Yet another DDP vs DxDP question...sorry long post

[Disney_Fanatic]

So I have been debating for 2 weeks now if we should upgrade to the DxDP for our trip in September. It's only DBf and myself and we are currently on the regular FD DDP. We have used DDP in the past 4 years so we pretty much know what we will order off the menus.

With the regular DDP, we'll be paying appetizers, CS breakfast at POP, and occasionally an extra snack OOP. We'll also get the refillable mug OOP. So after calculating my cost using some spreadsheets that I got from DIS, I realized that the difference between my OOP and the upgrading cost is $300 (I have also factor in the $$ for gratuities under the two different plans).

I currently have TS ADRs at Le Cellier, Ohana, Kona Cafe, Teppan Edo, Chef de France and Cape May Cafe. I think I have one of the best ADRs out there and if we upgrade to DxDP, we could also try Yachtsman, HBD, Sanaa and throw in some character breakfast. But DBf is also worried that the DxDP is too much food for us and we'll not be able to enjoy all the food we want to eat. I just feel bad to pass out on such a good deal for DxDP...should we upgrade or not?

 

[Dsny4fun]

I'm going in Aug with DS 16 and have upgraded free dining to deluxe. I enjoy having 2 table service meals a day (nice break from the summer heat) and a few days we will also do some character breakfast buffets. I will probably not eat all the food that deluxe comes with...but I'm certainly going to enjoy trying !!!!!

 

[a1tinkfans]

Well for us it is MORE about the "TIME" to eat sit downs for many meals in a day ...THAT TIME is what freaked us out....never mind all the extra food. The real bang for your buck so to speak is being able to get to eat at great restaurants you normally would not go to, perhaps cost prohibitive.
From experience I can say that TIME for sit downs as you know is like 1 1/2 hours (not counting the travel time) so that alone......more than once a day for us was just CRAZY and we felt cheated with losing park time.
IF however eating is the "main" part of the trip for you (as it is for some) then go for it....try great places, and EAT yummy food.
Personally it was not a good choice for our family style....regular dine fits us great though....
Good Luck with your decision!!

 

[hmgray95]

We did the deluxe plan last year, and did find it to be a lot of food, but we did use all of our credits, including our snack credits (we used a lot of snack credits for drinks). What we really enjoyed about the plan was the flexibility it offers...for example we did not have any breakfast scheduled our first morning there, so a few days before we were leaving, I called and added a late ressie for CP. Another time, we decided that we were just too full and tired of table service meals, so we decided to cancel a ressie and do a CS meal instead. Had we been on the regular plan, we would not have been able to change things up like this, as we would not had the option of choosing either a TS or a CS meal. We also found that had we paid OOP for all of the meals/snacks, we would have paid over $300 more than we did for the plan, so it did save us money.

The downside for us was that we did really get tired of eating.....and doing so many table service meals in order to get our money's worth out of the deluxe plan was very time consuming.

Bottom line for us was that it was definitely worth doing one time....but unless we could upgrade from free dining, or if we were doing an adults only trip where we were planning on doing a lot of 2TS meals, we would not do the deluxe plan again.

Hope that helps in making your decision!

 

[gigi1313]

we've done both... and we've got mixed results... the regular ddp has us reaching into our pockets to supplement... the dxddp had us reaching into our pockets for gratuities... we also found we spent too much time "running" from restaurant to restaurant... where we benefitted was that we were able to do all the dinner shows, CRT, where gratuity was included... i'm still on the fence about upgrading this year...

 

[Disney_Fanatic]

Thanks for everyone's inputs! I think the time factor is very important in deciding whether to upgrade or not. We are parks people and would always like to hit as many rides as possible. I would like to upgrade and try new restaurants but we just cant imagine eating nonstop between snacks and meals...LOL

So I guess we'll stick with DDP for now, I'm sure O I'll think really hard about thos when we hit our 45 day mark!

 

[jhryb]

I currently have TS ADRs at Le Cellier, Ohana, Kona Cafe, Teppan Edo, Chef de France and Cape May Cafe. I think I have one of the best ADRs out there .....

I agree that you have one of the best ADRs out there. I have never been to Cape May Cafe, perhaps I better book another trip

 

[Faldred]

I think the "time issue" is, in general, overstated with regards to DxDP vs. basic DDP.

basically, you have two groups of people:

1) People traveling with small kids -- the kids need breaks, and are more often than not schedule-driven. If you have children who still need naps, and they can nap in the stroller, you need never take an "afternoon break" from the parks; the meal breaks are the quiet time you'll need, and really not much more time (and less hassle!) than CS.

2) Everyone else -- in this case, the recommended plan for DxDP is to do only two meals a day: a late breakfast or early lunch and a 2 TS dinner. The snacks will cover everything else. With park hoppers, I actually like the idea of the lunch option over late breakfast (unless you can get a really late seating) -- go to AM EMH, hit everything you can early, do your meal while most people are just getting to the park, and then hop to a less crowded park. Dinner can be scheduled around the rest of your day; either early enough to allow a return to the parks, or late enough so that you finish what you want to do before a late dinner.

 

[pianoronni37]

With the regular DDP, we'll be paying appetizers, CS breakfast at POP, and occasionally an extra snack OOP. We'll also get the refillable mug OOP. So after calculating my cost using some spreadsheets that I got from DIS, I realized that the difference between my OOP and the upgrading cost is $300 (I have also factor in the $$ for gratuities under the two different plans).

Can I ask, where did you find these spreadsheets? It might help in our decision as well... we're debating the same thing!!

Thank you!!

 

[Disney_Fanatic]

Can I ask, where did you find these spreadsheets? It might help in our decision as well... we're debating the same thing!!

Thank you!!

I used the 3rd link that gives you the comparison spreadsheet for DDP, DxDP and OOP.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2188572

I have tweaked the formulas on the spreadsheet a little bit so that it fits my FD and DxDP situation. Let me know if you would like my version, just PM me your email address and I'll send it over!