DDP strategy

[txloopnlil]

Advice please! My cousin and I are 1st timers taking my 5 y.o. twin boys to WDW arriving May 29- leaving April 1st (3 nights at wilderness lodge). I had some ADR's made for the trip , but my cousin really wants an adult only meal out last night, so we added the Artist point ADR and made reservations at the Cub's den for the boys that evening, where the kids will get dinner as part of the deal. I was originally going to cancel Coral Reef, but I haven't yet. I first thought we would be able to use the boy's TS credits interchangeably, but realize now that we can't.

This leaves us short of TS credits and I'm not sure if we should pay OOP for some adult meals, or cancel 1 or more - and if so which ones?

3/29 - Crystal Palace (dinner) - 2 adults TS, 2 child TS
3/30 - Boma (dinner) - 2 adult TS, 2 child TS
3/31 - Coral reef (lunch) - 2 adult TS, 2 child TS
3/31 - Artist point (dinner) - 4 adult TS credits (2 adults)

 

[brendaziz]

Well first i wanted to point out- just in case u are not aware- if u are staying for 3 nights, then u each get 3 credits of ts, cs, snack for your stay. Just wanted to point that out b/c it looks like you're planning on 4 credits each.

If I were staying for 3 nights though- I probably would not do a 2 credit meal- but that's just me. If I were doing a 2 credit- i'd pay out of pocket for that one.

I'm not sure if i have any other suggestions- but definitely be sure you know how many credits u have available to u.

 

[Tricia1972]

I'd definitely pay OOP (out of pocket) for your adult TS Meal at Artist's Point. The other meals you will 'get' about $30.00 of value from your credits at a minimum. The most that your meal will be at Wilderness Lodge is $56, so you're getting less value there. (and that's maxing the plan, the average meal there is a minimum of $10 less than that)

Also, as the PP stated you have 3 TS credits for each adult and each child, so you won't need to make up any meals if you pay for Artist's Point OOP.

 

[WDWAtLast]

We are planning on a meal at Artist Point and I had just asked about sharing a meal on another thread. I think that dh and and I will share an appetiser or two, one meal and a dessert - and then pay oop instead of using 2 TS each.

 

[txloopnlil]

Well first i wanted to point out- just in case u are not aware- if u are staying for 3 nights, then u each get 3 credits of ts, cs, snack for your stay. Just wanted to point that out b/c it looks like you're planning on 4 credits each.

.

Yes, that is my problem. We've added the "adult dinner" and I'm trying to figure out how to do it with the lowest OOP costs and still maximize everyone's experiences.

My cousin (my boy's "Aunt C.") is paying for the airfare, hotel and DDP, as a birthday gift to the boys, and to celebrate her 1 year anniversary of completing chemo. I could never afford to do this myself, and need to watch my extraneous spending, as I want to at least repay her for my personal share of hotel and airfare, but money is very tight right now. This was a spur of the moment trip, so I haven't had months to save up, and it's taken lots of calls to make the ADR's I've gotten so far. My cousin didn't understand the DDP and left it up to me, but she had some requests I'm trying to accommodate. If we do OOP then I'll try and pick those up, so I need to minimize the costs.

I can't cancel Crystal Palace as it's the only character meal. Since I'm paying for the boys to go to the Cubs Den (@ $22/hour) I really can't afford the extra hour it would take to go to a different resort/park for dinner, and Whispering Canyon is NOT from what I read, suitable for our "escape from the kids" meal, so that leaves us with a signature meal at Artist Point.

I originally thought if we cancelled Boma and Coral Reef to give us the TS credits we needed, but that leaves us then with 4 unused child TS credits. Besides that Coral Reef and Boma are both places that my cousin wanted to go to. I'm think we should go to at least one or both and have the adults pay OOP. I know at Coral reef I'd probably only want an appetizer since we have a big meal later. On the other hand it might work out cheaper to pay OOP at Artist Point.... - it's making my head hurt trying to figure out what works best!

I wish they would go to a simpler point system so that there was more flexibility between the children/adults and snacks/QS/TS. If 1 point = $4 then snack = 1 pt, childs TS =3 points , adult TS = 6 pts, adult signature = 12 pts etc Wouldn't that be simpler?

 

[WDWAtLast]

You may already know about www.allears.net , but they list menus for all of the restaurants with prices - so that may be of help, too.

 

[Tricia1972]

You may find for adults night, as a previous poster suggested, that it'd be fun to go out for just appetizers and an adult beverage or two - maybe even a delicious dessert. That would be quite inexpensive. (probably $20-$25 per person and only that high because of your adult beverages)

 

[disneynutz]

Advice please! My cousin and I are 1st timers taking my 5 y.o. twin boys to WDW arriving May 29- leaving April 1st (3 nights at wilderness lodge). I had some ADR's made for the trip , but my cousin really wants an adult only meal out last night, so we added the Artist point ADR and made reservations at the Cub's den for the boys that evening, where the kids will get dinner as part of the deal. I was originally going to cancel Coral Reef, but I haven't yet. I first thought we would be able to use the boy's TS credits interchangeably, but realize now that we can't.

This leaves us short of TS credits and I'm not sure if we should pay OOP for some adult meals, or cancel 1 or more - and if so which ones?

3/29 - Crystal Palace (dinner) - 2 adults TS, 2 child TS
3/30 - Boma (dinner) - 2 adult TS, 2 child TS
3/31 - Coral reef (lunch) - 2 adult TS, 2 child TS
3/31 - Artist point (dinner) - 4 adult TS credits (2 adults)

I assume that you have been to all of the restaurants, you know the quality of the food and your question is how to best us your credits. Any restaurant that requires 2 TS credits per adult is not a good value. Pay out of pocket for Artist Point.

 

[catne]

Advice please! My cousin and I are 1st timers taking my 5 y.o. twin boys to WDW arriving May 29- leaving April 1st (3 nights at wilderness lodge). I had some ADR's made for the trip , but my cousin really wants an adult only meal out last night, so we added the Artist point ADR and made reservations at the Cub's den for the boys that evening, where the kids will get dinner as part of the deal. I was originally going to cancel Coral Reef, but I haven't yet. I first thought we would be able to use the boy's TS credits interchangeably, but realize now that we can't.

This leaves us short of TS credits and I'm not sure if we should pay OOP for some adult meals, or cancel 1 or more - and if so which ones?

3/29 - Crystal Palace (dinner) - 2 adults TS, 2 child TS
3/30 - Boma (dinner) - 2 adult TS, 2 child TS
3/31 - Coral reef (lunch) - 2 adult TS, 2 child TS
3/31 - Artist point (dinner) - 4 adult TS credits (2 adults)

Well, you really only have 3 TS credits per adult, and you're looking at 5 TS credits with that schedule. I'd drop the Coral Reef lunch - it's good, but high price for lunch if you were to pay OOP, and why bother when you eat really good CS in Epcot. For variety - try Sunshine Seasons in the Land. For a more exotic meal, try the shwarma platter at the Tangieriene Cafe/Morocco - fun/exotic seating area, inside & out. I would absolutely skip any 2 TS meal...total waste of $$, IMHO - frankly, the food served in the signatures is not worth double the 1 TS restaurant food. For your adults night out, go to one of the 1 TS restaurants that aren't usually as full of kiddies...The Wave at the Contemporary is great for an upscale feel without the crazy upscale price of the signatures, or try the Grand Floridian Cafe for good food in a more fancy atmosphere. You can get a very upscale-type meal for 1 TS, and it won't take you 2 to 2 1/2 hours to eat, either. This would get you to 1 TS for Crystal Palace, 1 TS for Boma, and 1 TS at The Wave for adults night out = 3 TS, no additional costs on your meals.

 

[kcashner]

We didn't care for Coral Reef lunch on our July trip, but had enjoyed the dinner previously and again in February. I'd drop the Coral Reef lunch.

I'd also pay OOP for any 2 TS meals. These are just not a good value on the dining plan.

My suggestion would be to do a nicer dinner on the first day, and maybe do Crystal Palace for lunch if you want to eat there. Alternatively (depending on what time you are leaving on Apr. 1), do a character breakfast or lunch on that day.

 

[smiths02]

I know 2 TS meals aren't good value on DDP, but if you are looking for least OOP...

You could do Crystal Palace as breakfast or lunch (or many other character breakfasts-Ohana, etc.), use the child TS but NOT the adult...so you are only paying OOP for two adult breakfasts at CP (Breakfast is $18.99 per adult; lunch is $20.99-even make it a late lunch if you have to)

Keep Boma, keep Coral Reef (everyone use credits)

Schedule adult dinner as a 1 TS

OR

Keep the ADRs you have except Artist Point...at Coral Reef lunch, don't use adult credits, just order something light (you have a big dinner planned)....then book a 1 TS dinner

OR

If you have your heart set on everything...

You have 6 adult and 6 child credits

3/29 - Crystal Palace (dinner) - 2 adults TS, 2 child TS
3/30 - Boma (dinner) - 2 adult TS, 2 child TS
3/31 - Coral reef (lunch) - 2 child TS (Pay for adults OOP, eat cheaply, adults can even share something)
3/31 - Artist point (dinner) - Use 2 adult CS credits for your cousin so she can order whatever she wants and you order the cheapest thing off the menu (an appetizer and a glass of tap water, if need be)

 

[txloopnlil]

Thanks for the suggestions ...

We decided to cancel Coral Reef and changed Artist Point to The Wave, based on what I've been reading here. That still leaves us with 2 unused child TS credits, but we may try and get a breakfast somewhere one morning and the two adults can pay OOP.