Is Disney Dining Plan all its cracked up to be?

[Bartman]

We are a family of 5 including 3 teenagers (14,15,17 when we go),we are looking at going in August 2019. I am desperately saving so stay on site at Disney for 1 week of our holiday as we have never done this before.

One of the big appeals and justifications for this extra cost is having the free DDP (if it happens this year), the thinking behind this is we wont need any spends for food that week, I appreciate I will need spends for tips though.

Am I right in thinking this way or do people still end up sending their money on food while on the DDP.

[duchy]

With five in one room including three teenagers you'd definitely get the best value out of free DDP . I reckon with couples or small families it isn't always the best value, but for five sharing it is.

[maclondon]

I don't think it saves lots of money as such (depending on how you use the credits its less or more than ad hoc) - mind you with hungry teens you'll get your moneys worth!

BUT theres a massive mental positive of having it all pre paid, esp as disney restaurants are pretty expensive. We also used the $200 card for the final day (after we had left on site and moved to a villa) to pay for a character meal.

so basically never spent a penny on food - other than tips and wine - BE WARNED wine is expensive in disney restaurants.

[sha9]

It entirely depends how you use the plan. We had 4 signature meals (2 credits each) so did end up spending money on food. We didn’t really venture out of Disney though and wasted some credits on breakfast that would have been better used elsewhere.
It also depends on the make up of your party and how you eat. A family of 4 can use a couple of quick service credits and a couple of snacks for lunch and still have plenty to eat. As two adults who don’t always want to eat the same meal we seldom share meals and often struggled to find something as a snack credit that would eek out a meal to allow us to do that.
We don’t find the heat reduces our appetite either so will happily eat 3 meals a day whereas others can have breakfast and dinner and be satisfied.

In general terms DDP allows you to have two meals and two snacks a day. One of those snacks could be breakfast (or even lunch depending what you get) and the other a treat. So theoretically it should be enough. For some it’s too much and for us last year not enough.

[maclondon]

art of animation studio may be good for you - or cabin - theres not many places capable onsite of 5 adult sized people.

Back in 2015 i originally had an AoA suite booked and paying extra to upgrade free dinning - it worked out 100 cheaper to book two rooms in contemporary and get full free dinning! There were 6 of us though.

[MrsBC]

We love the DDP (we've never had the quick service dining plan) when it's included. There's certainly enough food, snacks - we often use these for breakfast, lots of drinks (and now even an alcoholic drink with meals if you choose it), you honestly don't need to buy more food. Remember to factor tips into your budget, but if you book at the right time Disney often give a $200 gift card too which helps.
You would still have to tip wherever you are, so that's a separate thing.

[myaquarium]

We class it as an all inclusive holiday. When you do the math its saves you a fortune. when you start your holiday it's all paid and you can relax going into a restuarant and not worrying about the bill. Makes eating out really enjoyable.

[coventry_family]

Why restrict yourselves to average food on site when there are so many awesome restaurants offsite? Plus with 3 teenagers you would be wanting to look at a villa to give you all plenty of space.

[JessBlu]

We never spend money on food or drink when we are on DDP.

With the exception of beer, wate, snacks and cereals from Walmart at the beginning of the Holiday $50 ish). That keeps us going for the 14 days and there is plenty of food.

[myaquarium]

Yes no matter what you decide there's great restuarants on and off site. And there's some really poor ones as well. We just like the aspect of turning up and having our $250 bill signed off. Over 10 days that's at least $2000 plus $40 a day for snacks etc. That's without our quick service meals if we even eat them. The tips normally go on our $200 credit card. Which is another perk. Choices choices