Thanks all. Sat down and did some math and estimating last night, and it would appear TIW is the way to go unless I'm missing something. My wife's worry is that QS for lunches/breakfast along with snacks, etc... will add up and it may just be easier to stick with the Deluxe DP for convenience. I do appreciate all the tips and advice. Most of these will be our first time at these restaurants....did BOG for Breakfast and CRT during the xmas party last year along with Garden Grill, 50's diner, Tony's, Olivia's, etc..
I think where the HUGE difference is in the tip being "included", so i'm a strong lean toward TIW
I don't know how you're family eats, but when considering the cost of CS meals, you should come out WAY ahead by skipping the DP. I'm currently budgeting $40/day for CS/snacks for myself and my 2 DD's (15 and 13) for our trip in October. We eat breakfast in the room and then a TS meal for dinner. In between, we "graze" so we usually share meals. We order a "main" dish (chicken, pasta, pizza, etc) and then maybe get 1-2 sides (fries, breadsticks, etc) and then the girls share a soda and I either get my own or drink water. It's usually under $25 so that leaves us another $15 for snacks, which we also share. We might share a small popcorn, Dole Whip, or a soft pretzel with cheese, any of which is enough to tide me over between "meals". This is all in addition to things like granola bars, fruit snacks and whatever other snack items we packed in our park bag for the day.
I put together our "comparison" (DP vs OOP) to see if it would work for our upcoming trip. The first thing I did was look at the TS meals that we have planned... Yachtsman (2), HDDR (2), Boma breakfast (1), 50's PTC (1), BOG dinner (2) and the
DVC member night at Splitsville. That's (9) TS credits for a 7-night stay. (I counted (1) TS credit for Splitsville because we could eat there anyways, just without the "special event"). Since we are staying 7 nights, we would need the DxDDP to cover all of those meals. We would get an additional (12) credits per person, plus the snack credits and the mugs. Right now, after looking at the menus and picking out what we would realistically order and eat (and I estimated on the high end, including an appetizer and dessert with the TS meals), the cost of those meals comes out to just under $900, taxes and tips included. I also have $400 budgeted for CS meals and snacks which is about $55/day. I plan to keep it around $40 and use the "surplus" at the F&W booths. Ok, so my overall OOP budget is $1300 and as you can see, it will be plenty of food...no skimping here! Now, if we wanted to "keep it simple" and pay with "credits" on the DxDDP, it would cost about $2500...and that does NOT include the tips, which would easily add another $200. On top of that, we would have to try and use up those (12) meal credits PER PERSON (on meals that we normally share) AND we'd have more snacks than we know what to do with. So the way I see it, there is NO reason why I should pay an extra $1400 or so, just so I don't have to "feel" like I am paying with real money.
We did the dining plan when the "kids" were actually "kids" by Disney standards. It was a better deal back then, especially since the girls liked the buffets and character meals. The DP's work for some people/families, but it is important to run the numbers and make sure that you are not grossly overpaying for something that you don't need. If you like the pre-paid convenience, put together a budget and load it onto a Disney gift card. Use that as your "dining card" and just swipe it for each meal. If you scout the menus and prepare yourself, I would almost bet that you will have money leftover at the end of your trip.
