Just booked all our ADRs for the DXDDP and it is saving me over $500!

[triplefigs]

We are 2A/3C. Cost of 7 days of the DXDDP is $1400. Calculated the cost of meals (included tip at CRT and HDDR) at $1780. The tip at 18% (which I may only 15% at buffets) is $217. This savings (with 2 credits left) is at $163.

How I computed these savings: I went to allears.net to view the menus and prices. I calculated each non-buffet TS meal and included drink, appetizer, dessert, and main course. For each buffet I just calculated the set price. I made an Excel spread sheet to keep track so that I could see exactly what we would save. I summed all the food items for each person, added tax, and 18% tip at CRT and HDDR (they are included in the DXDDP). This subtotal was used to compute my savings. I calculated 18% tip on each total to see what my OOP tip would be, sans HDDR and CRT. It was complicated, but I really wanted to see if we could get our moneys worth out of the plan.


I made all TS. We will not eat all the food at each meal, but it is definitely allowing us to try lots of new places:2 Signature restaurants, almost all character meals (the kids' favorites), and a dinner show. We prefer TS, taking a break, and the TS allow us down time and good character interaction which is vital for my DS who is special needs. So for us, the DXDDP is fantastic!

We each have 21 credits total. We booked:

• CP Dinner (1)
• CRT breakfast (2)
• CM Dinner (1)
• H&V Character Lunch (1)
• Brown Derby Dinner (2)
• WCC breakfast (1)
• HDDR dinner (2)
• 'Ohana character breakfast (1)
• Plaza lunch (1)
• California Grill Dinner (2)
• Garden Grill lunch (1)
• PSB dinner (1)
• 50's PT lunch (1)
• Narcoossee's dinner (2)
• 1900 PF breakfast (1)

That is 20 credits, so I still have 1 credit left to use. Any suggestions?

We also will be getting refillable mugs ($11.99 each) and 2 snacks per day per person (currently listed as max $4 per person) which is 70 snacks total. That adds another $60 plus $280 to the prior $163 for a grand total savings of

$503 with 1 credit left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​

 

[crazykids]

Maybe add on Coral Reef so the kids can see all of the fish?

We area family of 5 w/ 3 very young kids & we are very interested in the deluxe plan as well. I'm already finding myself putting combinations of TS restaurants together for next year & I haven't even taken this years trip yet! I think it will be a lot more relaxing for everyone to have sit down meals & I love the option of starting every morning w/ a character breakfast!

We are 2A/3C. Cost of 7 days of the DXDDP is $1400. Calculated the cost of meals (included tip at CRT and HDDR) at $1780. The tip at 18% (which I may only 15% at buffets) is $217. So with TWO credits left, I'm still saving over $163.

I made all TS. We will not eat all the food at each meal, but it is definitely allowing us to try lots of new places:2 Signature restaurants, almost all character meals (the kids' favorites), and a dinner show. We prefer TS, taking a break, and the TS allow us down time and good character interaction which is vital for my DS who is special needs. So for us, the DXDDP is fantastic!

We each have 21 credits total. We booked:

• CP Dinner (1)
• CRT breakfast (2)
• CM Dinner (1)
• H&V Character Lunch (1)
• Brown Derby Dinner (2)
• WCC breakfast (1)
• HDDR dinner (2)
• 'Ohana character breakfast (1)
• Plaza lunch (1)
• LTT dinner (1)
• Garden Grill lunch (1)
• PSB dinner (1)
• 50's PT lunch (1)
• Yachtsman's Steak House dinner (2)
• CM breakfast (1)

That is 19 credits, so I still have 2 credits left to use. Any suggestions?

 

[gigi1313]

wow, denise, that looks like a GREAT lineup!!! i'd say you are making great use of your dining credits!!

have you considered spirit of aloha luau? my dd loved it when she was younger (and wants to go back)!

we also really enjoyed artist point on our last trip... it was kid-friendly, didn't feel stuffy, the food and service were outstanding and it was great wandering around the WL

 

[NMW]

Sounds great! I can't make my Deluxe dining plan ADR's until November. I can't wait!

 

[daniel475]

it seems that the list of 2008 list of restaurants on the disney dining plan is shorter than the 2007. please correct me if i am wrong. i don't think i misread the information.
daniel475

 

[jerry557]

it seems that the list of 2008 list of restaurants on the disney dining plan is shorter than the 2007. please correct me if i am wrong. i don't think i misread the information.
daniel475

Because of the new plans, Disney has to get contracts signed with the non-Disney owned restaurants. The list will certainly grow within the next few months.

 

[paulh]

Is the $163 taking into account 4 refillable mugs for resort say $15 each.56 snacks at max $4 so your saveings could be $447 plus your 2 meals
Paulh

 

[Uncleromulus]

Just curious-how did you calculate the tip before you know what you will order at each TS meal?

 

[paulh]

Just curious-how did you calculate the tip before you know what you will order at each TS meal?

go to www.allearsnet.com and they have a full list of menues with prices under there dinning section
Paulh

 

[gigi1313]

Just curious-how did you calculate the tip before you know what you will order at each TS meal?

my guess is you just ballpark it...

 

[Uncleromulus]

In which case you could wind up paying a bit more than you at first thought--
It may be that the OP calculated the tip total just based on the cost of the plan.

 

[triplefigs]

Is the $163 taking into account 4 refillable mugs for resort say $15 each.56 snacks at max $4 so your saveings could be $447 plus your 2 meals
Paulh

No, I didn't!!! I'm going to edit my OP.

 

[triplefigs]

Just curious-how did you calculate the tip before you know what you will order at each TS meal?

How I computed these savings: I went to allears.net to view the menus and prices. I calculated each non-buffet TS meal and included drink, appetizer, dessert, and main course. For each buffet I just calculated the set price. I made an Excel spread sheet to keep track so that I could see exactly what we would save. I summed all the food items for each person, added tax, and 18% tip at CRT and HDDR (they are included in the DXDDP). This subtotal was used to compute my savings. I calculated 18% tip on each total to see what my OOP tip would be, sans HDDR and CRT. It was complicated, but I really wanted to see if we could get our moneys worth out of the plan.

 

[triplefigs]

In which case you could wind up paying a bit more than you at first thought--
It may be that the OP calculated the tip total just based on the cost of the plan.

No, I did it specific per TS and what I knew we would most likely order. It may vary a little, but it will not be significant.

 

[gigi1313]

am i understanding that the DXDDP includes gratuity?

 

[honeymo78]

No, none of the packages in 08 include gratutity.

 

[thunderbird1]

What an amazing trip you're going to have! As for the extra credits, even though it's not the "best" $$ use of the plan, I don't think I could skip CS meals entirely, so I'd probably do a couple of those. Although you won't "save" as much on the cost of the meal, you would save on the tip!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I would have definitely gone for the deluxe DDP except my dd turns 10 in September! No way is $70 a day worth it for a girl who will eat mostly chicken nuggest and macaroni and cheese. If I was able to get a child's Deluxe DDP for her I would have snapped it up in a minute!

 

[Colleen27]

Just curious-how did you calculate the tip before you know what you will order at each TS meal?

What I did to figure the value of the plan was to look over the menus on Allears and add up likely orders for my family, so the tips are based on the hypothetical orders I put together. They might change a little because different choices might result in a total bill a few dollars higher or lower, but its a good enough rough estimate for budgeting's sake.

Here's a chart with the numbers I came up with for our 11 night trip. Deluxe Dining Chart We are eating mostly table service, with a few CS meals at places we enjoy or want to try and several credits left unplanned for times when we might just want a quick something between meals - I'm sure we'll use a couple at Boulangerie Patisserie on one of our Epcot days, and probably at Main Street bakery on one of our Magic Kingdom days. I also haven't figured in the value of snacks (88 snacks @ an average of $3 = $264) or refillable mugs (4 mugs $12 = $48).

On planned meals alone, I came up with a savings of $317. Add in snacks and mugs and we're looking at $629 savings over paying for the same things out of pocket. The more important number, to me anyway, is that we had roughly $2100 in meals/snacks planned when we were staying offsite (Dolphin) and going without a meal plan, so the deluxe plan is saving us about $100 over what we would have spent without it, and we're doing more TS and more signature meals with it than we would have without.

 

[Colleen27]

How I computed these savings: I went to allears.net to view the menus and prices. I calculated each non-buffet TS meal and included drink, appetizer, dessert, and main course. For each buffet I just calculated the set price. I made an Excel spread sheet to keep track so that I could see exactly what we would save. I summed all the food items for each person, added tax, and 18% tip at CRT and HDDR (they are included in the DXDDP). This subtotal was used to compute my savings. I calculated 18% tip on each total to see what my OOP tip would be, sans HDDR and CRT. It was complicated, but I really wanted to see if we could get our moneys worth out of the plan.

If anyone else wants to undertake this sort of cost analysis for their own travel plans, I uploaded a very similar spreadsheet to my website along with the HTML comparison chart. The link is in a couple of my prevous posts, and in my signature.