DDP or DxDDP if we do some QS meals?

[DisGirl819]

Here is my plan so far:
Dinners: Boatwrights, Be Our Guest (currently Tony's Town Square), Garden Grill, Boma, Cape May Cafe, 50s Prime Time, Ohana, and Les Chefs de France
Breakfast: 1900 Park Fare, possibly Akershus
Possible dinner at CRT

Would it make sense for us to do the DxDDP with those restaurants on an 8 night trip? We'd use the remaining credits for QS meals since there is no way we'd do more than 1-2 TS a day anyway.

I was running the numbers and was getting confused about prices for the buffets. Online it only says $36-59.99 for a meal. How much does Akershus cost for an adult and a child? How about Ohana?

We are a family of 4, 2 adults and 1 child age 4 and 1 child age 2 (but he eats like a 5 year old!).

 

[Cafeen]

Unless you squeeze more TS meals into your plan, it's not going to make sense. It will likely cost you more to upgrade than you'd save. Right now, you're sitting on 13 of 24 credits spent, which means you're getting less than paid value for almost half your credits (at best, that assumes that you'd at least be breaking even on the others!)

Typically, I recommend to aim for at least 80% of credits spent at TS locations, with at most 2 or 3 (depending on length of stay) unspent if need be. To do this, you're going to either go for 3 meals a day (not highly recommended) or choose a few signatures to burn up the credits you have. Also, keep in mind that the Dx credits also cover appetizer as well as the entree, drink, and dessert, so this is going to fill you up more per meal (at normal menu-service places) which may alter your plans some. Lastly, the increase in TS meals with the additional appetizer will also affect your snacking, of which you receive an extra one of those too.

In the end, unless you want to book a bunch more TS with several signature (or other 2 credit experiences), I wouldn't recommend it.

As far as prices are concerned, Disney does not publicly release the prices for their fixed price stuff. It's annoying as all heck, but it's the way they do things. Check out AllEars.net or WDWInfo.com for example prices (they may not be 100%, but at least it's a better idea). Also, you should be able to call and get a quote of the price during the time you are there, but that may also not be 100% accurate .

 

[DisGirl819]

Thanks for the input! I guess I'm just curious if it really runs roughly $60 per adult at some of those character meals. I don't remember that costing that much our last trip...but we're always on the DDP so I don't necessarily pay attention either.

 

[Cafeen]

Thanks for the input! I guess I'm just curious if it really runs roughly $60 per adult at some of those character meals. I don't remember that costing that much our last trip...but we're always on the DDP so I don't necessarily pay attention either.

At dinners, the character meals reach up to about $45 peak season for adults (Chef Mickey's, which I think is the most expensive character meal outside of CRT and maybe Akershus (well, looks like Aker is about the same)). (And since CRT is 2 credits, the per credit value is far lower, but now we're getting into much more complicated ground!)

The "buckets" that Disney created for their pricing categorization are really misleading. I hate them a lot. Of course, they do it for a reason (because it works and makes the dining plans seem to have more value)

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

Changing to the deluxe plan costs alot. We do it as we use all our credits on TS & we always get an appetizer anyway.
If you decided to upgrade I'd add more TS or just pay oop on the few extra places you want.
You could change 50's diner & Chefs to an early lunch & pick up a sign restaurant those nights. Might try flying fish on your Epcot day at supper. You can walk to it from Epcot.
Could do CRT as a breakfast or lunch too instead of supper.
These are suggestions for if you changed to deluxe . If you just want QS at the meals you'd be better off OOP.

 

[havoc315]

If you're getting free dining, stick with the basic DDP.
If you're paying for the dining plan, at 2012 pricing, you would really need to eat at least 2 TS meals per day to even break even. (In 2013, you will need to use 3 TS credits per day).
Using more than a handful of credits for QS takes the value out of the deluxe plan.

The character meals peak their prices at about $45. So if you're on the regular DDP, use your credits for the more expensive character meals. Pay out of pocket for breakfasts, for your meal at 50's Primetime.

 

[DisGirl819]

If you're getting free dining, stick with the basic DDP.
If you're paying for the dining plan, at 2012 pricing, you would really need to eat at least 2 TS meals per day to even break even. (In 2013, you will need to use 3 TS credits per day).
Using more than a handful of credits for QS takes the value out of the deluxe plan.

The character meals peak their prices at about $45. So if you're on the regular DDP, use your credits for the more expensive character meals. Pay out of pocket for breakfasts, for your meal at 50's Primetime.

Great information! We are going 21-28 December, so peak season and paying for the DDP (no free dining for us). Thank you for the suggestion for paying for breakfast OOP, I did notice that they were priced cheaper than other meals. We may just knock off a few TS ADRs or pay OOP for them.

 

[havoc315]

Great information! We are going 21-28 December, so peak season and paying for the DDP (no free dining for us). Thank you for the suggestion for paying for breakfast OOP, I did notice that they were priced cheaper than other meals. We may just knock off a few TS ADRs or pay OOP for them.

I see from your signature, that you are 2 adults and 1 child. Paying peak pricing for DDP... You may want to look twice to see whether any dining plan is worthwhile. As you're doing multiple character dinners, I'm guessing its still worth buying the basic DDP.
But not necessarily. If you don't think you would use all your QS credits, or you don't feel the need for dessert with your QS meal, or plan on using QS credits for breakfast...
It may be wiser to skip the dining plan altogether.
But if you think you'd use all your QS credits at lunch with dessert, based on your restaurants, the DDP probably would save you some money.