2008 Ddp : Is It Worth It ???

[ramftbl]

Hello All !!! Still trying to figure out is it's worth it to buy the Disney Dining plan this year. We'll have 3 kids with us and have made DDR at 7 restaurants already. We're staying 6 nights, and we're trying to decide if we will end up overpaying. Thanks for all who respond !!!

[logcabin81428]

I used the DDP last summer for 2 adults and 2 children and was with a family that had 2 adults and 5 kids. Wow, is it worth it!!!

Apparently, you enjoy dining at WDW (w/7 DDRs already), so why not use the DDP to absorb some of the costs. And, you get lots of snacks which will tide you through the parks "in between" meals. It was great being able to use the DDP for ice cream, popcorn, etc. while at the parks and know you won't have a "surprise" at checkout to pay for all those treats.

We easily used up all the credits and felt we got a good deal. We were able to use the credits for breakfast at Cindy's Royal Table, Jiko, etc -- almost all sit-down restaurants as well as fast-food restaurants.

Hope this helps!

[KarenP]

I think it is well worth it if you plan to eat at least one sit down meal a day.

[irish1967]

I think you need to run the numbers to determine if it is right for you.

For us, it is a good deal - not as good as it has been in the past, but a good deal nonetheless.

I believe there is a spreadsheet in info central that you can use to calculate if it is a good deal or not.

Good luck!

[DakotaDisney]

I would also recommend checking out the spreadsheet here at Intercot.

I beleive you can find it under both the infocentral area and the interactive area.
It is very useful and I think accurate.

I used the Dinning plan on my last trip in 2007 and it was definitely worth it, but I was all by myself. I don't know about with kids.

I loved it for mainly 3 reasons: 1. I didn't have to carry alot of money and I didn't have to worry about how much things cost.
2. I got to try a lot of different restaurants and especially different menu items that I wouldn't have tried on my own. I know that eating at the places I did and paying out of pocket I would have spent more than the dinning plan.
3. I didn't have to worry about tipping.

I am looking at going this year in 2008 and I won't be using it for 2 reasons.
1. I want to save money. I have done the spreadsheet on Intercot and this time around I don't need to go to all those sit down restaurants, so I know I can save money by doing it on my own. Doing mostly counter service and just a couple restaurants. I also don't typically order as much food as you can with the dinning plan.
2. Tipping is not included any more.

I think whether or not to use the dinning plan really depends on your families/groups eating preferences. If you want to do a lot of sit down restaurants, then you can save money with the dinning plan. Otherwise go on your own. But try the spreadsheet to really figure things out.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Others have said it well, you really have to do the math depending on your preferences. We use the DDP in the last two years but won't in 2008. We just don't like eating the amount of TS meals that are needed for it to work out for us. Its just way too much food for us. We found that out the hard way after convincing ourselves we would save money on the DDP. We weren't honest about how we would really dine. So it wasn't really right for us.

For others, it may be perfect. Try the spreadsheet and be careful to be honest about your style of dining. In other words, don't try to make it work out for you, let it work out or not depending on how you really would dine. That way you will make the best decision.

[DANAM]

I have really looked it to this. It seems to me that for the adult meal we are basically breaking even with a snack or so to spare.
The kids are a diffrent story. We went for free dining in September. I saved receipt and totaled them up, and we averaged at least $20 for each kid. So that is at least $10 per child per day that I would have to come up with plus the tip. I figure that's my tip right there. This is based on the average child buffet @11.99-14.99 and the average kids CS is $6 plus your $4 snack. I don't think it is as good of a deal as it used to be but now it seems you pay for the convienence of the thing.
I will say this, if you do breakfast you may just break even. You really have got to do dinners and maybe one lunch or breakfast. And no places where you would have to use 2 Table services.
I agree with the post above you should check out the worksheet on intercot. It made me change my mind about the whole thing.
Hope it works out for you.

[Bri]

I think it will be worth it for you. I believe the DDP is $38.99 per day per person for the snack, TS and CS. You can easily spend very close to or go over that with a TS and CS, not to mention how many waters and ice creams will you be buying throughout the day. Since you are doing a lot of TS meals, I think that's where you will save the most money by using the DDP. My suggestion is to pay out of pocket for breakfast, that seems to be the cheapest meal, and use the CS for lunch and the TS for dinner or vice versa.

[WDWCrazyKaren]

We used it just 2 weeks ago, for a week stay, it was really nice not having to think about paying for the meals. There were only 2 adults, and by the end of the week, tipping for our TS credits was almost $150! I hadn't thought that the tipping alone would add so much to our budget, but it did!

We will most certainly use DDP again for our next trip, because it will be super simple for our teenagers to go somewhere and grab a CS meal without worrying about having cash in their pockets, but we are using it more for the convenience than the $$ savings!

Karen

[VRod RS]

Hello All !!! Still trying to figure out is it's worth it to buy the Disney Dining plan this year. We'll have 3 kids with us and have made DDR at 7 restaurants already. We're staying 6 nights, and we're trying to decide if we will end up overpaying. Thanks for all who respond !!!

We have the Deluxe Dining Plan for 3 of us and we have currently used 2 day's worth of meals.. We are already up to $756 cost if we would have purchased the same food out of pocket (not including tips of course).. We paid a little over $1400 for the 3 of us and we have 5 days left.. I think it is worth it if you are going to use your meals in the nicer places that cost more $$$.. We have always avoided eating on property much before this trip, but this time we wanted to try some places.