Best use of $500 Disney GC

[Jarmo]

We have an unexpected $500-600 in Disney reward dollars coming our way. I'm trying to figure out which would be the most cost effective option based on price increases in the future. There's 2 adults and a baby, staying in a 1BR at AKL. Which would you guys say is the best use:

Buy 4 day tickets and save our non expiring passes (~$250 out of pocket for park hoppers)
Buy the dining plan (~$50 out of pocket)
Use it on Memory Maker and food off the dining plan

 

[worm761]

My suggestion is to do the math and figure out which would save you the most money.

Personally, I don't get the dining plan any longer. It doesn't fit our eating style. We are more appetizers and adult drinks than we are desserts. I am a huge fan of Memory Maker.

 

[Jarmo]

I guess I should have worded that a different way... do you guys think the yearly increase in ticket prices is greater than the yearly increase of food/memory maker?

 

[Marionnette]

I guess I should have worded that a different way... do you guys think the yearly increase in ticket prices is greater than the yearly increase of food/memory maker?

IMO, Disney is going to be changing their pricing structure for tickets. In a recent survey, they pointedly asked about a 3-tiered price system that charges less on the least crowded days and more for the most desirable vacationing times. I don't think that it's a matter of "if", it's only a matter of "when".

For that reason, I think that MYW tickets will become more valuable once the new "Magic Disney's Way" tickets are rolled out. An old MYW ticket will probably be grandfathered in so that it is valid for any day of the year at the 4 theme parks which exist today. You probably will not be able to upgrade it, which is what happened to the old PHs and PHPs when MYW was introduced in 2005.

Since I don't think that the DDP is a good value, and because your plans include staying in a villa with a full kitchen, my recommendation would be to buy the tickets. The only reason not to do this would be if you don't think that you would visit Disney again in the very near future.

And just to give you a little more to think about, UTC still has 10-day no-expiry hopper for children available on their website. If you're going to go to Disney often, you might want to pick up one of those for the baby to use in a few years.

 

[DisPup75]

Assuming you don't want to give them to me ( ), I would use them on Memory Maker and OOP meals/snacks. I'm another who doesn't find the dining plan a good value and I always worry that Disney will somehow change the way they honor old tickets.