2012 prices

[koszmok]

Thanks for the answer. I checked the small print but there is nothing specifick about this. I had a bad feeling that they can just take it away.... maybe I`m just being idealistic but in my "word" when I pay for something I`m expecting to get that exact same thing ...

The whole story just got more confusing when I received an answer from Disney about my concern which said I get One counter service meal and 2 snack /day/ guest... I hope that was just a typing misstake...

 

[koszmok]

Not really sure, but if you read the small print for any pkg, it states, 'terms and conditions subject to change'. I don't know if this would fall under that or not though. I would think it would though, because it would be impossible for a CM to tell when you booked your trip, by just looking at your room key. It would also be a nightmare for the check in CMs trying to explain to one guest why they get two snacks, but the guest behind them only gets one on the counter service plan. Too much room for errors by the CMs.

Come to think of it though, if I'm remembering correctly, back when Disney first took away the tip and appetizer from the basic DDP, there were quite a few people who had already booked it under the old plan for that next year. They lost their appetizers and tips being included. I remember there were alot of mad people here on the DIS.

Well. They just have to make a data base which would consist of all the booking numbers made prior to the changes has been officially anounced... and if someone coming to check in from that pool they would get the "old plan".

I had no idea that the CM put manually someones dining credits to the key to the world card... In this case I might get lucky since I have an official e-mail ( the one I got weeks ago because of another issue) from Disney which said I should get 2 snacks . If they do it during checking and I`m showing the printed e-mail might be....

I kept thinking. When a flight company chenges their luggage policy they always apply the policy which was valid at the time of your booking...
Disney do magic every day. They should know how to handle a problem like this ( consider the time of booking)

 

[angelmav]

Cafeen you did a really great job breaking all of this down, and HAvoc you have provided well thought out advice and information as well. Thank you both. I hadnt paid any attention to what Disney was doing with their plans in what seems like ages and you have brought me back up to speed in short order. Thanks again!

 

[mcever4]

I haven't read through this entire thread yet, so I'm sorry if this has already been asked. I have also been crunching numbers to see if the DP was worth it for my family next May. It will be me, DH, DS (15) and DD (3). When I priced with and without DP there was a $1187.00 difference. To me, that is ALOT! Especially considering my 3 year old doesn't eat enough to feed a bird! We really want to do alot of character meals since it will be DD's first visit to the world! Now for my question...when I went to crunch numbers with the menu prices, there are NO actual prices! I went to allears and the menu's here and they are all "ranging" prices like $15.99-$35.99. Why don't they have the actual price? That really makes it hard to see if you are losing or winning with the DP!

Robin

 

[LilGMom]

I haven't read through this entire thread yet, so I'm sorry if this has already been asked. I have also been crunching numbers to see if the DP was worth it for my family next May. It will be me, DH, DS (15) and DD (3). When I priced with and without DP there was a $1187.00 difference. To me, that is ALOT! Especially considering my 3 year old doesn't eat enough to feed a bird! We really want to do alot of character meals since it will be DD's first visit to the world! Now for my question...when I went to crunch numbers with the menu prices, there are NO actual prices! I went to allears and the menu's here and they are all "ranging" prices like $15.99-$35.99. Why don't they have the actual price? That really makes it hard to see if you are losing or winning with the DP!

Robin

WDW won't provide actual menu prices (I'm guessing) because then they would have to list every item that is at each and every restaurant, TS and CS, which could be a nightmare. And if a person plans their budget on menus that they see on the WDW site from January and a new chef goes into that particular restaurant in March he/she will often add/delete items which then means that WDW has to change their websites. And if a guest prints out said January menu he/she could cause a stink at the restaurant about prices or items. WDW just provides a range to CYA. AllEars relies on guests to provide them with updated menu prices.

If your three yr. old doesn't eat much and could very well eat off of your plate than the DDP probably isn't going to make sense for your family. If you plan on doing a lot of character meals where you have to pay for your DD regardless of how much she eats than you might break even.

For us, our oldest will be 10 yr. old on our next trip but with the meals we have planned we will pretty much break even. On our 2012 trip we won't be having those meals and I know that my DS will not be eating $52 worth of food each day. So we won't be getting the DDP. We can eat, in the parks, for between $100-125 a day which includes a CS and a TS (we don't normally get a dessert but may share an appetizer). With the 2012 DDP prices it'll cost our family closer to $200/day when you figure in the gratuity that the DDP doesn't cover.

 

[sharonabe]

allearsnet.com does have the prices for the buffets on their menu pages, but they may not be completely up-to-date or show the holiday pricing. Still, you should be able to use them to get a general idea. Your savings will be with your 3 yr old since you will have to pay for her at those character buffets. It's going to take some homework and a little math to see if it's worth it for you. If you can keep it to two or maybe three buffets and the rest QS, then OOP will probably be your best bet.

 

[Cafeen]

The aforementioned AllEars.Net is what I use 90% of the time when looking at prices. Disney DOES put some of their menus online, but I've never seen them for any Fixed Price, Family-Style, or Buffet place. The ranges are pretty useless as they have them built in such a way that includes way too much (the price point ranges are too high to be useful).

The DIS (wdwinfo.com, the disboards parent site) USED to be very good at this as well, but they've slipped recently (I pay a lot of attention to menu prices, or at least the delivery systems, for a project I've been working on, on and off, for the past couple of years).

 

[Diegosmom]

Are you also factoring in gratuity for your TS meals as an OOP expense while using the DDP. You might be saving a lot more than $5 paying OOP. I have a spreadsheet that I use when figuring the DDP vs. OOP that figures in any sort of discount we might get (AP or DVC), tax and gratuity. For us it has always been a close tie between the DDP and OOP. Since our oldest is now considered an adult in WDW's eyes I'm sure paying OOP will be a much smarter money choice on upcoming trips.

Not sure why I would need to factor in tip...If I pay OP for my food I pay the tip...If I am on dining plan I pay tip...Only difference might be if I am paying OP I might not get a drink or hubby may not get a dessert so therefore our total would be less and less tip...but that would then lean toward OP being a better deal and.

 

[Sandy321]

very comprehensive reviews here

http://www.easywdw.com/category/dining/

(other planning tools are on the right when you follow the link above - I'm not affiliated with the site, I just found tremendously helpful information)

 

[Cafeen]

Not sure why I would need to factor in tip...If I pay OP for my food I pay the tip...If I am on dining plan I pay tip...Only difference might be if I am paying OP I might not get a drink or hubby may not get a dessert so therefore our total would be less and less tip...but that would then lean toward OP being a better deal and.

Planning for an increase in tip cost over the total trip should be figured on both sides. However, when taking an identical itinerary, these numbers cancel each other out, so it's easy to take a shortcut. Even when adding in just a few drinks or desserts you may not get when paying OOP, assuming everything else is the same, it's negligible.

However, when the dining itinerary changes drastically (e.g. if you're going from 2-3TS per night down to 4 TS over 8 nights), then the increase in tip cost certainly should be taken account of as those added tips will make a considerable difference.

Now, I'm not saying that the tips have anything to do with the cost vs. value analysis of the plans (since they aren't covered, they don't fit into that calculation), only that the added amount should be taken into consideration for the total trip cost. If you're on the fence between two considerably different itineraries, then the difference in cost between the two total trips may be a considerable factor.