How to Manage Without the DDP for the First Time Ever

[bumbershoot]

Originally, we were going to do the QS plan

The most recent WDW page regarding the QS plan said:

• 2 Quick-Service Meals Per Night of Stay
• 2 Snacks or Nonalcoholic Beverages Per Night of Stay
• 1 Resort Refillable Mug*

The same page shows:
Meals redeemed at breakfast, lunch or dinner will include:

• 1 Entrée
• 1 Nonalcoholic Beverage (or Alcoholic Beverage, for Guests 21 and older)

At Quick-Service restaurants, most Outdoor Carts and select merchandise locations, snacks may include a single serving of items such as:

• Frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle or fruit bar
• Popcorn scoop
• 12 oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea
• Prepackaged milk or juice
• Piece of whole fruit
• Bag of snacks
• 20 oz. bottle of Coca-Cola®, Sprite® or Dasani® water
• 20 oz. fountain soft drink

So I'm not 100% sure if it's snacks AND booze, but that seems to be what you're saying.

The Dis keeps menus on their main info page, and menus are also here https://allears.net/dining/menu/

Find the FOOD you want. Find the snacks you want. Find the drinks you want. Make a plan for your dreams of eating and drinking. Using allears on a computer, the QS places seem to have the prices on the right. Put something over that side of your computer so you're not letting the cost get to you. Write out your dream QS meals. Make those a PLAN. Write the plan down.

Then go to the non-QS places that you might not have eaten at under the restrictive QS plan. Don't just look at "meals." Look at appetizers, lounges, and so on. See what you truly want.

Once you guys really have thought about it and are looking forward to those restaurants/lounges/etc and that plan, then start looking at the cost.

You know it would have gone up in cost, and you know things are still going up, so pad what the QS cost would have been.

I've seen some people make up little cards for what meals they want, and they "cash in" those cards to keep it fun and distracting them from the bill.

Yes, I've been through menus, added stuff up, and have to decide to give up some drinks or face the fact that my food budget would be 40% alcohol. (50% of meals, but thanks to some snacks, more like 40% overall.)

Well, yeah, that's how it works. If you are eating a 12.99 meal and getting a 12.00 drink, that was the basic situation even with the plan.

Since it sounds like all the adults in your family drink and the kids have been under 9, your previous use has been the kind that works for you. Kids are going to age up and want more food, might not want character meals, and then they would be paying the adult cost but not getting those adult beverages they are paying for.

While making it seem ridiculous that young people ages 10-20yo have to pay the same price when they can't possibly have alcohol.

Definitely. That's how Disney makes money from those who are naturally, or make themselves be, superusers of the dining plans.

But I never get why people can not accept the converse, that there are people who have a dining style and preferences that make the DDP a deal.

People accept it. But after lots of time on the boards here, I can tell you that the majority of the people realize that they have squeezed themselves into the plans they want to use, and really would like different foods they aren't allowing themselves.

Like what CA says here:

I think a lot of people think they're #3 when they're really #2.

who wants to get weighed down with heavy food while on vacation-especially if it is hot?

Soooo many people. Not me! But many many people.

I’m not sure I understand this whole put it on a gift card thing.
Why not just make sure you put the cash in your bank account if your going to spend the money anyway to put it on a gift card and then you at least own that money. Then just use your credit card and since you have the money, pay the card when the bill comes in. No interest if paid that month. If Disney Visa even more so. I just don’t understand the go pay at the desk with GCs theory. If you have the money to buy the GCs whynot just leave it in your bank and pay the CC bill that month instead?

The GC discounted purchases are one reason. Emotions are another; like those who use cash instead of cards, you FEEL better about spending money that has to be spent. And control is also in there; some don't have the control over it all.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Soooo many people. Not me! But many many people.

Me too, even! I'm not shaming the portions of the DDP. I'm a big eater, i.e. a fat guy, and I still have to force myself to eat all those deserts.

 

[frannn]

We took 2 trips last year without the DP. Pre-Covid trips have been with free upgraded DP. The first non-DP trip was just DD and I, armed with the cost of DP on gift cards. We saved a bunch of $ as we didn't snack a lot and shared some meals. Second trip included DH and was a break even. TBH, we would've preferred the DP cause I would've had more adult beverages and we would've had more snacks & desserts, even just to share. We have APs, so used that discount for TS. Putting the funds on gift cards helps us to keep on budget and aware of what we are spending. Cant wait til DP comes back and we can lose a little of that extra work.

 

[RNRMOM]

Unless you're the subset that *adores* character dining, so that every TS meal we did was a character meal because that is exactly what we wanted to do. I totally get that lots of people will spend less ordering what they want OOP and that they enjoy not being locked into the rules of the plan. But I never get why people can not accept the converse, that there are people who have a dining style and preferences that make the DDP a deal. Not a giant one by any means, but I have done all the same math others do and know that my family's style made it a deal, including kids getting specialty drinks, which delighted them as much as alcohol delighted me.
Now, I have never done the QS meal plan, and if it suddenly came back next week, it almost certainly would not be the $55 per day for adults that it was before. So it is harder to know the math there. But having a $12 drink with each of two QS meals eats up a lot. And if you've had a positive DDP experience where it saved a pinch of money with voracious kids who wanted to try ten million snacks and enjoy every character meal, you miss it not being a choice and wonder if you can choose as freely without breaking the bank.

I'm the same way. I don't want to think about menu prices or hold back on what I really want because I don't have the plan. I want it all paid upfront, order, eat and drink, input the tip, sign and walk out. I don't want to sit there and think about how much I could have saved if the plan was still available, or how I shouldn't order the steak and just settle for the chicken.

I love character meals and we always booked at least one per day during our trips. If I'm spending $50 per meal (before tax) twice per day, out of pocket, I could have purchased the deluxe plan for $119 per day and I would be able to have another sit down meal. This doesn't even include the snacks. The dining plan is truly missed.

 

[Lilsia]

I’m not sure I understand this whole put it on a gift card thing.
Why not just make sure you put the cash in your bank account if your going to spend the money anyway to put it on a gift card and then you at least own that money. Then just use your credit card and since you have the money, pay the card when the bill comes in. No interest if paid that month. If Disney Visa even more so. I just don’t understand the go pay at the desk with GCs theory. If you have the money to buy the GCs whynot just leave it in your bank and pay the CC bill that month instead?

This is exactly how I feel. I do not understand the mentality of the dining plan at all. I figure that I am an adult and I know how much money I'm spending and it's all coming out of the same bank account. I don't need to "pre pay" for a dining plan to try to trick my brain into having a better time. Maybe my brain just doesn't function that way. We go, we eat whatever we want to eat, either put it on a card or charge it back to our room and go about our day. In the end it's all the same. I rather just have the option of going to eat whatever I want when I want and not worry that I have to eat at a certain place or eat a certain meal because I've already prepaid it. A lot of days I'm happy just to go up and get an appetizer and a salad and that would be a complete waste on the dining plan.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I've added this note to my original post, but am adding it here, too, in case people like to jump in mid-thread without reading what has come before.
This thread is intended for people who enjoy the DDP, miss it, and wish it were back.

It is not intended as a place for DDP haters to come and say how much they don't like it, don't miss it, don't understand people who like it, or to tell those people that are foolish and/or dumb for liking it. You are not being helpful. Please feel free to start your own thread where you dump on the plan and people who use it.

Thank you

 

[Her Dotness]

I totally get that lots of people will spend less ordering what they want OOP and that they enjoy not being locked into the rules of the plan. But I never get why people can not accept the converse, that there are people who have a dining style and preferences that make the DDP a deal....
And if you've had a positive DDP experience where it saved a pinch of money < no kids snip!>,you miss it not being a choice and wonder if you can choose as freely without breaking the bank.

I don't think it's possible to explain to the "put it on a giftcard" people that that's not the same mindset at all as being on a dining plan.

With a giftcard, we'd both still be checking how much various menu items cost and jiggering about with how big the remaining balance is and will that cover departure day breakfast at 'Ohana when we ate pricey the night before at Cali Grill.

All you have to do is choose what you want to eat when on a dining plan. You can pay no attention to the fact that you want the surf 'n' turf which costs somewhat more than the shrimp scampi or chicken parmesan. Whatever entree you get is already paid for (unless it's a not-DDP-covered one, of course).

We don't drink alcohol but have been known to book 6-8 character meals in a weeklong stay, sometimes 2 in a single day. And buffets are a great deal at 1 TS credit for most. (Hellooo! plates full of gummy bears at 1900 PF)

I think it's attitude or mindset that's the difference between yes-DDP and giftcard-is-better types.

I call the DDP mindset our "Vay-Kay-SHUN Attitude." As in, we are on vay-kay-SHUN. We do not care about anything but eating too much and thoroughly indulging ourselves with whatever we truly want to eat.

We wish as much as can be pre-paid to be paid in full before we arrive. Because once we get there, we want to be pampered, somewhat irresponsible, and carefree. The DDP lets us not give a care how much our food costs--and snack credits give us bunches of Disney-exclusive treats to haul home (other than Mickey bars or Dole Whips for obvious reasons.)

We want only to eat ourselves silly and never have to consider how much any of it cost.

That's a distinction that the put-it-on-a-giftcard folks don't seem able to comprehend.

 

[roctavia]

I don't think it's possible to explain to the "put it on a giftcard" people that that's not the same mindset at all as being on a dining plan.

With a giftcard, we'd both still be checking how much various menu items cost and jiggering about with how big the remaining balance is and will that cover departure day breakfast at 'Ohana when we ate pricey the night before at Cali Grill.

All you have to do is choose what you want to eat when on a dining plan. You can pay no attention to the fact that you want the surf 'n' turf which costs somewhat more than the shrimp scampi or chicken parmesan. Whatever entree you get is already paid for (unless it's a not-DDP-covered one, of course).

We don't drink alcohol but have been known to book 6-8 character meals in a weeklong stay, sometimes 2 in a single day. And buffets are a great deal at 1 TS credit for most. (Hellooo! plates full of gummy bears at 1900 PF)

I think it's attitude or mindset that's the difference between yes-DDP and giftcard-is-better types.

I call the DDP mindset our "Vay-Kay-SHUN Attitude." As in, we are on vay-kay-SHUN. We do not care about anything but eating too much and thoroughly indulging ourselves with whatever we truly want to eat.

We wish as much as can be pre-paid to be paid in full before we arrive. Because once we get there, we want to be pampered, somewhat irresponsible, and carefree. The DDP lets us not give a care how much our food costs--and snack credits give us bunches of Disney-exclusive treats to haul home (other than Mickey bars or Dole Whips for obvious reasons.)

We want only to eat ourselves silly and never have to consider how much any of it cost.

That's a distinction that the put-it-on-a-giftcard folks don't seem able to comprehend.

I think a lot of the put it on a giftcard in this thread is more of a since we don't have the DDP, here is an option that is as close as we can get... plus the advantage of saving a few dollars if you have the target discount or something... (I use disney gift cards to pay for our whole trip including the dining plan when it was available, cause 5% is still 5%)

I know other people suggest the gift card idea instead of the dining plan... which may work for some families... but a lot of the gift card talk lately has been (at least in my opinion)a suggestion for how to take the sting out of the DDP not being an option.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

We liked to purchase the dining plan when we took extended family. We would take my SIL, her hubby, and the 3 kids. We always pay for the rooms (DVC), the kid's park tickets, and and the kid's plane tickets. SIL/BIL were on the hook for their costs + all the food for them and their family. The dining plan allowed them to know what their food cost was going to be and allowed everyone to eat what they want and not worry about the cost. It allowed them to order the steak when they wanted to, or dine at Storybook Dining, and not worry about the cost.

For our Jan 2022 trip, since I do all the planning and everyone pays me, I quoted my SIL/BIL the last DDP cost and added 10% to cover any overages. I then paid for all meals. For the 7 days our total food "budget" was $5,544 for the 8 of us (including MIL). I kept track and at the end of the trip our Disney dining total was $5,499.71. I was pretty shocked it was that close. We're not really a snack family so we didn't purchase many things that would have counted towards snack credits. But the adults do like a beverage or 3 at dinner and the kids will drink anything with a light-up ice cube. So I think everyone was happy. BIL still ate a steak EVERY meal. Rest of the family ordered what looked good to them. I liked that we were able to divert some of the funds that the DDP would allocate to snacks to an extra glass of wine or beer at dinner.

I think for people who really like the structure of the DDP I would load up the budgeted amount on gift cards. I did that last trip and pretty much went and paid our room balance down every night. At this point I think it's the best way to keep a budget close to the DDP.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I think a lot of the put it on a giftcard in this thread is more of a since we don't have the DDP, here is an option that is as close as we can get... plus the advantage of saving a few dollars if you have the target discount or something... (I use disney gift cards to pay for our whole trip including the dining plan when it was available, cause 5% is still 5%)

I know other people suggest the gift card idea instead of the dining plan... which may work for some families... but a lot of the gift card talk lately has been (at least in my opinion)a suggestion for how to take the sting out of the DDP not being an option.

Some comments, for sure, are as you describe. But others, even if they begin as Helpful Suggestion, turn into screeds about "DDP sucks" and/or "DDP is for suckers." That is not helpful.

 

[Her Dotness]

Besides, those of us who love the DDP know about the giftcard-as-dining-plan idea as well as how that's generally handled. And simply don't want/don't like to pay for food that way.

The OP asked for some ideas to ease the no-DDP pain. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any that accomplish that well enough to satisfy us DDP fanciers.

We should probably end this thread, because nobody that I can perceive is being persuaded that the options mentioned are satisfactory. We'll simply have to hang on until/unless, and if no DDP in future, learn to bear its loss.

The DDP still rulz, IMO. YMMV = Your mileage may vary;

 

[crazy4wdw]

The discussion on this thread has run it course and will be closed for additional comments.