Recently I did some simple math to see if adding a DDP would be worth the cost and I found it lacking. I found that I would benefit from ONE day only and then, as @ryan1 says,
When/IF it was part of a package deal, FREE w/ the room, then it was a done deal. If it was during a festival where all the food things at EC counted as a snack; even better. Otherwise, we have found that we save money when we just pay for food as we go along.
I would call and make sure there is no other way to add the dining plan. This doesnât sound right.
Most restaurants actually donât. And many of the character meals are now 2TS credits.
And remember, you still have to pay gratuities.
Itâs really does help for the all inclusive feel.
I miss the 2 snack credits though. This gave us a snack and a soft drink throughout the day (included). We bought once and got free once (5 in a Riverside room, all Disney adults, at the time mods included the Disney dining I believe, I made out good that trip, lol).
I really donât. I mean I get that the cost did not change to reflect this. But we always left some snack credits behind
I miss the 2 snack credits. I always used them at EP festivals.
We never did. But we would use them for muffins and cupcakes for a breakfast snack some days. That helped. And on the last day the kids got to pick out a couple snacks each for the road. They enjoyed that.
I dug through her Instagram history and found this. Her most recent breakdown
https://www.instagram.com/p/DI4T6w5OL9c/?igsh=MXRnYjFqMmZycHl4Zg==
One snack credit could buy a tub of Hagen Dazs ice cream from the resort stores.
With a full kitchen in a DVC villa, that was a great value use of those snack credits.
With alcohol, it can be easier to hit those numbers.
For example, QS
I do think the parks have a better variety of drinks with alcohol.
Edited to add: I can never get that TS number to work.
If you are the person who wants alcohol at each meal, this can work to your advantage. We generally would only get alcohol once or twice for an entire trip. So, it is definitely a YMMV thing.
If you have to change your eating/drinking habits to make the plan workâŚis the plan actually working? It is the existential question of our generation! 
unlessâŚ. there was a food festival going on at ECâŚ. wow was that a GREAT way to use snack credits!
I should have read the whole thread before responding.
Fugeddabboutit with a 10yo!
No. But DH and I will get an alcoholic beverage at lunch and dinner some day- lunch doesnât usually involve hard liquor though. Even then, it doesnât always work. But it gets MUCH closer to it because Disney drinks are $$$
Thatâs fair.
But back when we got the dining plan our kids were too small for us to really enjoy the festivals and take our time with all the snacks
Nowadays though 
Yes, as soon as DS turned 10 we quit it altogether and havenât looked back.
Of course thatâs also around when we joined DVC and usually have a full kitchen when we are there
