Using DDP knowing you won't get value?

[KMarston]

We just planned a last minute trip, with my DD, MIL, 1yo GS and myself. MIL has never been. We aren't big eaters and I didn't expect to get many ADRs. I knew we wouldn't come close to ahead. The last time we went with two hungry teens, a long trip and plenty of time to travel to and enjoy restaurants, we came out significantly ahead. I'm a fan of the regular plan under the right circumstance. So, I end up getting what I was looking for 2 weeks out, doing some character meals for the GS and I start really worrying about DMIL and the prices. It doesn't matter that I'm paying, she will not enjoy herself and will complain constatnly to anyone who will listen. To her, it would be a sin to spend that much on breakfast. My H and I talked to her last night and told her that she's not allowed to look at prices, and he gave a few examples and she was visably upset! So I woke up this morning and added the dining plan! WahLa!!! Now she can order whatever her heart desires! So, I imagine will will come out significantly behind but it's going to work for us, AND I was considering canceling the last character llunch but I'll keep it on even though I'd much prefer a sandwich at the Plaza!

 

[WantToGoNow]

We get the dining plan (and all but one trip we've managed to get it free) because I like the convenience of our meals being prepaid. I don't have to stress about the $200 character breakfast or bat an eye when both teenagers order $35 steaks. We order what we want, not the cheapest thing on the menu.

 

[Zife]

I'll say first off, I'm far too lazy to read a 15 page thread. i read the first few posts, then got bored. So, I apologize if I'm repeating anything. Or beating a dead horse.

Ok, on to the actual post. My wife and I have done DxDP twice, DDP once, and Platinum once. We've never specifically tried to "maximize" our usage, and we've always come out ahead. As a disclaimer, it's always just been the two of us. We have expensive tastes, so we tend to gravitate toward the more expensive restaurants/dishes anyway. The one time I wasn't happy with getting a plan was when we used the DDP. It wasn't nearly enough food for us, and had my wife not happened to get sick, we would've wound up paying OOP for a lot of stuff.

Our upcoming trip will be the first one will our daughter. She'll be turning 1 year old, so not a huge factor in meal planning. We've kind of mapped out our ADRs for the week, what we're most likely to order based off the current menus, I 'budgeted' $5/snack credit, and we're looking at saving about $200. Again, we're not trying to maximize anything, just eating what and where we want to.

All of that said, even if we were to fall a bit behind, I'd probably still get it. I know myself, and I know that if I were actually paying for the meal (even if I had an equivalent amount saved on a gift card), I know I'd be less likely to try something new on the off chance I didn't like it. Or I'd get something a little less expensive just in case I needed the money later. With the DxDP, I don't have to worry about any of that.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

All of that said, even if we were to fall a bit behind, I'd probably still get it. I know myself, and I know that if I were actually paying for the meal (even if I had an equivalent amount saved on a gift card), I know I'd be less likely to try something new on the off chance I didn't like it. Or I'd get something a little less expensive just in case I needed the money later. With the DxDP, I don't have to worry about any of that.

I only quoted the end of your post because I wanted to highlight it.

This is me. Even when I know that we have budgeted for meals, and we have plenty of money in the budget, I tend to order the cheaper menu item. Or I will drink water instead of what I really want. (Yes, water is good for me. I know.)

My husband has joked that Disney needs old fashioned "Ladies menus." Instead, he likes me to look at the menu online, and go by that, rather than looking at the menu with prices. Some of this problem is solved for me by using an allergy menu. Prices aren't listed on it.

 

[Nancyg56]

I only quoted the end of your post because I wanted to highlight it.

This is me. Even when I know that we have budgeted for meals, and we have plenty of money in the budget, I tend to order the cheaper menu item. Or I will drink water instead of what I really want. (Yes, water is good for me. I know.)

My husband has joked that Disney needs old fashioned "Ladies menus." Instead, he likes me to look at the menu online, and go by that, rather than looking at the menu with prices. Some of this problem is solved for me by using an allergy menu. Prices aren't listed on it.

Yes. This i sme as well, and this logic of ours never is understood by anyone else who does nto fall into our idiosyncrasy. A gift card solution does not solve the problem. I cannot get past the prices if I open my wallet, and it is worse when someone else is doing som even if that someone is my husband. After 37 years together, he knows this is not changing.

 

[Billnpcola]

we have gone on trips with the plan and without. I'de love to share the experience. trip before last we used the plan when we invited my cousin along with us on the vacation. It did two things. Ordering was easy no one had to worry about how much was being spent as it was all prepaid. My cousin would have ordered the least expensive thing each time had he not known he could order anything he wanted. It removed what could have been an uncomfortable situation. The last trip last January I went for my birthday. We went to a nice restaurant and sat down and decided to end up leaving without eating because of the cost. This time we had failed to purchase the dining plan and when faced with what could have been a 200+ dollar meal for two we just decided we weren't that hungry. So my vote goes to get the dining plan. get one with table service meals. and loose those inhibitions and misgivings which might otherwise spoil a special occasion. Its worth breaking even or even loosing a little not to have to worry about it.

 

[NDFamily]

So it seems like we are a bit against the grain here. We are foodies and we live in culinary void. When we go to Disneyworld food is one of the big things we are after and we have no qualms with spending $200 for a meal we will enjoy (though we only came close once on our recent trip and that was at CRT).

We just got home last night, I was truly on the fence about the dining plan. While others say they like it because they don't worry about the price tag, I am the exact opposite. I would have to make sure we were ordering the most expensive things and using our snack credits the best way possible in order for me to feel like we were getting what we paid for. We looked at the break down of our expenses, including 3 meals a day and all snacks we ended up spending $1,200 on food for 3 of us (and that's including alcoholic beverages which we ordered quite a few of). We ordered whatever we wanted, we got whatever snacks we wanted and we ended up saving money since our dd is 11 and would have been considered an adult for the dining plan. To me there is no convenience there, I'd spend my trip worried that we overspent on food and trying to make sure everyone got the most out of the plan rather than just relaxing and getting what we all wanted. For instance, we don't even get a meal when we go to Sanaa. DH and I share bread service and maybe another app and dd gets the pizza from the kids menu. Or Chefs de France where dh ordered lobster bisque and escargot and dd got an item off the kids menu instead of an adult menu.

 

[SaintsManiac]

The dining plan adds stress to my vacation, so I am in the never again camp.

 

[monkeybug]

We've gone both with and without the dining plan. The first few years it definitely saved us money, now not so much, but I'm still torn on whether I want it or not. I like the flexibility of not being on a dining plan because I don't think about whether something is a signature or "a good value" on the dining plan, I just make reservations for where we want to eat and we order what we want. The problem is my husband. He is so much more relaxed about things when it's all pre-paid, and using a gift card doesn't work because he would try to save on dining to use it for souvenirs or something. I can tell that not attempting to save money, because it's already been spent, is freeing to him and he honestly has more fun with the dining plan even though it definitely costs us more money and offers less flexibility. Weirdo.
Maybe I'll tell him we're on the dining plan and then at the end of the trip be like, "Just kidding! Here's the stack of cash we saved, you should probably use it to buy your awesome wife something pretty!"

 

[DrunkJam]

We don't go all out to maximise our DDP value.
We have just booked 10 days DXDP. (I will say before the insults come, that we booked from UK, and are not paying full USA price, but also could not easily buy gift cards anyway)
This means we can add all the character meals the kids want, AND some of the signature things we like the look of, and any points in between. We don't have to think about it. We book a pile of ADRs, and we keep them. We know we're fully covered, so we order what we want, which is lovely, not looking at the costs of the dishes. And it means all our holiday cash is for souvenirs (OK, or cocktails)
The twice I have added up what we ACTUALLY got on the DDP vs the OOP cost of the same items, we came out WAY ahead. I can't see why we won't do that again. But, if we don't, there is value in knowing all our booked meals are paid for. AND that we can enjoy them from day one to day 10 without a thought for how much money they cost.

 

[Nancyg56]

We don't go all out to maximise our DDP value.
We have just booked 10 days DXDP. (I will say before the insults come, that we booked from UK, and are not paying full USA price, but also could not easily buy gift cards anyway)
This means we can add all the character meals the kids want, AND some of the signature things we like the look of, and any points in between. We don't have to think about it. We book a pile of ADRs, and we keep them. We know we're fully covered, so we order what we want, which is lovely, not looking at the costs of the dishes. And it means all our holiday cash is for souvenirs (OK, or cocktails)
The twice I have added up what we ACTUALLY got on the DDP vs the OOP cost of the same items, we came out WAY ahead. I can't see why we won't do that again. But, if we don't, there is value in knowing all our booked meals are paid for. AND that we can enjoy them from day one to day 10 without a thought for how much money they cost.

You wont get insults from me!