Which Dining plan is right for us?

[lumpy08]

Need some help here with choosing the correct Dining plan. Which would be right for us? The DDP or the DxDP? We have 3 adults and 2 kids. We have and ADR for CRT and California Grill (which would take up 2 credits each per person). I posted the ADRs that I currently have booked. From reading her on the Dis most people mention it isn’t worth it to use your credits for Signatures where they take up 2 credits per person and people usually pay OOP. The DDP will be Adult$47.99/$12.99 and the DxDDP $71.99/Child $20.99. Also, how far in advance prior to our trip do we have to decide which meal plan we select?

Day 1: Arrive - head to MK for the parade
Dinner at Ohana Adult $37.27/ Child $18.10

Day 2:
B: Chef Mickey Adult $30.88/Child $17.03
L: Quick service - either at pool or park
D: 1900 Park Fare Adult $40.46 / Child $20.23

Day 3:
B: Ohana - Lilo and Stitch Adult $26.62/Child 14.90
L: Quick service - either at pool or park
D: Tutto Italia Adults: $39.00 – 50.00 (average) Would probably have appetizer here too!)

Day 4
B: Akersaus Adult $37.26 /Child $22.35
L: Quick service - England (Fish and Chips)
D: Teppan Edo ($$?? Not sure of costs) I am sure we would have typical soup. Salad and also order sushi

Day 5:
B: Contempo Cafe
L: Earl of Sandwich
D: CRT Adult $54.76/Child$29.86 (2 TS Credits)

Day 6: MK
B: 1900 Park Fare Adult $26.62/Child $14.90
L: Quick service
D: California Grill ($$??Not sure of costs) (2 TS Credits)

Day 7
B: Kona Café : $11 per person

 

[fax290]

I did your math, dxdp comes out way ahead. You would need 19 credits and 6 nights dxdp would give you 18. I didn't count one cent for your cs choices and just the ts totals put you over the dxdp cost by approx. $32. (guessing some numbers for the restaurants you didn't list exact prices for). so 30+ dollars less plus all the cs meals (minus one would have to be oop) and the snacks/mugs you get with it, I would add it if I were you . When and if you can add it or not, I'm not sure...

 

[Cafeen]

Need some help here with choosing the correct Dining plan. Which would be right for us? The DDP or the DxDP? We have 3 adults and 2 kids. We have and ADR for CRT and California Grill (which would take up 2 credits each per person). I posted the ADRs that I currently have booked. From reading her on the Dis most people mention it isn’t worth it to use your credits for Signatures where they take up 2 credits per person and people usually pay OOP. The DDP will be Adult$47.99/$12.99 and the DxDDP $71.99/Child $20.99. Also, how far in advance prior to our trip do we have to decide which meal plan we select?

The typical "pay OOP for signatures" doesn't apply so much on the DxDDP. Due to the way the DDP is set up (1CS 1TS) the TS credits are a bit more "valuable", thus upping the typical cost to "break even".

On the DxDDP, as long as you are using about 2/3 of your credits at TS locations, you should do ok.

Credit counting below in red

Day 1: Arrive - head to MK for the parade
Dinner at Ohana Adult $37.27/ Child $18.10 - 1

Day 2:
B: Chef Mickey Adult $30.88/Child $17.03 - 2
L: Quick service - either at pool or park - 3
D: 1900 Park Fare Adult $40.46 / Child $20.23 - 4

Day 3:
B: Ohana - Lilo and Stitch Adult $26.62/Child 14.90 - 5
L: Quick service - either at pool or park - 6
D: Tutto Italia Adults: $39.00 – 50.00 (average) Would probably have appetizer here too!) - 7

Day 4
B: Akersaus Adult $37.26 /Child $22.35 - 8
L: Quick service - England (Fish and Chips) - 9
D: Teppan Edo ($$?? Not sure of costs) I am sure we would have typical soup. Salad and also order sushi - 10

Day 5:
B: Contempo Cafe - 11
L: Earl of Sandwich - 12
D: CRT Adult $54.76/Child$29.86 (2 TS Credits) - 14

Day 6: MK
B: 1900 Park Fare Adult $26.62/Child $14.90 - 15
L: Quick service - 16
D: California Grill ($$??Not sure of costs) (2 TS Credits) - 18

Day 7
B: Kona Café : $11 per person - 19

So, looks like you have 6 nights, and 19 credits used (which would be 1 too many). Dropping a QS would put you to the "right" amount (and by dropping I mean paying OOP).

Of those restaurants, 13/18 of them are for TS (72%, so greater than the 2/3 target). Looks like we're on track for a DxDDP being the better deal.

Since you put down the prices, let's do some more math! For those without prices, we'll use 12$/6$ for CS, 14$ for Kids TS. We'll also say 35$ for Teppan and 50$ for CG (same 14$ for kids and these would include app and dessert).

The DxDDP would cost you about $1,548 for 6 nights, OOP for these locations would cost you about $1,847. Of course, since we paid OOP for one of the CS, that would bring the DxDDP side up another $48, totaling $1,596. The approximate savings would be about $250 on DxDDP before adding in snacks (which roughly equate to about 5-6$ per person per night)

Of course, you may not eat the same on DxDDP as you would OOP, but since you already have the ADRs made, I'd assume that the general itinerary would remain roughly the same.

As an added calculation, let's take a look at DDP cost (taking the 6 highest price TS meals and all 6 QS meals). The DDP cost would be about $943.20, plus an extra $676 in OOP meals, totalling about $1,619. OOP would remain the same, so the savings here would be about $225 before adding in the snack (roughly $2.50-$3 per night per person). (Note, meals paid on DDP were Ohana dinner, Chef Micky, 1900 PF dinner, Tutto, Akershus, and Teppan Edo, along with all 6 QS). However, more OOP expense would also be incurred by appetizers, thus bringing the savings down a bit.

Of course, these are only estimates, but it gives a general idea of what to expect. From these calculations, it appears as though DxDDP is the solid winner with your itinerary.

(This took me awhile to write, I was busy watching stuff and got distracted a couple times, I'm sure there's a few replies above me ><)

 

[lumpy08]

Thanks for the GREAT responses!

C- I was actually going to try out your spreadsheet, but my laptop has and old excel version. Thanks for taking the time and going over my ADRs. I appreciate it! I am sure I would probably just skip one of our QS meals I just added in each day. I am sure some of the days we would even share our QS with all that food.

Our typical day:
Big breakfast - head to the park early.
Back for a swim - Then have QS or snacks
Head back to the parks - then have a TS meal - stay at the parks as long as the kids hold up.

 

[Faldred]

I was actually going to try out your spreadsheet, but my laptop has and old excel version.

Completely off-topic, but I'd suggest downloading OpenOffice. It's free and can read/write Microsoft Office formats. I wouldn't use it to interchange files that are heavily layout-dependent (such as desktop publishing), but for most daily use, you can't beat the features for the price.

 

[Cafeen]

Completely off-topic, but I'd suggest downloading OpenOffice. It's free and can read/write Microsoft Office formats. I wouldn't use it to interchange files that are heavily layout-dependent (such as desktop publishing), but for most daily use, you can't beat the features for the price.

I totally agree , that's the primary app that I wrote the spreadsheet in as well, the Excel is a "ported" version. If I get a chance, I'll also be attempting to save the Excel 2007 in Excel 2003 format today, but I can only do that at work and it's our busy time.

Glad I could help.

 

[lumpy08]

Just went with the DxDP!

Thanks everyone for all your help! Now back to the gym to get in shape before eating all that food!!!

 

[a1tinkfans]

I just want to throw this out there......... from experience. The deluxe plan is a LOT of food.
The thing many do not realize is that EACH of the sit down meals is 1 1/2 hours for food service and there is also waiting time (and travel time too if going to other area's) and that takes a lot of "time" away from parks/rides. With young kids especially we thought it was wasteful regarding the food and they'd much prefer rides to "we're eating again"

I think for adults and for "foodies" for those that need/like/require three sit downs or two a day, it is worth it. But also keep in mind that we found Disney prepped food to be high sodium (and most restaurants today are) so just be mindful to that as well.
Wishing you a very Yummy trip!

 

[squirrel]

You will have a lot of snack credits to use. I would just use snacks for one of the counter service meals you have planned.

Main Street Bakery has some great snacks that can be a meal.
World Showcase has lots of great snacks that you can eat as a meal.

Don't forget you can order appetizers on the DxDP at the TS meals.