ParrotBill
Yo ho, yo ho, a parrot's life for me
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
We just completed 10 days on the DDP and spent well more than we paid for 2 adults and 1 child. We left 2 table service for the child unused because she went to the Sandcastle Club 2 nights (dinner is included) and we had our dinners without her.
Our dinners ran from $70 to $110 in value. Counter service for 3 was reliably around $30-34. The value of the snacks for the 3 of us was about $8 a day. So a daily average of $120 a day... means we got about $30 a day more than we paid for it.
Some menus are well marked to show what items qualify as snacks with a little purple "DP" symbol. But often you had to wait until you got to the register to ask what items you can get as entrees and which items qualify as desserts.
The buffets were always a good use of the plan. We did 4 character dining meals and cape may.
Important things to know at Puck: Wolfgang Puck Cafe is not a Disney company and by participating they must discount the meal. The server gets a tip on the discounted meal not the full price. Our dinner would have been $100 but was charged at $73, so we added additional tip in cash.
Also, in case it was not clear, the counter service at the main Puck location is not a "Puck Express" even though the sign still says it is... so the dining plan does not work there... it does work at the Puck Express located in the Marketplace.
I think we would do it again but I have 3 wishes for improvements:
1. Offer more children's meal options for both table and counter service. If your child likes chicken strips or PB&J uncrustables for every meal you are all set. Why doesn't, for example, the fish & chips place in EPCOT UK offer a child's size fish & chips? Ridiculous. Alternative - allow a simple credit amount for the child equal to a child meal amount but let us order different food. The only restaurant that served us the same food in a child sized portion was Japan's Teppanyaki.
2. Enough already with the included desserts. I would suggest turning the desserts into snack options and use them for desserts with your table service or counter service... or as drinks... or as snack items. I ate only 3 bites of a lot of desserts because I could not eat that much at one sitting. And the dessert for the child was sometimes as big as their whole meal.
3. Offer more fruit items for snacks and desserts. Many counter service dessert options included cookies, cakes, pies... we really needed more light options!
Our dinners ran from $70 to $110 in value. Counter service for 3 was reliably around $30-34. The value of the snacks for the 3 of us was about $8 a day. So a daily average of $120 a day... means we got about $30 a day more than we paid for it.
Some menus are well marked to show what items qualify as snacks with a little purple "DP" symbol. But often you had to wait until you got to the register to ask what items you can get as entrees and which items qualify as desserts.
The buffets were always a good use of the plan. We did 4 character dining meals and cape may.
Important things to know at Puck: Wolfgang Puck Cafe is not a Disney company and by participating they must discount the meal. The server gets a tip on the discounted meal not the full price. Our dinner would have been $100 but was charged at $73, so we added additional tip in cash.
Also, in case it was not clear, the counter service at the main Puck location is not a "Puck Express" even though the sign still says it is... so the dining plan does not work there... it does work at the Puck Express located in the Marketplace.
I think we would do it again but I have 3 wishes for improvements:
1. Offer more children's meal options for both table and counter service. If your child likes chicken strips or PB&J uncrustables for every meal you are all set. Why doesn't, for example, the fish & chips place in EPCOT UK offer a child's size fish & chips? Ridiculous. Alternative - allow a simple credit amount for the child equal to a child meal amount but let us order different food. The only restaurant that served us the same food in a child sized portion was Japan's Teppanyaki.
2. Enough already with the included desserts. I would suggest turning the desserts into snack options and use them for desserts with your table service or counter service... or as drinks... or as snack items. I ate only 3 bites of a lot of desserts because I could not eat that much at one sitting. And the dessert for the child was sometimes as big as their whole meal.
3. Offer more fruit items for snacks and desserts. Many counter service dessert options included cookies, cakes, pies... we really needed more light options!
