It's just super frustrating to me when people globalize their experience. For some people, DDP is not cheaper or better than paying outright. For some people, it is. But, it's not universally more expensive nor are people pre-paying such a high amount. Don't yuck someone's yum!
Exactly this. For example, for us, it's
impossible not come out ahead when using the DxDP, without even trying,. Our vacation takes the same format every year, so it's fairly trivial for us to compare. We go at the same time each year, for the same length of vacation (21 nights), and our chosen restaurants are very similar trip-to-trip. We've done TiW only, dining plan, and no dining plan (and interestingly, a combination of both DxDP and TiW in one trip, which is a bureaucratic nightmare when the bill comes - don't do it!).
We spent the most dollars on the years we did
not have either the DxDP or TiW,
by a significant margin. We don't try and "maximise" our use out of the dining plan, but typically I do quite like things like steak, short rib, anything with truffle in it etc, which are the higher ticket items. We are two adults, no kids. We usually do one late breakfast OR a lunch, and one signature meal each night (dining plan or no dining plan). We both enjoy a cocktail with our meal, which is of course included in the plan. Because of this, it is
always far cheaper for
us to use the DxDP than not having it. However, when comparing the DxDP and TiW card, the results are not so clear for us - this is because we also make good use of the lounges and indulge in many cocktails(!), and the TiW card will usually work at most lounges on just alcohol.
We would steer towards the TiW card over the DxDP usually, just because it cuts out some of the complications in certain restaurants (especially in Disney Springs) and the saving difference between the two (for us) is fairly close. But for many other families, and the way they eat and drink, neither of these options may make any sense at all!