Down to the wire and waffling -- ditch the DDP?

[sapphirerose915]

The best part about Disney is there is something for everyone

the dining plans are an added available option
just like park hopper tickets
dessert parties
hard ticket events

Folks work hard for their $.
here's a scenario why dining plans can be a godsend(solely on the psychological part, not. The value)
you make $15 an hour. You have saved for this trip. Now you are at a character meal and see the cost of (let’s say) $50 for your 10 yo to eat French fries, a slice of pizza and cookies. For $50! You had to work almost a half a day for your beloved gremlin to eat cookies

or

your gremlin got to eat his favorites and saw tigger! Best photos of the trio and we talked about this memory constantly.

you still paid the same amount, but it was packaged as a vacation cost. You don’t have to worry about every singletime someone is hungry or thirsty and having to open your wallet for a $4 soda.

just my thoughts from the daughter of a man who wanted to have a great time but worried about the actual cost. Prepaid dining plan let him eat whatever and wherever he wanted without the stress of a bill at the end (ignore tipping for this example). Dad enjoyed getting ‘free’ meals vs paying $200 right now

so yes, the plans are an exceptional value for some families.
but you do have to do the math. Vacation planning is one big homework assignment after all

Sounds like my husband and that is exactly why we do the plan!! We have a 4yo and do a LOT of character meals- pays for itself... if my husband shelled out $150 per meal he'd never let me go again.. but if in beginning I just say a total amount and food is included it's a different story!

 

[rwdavis2]

I get that people l

Using mind games on yourself is amazing - guess I'm way too practical for them to work on me! LOL Would definitely bother me more to shell out huge amount at one time for the DDP than pay as I go for what I really want at the moment.

Yep. Either way one is still paying inflated prices for meals. We just order what we want an don't care about the cost. Sometimes a meal is expensive and sometimes it's not. But if it make people happy that's even better.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Using mind games on yourself is amazing - guess I'm way too practical for them to work on me! LOL Would definitely bother me more to shell out huge amount at one time for the DDP than pay as I go for what I really want at the moment.

Yep. It's funny I was pricing out the dining plan for our trip, just quick service. I went through looked at all the menus and figured out what we would eat. Also priced out the one must do TS. I included a beer for my husband every meal, plus sodas for my son every meal. It'll be hot in September and they'll probably drink a lot of water but I don't want any financial surprises. Our out of pocket costs including snacks and the TS is less than the cost of the quick service plan. I'm just going to get gift cards for our food. It'll still be paid for ahead of time but hopefully my husband won't stress about the cost when ordering.

 

[Beer Me]

Thank you all for your feedback. We took it off and then added it back in and that is our final answer. Since we have so many character meals and pricier non-character meals (Ohana), and we like a drink at dinner - we went with the DDP. I went through every menu and added up what it would cost us OOP and it looks like we would actually pay more. Had we not scheduled 1900 Park Fare, Ohana, Garden Grill, Tusker House, Biergarten, etc., and not order a drink at dinner - OOP probably would have made more sense. Since so much of our time is carefully planned around these places and time schedules it made sense to keep it. For example, I could give up Garden Grill, but then I give up my 8a PPO which puts me at Soarin first thing.

I’m always in the OOP camp based on my family’s eating habits but with your restaurant line up it might work out financially or at least be close to break even. Have a great trip!

 

[slyster]

I am on the fence too. 4 out of my 7 days include signature dining. If I get all 4 reservations, I'll probably keep it. If not, I'll change it to regular dining plan.

 

[rwdavis2]

Yep. It's funny I was pricing out the dining plan for our trip, just quick service. I went through looked at all the menus and figured out what we would eat. Also priced out the one must do TS. I included a beer for my husband every meal, plus sodas for my son every meal. It'll be hot in September and they'll probably drink a lot of water but I don't want any financial surprises. Our out of pocket costs including snacks and the TS is less than the cost of the quick service plan. I'm just going to get gift cards for our food. It'll still be paid for ahead of time but hopefully my husband won't stress about the cost when ordering.

The folks on the Dis Podcast reviewed all the DP's a few years ago. They determined, at the time, that the quick service plan only made sense if you ordered the most expensive item each time.

 

[cmmelzer]

I’ve never understood the “ease“ idea. It’s no more difficult to just pay by credit card or magic band.

We had the DDP for the first time ever last trip. We would have had left over Snack credits if not for Food and Wine fest at EPCOT.

That being said for our trip this fall we have it booked as well. For me its not an "ease" idea as much as its easier to do. But for me personally when it comes time to order if im doing it OOP i will ALWAYS pick the cheaper meal for myself. And i would hardly get snacks and i wouldnt buy myself any adult beverages. Im very frugal when it comes to myself on things. But getting the DDP lets me relax not think about the cost and truly enjoy myself.

Along with that i kept tabs on the costs of things and we came out about $200 cheaper than we would have had we paid OOP.

Everyone just has to be the judge for themselves.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Any former reviews of the dining plans done prior to oct 2018 are out of date to the point I would pass completely

the changes made in increased prices was significant
the changes to all dining plans was significant
the unpoolled credits change is significant

 

[Thomasboys]

Any former reviews of the dining plans done prior to oct 2018 are out of date to the point I would pass completely

the changes made in increased prices was significant
the changes to all dining plans was significant
the unpooled credits change is significant

What was the change with the unspooled credits?

 

[Pumbaa_]

As of 1/1/20 all meal credits are either adult (disney adult is 10+) or child (3-9)

until then all qs credits were pooled and dxdp credits were pooled.

 

[lauraleh]

I was waffling too. I ultimately decided to not do the DDP. I was struggling to find restaurants to maximize our value. Then I realized I didn't even want to eat at a large majority of the places I had chosen. We go to WDW a lot and have done so many character meals and just don't need to do 8 of them every trip anymore. I also live in a large city that has amazing food choices and Disney doesn't always meet that food quality standard.

Also I didn't know about the change for the pooling the credits. That REALLY confirmed my decision. We used that a lot to stretch our QS credits.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Smart. It’s good to do the work and see if it works cost wise. Then style wise.
I want an app, sometimes 2 and no entree. My husband never wants dessert immediately after dinner. But later in. So dining plans aren’t for us.

 

[ForceofWill]

I went back and forth this year after the kids credit change. Last year we had the QS plan and made money on it. This year we ended up going with the TS plan and I will still make out. I don't even need the deserts and don't count them in price, although I'll eat a few. The wife and I drink 4-5 shot iced espresso drinks at Starbucks for snack credits($7+) and get alcohol with each meal. If you start wasting snacks on bananas and don't drink alcohol it's definitely not worth it for you. Polite pig/Dlux with an alcoholic beverage can easily 1.5-2x a QS credit value.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I went back and forth this year after the kids credit change. Last year we had the QS plan and made money on it. This year we ended up going with the TS plan and I will still make out. I don't even need the deserts and don't count them in price, although I'll eat a few. The wife and I drink 4-5 shot iced espresso drinks at Starbucks for snack credits($7+) and get alcohol with each meal. If you start wasting snacks on bananas and don't drink alcohol it's definitely not worth it for you. Polite pig/Dlux with an alcoholic beverage can easily 1.5-2x a QS credit value.

Ooh hadn't considered adding extra shots into a drink at Starbucks. Great idea.