Help please! DDP or not?- decides our trip dates!

[KnK]

I'm with Monty. We did the math on 5 trips in the past. It is much cheaper for us to use the 40% room discount and get the TIW card.

We like many of the signature meals and it eats up two credits. Also, we like to have an app with most meals.

As for CS meals, over the last few years, we notice that we shared many of these meals. Also, we have often just snacked on items from the countries instead of a full meal. Yes, I know that you can use snack credits.

The overall cost of food, plus tip ended up being less than what would be spent on the DDP.

 

[lighteningqueen]

If you are staying at the values it is the best way to go. Last year we did POP and free dining and our trip was so much cheaper than the year before.The year before we decided to pay for it ourself's. We found us to be running out of money and having to put it n a charge card. We did not factor in the tips for the night meals. Min of $10.00 for 2 people each night at 18%. Depends on how many days you are there. BUT>>>If time is not an issue then take the later week. We take like the 7-15. Getting really crowded then but have heard the week you are thinking of the 10-18 is less people because it is right before the Christmas break. Friends went then and said hardly any wait time.. GO WITH THE FREE DINING...

 

[Disneykidder]

I think $400 for 8 full days for 2 adults is too little to budget on food. Even if you had a TS fro every dinner x 2 people x 8 days it is not enough...then you'd still need breakfast and dinner.

We have used the dining plans 2x and loved it. The food is great, you don't have to worry about paying for your food and you will only need to think about tips. If you can go a few days later and not have to pay for thendining, then go for it. Go on the web site and look at the difference between having/not having the DDp...it is a lot.

We wanted to go for our anniversary next summer. A 7 day trip in August will save us $700 verses going in July due to free dining. That is a big difference.

It may have been said but depending on the category of resort you stay in, it will decide the plan you get on. Values are only quick service plan and mods and deluxes get the dining plus plan. If you want sit downs then you will need the dining plus.

 

[lighteningqueen]

Like I said above if in the values it is a great savings. But we upgraded last Dec from the QS to the DDp meaning a TS, QS, and a snack per day. It only cost us 10 dollars more each and added only 180.00 more to the trip. WELL worth it. So for 9 days of meals we ate on 180.00 up grade. Next time we are going to try the QS. Even though we loved Teppon Edo, Tutto Italia and Nine Dragons. We can book those if we want to and pay out of pocket. But I won't go again if they are not offering Free dining. It saved a bundle of money for us. $800.00 to be exact. I think we paid out about 80-90 dollars in tips and bought no gifts this past time. Our flights were 59.00 each way so that trip was a huge huge savings. And if you ask us... The values are the only true Disney resorts to us. Meaning they are all themed around the Disney Movies and that is what Disney is about. It gets you in the true spirit of Disney being on any of those properties..

 

[luvlifeinfl]

I think your budget of $50 for a table service for 2 will be hard to stay in. Look at the menus and add up prices. Unless your just going to do sandwiches or something off the menu. Even if you do a dinner buffet most are $25-$50 a person.

Dining plan in my opinion is not to restrictive, you just need to plan. But with the time your going and basically anytime of the year you need ADR's for table service anyways. Unless you go at off eating times you may need be able to get seated.


My suggestion is to get an idea where you want to eat, look at the menus and find what you would eat and do the total. Then compare to dining plan of $39 a person per night. I would also factor in carrying a cooler with you for you bag lunch and everything else.

For us the dining plan works with the 2 of us and a 4 year old daughter and the places we want to eat with her, by doing the math it works out cheaper with the DDP. Also the convience of knowing your meals are taken care of before hand. Sounds like your on a budget so having it paid up front may help you budget your trip better.

Just an FYI, they raised the DDP prices- 10 and older is 41.99 per person per day.

 

[dreamfinder]

I may have just overlooked this, but I don't see anyplace where the OP mentioned the possibility of getting a room discount on their existing reservation. Check to see if there are any discounts that you can apply. That would give you some space to do more eating without having to change any portion of your trip. Mousesavers.com has a list of all current discounts.

 

[the1nonlysinger]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! We ended up booking the 2nd week of December with the DDP afterall. Amazingly it actually cost over $200 LESS than the week prior to go- even with the free meal plan. So it seemed like a no brainer once we saw the numbers. Costs less AND free food? Ok by me!

So I really appreciate all the advice- it definitely helped! And I'm really glad that I'll actually be able to eat too ;-)

 

[Disneykidder]

Now the fun begins. Start choosing your restaurants and call or go online asap. Your trip is in December so your booking window has already opened and has been since June so start choosing right away!!:slurp:

 

[French Quarter]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! We ended up booking the 2nd week of December with the DDP afterall. Amazingly it actually cost over $200 LESS than the week prior to go- even with the free meal plan. So it seemed like a no brainer once we saw the numbers. Costs less AND free food? Ok by me!

So I really appreciate all the advice- it definitely helped! And I'm really glad that I'll actually be able to eat too ;-)

I am so thrilled for you! The same thing happened to us. We changed the week we are going by a couple of weeks and ended up paying the same amount we would have before but now we get two extra table service meals and an extra park day. All thanks to free dining. That's quite the savings.

 

[the1nonlysinger]

I actually booked them a couple days ago! Had trouble snagging Chef Mickey's and Garden Grill but managed to get them both after searching online for a while. Only thing we weren't able to get into was La Cellier- so I was pretty happy that we got reservations at all the places we wanted!

Am now scouting the boards for more info about MVMCP- trying to decide whether it's worth the money. I really want to- but we just splurged for La Nouba tickets before I knew about MVMCP. I kind of feel like if we go to Disney for Christmas, and DON'T go-I'll regret it... Am I right?

 

[French Quarter]

I would do MVMCP if I were you. I haven't done it but I did the P&P Party and thought it was fantastic. The way to really get your money's worth is to plan on going to the party on day when you aren't planning to use a park ticket anywhere. You can relax or do non-park stuff until 4 pm and then head on over to MK.