DDP question???? Promotion ended??(long)

[Debbie6221]

Sorry to bug you guys and I hope it's OK to post this question here.

I am new to DISboards and am so....glad I have found all of you!

We have gone to Disney with Grandma, Bappa, Mom, Dad, Daughter and Uncle every year since my daughter was born in 2002. She is 3 (turning 4 in November)l. We go to WDW October 11th for an EIGHT night stay at the Grand Floridian and I CAN NOT WAIT!!!! My son (who will be on his first vacation)will turn ONE there on the 12th and my parents will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary there on the 15th.

We have the trip all set with reservations made and just realized that maybe we should upgrade to the hopper PLUS dining. We sat down and looked at all our reservations and thought "WOW, that's a lot of cash being spent on meals!"

Now my Mom (my personal travel agent) just called and they just informed her that since we booked the promotional package that ended September 30th that we couldn't add it to our hopper package.

Any thoughts or tricks to add it anyway?? Is it worth the trouble?

Here's what we are doing. What do you guys think? We have an eight night package with hoppers! There are 5 adults, 1 child, 1 baby. Here's where our reservations are at:

Cindy's Castle breakfast
Cindy's Castle dinner
Crystal Palace dinner
Donald's breakfast
Cape May dinner
Concourse Steak house
Citricos
Garden Grill Lunch
Mitsukoshi dinner

I think that's it...YIKES!
The pro I have already thought of was that we would have 6 months to pay off the DDP and the con I thought of was that when we did the DDP in 2005 we felt like we were always eating and looking for places to use up our plan.
Would love your guys opinions!

 

[DebIreland]

Hi Debbie

Is it the Seasons of Dreams package that you booked? It seems very unfair that they won't let you add to it, especially as the dining portion of the package wasn't discounted at all. I know that they wouldn't be able to cancel and re-book your package as the offer is no longer available so that definitely wouldn't be good, but surely they can *amend* the booking??? I think you should call back and ask again - time and time again you read here on the DIS that different CMs give different answers. Perhaps ask to speak to a supervisor?

Cindy's Castle breakfast - this would require 2 TS credits each so personally I don't think this is good credit 'value' at all. In fact I've read posts here from people on the DP paying out of pocket for this meal!

Cindy's Castle dinner - ditto.

Citricos - 2 TS credits required here too

Crystal Palace dinner (buffet)

Donald's breakfast (buffet)

Cape May dinner (buffet)

Garden Grill Lunch (family style, fixed price)

Concourse Steak house

Mitsukoshi dinner

Ok so, allowing for the 2 TS (signature) restaurants you would all need 12 TS credits to do all the above. You'll only have 8 TS credits each so that means you'd need to pay out of pocket for 4 one-credit meals or for 2 two-credits meals. Perhaps you could pay oop for both CRT meals? Four of your meals are buffet/family style meals at a fixed price so probably not the best 'value' per TS credit. Not that I'm saying you need to maximise the value, not at all. We're doing the DP for part of our stay (at a DVC resort) and are eating where we want rather than trying to get the most for our money. However, I'd suggest you check out the prices of those meals at www.allearsnet.com and see if you think 38 a day per adult is worth it, especially considering you'll also have the hefty CRT bill on top of that. Of course, the convenience is great and tax & gratuity is included and you get a snack each day too so it all adds up! I definitely think it's great value for children 9 and under.

The pro I have already thought of was that we would have 6 months to pay off the DDP

Don't you need to pay for the package in full before arrival? In fact, 45 days out, or now as you're so close. Maybe I'm misunderstanding that last part.

Good luck with your decision. I've been to hell and back trying to decide if we should do it. So we're doing it for part of our stay and not for the rest (we have more than one reservation).

 

[Debbie6221]

My Mom does all our reservations so I am trying to recall everything accurately but I think our package was a Visa users discount. Also, the "paying off the trip in 6 months part" is that if you charge it on your Disney visa they give you 6 months interest free. So yes you do pay ahead of time.
Thank you VERY much for your opinion.