DDP & Character Dining

[browniemtb]

I'm sure this has been asked before but here it goes. We are looking at the DDP plan with 2 CS 1 S rather then the 1 TS 1 CS 1 S. We tend to be very active and a true sit down meal doesn't make any sense. Now with the kids though we are looking at booking at least a couple character meals. So now the question, does Disney let you used 2 CS meals as a 1 TS so you could use this plan for a couple character meals?

 

[vicki_c]

No.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

No...when using the dining plan u have a set number of cs, a set number of TS and a set number of snacks. Now if u are doing the regular dining plan I believe u get 1 cs, 1 TS, and 1 snack per night of your stay. I would use your TS credits and do 1 sit down character meal a day. There are a lot to choose from and I know u said u are very active but sometimes that little break is nice. Just my opinion. Now if u don't really want to do that many sit downs u could always do the cs dining plan which doesn't include any TS and then just pay oop for your character meals that u decide to do.

 

[Mikie]

Here's a link to an awesome calculator to help you decide, based on your actual restaurant plans, whether any of the dining plans make sense for you and whether you'll save money. Don't worry, you don't have to know every morsel you plan to eat - there are options for "typical counter service meal" and also specific table service places (table service and character meals vary widely in price and definitely affect the math)
http://www.distripplanner.com

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Here's a link to an awesome calculator to help you decide, based on your actual restaurant plans, whether any of the dining plans make sense for you and whether you'll save money. Don't worry, you don't have to know every morsel you plan to eat - there are options for "typical counter service meal" and also specific table service places (table service and character meals vary widely in price and definitely affect the math)
http://www.distripplanner.com

I don't know how awesome this calculator is. I put in the most expensive meals for counter service. For every meal, every day. Added one snack per person plus the refillable mug.

Doing my own math, the plan saved money.

But the calculator says that I spend more money through the plan than I would oop. I wonder if the site is generally against the plan, so they skew the numbers against it.

 

[disney world dreamer]

no.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Sorry, You might be able to trade your credits down (for example use a TS credit for a QS meal) but you can never trade them up.

No matter what you are calculating, in practice it is quite difficult to save money on the QS plan. Most guests don't order the most expensive items or go to the most expensive restaurants every day. To really save money you'd have to plan to get the most expensive items at the most expensive restaurants on a regular basis and don't skip any meals. Breaking even is a more likely prospect and then it's about whether you think it would be more convenient to have a prepaid plan.

 

[supersnoop]

I don't know how awesome this calculator is. I put in the most expensive meals for counter service. For every meal, every day. Added one snack per person plus the refillable mug.

Doing my own math, the plan saved money.

But the calculator says that I spend more money through the plan than I would oop. I wonder if the site is generally against the plan, so they skew the numbers against it.

You can expand the plan section to see their math. See how it compares to your own.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

You can expand the plan section to see their math. See how it compares to your own.

Using their math, for a place like Wolfgang Puck Express, cost $13 to $16, per person.

Using this site the average meal at Wolfgang is $19 and the most expensive is $27.

So it looks like calculator uses the cheapest meal.

 

[sharonabe]

Using their math, for a place like Wolfgang Puck Express, cost $13 to $16, per person.

Using this site the average meal at Wolfgang is $19 and the most expensive is $27.

So it looks like calculator uses the cheapest meal.

I don't know where that site got their numbers. If you check allears and wdwinfo, the highest entree at WPE IS $16.

So it looks like the calculator uses the correct price range.

Maybe you need to check some other menu sites and redo your numbers.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Something's off because one is using the entree price and one the full meal price. There are no entrees at the Express that cost $27; their highest priced entree is $18 (for oven roasted salmon) and the cheapest a $9 cheese pizza on an Allears menu dated January 2014. I doubt the price has gone up that much.

Do they not both add up the cost of the entire meal (drink, dessert and beverage)? With an $18 entree if you pick the most expensive dessert ($6) and the most expensive qualifying drink (the menu I'm looking at does not list beverages but a soft drink is probably around $3) then you'd be around $27 for the whole meal.

 

[supersnoop]

Using their math, for a place like Wolfgang Puck Express, cost $13 to $16, per person.

Using this site the average meal at Wolfgang is $19 and the most expensive is $27.

So it looks like calculator uses the cheapest meal.

Do you have children in your party? The website shows a single adult's average meal price at $20 at the Marketplace location, and $25 at the West Side location. A child seems to average $10 at either location.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't know where that site got their numbers. If you check allears and wdwinfo, the highest entree at WPE IS $16.

So it looks like the calculator uses the correct price range.

Maybe you need to check some other menu sites and redo your numbers.

$16 entrèe (spaghetti & meatballs or rotisserie chicken)
$2.75 drink (bottled soda)
$6 dessert (creme brulee)
$24.75 plus about $1.61 tax, total $26.36. Is it possible that site is somewhat skewed, maybe calculating only the entrèe?

(back in a bit with average check )

Average entrée $13.60
Average drink $1.90
Average dessert $4.50
Total $20, plus about $1.30 tax, total $21.30

Least expensive
$11 entrée (mac & chese or pizza)
$1 drink (milk)
$3 dessert (brownie)
$15, plus about 97¢ tax, total $15.97

 

[HopperFan]

I don't know where that site got their numbers. If you check allears and wdwinfo, the highest entree at WPE IS $16.

So it looks like the calculator uses the correct price range.

Maybe you need to check some other menu sites and redo your numbers.

WDWPrep site's numbers are "meals" for full value of the credit so it would include the drink and dessert.

Personal experience: For 7 years did the DDP. Last year decided to try the QDP for the experience and value. After 8 years of DDP and MANY more years than that eating at WDW I tried to get as much value as I could from the plan. I paid OOP for sodas and ice cream to make my snacks a good value. In the end after 12 days I basically broke even. Considering I would never have ordered all those desserts and I personally would have had water not soda .... we lost money based on our eating style.

If you want to do Character Dining then I would serious look at the numbers for the regular DDP and then add more Character meals. The character meals are so overpriced that paying OOP for them makes me cringe. If your kids are at age to enjoy them, then I would see if DDP might work out better overall or just do OOP for everything.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Do you have children in your party? The website shows a single adult's average meal price at $20 at the Marketplace location, and $25 at the West Side location. A child seems to average $10 at either location.

I had the site calculate one adult.

$16 entrèe (spaghetti & meatballs or rotisserie chicken)
$2.75 drink (bottled soda)
$6 dessert (creme brulee)
$24.75 plus about $1.61 tax, total $26.36. Is it possible that site is somewhat skewed, maybe calculating only the entrèe?

(back in a bit with average check )

Average entrée $13.60
Average drink $1.90
Average dessert $4.50
Total $20, plus about $1.30 tax, total $21.30

Least expensive
$11 entrée (mac & chese or pizza)
$1 drink (milk)
$3 dessert (brownie)
$15, plus about 97¢ tax, total $15.97

It does seem that the site is excluding something. Either the dessert or the drink, or maybe both. If so, that is definitely skewing the numbers against the plan.

 

[karly101]

I thought the calculator was excluding stuff when I was doing the sums too. From what I read most seem to barely break even on the plan, despite that we chose to go the plan our feb trip as we discussed its nice just not to worry about costs knowing that our food is mostly paid for and we can just pick what we want off the menu. Of course Disney is planning for this to happen

 

[sharonabe]

I thought the calculator was excluding stuff when I was doing the sums too. From what I read most seem to barely break even on the plan, despite that we chose to go the plan our feb trip as we discussed its nice just not to worry about costs knowing that our food is mostly paid for and we can just pick what we want off the menu. Of course Disney is planning for this to happen

If you're already planning on eating the way the DDP dictates (entree, dessert, drink for every meal for every person), then, I think you can save some money. For my family of four Disney adults, we don't want four desserts 2x a day and we really do PREFER water to drink with our meals. Because of this, we can easily eat three meals a day, everyone have whatever snack they want, and do some TS meals for the cost of the QS plan or less.

It really does depend on how YOUR family wants to eat on vacation.

 

[ThisIsJason]

Here's a link to an awesome calculator to help you decide, based on your actual restaurant plans, whether any of the dining plans make sense for you and whether you'll save money. Don't worry, you don't have to know every morsel you plan to eat - there are options for "typical counter service meal" and also specific table service places (table service and character meals vary widely in price and definitely affect the math)
http://www.distripplanner.com

Where are they coming up with a meal (drink, appetizer, entrée, dessert) at Narcoossee's with tax and a tip is only $79.67 per person?! Narcoossee's has entrée's that run close to that.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Where are they coming up with a meal (drink, appetizer, entrée, dessert) at Narcoossee's with tax and a tip is only $79.67 per person?! Narcoossee's has entrée's that run close to that.

As some of us have found out, the calculator is missing things.

Whether intentionally or not, it skews the numbers against the dining plan.

If you want to know if the plan will save money for your family, the best thing to do would be to look up restaurants that interest you and add up what you might order. It looks as though the worst thing to do is to use this calculator.

 

[lauradis]

As some of us have found out, the calculator is missing things.

Whether intentionally or not, it skews the numbers against the dining plan.

If you want to know if the plan will save money for your family, the best thing to do would be to look up restaurants that interest you and add up what you might order. It looks as though the worst thing to do is to use this calculator.

http://allears.net/dining/menu/

Best place to start is look at the real menus guess what everyone eat
add it up
add tax
add tip if needed
then add 10% to that total
then add in water and snacks

That will give you the closest real cost of what your family is likely to eat.

ddp or not. works every time for me. The calculator are always off for me.