7 nights DxDP...UPDATED in Post #12....what do you think now?

[mommyof3princess27]

Before I list my choices, I just wanna say that this trip includes 9 of us most days and 11 of us for a few. 3 of which are kids 13,8,4

Sunday-arrive
B airport
Lresort
D Whispering Canyon Cafe

Monday-AK/DTD
B Tusker House
L CS-Restarauntasuarus
D T-Rex

Tuesday-MK/MVMCP
B Resort
L CS-CHH
D Crystal Palace

Wednesday-DHS
B Hollywood and Vine
L Sci-Fi DIne In Theater
D 50's Prime Time Cafe

Thursday-Waterpark/Epcot
B Supercalifragalistic Breakfast @1900 PF
L CS-Liberty Inn
D Garden Grill

Friday-MK
B Crystal Palace
LTonys Town Square
DBe Our Guest OR 1900 Park Fare

Saturday-Epcot/Boardwalk
B Princess Breakfast @ Akershus
L Via Napoli
D Cape May Cafe Clam Bake Dinner/ Beaches and Cream (later)
SUnday-leave
B Chef Mickeys

 

[havoc315]

Nothing wrong with your choices, but you should carefully price it out. With 9 adult plans and only 2 child priced plans, and 21 credits...
By my count, you are only using 16 ts credits. By using the other 5 credits for cs, you are losing a lot of value on them. And then you have 6 ts character breakfasts, which are about break-even for adults on the dxdp.
You're also eating at some cheaper restaurants -- Tonys, Sci Fi, etc, which don't save much on the plan.

So it might be cheaper to simply pay oop. I'm guessing if you do the math carefully, you will find you are saving a few dollars. But it will be close, you may be losing a few dollars.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Before I list my choices, I just wanna say that this trip includes 9 of us most days and 11 of us for a few. 3 of which are kids 13,8,4

Sunday-arrive
B airport
L Rain Forest cafe
D Whispering Canyon Cafe

Monday-AK/DTD
B Tusker House
L CS-Restarauntasuarus
D T-Rex

Tuesday-MK/MVMCP
B Resort
L CS-CHH
D Crystal Palace

Wednesday-DHS
B Hollywood and Vine
L Sci-Fi DIne In Theater
D 50's Prime Time Cafe

Thursday-Waterpark/Epcot
B Supercalifragalistic Breakfast @1900 PF
L CS-Liberty Inn
D Coral Reef The kids liked the fish

Friday-MK
B Crystal Palace
LTonys Town Square
D Grand Floridian Cafe

Saturday-Epcot/Boardwalk
B Princess Breakfast @ Akershus
L Via Napoli
D Cape May Cafe Clam Bake Dinner/ Beaches and Cream (later)

SUnday-leave
B Chef Mickeys

I see what you are saying but we have kids who dont like too much other than buffetts so its hard I did make some changes though

 

[havoc315]

I see what you are saying but we have kids who dont like too much other than buffetts so its hard I did make some changes though

I wasn't suggesting you switch your plans -- it's not "savings" to get a meal that you don't want. Just that you should determine whether it would be cheaper, to take all your ideal meals, and pay oop.

I do have 1 suggestion though -- do an itinerary, planning what time you will eat your meals, and including transportation to/from meals. Be realistic. See if it works.
For example, you have Rainforest Cafe for lunch your first day. What time does your plane land? Factor in time for delays. How long will it take you to get to the hotel and check in? How long, from there to AK?
And factor those things in every day -- what time will you leave the hotel, get to the park etc. You don't want to hit a situation where you're just rushing from 1 restaurant to another, and doing nothing else the whole trip. (for example, I don't see how you squeeze a water park in between breakfast and lunch ADRs).

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I wasn't suggesting you switch your plans -- it's not "savings" to get a meal that you don't want. Just that you should determine whether it would be cheaper, to take all your ideal meals, and pay oop.

I do have 1 suggestion though -- do an itinerary, planning what time you will eat your meals, and including transportation to/from meals. Be realistic. See if it works.
For example, you have Rainforest Cafe for lunch your first day. What time does your plane land? Factor in time for delays. How long will it take you to get to the hotel and check in? How long, from there to AK?
And factor those things in every day -- what time will you leave the hotel, get to the park etc. You don't want to hit a situation where you're just rushing from 1 restaurant to another, and doing nothing else the whole trip. (for example, I don't see how you squeeze a water park in between breakfast and lunch ADRs).

I see. I didnt add any meals we wouldnt enjoy as we like all these places. well on the waterpark day, we have a CS meal so we dont 'have' to be anywhere. I will do the itinerary thing though....THANKS!

 

[havoc315]

Just using the water park as an example....
Assuming you are having the character breakfast at 8 am. Estimate breakfast till 9:30 am. Then go wait for a bus, get to water park by 10:15-10:30.
2 hours at the water park, takes you to 12:30. Going to change into dry clothes? Go back to the hotel in between?
May not be getting to Epcot till 1:30-2:30. And it's a 15-20 minute walk from the front gate to Liberty Inn.

That's why I suggest looking at a realistic itinerary, and seeing if everything fits.
And remember, with a large party, it's that much harder to keep people moving and on schedule.

 

[havoc315]

Looking again at your meals, why don't you just get the basic ddp?
You're already averaging 1 cs per day. You are mostly doing buffets, so you won't miss appetizers.
The basic ddp is $35 less per person. So you could use the ddp to pay the expensive ts meals. And pay oop for the meals that are under $35.
In other words -- pay $20-30 for breakfast buffet. Then use the ddp for lunch and dinner. And with your reservations, that would be cheaper than the dxdp. (70-80 total per adult per day, as opposed to 85-90 per day for dxdp).

 

[DisGirl1971]

I was going to say the same thing. We love Disney Dining and have done the Deluxe plan, but unless you are doing at least one 2 credit meal per day, you are eating A LOT of food and taking up a lot of park time. We have 5 kids and they enjoy restaurant and character dining at Disney World, but the Deluxe plan was a bit too much for us. We went back to the regular plan and still got to do a lot of great places and character meals, but didn't feel so bogged down with the amount of food and time it took to go to and eat the meals. When the kids get older and are more interested in the 2 credit meals or we aren't doing so many character buffets, we might try the Deluxe plan again, but that will be a while.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I was going to say the same thing. We love Disney Dining and have done the Deluxe plan, but unless you are doing at least one 2 credit meal per day, you are eating A LOT of food and taking up a lot of park time. We have 5 kids and they enjoy restaurant and character dining at Disney World, but the Deluxe plan was a bit too much for us. We went back to the regular plan and still got to do a lot of great places and character meals, but didn't feel so bogged down with the amount of food and time it took to go to and eat the meals. When the kids get older and are more interested in the 2 credit meals or we aren't doing so many character buffets, we might try the Deluxe plan again, but that will be a while.

I was talking to someone else who said 3 sit downs is alot and she doe 2 sit down and one CS but I just felt CS was a waste of a credit. I know it looks like a few days do have 3 sit downs but that is because in the beginning of our trip a few ppl do NOT have the dlxDP and we were figuring on us eating meals with them. On the Waterpark day, it doesnt open til 12 so i we dont eat a lunch and only get snacks its no big deal. Thats if the weather is permitting anyway as it will be November. Maybe I can tweak it a little bit. I have even considered downgrading to reg DP but it just hasnt clicked with me yet. IDK.....maybe I can make some signature meals? There are a few I wanted to try. I tried to keep the majority of them within the same park so we wont be running from here to there.

 

[havoc315]

I was talking to someone else who said 3 sit downs is alot and she doe 2 sit down and one CS but I just felt CS was a waste of a credit. I know it looks like a few days do have 3 sit downs but that is because in the beginning of our trip a few ppl do NOT have the dlxDP and we were figuring on us eating meals with them. On the Waterpark day, it doesnt open til 12 so i we dont eat a lunch and only get snacks its no big deal. Thats if the weather is permitting anyway as it will be November. Maybe I can tweak it a little bit. I have even considered downgrading to reg DP but it just hasnt clicked with me yet. IDK.....maybe I can make some signature meals? There are a few I wanted to try. I tried to keep the majority of them within the same park so we wont be running from here to there.

Some "signature" meals that are great for big groups and children:
The dinner shows -- Spirit of Aloha and Hoop De Doo. And they are good values under the DxDP
Of the actual signature restaurants -- California Grill is great for a big group, and very kid friendly. Especially if you book it so they can see the fireworks from the restaurant.

CS is a waste of the dxdp, but that's not to say it's bad to do CS. But if 1 of you meals each day are going to be CS, and you are only doing 1-credit TS restaurants, then the basic DDP can make much more sense. (No no dining plan at all.)
Depending on peak/off peak, the deluxe plan is $89-$89 per night. Comes with 2 snacks per day, but with that much food --- you are likely to leave more than half your snacks over.
So let's assume you are doing a $25 character breakfast buffet, a $15 CS lunch, and a $40 dinner (which would be on the high end). Plus, a $4 snack.
If paying OOP -- Total would be $84. A very very very slight loss under the DxDP.
Now... assume you are doing the basic DDP. Paying $51-53 for the DDP. Which covers the snack, the lunch and the dinner. Then paying $25 for the breakfast buffet, out of pocket --
Total cost -- $76-78.

When upgrading from the DDP to the DxDP, you are essentially paying to convert a CS credit into a TS credit, PLUS an extra TS credit.
If you are only using the extra TS credit, but not using the converted credit.. you are losing money.

As demonstrated, the basic DDP will save you a bit (not a huge amount). While your DxDP play may actually lose a few dollars.

Now, if you *wanted* to add more TS and more signatures, then the savings would add up. Plus, you could still scatter around some CS -- remember, it's possible to share CS meals, and share TS meals in some restaurants.

 

[DisGirl1971]

I was talking to someone else who said 3 sit downs is alot and she doe 2 sit down and one CS but I just felt CS was a waste of a credit. I know it looks like a few days do have 3 sit downs but that is because in the beginning of our trip a few ppl do NOT have the dlxDP and we were figuring on us eating meals with them. On the Waterpark day, it doesnt open til 12 so i we dont eat a lunch and only get snacks its no big deal. Thats if the weather is permitting anyway as it will be November. Maybe I can tweak it a little bit. I have even considered downgrading to reg DP but it just hasnt clicked with me yet. IDK.....maybe I can make some signature meals? There are a few I wanted to try. I tried to keep the majority of them within the same park so we wont be running from here to there.

Well, like I said we love Disney Dining, but doing 3 sit down meal in one park, in one day, is alot. Instead of your day revolving around park activities, it could end up revolving around eating. It's hard to say, but it sounds like the regular dining plan might work out better for you and take a bit of the planning stress off of you. But, if you keep the deluxe plan, I would book some more 2 credit meals and some dinner shows. Anyway, hope you have a magical vacation either way

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Sunday-arrive
B
L Rain Forest cafe (maybe)
D Whispering Canyon Cafe

Monday-AK/DTD
B Tusker House
L
D T-Rex

Tuesday-MK/MVMCP
B
L
D Grand Floridian Cafe

Wednesday-DHS
B Hollywood and Vine
L Sci-Fi DIne In Theater
D 50's Prime Time Cafe

Thursday-Waterpark(waterpark opens at 12)/Boardwalk
B Supercalifragalistic Breakfast @1900 PF
L
D Cape May cafe

Friday-MK(since this be our 2nd full day at the MK, the kids will be kind of tired so 3 sit downs will work for this day)
B Crystal Palace
L Tony's
D Cinderellas Round Table

Saturday-Epcot
B Princess Breakfast @ Akershus
L
D Via Napoli

SUnday-leave
B Chef Mickeys

 

[PrincessTrisha]

The one suggestion I would make is on your MVMCP day - make a dinner reservation in the park - maybe switch your Cinderella meal to that day and then enjoy the Grand Floridian Cafe on the Friday.

I think you're using 17 credits and I think you have 21 in total (excuse me if I'm wrong and you can ignore the rest of my post).

If you're looking to add a couple of meals, I'd suggest Kona for breakfast on your MK/MVMCP day - it's good food, close to the MK.

I'd also book a lunch on your Epcot day - maybe something that would be fun to try but it doesn't really matter if you end up eating there or not - like Teppanyaki or San Angel Inn or even Nine Dragons.

On your DHS day, I'd try to spread your meals out as much as you can - early breakfast, mid lunch and then a later dinner.

If you find you have snack credits left over - a good use for them is to let your kids bring home cookies (there are packaged Minnies bakeshop ones - they are giant thick cookies) or disney candy or disney chocolate for their friends (I've used my extra snack credits for my workteam - that way it doesn't cost me extra to bring each one of them home something and i'm not leaving credits behind).

As long as you're not "clean your plate" folks, you'll be fine.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

The one suggestion I would make is on your MVMCP day - make a dinner reservation in the park - maybe switch your Cinderella meal to that day and then enjoy the Grand Floridian Cafe on the Friday.

I think you're using 17 credits and I think you have 21 in total (excuse me if I'm wrong and you can ignore the rest of my post).

If you're looking to add a couple of meals, I'd suggest Kona for breakfast on your MK/MVMCP day - it's good food, close to the MK.

I'd also book a lunch on your Epcot day - maybe something that would be fun to try but it doesn't really matter if you end up eating there or not - like Teppanyaki or San Angel Inn or even Nine Dragons.

On your DHS day, I'd try to spread your meals out as much as you can - early breakfast, mid lunch and then a later dinner.

If you find you have snack credits left over - a good use for them is to let your kids bring home cookies (there are packaged Minnies bakeshop ones - they are giant thick cookies) or disney candy or disney chocolate for their friends (I've used my extra snack credits for my workteam - that way it doesn't cost me extra to bring each one of them home something and i'm not leaving credits behind).

As long as you're not "clean your plate" folks, you'll be fine.

Thanks! That is very good advice! I forgot about taking 'snacks' home.... I can change GFC to CP(we've eaten there before and loved it!!!)

 

[tzeitel]

Hi! we are also doing the DxDP and there will be 11 of us (with 3 kids 11, 9 and 7) I was worried about wasting credits and eating too much so what I did was I booked as many shows and signatures as we could!

I got us California Grill, HDD, luau, Le Cellier (dinner), Brown Derby Fantasmic! package and CRT. We are staying 10 nights and none of us likes breakfast so I tried to make it early lunches (around 11am) and then dinner (around 6:30/7pm). I did book a couple of bfast buffets to change it up a bit but then I did not book a lunch on those days. Right now we will use 22 credits out of 30 but will probably book a couple of DtD restaurants on 2 days we have set aside as non park days (don't look at me I did not make that decision!) and we will have a couple of meals on departure day since we don't leave until 6:30pm.

We did regular DDP last time (2008) and had snack credits left over. We got snacks for the plane, it worked out great! I bet this time we will have a bizillion snack credits left - so looking forward to having WDW candy once we are back home

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Hi! we are also doing the DxDP and there will be 11 of us (with 3 kids 11, 9 and 7) I was worried about wasting credits and eating too much so what I did was I booked as many shows and signatures as we could!

I got us California Grill, HDD, luau, Le Cellier (dinner), Brown Derby Fantasmic! package and CRT. We are staying 10 nights and none of us likes breakfast so I tried to make it early lunches (around 11am) and then dinner (around 6:30/7pm). I did book a couple of bfast buffets to change it up a bit but then I did not book a lunch on those days. Right now we will use 22 credits out of 30 but will probably book a couple of DtD restaurants on 2 days we have set aside as non park days (don't look at me I did not make that decision!) and we will have a couple of meals on departure day since we don't leave until 6:30pm.

We did regular DDP last time (2008) and had snack credits left over. We got snacks for the plane, it worked out great! I bet this time we will have a bizillion snack credits left - so looking forward to having WDW candy once we are back home

Yea iv probably tweaked this plan like 50 times this weekend alone! I just cant decide....I am trying to bookplaces that everyone will love...thanks for the info...Ill look into the shows!

 

[Jing]

Nerd that I am, I used the spreadsheet from http://www.dadsguidetowdw.com/disney-world-spreadsheet.html to figure out if the DxDP was a good deal. I calculated savings based on what I know we would order rather than picking the most expensive stuff on the menu. We save 8% over OOP not including snacks or eating dessert at lunch. When factoring in eating dessert and all 8 snack credits, we save 18% over OOP. Reality will fall somewhere in the middle, which means we save money no matter what.

Oddly, we would have lost money on the regular dining plan simply because we love apps, which are generally much more expensive than dessert.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Thanks!!!!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I mad some changes based on the fact the rest of our party has agreed to do the DxDP now so its a little bit easier as they are leaving on Wednesday . Now the meals can be spread out a little bit ANY tthought or recommendations would be helpful. 2credit meals wont work for us this time .

Sunday-arrive/DTD/DisneyQuest
L: Rain Forest Cafe @DTD
D: Whispering Canyon Cafe

Monday-AK/DTD
B:Tusker House(Late)
L:
D:T-Rex(early)

Tuesday-MK/BBB/MVMCP
B:Crystal Palace(early)
L:CS
D: Be Our Guest

Wednesday-DHS
B:CS
L:Sci-Fi
D:50's Prime Time

Thursday-Waterpark/Boardwalk or Epcot if too cold
B:Supercalifragilistic Breakfast
L:CS
D: Cape May Cafe

Friday-MK/Pirate League
B:CS
L:CRT?
D:Grand Floridian Cafe

Saturday-Epcot
B:Akershus Princess Breakfast
L:Coral Reef(late lunch)
D:Via Napoli(late dnner)

Sunday-
B: Chef Mickey

I think its workable...only have one day with 3 sitdowns

 

[havoc315]

Sunday-arrive/DTD/DisneyQuest
L: Rain Forest Cafe @DTD
D: Whispering Canyon Cafe

Monday-AK/DTD
B:Tusker House(Late)
L:
D:T-Rex(early)

Tuesday-MK/BBB/MVMCP
B:Crystal Palace(early)
L:CS
D: Be Our Guest

Wednesday-DHS
B:CS
L:Sci-Fi
D:50's Prime Time

Thursday-Waterpark/Boardwalk or Epcot if too cold
B:Supercalifragilistic Breakfast
L:CS
D: Cape May Cafe

Friday-MK/Pirate League
B:CS
L:CRT?
D:Grand Floridian Cafe

Saturday-Epcot
B:Akershus Princess Breakfast
L:Coral Reef(late lunch)
D:Via Napoli(late dnner)

Sunday-
B: Chef Mickey

The only question I have, are you sure you are saving money by being on the plan?
You are paying approximately $85 per night, per adult. (More if you are going during a peak period).

Right now, it looks to me, under your plan, like it might be a little cheaper to skip the DxDP. To pay entirely OOP. Or to just get the regular DDP -- use it for your CS meals and your most expensive TS meals. And pay OOP for for your cheaper meals.

I think there are many days when you get around to dinner, and you will be stuffed --- wishing to either skip your dinner reservation, or eat really lightly at dinner.