We saved with the DDP

[gabesmom]

Just back from a fabulous week in the World so I thought I'd post info on how the dining plan worked for us.

Cast included: DH, DS15, DS6 and myself. We debated long and hard about whether or not to do the DDP and are so glad that we did it. We ate at places we never would have tried without it and felt like it was definitely worth the $$.

We tried to get our money's worth, of course, but we did not try to max it out. We didn't study menus and cost it all out in advance. We simply chose places we wanted to try that came highly recommended from folks on DIS and other sources where we knew both boys would eat.

Also, it's important to note that we only list 4 TS meals in our totals because we decided to go to the Hoop de Doo Revue (which requires two TS per person). We paid OOP for a character breakfast earlier in the week in order to save those credits. We did get drinks and dessert with each CS and TS meals as it was allowed.

Here's how the plan worked for us (3A, 1C) for 5 nights, based on the total we signed off on at each meal:

TS meals (our 'tab' if paying oop)
Hollywood & Vine @ MGM: $104.53
Biergarten @ Epcot: $126.89
Hoop De Doo Revue: $176.06
Le Cellier Steakhouse: $185.84
Total Table Service: $593.32

Counter service:
Flame Tree Barbecue (4): $49.45
Cantina de San Angel (4): $47.06
Pecos Bills (4): $48.20
Tangerine Cafe (2A, 1C): $30.15
Sommerfest (1A): $9.21
ABC Commissary (2A, 1C): $29.97
Backlot (1A): $9.44
Total Counter Service: 223.48

Total TS and CS: $816.80
for a savings of: $129.88 without counting snacks

Snacks (usually water or mickey bars or frozen lemonade)
(Note: I didn't keep these receipts so I'm estimating)
Bottled water (6): $12
Cokes/soft drinks (6): $12
Ice cream (4 @ 2.50): $10
Frozen treats (4@3): $12
Total snacks: approximately $46

Total from DDP: $862.80
Total cost of DDP: $686.92
Total savings: $175.88

We were camping at FW and would grab a piece of fruit or cereal in the a.m. and had more than enough food to eat the entire week. In fact, when we go back, we'll probably put more time between meals. We did combos with desserts at CS and did, as you might have noticed, two buffets for dinner plus our one splurge at Le Cellier (which I would highly recommend).

We'll definitely do it again when we go back. And, for the record, we did use one child credit as an adult credit when we ate at Pecos Bills and it didn't appear to mess anything up later in the week. Before you flame me, it wasn't really intentional. DH and DS15 went up and ordered four combos while DS6 and I found a table. When they brought the food to the table, all four were adult combos.

We had absolutely no problems with the plan during the week and our servers were always very helpful in telling us what we could and couldn't get. It was great not to have to worry about the $$ during the week and have everything (including the tip) taken care of before we even sat down for our meal. We did tip extra on occasion for excellent service.

Hope this helps!

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for sharing your review of the DDP. DH and I are using it for the first time in December and we're really excited! We're planning to split meals because otherwise it sounds like too much food.

 

[Tam1067]

Thanks for the info! It does seem like DDP is worth the money for people who would eat at least 1 TS meal a day.

 

[gabbysmom04]

gabesmom, could you tell me a little about what you were not allowed to order. Thank you for the ddp breakdown

 

[doc hog]

Thank you for the info!!!! We are going to use the DDP for our June trip. Did you have any problems with availability for seating times?

 

[gabesmom]

We didn't have any problems with the dp.

As for exceptions, there were only a couple of things we ran into but I'm sure it depends on where you eat. Typically, we found it was items designed for two people (like the dessert sampler at LeCellier, for example). We could have ordered it but it would have counted for two people's dessert instead of one, which makes sense. It was just things like that - no other problems or exceptions!

If we had a question, we asked and the CMs were fabulous to help us out. At snack carts, Disney has done a good job of putting a little DDP symbol beside eligible treats which made it easy. I can't remember right now what was ineligible on those menus though as we mostly used snacks for bottled water, mickey bars, ice cream and frozen drinks which were all one snack credit each.

We were really stressing over it because no one we knew had tried it, but we were first timers to the World and we had no problems with it at all.

As for reservations, I made them in January, which was two months ahead of when we were going to be there, and I would strongly recommend doing that as soon as you can decide what you want. At two restaurants (Biergarten on Tuesday and Hoop De Doo on Thursday), they were booked and accepting no walk-ins.

Carmen

 

[Tam1067]

Yes, you should make ADRs a couple months out. For our July trip, I called in late February, and while I got the ones I wanted, a few were not at the exact times I asked for. I was kind of surprised. A few years ago, I foolishly waited until about a month before and had a really tough time at a few places. So make the ADRs as soon as you can.

 

[Luvamouse]

Thanks for the DDP review, gabesmom.

I'm curious if you ordered appetizers and desserts all of the time or some of the time? Did you get one per person, or share these? Just wondering since I expect we'll do the DP (as much for convenience as cost) and we could never each eat an appetizer and dessert. Well ,except for DD11 who is skinny as a rail and eats like a horse! I'm curious what you all did (we are 3A, 1C also).

Thanks!

Heidi