Would you do the DDP? (Plus a DVC question)

[MickeyWaffles]

Hi all!

We are thinking of doing the DDP on our next visit. We normally only book a couple TS meals a trip, but are thinking of more next time.

We will be staying 6 nights. 9 people - 6 adults, 3 kids.

Thinking of:

Crystal Palace lunch
Tusker House lunch
Akershus late breakfast
Ohana dinner
Hoop de Doo (2 credits)

We make breakfast in the villa most days. So, our QS credit would easily be used for lunch or dinner, whenever we don’t have TS.

I personally feel that it is a no brainer to add it for this trip. With these restaurants, plus doing one QS a day, plus the snacks, I feel it’s a good decision. Thoughts?

My other question is - we are DVC. Can we still mobile order having booked the DDP with DVC? I know DVC cannot track credits on the MDE app, but can we do mobile ordering still?

The DDP is new territory for us, so any input is helpful. Thanks!

 

[rwdavis2]

Unless you work at it, the DDP is not designed to save money. But, multiple character meals might make it cost effective. I don't think mobile ordering has anything to do with DVC does it?

We would never pay full price for it just because we don't want to be locked into anything.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

You can still mobile order if you have DVC. Are you asking about the DVC discount? It's only QS locations that have mobile ordering, and none of them offer a DVC disount as of right now.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

You can still mobile order if you have DVC. Are you asking about the DVC discount? It's only QS locations that have mobile ordering, and none of them offer a DVC disount as of right now.

I was just curious about it since I read in another thread that DVC members couldn’t track DDP credits in MDE and I was wondering if there was anything else different. I just wanted to make sure mobile ordering still worked with the dining plan if it was added to a DVC reservation. We love mobile ordering.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I was just curious about it since I read in another thread that DVC members couldn’t track DDP credits in MDE and I was wondering if there was anything else different. I just wanted to make sure mobile ordering still worked with the dining plan if it was added to a DVC reservation. We love mobile ordering.

I love mobile ordering! I don't use DDP so I'm not sure about the issue with tracking/ using credits if you add it using DVC.

 

[siren0119]

So the question I have is what is your motivation for considering the DDP?

Savings - as PP said you probably won't realize much cost savings. The best thing you can do is calculate out how you would NORMALLY eat and then compare that to the added cost of the DDP. Some of the meals are big, and you may find that eating breakfast in the room and a QS on top of a TS meal is too much (especially when it's a buffet, my kids will stuff themselves!) - unless that's normal for you, then yes it might work out as a break even. We will often split the QS meals because we find them to be big portions, so if we are eating QS and TS we will only have those two meals in a day. But YMMV.

Convenience - it's definitely convenient to have dining credits rather than keeping track of charges. And it's less of a hassle to use DDP credits at buffets than menu service (where your choices are a bit restricted) Mobile ordering shouldn't be an issue, but you can't make any modifications to your order on the app when you use dining credits so if you have anyone in your party that asks for substitutions that's something to be aware of.

Don't forget that on the regular dining plan you will also get 2 snacks per person, per day. You will have a total of 108 snack credits to use. There are ways to use those up with stuff you can bring home, but it's something to be aware of especially with a party of that size.

 

[DisBuckMan]

So the question I have is what is your motivation for considering the DDP?

Savings - as PP said you probably won't realize much cost savings. The best thing you can do is calculate out how you would NORMALLY eat and then compare that to the added cost of the DDP. Some of the meals are big, and you may find that eating breakfast in the room and a QS on top of a TS meal is too much (especially when it's a buffet, my kids will stuff themselves!) - unless that's normal for you, then yes it might work out as a break even. We will often split the QS meals because we find them to be big portions, so if we are eating QS and TS we will only have those two meals in a day. But YMMV.

Convenience - it's definitely convenient to have dining credits rather than keeping track of charges. And it's less of a hassle to use DDP credits at buffets than menu service (where your choices are a bit restricted) Mobile ordering shouldn't be an issue, but you can't make any modifications to your order on the app when you use dining credits so if you have anyone in your party that asks for substitutions that's something to be aware of.

Don't forget that on the regular dining plan you will also get 3 snacks per person, per day. You will have a total of 162 snack credits to use. There are ways to use those up with stuff you can bring home, but it's something to be aware of especially with a party of that size.

One correction....2 snacks per person/per day(night)

 

[siren0119]

One correction....2 snacks per person/per day(night)

LOL oops correct - will edit my post and math LOL

 

[MickeyWaffles]

So the question I have is what is your motivation for considering the DDP?

Savings - as PP said you probably won't realize much cost savings. The best thing you can do is calculate out how you would NORMALLY eat and then compare that to the added cost of the DDP. Some of the meals are big, and you may find that eating breakfast in the room and a QS on top of a TS meal is too much (especially when it's a buffet, my kids will stuff themselves!) - unless that's normal for you, then yes it might work out as a break even. We will often split the QS meals because we find them to be big portions, so if we are eating QS and TS we will only have those two meals in a day. But YMMV.

Convenience - it's definitely convenient to have dining credits rather than keeping track of charges. And it's less of a hassle to use DDP credits at buffets than menu service (where your choices are a bit restricted) Mobile ordering shouldn't be an issue, but you can't make any modifications to your order on the app when you use dining credits so if you have anyone in your party that asks for substitutions that's something to be aware of.

Don't forget that on the regular dining plan you will also get 3 snacks per person, per day. You will have a total of 162 snack credits to use. There are ways to use those up with stuff you can bring home, but it's something to be aware of especially with a party of that size.

Thank you for this!

The reason I started considering it this time is because it is looking more like we’re headed toward a TS every day which is not typical for us and I started wondering about the cost savings.

In thinking about it I think we’ll still be better off without the DDP. I think we will be paying for a lot of extra QS meals and snacks that we won’t need. I think we’ll just do OOP and keep it flexible. Sometimes my kids split an adult QS meal instead of each getting kids meals. My parents often split QS meals. DH and I have different tastes so we usually get our own, but sometimes we’ll share. I agree - the portions at some of the QS are pretty large - I usually don’t finish mine. We always have a stocked fridge in the villa too, so if we don’t do the plan, we can just make something simple back there if the kids get tired, if we aren’t hungry from a big lunch, etc.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We would never pay full price for it just because we don't want to be locked into anything.

I agree with you on this. We like to be pretty flexible and I think it would be too much.

 

[eeyoresmom]

OP, your plans are good example of why it's important to do the math and not just follow the general advice of "if you do a TS every day you will probably be better off with the ddp." Lunch buffets average around $40, would you spend an additional $35 per day on a qs meal and snacks? My family LOVES snacks but we still have a hard time using 2 per day. It doesnt make me feel better that I can take prepackaged snacks home since I wouldnt normally do that. The alcohol is the big deciding factor now. We would happily have a drink with dinner but not so much at lunch and the qs alcohol choices still are sorely lacking. So, I do the math over and over again and add it about 50 percent of the time. It never saves me money ( unless we are sharing the Dxddp between rooms) , it just makes for a different kind of trip.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I just thought if another point. You may get a DVC discount as well.

 

[sharonabe]

Lunch buffets average around $40

Just an FYI, character lunch buffets are the same price as dinner and right now they are all around $55 for adults. So that only leaves you $20 for you QS and any snacks you might have.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I assume your 3 kids are in fact Disney kids (ages 3-9)? Would the adults be ordering alcohol OOP? If the answers to both are "yes" then I'd think you'd be saving money with the DDP. You've picked some of the most expensive TS, especially for the 3 kids, so you really don't have to make up that much in qs and snacks to come out ahead.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Just an FYI, character lunch buffets are the same price as dinner and right now they are all around $55 for adults. So that only leaves you $20 for you QS and any snacks you might have.

Are you sure about this? We were last there in Dec and ate lunch at H& V and Crystal Palace. I dont have my receipts but I dont think they were that expensive!

 

[sharonabe]

Are you sure about this? We were last there in Dec and ate lunch at H& V and Crystal Palace. I dont have my receipts but I dont think they were that expensive!

According to Josh over at easy it is:

https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...meals-shows-and-all-you-care-to-eat-platters/

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Just an FYI, character lunch buffets are the same price as dinner and right now they are all around $55 for adults. So that only leaves you $20 for you QS and any snacks you might have.

This is true! I’m going to crunch some numbers, and take a look at the DVC discount to see how much of an impact that makes.

I assume your 3 kids are in fact Disney kids (ages 3-9)? Would the adults be ordering alcohol OOP? If the answers to both are "yes" then I'd think you'd be saving money with the DDP. You've picked some of the most expensive TS, especially for the 3 kids, so you really don't have to make up that much in qs and snacks to come out ahead.

The kids will be 5, 3 and 1 - so 1 won’t be on the plan. I’m going to crunch some numbers factoring in the DVC discount at the TS places and see how it all shakes out.

 

[AnnaS]

We have never done the DDP. You have to make all your ADRS and I hate to schedule everything around my "food". I like to make maybe three ADRs for our week stay. I want the flexibility to come and go/change my mind. This works if it's just DH and I. If we are traveling with others, we make a few more ADRs.

I have been tempted to try the DDP once - maybe for a shorter or split stay but it has not happened yet and not sure I would get it anyway. We do have the TIW card sometimes and if not, we get the AP discount or DVC discount so we just have not been able to justify it with the discounts or the scheduling of it all.

 

[LovesTimone]

I am of the mind set you should try it at least once and see how it works out for your family...then you will know either way...

DH and I like the dinning plan options normally we use the deluxe dinning plan when we have our family with us...Why you ask... for us and especially DH.. he relax's more knowing everything is paid for upfront except the tip...everyone can order what they want to, and not worry about who's ordering what... and if they want to eat on their own, its taken care of except tip... simple

Character meals are another reason that we like the dinning plan with 4 grand-kids under 7 years old then add in their parents... it makes for quite a crowd... it makes sense for us, as they are all about the character meals... plus seeing them with the character is so fun for all of us.

 

[eeyoresmom]

According to Josh over at easy it is:

https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...meals-shows-and-all-you-care-to-eat-platters/

Thanks for this. I wish I kept my receipts but I swear I didn't pay that much in December. Does anyone have any confirmation of these prices? I see this article came out in the fall when Disney raised food prices across the board. Just wondering if it's accurate.