Interesting observation about the cost of DDP

[Lesley]

Back in 1994 my dh and I planned a budget trip to WDW. I graduated from college the week before our trip and I had budgeted almost down to the penny. I saved all my babysitting income and money from my summer job the previous year (summer camp counselor at Core Creek Park in Langhorne PA) and anything extra I could save from my regular teaching assisstant job. We saved extra money my dh got from doing extra drafting work. We flew Spirit airlines from Atlantic City NJ. We chose to stay on property at CBR since we were not old enough to rent a car (staying off property on our honeymoon had proved difficult). We took the Mears shuttle to WDW. This was before the internet....so I looked up all the info I needed from books, mainly Birnbaum's and the Unofficial Guide.

When I carefully planned our food and souvenir budget I decided we'd need about $100 a day to have a really great time and not worry constantly during the vacation about our budget. That was $40 per day for each of us for food and $20 per day collectively for souvenirs (a tshirt each, some fridge magnets, and, as it turned out...a little something for our baby as I had a + pregnancy test the weekend I graduated!).

The food budget broke down like this-
$40 each per day-
$10 each for breakfast and lunch, $20 each for dinner

That budget worked out perfectly and I think we came back with a few dollars to spare.

The point I'm making, if you haven't seen it for yourself yet, is that the DDP in its current incarnation actually costs less than what we budgeted for food in 1994....that's 12 years ago!

Of course, we now have an 11yo ds...another adult on the plan...and two dd's...so its not like our budget is the same. But when I look at the DDP in comparison to our 1994 trip, it really looks like a bargain!

 

[Beana9802]

Thanks for breaking it down! :0) Sounds good to me!

 

[Katy Belle]

When we went in Feb. 2004 I budgeted $200 a day for food. We are a family of 5, at the time the boys were 4,6,8. We didn't end up spending that much, we ended up eating at the POR food court most evenings. Now we are doing the DP this Dec. The oldest will be 11 and count as an adult. Even with that it is less than the $200 a day we budgeted almost 3 years ago. I agree. Its a good deal. The thing I don't like is losing my flexibility. We cancelled a lot of our ADRs that trip due to not wanting to take the time to eat! I'm hoping this trip will be more relaxed and we will be willing to sit down. I also scheduled all ADRs in the parks, so we don't have to waste time trying to get to other resorts.
Katy

 

[3PRINCESSMOM]

IMO, those resort rates are definitely a cost factor when it comes to DDP.

 

[Katy Belle]

If you book through a AAA agent you can get the AAA discount AND the dining plan. I called Disney and AAA and AAA's price was $200 cheaper for our 6 nights, two rooms, at POP.
Katy

 

[NMW]

Great observations! We went to Disney for our honeymoon in 1995. Unlike you, we did NO research. I think I was too busy planning the wedding. We let the travel agent handle everything. On our wedding night we opened a bunch of the cards we had recieved as gifts and took any cash we found!

I remember spending alot on food. This may have also been that the only reservations we could get were for more expensive places, as most everything was booked. I know, poor planning.

When we returned 6 years later with 2 kids (and a tremendous amount of planning), we got the meal plan that included all 3 meals. I think it was the gold plan then (not sure), and we loved it. I think the newer version is even a better deal price-wise. I know it doesn't include breakfast, although you can use snack credits for some breakfast items. I don't understand when people say the DDP is not a good deal. We spent way, way more on our Dec 2005 trip WITH the DDE card than we would have if we had the DDP. It wasn't available to DVC members then, now it is!!

As for paying rack-rate, we always did that anyway. We bought DVC in 2004, to avoid that!

 

[legalslave]

IMO, those resort rates are definitely a cost factor when it comes to DDP.

It is only the FREE dining that you can't get with a discounted room rate. You can get PAID dining plan with a discounted room rate.

 

[Lesley]

3PRINCESSMOM, I can see where that would make a difference in some ways....but it doesn't if you're staying DVC (which we are for the paid portion of our dining plan).

I was just trying to compare what we paid for food in 1994 vs. what we'll pay on the dining plan. Technically with DVC our room is costing us less than the $89 a night we paid for CBR back then (I think that was a AAA rate).

They had packages available with dining back then too....but the cost was well above what I priced out without a package for everything.

 

[indigoxtreme]

IMO, those resort rates are definitely a cost factor when it comes to DDP.

We always had to go during July when my children we little and we never could get a discount rate for that time period. Now we can chose when we want to go and can get value season rates etc. It would have been nice in the 80's and 90's to have had the dining plan back then. My poor family suffered through breakfast in the rooms and sandwiches for lunch. Then McD's or something similar for dinner. But no more. DDP is great and my MIL, son and DGD appreciate it as much as I do not have to fix sandwiches for lunch in the room. ALso we shared many CS and ate breakfast most days at the hotel CS. We ate in the room 3 times out of 9 days.