Anyone still FAVOR the 2008 DDP?

[cperry92380]

Anyone out there still favor the 2008 DDP changes vs. not getting the plan at all?
I've heard all of the negatives and complaints of the changes (and I have complaints of my own too...), but is there anyone out there who still thinks the DDP will be a good deal vs. paying out of pocket?

[medic9016]

We were thinking if you wanted to do alot of the 2 credit restaurants, hop dee do or luau. The deluxe may not be to bad. But other than that they both are no longer a good deal.

[wedway fan]

we've signed up for the plan for our april trip. some very simplified number crunching on my part tells me i'll be just under breaking even, and will save probably no more than $50-100 overall. that's still 50-100 bucks in my pocket, along with the convenience of pre-paid meals.

it's all about where you eat- if you hit the higher-end CS places and use your TS meals for mostly dinners, you'll do fine. if you just eat at food courts and character buffets, it's a loss.

[Samtastic]

I did the number crunching as well, and it's still a deal for me; 15-25% savings. It's not a super duper lot, but hey, it's savings! True I probably wouldn't order or eat at all those places if I wasn't on the plan, but I want to eat at those places and this plan makes it's possible.

I mean $38 isn't ridiculous per day--(Come on, anyone watch $40 a day??)

I think you just need to check out where you want to eat and what you want to eat, and do the math--plus I think planning my food is fun!!

[vicster]

The no appetizer doesn't bother me as much as no tip included on the dining plan. I really like the convenience of having the tip included so that money has to be factored in also.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We went for the deluxe dining plan for our May 2008 trip.

When we started to crunch all of the $$'s, it looked like we would come out a bit ahead, and get to try a bunch of places (2 TS) that we wouldn't have on the "regular" plan, or OOP.

So, for us, it will save a bit, and I love having all of the food paid for..so no one has to worry about what they are ordering.

Overall, Disney is an expensive trip, but it isn't outrageous!

[Seasonscraps]

I think the DDP is still a savings, just not what we were used to when the dining plan was first introduced.

I haven't paid close attention to menu prices but I am sure they went up along with everything else at Disney which will only increase the value of the DDP even with tips & appetizers excluded.

[kim1st]

I'm a big nerd and I'm trying to set up an excel spreadsheet to figure out how we would make out best - all out of pocket, regular DP or DDP.

I'm still working on it! The DP is tricky for us, because we end up paying some TS out of pocket but usually end up wasting CS meals because we just don't eat a lot at CS restaurants. (Not that we don't USE them, but we end up using them for stuff like breakfast which isn't really cost effective.)

I think we COULD use all of the credits on the DDP, but I fear that we would find ourselves prisoners of too many ADRs...

The loss of appetizers for TS meals on the regular DP is also a bummer, which may sway us to just spring for the DDP...ahhh!!!!! It's all so overwhelming!!!!

[TheRustyScupper]

How can anyone favor a 24%-28% price increase with no extra goods/services?

[BugeyedMuggy]

We had the free dining plan in Sept. & we booked b-4 we left for late Sept-early Oct & will get the free dining plan 2008. Doing it this way it is cost effective for us. I think tho looking at the bills for dining it still is a deal (tho not nearly as good) I am hoping for better service in 2008 due to some very poor & slow service and at Cali Grill & the new Italian rest. With the tip not included maybe they will keep things flowing better during our dinners. This will also help me decide if I would ever purchase the DDP in the future. I would rather eat in the food courts a few nites and pick a couple of our favorite restaurants and pay out of pocket.

[Rayadragon]

My family went the first two years they offered the free dinning plan. We definatly enjoyed having it and might have concidered actually paying for it if we went during a different time of year.

The key phrase is now "might have." With the current changes to the dinning plan, there's no way we'd concider paying for it. Although we enjoyed eating at the TS restaraunts, it's not going to make or break our vacation if we don't eat there. My dad is diabetic, so being forced to get the dessert without having an appetizer to compensate isn't the best for him (he'd normally eat more of the apps and a bite of the dessert). The loss of the included tip is a huge issue. For the tip from these meals alone, we'd be able to feed our whole family with a couple of shared CS meals.

If we sat down and really crunched the numbers, we'd probably still save some money if we planned on eating a high number of TS meals. It just isn't a necessity with my family, and with the new issues with the loss of the appetizer (or even a choice between the two) plus the loss of the tip, it just isn't that feasible for us anymore.

Unless it's free

[Marker]

At this point, I'm saying I would, but I'm definitely not saying I wouldn't. Having just gotten back, I have no trip on the horizon, so I haven't specifically done the number crunching for me. But I think if it's at $38 plus tip for the daily table service meal, then it's still an ok deal.

I guess I'm not as bothered about the lack of appetizer with meals as a lot of people seem to be. I always felt there was too much food to begin with, and rarely did I really WANT my desert. I'm holding onto hope that they'll work a way to have a simple salad or cup of soup as a "desert", but not holding my breath on that.

As for the tip, yeah, I wish it was still included. However, IT'S WHAT WE ASKED FOR. I've read countless posts talking about service declining because there servers weren't working for the tip, and it wasn't fair to the servers, yadda, yadda, yadda. So to me, while I'd rather it still be included, I see it as we got what we asked for, now we'll just have to deal with it..... or choose not to use the DDP.

Whatever I choose to do, it's certainly nothing I'm going to get all worked up about, because what good will it really do. Leave me frustrated???? After all, it is what it is and we all have the freedom to choose if we wish to utilize it.

[cperry92380]

Thanks for the input so far. Wanted to hear from people who aren't so 'down' on the changes.
I'm not crazy about the changes, but still think the plan will be worth it if you're doing TS every night.
Granted, the value isn't what it was before, but... they had the value SOOOOO inflated which made us all feel like we were getting a STEAL. Now they've just brought the costs back in line with reality.

[dolphinmickey9170]

We will be crunching some serious numbers - looking at the menu, choosing what we would eat, figure out the cost, tax, tip etc and then figure if the DDP vs DDE is worth it. If not, you can bet your bottom dollar we will go with the DDE!!

[Polynesian Dweller]

Don't really know yet. Its going to be a close call. For us, the biggest issue will be what restaurants are on the list. At this point, there are a lot missing that we want to go to (and some used to be on the DDP). Savings aren't that good if it means you miss the restaurants you like. Will have to see if the list is revised. Can say, the other changes aren't that important to us.

[Natazu]

I don't feel the basic dining plan is a very good value anymore. The Deluxe plan (for us - two adults) is pretty good, though. We'll probably do it.

For long trips, it's really hard to beat the AP/DDE combo for TS dining.

[poeticeclipse]

The Deluxe plan is a ridiculous amount of food and a big waste of time IMHO. I like to chill out once during the day and have a good TS meal. Just once... otherwise I spend most of my day traveling and planning around where i'm eating for every meal. With just one TS meal to look forward to a day, you can schedule a specific TS restaurant for what park you plan to be in on any given day.

After spending a couple of days crunching numbers, I know that for my husband and I, it will still be a savings to participate in the DDP. I have yet to find someone that has crunched numbers and had it NOT come out to still be a deal. Sure, it's not as much of a savings as the last couple of years' plan but, you take what you can.

In case anyone is wondering how I figured it, I plugged in 7 days of TS and CS restaurants to give a varying cost because some restaurants we love are $$ and some are $$$. We have a general rule of thumb as to what we get at certain restaurants. I also plugged in snacks that we would receive on the DDP. After tip was included I had a grand total of how much it would cost for us to use the DDP and how much it would cost us to pay that out of pocket. Obviously, big difference.

Logically, we wouldn't order the same amount of food at the same restaurants if we weren't on the DDP. That is just too expensive. So, I picked the same TS restaurants but only got an entree and sometimes split a dessert (you just can't go to Coral Reef without a chocolate wave). With the CS meals we would only get an entree once a day. Drinks I didn't count because we only drink water anyways. Breakfast we could eat in our room (bring pop-tarts from home). The amount doing this compared to what we would spend on the DDP was only a two dollar difference overall. I'm going to stick with my DDP even if I don't feel it's as good as in previous years.

[DisneyTwinsMommy]

We will use the DDP if I can get it for free next year... I did crunch numbers, and we would be eating at only family-style or buffet locations (with 2 children under 3, it would be costly to pay OOP for meals for them) We all know that buffets are not the most economically use of the DDP, so... we'll use it if it is free, if not, we will pay OOP like we used to...

[ldn324]

When I broke the DP news to DH, he said "well, enjoy it this trip because it's the last time we will do it". I have to agree. Yes, probably somewhere in there will still be some degree of savings, but nowhere near what it is now (which is probably why they are changing it).

If I had the option of choosing an appetizer or a dessert, maybe I'd consider. But I'm not a "sweets" person and often times the appetizer is the best part of the meal. Plus the whole idea for us was to have the entire meal paid for and not have to worry for anything (if much) out of pocket.

The only positive I see is for the servers who will possibly get better tips. We usually tip 20% for decent service. Of course, this isn't a benefit to us now to pay that out of pocket.

I see us not using the DP after 2007, eating far less (which is not a bad thing) and eating off-site more often.

[goofysbabe]

We will still do the DDP. It will still be some of a savings for us. Our children are still young and can't finish meals, my husband and I share meals to so we share lunches and use vouchers for a breakfast to share, and everyone gets his/her own dinner. Everytime we have gone to WDW the weather has been hot and we just don't eat the amount of food that we do in cooler weather. Plus we are snacking on and off all day. It just works out better for us in the end.