We only have the plan for the first 5 nights. The last 3 nights at OOP. So it's closer to $2100.00 for the plan.
And that, right there..."I honestly do not understand how one suffers from sticker shock at $60 for a counter service meal, but $440/day + tips ( likely running at least another $100/day) does not give you sticker shock?"...is exactly why each family has to judge the dining plans on their own.
Yes, $60 for a couple of mediocre pieces of pizza some chips, a small scoop of Caesar salad and a hamburger, IS A LOT OF MONEY to me. To you, maybe it isn't. I'd just assume eat at McDonalds where my family can get more food at half the cost and in a lot of cases (but not all) enjoy it more. But, a $300.00+ meal that consists of filet and lobster (or something equally as indulgent for us)and including appe and dessert while having it pre-paid will win for me every time!
At home, if we go out to eat, at most, and it would be a VERY special meal, very sparingly occasionally might hit $150.00 and that would probably have me freaking out. Trying to see where we could cut corners...it's just me. On a regular, everyday basis, we would most likely be at a chain restaurant (Chili's, Applebee's, things like that) where $100.00 is a lot. And we don't do this because we can't afford it, we do it because I just can't see spending that much money on food on a regular basis or just because I didn't feel like cooking.
So when we are on vacation eating the way the DDDP allows us to, is part of our vacation cost. I am fully aware that we could share things (and even though it is not common practice in our family, we do sometimes even on a dining plan) or not order things we weren't going to eat every last crumb of, but who wants to do that on vacation?
I see it kind of like hotel choice. Maybe you splurge on a deluxe venue, to me, that's a waste. Because I could sleep and shower in a room cheaper. We could splurge on Grand Floridian but to me, WHY? All I do there usually is sleep and get ready to go. I can do that at Pop. Don't get me wrong, we have stayed at AKL and Yacht Club. We have stayed at Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans. We have also (and mostly) stayed value...because the value, for me, is in the food.
We have had APs in the past. And never bought Tables in Wonderland. We don't drink enough to make that end of it worth it. And usually we are in on free dining (even our Christmas trip that we got our last APs on we had a free dining upgrade) so it really hasn't be something that sound that appealing to us over other options.
It's all in what you value on YOUR vacation. When all is said and done, even with the meals we may end up paying out of pocket for for Skyler, a few alcoholic drinks here and there, and tips, we will still have eaten more food cost vs DDDP cost. And if we had paid OOP for all the food we will put in our faces, we would have spent more than what we are paying for the DDDP. We would NEVER eat like that without the DDDP...not because we wouldn't want to but because I couldn't let us.
When people ask if the dining plans are "worth it", it's kind of an unanswerable question. Only you can decide what worth you want to get from it. For us, and we're done some research on this, it is worth it. Can we go without, of course. Do we want to, NOPE!