DDP question (sorry!!!)

[Becgaz]

hi! I'm a newbie over on this board, I'm a DLP veteran but am now planning my family's 1st trip to Florida!!
We are going in Oct 17 but I am obviously already obsessing over every detail!
Assuming the free dining is offered next year the hotels I am looking at for us come with QSDP included, I was wondering if it's worth upgrading to the next level DP? (Around £750 for 2 weeks for family of 5 which is a little over £10 pppd)
I don't think we would be wanting a QS meal every evening so this seems like a good idea to me unless I'm missing something?
Thank you in advance of any advice.
Bec

 

[micksn]

If you can afford it it's definitely worth it. The Dining Plan includes all table service meals and character dining (Think Cafe Mickey but better!) You can eat at the delux resorts and the themed restaurants in the parks. The only draw back is that you have to pay tips of 18/20% for each meal you have and they do add up. For your first trip and if you like character meals then I would go for it, it's all part of the experience! Have fun planning. It might also be worth looking at Old Key West or Saratoga Springs. They aren't too much more than the moderates and the DP is included.
Have fun planning!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

In past years we have generally travelled in October/November and always either paid oop or had the standard dining plan. We could never understand how people claimed there was too much food as we loved a table service meal and often (before free dining days) ate table service twice a day and snacked midday. Last year however we visited in August and with the heat (and teenagers who don't want to get up early every morning) we found that ddp was not ideal for us. We have therefore booked for qsdp next trip and reckon this is enough in the Summer for our age group. However, if you are going October and you want to eat every night I would definitely upgrade - don't forget to factor the 20% tips in though as I think that probably is as costly as the upgrade cost.

 

[dixonsontour]

We love DDP. It is a great chance to experience character meals and the other themed places like sci fi, t rex, rainforest cafe. Plus shows like hoop de doo. The meals are as much a part of the holiday for us as the rides. eg if you ask my 9 year old what she wants to do at Epcot she says test track and garden grill.

Do price up as sometimes paying for the better hotel inc ddp can be same as paying for a moderate plus the upgrade.

 

[scoobydooby]

What are the children's ages? Unless one is an infant only the family suites and POR Alligator Bayou rooms in the values and moderates fit five people. An OKW studio sleeps five but a SS studio only fits four. Some deluxe rooms also fit five but not all of them do. In response to your question so long as you are prepared for the tip as well as the paid upgrade I'd advise upgrading too if you're having a dining plan.

 

[Becgaz]

Thank you for all your replies, I'm glad to know it's worth the upgrade!
Our children will be 13, 12 and 5. The 2 hotels that have taken my fancy are port Orleans Riverside and Caribbean beach resort.
I did look to make sure it was cheaper to upgrade the dinning plan rather than the hotel, the difference is around £1500 for the dates I put in.
It comes to around £4000 for hotel, DDP upgrade and 14 day park tickets.
I thought this was quite a good price.
Thank you again!

 

[micksn]

With 5 of you a moderate that sleeps 5 will definitely be your cheapest option. The CBR rooms are a lttle bigger than POR and they seem to be cheaper at the moment.

 

[scoobydooby]

With 5 of you a moderate that sleeps 5 will definitely be your cheapest option. The CBR rooms are a lttle bigger than POR and they seem to be cheaper at the moment.

Caribbean Beach Resort rooms and POR and POFQ rooms are all exactly the same size at 214 square feet. Actually so are the Coronado Springs rooms. There are a few larger rooms at CB but I'm pretty sure you can't book them specifically. I'd be interested to know how of you can as I knew they existed but have never seen them advertsied as such. Being able to choose them would we good. CB sleeps four and an infant in a crib. Only POR Alligator Bayou rooms sleep five as those rooms have a Murphy bed. For the Murphy bed you sacrifice a chest of drawers.

 

[micksn]

Sorry Scoobydooby - some Caribbean Beach rooms now also have the Murphy bed (Great new videos of new rooms on You Tube). According to Passporter room size is 340 sq ft at CB. CSR, POR and POFQ are 314 sq ft. Not a great deal of difference but bigger all the same.

 

[Elise79]

What are the children's ages? Unless one is an infant only the family suites and POR Alligator Bayou rooms in the values and moderates fit five people. An OKW studio sleeps five but a SS studio only fits four. Some deluxe rooms also fit five but not all of them do. In response to your question so long as you are prepared for the tip as well as the paid upgrade I'd advise upgrading too if you're having a dining plan.

For 5 people at OKW you have to go to a one bedroom and SSR a two bedroom (the studios only sleep 4 at both those resorts still but during the refurbs at VWL and now BCV they are changing them to sleep 5 so I would expect SSR to follow at some point)

Thank you for all your replies, I'm glad to know it's worth the upgrade!
Our children will be 13, 12 and 5. The 2 hotels that have taken my fancy are port Orleans Riverside and Caribbean beach resort.
I did look to make sure it was cheaper to upgrade the dinning plan rather than the hotel, the difference is around £1500 for the dates I put in.
It comes to around £4000 for hotel, DDP upgrade and 14 day park tickets.
I thought this was quite a good price.
Thank you again!

Moderate and upgrading will be best with your party size. Both are nice resorts so pick the one you like the look of most. CBR does have slightly bigger rooms which might be a factor with 5 of you.

Sorry Scoobydooby - some Caribbean Beach rooms now also have the Murphy bed (Great new videos of new rooms on You Tube). According to Passporter room size is 340 sq ft at CB. CSR, POR and POFQ are 314 sq ft. Not a great deal of difference but bigger all the same.

Yep CBR was the first mod and like everything with Disney the more they build the smaller they get lol CR & Poly have the biggest deluxe rooms on property and again were the first build.

I think the values are the only level were the standard rooms are the same size.

 

[RossK]

The Deluxe Dining Plan is a really great option if you simply need to pay the upgrade fee from free dining. We've done this for our October trip this year and it has meant we've had quite a bit of fun planning out all our dining over a three week period. We're visiting a different signature dining restaurant almost every night of our stay. The snack credits are perfect in October because they can be used at the Food and Wine festival in Epcot. As there's 2 snack credits a day, we've got 42 snack credits each - which will be more than enough to make our Food and Wine festival pretty much 'free' (we're planning 2 days at Food and Wine). For us, we're quite happy to take the time out of the parks to do 'lengthy' signature dining / table service up to twice a day. As we're there for 3 weeks, we can afford to take everything at a leisurely pace.

 

[Elise79]

The Deluxe Dining Plan is a really great option if you simply need to pay the upgrade fee from free dining. We've done this for our October trip this year and it has meant we've had quite a bit of fun planning out all our dining over a three week period. We're visiting a different signature dining restaurant almost every night of our stay. The snack credits are perfect in October because they can be used at the Food and Wine festival in Epcot. As there's 2 snack credits a day, we've got 42 snack credits each - which will be more than enough to make our Food and Wine festival pretty much 'free' (we're planning 2 days at Food and Wine). For us, we're quite happy to take the time out of the parks to do 'lengthy' signature dining / table service up to twice a day. As we're there for 3 weeks, we can afford to take everything at a leisurely pace.

I think the OP was looking at upgrading from the QS to DDP not deluxe plus upgrading 5 people to the deluxe would be very expensive and not necessarily good value.

 

[scoobydooby]

Sorry Scoobydooby - some Caribbean Beach rooms now also have the Murphy bed (Great new videos of new rooms on You Tube). According to Passporter room size is 340 sq ft at CB. CSR, POR and POFQ are 314 sq ft. Not a great deal of difference but bigger all the same.

I didn't know about CB having Murphy Beds my bad. My room dimensions info is different though my source was the Unofficial Guide. I checked their newest book before I replied. Interesting as it's not like them to get things wrong.

 

[scoobydooby]

For 5 people at OKW you have to go to a one bedroom and SSR a two bedroom (the studios only sleep 4 at both those resorts still but during the refurbs at VWL and now BCV they are changing them to sleep 5 so I would expect SSR to follow at some point)
.

So do they only let 4 people use the five bed spaces at OKW? I called them before we booked and asked what size the two sleeper sofas were as my teenage lad is big and they said one double and one single. I assumed that meant they would let 5 sleep there? I'm confused now!

 

[Becgaz]

When I made a dummy booking and put in our party size and ages, it gave me CBR as an option and said there were 2 queen beds and a pull out bed for the little one.
Thank you all again


(Sorry I tried to do a quote scoobydooby but it obviously went wrong!)

 

[micksn]

.So do they only let 4 people use the five bed spaces at OKW? I called them before we booked and asked what size the two sleeper sofas were as my teenage lad is big and they said one double and one single. I assumed that meant they would let 5 sleep there? I'm confused now!

At OKW if you book a 1 bedroom 5 can sleep there. 1 king, 1 double sleeper and 1 single sleeper. If you book a Studio then it's 4 in 2 queen beds. Hope that helps.

 

[bex7583]

If you can afford it it's definitely worth it. The Dining Plan includes all table service meals and character dining (Think Cafe Mickey but better!) You can eat at the delux resorts and the themed restaurants in the parks. The only draw back is that you have to pay tips of 18/20% for each meal you have and they do add up. For your first trip and if you like character meals then I would go for it, it's all part of the experience! Have fun planning. It might also be worth looking at Old Key West or Saratoga Springs. They aren't too much more than the moderates and the DP is included.
Have fun planning!

we are a family of 5 also and found that upgrading to a delux resort was way more then upgrading our dining plan , we went with the dining upgrade and felt it was great value for us

just have a quick look at some menus / $$ and possible places u may want to dine and work out if its best for you

 

[bex7583]

I didn't know about CB having Murphy Beds my bad. My room dimensions info is different though my source was the Unofficial Guide. I checked their newest book before I replied. Interesting as it's not like them to get things wrong.

it must have been quite a recent change as i have never had carribean show as avaialble for our party of 5 , but this year it was an also the cheapest

 

[scoobydooby]

Complete brain fart on my part. I forgot we had booked a one bed. Doh! Sorry for all the misinformation......

 

[Elise79]

it must have been quite a recent change as i have never had carribean show as avaialble for our party of 5 , but this year it was an also the cheapest

Yes - during the recent refurb they added a pull down bed under the TV like they did at POR

They are adding the same/similar to the DVC studios when they are refurbed. Poly & VGF Studios slept 5 from opening but they have now added or are adding VWL, BCV & BWV. I would guess that they will also do SSR at some point.