NEW!!!! 2008 DDP Poll and comments About This Page:

[anangel21]

We have used the DDP since we went on our Honeymoon in Disney and have loved not having to worry about the cost of meals while we are there. The dining plans have changed over the years but still worth it.

[hldunlap]

I love the dining plan because I can plan ahead and know that the meals are paid for before we even go. If I had to pay out of pocket for each meal, I would probably just eat the cheapest things I could find. With the dining plan, I never see the totals and I get to enjoy the many awesome restaurants that Disney offers. This year, we decided to take advantage of the FREE DINING PLAN. That makes it even better because I can spend the money to do special things with my daughters that I might not have been able to do before on our budget.

Heather

BTW, Only 14 days to go until our next trip !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wolfy6688]

Originally Posted by hldunlap

If I had to pay out of pocket for each meal, I would probably just eat the cheapest things I could find.

BTW, Only 14 days to go until our next trip !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do the same thing - whether I'm paying for the dinner or someone else is paying for it. I always figure that there's something more important to spend money on, so why bother getting lobster & filet mignon when I'll have to eat again in 6 hours?

Well, maybe not that extreme But you get the idea.

With the dining plan, I'll be able to order the most expensive thing on the menu if I choose - and thoroughly enjoy my vacation.

Also, regarding the tips, I'm pretty lenient - I understand that a waitress may be having a rough day or something, but if the service is absolutely horrible, or if they're downright rude, then my tip DEFINITELY will reflect that. It stands to reason that they'll continue acting that way if they expect the same 15-20% that they may have been getting.

And, CONGRATULATIONS ON 14 DAYS!!!!!

[Kynna]

We love the DDP and wouldn't think of going without it. We focus on buffets and Character meals and always seem to get more than our moneys worth. We do have 2 children under 9 so I'm sure that adds to the value. I like the fact that we don't have to stress over how much we spend at each meal because it is paid for. Also we are dessert eaters. MMM Chocolate cake!

[genhand]

one of the thing that we found hard with the DDP was the kids meal. My kids are not big fan of mac and cheese and pb&j sandwiches... And they love carrots sticks and grapes but by the end of our trip, we were screaming for more veggetables choices for them... As well as meal!!!
Don't get me wrong, they like chicken nuggets, ham and cheese rolls, spaghetti... but for a whole week, 2 times a day So by the end of the week, they were eating from our meals...
So we are not sure if we'll take the DDP next time for them.

[tigger_03]

We used the basic dining plan and loved it! I know that we will always do the dining plan when we go to Disney. It was nice not having to worry about having to pay for the meals (except for the tip) or listen to DH whine about the prices (he's the one who originally wanted to get the plan when we first started planning for our trip almost a year ago). He was so happy with his decision to add the plan.

We usually chose a desert we could take with us (when we ate our resort we would chose the ice cream but get it after we were done eating). We saved them for the trip home or when we were back in the room and wanted just a little something. The snack credits we hadn't used up during our stay were used to get bottles of water, pop, chips, etc for the trip back home.

Our table service meals were not usually less than $100 for all of us (DH, DD, my mom, me - DS is only 1 so he ate off our plates but sometimes the chefs did fix him his own plate due to food allergies and foods that he has to avoid).

[lesabrowning]

We have always used the DDP. With the old plan we always had great service, but I don't really mind paying the tip now. Sure the value may be less without the tip an appetizer, but for us we still come out ahead. We are table service people. At lest once a day, sometimes twice. We also do a lot of character meals and buffets that are not cheap. We would spend more than the cost of the DDP absolutely. I think for folks that do not do TS meals, it might not be such a savings.

When we go in November we are doing the Deluxe Dining plan. I think Deluxe is WAY more than we need but we are doing two restaurants that each require 2 credits and the difference in price for the Deluxe plan was less than the cost of paying OOP for the meals, so why not? For us, it is all about how much we might spend. I don't care if I skip the dessert I am "entitled" to under the plan or if I have a few snack credits left over. If in the end I spent less.... sign me up! LOL

All my kids are adults at Disney except one who is six. My six year old is so picky that a week at WDW with only chicken nuggets and mac n cheese is her idea of heaven! With the teens, I love being able to send them off for their own counter service meals and not have to dole out wads of cash. For us, it works.

[kris10rocks]

I'm waiting to vote until I get back from my trip next month. We are trying the DxDDP but we've done the DDP before. We love it because like other people have mentioned you don't have to worry about the price of the items. You can order whatever your heart desires. I often look at the prices and then decide what I'm going to order our of fear of exceeding the budget.

[DisneyMom87]

We have done Free DDP twice and loved it both times. We did it with the "old" plan and the "new" plan on or recent trip (9/08). Of course was nice to not have to budget for the tip the first time, but not a big deal compared to what we would have paid w/o the free dining. We didn't mind the elimination of the appetizer, since it ended up being way too much food and we would leave the meal too full. We had many nice meals, and did 5 character meals! No way we could do this w/o free dining. At most of our meals the service was excellent, too. After having done the free dining twice, we have learned which restaurants/character meals are our favorites. However, when go back, we will probably do the new Quick Service Dining Plan and just pay out of pocket for a few table service meals at our favorite places.

[wyomom]

We used the DDP on the past two trips and again we will use it on this trip. I prefer the basic as the deluxe is too much food.
Not completely convinced that we saved money the first time, I kept all receipts, compared what we would have spent normally and our savings came out way ahead.
Like others have stated, it is nice to know meals are taken care of and less cash required while traveling. If I end up spending too much on souviners, at least I know the family will be fed!

In addition, I am glad that tips are no longer included as we did end up with a few bad servers. Bad enough where I would not have left a dime for one who was so rude and unattentive to all his tables except one...the one he was trying to score a future job with!

With all that said, I do feel the value is not as good as it use to be as the tip is not included and appetizers have been removed. Not that it will ever happen, but DW should have dropped the price some.... ya right!

[shannonwellnitz]

On our April 2008 trip we used the basic DDP for the first time, it was fabulous! We didn't have to worry about money for meals, everything was taken care of ahead of time, and we had tons of food! I generally used the snack for breakfast (bagel or toast,) the counter service for lunch and the sit down for dinner. That was the best choice for us!!!

[taylan1]

Our experience with the DDP is from October 2000 on our honeymoon. The plan was very different back then and perhaps closer to the premium plan that is available now. I don't remember how much we paid for it but it was worth every penny. This time we are doing the basic DDP and I see no problem with us paying for tips and an appetizer should we order one. I think that tips should be left to the customer. We also felt that with the appetizer, it was too much food. I think that the DDP is great, it saves us money and allows us to choose to eat at places we might not eat at on our own.

[steph steph]

We are going to Disney in March and have decided to use the basic dining plan. After about 8 trips to WDW, we are finally going to use it. Prior, we thought there is no way that our family of 4 could possibly eat $1000 worth of food. But it seems like we could have. We had taken the auto train in the last time, and packed a microwave and a mini fridge for our room at the All-Star Resorts. We ate only one meal in the park/resorts each day, having had breakfast in the room and a snack at lunch. In total we probably spent about $800 in food- we were there for 10 nights. It was okay, but it did not seem too much like Disney Magic.
Now this time, we will have the dining plan... we figure if we can spend almost $800 for dinner and snacks, we can add another $200 for breakfast and snacks, which would even out in time and the disney experience.

[karadisney]

We loved the DDP what a great idea!! It was very easy to use. Everything was on one card. That was nice!!
The basic plan is very easy to use. I wouldn't go to Disney again without using it!!