DDP Numbers Don't Add Up

[QueenBeeMB]

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.

How did I think it was a QS ... wow you are totally right.
Thank you for pointing that out.

I reworked it to eat at Katsura Grill for Lunch
12.99 1 QS
12.99 1 QS
4.25
4.25
34.48

This is actually 1.72 more than the breakfast at Kona Cafe so add 1.72 to my 45.65 of FREE FOOD and the total is now 47.35 FREE

That lets me still use my snack credits at Epcot for F&W or use them for breakfast on the day I had originally thought about doing Kona Cafe.

YAY ! Thank you so much I would have been devastated if I didn't realize and fix this before the trip

 

[QueenBeeMB]

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

I guess we are big eaters hahaha, we eat breakfast at home, lunch, afternoon snack and large dinners each day. We both wake up at 6 am and go to bed a 9 pm so plenty of time to eat haha.
But I know a lot of people who do not eat 3 meals a day at home and especially not in the parks.
So 1 snack, 1 TS and 1 QS each day is enough to satisfy our usual routine.
Everyone is different

 

[QueenBeeMB]

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.

Hot dog you are saving a ton !

 

[suffieldhockeymom]

I put your plans into this calculator to see if the DDP makes sense. http://www.distripplanner.com/.

 

[supersnoop]

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.

Curious on two points:
First, you mention tips a lot. The DDP does not include tips, so those will be on top of the dining plan cost.
Second, you list the cost as $930. But the dining plan, at current price, for three adults and a child for 5 nights is $1,005.75. Even the old pricing is higher than your quote; are you using the right numbers?

 

[supersnoop]

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:

.........


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 almost $185 of drinks and deserts in there, so be sure that's a realist comparison. Are those actually valuable to you, or are you just accounting for them because they're included?

 

[sharonabe]

Curious on two points:
First, you mention tips a lot. The DDP does not include tips, so those will be on top of the dining plan cost.
Second, you list the cost as $930. But the dining plan, at current price, for three adults and a child for 5 nights is $1,005.75. Even the old pricing is higher than your quote; are you using the right numbers?

If you read their post carefully, that $930 includes tip and OOP breakfast and they're only staying 3 nights.

 

[jennc27]

Curious on two points:
First, you mention tips a lot. The DDP does not include tips, so those will be on top of the dining plan cost.
Second, you list the cost as $930. But the dining plan, at current price, for three adults and a child for 5 nights is $1,005.75. Even the old pricing is higher than your quote; are you using the right numbers?

Correct the DDP does not include tips. The cost I have is for all cost for food that will be OOP like breakfast, tips, and taxes and then I added it to the DDP. When I plan I like to count for everything. When I did the research the cost of DDP I looked at the cost of a package with DDP and without DDP to get the difference, which was about $730. Also when we go there will be 4 adults in our party (because Disney thinks 10 years old are adults ) and we will only be in the parks for 3 days. Wish we could have longer but DH just started a new job.

I hope my numbers are correct, but when they release the dates for 2015 I will be updating my spreadsheet! Love to plan and budget! Thank you for the help. I appreciate when others look over my plans because I can easily overlook something.

 

[jennc27]

If you read their post carefully, that $930 includes tip and OOP breakfast and they're only staying 3 nights.

Thank you!

I have been on the boards since 2009 and still do not know how to do multiple quotes.

 

[Dwheels]

I put your plans into this calculator to see if the DDP makes sense. http://www.distripplanner.com/.

This is the coolest thing I put in all my info and it said OOP cost $1311 DDP cost $1850 ouch def not good for us

 

[robinb]

This is actually 1.72 more than the breakfast at Kona Cafe so add 1.72 to my 45.65 of FREE FOOD and the total is now 47.35 FREE

Yes, but most of that FREE FOOD is crappy QS deserts that no one except for DDPers order (order not eat, most of it gets thrown away). I would say you're probably close to breaking even and for most folks that's OK .

 

[HopperFan]

For you, based on where you want to eat..... no it does not make sense, particularly if you order some child meals instead of adults.

There are plenty of QSDP where the meal is over $10, add drink and dessert and you are closer to $30+ cost per meal for two. For those that pick the more expensive locations and want dessert, it can add up fast. For myself I am happy with a meal and cup of ice water.

For others who choose to eat at TS non-buffets with more expensive menus and enjoy desserts - it can make sense. I do not care for most the buffet locations and we have made it work based on TS we choose. But overall it is a lot of food.

 

[isaboo]

We probably spend about the same OOP that we would on the DDP but we want more flexibility. I want more TS and fewer CS. We don't usually order dessert with dinner but prefer to get something else later. My kids don't always want what's on the kids menu and sometimes share an adult entree. I'm still prepaid because I have been saving up Disney gift cards all year.

I just ran the calculations and the DDP would cost us approximately $200 MORE than OOP for where we plan to eat. That's on a 5 day trip.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

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.

I am not trying to be picky but to save you money. I have been upset at Disney for making most people think they are saving money with their dining plan. If you eat at signature restaurants and order expensive main courses - then maybe you can save some - but not for the majority of people at Disney.

First item - you didn't include tips in the amount when you multiplied the dining plan by 7 - that is about an additional $6 per person per day - so about $12 of tip per day times 7 is $94 more dollars for the dining plan.

Second item - when you compare the dining plan to paying OOP - you can't add all of your items together. You have to compare each day to the dining plan - and by your numbers you were under $133 ($60.64 plus $6 tip per person) per day a lot.

I would redo your numbers for the next time you go and I will promise you - you will save money.

 

[Chase781]

Redacted.

 

[rebelbuddhist]

I put your plans into this calculator to see if the DDP makes sense. http://www.distripplanner.com/.

First let me state that for us dining is the fifth park at WWD-- we enjoy our ADRs and plan them as much as any park plans.......

Thanks for sharing this website. I had never heard of it or used it before. Entered all our ADRs for a December trip. We always get the DDP. The calculator shows we would save $4.29! But three things that aren't reflected in the calculator:
We got the QSdining plan free and upgraded so that is a $756 saving
I don't think the upcharges for Holiday Season prices is included
The estimates for meal prices at each TS restaurant seem a bit low. For example, the estimate for two of us to eat at Yachtsman Steakhouse is $156.85... in the past we have never had less than a $200 bill at Yachtsman.
We do tend to order high end entrees-- steaks and seafood.
So, we should easily save over $800 but that's due to the "free" dining plan. Without that, we would still save but not very much.
The best thing about this calculator is that it suggests which two meals to pay for OOP since we will go over by 2 credits with the ADRs we have. That was very useful information that I could have figured out but it was great to have a calculator do that in a few seconds!

 

[QueenBeeMB]

You have almost $185 of drinks and deserts in there, so be sure that's a realist comparison. Are those actually valuable to you, or are you just accounting for them because they're included?

Yes we are Soda/lemonade/tea/coffee drinkers who love desserts so it will all be gobbled up I am sure. No problem with the amount of food. We could bring food into the parks from the room but we are not interested in going through shipping it or ordering it in to the room and packing a bag to carry around all day with heavy foods and drinks.

Yes, but most of that FREE FOOD is crappy QS deserts that no one except for DDPers order (order not eat, most of it gets thrown away). I would say you're probably close to breaking even and for most folks that's OK .

Breaking even is total OK for us, but I am really interested in your take on the desserts. Here at DLR I don't think we have bad desserts at the QS locations. And we have never been to WDW before. So I was hoping they would be on par with the ones I am used to from here. Or maybe I like 'crappy' sweets? I am not sure.

If you have some pointers one them I would love to hear, being our first experience at WDW and being there during F&W I really don't want to waste $$ and time of bad food. We are total foodies and love to eat and try new things. The only plus I could see is that because we haven't ever eaten at WDW maybe it will all be good?

I am not trying to be picky but to save you money. I have been upset at Disney for making most people think they are saving money with their dining plan. If you eat at signature restaurants and order expensive main courses - then maybe you can save some - but not for the majority of people at Disney.

First item - you didn't include tips in the amount when you multiplied the dining plan by 7 - that is about an additional $6 per person per day - so about $12 of tip per day times 7 is $94 more dollars for the dining plan.

Second item - when you compare the dining plan to paying OOP - you can't add all of your items together. You have to compare each day to the dining plan - and by your numbers you were under $133 ($60.64 plus $6 tip per person) per day a lot.

I would redo your numbers for the next time you go and I will promise you - you will save money.

Tips, yes you are correct I have allocated 160.00 to tips for the week at food locations. With separate budgets for mousekeeping, drivers, etc.

That is ABOVE and beyond the pricing I have laid out.

I am under 133.28 on all days except one, something I should look at.

**side note we are on the free dining plan with an upgrade of $261.00 to be on the regular dining plan vs the QSDP**
Now I know that makes a difference in reality but I was coming at this from a strictly numbers point of view. (as we have another WDW vacation in sight and we will not be offered FD for that trip)
I am so happy there are people on here who are able to show me the errors in my calcs because we do save for a long time to be able to afford vacations like this and every dollar really counts. We stay Value with FD because it is all we can afford. There are still more number crunching I need to do to make this work and make sense. And maybe it doesn't make sense, maybe it has no monetary savings, just 'piece of mind'.

I still have lots to learn, and thanks to the DIS and the WDW Vets I have help. I didn't know as much as I thought I did when I started my spread sheet.

Thank you all so much !

 

[supersnoop]

Yes we are Soda/lemonade/tea/coffee drinkers who love desserts so it will all be gobbled up I am sure. No problem with the amount of food. We could bring food into the parks from the room but we are not interested in going through shipping it or ordering it in to the room and packing a bag to carry around all day with heavy foods and drinks.

I love desserts, too. I won't turn one down if it's included. But I won't always order one, either. For a valid comparison, you need to be honest with the cost side.

I am under 133.28 on all days except one, something I should look at.

Your break-even should be $120/day ($60 per person). You're over that on two days, but you doubled up on counter service meals those two days. You might need to double-check your math. You have a $30 entree at Flame Tree in there.

**side note we are on the free dining plan with an upgrade of $261.00 to be on the regular dining plan vs the QSDP**

That definitely makes the decision much easier. The upgrade depends more on how you dine than on the meal price. Your paying $20 to trade a counter service for a table service meal. I only see one entree on your list that is $20 more than a counter service entree, but the dessert price should probably be figured in, too. And, if you are doing table service meals and would have counter service meals left over, well, then, it's worth the upgrade.

 

[pasofan]

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

It still does not help the math to make the DDP worth it, but your dining plan credits match the number of NIGHTS booked, not days. So, if you will be staying 10 days and 9 nights, you will have 9 credits, not 10. That 10th TS would be OOP.

For us, it is not about break even--because we probably won't--it is more about DH peace of mind. He can relax and just enjoy when we have the DDP. If we are paying OOP, he stresses over what to order and will get a less expensive item, even though he really wants an entree that costs more.

 

[salamander3]

It's an individual thing. If it doesn't work for you, it doesn't. If it does, awesome, that's more money for other things!

We chose to do it and take advantage of it. We are doing LOTS of TS, especially character meals. PF, CRT, Ohana, H&V, and CP. We are going during free dining, and to upgrade to deluxe was $400. So we shouldn't have anything OOP.

The real value for me is not hearing my husband moan and groan about how much everything is costing. If he sees the bill, he's not going to be happy for the rest of the day. If he sees the bill as already paid (minus tip, obviously), he's happy. That's a small price to pay to have a happy husband.