? about Dining Plan and OOP $$ paid on Dining...

[starstruck93]

We're going to Disney in Sept and me, DH and DS are all on the dining plan. I have 3 meals that are considered "entertainmant" so they take up 2 dining credits for my TS meals. I went through the dining section on here and got an estimate of what each meal was going to cost and then made a plan for which one's we would pay OOP and which ones we would put on our DP. My total for the week Out-of-pocket was still about $400.00. Does this sound accurate considering what my ADR's are? I've never done this before so I'm hoping I'm getting the best price. Thanks so much for your help! Here's How I have it broken down.....

Sept. 9 (arrival day) Chef Mickey's 6:30 for dinner COST $85.00- DP
Sept. 10 Dinner- Mickey's BBQ 6:30 $117 OOP
Sept. 11 Breakfast 7:55 Ohana's $65 OOP :: Dinner 4:55 Crystal Palace $75 DP
Sept.12 Breakfast Cape May 8:00 $60 OOP :: Dinner Aloha Dinner at Luau Cove 8pm $130 DP
Sept.13 Donald's Safari Breakfast 8:05 $65 OOP :: Dinner Le Cellier 6:35 $130 DP
Sept.14 CRT Breakfast 10:30 $100 OOP :: Dinner Cape May 6:30 $70 DP

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We are planning on paying OOP for CRT next trip and our check out breakfast.

Good luck. Crunching the numbers can be so annoying!! Let me see if I can see anything else. I would say pay OOP for the 2 ts meals like the BBQ, Aloha and CRT but then that still leaves some more meals.

How about upgrading to the DxDP??

 

[brymolmom]

Yeah - upgrading might be less expensive - I don't know - I stick with the BASIC plan, but that is a LOT (IMO) to pay OOP while on the Dining Plan - plus the cost of gratuity figured in (not sure if you did that already in your estimates).

Your child looks young - are you sure you want to do this many long shows PLUS another sit down meal during the day?? Some people like to do that - just thought I'd ask. Also - way more character meals than we would do - but again, that's personal preference. It's just that they're so chaotic with the - you go get some food, oh-no here comes Goofy, come back and grab the camera, oh - ok now take 2 bites, but oh someone needs more fruit, run to buffet and run back to grab camera as Minnie arrives, two more bites of food......So I definitely limit our character meals.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

We're going to Disney in Sept and me, DH and DS are all on the dining plan. I have 3 meals that are considered "entertainmant" so they take up 2 dining credits for my TS meals. I went through the dining section on here and got an estimate of what each meal was going to cost and then made a plan for which one's we would pay OOP and which ones we would put on our DP. My total for the week Out-of-pocket was still about $400.00. Does this sound accurate considering what my ADR's are? I've never done this before so I'm hoping I'm getting the best price. Thanks so much for your help! Here's How I have it broken down.....

Sept. 9 (arrival day) Chef Mickey's 6:30 for dinner COST $85.00- DP
Sept. 10 Dinner- Mickey's BBQ 6:30 $117 OOP
Sept. 11 Breakfast 7:55 Ohana's $65 OOP :: Dinner 4:55 Crystal Palace
Sept.12 Breakfast Cape May 8:00 $60 OOP :: Dinner Aloha Dinner at Luau Cove 8pm $130 DP
Sept.13 Donald's Safari Breakfast 8:05 $65 OOP :: Dinner Le Cellier 6:35 $130 DP
Sept.14 CRT Breakfast 10:30 $100 OOP :: Dinner Cape May 6:30 $70 DP

You should look at upgrading to deluxe, you get 3 TS meals a day and the upgrade would be about the same.

 

[JohnNYC]

I think you should upgrade to the Deluxe plan as well. In addition to being close what you are spending out of pocket anyway, you'll also get appetizers at each sit down meal, refillable mugs, and an extra snack credit per person per day.

 

[lurkernj]

If I'm counting correctly, you would need 13 TS credits to cover this (per person). With Deluxe dining, you will get 15, so you would get a couple of bonus meals, plus the mugs, appetizers, and an extra snack, for less than these meals will cost you oop. I vote for upgrading

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I am paying for 5 oop. I ck all the menus and did the math . It didn't pay for me to upgrade. Also I sat and figured out which ones were better for me to use on the dp and which ones to pay oop. It takes a lil time ,research but I got the answers I needed.

 

[ljcrochet]

Did you price upgrading to the deluxe dining?

 

[starstruck93]

We are planning on paying OOP for CRT next trip and our check out breakfast.

Good luck. Crunching the numbers can be so annoying!! Let me see if I can see anything else. I would say pay OOP for the 2 ts meals like the BBQ, Aloha and CRT but then that still leaves some more meals.

How about upgrading to the DxDP??

Yeah, I wanted to upgrade to the Deluxe DP but because we got the Military Discount (40% off) they would'nt let me do it. I went through and tried to figure out the best options for us. I ended up getting it down by $150 from my original plan. Thanks! April

 

[starstruck93]

Yeah - upgrading might be less expensive - I don't know - I stick with the BASIC plan, but that is a LOT (IMO) to pay OOP while on the Dining Plan - plus the cost of gratuity figured in (not sure if you did that already in your estimates).

Your child looks young - are you sure you want to do this many long shows PLUS another sit down meal during the day?? Some people like to do that - just thought I'd ask. Also - way more character meals than we would do - but again, that's personal preference. It's just that they're so chaotic with the - you go get some food, oh-no here comes Goofy, come back and grab the camera, oh - ok now take 2 bites, but oh someone needs more fruit, run to buffet and run back to grab camera as Minnie arrives, two more bites of food......So I definitely limit our character meals.

LOL!, yeah, you may be right. Maybe I over booked our meals. My DS is 3.5 and he has an attention span of about 10 minutes tops! LOL This is out first trip ever with a child, staying at the resorts, doing the character meals, the WHOLE 9 yards! I really had no clue about all of the planning until I joined this board. Do you think I should take some of the meals off? Is it over stimulation for a 3.5 Year old? LOL!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

LOL!, yeah, you may be right. Maybe I over booked our meals. My DS is 3.5 and he has an attention span of about 10 minutes tops! LOL This is out first trip ever with a child, staying at the resorts, doing the character meals, the WHOLE 9 yards! I really had no clue about all of the planning until I joined this board. Do you think I should take some of the meals off? Is it over stimulation for a 3.5 Year old? LOL!

I see about the military discount. I understand the "going overboard" when it's your first big trip. I almost did that last trip and cancelled a few ADR's before we went and even cancelled one while we were down there because it was just too much food and too much stimulation. We do love character meals (did 5 on our last 8 day trip!) and do a lot of them!! We see the characters and eat at the same time and it keeps the kids occupied. They love the character meals.

I would definitely cut some out if I were you. I saw a review on Aloha and didn't find it very appealing. I would cut that. Also Cape May dinner I would cut. I would even cancel the BBQ. It does look like fun but I don't know if your DS would have the attention span for it. My DD is almost 3.5 too and will be 4 on our next trip and I'm not doing any shows (would like to do the HDDR) next trip because of her! I know she can't sit through a 2 hour show like that or if she could it take a lot of energy from me to be on top of her. Not what I want to do during the show.

 

[starstruck93]

Did you price upgrading to the deluxe dining?

I really wish I could, but we can't because we got the Military discount of 40% off.

 

[starstruck93]

I see about the military discount. I understand the "going overboard" when it's your first big trip. I almost did that last trip and cancelled a few before we went and even cancelled one while we were down there because it was just too much food adn too much stimulation. We do love character meals and do a lot of them!!

I would definitely cut some out if I were you. I saw a review on Aloha and didn't find it very appealing. I would cut that. Also Cape May dinner I would cut. I would even cancel the BBQ. It does look like fun but I don't know if your DS would have the attention span for it. My DD is almost 3.5 too and will be 4 on our next trip and I'm not doing any shows (would like to do the HDDR) next trip because of her!

Yeah, I'm glad you brought his up..... I'm going to look over my list and cut a few too. It will make DH happy too! LOL! I just remember taking a cruise a few years ago and we over booked all of those darn excursions and it was miserable to try to get to all of them! It was exhausting to say the least... this sort of feels the same.Thanks for your help! April

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Yeah, I'm glad you brought his up..... I'm going to look over my list and cut a few too. It will make DH happy too! LOL! I just remember taking a cruise a few years ago and we over booked all of those darn excursions and it was miserable to try to get to all of them! It was exhausting to say the least... this sort of feels the same.Thanks for your help! April

No problem! It's so easy to "want to do it all" on one trip but it's not possible. Also that Aloha is at 8 pm. Will your son be able to hang that late??? It's a 2 hour show I believe.

 

[skier_pete]

Yeah, I'm glad you brought his up..... I'm going to look over my list and cut a few too. It will make DH happy too! LOL! I just remember taking a cruise a few years ago and we over booked all of those darn excursions and it was miserable to try to get to all of them! It was exhausting to say the least... this sort of feels the same.Thanks for your help! April

Yeah, holy cow...you won't spend any time in the parks..the restaurants are nice, but they are the least impressive thing about Disney World.

SkierPete

 

[starstruck93]

No problem! It's so easy to "want to do it all" on one trip but it's not possible. Also that Aloha is at 8 pm. Will your son be able to hang that late??? It's a 2 hour show I believe.

LOL! I WISH my son went to be early! He's a night owl... he goes to be around 11:30-12! Some nights I want to pull my hair out!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

LOL! I WISH my son went to be early! He's a night owl... he goes to be around 11:30-12! Some nights I want to pull my hair out!

My DD is the same way but Disney is a whole new ball of wax. She was clonking out at 9 pm easily when at home she's up until 11 pm.

 

[robinb]

We're going to Disney in Sept and me, DH and DS are all on the dining plan. I have 3 meals that are considered "entertainmant" so they take up 2 dining credits for my TS meals. I went through the dining section on here and got an estimate of what each meal was going to cost and then made a plan for which one's we would pay OOP and which ones we would put on our DP. My total for the week Out-of-pocket was still about $400.00. Does this sound accurate considering what my ADR's are? I've never done this before so I'm hoping I'm getting the best price. Thanks so much for your help! Here's How I have it broken down.....

Sept. 9 (arrival day) Chef Mickey's 6:30 for dinner COST $85.00- DP
Sept. 10 Dinner- Mickey's BBQ 6:30 $117 OOP
Sept. 11 Breakfast 7:55 Ohana's $65 OOP :: Dinner 4:55 Crystal Palace $75 DP
Sept.12 Breakfast Cape May 8:00 $60 OOP :: Dinner Aloha Dinner at Luau Cove 8pm $130 DP
Sept.13 Donald's Safari Breakfast 8:05 $65 OOP :: Dinner Le Cellier 6:35 $130 DP
Sept.14 CRT Breakfast 10:30 $100 OOP :: Dinner Cape May 6:30 $70 DP

LOL!, yeah, you may be right. Maybe I over booked our meals. My DS is 3.5 and he has an attention span of about 10 minutes tops! LOL This is out first trip ever with a child, staying at the resorts, doing the character meals, the WHOLE 9 yards! I really had no clue about all of the planning until I joined this board. Do you think I should take some of the meals off? Is it over stimulation for a 3.5 Year old? LOL!

Oh my goodness! Yes take some meals off. You will not be in the parks and you are wasting way too much valuable park time over breakfast. This is your first time with your son ... don't spend it all in restaurants.

I would keep:

Sept. 9 (arrival day) Chef Mickey's 6:30 for dinner - 1TS
Great way to start your trip! Plus, you can judge how well your son will do with costumed characters.
Sept. 11 Breakfast 7:55 Ohana's $65 - 1 TS
Nice breakfast and in your hotel.
Sept 11 Dinner 4:55 Crystal Palace - 1 TS
Winnie the pooh and friends, great for little kids.
Sept 13 Dinner Le Cellier 6:35 - 1 TS
Many people LOVE this restaurant.
Sept.14 CRT Breakfast 10:30 - Pay OOP
I wouldn't book that for a boy, but he might be young enough to enjoy being in the castle.
Sept 14 Dinner Cape May 6:30 - 1 TS
I love this buffet .

I would cancel:

Sept. 10 Dinner- Mickey's BBQ 6:30 $117 OOP
Sept.12 Breakfast Cape May 8:00 $60 OOP
Sept 12 Dinner Aloha Dinner at Luau Cove 8pm $130 DP

You really don't need that many character meals!!!

 

[dd50]

With a child that age I would only do 1 TS a day. I don't think he would sit through the 2 hour shows yet. Remember you are on vacation and if you are always worrying about getting to the next ADR you won't enjoy your trip.

 

[starstruck93]

My DD is the same way but Disney is a whole new ball of wax. She was clonking out at 9 pm easily when at home she's up until 11 pm.

Yeah, I now he's going to be so tired! One night the EMH are from 10-1am...I I think it's the night of the Aloha dinner. I REALLY want to go back to the MK! LOL! I told DH, I'm just going to put Maddox in the stroller with some blankets and pray he goes to sleep! LOL