Any truth to dining plan rumor?

[Tom]

The DDP is roughly $40 a person per night (for adults). This can be roughly broken down as $5 for the snack portion, $10 for the counter service portion and $25 for the Table Service portion. Generally, a person would pay around $5 for a snack (maybe a little more, maybe a little less, depending on the snack) and $10 for a counter service meal. Go to Pecos Bill's and order a bacon cheeseburger meal with a drink and I guarantee you're going to be paying pretty close to $10, if not a little more.

What I'd like to know is where you're buying the DDP for $40/night?

In 2010, basic dining was $41.99 ($46.99 peak). In 2011 it will be $45.99 ($47.99 peak). If you went before April 11, it was $46.99/adult for you.

I'm a proponent of the DDP (as noted in previous posts), and I'm guilty of using faulty math when arguing against TiW - so I have to step in here and say that if you're going to use actual dollars and cents when adding up the meals you bought, you have to also use the correct DDP price of $41.99 for your trip. You can't round down to the nearest ten, or the argument doesn't hold any water

With this said, we too have developed some pretty extreme spreadsheets and have always come out ahead on the DDP

 

[sbkline]

What I'd like to know is where you're buying the DDP for $40/night?

In 2010, basic dining was $41.99 ($46.99 peak). In 2011 it will be $45.99 ($47.99 peak). If you went before April 11, it was $46.99/adult for you.

I'm a proponent of the DDP (as noted in previous posts), and I'm guilty of using faulty math when arguing against TiW - so I have to step in here and say that if you're going to use actual dollars and cents when adding up the meals you bought, you have to also use the correct DDP price of $41.99 for your trip. You can't round down to the nearest ten, or the argument doesn't hold any water

With this said, we too have developed some pretty extreme spreadsheets and have always come out ahead on the DDP

Thanks for the info, and I stand corrected. I couldn't remember how much the DDP was, I just knew it was in the neighborhood of $40 a night per person, so I estimated an even $40. But I think my argument still holds water since I demonstrated that my savings on those given days significantly exceeded $2. So whatever I said that I saved on those days, just subtract two dollars, and that's the amount I saved instead. But still a decent savings.

 

[sbkline]

Okay, just one more example....

On our most recent trip, on one day, we ate lunch at the burger joint at the American Adventure and supper at Biergarten. According to the menus here on Steve's site, the price for supper at Biergarten is $33.01. Drink prices aren't listed, but I'm going to assume a glass of coke is right around $2.30 or so. So for my Table Service alone, we're talking about $35 and some change, plus tax.

For lunch, I had the bacon double cheeseburger entree at Liberty Inn, for $8.59...at least according to that menu, which was dated February 2010. $2.19 for the drink, and $3.59 for dessert.

So, tax excluded and the snack allowance excluded, the dollar value of my Table Service and Counter Service meals is $33.01 + $2.30 + $8.59 + $2.19 + $3.59, which comes to a total of $49.68. Since my DDP cost me $42 a day, I'm already ahead of the game by almost 8 dollars, and I haven't even paid sales tax or bought my snack yet.

Additionally, it seems, at least where Biergarten is concerned, that the real value for us with the dining plan is when it comes to the kids' menu prices. If I remember correctly, the child's dining plan was around 12 bucks a day, and the childs' price for Biergarten alone was $15.97, according to the menu dated November 2009. So at least for the day we ate at Biergarten, the DDP paid for itself, plus more than $6 (when you factor in sales tax and drink) and that's not even figuring in the snack and counter service portions.

So again, I know that not everyone cares about eating at a TS location every day of their stay, but for those who do, I am hard pressed to comprehend how you could possibly do it and not at least break even. Maybe if you eat all lunch or breakfast menu, and no supper, at the cheapest restaraunts and order the cheapest entrees, then maybe you could lose money on it. But from what research I've done, it almost seems like when you total up all the days of your trip, in order not to come out ahead on the total food bill with DDP, you would almost have to do it on purpose by deliberatly finding the dirt cheapest restaraunts on property.

 

[Erin_Akey]

I would NEVER do the DDP again. TiW is perfect for my family. We are not big on counter service, but if we want a counter type meal, we eat at ESPN. Also, we get the discount on alcohol too which is nice because Hubby and I LOVE to have a cocktail or a beer with our meals in Disney since we never have to drive.

The DDP is just so much food. Many times we will just split an app and an entree and thats it. This is what I love about TiW. You do not have to get dessert if you don't want it or even two full meals.

I found that when we did the DDP, everyone tended to REALLY overeat and ended up stuffed and miserable because it was just so much food.

Now we don't feel like we HAVe to get the dessert etc. because we ONLY PAY FOR WHAT WE WANT. It is so much more flexible.

Even if they offered us this new type plan as a DVC member, we would stick with TiW.

 

[magictrickboy71]

I just got back from 4 days at Disney and I am a DVC member. It was our 15th anniversary and we went for the deluxe dining plan which included 3 meals each day and 2 snacks per person along with refillable mugs. The plan cost us for 2 adults and 2 children about $650 including all of the tips for the sit down resturants. I kept track of how much everything cost us and it worked out to $892.00. I feel it was a good value and I ate some really good food. It might not be for everyone but it works for us. It takes a little planning to really optimize it but it sure does work for me.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[mp2bill]

Can't they just kill the stupid dining plan already?
It's evil and killing Disney dining.:fork:

Nah...let's just go back to the way it was 4 years ago.

 

[kapeman]

Why can't people just realize that the Dining Plans work for some and not for others?

If it works for you, great, use it and enjoy. If not, don't sweat it and try not to get so upset about it.

Civil debate is one thing, but many times the DP threads turn into a Mac/Windows type holy war.

If this rumor is true, I wonder if the driver may be the decline in people buying the various Dining Plans.

I also wonder if it is a pilot before it rolls out to the general public depending on how popular it is.

 

[Tom]

Why can't people just realize that the Dining Plans work for some and not for others?

If it works for you, great, use it and enjoy. If not, don't sweat it and try not to get so upset about it.

Civil debate is one thing, but many times the DP threads turn into a Mac/Windows type holy war.

If this rumor is true, I wonder if the driver may be the decline in people buying the various Dining Plans.

I also wonder if it is a pilot before it rolls out to the general public depending on how popular it is.

A few weeks ago there was a thread claiming that a CM had actually seen an announcement on their Poly work computer that warned them of an upcoming feature where guests could add a day of the DP for a fixed price.

Nothing ever came of that announcement (if it really existed), so maybe this rumor was started the same way.

If it is true, I would doubt the part about mixing and matching. I can only see them just asking you how many days you want a specific plan for, and then charging you for those days. There would be way too much confusion on their end, the Guest's end, and the poor waiter/cashier.

 

[s8film40]

The DDP is roughly $40 a person per night (for adults)...

Now what about Table Service? How hard is it to come up with a bill for $25 at a Table Service meal? Since it still includes tax and dessert,...

Now I'm a little confused, I've never used the DDP so I'm not really 100% sure but I always thought that you still had to pay sales tax, you just pay sales tax on the DDP not the meals since when you pay for the DDP your really paying for your meals then.

Anyway just out of curiosity I went to disneyworld.com and created a reservation for pricing with DDP then took DDP off and calculated the difference (with tax) it came to a difference of 46.99 per person per night.

So unless I missed something your not really coming out ahead.

 

[Tom]

Now I'm a little confused, I've never used the DDP so I'm not really 100% sure but I always thought that you still had to pay sales tax, you just pay sales tax on the DDP not the meals since when you pay for the DDP your really paying for your meals then.

Anyway just out of curiosity I went to disneyworld.com and created a reservation for pricing with DDP then took DDP off and calculated the difference (with tax) it came to a difference of 46.99 per person per night.

So unless I missed something your not really coming out ahead.

You never pay any tax when using the DDP. If you buy the Basic Dining Plan, you pay a flat $45.99/night/adult (off-season). For this amount, you have purchased "credits" which you can use for the certain types of meals.

When the waiter/cashier runs your card, it merely takes an appropriate credit off of your account. Any required sales tax is handled behind the scenes, on paper.

I wasn't able to follow your example pricing calculation above, so I can't comment.

 

[s8film40]

You never pay any tax when using the DDP. If you buy the Basic Dining Plan, you pay a flat $45.99/night/adult (off-season). For this amount, you have purchased "credits" which you can use for the certain types of meals.

When the waiter/cashier runs your card, it merely takes an appropriate credit off of your account. Any required sales tax is handled behind the scenes, on paper.

I wasn't able to follow your example pricing calculation above, so I can't comment.

So when you add the 45.99 per night to your hotel bill they exclude the sales tax on just that part of the bill, and only charge tax on the room?

Here's what I did, went to disneyworld.com there is no pricing that I could see for DDP so I created an offer for a value resort for three adults for 6 nights it came to 3108.96 (including tax) then removed the DDP and it recalculated the offer to 2263.14 meaning that DDP was 845.82 for 3 people for 6 nights, so I divided by 3 and then by 6 and determined the cost to be 46.99 per person pr night.

Like I said I've never used DDP so I'm not completely sure how it works, maybe I missed something but it doesn't look like to great of a deal to me.

 

[Tom]

So when you add the 45.99 per night to your hotel bill they exclude the sales tax on just that part of the bill, and only charge tax on the room?

Here's what I did, went to disneyworld.com there is no pricing that I could see for DDP so I created an offer for a value resort for three adults for 6 nights it came to 3108.96 (including tax) then removed the DDP and it recalculated the offer to 2263.14 meaning that DDP was 845.82 for 3 people for 6 nights, so I divided by 3 and then by 6 and determined the cost to be 46.99 per person pr night.

Like I said I've never used DDP so I'm not completely sure how it works, maybe I missed something but it doesn't look like to great of a deal to me.

$46.99 is the adult rate for peak season in 2010. You must have priced up a trip that starts between 12/16 and 12/31/2010.

But yes, you're doing the math right. In 2011 the DDP will be $45.99/adult during regular season, and $47.99/adult during peak.

 

[s8film40]

You must have priced up a trip that starts between 12/16 and 12/31/2010.

Probably I just kept whatever dates where automatically in the date fields.

 

[stof911]

im gong late aug next year for my daugters 4th birthday, we are getting the deluxe ddp, my family loves to sit and eat... we can get a buffet and have a snack and the even though it doesnt compute in savings we can go to the cinderella dinner in the castle.. and on the other days check out the other sit down places... im still trying to plan my reservations so when the day comes at the 180 mark i will be ready... im staying at pop so we save with the place were staying at and still get to eat good, and only haft to pay the tip, app is included with the deluxe... this is going to be our only trip for a long time until i get a better job oh well im happy to have everything paid for before i get there so i can have some extra money for souviners...

 

[sbkline]

Now I'm a little confused, I've never used the DDP so I'm not really 100% sure but I always thought that you still had to pay sales tax, you just pay sales tax on the DDP not the meals since when you pay for the DDP your really paying for your meals then.

Anyway just out of curiosity I went to disneyworld.com and created a reservation for pricing with DDP then took DDP off and calculated the difference (with tax) it came to a difference of 46.99 per person per night.

So unless I missed something your not really coming out ahead.

I was using examples based off of our most recent trip, in April 2010. As another poster pointed out, prices for DDP at that time was $41.99 for adults.

I am aware that apparently, prices are higher for next year, but even at $45.99 per person per day, it seems I would have just barely come out ahead, at least based on the particular days that I used as examples. If I paid $46 a day for my DDP allowance, and the dollar amount of my food purchased was $48, for example, that means I would still come out ahead by a measely two dollars.

I'm hoping that, with the price increase of DDP for next year, the prices of the restaraunts are going up as well, otherwise it won't be as much of a value, if any. What I want to do, if I remember and if I stay motivated to do it everyday throughout the trip, is to bring a manilla envelope, or some kind of zip up pouch, on our next trip this coming April. In that container, I would put every single receipt from everything we pay for on the dining plan: snacks, counter service receipts and table service. After we get home, I would take out those receipts, add up the dollar amount of every Mickey ice cream bar, every counter service meal and every table service meal (excluding, of course, anything we may have chosen to pay for out of pocket), and see what the total dollar amount comes up to for everything we ate. Then, I will compare it to the price of the dining plan and see how much we saved.

To be sure, with the deletion of gratuity, appetizer, and now the 4 or 5 dollar increase in price, the "bargain" of the dining plan is shrinking significantly. But as I have demonstrated, there is still a value there. Maybe closer to 5 or 10 percent, as opposed to the 30% that they used to boast, but still a savings nonetheless. Even if you do just slightly better than breaking even, it may still be worth it just for the convenience of swiping a card instead of having to fork out cash everytime, but that's a matter for each person to decide for themselves, how much it is worth to them for the mere convenience.

 

[disneyragazzo]

Another thing to keep in mind is that more table service restaurants are moving to the signature category... counting as 2 on the regular plan. That could make a huge difference in calculating value for me because it would either limit the choices or decrease the value.

 

[tink@heart]

We happen to love the dining plan! We have little boys that are big eaters- several of the counter service restaurants will allow even kids under nine to order the "adult" meals for a kids DP credit. That is huge when they are sick of the chicken nuggets or mac./cheese. Columbia House and Cosmic Rays are favorites for my boys because they can get the "big" entres and fill up. Add a character dinner buffet for $30 plus and we are well over the daily kids DP cost. Our savings are obvious for those reasons.