My experience with the DDP

[TLinden16]

I used the Disney Dining Plan for the first time this trip, and I absolutely loved it. There was a lot more included on it than I expected, and I really saved quite a bit of money using the plan. I will admit that I wound up buying more food on the plan than I would have if I had just paid cash, though (I normally wouldn’t get both a dessert and appetizer at a restaurant). Overall, it’s an excellent way to budget for your trip, and definitely a money saver.

Here is where I used my meals and snacks and the estimated cost for each meal:

Sit down

Ohana--Full sit down all-you care to eat meal. $33

Kona Café--Sticky Wings, Beef Teriyaki, Kiddie Kone--$53

Alfredos--Caesar Salad, Lasagna, Chocolate Mousse--$37

Wolfgang Puck’s Café--Ceasar Salad, Grandma Puck’s Bolognese Pasta, Key Lime Pie--$39

Nine Dragons--Pot Stickers, General Tso’s Chicken, Ginger Ice Cream--$34

Grand total for sit down meals: $196

Counter Service

Earl of Sandwich--Original Roast Beef Sandwich, Cupcake--$9

Columbia Harbor House--Garden Galley Salad, French Fries, Chocolate Cake--$14

Wolfgang Puck’s Express--Barbecue Chicken Salad, Crème Brulee--$16

Flame Tree Barbecue--Pulled beef sandwich, Key Lime Pie--$14

Cosmic Ray’s Café (used by a friend)--Chicken Strips, chocolate cake (which the counter service person forgot to give us)--$13

Grand total for sit down meals: $66

Snacks

Boardwalk Bakery--Cinnamon roll--$2

Lunching Pad--Filled Pretzel and frozen Coke (two snacks)--$7

Flame Tree Barebecue--Fries--$2

Electric Umbrella--Diet Coke--$2

Grand total for snacks: $14

Grand total for food for five nights: $276

I paid $190 for the dining plan, so I saved about $86 using the plan. I probably would have skipped many of the desserts along the way, but I still think I came out ahead by $50 from my normal dining spending for the trip.

My best uses of the plan for each service were:

Sit Down--Kona Café
Counter Service--Wolfgang Puck’s Express
Snack--Stuffed Pretzel at the Lunching Pad

My worst uses for each service were:

Sit Down--Probably Ohana (although Nine Dragons wasn’t great)
Counter Service--Earl of Sandwich--don’t get a side, too many restrictions
Snack--None

Overall, I was pleased with the plan, and will use it again on future trips (although if I am traveling with kids who don’t eat a lot, I’d probably skip it).

 

[BillyFeat]

Would you recommend Mama Melrose or Alfredos for an ADR in August?

 

[themudd4]

Thanks so much for the info. We are going in a few days and this will be our first time using the DDP as well. We tend to eat alot of character & themed meals, and after seeing our totals last year we decided it really couldn't cost us much more. Although we have a young child who is a picky eater, the little amount we are actucally paying for him on the DDP was about the same as one charater meal would have been anyway, so for us it looked like a win win!

I am also exceited to be able to use the plan to sample some of the things I normally would not have worried about such as starters and desserts. Also I like the fact that our meals are already paid for. I dont have to worry about budgetting moeny towards meals and tips etc.

Glad you made the plan work for you! Thanks for showing the numbers to prove it!

 

[TLinden16]

Would you recommend Mama Melrose or Alfredos for an ADR in August?

I have eaten at both Mama Melrose and Alfredos several times, and I prefer Alfredos. I find the quality of the food to be better at Alfredos (not that the quality is bad at Mama Melrose's), and I prefer the menu at Alfredos.

I only go to Mama Melrose if I am doing the Fantasmic dinner package. If I'm just going to get some good Italian food, I'll go to Alfredos.

 

[BillyFeat]

Thank you Karen.

Bill

 

[TLinden16]

If you want to see more detail about the food I ate while I was there, I go into great detail on my trip report, which can be found here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1113688

 

[dvcdenise]

Remeber the tip is included also which makes it a better deal

 

[budbeerlady]

Glad to see the plan worked for you! We loved it on our trip also. It very nice to not have to pay the bill every night after dinner.

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for the info, Karen. Sounds like the plan worked great. We are using the Plan for the first time in August, so its helpful to see how it all works out like that.

 

[cabanafrau]

Curious to know why Ohana was your worst TS use? Was it food? Service?

Trying it out in August for the first time. Can't convince DH and DD's to switch to Concourse Steakhouse instead. Am I going to be saying, "I told you so?" (In a very sweet, Disney way, of course.)

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Hi there Karen!

Thanks for the great report. We are going in Sept/Oct and are not burdened with figuring out if it is a good deal or not and plan to just eat what we feel like eating regardless of value.

I noted some of your choices so that I might try them.

Maybe we will meet up again sometime.

Slightly Goofy

 

[JuneDisney]

Just curios about WGP. I saw you ordered a salad for an app. Was that because you wanted a salad or because soup/salad was the only choice.

Every post I read varies as to an appetizer being aloud or just the soup and salad. We are going to be there next week and I was just curious.