advice on oop vs ddp on which adr

[mamarissa]

a little about us...me, dh, dd12, ds9, ds3, and dd9months are staying at the poly 5/28 thru 6/4 (dh and i will be celebrating our anniversary on the trip 5/31)

i'm hoping to get some advice on which of the following we should pay oop for, as we are over our 7 ts credits....

ohana (dinner)
mama melrose (F! dinner)
tusker house (breakfast)
le cellier (lunch-anniversary)
cali grill (dinner-anniversary)
1900 (breakfast)
kona (dinner)
kona (breakfast)
50's (dinner)
whispering canyon (dinner)

so obviously we have 11 ts credit meals planned and only 7 credits to use....at first thought, i planned on paying for the 3 breakfasts oop and maybe 50's or mama?? but now i'm thinking cali grill? its 2 ts credits but looking at the menu, i don't think it would be worth spending 2 on, when i look at what we would probably order....

also, i do not have my heart set on 50's or kona for dinner, they were more just "fillers" and are on busy park days for us where we could do something qs just as easily.

any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!! thanks in advance!!!

 

[ashmarie06]

out of all those, I would pay OOP for Kona Breakfast and 50's dinner. I can't comment on some because i've never been there! Hope that helps

 

[Cafeen]

a little about us...me, dh, dd12, ds9, ds3, and dd9months are staying at the poly 5/28 thru 6/4 (dh and i will be celebrating our anniversary on the trip 5/31)

i'm hoping to get some advice on which of the following we should pay oop for, as we are over our 7 ts credits....

ohana (dinner)
mama melrose (F! dinner)
tusker house (breakfast)
le cellier (lunch-anniversary)
cali grill (dinner-anniversary)
1900 (breakfast)
kona (dinner)
kona (breakfast)
50's (dinner)
whispering canyon (dinner)

so obviously we have 11 ts credit meals planned and only 7 credits to use....at first thought, i planned on paying for the 3 breakfasts oop and maybe 50's or mama?? but now i'm thinking cali grill? its 2 ts credits but looking at the menu, i don't think it would be worth spending 2 on, when i look at what we would probably order....

also, i do not have my heart set on 50's or kona for dinner, they were more just "fillers" and are on busy park days for us where we could do something qs just as easily.

any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!! thanks in advance!!!

The "Which to pay OOP?" puzzle is my third favorite game in Disney planning (the ADR puzzle and the "Will I save money with a dining plan?" games are the top two ).

So, let's take a look at what we got. For starters, keep in mind that the "cost" for a DDP TS credit is about $35 (that is, what you actually pay for the credit, there's some funky math that was developed here by Faldred that goes into all of that, I won't bore you with that part though ).

So, the first order of business is to take a look at the choices and see if anything falls under that mark of covered items.

The first one that screams out is Kona breakfast. This is a certainty to pay OOP for as breakfast with covered items will likely only come to about $16 plus tax (or ~$17). A far cry from the $35 TS cost. So everyone gets to pay OOP here.

Now, we look at what's left and there's a good mix. We know a few will certainly be out, Le Cellier, Ohana Dinner, and MM F! package.

The next bit is where it gets tricky. Since character breakfasts (especially the ones chosen) are relatively cheap compared to dinners for adults, I'd suggest paying OOP for either 1900 PF or Tusker House (whichever is cheaper) FOR ADULTS ONLY. These are good values for kids, but not so much for adults.

This splits your remaining credit overage up to 2 adults and 3 kids.

Next, I'd take a look at the kids' meals at 50s, Kona (dinner), and WCC. Likely, they are all the same price (or very close to it). Pick one here to pay OOP FOR KIDS ONLY. If they're all close to the same price, pick the latest one, just in case you find yourself with an extra kids credit, you can use it instead of OOP, otherwise, if you pay OOP first, you may end up being stuck with an extra unused credit, and that's far worse than getting only some value out of it.

So, we're left with 2 for the adults, and 2 for the kids now, and 5 meals to compare. Pay OOP for the kids at CG. Kids' meals are pretty cheap and spending 2 TS for them isn't going to work too well.

Now we have the last 2 adult credits to figure out. This is where it gets a bit tricky. Check the menus at Kona (dinner), WCC (dinner), 50s, CG, and the price for adults at your 1900PF breakfast. If 2 of the meals from the 1TS combined are less than half of your CG dinner, use credits @ CG and pay OOP at those two lower ones. Otherwise, pay OOP at CG. (Take special note that the flatbreads at CG are huge, a meal in-and-of-themselves and are very good).

Note, the difference may be in the sub $20 range at this point. So unless you're super-concerned over a few dollars, just paying OOP for everyone at CG will also work out just fine. Also, if you do decide to do QS instead of 50s and Kona dinner, then certainly pay DDP for CG (TH adult + Kona breakfast will not likely equal half of your CG meal).

 

[mamarissa]

Thank you for the very detailed answer! I figured Kona breakfast would be a good oop choice. Lots to consider-but thanks for the perspective!

 

[Cafeen]

Thank you for the very detailed answer! I figured Kona breakfast would be a good oop choice. Lots to consider-but thanks for the perspective!

No problem at all, I enjoy doing these sorts of things (and I'm putting off processing my photos from last Sept... there's a lot to go through ). You should see my spreadsheet that I use for my own stuff

In essence, just take a look at the meals and order by estimated cost of covered items from high to low. Divide CG by 2 to emulate the per-credit cost, and the restaurants to remove should make themselves obvious .

(Also note, that for even more savings and confusion, you can split what you pay DDP and OOP, so, if you only want a flatbread, but your DH wants to go all out and get the Filet at CG, you can pay OOP and he can use credits. It starts to get messy and confusing here, but it's another option for sure.)

 

[goofyintoronto]

The "Which to pay OOP?" puzzle is my third favorite game in Disney planning (the ADR puzzle and the "Will I save money with a dining plan?" games are the top two ).

So, let's take a look at what we got. For starters, keep in mind that the "cost" for a DDP TS credit is about $35 (that is, what you actually pay for the credit, there's some funky math that was developed here by Faldred that goes into all of that, I won't bore you with that part though ).

So, the first order of business is to take a look at the choices and see if anything falls under that mark of covered items.

The first one that screams out is Kona breakfast. This is a certainty to pay OOP for as breakfast with covered items will likely only come to about $16 plus tax (or ~$17). A far cry from the $35 TS cost. So everyone gets to pay OOP here.

Now, we look at what's left and there's a good mix. We know a few will certainly be out, Le Cellier, Ohana Dinner, and MM F! package.

The next bit is where it gets tricky. Since character breakfasts (especially the ones chosen) are relatively cheap compared to dinners for adults, I'd suggest paying OOP for either 1900 PF or Tusker House (whichever is cheaper) FOR ADULTS ONLY. These are good values for kids, but not so much for adults.

This splits your remaining credit overage up to 2 adults and 3 kids.

Next, I'd take a look at the kids' meals at 50s, Kona (dinner), and WCC. Likely, they are all the same price (or very close to it). Pick one here to pay OOP FOR KIDS ONLY. If they're all close to the same price, pick the latest one, just in case you find yourself with an extra kids credit, you can use it instead of OOP, otherwise, if you pay OOP first, you may end up being stuck with an extra unused credit, and that's far worse than getting only some value out of it.

So, we're left with 2 for the adults, and 2 for the kids now, and 5 meals to compare. Pay OOP for the kids at CG. Kids' meals are pretty cheap and spending 2 TS for them isn't going to work too well.

Now we have the last 2 adult credits to figure out. This is where it gets a bit tricky. Check the menus at Kona (dinner), WCC (dinner), 50s, CG, and the price for adults at your 1900PF breakfast. If 2 of the meals from the 1TS combined are less than half of your CG dinner, use credits @ CG and pay OOP at those two lower ones. Otherwise, pay OOP at CG. (Take special note that the flatbreads at CG are huge, a meal in-and-of-themselves and are very good).

Note, the difference may be in the sub $20 range at this point. So unless you're super-concerned over a few dollars, just paying OOP for everyone at CG will also work out just fine. Also, if you do decide to do QS instead of 50s and Kona dinner, then certainly pay DDP for CG (TH adult + Kona breakfast will not likely equal half of your CG meal).

I just love the way you dissect the DP and explain it in great detail. Im not good with this stuff. it took me a few reads to totally grasp everything. lol.

 

[Cafeen]

I just love the way you dissect the DP and explain it in great detail. Im not good with this stuff. it took me a few reads to totally grasp everything. lol.

I like numbers They often make more sense to me than words. I've also been doing this for coming on 4 years now (*gasp*) so it's gotten pretty easy. I'm very happy that I can attempt to pass my understanding of the mechanics on to others to help them out, since I know that everyone is not as interested, nor good with, number that I am! (There's many things that said others are much much better than me at though!... like English...)

I'm also a nerd.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I like numbers They often make more sense to me than words. I've also been doing this for coming on 4 years now (*gasp*) so it's gotten pretty easy. I'm very happy that I can attempt to pass my understanding of the mechanics on to others to help them out, since I know that everyone is not as interested, nor good with, number that I am! (There's many things that said others are much much better than me at though!... like English...)

I'm also a nerd.

well I suck at math, and my grammar isnt exactly the best either. so i'd say youre the winner here. not me. Lol. but if I have any more questions re: numbers, i know who to turn to.

 

[summermac]

PP gave a great detailed answer. And I would use that knowledge during the trip to make decision on OOP vs DDP even in the moment. You just never know what you may decide to eat that day so.....

And that last statement is part of the reason why I prefer going without DDP.

 

[DJFan88]

The "Which to pay OOP?" puzzle is my third favorite game in Disney planning (the ADR puzzle and the "Will I save money with a dining plan?" games are the top two ).

Well put!!!! Always having fun with Disney!

 

[smiths02]

I am not going to dissect everything as well as has been done...my instinct tells me Kona breakfast and Cali Grill OOP and then axe one of the other ADRs.

I am saying this because when we overbooked TS meals on our last trip (which made sense because DH wasn't going to be there the entire trip and we got "free dining")...we had too many CS credits left (even with trying to use some on breakfast, 3 snacks, etc.) and we eneded up leaving with food for the car ride home--but man that is expensive car ride home food (vs. a value meal at McDs or something )

Have you made a rough plan of your CS meals?

 

[mamarissa]

As far as cs meals go, we usually just stop whenever we are hungry and grab whats closest. We love flame tree at ak so we will definitely stop there for lunch on our ak day. Other than that no real plans.