Poll: If you are a previous user of DDP, what will you do in 2008?

[AdWayInc]

In the past couple of years, the DDP was the only way to go. Of course that was only for myself and DH. We are not the ones rushing from park to park to get on all the rides but do the parks at a leisurely rate... actually we are gone from 8am in the morning to 12 midnight.... and we like to rest in cool and comfort at a sit down meal. We love the appetizers and were upset about the plans for a change in 2008.... however the more that I think about it - I think it is a great idea for us - this will be much better... we can sit down for lunch and do a 2 signature dinner... how great is that....
Whispering Canyon for Breakfast - Artist Point for Dinner!
or Ohanas for Breakfast and Aloha Luau for Dinner
or Sci Fi for Lunch and Brown Derby for dinner! THe alternatives are endless...
the only problem is what to do what and when - We will be there in March and still trying to plan - can't wait to make my ressies.
Any ideas?

 

[racefanof88]

In the past couple of years, the DDP was the only way to go. Of course that was only for myself and DH. We are not the ones rushing from park to park to get on all the rides but do the parks at a leisurely rate... actually we are gone from 8am in the morning to 12 midnight.... and we like to rest in cool and comfort at a sit down meal. We love the appetizers and were upset about the plans for a change in 2008.... however the more that I think about it - I think it is a great idea for us - this will be much better... we can sit down for lunch and do a 2 signature dinner... how great is that....
Whispering Canyon for Breakfast - Artist Point for Dinner!
or Ohanas for Breakfast and Aloha Luau for Dinner
or Sci Fi for Lunch and Brown Derby for dinner! THe alternatives are endless...
the only problem is what to do what and when - We will be there in March and still trying to plan - can't wait to make my ressies.
Any ideas?

You will be there about the same time as Me and my family. It is a birthday trip for me too as my birthday is March 5th and we will get there March 8th.

We are doing the basic DDP as the DxDDP is way too much for my family of 5.

We are looking forward to just the regular plan.

 

[Disneyof3]

We'll be landing the same day as your birthday as long as the disney deal comes in September for us through our CAA. We did the DDP last year and saved us a ton. We think were doing it this year because it still will save us even with paying for the tips. Still don't like the idea that they removed it but hope you can add tip to your room card? If I didn't have a family of 5 then the deal wouldn't work for us. I'm hoping to get little crowds but miss the BIG easter ones coming the next Thursday or Wednesday when we leave

 

[racefanof88]

We'll be landing the same day as your birthday as long as the disney deal comes in September for us through our CAA. We did the DDP last year and saved us a ton. We think were doing it this year because it still will save us even with paying for the tips. Still don't like the idea that they removed it but hope you can add tip to your room card? If I didn't have a family of 5 then the deal wouldn't work for us. I'm hoping to get little crowds but miss the BIG easter ones coming the next Thursday or Wednesday when we leave

Where are ya'll staying. Maybe we could plan a meet up?

 

[newbydisney]

"We followed the rules. We did not share meals. We did invent a new person in our room. But yes, we did use up our unused snack credits on that last of our trip. We got rice krispy treats and cookies to take home for family members. I really don't understand how that is abusing the plan."
__________________

I am not sure inventing an extra person is actually following the rules...but I am not sure it is breaking them either ...what exactly did the poster mean, does anyone know and is this ok to do?

 

[theparsons]

"We followed the rules. We did not share meals. We did invent a new person in our room. But yes, we did use up our unused snack credits on that last of our trip. We got rice krispy treats and cookies to take home for family members. I really don't understand how that is abusing the plan."
__________________

I am not sure inventing an extra person is actually following the rules...but I am not sure it is breaking them either ...what exactly did the poster mean, does anyone know and is this ok to do?

I think the OP did a typo and meant to say "didn't".....I think they were saying they didn't think getting rice krispy treats and cookies to take home for friends was abusing the plan.

If not, yeah, I'd say inventing a new person is definitely abusing the plan,

 

[bookgirl2632]

Yeah, I believe that was me. And yes, I meant to say that we did NOT invent people in our room.

Talk about a Freudian slip.

 

[Kristina]

THEY paid rack rate for a room and had to buy at least a one day ticket even though some had AP's .................

THEY didn't have to buy at least a one day ticket, they had to only buy a one day ticket. Which they were able to use to get a future discount on an AP or what have you..so no waste there . They did have to pay rack rate..true. Which wasn't much when compared to the cost of the dining plan. Unless they weren't planning to eat...at all.

We did the above and when we left you bet we went and cashed in any remaining snack credits on rice crispy Mickey Heads to take home with us, as we were entitled and besides, we love them! But, Disney did well by offering us the Free Dining so to speak, because even though we did have to spend a wee bit more each night on our room we now love to dine in most of the restaurants when during our first trip we did mostly counter service.
Plus we bought the Dining Plan for our next 15 night stay the following year.

 

[TDC Nala]

Did people actually think that the dining plan as it exists today was going to be permanent? No way they could have sustained that sort of volume for much longer.

I think Disney seriously underestmated the number of guests who would book it.

 

[TDC Nala]

"We followed the rules. We did not share meals. We did invent a new person in our room. But yes, we did use up our unused snack credits on that last of our trip. We got rice krispy treats and cookies to take home for family members. I really don't understand how that is abusing the plan."
__________________

I am not sure inventing an extra person is actually following the rules...but I am not sure it is breaking them either ...what exactly did the poster mean, does anyone know and is this ok to do?

During the free dining promotion, there were incidents of guests with two adults in a room adding a nonexistent third and fourth adult, paying the extra adult charges and presumably for one-day base tickets, and getting and using meal credits for four people. Before the child/adult credits were separated they used to add ghost children.

Disney countered this by requiring the entire party to be present at checkin.

Last weekend I brought home three counter service desserts (the bread pudding at Earl of Sandwich is really good!) and a bottle of water. And my mother and I split a couple of counter service meals, it would have been too much food otherwise.

 

[Froggie Gurl]

We are doing the Deluxe DP when we go in April. We sat down and looked at the menus and prices of the restaurants we would like to visit. ASSUMING that I can get ADR's at the times we want, doing 2 TS/day will work out great for us. Our children love experiencing different foods, and even tho they will have to stick to the childrens menu, we think we can make it work. Anyway, by comparing the menus and prices w/ the foods we would like to eat/try, we've figured that by using the deluxe DP, we will actually come out ahead by roughly $70/day. The TS meals will also give us a chance to sit back and relax a bit (as long as we dont stuff ourselves) and rejuvinate. My friend and his children haven't experienced WDW to it's fullest, and I intend to make this a very special trip for all of us. Using the DDP will add to the enjoyment for us. Another benefit IMHO is that it's all paid for up front. We will only have to deal with cash for tips and souvies (and Disney $ will be used for most of the souvies). We are both single parents, and convenience is a mjaor plus for us!

Wendi

 

[Froggie Gurl]

I do want to add that if I were just taking my kids, we wouldn't use the DDP at all this time. I COULD eat more cheaply if this was a "small budget" trip w/out the plan. Like I said above, we are going for the whole "experience" this time and the character meals and TS dining are definitely part of the experience.

 

[Disneyof3]

Where are ya'll staying. Maybe we could plan a meet up?

We're staying in POR in WDW and haven't decided on which hotel in Buffalo yet. Everyone here rants and raves about a nice hotel across from the airport that serves nice breakfast and has a nice pool. Can't remember the name but will be hoping to get in there.

 

[racefanof88]

We're staying in POR in WDW and haven't decided on which hotel in Buffalo yet. Everyone here rants and raves about a nice hotel across from the airport that serves nice breakfast and has a nice pool. Can't remember the name but will be hoping to get in there.

Can't really help you with the Buffalo hotel, I am way to far south for that........lol. But, we will be at the ASMu and maybe we could meet up one day at one of the parks. It would be so much fun to meet a fellow Dis'er. We need to start a March meet thread and have a group meet up for a ride or two at one of the parks.

 

[seven dwarfs]

I voted to not use the plan in 2008. It seems the menus continue to change for the worse. I have enjoyed getting all the different kinds of food but with a forced 18% tip not being included (we are a family of eight) I can keep my bill down by not ordering so much food. The deluxe plan is way to much for my family. We could never afford that x's eight people. Not a big deal. We will camp in our Rv and not stay in the hotel any more or look off site. We will make a couple ADR's and try to eat in places that do not take the plan. We really miss some of the "good" food Disney used to offer.

 

[MarieA]

I have always used the DDP (Gold Key, Food and Fun and the current DDP). For my family the DDP is not worth it anymore. We all prefer appetizers over dessert and would have to pay for the appetizer OOP as well as the tip. We currently have the DDE and will use it instead.

The deluxe plan is way to much food for us. 15 - 18 years ago we used the Gold Key plan and had 3 meals a day. At that time ADRs were not necessary and you could make dining plans for that day in the morning. Now ADRs have to be planned 180 days out. I'm not crazy about deciding where I want to dine 6 months in advance. We basically have to plan our days around our ADRs. I can't imagine planning 3 ADRs daily 6 months in advance and spending 4 - 6 hours in restaurants every day. We could barely eat the all the food on the current DDP, I can't eat 3 TS meals a day. The only way this plan might work for us is to have a TS meal for breakfast and a 2TS meal for dinner.

The Deluxe Plan is $69.99 per adult plus approximately $17 per day in tips (for 2 meals per day). For my DH and I the plan would cost about about $175.00. On our last trip using the DDE we spent $30 - $35 per day for breakfast and our 2TS meals cost about $125 (appetizer, entree, dessert and coffee at Jiko and Yachtsmans Steakhouse). We generally will tip 20 - 25% based on service. With the 20% discount on the $125 plus a 25% tip, the bill is still only $131.25 for a 2TS meal (excluding alcohol). Based on these calculations the Deluxe Plan is not worth it for us. Total cost of food for the day 166.25 for 2 adults - total cost of dining plan $175 for 2 adults.

 

[patsal]

I was kind of stressing because of the changes. I love the freedom factor with DDP--let the kids go and know they can eat with no problem. Sometimes 2TS venues sometimes 1TS venues, the ability to try different snacks. I was bumming a little to DH and he said really we didn't save money when it was $40 pppd. I thought about it and he was right. So just for the heck of it I sat down with menus--mind you if what I am hearing about menus this week are true there will be even more off site eating with my family--but if things remained nearly the same as they were in July a 14 day vacation with 14 CS and 14 TS (two of these are signature--so I would have had to pay for more OOP with the $38.99 plan) with tips and apps and some desserts will run us about $1885. The basic DDP would run me $2240 and I'd still have to pay the tips and apps OOP. Now if the changes to menus are permanant past the free dining I'll save even more by eating off site. As for DDP I am stressing no more, but looking forward to a great 14 day mid to end of July vacation wth no worries about using up credits!
My new mantra
Cost of TS $1243
Cost of CS $413
Cost of tips $229
Not running around to use up snack credits on the last day, priceless!

 

[Booknut]

DH and I we won't be using the DDP again. Without the tips included and the appetizer (which we prefer to dessert anyway) its not worth it. Plus we found the CS meals got a bit boring after a while. We just can't eat burgers, chicken strips and pizza every day

I'd rather pay out of pocket and have a nice cobb salad for lunch at the Brown Derby for $14 and the yummy fried chicken dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe for $15 plus drinks and maybe an appetizer at one of these places...the cost might be a few dollars more than the DDP but i'll get to eat whatever I want whenever I want.

Plus, from what some people have been reporting, some restaurants (namely Wolfgang Puck Cafe) are pulling items like steak from the DDP menu...so again, less choice.

We can also now enjoy some of the nicer restaurants like California Grill without worrying about wasting credits or eating at places like Fulton's Crab House which aren't even on the plan! And also enjoy a few off-site places that we really love like Red Lobster and some of the Universal City Walk restaurants (sssshhh don't tell Disney!).

 

[Disneynut71]

I plan on buying the dining discount card. I keep wondering if I should do one or the other and with the new plan I have decided to get the card.

 

[heathermm]

Even with the changes, we'll still do the DDP when we go in April. We do a lot of character meals so the cost still works to our advantage with the DDP. With that said, I hate that it doesn't include tip now.