Advice from dxdp experts and number crunchers!

[grumpyyoungguy]

We are taking a family trip in December and have free dining available. At first thought this would be fine but after a trip for our honeymoon in October, am really rethinking the upgrade to DXDP.

Here is the info for everyone to help give some guidance.

Merry Band of Travelers:

Myself - 42
Wife - 40
DSIL - 36 (has not been to WDW in over 20 years)
Oldest son - Celebrating turning 21 on this trip
Daughter - 18 - 1st year of college
Youngest Son - 15 and growing an inch a day it seems

We have a cabin with full kitchen at Fort Wilderness and plan on renting a car so could get groceries. 6 night stay. Booked cabin mostly due to location and it slept all 6 of us so kitchen was not prime factor.

Are on the free dining plan but contemplating an upgrade to DXDP and here is why.

Our trip in October was sans kids. We had no dining plan, only used TIW/Annual pass discount. Minus Friar Nook's, hated the CS we ate at. I cannot eat beef or French fries due to complications from weight loss surgery. My wife just felt gross after the one burger she ate and also after Casey's. Maybe turning 40 is a reality that your palette changes and so does your digestive system! Days of college life, cold pizza for breakfast and a rock gut are no longer in my vocabulary. THAT BEING SAID, we like the fact we were not ordering food we felt obligated to order like pop/shakes/smoothies or desserts if not hungry like we might on dining plan. Not only did we save money on the cost but you are not paying a tip on the upcharge you might not order if not "included."

This compiled by the fact my SIL has IBS (she does not read here so I do not have to worry she will kill me for sharing ) and cannot eat greasy foods at all, makes me start to think the upgrade is not a bad plan. Plus oldest two kids are sick of cafeteria food at college and will love the chance to eat good food rather than quick food as much as they can while on break.

So the conundrum is this:

1. Do we upgrade to DXDP?

2. Do we stay on reg free dining and use TIW/AP discount for additional TS?



A few things about how we eat:

SIL is picky. Actually beyond picky. Will not eat any raw veggies at all and will order most food as plain as possible.

All of us do not eat seafood at all minus youngest son who may try a tuna steak or some small amounts of seafood on a burger or perhaps crab cake. I know the biggest deal is often on seafood when trying to maximize value.

Boys eat a ton at breakfast so plan on using buffets when we eat breakfast. BOYS eat a ton all the time actually.

We will probably get bottled water vs. pop if anything else is not available for drinks most of the time and know we can get desserts to go if not hungry.



Here is what we have so far assuming we eat on the Deluxe.

Arrival day: GFC - lunch 1:15
Hoop de Doo - dinner 8:30

Day 2: Cape May- breakfast 7:30
50's Prime Time - Lunch 1:35
Raglan- Dinner 9 p.m.

Day 3: Boma - breakfast 8:05
Yak& Yeti - lunch 2:00
Jiko - dinner 8:45

Day 4: The Wave - breakfast 8:05
Whispering Canyon - lunch 2:15
Snacks at night for MVMCP

Day 5: Yachtsman: Dinner 5:15

Day 6: Lunch - (have reservations but may be a complimentary meal due to incident with daughter in August. Have been told we will be their "guests" so it could also mean a great table and we need to pay for the meal.)
Dinner: Biergarten - 2 TS credits for Candlelight Processional



So please give advice. I know we have 1 meal still open but can play it by ear for breakfasts.

Thanks for all the opinions. Like I said I never thought I would book deluxe but for 6 people, only paying the upgrade, it may be the one time it makes sense.

Non negotiables for TS are :Raglan, 50's and Biergarten for CP and Boma.

If you have some great CS options, let me know.

 

[havoc315]

If you hate cs, it's a good reason to avoid the ddp, but not necessarily worth upgrading to the dxdp. Especially if you will have a kitchen and plan on shopping for groceries.

You can crunch the numbers for the meals you planned, but also run the numbers for any room discount instead of free dining.

 

[grumpyyoungguy]

If you hate cs, it's a good reason to avoid the ddp, but not necessarily worth upgrading to the dxdp. Especially if you will have a kitchen and plan on shopping for groceries.

You can crunch the numbers for the meals you planned, but also run the numbers for any room discount instead of free dining.

Since we only have 6 days there with s SIL that has only been to WDW once, we were only thinking of making a few breakfasts anyway. As far as room only discounts - none were even close because of the number of people on free dining and the fact we would need to upgrade to either a 2 bedroom at a DVC location or two rooms elsewhere. Even staying at a value - it was only $400 cheaper figuring in OOP food at $50 per day per person and room discount. Yet that does not factor in we also would not be getting the $1,200 in 2 day tickets also on the current reservation for the free dining so although we save $400, we loose $800 on future tickets if you compare apples to apples.

Feeding 6 people for free was cheaper than any discount we could find or were told about for room only.

 

[Cafeen]

Since we only have 6 days there with s SIL that has only been to WDW once, we were only thinking of making a few breakfasts anyway. As far as room only discounts - none were even close because of the number of people on free dining and the fact we would need to upgrade to either a 2 bedroom at a DVC location or two rooms elsewhere. Even staying at a value - it was only $400 cheaper figuring in OOP food at $50 per day per person and room discount. Yet that does not factor in we also would not be getting the $1,200 in 2 day tickets also on the current reservation for the free dining so although we save $400, we loose $800 on future tickets if you compare apples to apples.

Feeding 6 people for free was cheaper than any discount we could find or were told about for room only.

If the room discounts won't work for your chosen location (and the choice is more important than the discount), then free dining may come out better, as it's either free dining or pure rack rate then adding food.

I'd add up the cost of those tickets and the cost to upgrade*, and compare that against the average meal costs at what you have planned to see if that works out. If the food cost comes out higher, you'll be better off going that route. If it comes out less, you'd be better off paying rack at the cabins and paying OOP for food. If it's close, it's totally a judgement call as to how much being on the plan is worth to you.

* Tickets plus the upgrade cost become the cost of the dining plan to you, so that's why they're factored in. Since without FD you wouldn't need the tickets, they are an extra cost (though, you can use them to renew APs as needed, which may help some).

 

[grumpyyoungguy]

If the room discounts won't work for your chosen location (and the choice is more important than the discount), then free dining may come out better, as it's either free dining or pure rack rate then adding food.

We would have been willing to move but the 6 people issue was the biggest obstacle.

I'd add up the cost of those tickets and the cost to upgrade*, and compare that against the average meal costs at what you have planned to see if that works out. If the food cost comes out higher, you'll be better off going that route. If it comes out less, you'd be better off paying rack at the cabins and paying OOP for food. If it's close, it's totally a judgement call as to how much being on the plan is worth to you.

* Tickets plus the upgrade cost become the cost of the dining plan to you, so that's why they're factored in. Since without FD you wouldn't need the tickets, they are an extra cost (though, you can use them to renew APs as needed, which may help some).

Can't wait till you come up with some numbers. We have added over and over just room rates with discount for AP's at mod's and value's as well as a DVC 2 bedroom plus added $50 per day per person for food and it was always within a hundred dollars - the most being $400 roughly for the value and you are right that we do not need tickets now but could save them for next fall.