Why DDP is such a steal for buffets/character dining

[North of Mouse]

Doing the dining plan this trip as well with our two littles. We’re doing character meals but to DH the most important part is budgeting and he loves how he doesn’t have to look at Disney sticker shock while on dining plan since it’s prepaid.

And that's how Disney sells most of their plans!!! People love convenience, and Disney knows they will pay the price!

 

[Beachmom0317]

And that's how Disney sells most of their plans!!! People love convenience, and Disney knows they will pay the price!

We’re character meal heavy so we also priced out OOP and come out ahead on DDP;-)

 

[vetrik]

We had a similar situation for our 8 night trip last year. We had gotten free dining on our previous trips, but we decided to go at a different time of year. However, when we did the math it still made sense to get the dining plan even with paying for it. We had two adults, one child, and one almost-3 year old. We ate at Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Biergarten, Cape May, Be Our Guest (before the switch to 2 credits), 'Ohana, Chef Mickey's, & Sci-Fri (and paid out of pocket at Tiffin's). We were helped even more by not having to pay for the 2 year old, but being able to make him a plate from the buffet or family style at many of the meals we had.

The math definitely works out completely differently for everyone! For our next big trip, my daughter will be a Disney adult, and my son will no longer be free (and we may also not do as many character meals), so our math will be different and we'll have to look at the numbers at that point.

 

[icesk8abc]

It also makes a ridiculous amount of sense to pay the upgrade during free dining for 2 little kids. For $5 a day we get to change their quick service meal to a TS meal. It's about $24 an adult. We always come out ahead. On a trip where we are paying OOP for food, we only do 1 TS and share meals at quick service. As a family that stays value the room discount vs free food 4 doesn't every come out better. I find character meals such a great way to see the characters without additional time in lines/using FP+. We are going to eat anyway. We might as well have them come to our table. We are now DVC and assume our upcoming December trip will be our last on free dining for quite a while.

 

[DisneyLore]

The part you have left out with your example is the tips. I believe that will close the gap significantly on you OOP cost vs. DDP cost.

Tips don't close the gap because you pay the same tip whether on the DDP or OOP. The tip changes with the restaurants you go to and how much you spend on that meal. If you want to go to the same restaurants and you want the AYCTE or character dining, than the tipping is the same. The OP is saying for where they plan to eat and who is in her party, the DDP saves her money. Which I have found sometimes myself, when I do the math, depending on where we plan to eat.

 

[Nancyg56]

The part you have left out with your example is the tips. I believe that will close the gap significantly on you OOP cost vs. DDP cost.

The tip is the tip. It should not change if you have already chosen your restaurant when you do the math. Actually if you do all the math you should add in tax when you make your comparison, because items in the DDP are already taxed when you purchase the plan. Tax on CS melas and snacks can add up.

For my family we consider the up charge in tips for desserts (the only thing we would share when purchasing OOP) is at least a wash when we look at the savings in tax.

 

[Minniesgal]

I get what you are saying but ten snacks a day? Would you really eat that if you didn't have the DDP. We wouldn't

We also would not have a QS as well as a buffet meal in the same day.

It is great if it works for your family but savings or no savings eating like that would never work for us it is way too much food.

 

[Sarahraegraham]

The tip is the tip. It should not change if you have already chosen your restaurant when you do the math.

Right. For me, if I choose a dining plan, it does change the way I dine. I might plan on only 2 TS meals, but if I get the dining plan I’ll want to do more, so that increases not only the cost of the meals/value but also the tips. A TS for me and DH averages $80 plus a $15-20 tip. Add that $20 up a few times and now not only are you spending extra for the TS you wouldn’t have otherwise done but also an extra $100 in tips. So it all depends on how you approach it.

 

[Nancyg56]

Right. For me, if I choose a dining plan, it does change the way I dine. I might plan on only 2 TS meals, but if I get the dining plan I’ll want to do more, so that increases not only the cost of the meals/value but also the tips. A TS for me and DH averages $80 plus a $15-20 tip. Add that $20 up a few times and now not only are you spending extra for the TS you wouldn’t have otherwise done but also an extra $100 in tips. So it all depends on how you approach it.

The response I had was in regards to already having chosen your restaurants. I choose my plan based on my dining choices, not the other way around.

 

[denecarter]

In March, we’re staying 3 nights at Pop Century with a Deluxe Dining Plan, then moving to an OKW 1 BR for for 5 nights without a dining plan. We will have 2 adults, a 3 year old, and a 1 year old. We’ll have 4 days to do all of our character meals, signature dining, and Flower & Garden snacks. After that we will just eat lighter CS and in-room meals.

Eating only at places we would’ve eaten at anyway... just less spread out. The numbers worked for this option for us. If it works as we think it will, will do something similar for Christmas 2020.

 

[louisianab]

Delete.

 

[Dakota731]

We also would not have a QS as well as a buffet meal in the same day

Everyone is so different so you have to do the math for your family. We are big eaters and always do three meals a day including buffets so it pays for us to do the dining plan.

 

[LovePug]

We did the DDP for the first time on our last trip and I am a huge fan. I chose where we'd eat before I priced it out on whether I'd buy the DDP. We are 3 adults (as far as the plan goes). The cost was just over $225/day. Each TS meal, with alcohol or specialty drink, was about that much, so the plan about paid for itself with just that meal each day. QS/snacks/mugs were bonuses. I absolutely loved the plan on the trip. Now, if we didn't want to do a TS each day we could have certainly saved money paying OOP, but we do like the TS, so it works for us.

 

[Paul Francis]

I get what you are saying but ten snacks a day? Would you really eat that if you didn't have the DDP. We wouldn't

We also would not have a QS as well as a buffet meal in the same day.

It is great if it works for your family but savings or no savings eating like that would never work for us it is way too much food.

It's not that much food, even prisoners get three meals a day. I understand that a buffet could be a lot if you went to town on it, but when you're at WDW you only eat one meal a day?

 

[Nancyg56]

It's not that much food, even prisoners get three meals a day. I understand that a buffet could be a lot if you went to town on it, but when you're at WDW you only eat one meal a day?

This is always the one argument against the plan that puzzles me. The plan will give you one CS and one TS meal per night, and two snacks. Who only eats once a day??? If folks are light eaters, that is fine, but I wonder how many people really only eat one time per day and have a few snacks to tide them over. My husband would be arranging a mutiny if had him skipping breakfast and lunch, and told him to snack on a churro! LOL!!

 

[LovePug]

I get what you are saying but ten snacks a day? Would you really eat that if you didn't have the DDP. We wouldn't

We also would not have a QS as well as a buffet meal in the same day.

It is great if it works for your family but savings or no savings eating like that would never work for us it is way too much food.

Two snacks a day, per person. We have a preteen who can do that easily, but we also used the snacks for drinks because we already were ahead on the DDP and I didn’t worry about how much the snacks were. Our QS was breakfast at the resort and then a TS for dinner. If you only eat one meal a day, then I guess it would be silly for you to get the DDP (although, as I mentioned previously, our TS each day, with alcohol/specialty drinks, about paid for the plan itself). To each his own.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

It isn't that the DDP is a steal for these meals, it is that these meals are overpriced to begin with for the amount of food and character interaction you get.

Seriously, let's look at this:
First off, we should all be able to agree that the amount most people can eat at any all you care to eat venue should cost no more than $15, there will be those that eat more and those that eat less, but this is what most will eat and all you care to eat establishments bank on this fact.

Now, let's look at a character meal at Disneyland Resort: Plaza Inn Breakfast - $34 per adult, $19 per child before any discounts and there are discounts for: AP, CMs, DVC, Disney Visa card holders among others. There is usually a minimum of:

• Minnie
• Pluto
• Chip
• Dale
• And at least 4-5 additional characters (usually at least two are rare)

My record for number of characters at this venue was 14 characters in a single meal because the park was dead and the roaming characters were coming in because they had no one to interact with outside. This is a buffet and all you care to eat, so value of food about $15, paying around $19 for around 9 characters who will usually interact with each table more than once per character.

Now, let's take a look at the listed meals:

• 
  
• Storybook/Artist Point: $58.75 adult; $35.15
  • You get Dopey, Snow White, Grumpy and the Queen and you get each one once and once only.
  • Overall the food should run about $20 per person here, so you are better off than a buffet
  • So, about $20 for food and about $38.75 for four characters
• Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic: $61.77 adult; $37.28 kid
  • Last I checked, you get 4-5 characters
  • So, $15 for food, leaves $46.77 for 405 characters
• Biergarten: $43.67 adult; $23.43 kid
  • Again, most people are going to eat about $15 worth of food, no characters, sometimes there might be entertainment, which you are paying $28.67 for
• Akershus: $62.84 adult; $37.28 kid
  • You usually get 5 princesses
  • Here food would probably be closer to the $20 range due to the type of food served, so you are looking at $42.84 per adult for 5 characters
• Tusker House: $50.06; $29.82 kid
  • You get about 5 characters here
  • Again, $15 worth of food, so $35.06 for about 5 characters

So, again it isn't that the DDP is a good deal for these meals, it is that these meals are overpriced for what they are, I mean if Disneyland, which is in California and has higher labor costs, can offer more characters and a higher quality of food for substantially less money, it is pretty obvious the meals are overpriced.

Now would I do said meals on the dining plan? Yes, but I am not looking at it as a good deal, rather as that is what meal I want to go to and living near Disneyland, I admit that I have a little different perspective on it.

One thing you forgot to factor in is the value of time. In about 1.5 hours, a family can eat, meet several characters, cool off, and get off their feet all at the same time. There's value in that.

 

[Micharlotte]

One thing you forgot to factor in is the value of time. In about 1.5 hours, a family can eat, meet several characters, cool off, and get off their feet all at the same time. There's value in that.

I agree with this so much! We use our table service meals as our break. I can feel so much better after getting out of the heat and sitting for awhile. I also love that we have very few characters to meet in the parks because we do so many character meals!

 

[Minniesgal]

This is always the one argument against the plan that puzzles me. The plan will give you one CS and one TS meal per night, and two snacks. Who only eats once a day??? If folks are light eaters, that is fine, but I wonder how many people really only eat one time per day and have a few snacks to tide them over. My husband would be arranging a mutiny if had him skipping breakfast and lunch, and told him to snack on a churro! LOL!!

We do. If we were to have a QS lunch we would not eat dinner.

We did the DDP once, used the QS for lunch and did not enjoy a single dinner as we were so full still we didn't want to eat but felt we had to. We prefer to have a TS as early as possible and only have on meal a day. Have never done the DDP again since as we found it a ridiculous amount of food.

 

[DisneyLore]

We do. If we were to have a QS lunch we would not eat dinner.

We did the DDP once, used the QS for lunch and did not enjoy a single dinner as we were so full still we didn't want to eat but felt we had to. We prefer to have a TS as early as possible and only have on meal a day. Have never done the DDP again since as we found it a ridiculous amount of food.

I certainly agree that the DDP is not for you but I don't agree that it is a ridiculous amount of food. While I find, for me, that Disney meals are way more than I can eat, I do still eat more than once a day. I can usually go with 2 meals a day and maybe a snack. While I may not eat everything I'm given because I generally can't, I also can't do 8 hours without eating at all, and on a go go 15 hours Disney day, your basically doing that if you only eat once.