Are Canadians still doing the DDP?

[Average Joes]

The only time I might consider the dining plan is if I had a 1-2 night stay at the beginning of a split stay. Then do the expensive one credit meals during the short stay along with getting free mugs for the entire stay. My math has me loosing money otherwise.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Only when it was Free Dining. Yes we paid rack rate but FD at Riverside with 4 Disney "adults" and one child was much better than any other discounts. That was back when there was no hopper requirement in tickets either.
Now with free airmiles tickets and renting points or a room only discount through a TA we did much better OOP. Loved the flexibility and trying out restaurants or loubges not on the DDP.
As pp suggested I'd probably do it on a split stay for a couple of days and do all the expensive meals. Also in a couple of years we are taking my SS and his family so will consider the deluxe plan for one room and use it for both if Disney still let's you share at that point in time.

 

[KNovacovschi]

We use it when it's free, which for us is pretty much all the time since that is usually the time of year we go but when I do my solo trips I do not since I don't eat that much when I'm there. We would still get it though even if it wasn't free as my DH likes to eat at an actual restaurant every day, he's not a big fan of QS. For us it's a better value when FD comes out then a room discount as we always stay at POP, well except once.

 

[jeremyleo]

Still a debate - what's the value of the plan vs. the value of convenience and ease of mind...

We had a split-split-split stay in April/May and decided to go with the dining plan. With the splits, we had the opportunity to leverage the deluxe plan our first night and the standard plan the remainder of our nights. We were 4 adults, only 3 over 21 (but there were some interesting non-alcoholic options for the 18yo while the rest of us enjoyed an adult beverage with most meals).

We definitely saved money over what we ordered/ate. However we normally would not have ordered what we did, in many cases, if we were not on the plan.

This was a special trip for us, and the dining plan decision was made primarily to allow for more flexibility and less stress over spending, which it did. I will say that the quality of food seemed better this trip than in the past (a pleasant surprise). There was far too much food for us though.

Overall we are still pleased with our decision but would likely not use the dining plan again if we were looking to be more budget conscious (which is the norm for us when travelling to WDW).

 

[KNovacovschi]

Still a debate - what's the value of the plan vs. the value of convenience and ease of mind...

We had a split-split-split stay in April/May and decided to go with the dining plan. With the splits, we had the opportunity to leverage the deluxe plan our first night and the standard plan the remainder of our nights. We were 4 adults, only 3 over 21 (but there were some interesting non-alcoholic options for the 18yo while the rest of us enjoyed an adult beverage with most meals).

We definitely saved money over what we ordered/ate. However we normally would not have ordered what we did, in many cases, if we were not on the plan.

This was a special trip for us, and the dining plan decision was made primarily to allow for more flexibility and less stress over spending, which it did. I will say that the quality of food seemed better this trip than in the past (a pleasant surprise). There was far too much food for us though.

Overall we are still pleased with our decision but would likely not use the dining plan again if we were looking to be more budget conscious (which is the norm for us when travelling to WDW).

My DH thinks it’s worth the value based on convenience alone. You don’t have to worry about making sure you have money to eat if you lose your wallet or something or if you over spend on merchandise.

 

[jeremyleo]

My DH thinks it’s worth the value based on convenience alone. You don’t have to worry about making sure you have money to eat if you lose your wallet or something or if you over spend on merchandise.

That's the justification we used for our most recent trip. I will add, however, that tipping proved to be interesting, especially in light of the 2018 DDP offerings. My comments reflect mainly our experience with TS meals on the standard dining plan.

Firstly, I am the kind of person who likes to get value for money wherever I can, so to frame my comments properly, understand that we would often order more costly menu items either because we really wanted to try them, or because we could on the dining plan. With all the food and beverages included, the overall cost of our meals were generally higher than we would normally spend. For example, when paying out of pocket we would not often order alcohol with a meal at WDW, and we would usually skip dessert. With these items included as part of the plan, the overall cost of the meal can rise significantly, especially with 4 adults (3 of whom were of legal drinking age at WDW). Our average TS meal cost was ~$210USD. With the the recommended 18% gratuity, we found we spent more in tips than usual as well. Take away alcohol and dessert and that average meal cost drops to ~$150USD per.

Just an observation - not at all a question of quality of service (which was excellent all around for all our TS meals) - whereby we felt we 'saved' money on the plan compared to paying out of pocket for what we ordered, the cost of convenience for us also included spending more on gratuities. Marginal, sure, but it can add up over many nights. For us, I figure that was about $100USD difference over 8 nights.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The DDP and QSDP are at best a break even situation. Often you have to work at it to get the total up that high. We have not had either plan for the last 5+ years. After more than 20 trips I'm very good at knowing what we will spend on everything. We typically spend about 65% of what the QSDP would cost and still eat everything that we want, that includes a few TS dinners. It all really comes down to how you eat.

 

[SaraMc]

For us, we just don’t eat enough abd felt like we were wasting food. We end up now getting tables in wonderland and how we eat this seems to work better for our family.

 

[chelseabun76]

We are not doing the DDP this trip. It's my mom, my 8 year old son and myself, and none of us are big eaters. More than likely I will be sharing my meals with my son, unless there is something on the kids menu he must have (although he likes more 'adult' food than the regular adult lol). I have gone through the costs and without free dining, there is no way we are going to eat enough to justify the cost. While it IS easy to have it all paid for ahead of time, we plan on just charging it to our MB's and paying it off at the resort.

 

[Csaks]

We switched to QS this time and did not regret it one bit. Food, especially at the resort was just as good as TS. I just had to get it instead of someone else. Worked for us money wise but we also never go home with anything left on the plan either.
Done with TS Dining plan forever, too much money to be. We still do a couple out of pocket TS but that is a last minute thing, if there is an opening great, if not oh well. Done planning ten years out for a meal I have no idea if I'll be in the mood for or hungry for, at that time. I would love it if they restricted reservations to that day but I could see the uber planners heads exploding right now. lol You can't do Disney on a whim anymore and it's to bad.

 

[pigletto]

No ddp for us. We enjoyed it when we stayed onsite during free dining. This was when the kids were younger and we did so many buffets and character meals. Now we prefer being offsite with much larger accommodations. Typically we eat breakfast and some lunches at the condo.
As far as convenince, it’s the complete opposite of convenient for me to be paying more than I would have paid out of pocket for something. The easiest solution for us is to estimate what we want to spend at Disney restaurants and load it onto a Disney gift card . If I need to add more I can, I can “prepay” our meals and we can order or not order whatever we want.

 

[Sue M]

No ddp for us. We enjoyed it when we stayed onsite during free dining. This was when the kids were younger and we did so many buffets and character meals. Now we prefer being offsite with much larger accommodations. Typically we eat breakfast and some lunches at the condo.
As far as convenince, it’s the complete opposite of convenient for me to be paying more than I would have paid out of pocket for something. The east solution for us is to estimate what we want to spend at Disney restaurants and load it onto a Disney gift card . If I need to add more I can, I can “prepay” our meals and we can order or not order whatever we want.

We do the same thing, loading a GC with what we think we’ll spend on dining. Works quite well for us.

 

[lizzyb]

We only did the dining plan once when it was free. Overtime I compare what paying OOP vs. DP it almost breaks even. We would rather just buy what we want and not be limited.

 

[Donald - my hero]

The final deal breaker for us is what others see as a massive plus: alcohol. We don't drink and i doubt we'd get the same value by drinking the fancy-pants non-alcoholic drinks. We also remind ourselves that the tip is on the final bill so when you order the most expensive thing on the menu at a TS you've just jacked that amount up as well. It was great the first year when we got it for free and it included EVERYTHING, appies, meals, drink, dessert, tax & tip. Like others have said, still use the MB if staying on site and pay when we check out so we still have the freedom that gives you.

 

[Lexx1214]

It really does depend on your family and how you eat.

We get the DxDP. DH is a 6’4” construction workers and DS is a 17 year old 6’6” football player - they definitely get our money’s worth at every meal. We tend to order the more expensive things on the menus and since it’s vacation we have no issues with indulging. DH and I both drink and DS will always order a milkshake or smoothie if he has the option. We also like signature dining for most of our dinners so we do a big (usually buffet) breakfast, snacks for lunch and a signature dinner. We actually save money on the DxDP but it doesn’t work for all.

 

[22Tink]

We did it once in 2015 when it was free. We just went back in March and did not use it because we were way better off paying for our meals OOP. I purchased Disney gift cards prior to our trip so the food would be paid for before we arrived. We charged everything to the room used the gift cards to pay down the balance. Worked great for us.

 

[AdamsMum]

I do the quick service dining plan when I go. The regular DDP was too much planning, too much scheduling and too much racing to get to my ADRs on time. We found that we didn't go where we wanted to on some days because we had a dining reservation in another location. We also weren't impressed with the food at some locations. I've pretty much got the quick service locations down pat. I know where (IMO) the best food and best value are. QS allows me convenience. Next trip is solo, I'm going to try to find pants with pockets and go bag free. Wish me luck!

 

[RipperSB]

Our first trip was a family vacation hosted by our (DVC members) DS and DDIL. Since they were providing the accommodations we paid for the Deluxe DP for all. After becoming DVC members ourselves, our first trip included the Standard DP. Since then, we have paid OOP and, I figure, we spend about half of what the DP costs (DVC and AP discounts help). Before each trip, I still run our plan through the dining calculator at distripplanner.com to check.

 

[dakotix]

Not Canadian but we do the plan when it's incorporated into a special offer such as free dining or the play, stay, dine promotion. Other than that if you get it when it's not on sale, you're just paying extra for the convenience of prepaying your meals.

 

[Lexx1214]

Our first trip was a family vacation hosted by our (DVC members) DS and DDIL. Since they were providing the accommodations we paid for the Deluxe DP for all. After becoming DVC members ourselves, our first trip included the Standard DP. Since then, we have paid OOP and, I figure, we spend about half of what the DP costs (DVC and AP discounts help). Before each trip, I still run our plan through the dining calculator at distripplanner.com to check.

We use the dinning calculator as well. Excellent tool for figuring out if a Dining Plan works for your family.