Free DDP - Don't just crunch the $$$ to see if it's worth it.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

We just got back from a recent trip to the World, which we did using the free DDP promotion. As usual, my DW and I usually will get to a point where we discuss whether or not the DDP (free or otherwise) is a good idea. We've done it now 3 times, twice paying for it oop back before the big changes (apps & tips were included) and now just recently under the free promotion.

To be honest I have to point out that I'm a number cruncher. I run all the financial scenarios every which way before I finally make a decision, drives my DW goofy but that's just how I am. When the free DDP came out and looking at our recently expanded family, now 5 with 3 dd, I figured that from a $$ perspective this was the biggest no brainer. We were most likely staying at a moderate regardless of what we did, do the free DDP was a financial no-brainer.

Well, after 9 nights in the World on free dining, I have to admit to having major doubts as to whether we'd ever choose it again over a room discount. I like the plan, I like that it's prepaid, that you can order basically whatever you want off the menu, but there were a few things that came up that I hadn't weighed very heavily in my decision making process.

TIME: This is probably the single biggest issue I had. Having 3 kids ages 3-5-8 I hadn't really factored in the time it takes to make it to all these TS and the amount of time spent there. We tried to make it back to our resort most afternoons so the kids could swim, which meant we were making it to most of our reservations from the resort. What I found is that it probably took at least 3 hours (or more)from start to finish to do the meal (getting there, waiting, eating, getting ready to go). This wasn't something that I had factored in when making our decision to do the DDP And by the end of the trip, we realized that we had really used up a lot of our valuable time getting to and having our meals. This was fine when it was just the wife and myself, but with three kids, I found it to be more of a deterent.

TIPS: The free dining plan isn't so free when on average I was paying $20-25 after every meal oop for tips. That's roughly an extra $200 I hadn't really thought about up front. Yes I knew that tips weren't covered, but I hadn't really converted that into a financial equivalent, it was just "yep, we need to pay tips". Well, $200 definitley takes some of the luster out of the "free" dining.

TOO MUCH FOOD: We did a lot of good sharing CS meals, especially at breakfast and we really made them go a long way. But really, for a TS there is really too much food, especially with the desserts. If I was dining every night oop I wouldn't be buying them all the time and while it's a nice perk, I rather not have to pay for them to be part of the plan.

So I think reflecting back, while I made the right financial choice to take the DDP over the room discount, I'm not so certain anymore that it was the best overall choice. I think what I'd love to see is a combined discount. I think with where our family is at the best of both worlds for us would be a smaller room discount at a moderate combined with the free QS dining plan.

I spent so much time crunching the numbers that i lost site of other things, like time and the ability to be able to get in where you want, when you want.

So while I would never argue that the DDP is a bad thing, I would strongly encourage that you look past just the $$$ when deciding between room discounts vs. free dining. I wish I had.

On a side note, despite a couple long waits our meals were great.

A long post, but just something I've been reflecting on after this last trip and thinking about what we'd do if this offer came up again in a couple years.

[mom2morgan]

If I'm "hearing" you right - I think you're saying that you probably wouldn't have had as many TS meals at ALL and would have done more Quick Service? That definitely makes sense, especially with little ones and we did that our first time and were pretty happy. Now that my kids are a bit older though, I think we'd do a TS every night anyway - so we'd still be doing the travelling and still be paying the tips. It sure is most important to decide what fits your own style! I'd definitely advise a first time consider NOT doing it, because at least that way if you find getting to all the TS places to onerous you can just cancel a bunch of ressies without feeling that you are losing money! I heard of a family that bought DDP and used most of their TS credits for quick service. What a waste!

[2MuchWDFun]

I think you made some excellent observations. As many have discussed before--it is not all about the dollars when deciding to purchase or accept the free dining. Everyone vacations differently. We have to consider our unique situations--we all have different family sizes and ages, eating habits, and touring priorities.

Hopefully your thoughts and suggestions will help others in making their decision to either purchase or use free dining.

One question--would the Quick Service Plan have worked better for your family?

[Twinsowner]

That is an interesting perspective for sure. And totally agree that everyone has different ideas of what they want to do on vacation. I also just got back with a family of 5 including 5 year olds and used the dining plan. I however found things to go much smoother than your trip. The biggest difference I guess would come from the swimming part. Going back to the room in the afternoon really eats into your time at the parks. For us, we feel that swimming can be done anywhere, anytime, and at any hotel in the country(almost). I just don't see the point to go to DisneyWorld and spend half my time in a pool. We generally schedule a dinner at the park we are visiting that night or at a resort nearby to make the transfer as easy as possible. It does take some planning , but for us the DDP is a very good deal. Especially since we had a party of 5 for 10 nights. Just goes to show you how different peoples perspective is. As long as you had a good time that's all that matters!!

[gerald72]

Maybe you would have had better luck and wasted less time if you had scheduled reservations for wherever you were going to be that day.
Less, or no, travel time.

[TheVBs]

Great observations! I can definitely understand where you're coming from. We have reached a point where we've decided a TS every day takes up too much of our time. We're pretty excited to be getting the QS plan free next year. Looking forward to seeing how that works for us!

[megustamex]

We agree with you - we have small kids and doing TS every night killed us. We were so tied to the reservations that we felt like we lost all our freedom. The other thing we realized was that we couldn't order what we wanted at a TS restaurant, we HAD to order an entree each and a dessert - even though we would have rather had two appetizers, split an entree, and maybe skipped dessert. And we were dying to do a few appetizers at the tequila bar in Mexico - never happened, because we were always too full or knew we would be too full for our "pre-paid" dinner.

You tip on all those unwanted drinks and desserts that you feel you need to order to get your money's worth, too. The tips in general were a big surprise to our bottom line, too, even though we knew they were coming. Financially speaking, we are also number crunchers, and we figured out that you really need to eat TS every night for it to pay off. If you're only going to eat TS 3-4 times in a week, it's pretty much a wash. So you get 3 free TS meals vs. OOP, at least by our calculations.

What you do get when you're not on the dining plan is freedom to skip a TS if you just want to grab something fast spur of the moment and do a movie or ride or fireworks instead with your evening. The TS really eats up your whole evening, so you need to want to enjoy that every night for the plan to pay off.

Next time, I'm going to eat some of those peanut butter sandwiches for lunch that I always bring for the kids (because they don't eat most of the CS anyway!). I'm so sick of all the CS and the same desserts after being on the dining plan the last 4 visits! Looking forward to having more time to do the parks!

[lynnek]

I think I'm going to disagree a bit here. We went for the first time to WDW in November and had the free dining, paid a bit extra for the deluxe. There are 5 of us, one was under 2, a 10 and 12 yr old and 2 adults. I agree you have to consider more than $$ when on this. We went with the deluxe dining because it includes the appetizer. I have always found chefs are most creative with appetizers, sometimes trying new menu items as an app first, see the response. We have adventurous eaters and they did try a bunch of neat stuff. The deluxe dining plan gave us enough credits to try as many signature dining as we wanted. This was a big plus for us. Another big plus was the ability to sit and relax periodically without having to hunt down a table etc. Yak and Yeti comes to mind there.
I'm not sure I agree with the wishing the tip was included--I do see both sides, budgeting that in was an eye opener, especially for signature dining. I have no idea why the tip was cut out of the dining program, could be budgetary, could also be guests complaining of prepaid tips. I've seen complaints of large parties not wanting tips included, so I'm sure that could be a reason. Having food service in my past, I can see that including it in the prepaid bill could be an issue. I want great service and will tip accordingly.
As far as, you can swim anywhere, I do agree with the OP here. A break for the kids every day worked great. Disney does such a good job with the theming, layout etc of their pools. I didn't want to deal with the water parks--not relaxing to me, watching lots of kids running, slipping, hard surfaces--yes, a bit neurotic on my part, but hard surfaces and water mixed with kids freaks me out. I wanted a place to go that didn't have the stimulation of a park, the kids could float around or swim, I could lounge and read a book for a bit. The resort pool worked great. We found we needed only about an hour or so for this and then got dressed for dinner and a night out. Generally, we tried to dinner at or around the area we wanted to spend the evening.
The sitdown meal at dinner was great. We were able to talk about favorites, things to do that evening. I also packed a game of the day--like Disney Apples to Apples, or Disney Trivia(the pursuit cards, no game board). All the games were interactive, not individual, so it was good family time. With three kids at a dinner table, unpredictable how long you will be there, this worked well.
Another thing is timing. We did breakfast at 7:30am, lunch around 11:30 and dinner around 5:30. Similar to kids schedules at home and in school. We found when we did lunch later, it cost us. I think next yr(yes, we are planning on returning) we will keep the breakfast and dinner thing, add in a couple lunch favorites, and keep the pool time. The morning we returned my son said he missed Disney. I asked what he missed most and his comment was...the dining plan. It was a wonderful experience for us--I loved not restricting them, letting them try a bunch of stuff.

[DizneyRox]

Even financially this doesn't make sense for us. And yes, eating at the World takes a lot of time/energy.

We wouldn't eat nearly the amount of time possible with the DDP and even then we spent too much time eating/travelling.

As I mentioned before, financially, the DDP was the most expensive option for us on our last trip. More than OOP and definitely more than TiW.

[lovin'fl]

We've done the DDP several times over the years. We actually counted last night and have been to 26 TS restaurants at WDW (2 no longer exist and 2 were dinner shows and 2 aren't part of the DDP). We've been to WDW for 5 full visits (plus 1 short stay at OKW with no WDW parks, just Seaworld and Downtown Disney and pool and 3 dinners). I have to say we love the eating part. We've done all the rides and shows many times,so we don't feel that need to rush around and get it all in anymore. Taking the time out to eat at a TS is nice for us and our middle school aged kids. And our kids do love the pools, but we also feel you can swim anywhere- so we spend a couple afternoons by the pool only (usually take a day off from parks and go to Downtown and then back to the pool).
As far as DDP being a deal...we realize it really isn't anymore. It was awesome when it included tips and apps and was only @$37/adult. And it was also better when the kids were kid price- my twin 11 year olds still prefer to eat chicken fingers and mac-n-cheese. We were debating the DDP for our 8/11 trip and I think we'll get it. It's easier for us to pre-plan and that's actually a big part of the fun for us...the planning where we're going to eat. And if we didn't do the DDP, we'd be more apt to picking cheaper less appealing menu items and not getting dessert (which would be healthier for us, but there are so many yummy treats at WDW). So, while we may be breaking even or only getting a free snack with the DDP, it'll eliminate the stress of spending too much on meals if paying oop.
Now, we had the deulxe DDP for the second half of our split stay trip in 2008. That was way too much food, but what's nice is you can do the signature places. Why don't they offer a 2 TS/day plan? That would be perfect for us (we don't need the 3rd meal or the 2 snacks that come with the deluxe and the cost is too high). Or why can't we pay a surcharge to upgrade a CS to a TS credit?

[MOJoe]

We agree with you - we have small kids and doing TS every night killed us. We were so tied to the reservations that we felt like we lost all our freedom. The other thing we realized was that we couldn't order what we wanted at a TS restaurant, we HAD to order an entree each and a dessert



What you do get when you're not on the dining plan is freedom to skip a TS if you just want to grab something fast spur of the moment and do a movie or ride or fireworks instead with your evening. The TS really eats up your whole evening, so you need to want to enjoy that every night for the plan to pay off.


:ditto:

Freedom and flexablilty wins out over the DDP's convenience and alleged savings. I try hard to plan my days such that having a nice TS meal is a pleasure. But things happen, and i can't always make it. It makes me sad to miss an ADR. But since we take a "family vacation" and the family agrees to deviate from the plan, well, that's O.K. But if it was pre-paid? :mad:

My kids think i'm already obsessed enough about my dining plans. If i insisted we not miss a TS meal, well.........i'm sure there would be trouble.

[princessjojo]

On the DDP I tend to be a fence rider. Having a family of 4, DH and both of the boys are "healthy" eaters and leave not a crumb to be found. And with exception of DH they enjoy trying new foods, things we wouldn't find in our own kitchen or at our local restaurants. Having a TS scheduled gives our family some down time, time to slow down a bit and just talk without so much stimulation around us. We usually try to have our dinner around a table at home or any other vacation, so this shouldn't be too much different. I also try to look at the pros & cons of the plan before deciding and it's recently come down to a matter of convenience for us. Knowing that we're going to sit and have a dinner each day we're already going to make those ADR's. But is it really worth the price, I don't know, probably not and in the end we're probably paying more. But we, DH and I, enjoy the convenience of having our meals prepaid in advance. It's one less thing we have to budget during the trip and we're never floored by the cost of dinner like we were at the old Concourse when our bill was $257 for the four of us and one of us was on the kids menu.

Again, yes, we probably do pay more for our meals, but we essentially go, eat, and leave. I never want to tell my kids they can't try something because it cost too much, or have them share with me and they then leave still wanting more. I guess I can equate it's extra cost to those who always stay deluxe with superior views vs moderate or value guest. It's all in what works best for your vacation style and budget.

[TheVBs]

I don't think we've ever saved money buying the DDP. We won't buy it anymore. We do save money on the free DDP, because our room discount on a value would be minimal, compared to food for 4 for 10 days. However, when we don't get the DDP, we definitely don't limit ourselves on what we order. We order what we want. I've always been a little puzzled by the idea that paying more in advance for food is ok, but limiting yourself to even less at the time is a necessity. Does that make sense? If you're willing to pay more in advance, why aren't you willing to pay more during? :confused:

[mickeyman42]

while I tend to agree, why do we always have to say its too much food? If everyone keeps saying it then eventually there IS going to be less food (wheather its no more snacks or what have you), and they are not going to dec the price of the DDP along with it, the value will decrease, just be careful what you wish for!

I actually tend to like the regular DDP (when its free) and do not find it to be too much food. I dont see how 2 meals and a snack per day is over the top.

[TheVBs]

while I tend to agree, why do we always have to say its too much food? If everyone keeps saying it then eventually there IS going to be less food (wheather its no more snacks or what have you), and they are not going to dec the price of the DDP along with it, the value will decrease, just be careful what you wish for!

I actually tend to like the regular DDP (when its free) and do not find it to be too much food. I dont see how 2 meals and a snack per day is over the top.

I think what people are saying is that they wouldn't normally eat that much food in one sitting. Some people, especially kids, split entrees, and a lot of people would never order desert at every meal. Even when the apps were included, lots of people wouldn't normally order an appetizer for every meal either. So, the idea is that you've paid in advance for all this food, which means that you're not saving money if you would normally eat less paying out of pocket. I don't think anyone's actually arguing that you get too much food for the price you pay for the DDP.

[luvdiznee]

When it is me and DD13 we don't do the DP either. She weighs 70 pounds and still can be just as fulfilled on a lot of the kids menus. We could never do the DDP.

Now if my older son decides to join us, we would think about purchasing the DP. Otherwise it is just not a deal. The only time I felt I got a deal with dining at Disney was when they gave the gift cards and you could use them towards anything. So we used them towards our meals and we were able to have some good food at the 2 point restaurants. :D

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Maybe you would have had better luck and wasted less time if you had scheduled reservations for wherever you were going to be that day.
Less, or no, travel time.



We had ADRs for every evening. Unfortunately even with ADRS two of them (Ohana & Momma Melrose) resulted in hour waits past our initial time. The other waits were more in the 5-10 range.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

That is an interesting perspective for sure. And totally agree that everyone has different ideas of what they want to do on vacation. I also just got back with a family of 5 including 5 year olds and used the dining plan. I however found things to go much smoother than your trip. The biggest difference I guess would come from the swimming part. Going back to the room in the afternoon really eats into your time at the parks. For us, we feel that swimming can be done anywhere, anytime, and at any hotel in the country(almost). I just don't see the point to go to DisneyWorld and spend half my time in a pool. We generally schedule a dinner at the park we are visiting that night or at a resort nearby to make the transfer as easy as possible. It does take some planning , but for us the DDP is a very good deal. Especially since we had a party of 5 for 10 nights. Just goes to show you how different peoples perspective is. As long as you had a good time that's all that matters!!


It shows how a person/couples perspectives change. All the times my DW and I had gone down prior, we'd be at parks when they opened and stayed until closing, and inevitably we'd always question ourselves as to why we didn't experience the resort more.

Now that we have 3DD things change. When you live in a state that you can only swim outdoors for about 4 months of the year going to a resort with an outdoor pool in December becomes much more of a luxury. And to be honest, I think our girls had as much fun at the pool as they did in the parks. Now if this had been a once in a lifetime trip, or if we were only down there for 5 days instead of 9, then we probably would have limited the amount of pool days. But with a 9 day trip and the parks actually being busier than I would have thought, the pool was a very welcome and needed break.

[princessjojo]

I don't think we've ever saved money buying the DDP. We won't buy it anymore. We do save money on the free DDP, because our room discount on a value would be minimal, compared to food for 4 for 10 days. However, when we don't get the DDP, we definitely don't limit ourselves on what we order. We order what we want. I've always been a little puzzled by the idea that paying more in advance for food is ok, but limiting yourself to even less at the time is a necessity. Does that make sense? If you're willing to pay more in advance, why aren't you willing to pay more during? :confused:

I'm just a person who likes to have as much control as possible over our budget. Part of my obsession is making sure every penny we spend on our "big" vacations is paid for BEFORE we leave and the DDP is just a tool to help facilitate that.

As I had & have mentioned previously, I don't necessarily think we're saving $$, but we also don't have the hassle of budgeting daily for our ADR's. Why pay more before rather than during you ask? We essentially prepay for our ADR's and have that aspect of our vacation taken care of, making it no longer something to deal with. Then during our vacation, we just go, have a good time and the only pending expenses are our souveniers which we usually spend minimal amounts on, and tips. No daily budgeting or surprises when the check comes. Either way, I've planned to spend $XX on our meals for the vacation, now I have them paid for and I haven't concerned myself with $5, $10 or $20 extra per meal that we hadn't planned on spending.

Knowing as well that my 3 of the 4 members of my family are big eaters, and that in the past, we've spent $150 or more routinely for any of our evening ADR's, and another $40 or more for CS daily, if I lose $10/day on the DDP, then I can chalk it up to paying for convenience. And that's where we leave it when we make our plans. We're comfortable with that when we save and make our reservations. It's not a plan that many would agree with, but it's just what works for us.

Now if I had smaller children, or kids who ate smaller amounts, we may feel differently, but each family is different.

Enjoying your choices and feel good about them is what's most important in the end.

[TheVBs]

I'm just a person who likes to have as much control as possible over our budget. Part of my obsession is making sure every penny we spend on our "big" vacations is paid for BEFORE we leave and the DDP is just a tool to help facilitate that.

As I had & have mentioned previously, I don't necessarily think we're saving $$, but we also don't have the hassle of budgeting daily for our ADR's. Why pay more before rather than during you ask? We essentially prepay for our ADR's and have that aspect of our vacation taken care of, making it no longer something to deal with. Then during our vacation, we just go, have a good time and the only pending expenses are our souveniers which we usually spend minimal amounts on, and tips. No daily budgeting or surprises when the check comes. Either way, I've planned to spend $XX on our meals for the vacation, now I have them paid for and I haven't concerned myself with $5, $10 or $20 extra per meal that we hadn't planned on spending.

Knowing as well that my 3 of the 4 members of my family are big eaters, and that in the past, we've spent $150 or more routinely for any of our evening ADR's, and another $40 or more for CS daily, if I lose $10/day on the DDP, then I can chalk it up to paying for convenience. And that's where we leave it when we make our plans. We're comfortable with that when we save and make our reservations. It's not a plan that many would agree with, but it's just what works for us.

Now if I had smaller children, or kids who ate smaller amounts, we may feel differently, but each family is different.

Enjoying your choices and feel good about them is what's most important in the end.

Thanks for that explanation! I really do appreciate it, and I never thought of it from that perspective before. I can definitely relate to paying for convenience. And I agree 100% with your statement about enjoying and feeling good about your choices!

[A Big Kid]

I DONT even care amount the amount of money that we spend. What I care about is being miserably full of food because I "have" to use my credits. With the DDP, it used to be a much better deal therefore I didnt care that we didnt use it to its full value. As it got to be less and less of a good deal, I'd rather just pay OPP and not be Mr. CANTWALKCUZIGOTAFULLBELLY.

[Buttercup]

Okay take this with a grain of salt because I've never used DDP before (will be doing it in February for the 1st time). But as far as 'too much food', am I the only one who brings the leftovers along afterwards? :blush: Like, at counter service, we usually finish our lunches but sometimes the kids don't. So the kids' meals that have pre-packaged grapes or a sandwich... just don't open up the package if you don't think the kids will eat it right away, throw it in your backpack and then you've got breakfast for the next day! Whenever we have a table service meal, we always finish our plates (or if it's a buffet, we only take what we're going to eat), so I don't think that will be a problem. And then the one snack we get per day, will probably go towards some mid-afternoon pop, or ice cream.
So why is it so much food? I don't get it?

[DizneyRox]

The "too much food" is a comparison against what you would normally eat (and therefor have to pay for).

For example, at a normal TS, I would normally order an entree and an soda. That's what I normally eat. With the DDP, I would also be eligible for a dessert. The "cost" of the DDP credit for a TS is worth I think between $25 and $30 but I wouldn't order that much normally. So, in effect I'm paying more for something I wouldn't use. I don't HAVE to order dessert, but why not.

As far as taking food with you, most things don't hold up well in 90 degree weather, which is when I usually go. A cheesecake/creme brulee wouldn't make it much past the next world showcase pavillion.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Okay take this with a grain of salt because I've never used DDP before (will be doing it in February for the 1st time). But as far as 'too much food', am I the only one who brings the leftovers along afterwards? :blush:


I think in theory that is a good idea, but in reality, we had a refrigerator full of extra desserts on our last day. When you stay on property, at least in the moderates, the fridge is a small dorm style, so what it can hold isn't all that much once you factor in the pop & oj bottles already in it. Taking things back is easy to do, but when you have or get stuck with late ADRS it's hard to finish dinner at 8:oo or later then think about finishing it up when you get back to the room.

I think most people think, imo, that the dessert is the wasted part of the DDP. If it was just on the TS that might be ok, but you get it with your QS meal two. I'm not used to eating a lot of desserts much less two per day. Granted you don't need to eat them, but 1) they usually give them to you anyway and 2) you've paid for them.

I'd much rather see the appetizer return and ditch the desserts. Or lose both and bring back the tip coverage.

[Buttercup]

I think most people think, imo, that the dessert is the wasted part of the DDP. If it was just on the TS that might be ok, but you get it with your QS meal two. I'm not used to eating a lot of desserts much less two per day.
I know it's included, but I'm trying to think of a quick service place that offers dessert as part of a meal. Aren't the quick/counter service places usually combos like a burger/sandwich/etc. with fries or some other side dish, and that's it?

[rubato]

Yes, desserts are included with the quick/counter service meals also. Except breakfast, of course.

I am in agreement about the desserts. We had 21 snack credits and almost all of our desserts crammed into that little fridge. I had a checked suitcase full of sugar! We went into each meal trying to figure out what would travel well, not what would taste good because we just weren't hungry enough to eat all that dessert. I would love appetizers instead. If I were going to eat something in my room that night or for breakfast the next morning, I would rather it be a non sweet item.

We are getting the dining plan again this time because my son wants one last go round with all the character buffets. He's 11, so we figure this is it. I'm using my credits better this time. I will be sharing lunch with my husband and son so that I can eat the silly desserts that they don't want and they can eat their meals. We think it'll work out better. Then, they can use my lunch credit to share a breakfast at the resort.

Next time, we will not get the dining plan. We will eat at signature restaurants and counter service. We will not order dessert. We will order grown up drinks and appetizers.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I know it's included, but I'm trying to think of a quick service place that offers dessert as part of a meal. Aren't the quick/counter service places usually combos like a burger/sandwich/etc. with fries or some other side dish, and that's it?

Nope, I think all of the QS offer desserts of some sort. Like Flame Tree in AK we had a key-lime dessert. Some sort of chocolate cake/brownie/mousse is usually always available. Columbia Harbor House I think I had an apple turnover type dessert.

Don't get me wrong, the desserts are very good, and sometimes I really want them, just not always twice a day. And as many have pointed out, If I was paying out of pocket, it would not be something that I'd normally get.

[mom2morgan]

I totally agree. I'll confess that we like desserts with dinner, and I like them being on the TS menus, but we NEVER eat dessert at lunch! I'd love to see an option - appetizer OR dessert.


I think in theory that is a good idea, but in reality, we had a refrigerator full of extra desserts on our last day. When you stay on property, at least in the moderates, the fridge is a small dorm style, so what it can hold isn't all that much once you factor in the pop & oj bottles already in it. Taking things back is easy to do, but when you have or get stuck with late ADRS it's hard to finish dinner at 8:oo or later then think about finishing it up when you get back to the room.

I think most people think, imo, that the dessert is the wasted part of the DDP. If it was just on the TS that might be ok, but you get it with your QS meal two. I'm not used to eating a lot of desserts much less two per day. Granted you don't need to eat them, but 1) they usually give them to you anyway and 2) you've paid for them.

I'd much rather see the appetizer return and ditch the desserts. Or lose both and bring back the tip coverage.

[forever a child]

I never thought there was such a thing as "too much deserts" but I was wrong! :ack:

[mom2morgan]

I never thought there was such a thing as "too much deserts" but I was wrong! :ack:
LOL- who knew? :-)

[eandrsmom]

We have paid for the Deluxe DP, the regular DP, and no dining plan. I can honestly say that the Deluxe was too much food, we checked out with unused dining credits. The regular dining plan wasn't too much food, however, I felt like we HAD to keep all of our ADR's in order to justify paying for it. I may feel differently if it was "free", but I'm getting a considerable AP discount on my room. Also, I have to agree with the OP. We didn't use the dining plan last trip, and felt so much more relaxed. I wasn't stressed out about having to get to a restaurant. If the kids were tired, we just grabbed a CS meal. I didn't feel like I had to get my money's worth and order desserts when we were full.

[PittFan]

It is a no brainer for us. With 6 adults ( now that the kids are teens) eating for 14 days it outweighs any other discount we've seen. And I must say that Disney's Free Dining promotion is working. The purpose was to increase park attendance during the off peak season and it worked. I know for a fact that we couldn't return every fall without such a discount. :mickey:

[KennyandKim]

On our offsite trip we didn't have dining of course but the second trip we did. I wouldn't go without it. We did find that at times we paid for cheaper items OOP and saved our dining plan credits for the more expensive. Problem with that was on check out day we found we still had a few credits on our card. i believe they were snack credits though.

We are big eaters and contemplated doing the Deluxe Dining because I want to eat at 2 signature dining restaurants. Without the dining plan I would worry about what I am spending on food and making sure we have enough money to eat where we want. With the dining plan I can plan our meals according to the dining plan participants.

With the new room discount that is out we will still save more with free dining so hopefully they will offer it again for our trip in September sinc e we missed out on booking in Dec. Since we are staying Club level at WL I have agreed to pass up on the deluxe Dining upgrade:confused:

[1mickey1minnie]

Last time we went we had free dining and while I enjoyed knowing it was all paid ahead of time, I hated feeling like I was wasting food. Plus, with a then 3 year old and an 18 month old, after 4 character meals they were done so we canceled the rest and just traded in our TS for QS meals. I did like it when they would at least give you credits back for the trade outs though, now you lose them!

We also felt rushed at times trying to make it to planned meals. While we tried hard to have reservations at places in the parks we were visiting that day, sometimes we'd still end up on the other side of the park and then have to stop and come all the way back to eat or when we did O'hana we had to rush to catch the monorail to get there on time. It just ended up cumbersome rather than helpful.

[MNNHFLTX]

I think most people think, imo, that the dessert is the wasted part of the DDP. If it was just on the TS that might be ok, but you get it with your QS meal two. I'm not used to eating a lot of desserts much less two per day. Granted you don't need to eat them, but 1) they usually give them to you anyway and 2) you've paid for them.

I'd much rather see the appetizer return and ditch the desserts. Or lose both and bring back the tip coverage.

Totally agree. This has been my complaint with the DDP (even when it's free). We just don't eat desserts very often and usually just forfeit that part of the meal. The dining plan used to be a much better deal when an appetizer and tip were included. Now--not so much.

[princessgirls]

Loved reading all of your comments and thoughts. Very interesting, and never thought about some of the points that other posters made.

I agree that the DDP isn't the deal it once was.

It works for my family, and we enjoy using it! We eat out at least once a week, so know how much meals cost. Lunch in the parks is costing me between 40 and 50 bucks per day for my family of four. Now, while I realize nothing is "FREE" when Disney offers the DDP for "FREE" I have found value in that, and my kids think I'm being really generous with snacks and stuff. I also save my Disney reward dollars from VISA and use that for tips and extras in the parks.
I checked prices over and over again to go this year, and going at the end of August with the Free DDP saved me over a $1,000 for the exact same trip I wanted in March. Also factoring in that it is peak season over Value, I'm still getting the same trip, just a little warmer temperatures.
For my family and how we like to vacation the DDP works for us. We mainly eat a quick breakfast in our room, use a CS for lunch and TS for dinner, or TS for a character breakfast and then a CS for dinner. Snacks we use for ice-cream or treats in the park.
I enjoyed reading all the comments on this post.
Julie:mickey: