DDP Numbers Don't Add Up

[mermaid&cinderella]

We have done the DDP before but for our upcoming trip I have been looking at the numbers and they don't make sense. Please tell me if you all see something wrong or right!

So its 1 adult plus 1 child who is considered an adult on the DDP (which I think is ridiculous but that is another story). So I called today and was told the regular DDP is $63.00 per person so $126.00 per day for the 2 of us and for 10 days its $1260.00

My TS are: (I have rounded off the numbers for simplicity)
1 - Ohana Breakfast $50.00
2 - 1900 Park Fare Breakfast $50.00
3 - Crystal Palace Breakfast $60.00
4 - Tusker House Breakfast - $60.00
5 - Akershus Lunch - $70.00
6 - Mama Melrose Dinner - $55.00
7 - Chef Mickey Dinner - $90.00
8 - 1900 Park Fare Dinner - $90.00
9 - Cape May Dinner $60.00
10 - Portabello Dinner $45.00

TS = $630.00

CS I factored in $20.00 for the 2 of us for one QS meal. At times DD will order from the kids menu.

CS = $200.00

Snacks are approximately $10.00 per day for the 2 of us (again a rounded number)

Snacks = $100.00

So Grand Total is $930.00 that will be used but the DDP will cost me $1260.00. So $330.00 down the drain. Does this make sense to everyone. I did not factor in a separate dessert with the CS because honestly we do not need to eat so much dessert when we are paying OP, a lot of times on the DDP we don't eat it anyways.

So am I completely wrong here?????

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

Did you add the tax which is included in the ddp? There are a lot of desserts and drinks on the ddp and you pay for that. We are 4 Disney adults and going for 14 nights next year. I wanted to do the qsdp and have everything pre-paid but out of the $164/day for the plan about $60 of that was for desserts/drinks with every meal! That is crazy expensive and so I will budget that same amount but pay oop and kind of do our own meal plan. I calculated that we could easily add on 2-3 ts meals at no extra cost just by cutting out most of the drinks/desserts.

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

Tax is minimal in FL isn't it like 6%? So really its like $55.00. I factored in drinks in the CS and non buffet TS. So really I am still losing money if I do DDP. Also I was doing Chef Mickey at Dinner to get more bang for my buck when I rather do breakfast and its cheaper at breakfast. Sam with Cape May dinner, I just added that to get more value off the DDP so again, the numbers are telling me NOT to do it.

 

[deakam]

Using Dining credits for breakfast buffets is not generally a good choice. If we do a breakfast we usually pay oop for that meal. If you are not going to do desserts and your child will actually eat off the children's menu you are probably better off not having a dining plan. Though you will still have to pay the adult price for all of your buffets for your child if he/she is over the age of nine.

 

[2girlsmomma]

Since most of your meals are fixed price, I'd say it's valid to pass on DDp. You won't be worried about how much you spend at those!

 

[robinb]

We have done the DDP before but for our upcoming trip I have been looking at the numbers and they don't make sense. Please tell me if you all see something wrong or right!

So its 1 adult plus 1 child who is considered an adult on the DDP (which I think is ridiculous but that is another story). So I called today and was told the regular DDP is $63.00 per person so $126.00 per day for the 2 of us and for 10 days its $1260.00

My TS are: (I have rounded off the numbers for simplicity)
1 - Ohana Breakfast $50.00
2 - 1900 Park Fare Breakfast $50.00
3 - Crystal Palace Breakfast $60.00
4 - Tusker House Breakfast - $60.00
5 - Akershus Lunch - $70.00
6 - Mama Melrose Dinner - $55.00
7 - Chef Mickey Dinner - $90.00
8 - 1900 Park Fare Dinner - $90.00
9 - Cape May Dinner $60.00
10 - Portabello Dinner $45.00

TS = $630.00

CS I factored in $20.00 for the 2 of us for one QS meal. At times DD will order from the kids menu.

CS = $200.00

Snacks are approximately $10.00 per day for the 2 of us (again a rounded number)

Snacks = $100.00

So Grand Total is $930.00 that will be used but the DDP will cost me $1260.00. So $330.00 down the drain. Does this make sense to everyone. I did not factor in a separate dessert with the CS because honestly we do not need to eat so much dessert when we are paying OP, a lot of times on the DDP we don't eat it anyways.

So am I completely wrong here?????

Nope, you're not wrong. You're just no longer in the DDP "sweet spot" with a "Disney Adult" instead of a child. You would be closer to breaking even if you did fewer breakfasts. I also think that $20 per meal is less than it should be. 2 CS meals without dessert are closer to $30.

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

Nope, you're not wrong. You're just no longer in the DDP "sweet spot" with a "Disney Adult" instead of a child. You would be closer to breaking even if you did fewer breakfasts. I also think that $20 per meal is less than it should be. 2 CS meals without dessert are closer to $30.

Yeah I am closer to $25 for the CS for the two of us. I looked at our fave places:
Columbia House Chicken Nuggets for DD $8.99 and Lighthouse Sandwich $9.49 and 2 drinks $5.00 so that's $25.00 for that meal
Pizzafari - each pizza is $9.69 and again 2 drinks $5.00 so $25.00

And I find if we do a buffet for breakfast we don't really have lunch, maybe just some fruit or something really light and then a good dinner. Not liking the non-flexibility of the DDP anymore. I really liked the appetizer, because really that is ALOT of dessert you get on the DDP

 

[sharonabe]

Your numbers are off a little bit, but it may not be enough to make the difference.

Ohana and 1900 are closer to $54
Akershus lunch will be $90
Cape May is $80

But all your buffet prices do already include the tax, so the only tax you have is on the a la carte and QS.

Do you intend to drink water at your QS meals? Do you not want the desserts? The $20 for the two of you won't include those, but the DDP does.

 

[Dwheels]

Did you add the tax which is included in the ddp? There are a lot of desserts and drinks on the ddp and you pay for that. We are 4 Disney adults and going for 14 nights next year. I wanted to do the qsdp and have everything pre-paid but out of the $164/day for the plan about $60 of that was for desserts/drinks with every meal! That is crazy expensive and so I will budget that same amount but pay oop and kind of do our own meal plan. I calculated that we could easily add on 2-3 ts meals at no extra cost just by cutting out most of the drinks/desserts.

For my family the DDP is not worth it! It's way too much food! I agree you can def make your own plan. We went in 8/2012 and I calculated everything we consumed that would of been on the dining plan. We ate at both TS ( 1 signature rest too) and CS restaurants. Stayed for 8
nights and only spent $990 the plan back then would have been almost $1200 for our family of 4 which is 2 adults and 2 children at the time. Def not worth it for us! We are going in 47 days (can't wait!!) but are not doing the meal plan again. It was a great value when introduced in 2005 at only $38 a day for an adult and $10 for kids which also included appetizers but now it's just not worth it for us anymore.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Even if you only save $60, wouldn't it still be worth it? That's $60 for Frozen merchandise, or whatever you want. Maybe the Family Magic Tour.
You could eat what you want when you want.
Yes, I think you are right to skip the DDP and pay OOP.
There is no reason to do it, and you will discover great freedom.
Have a great trip.

 

[gericoronado]

I did the Dining Plan last trip with another adult. It was convenient but with only two people in the room, it really wasn't cost-effective. This time, we're going OOP and the numbers are kinder.

 

[supersnoop]

With those meals, not even once will your TS, CS, and snack exceed the cost of the dining plan. The dining plan is only a value when you have multiple children (3-9) and do lots of buffets and character meals.

 

[mommymanda]

Makes sense to me. We are a family of 5 and up until yesterday I had an OOP trip all planned out. Factoring in how my family eats I was looking at spending $1100 in food during our 6day trip.

I just realized my dates qualified for "free" dining and I decided to change my booking to that. I have actually ended up spending $160 MORE to get 'free' dining. I'm okay with that though as we rearranged reservations to a few more TS meals from what we'd do OOP. We make up a chunk of that the first day since initially I was not going to buy the kids the refill mugs, now we'll get three extras from what I intended to pay.

For us this is a once in a lifetime trip so I don't mind spending that little extra for the kids to be allowed dessert and soda each meal, or have their own travel mug (hey souvenir is now included in the trip). However $300+ for only 2people I would definitely question if its worth it.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We have done the DDP before but for our upcoming trip I have been looking at the numbers and they don't make sense. Please tell me if you all see something wrong or right!

So its 1 adult plus 1 child who is considered an adult on the DDP (which I think is ridiculous but that is another story). So I called today and was told the regular DDP is $63.00 per person so $126.00 per day for the 2 of us and for 10 days its $1260.00

TS = $630.00

CS I factored in $20.00 for the 2 of us for one QS meal. At times DD will order from the kids menu.

CS = $200.00

Snacks are approximately $10.00 per day for the 2 of us (again a rounded number)

Snacks = $100.00

So Grand Total is $930.00 that will be used but the DDP will cost me $1260.00. So $330.00 down the drain. Does this make sense to everyone. I did not factor in a separate dessert with the CS because honestly we do not need to eat so much dessert when we are paying OP, a lot of times on the DDP we don't eat it anyways.

So am I completely wrong here?????

You are 100% right. I have been saying this for years. We did the DDP once. After that every other trip, I kept track of all the money we spend on food (with tax and tip) and every year since then we saved a minimum of $150 to a max of $400. We are a family of 6 and it still doesn't pay. It is good that you are eating priced fixed meals - if you were choosing your meal and it was one of the cheapest items - you really would be losing money. We also would not eat dessert at every meal - so we end up wasting food.

I really would love to see how Disney does the math to show us that we are saving 20%. Not once for our family.

 

[Nettester]

We never do DDP. I don't think it makes any sense to pre-pay for that much food. Don't get me wrong, my family loves to eat, but I'm quite sure we would end up losing money. And quite honestly it seems stressful to me to try and manage that system when we are trying to relax. There are times one of kids would just eat an appetizer. Or we would share a meal. Or we would eat a bigger snack and another lighter snack later instead of a meal. Or we wanted something different than was on the "plan" DH and one DD is vegetarian. Sometimes they share things. Our choices can be kind of quirky. We prefer just a few ADRs, and the rest of our eating to be spontaneous.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If you go strictly by the numbers, it's difficult to realize a lot of value with any of the dining plans (except possibly the deluxe for those who prefer signature dinners nightly) if you have a party of all dining adults. Especially if your preferred TS meal is breakfast, and you can get by without each of you ordering dessert at every meal that isn't breakfast.

 

[QueenBeeMB]

We are two adults using the dining plan and I have maticulously gone over menus and pricing with a spread sheet to make sure I am not loosing money.
I know most people aren't able to look at a menu 6 months in advance and know what they are going to want, but we can.

I have an excel spread sheet that maps out the cost of each meal (entree, drink and dessert when applicable) it also adds in snacks, and the cost of RFID mugs.
I was able to calculate the tax and then also calculate my OOP tips.

Breakfasts are not the best use of the plan like others have mentioned but we have 2 scheduled out during our 8 day 7 night stay.
Here are my numbers:
Breakfast
Landscapes of Flavor
6.99 1 QS
8.29 1 QS
4.49
3.59
23.36
Flame Tree
30.38 1 QS
7.98 1 QS
6.38
44.74
Yak and Yeti
24.99 1 TS
26.99 1 TS
8.99
6.99
2.5
2.5
72.96
Total Day 141.06

Studio Catering 9.19 1 QS
10.19 1 QS
2.5
2.5
3.99
5.19
33.56
Dinner
Hollywood & Vine F! Dinner Package
29.99 1 TS
29.99 1 TS
2.99
2.99
5.99
5.99
77.94

Total Day 111.5

Breakfast 12.99 1 QS
Kona Cafe 11.99 1 QS
4.79
2.99
32.76
Lunch Crystal Palace
30.88 1 TS
30.88 1 TS
61.76

Dinner Cosmic Rays
9.99 1 QS
9.99 1 QS
3.99
3.99
3.19
3.19
34.34
Total Day 128.86

5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
Dinner Teppan Edo
30 1 TS
32 1 TS
6.95
6.95
2.95
2.95
81.8

Total Day 101.8

Lunch Village Haus
9.59 1 QS
9.59 1 QS
2.59
2.59
3.59
3.79
31.74
Dinner
BOG 22.99 1 TS
25.99 1 TS
3.99
3.99
2.99
2.99
62.94

Total Day 94.68

5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
Rose and Crown
26.99 1 TS
18.99 1 TS
2.99
2.99
6.49
5.99
64.44

Total Day 84.44

5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
Chefs De France
31.99 1 TS
39.99 1 TS
2.99
2.99
8.99
86.95

Total Day 106.95

Lunch
9.99 1 QS
9.99 1 QS
3.19
3.19
4.19
4.19
34.74

Total Day 34.74

Grand total for dining, drinks, desserts, mugs, tax and 1 OOP app = 894.61

Now the dining plan has a cost of 60.64 per adult per night
that is 121.28 per day for us.
At 7 days that is a GRAND total of 848.96

894.61-848.96=45.65 OF FREE FOOD ... well at least that's how I look at it.

So it is possible to make it work. I guess if you subtract the snacks I have labeled as 5.00 (its a guess obviously, as we plan to use them to eat around the world during F&W) and change the 5 to a 3.00 it would look like this:

864.79-848.96=15.83 OF FREE FOOD

Im sorry but free is free, drink, entree, whatever. And the idea of having everything paid for in advance minus my Tips, priceless. I just carry 1's around with us for tipping.

So that's my break down and how/why it works for us.

 

[sharonabe]

We are two adults using the dining plan and I have maticulously gone over menus and pricing with a spread sheet to make sure I am not loosing money.
I know most people aren't able to look at a menu 6 months in advance and know what they are going to want, but we can.

I have an excel spread sheet that maps out the cost of each meal (entree, drink and dessert when applicable) it also adds in snacks, and the cost of RFID mugs.
I was able to calculate the tax and then also calculate my OOP tips.

Breakfasts are not the best use of the plan like others have mentioned but we have 2 scheduled out during our 8 day 7 night stay.
Here are my numbers:
Breakfast
Landscapes of Flavor
6.99 1 QS
8.29 1 QS
4.49
3.59
23.36
Flame Tree
30.38 1 QS
7.98 1 QS
6.38
44.74
Yak and Yeti
24.99 1 TS
26.99 1 TS
8.99
6.99
2.5
2.5
72.96
Total Day 141.06

Studio Catering 9.19 1 QS
10.19 1 QS
2.5
2.5
3.99
5.19
33.56
Dinner
Hollywood & Vine F! Dinner Package
29.99 1 TS
29.99 1 TS
2.99
2.99
5.99
5.99
77.94

Total Day 111.5

Breakfast 12.99 1 QS
Kona Cafe 11.99 1 QS
4.79
2.99
32.76
Lunch Crystal Palace
30.88 1 TS
30.88 1 TS
61.76

Dinner Cosmic Rays
9.99 1 QS
9.99 1 QS
3.99
3.99
3.19
3.19
34.34
Total Day 128.86

5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
Dinner Teppan Edo
30 1 TS
32 1 TS
6.95
6.95
2.95
2.95
81.8

Total Day 101.8

Lunch Village Haus
9.59 1 QS
9.59 1 QS
2.59
2.59
3.59
3.79
31.74
Dinner
BOG 22.99 1 TS
25.99 1 TS
3.99
3.99
2.99
2.99
62.94

Total Day 94.68

5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
Rose and Crown
26.99 1 TS
18.99 1 TS
2.99
2.99
6.49
5.99
64.44

Total Day 84.44

5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
5 1 Snack
Chefs De France
31.99 1 TS
39.99 1 TS
2.99
2.99
8.99
86.95

Total Day 106.95

Lunch
9.99 1 QS
9.99 1 QS
3.19
3.19
4.19
4.19
34.74

Total Day 34.74

Grand total for dining, drinks, desserts, mugs, tax and 1 OOP app = 894.61

Now the dining plan has a cost of 60.64 per adult per night
that is 121.28 per day for us.
At 7 days that is a GRAND total of 848.96

894.61-848.96=45.65 OF FREE FOOD ... well at least that's how I look at it.

So it is possible to make it work. I guess if you subtract the snacks I have labeled as 5.00 (its a guess obviously, as we plan to use them to eat around the world during F&W) and change the 5 to a 3.00 it would look like this:

864.79-848.96=15.83 OF FREE FOOD

Im sorry but free is free, drink, entree, whatever. And the idea of having everything paid for in advance minus my Tips, priceless. I just carry 1's around with us for tipping.

So that's my break down and how/why it works for us.

You have one problem: Kona Cafe is NOT a QS; it's a TS. So you have one too many TS and one too few QS. You'll need to do the math again.

 

[jennc27]

I think the Dining Plan is a personal choice. It may work with some and not with others. I used a spreadsheet to determine if the dining plan would work for my family when we go back (hopefully ). I love to plan and play with spreadsheets so it was fun for me! The first thing I did was set up what I thought would be a good budget:

Breakfast $10
Lunch $15
Dinner $30
Snacks $5
Grand total with refillable cups, tax, and tips for 4 people (the boys will be adults at WDW when we go ) for 3 days = $880

Then I looked at the Dining Plan and the cost with out of pocket breakfast, tax, and tips = $930.

Nope no savings here!

Then I actually looked at the menus and looked at what I thought we would all would like to eat. I did do a pricing with a drink, dessert, tax and where needed tips. I am glad I did so because some of the places I wanted to eat at the cost would have been over what I had budgeted for and then we could not have ate there. These are the places I think we will like to eat at. Of course this can change and so can my plan about the Dining Plan.

Tangerine Cafe (DH and I) and Liberty Inn (The boys) =$87
Cookes of Dublin =$84
Be Our Guest =$89
Cape May Cafe =$200
Garden Grill =$200
Boma =$200

So if I pay out of pocket for what I have listed above with breakfast, refillable cups, tax, tips, snacks, and such we would spend about $1090. The Dining Plan figures from above is $930 so in the end we would save about $165.

Also I am taking in to consideration about my families eating habits, likes, and dislikes. My DH has the great plan to share meals, but that will not workout for us. He can eat all his food and then some of mine and if the boys do not eat all of theirs....he eats that was well! Makes me mad that he can eat all that food and not gain weight! DS13 right now is eating 24/7 all day long. He is a typical kid that likes hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, and BBQ. DS8 likes salads, no cheese, soups, veggies, and is willing to try new things. However, he does not like for people to eat or drink from his plate and cup.

My DH also has sticker shock at most places that we go to and stresses that we did not plan enough money and tries to cut cost. When we went to WDW in 2009 we had the Quick Service Dining Plan and it helped knowing that everything was all ready paid for.

I know that if we do not get drinks and desserts it would be cheaper, but we are on vacation and we like to indulge in these type of foods that we do not have when we are home.

So as of right now it looks like the Dining Plan works for us, but if prices change or I find a new place I want to eat at.....well I get to do some more planning!

On a side note we are looking at doing some days at Universal before WDW and when I used the same spreadsheet for their dining plan it was better for us to pay out of pocket there.

 

[Dwheels]

We are two adults using the dining plan and I have maticulously gone over menus and pricing with a spread sheet to make sure I am not loosing money. I know most people aren't able to look at a menu 6 months in advance and know what they are going to want, but we can. I have an excel spread sheet that maps out the cost of each meal (entree, drink and dessert when applicable) it also adds in snacks, and the cost of RFID mugs. I was able to calculate the tax and then also calculate my OOP tips. Breakfasts are not the best use of the plan like others have mentioned but we have 2 scheduled out during our 8 day 7 night stay. Here are my numbers: Breakfast Landscapes of Flavor 6.99 1 QS 8.29 1 QS 4.49 3.59 23.36 Flame Tree 30.38 1 QS 7.98 1 QS 6.38 44.74 Yak and Yeti 24.99 1 TS 26.99 1 TS 8.99 6.99 2.5 2.5 72.96 Total Day 141.06 Studio Catering 9.19 1 QS 10.19 1 QS 2.5 2.5 3.99 5.19 33.56 Dinner Hollywood & Vine F! Dinner Package 29.99 1 TS 29.99 1 TS 2.99 2.99 5.99 5.99 77.94 Total Day 111.5 Breakfast 12.99 1 QS Kona Cafe 11.99 1 QS 4.79 2.99 32.76 Lunch Crystal Palace 30.88 1 TS 30.88 1 TS 61.76 Dinner Cosmic Rays 9.99 1 QS 9.99 1 QS 3.99 3.99 3.19 3.19 34.34 Total Day 128.86 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack Dinner Teppan Edo 30 1 TS 32 1 TS 6.95 6.95 2.95 2.95 81.8 Total Day 101.8 Lunch Village Haus 9.59 1 QS 9.59 1 QS 2.59 2.59 3.59 3.79 31.74 Dinner BOG 22.99 1 TS 25.99 1 TS 3.99 3.99 2.99 2.99 62.94 Total Day 94.68 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack Rose and Crown 26.99 1 TS 18.99 1 TS 2.99 2.99 6.49 5.99 64.44 Total Day 84.44 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack 5 1 Snack Chefs De France 31.99 1 TS 39.99 1 TS 2.99 2.99 8.99 86.95 Total Day 106.95 Lunch 9.99 1 QS 9.99 1 QS 3.19 3.19 4.19 4.19 34.74 Total Day 34.74 Grand total for dining, drinks, desserts, mugs, tax and 1 OOP app = 894.61 Now the dining plan has a cost of 60.64 per adult per night that is 121.28 per day for us. At 7 days that is a GRAND total of 848.96 894.61-848.96=45.65 OF FREE FOOD ... well at least that's how I look at it. So it is possible to make it work. I guess if you subtract the snacks I have labeled as 5.00 (its a guess obviously, as we plan to use them to eat around the world during F&W) and change the 5 to a 3.00 it would look like this: 864.79-848.96=15.83 OF FREE FOOD Im sorry but free is free, drink, entree, whatever. And the idea of having everything paid for in advance minus my Tips, priceless. I just carry 1's around with us for tipping. So that's my break down and how/why it works for us.

That works out great for you but I can't possibly eat that much food!