Even Disney isn't trying to pretend that the DDP is going to be an appreciable value going forward.
From the Disney website (
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/plans/):
"Save Money. Save up to 20% on dining for kids ages 3 to 9 when you purchase a dining plan for your family as part of a Walt Disney Travel Company package. Savings compared to the nondiscounted price of menu items available to kids ages 3 to 9 at participating locations when purchased without a dining plan."
This is literally the only language describing the "savings" that are possible when you purchase the dining plan. It's basically an admission that whatever the new pricing is going to be, Disney has done the math and knows that adults can not, and should not, expect to save any money at all on their dining using the DDP. If they could, Disney would be surely advertising it! We know that greater savings were possible in the past with careful restaurant selection and commitment to ordering only the most expensive items (and Disney used to clearly promote that fact), but those days are clearly gone.
So, if you don't have children 3-9, or weren't otherwise planning on your elementary-aged kids each downing a full TS meal (and that's only if you stick to 1-credit meals -- pick one or more 2-credit meals, and you automatically lose!), CS meal, and snack every day, plus buying them their own refillable mug, then you can expect to pay
more for the DDP than you would have paid out of pocket. I think many of those who are excited about the DDP returning are making the logical assumption that it will be like it used to be:
it won't.
Obviously there are people who do understand that the DDP isn't going to save them any money, and still prefer to pay more for the "convenience" of the DDP, but I confess I don't understand how scanning your MB to pay for your dinner with a combination of DDP credits and credit cards, etc. (for gratuity and non-DDP-covered items) is less convenient than scanning your MB to charge your entire bill to your room (or even to a credit card or gift card). I know some people like being able to "ignore the menu prices," but you can just as easily do this when you're paying out of pocket, when you've done the math and understand that whatever you order, you'll still come out ahead of where you'd be with the DDP.
That being said, to each his own.