ADRs booked... should I switch to DDP?

[Gladguy]

Hi gang!
Me and my clan are very excited about our upcoming trip! I've just booked our ADRs, and I'm wondering if I should call and switch to the Dining Plan. We have an 8-day hotel reservation, and only 7-day MYW park tickets, so I am ok to buy the 1-day qualifying park admission, if this is the best approach.

I'd love any advice or guidance from you Dis' Experts out there!

Arriving: Fri, Aug 10, 9:55 a.m.

Friday: 5:05 Dinner @ Crystal Palace
Saturday: 5:20 Dinner @ Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Package
Sunday: 8:40 Breakfast @ Ohana, 5:15 Dinner @ Sci-Fi Dine-in
Monday: nothing booked!
Tuesday: 9:40 Breakfast @ Chef Mickey's
Wednesday: nothing booked!
Thursday: 6:30 Dinner @ Mickey's Backyard BBQ
Friday: 10:30 Pampering @ Bippity Boppity Boutique, 2:40 Lunch @ Cinderella's Royal Table

Departing: Sat, Aug 18, 4:10 p.m.

 

[alldiz]

Hi gang!
Me and my clan are very excited about our upcoming trip! I've just booked our ADRs, and I'm wondering if I should call and switch to the Dining Plan. We have an 8-day hotel reservation, and only 7-day MYW park tickets, so I am ok to buy the 1-day qualifying park admission, if this is the best approach.

I'd love any advice or guidance from you Dis' Experts out there!

Arriving: Fri, Aug 10, 9:55 a.m.

Friday: 6:40 Dinner @ Grand Floridian Cafe (character meal, used to be 1900 Park, thinking/hoping of a change to Crystal Palace)
Saturday: 5:20 Dinner @ Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Package
Sunday: 8:40 Breakfast @ Ohana, 5:15 Dinner @ Sci-Fi Dine-in
Monday: nothing booked!
Tuesday: 9:40 Breakfast @ Chef Mickey's
Wednesday: nothing booked!
Thursday: 6:30 Dinner @ Mickey's Backyard BBQ
Friday: 10:30 Pampering @ Bippity Boppity Boutique, 2:40 Lunch @ Cinderella's Royal Table

Departing: Sat, Aug 18, 4:10 p.m.

Are you on a package.....cause if your 7 day pass is part of your
hotel package you won't need to buy an extra day.....
Unless you have your tickets already...

I would definately get DDP...
Looks like you have 9 TS ressies.....mickeys bbq and cindys is 2 ts....

Your best bet would be to make one more ressie for wed....
and pay oop for mickey's bbq....

Or....leave as is and pay for a bkfst out of pocket.
Kerri

 

[bradk]

there's 8 by my count, before and after the changes.

BBB is bolded, but that's not covered by the DDP.

just bear in mind that the DDP is tied to the number of nights you're staying, not days. so if it's 7 nights, something has to be OOP.

it also means converting a presumably room only reservation to a package which at this point may not be possible, but you can try. the tickets you'd have to buy are good indefinitely anyway.

 

[Gladguy]

there's 8 by my count, before and after the changes.

BBB is bolded, but that's not covered by the DDP.

just bear in mind that the DDP is tied to the number of nights you're staying, not days. so if it's 7 nights, something has to be OOP.

it also means converting a presumably room only reservation to a package which at this point may not be possible, but you can try. the tickets you'd have to buy are good indefinitely anyway.

To clarify: Given my family's dining habits (my wife and daughter don't eat much; my son and I do!) I hadn't thought the DDP would make sense for us initially. We have a room-only reservation for 8 nights, and I've already bought 7-day Park Hopper passes.

Now that I've made our ADRs (and most of them are character events), I'm rethinking my initial plan.

As I understand it, to buy the DDP, I'd need to buy at least one day of park admission. I'm ok with that, since we do have the extra day (which I had planned to spend at the water park, but whatever).

I guess I need to figure out the costs of the booked meals + unbooked meals + taxes and tips and compare that against 8-days of DDP + the extra day admission tickets.

 

[n2mm]

You can't add the DDP to a room only reservation, but you can call and see if they can change your initial reservation to a package which will include at least a one day ticket for each person on the reservation and then you can add the DDP to it.

 

[bradk]

if you do switch over to a package (and if you can) and do buy 1 day base tickets for everyone, it'll be a remarkable waste to use them on this trip. it's either $70 per person for one day or you upgrade the 7 day to 8 day for $2 per person.

 

[Gladguy]

if you do switch over to a package (and if you can) and do buy 1 day base tickets for everyone, it'll be a remarkable waste to use them on this trip. it's either $70 per person for one day or you upgrade the 7 day to 8 day for $2 per person.

OUCH! That might be the killer on this plan.

I've plotted it out, and it looks like the reservations I have come out to 9 TS credits per person (CP, HV, Ohana, SCIFI, CM all 1 TS credit, and BYBBQ and CRT are 2 TS per person), so I'd have to go OOP for at least one meal anyways.

I guess I should have scooped the tickets with the DDP when I bought them initially. I just didn't think I'd get full value. Oh well. Lesson learned for next time!

 

[bradk]

umm.. you do understand that tickets are good indefinitely, right? if you buy 1 day base tickets today, they're good 10 years from now?

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

To be honest, I'd take a very hard look at the total cost before deciding on the DDP for this trip. First, since you've already purchased your park tickets, you'll be buying a second base ticket for everyone. That's quite an expense!

You also have quite a few buffets on your schedule, and several breakfasts. These aren't necessarily the most cost-effective restaurants for the dining plan, because they're not all that expensive. (The biggest DDP savings are when you have one or more of Disney's more expensive restaurants in your plans.) There's absolutely nothing wrong with your ADR plan - it sounds fun - but not necessarily one that would benefit greatly from the DDP.

Here's some real quick math based on a single adult:

Crystal Palace: $23.99
Hollywood & Vine: $23.99
'Ohana $18.99
Chef Mickey's $18.99
Mickey's Back Yard BBQ: $44.99
Cinderella's Royal Table: $35.99
Sci-Fi Dine In: $25 - 35 (depending on what you order)

Note: you're two credits over the 7 sit down meals you'd get on the plan. So, something here would have to be paid OOP.

For sake of the estimate, I'm figuring about $10 for each counter service meal, and $3 for each snack. These will, of course, fluxuate based on what you order.

Total value of sit down food is about $200
Total value of counter services: $70
Total value of snacks: $21

Total value eaten: $291

Total cost of the DDP for this person @ $39/day is: $273
Plus cost of OOP meals, because you have 2 more meals than credits: $37.98
Plus cost of one extra base ticket to get the package: $71.36

Total amount paid: $382

I think the decision is pretty clear.

 

[bradk]

two minor points.. first, obviously the 1 day ticket will be at least 2 meals in price, but they're good for next time and can be upgraded. so as long as OP is planning on returning to WDW someday, their cost is moot.

also, OP has clarified they're staying for 8 nights, that leaves 1 credit OOP.

 

[Gladguy]

I just did up a spreadsheet to try and figure out the math, and came to some different conclusions than you did, Dave. I am afraid I miscalculated somewhere. I do have CP costing $27.99 vs. your $23.99 and CRT costing $39.99 vs. your 35.99, but that's a relatively minor differential overall.

For my family of four, I have calculated the following 8-day OOP meal budget:
Crystal Palace 81.96
Hollywood & Vine 71.96
Ohana 59.96
Sci-Fi Dine-in (estimated) 75.00
Chef Mickey's 59.96
Mickey's Backyard BBQ 143.96
Cinderella's Royal Table 129.96
Gratuities 93.41
Counter Meals 400.00
Snacks 100.00

Total would be $1,216.17.

If I get the DDP (and bradk makes the valid point that I might not even be able to get it), the cost should break down thus:

Adults 311.92
Kids 87.92
park tix 246.00
OOP meal 75.00

The park tix is to buy the 1 day qualifier, which is crazy, but like bradk says, I can use it another time. And the OOP meal is the estimate of the a la carte meal at Sci-Fi because I'm over on my credits.

The cost under the DDP would then be (by my calculations) $720.84 a savings of practially $500.

Am I doing some miscalculations in my math?

 

[dqpowell]

Here's some real quick math based on a single adult:

These are a bit off... mostly because they don't include tax & tip. My info in bold:

Crystal Palace: $23.99 $27.99 + tax & tip, $33.60
Hollywood & Vine: $23.99 According to the CM that made my Fantasmic/H&V ADR, this is now $24.99. With tax & tip, figure $30.
'Ohana $18.99 $23
Chef Mickey's $18.99 $23
Mickey's Back Yard BBQ: $44.99 $54
Cinderella's Royal Table: $35.99 $43
Sci-Fi Dine In: $25 - 35 (depending on what you order) $35

Base any analysis on these numbers, and you'll get closer to reality.

David

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I just love love love the DDP - my favorite reason is that because your whole trip is basically pre-paid and all your WDW spending dollars are for souveniers! To use that's the best part. Going into a restaurant with no concern for prices on the menu. Last year we paid about $550 for the DDP and after tallying our receipts, we spend $1200. granted we order more that we would have if we were not on the plan - but to us its a total win/win.

 

[Wendy31]

Is CRT still a pre-pay meal? (Meaning, that, when you call to schedule this ADR & give them your credit/debit card for confirmation, your debit/credit card is charged for the full amount of the meal?)

If so, then, if you decided to purchase the dining plan & convert to a MYW pckg w/ 1-day ticket, then, technically, you could have 8 TS credits (not including your CRT which you've already prepaid for) - which means then you'd actually have 1 more TS credit than what you've already listed -

Crystal Palace = 1 TS
Hollywood & Vine = 1 TS
Ohana = 1 TS
Chef Mickey's = 1 TS
Mickey's Back Yard BBQ = 2 TS
[Cinderella's Royal Table = OOP, prepaid]
Sci-Fi Dine In = 1 TS

The above would use 7 TS credits. You could schedule something for Monday or change your Fantasmic Dinner Pckg to the Brown Derby (which is 2 TS credits)...

 

[Gladguy]

Is CRT still a pre-pay meal? (Meaning, that, when you call to schedule this ADR & give them your credit/debit card for confirmation, your debit/credit card is charged for the full amount of the meal?)

If so, then, if you decided to purchase the dining plan & convert to a MYW pckg w/ 1-day ticket, then, technically, you could have 8 TS credits (not including your CRT which you've already prepaid for) - which means then you'd actually have 1 more TS credit than what you've already listed -

Crystal Palace = 1 TS
Hollywood & Vine = 1 TS
Ohana = 1 TS
Chef Mickey's = 1 TS
Mickey's Back Yard BBQ = 2 TS
[Cinderella's Royal Table = OOP, prepaid]
Sci-Fi Dine In = 1 TS

The above would use 7 TS credits. You could schedule something for Monday or change your Fantasmic Dinner Pckg to the Brown Derby (which is 2 TS credits)...

Wendy, when I called to change my Monday dinner from Grand Floridian to Crystal Palace, I asked if I could get refunded for a pre-paid ressie if I chose to go with the DDP, and was told that I could indeed do that.

I guess at this point, the real question is who's math is correct: mine or Dave's?

 

[Gladguy]

D'oh! Looks like it's my math that was wrong!

When I did my spreadsheet, I calculated the $38.99/$10.99 DDP price x 8 nights... but forgot to multiply it by 2! So I was looking at the math for one 1 adult and 1 child! When I added the full family, it doesn't look as attractive. In fact, it's basically an even wash. The real killer her was the extra $246 required for 1-day park tickets to qualify for the DDP.

I guess I should have booked it all -- room, tickets, DDP -- in one shot when I made my initial reservation. Then the 8th day would have cost $10 instead of $250, and I'd have saved about that on the cost of our vacation.

Oh well. Lesson learned. And by going through the thought process here, maybe someone else can benefit from my experience!

Safe travels, everyone!

 

[Pumbaa_]

If you have any kind of discount on your room, that would also go away with the MYW package person. Rack rate is the prevailing rate there.

Another option (again, may be too late for this trip, but something for the future), is the DDE. You do have to have an AP to purchase, but it gets you 20% off most TS meals and drinks (yes the adult variety too )

The DDE card is good for a year, and for a party of up to 10 people. We use the DDE card since we do not get an appy and dessert at every meal (tried that once, not for us, but we did try some yummy things!)

Food for thought...

 

[2forMe]

Could you maybe change you whole package and keep your already bought tickets for another time??

 

[dfarster]

Are you planning on making another trip next year?? If you don't have a discount already you could see if there is an AP rate available for you days and upgrade your tix before you check or let them know you will show it to the front desk with 24 hours. Then you are elligible for the DDE you can buy outside of Epcott.

We saved a lot more money with the room discount and DDE that with a DDP and room package, since we only had the AAA discount and for a deluxe room that saving was much better with the AP.

Only one adult in your group has to have the AP for either the room discount or the DDE.

Good luck!

 

[Gladguy]

Could you maybe change you whole package and keep your already bought tickets for another time??

Sadly, not. I simply can't afford to have $1,300 tied up in Disney park tickets to be used sometime in the future.