadshome]

I am a big fan of the Dining Plan. I love planning the bookings and it adds to my excitement :)

[disney mine-mine]

I love the dining plan. The last time we went to Disney was in 2003 with the entire family of 18 --4 generations and ages from 2-60's. Everyone loved the dining plan. The cousins -all teens- competed against each other to see who could eat the most and spend the most. We are going back to Disney in Dec--just my daughter's family, my son and myself--and the first words out of my 18 year old son's mouth were "we do have the dining plan right???" I then said Merry Christmas we have deluxe dining with 3 table meals a day! He smiled ear to ear--very happy with his Christmas present.

[Mad About Mickey]

Our family likes the DDP. We used the DDP during our last trip in 05 and while it saved us some money what it really did was get us to try many TS meals that we usually would have passed up for CS meals in the past. It was nice to take the time for a sit down meal to relax and unwind admist the chaos of touring WDW with our 3 children, having time to talk about what we had done and what we were going to do.

We are going to use the DDP for our upcoming December trip and are excited to revisit some of our old favorites and try some new TS meals. We are now traveling with 4 children and have added several of the character meals to the itinerary :mickey:.

[henry.james.s]

I love the Deluxe DDP!! It's worth every penny as it makes eveything run so much smoother.
I use it for nothing but TS locations. Breakfast & Signature Dining. Doing it that way it's not too much food, everything is high quality & the cost ballances out just right or slightly in my favor.

[poohshoneybeejr]

We really liked it in November and are using the DDP again in October. I just like the fact that I know that all of our meals are paid for ahead of time and that anything else is just extra. We have a 2yr old DS and we did purchase kid's meals for him a couple of times but that didn't bother us. The buffets are great with kids under 3 because they can eat off of your plate. We'll see how we like it again in October

[elmjimmlm]

We are also big fans of the DDP...Last year was the 1st time that had used it and we have it for our upcoming trip...I am one of the people who have to know where we are going before we get there...No spontaneity here...:blush:

[Hayden's Dad]

We are big fans of the Deluxe Plan, and have usued it the last couple of time we have gone. We end up with 11 of 13 meals being character meals which we love to do. Plus I don't like carrying a lot of cash with us and since we don't have a credit card this works out great for us!!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We love the basic plan, but have never had deluxe

[TinkerbellT421]

Me and DBF are big fans of the DDP, we used it this past January for the first time. It was very convenient. Just not having to carry the cash around to eat, and just have to handle tipping. We have vowed to pretty much use it everytime. We also like that we get to eat at places we normally would NOT eat it. It is very conveient and we like having to save for it during the year with our annual budget, because we KNOW how much it costs (not having to estimate how much eating a day would cost without the set-in-stone price of the DDP). And if we add it to our budget from the beginning its one less thing we have to worry about. We find it very convenient. Not to mention we get to eat at nice places, that normally if we had to pay OOP wouldnt happen. And I get character dinner :mickey::cloud9:

[Belster]

I have never used used it,but will be next month. What I can say is that already I know I like it, I do not have to nickle and dime with my family when they choose what they want to eat. I have a family of five and the food can be a big expense. I am so excited to choose what I want and not worry about the cost. This is worth the piece of mind for me.

[DisneyBabies]

See, I agree with all of you! We love the dining plan because we can go to all the TS places that we wouldn't go to if we were paying OOP. And paying in advance for our meals is so much better for us since we don't have to budget that in when we get there. We are using the Deluxe DDP for our trip in Feb 2009 and between CRT, Mickey's BBQ, and a couple of signature dinners, we are only eating breakfast and dinner each day. And I love planning our trips (I've been planning our upcoming trip since Feb of this year :blush:), so planning ADR's and which park to be in each day is heaven to me! I am glad to hear that others like the DDP too!

[c&d]

We've used it twice and we liked it. I don't like the changes to the plan but overall it works really well for us.

[TheDuckRocks]

I love the DDPs. :thumbsup: I was one of the people that didn't see the point of the dining palns until we took our last trip when we took our daughters family with us. As we were picking up the cost of the trip I felt this was a way to have some control over how much everyone was paying for food. Boy, was I surprised when we got home and I added up what we would have paid OOP for what we ate, it was over a whopping $500 that we saved! We have 2 WDW trips with reservations made for Dec. in both 2008 and 2009 and we will be getting the Deluxe paln both times. As we are 2 seniors with my DH being diabetic we are forced into 3 regular meals a day at regular times, this is the way to go for us. And once again looking at the menus I feel that we will be really saving a lot of money. I will be doing a dining review with cost totals some time in Jan.

[pixiesmimi]

I don't know how I will like the new DP but we loved the old one. We like having everything paid for, including the tip. And we figured we ended up saving money because we aren't limited to certain menu items and sometimes this is more expensive in some TS than others so we figure it equals out. DH loves to eat and try new things and this is great to him to be able to have a sit down meal at least once a day plus it gives you time out of the heat and to sit down and relax. He insists on the DP now when we go. The children love the character meals and this is a way to afford more of those. I'm afraid we would be doing all CS if not for the DP. I love to plan and am OCD about it. :) This is half the fun of the trip. Of course, a lot of that goes out the window after we arrive, but we do stick to most of it as long as WDW doesn't change the EMH at the last minute like they did last year two weeks before we went. That really threw us into confusion having to replan our park days. I was very unhappy about that. But I like having the meals planned out so we don't have to argue over where we are going each day. We all weigh in on it during the planning process and settle on something that everyone can live with before getting there. That is probably the only thing we agree on after getting down there. :)

[Shugoondola]

I'm another fan. The family and I have used it for the past few years. :thumbsup:

:mickey:

[Soul_Power]

I'm right there with you - I LOVE the dining plan! We used it for the first time on our first trip in 2007 and although it's different now we still have every intention of using it on our trip in 2009. We love having our food "prepaid" and I actually enjoy the planning! I know that some people feel as if they lack flexibility in their plans, but I like having our (sit-down) meals planned out!

[smilechaser]

I think I love the DDP more every year. It is nice to have one sit down meal a day as a family, espcially on longer trips!:thumbsup:

[goofysbabe]

I love the DDP - I like the fact that when I head to Disney EVERYTHING but my gas & soviouners are paid for. Yes it does take a little extra effort to plan ADR's, but if we were not on the dining plan then we probably wouldn't be able to eat at some of the places we chose to. It gets expensive, so knowing my meals are paid for is just a bonus.

[mouseketeer mom]

Yes, like the Disney Dining Plan. However, the Deluxe Dining Plan we would NEVER do again. The food, food, food, was ridiculous and gross. Our days were all about food, way too much food and time.

[prttynpnk]

We love the dining plan- mostly for the convenience and the pre-paid, no worries factor. I do wish that they gave the option of dessert OR appetizer. We'd do even betetr splitting an appteizer sometimes than 2 desserts.
It has also opened up a lot of resturaunts we'd never considered before.
Thumbs up!

[Lynn J Mc]

Love it! Hate that they took the tip off. NExt week will be our 2nd free dining trip and we have done one where we paid for it. I will miss the appetizer also as i don't do dessert. Wish it was a choice. The tip being off makes it a pain for us as we don't do alcohol and would just have to sign it before and go. Now we have to figure out about paying the tip. But we still think it is a good value.

[jonahbear2006]

We went in Feb 08 and really loved having the Dining Plan. We went again here in Sept and had the free dining plan and I did enjoy the dinners but not as sure about how much we need the dining plan as I was the first time we had it. The excitement of planning the dinners is so much fun and I love the restaurants, however, DH and I and all the kids eat like birds. We can't eat enough to make the cost of buying the plan, worth it. If it is a regular TS, our 4 kids can share 1 meal and STILL not eat it all, and my husband and I can share a meal and be just fine. You can do that with CS with a ddp but not with TS at Disney. The first time we went, we camped and brought our own food and snacks for the park, and I think that we did ok. We needed something else here and there but I am not sure whether or not I will want to spend $8-900 invested in food, if we are taking the whole family. I think that since my kids are such snackers, it is much better worth our money to get concierge level at the hotel and eat there before, between, and after our trips to the parks. I will probably do it if it is just hubby and me and Def. doing it during our anniversary trip next year.

[biodtl]

We love DDP -it's not as awesome since they dropped the appetizer and tip, but I still love the pre-paid aspect of it. I hate counting worrying about money when I am on vacation and DDP helps. We still go OOP for a few meals and snacks, but mainly, our spending money ends up being just for fun stuff.

[DisneyBabies]

Just another question for all of you. For those who get the deluxe DDP, do you actually eat three meals a day? I can't imagine eating that much food each day.
We have scheduled ourselves like this for our trip in Feb.
Day 1: CS early lunch, TS late dinner
Day 2: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 3: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 4: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 5: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 6: TS early breakfast, CS lunch, TS late dinner
Day 7: TS early breakfast, TS late lunch
We are hoping they schedule a P&PP for the night of Day 6. Obviously, we have a few 2 credit meals in the mix, otherwise we never would have used all our credits, but this way we get 2 scheduled meals everyday (which is a must our DS) and we can snack the rest of the time. We have about 10-12 hours between breackfast and dinner most days, so I doubt that there will be too much food.
So how do all of you work the plan?

[princessgirls]

We love the DDP!!

I know we wouldn't be able to eat such fabulous meals each night. I also really like the "all-inclusive feeling" and that most of everything is paid for when you arrive.

We were in Disney for a few days in 2007 without the plan, and it was expensive buying everything OOP.
Julie:mickey:

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

Just another question for all of you. For those who get the deluxe DDP, do you actually eat three meals a day? I can't imagine eating that much food each day.
We have scheduled ourselves like this for our trip in Feb.
Day 1: CS early lunch, TS late dinner
Day 2: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 3: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 4: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 5: TS early breakfast, TS late dinner
Day 6: TS early breakfast, CS lunch, TS late dinner
Day 7: TS early breakfast, TS late lunch
We are hoping they schedule a P&PP for the night of Day 6. Obviously, we have a few 2 credit meals in the mix, otherwise we never would have used all our credits, but this way we get 2 scheduled meals everyday (which is a must our DS) and we can snack the rest of the time. We have about 10-12 hours between breackfast and dinner most days, so I doubt that there will be too much food.
So how do all of you work the plan?

We are trying the DxDDP in 3 weeks and we scheduled ours very similar. Late dinners and either early breakfast or early lunch.

We loved the DDP when we tried in last year so much that we are trying the Dx this year. I can't wait!

[Marker]

Count me in as a fan of the Disney Dining Plan.

No way would have ever tried as many table service places without it.

And thank you for asking a positive question. :thumbsup:

[DisneyBabies]

Thanks everyone for all the positive feedback. I was just curious about peoples feelings about the DDP because sometimes posters sound so angry about it. I'm sure it isn't meant to sound that way, but is just the way it comes across.
I think we all like the DDP for the same main reasons: 1- It helps satisfy our OPD (obsesive planning disorder)! 2- We love to have as much pre-paid as possible. And 3- It allows us to try things we wouldn't have otherwise.
To me, the value of the DDP is as much about those things as it is about how much money it may or may not save me. In otherwords, even if it only saves me $.30, the value of it is worth it for me.

[Ksmith75]

We love the dining plan. When we first went in 2007 - we loved it even better, it included an appetizer at dinner and the grat. But in 2008 even without those, it is a great deal. My husband and I like to have everything pre-paid, so it is perfect to us. You figure a lunch for 2 if you paid for it (drink, combo, dessert) it was always like $25.00- $33.00 depending on where you at and what your ordered.....and some of our dinners were $100.00-$120.00...so it was a great value...you just have to use it smartly. For the snacks too....pay cash for the $1-$2 snacks and use the snack allotment for the $3 and up items...we always did....love it. We booked it for next year too!

[DisneyFr33k]

I LOVE the dining plan and have used it 2 of other visits. However, they have increased the prices for it as well as remove one of the benefits we've enjoyed two times before. Plus, we now have to pay tips, which is HUGE. So to answer your question, yes we love the plan, but not what they are doing to it.

[pianobabe]

We love the DDP. I wasn't crazy about the changes that were made to it, but we made it work for us. I am very much a planner. Before we left, I looked at the menu's of the places we were going to eat at and estimated how much our meal was going to be. I then figured out what the tip would be based on that amount. I took that amount and went to the bank and got the money in cash. We took that with us and each night when I was getting my things together for the next day, I would get the tip amount out. The bills did have a suggested tip amount, but we left what we felt was earned. Sometimes it was more than we had figured, sometimes it was less. It worked out perfectly.
As far as ordering an appy, if we wanted one we got it and just paid for it with a card. It really wasn't a problem. We ate what we wanted and didn't worry about the bill being outrageous.
We will use it again.

[Wickster1970]

At first I was unsure if we should get the DDP or not, but we are going for it. The pros seem to outweigh the cons.

We will give a full report upon our return.:mickey:

[crmark1]

I have used the DDP twice (2005 and 2007) and loved it! That being said I'm not happy with the changes to the plan. No tip no app! The cost is the same but you get approx. $8-$15 per person per TS meal less. May consider the CS only plan and py for any TS meals out of pocket.