It's taken me a few weeks, but I finally got around to putting in all my receipts for our dining from the surprise trip I planned for my son in late June. He had no idea we were going and thought he was missing the last day of school (a 70-minute "day") because of a doctor's appointment. I took him to lunch at Cheesecake Factory and told him the truth, that we were going right to the airport from lunch. Here's a video of the reveal: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=420644190824&saved (I think this should be visible to everyone.)
ETA: apparently the Facebook link does require login, so here's a different way to see it http://yfrog.com/75hfdz
THE DINING PLAN
Now, I know this is a subject of much debate here on the DVC boards where many of us use TIW. I've done the regular DDP twice - once for "free" and once when I paid. Both times were early in the program when appetizer and tip were included. But I never felt like it matched our dining style. We rarely eat counter service and most of our dining is at signature restaurants, so 1 TS credit per day didn't go very far and the QS credits were wasted. The DxDP might have worked, but after joining DVC, we found we use our kitchen for breakfasts and some lunches or dinners, so we weren't eating every meal out.
A moderate stay is a different story. No kitchen means eating out. Alex eats NO quick service at all. None. He will eat like a champ at a breakfast buffet, so I booked one of those every day (CRT one day, which isn't technically a buffet, but anyway). I booked signature restaurants for each dinner, too. The one exception was the CRT day when dinner was planned for the Plaza at MK, but we ended up at WCC instead.
We dined at:
Crystal Palace (B)
Tusker House (B)
Akershus (B)
Cinderella's Royal Table (B)
Hollywood & Vine (B)
Flying Fish (D)
California Grill (D)
Yachtsman Steakhouse (D)
Citricos (D)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (D)
Beaches & Cream (L) (used 1 credit for Alex and OOP for me with TIW)
Because I had so many meals planned, I started looking at the DxDP and sorting out whether it was a good deal for us or not. It turned out we had exactly the right number of meals to use our credits, and given the heat and our love for frozen lemonade, I knew the snack credits would not go to waste. Booking the package allowed me to sign the reservation over to AAA and get their perks, including the Diamond Lot parking pass. (I ended up only using the parking pass, the voucher for arcade points and the luggage tags.)
The only time I felt like we had "too much food" was at WCC but I always feel that way there because I always get the skillet and I like it, and it's one place where I overeat if I'm not careful. (I hate that "too full" feeling.) I blame the cornbread.
Our only bad experience was at Flying Fish where my food (the signature potato-wrapped snapper) was just bland and Alex's grilled cheese was disgusting to the point that they didn't charge credits for his meal. At no time did I try to "maximize" the plan by ordering expensive things - I got what I wanted. In many cases I got appetizer AND dessert because I wanted those items. I rarely ate all of anything, which is pretty typical for me regardless of where I'm eating. Usually I just want a bit of something savory at first and a bit of something sweet at the end, and the DxDP gave me the option of doing that without fretting about the cost of eating half an appetizer or half a dessert.
The results of the plan use:
Estimated dining value (meals and snacks) before we traveled: $715
Estimated OOP cost for same using TIW: $588 (includes tips)
Deluxe Dining Plan cost: $465
Estimated OOP tips on DxDP: $100
Estimated DxDP TOTAL cost with tips: $565
ACTUAL value of food: $730
ACTUAL OOP for tips PLUS unplanned extras like wine, cheese boards, 1 non-credit meal for me at B&C: $184
Note that I did use TIW for the extra wine and cheese and having those TIW receipts netted me free valet parking at those resorts. So there are hidden savings that I didn't bother calculating. I did pay for valet parking a couple of times, too. $12 is still a racehorse deal IMO.
Note that the estimated food totals above did NOT include having any wine (I rarely drink it - it was a whim) or cheese boards/extra appetizers, either. But I didn't go back and add those items to the estimate since it was...an estimate. So I spent OOP $60 more than my TIW estimate but that included 3 glasses of wine, a B&C meal and 3 cheese boards. Not a bad deal for "overspending" by $60. I probably shouldn't count that B&C meal since it wasn't in the TIW estimate, either, but $18 isn't going to make or break the comparison.
Another thing - it was a lot of going to restaurants, and in the heat of June, that worked out well. We did mostly late breakfasts and early dinners, so the occasional snack was enough to tide of over between meals, and we did go to McDonald's one day for lunch on the way to Target to get new swim goggles. I didn't add that in because I didn't keep the receipt - and we would have done it even without the dining plan, so I don't count it as affecting the totals.
Would I do the DxDP again? Yes, maybe so. I know it's all in my head, but it was nice to have it all paid for ahead of time. It was convenient. I'm still debating about using it for our late August trip with my MIL. We have a lot of meals planned for that one so it might be worth it, and I currently have it added to our reservation. I guess I have about 39 days to decide to remove it.
THE RESORT: Caribbean Beach Resort
I was worried about the whole moderate thing given that I'm a true deluxe girl at heart and a confirmed fan of my kitchen and villa space! But in the end, it was fine, perhaps because it was just the two of us. What worked well:
So, I'd rank it as a success. Did I LOVE it? No. Was it adequate. Yes. And Alex really liked it (though he missed DVC, too, and made several comments to that effect). For $800 and no points used (I would have had to borrow), I think we got a great deal. I liked it much better than CSR (where I stayed 1x pre-child and 1x for 1 night with Alex when we began our Beach Club vacation a day early). It was a much better choice for Alex than POFQ would have been and probably the same in size experience as POR but with a much better pool experience.
All that said, I'm REALLY looking forward to BCV in a few more weeks! A moderate stay is maybe more bearable when you know a cozy villa is just around the corner!
ETA: apparently the Facebook link does require login, so here's a different way to see it http://yfrog.com/75hfdz
THE DINING PLAN
Now, I know this is a subject of much debate here on the DVC boards where many of us use TIW. I've done the regular DDP twice - once for "free" and once when I paid. Both times were early in the program when appetizer and tip were included. But I never felt like it matched our dining style. We rarely eat counter service and most of our dining is at signature restaurants, so 1 TS credit per day didn't go very far and the QS credits were wasted. The DxDP might have worked, but after joining DVC, we found we use our kitchen for breakfasts and some lunches or dinners, so we weren't eating every meal out.
A moderate stay is a different story. No kitchen means eating out. Alex eats NO quick service at all. None. He will eat like a champ at a breakfast buffet, so I booked one of those every day (CRT one day, which isn't technically a buffet, but anyway). I booked signature restaurants for each dinner, too. The one exception was the CRT day when dinner was planned for the Plaza at MK, but we ended up at WCC instead.
We dined at:
Crystal Palace (B)
Tusker House (B)
Akershus (B)
Cinderella's Royal Table (B)
Hollywood & Vine (B)
Flying Fish (D)
California Grill (D)
Yachtsman Steakhouse (D)
Citricos (D)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (D)
Beaches & Cream (L) (used 1 credit for Alex and OOP for me with TIW)
Because I had so many meals planned, I started looking at the DxDP and sorting out whether it was a good deal for us or not. It turned out we had exactly the right number of meals to use our credits, and given the heat and our love for frozen lemonade, I knew the snack credits would not go to waste. Booking the package allowed me to sign the reservation over to AAA and get their perks, including the Diamond Lot parking pass. (I ended up only using the parking pass, the voucher for arcade points and the luggage tags.)
The only time I felt like we had "too much food" was at WCC but I always feel that way there because I always get the skillet and I like it, and it's one place where I overeat if I'm not careful. (I hate that "too full" feeling.) I blame the cornbread.
Our only bad experience was at Flying Fish where my food (the signature potato-wrapped snapper) was just bland and Alex's grilled cheese was disgusting to the point that they didn't charge credits for his meal. At no time did I try to "maximize" the plan by ordering expensive things - I got what I wanted. In many cases I got appetizer AND dessert because I wanted those items. I rarely ate all of anything, which is pretty typical for me regardless of where I'm eating. Usually I just want a bit of something savory at first and a bit of something sweet at the end, and the DxDP gave me the option of doing that without fretting about the cost of eating half an appetizer or half a dessert. The results of the plan use:
Estimated dining value (meals and snacks) before we traveled: $715
Estimated OOP cost for same using TIW: $588 (includes tips)
Deluxe Dining Plan cost: $465
Estimated OOP tips on DxDP: $100
Estimated DxDP TOTAL cost with tips: $565
ACTUAL value of food: $730
ACTUAL OOP for tips PLUS unplanned extras like wine, cheese boards, 1 non-credit meal for me at B&C: $184
Note that I did use TIW for the extra wine and cheese and having those TIW receipts netted me free valet parking at those resorts. So there are hidden savings that I didn't bother calculating. I did pay for valet parking a couple of times, too. $12 is still a racehorse deal IMO.
Note that the estimated food totals above did NOT include having any wine (I rarely drink it - it was a whim) or cheese boards/extra appetizers, either. But I didn't go back and add those items to the estimate since it was...an estimate. So I spent OOP $60 more than my TIW estimate but that included 3 glasses of wine, a B&C meal and 3 cheese boards. Not a bad deal for "overspending" by $60. I probably shouldn't count that B&C meal since it wasn't in the TIW estimate, either, but $18 isn't going to make or break the comparison.
Another thing - it was a lot of going to restaurants, and in the heat of June, that worked out well. We did mostly late breakfasts and early dinners, so the occasional snack was enough to tide of over between meals, and we did go to McDonald's one day for lunch on the way to Target to get new swim goggles. I didn't add that in because I didn't keep the receipt - and we would have done it even without the dining plan, so I don't count it as affecting the totals.
Would I do the DxDP again? Yes, maybe so. I know it's all in my head, but it was nice to have it all paid for ahead of time. It was convenient. I'm still debating about using it for our late August trip with my MIL. We have a lot of meals planned for that one so it might be worth it, and I currently have it added to our reservation. I guess I have about 39 days to decide to remove it.
THE RESORT: Caribbean Beach Resort
I was worried about the whole moderate thing given that I'm a true deluxe girl at heart and a confirmed fan of my kitchen and villa space! But in the end, it was fine, perhaps because it was just the two of us. What worked well:
- The pool - Alex LOVED it and this is the first Disney vacation where we swam every single day. The kiddie slide is much more fun than any kiddie slide at a deluxe (those are barely slides). The theme of the pool was great and having zero entry is really nice. We never had trouble finding a chair. My only complaint is that the pool was too warm - after a few minutes in it, it didn't feel very refreshing.
- The room - I booked us a pirate room at the AP rate. I think it was $808 for 5 nights with tax. Not a bad deal at all. It was cute and there was plenty of drawer space for our clothes (I always unpack everything). I was worried about floor space for our Lockers (we had our 2 delivered, plus a new 3rd one) but that ended up not a problem at all. I sorted out what we needed from them (not as much since we weren't in a villa) and stacked the kitchen and empty Lockers next to the adjoining room door between the wall and bed and kept the toiletries and assorted Disney needs stuff Locker open and next to the stack.
The things I didn't like - not much space for luggage, open "closet", tiny shower/toilet room, and under-window a/c unit. The vanity area was dark, so I ended up putting on my makeup in front of the window. I do this all the time in hotels, so I can't ding CBR for the darkness, but in a villa, that window is to the balcony, not to the public walkway. So, less privacy in general.
(A note for Locker users and other people who hate the dimly-lit bathrooms. I got this plastic shower mirror to store. Thanks to the hook and hole, I can hang it on any window using a suction cup hook - PERFECT for window-side grooming. )
What I DID like is that we had a good room location - ground floor (no elevators at CBR), near the corner so very convenient to parking, which was plentiful.
- The resort/resort center- check-in was painless, but it definitely seemed much more of a DIY operation. The difference in number of staff was noticeable to me. We didn't need any help aside from someone to just check us in, so it wasn't an issue. The resort really is huge. Because we had a rental car and no burning desire to walk in the 95F heat, we drove from our room location (building 37) to Old Port Royale for swimming and other needs (mostly swimming). Driving was fast and easy and we parked in the very same spot in the lot every single day! (a good spot, too)
The resort shop is large and has a good selection. The arcade was large, but the air hockey tables (my son's favorite thing) didn't work very well.
The food court was...a food court. We had 1 burger & fries meal there and got some snacks there and that was it. We did use our refillable mugs for lemonade and Powerade.
So, I'd rank it as a success. Did I LOVE it? No. Was it adequate. Yes. And Alex really liked it (though he missed DVC, too, and made several comments to that effect). For $800 and no points used (I would have had to borrow), I think we got a great deal. I liked it much better than CSR (where I stayed 1x pre-child and 1x for 1 night with Alex when we began our Beach Club vacation a day early). It was a much better choice for Alex than POFQ would have been and probably the same in size experience as POR but with a much better pool experience.
All that said, I'm REALLY looking forward to BCV in a few more weeks! A moderate stay is maybe more bearable when you know a cozy villa is just around the corner!
We are doing 1 TS and 1 Sig. each day (4 night trip). We're eating at Jiko 2x's, Flyin Fish, Yachtsmann, LeCellier and Sanaa for lunch, Boma and WC for breakfast. How did you like Yachtsmann? I hope FF is better when we go!
!!! Glad you had a wonderful trip. I know most of us in 
Did you order any apps from Yachtsmann? Have you had anything else there besides the filet?
