DDP & "The Economic Advantage"

[nd_stclgrad]

Hello All! We're getting ready for our 1st ever trip to WDW. We leave April 29th, and we'll be there until May 7th. Our actual package doesn't start until April 30th. So, 7 nights of the DDP. We originally had the DxDP, but after researching, we went with the basic. So now, we are going to pay for some meals "out of pocket." There has to be a smart way to do this though, am I right, in other words, it is probably smarter to pay out of pocket for the cheaper meals and let the DDP take care of the more expensive meals, but we do not know which restaurants/meals are the relative cheap ones compared with the more expensive ones. Can you all help us out? Here is our list:

4/30 Dinner- Mickey's Backyard BBQ
5/1 Dinner- Crystal Palace
5/2 Lunch- Mama Melrose
5/3 Dinner- Chef Mickey's
5/4 Lunch- CRT
5/5 Breakfast- Whispering Canyon Cafe
5/6 Dinner- The Garden Grill
5/7 Breakfast- 1900 Park Fare

We will just be doing counter service for the other meals not listed. I really appreciate your help.

 

[momabaarjo]

Check out allears...most of the menus have prices. While they may not be the most current prices, you will get an idea on how much it will cost you.

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[BBQMommy]

4/30 Dinner- Mickey's Backyard BBQ (2) ($27-45pp)
5/1 Dinner- Crystal Palace (1) ($15-$60pp)
5/2 Lunch- Mama Melrose (1) ($15-$36pp)
5/3 Dinner- Chef Mickey's (1) ($15-$36pp)
5/4 Lunch- CRT (2) ($36-$57pp)
5/5 Breakfast- Whispering Canyon Cafe (1) ($15-36pp)
5/6 Dinner- The Garden Grill (1) ($15-36pp)
5/7 Breakfast- 1900 Park Fare (1) ($16-$37pp)

The numbers in parenthesis are from the Disney info page. How correct I do not know. Will depend totally on what you are likely to order and the menus in the previous post will be very helpful. Looking at the menus will either reinforce that the DDP is what will work best or that you may want to upgrade to the DxDP.

Your two Signature meals that take 2 credits leaving you with 3. I'd use the dining plan for Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, and 1900 Park Fare, but really there looks to be not much difference among them.

Hope this helps and is moderately accurate. Doing research for my own trip has brought up many different numbers for the same meals -- just need to figure out what's what and what season my trip is considered (peak or not).

Best wishes and have fun!
Caryn

 

[clanmcculloch]

You've got 3 credits that you need to pay for OOP. I'd pay for MBYBBQ because that's the cheapest ($13.50-$22.50 per credit) and then I'd pick one near the end to pay for OOP because that way if you end up missing a meal for any reason (somebody's sick, you just don't feel like heading out for the ADR, whatever reason) then you still have another meal scheduled to use that credit.

If you're 100% sure that you will definitely make it to all of your ADRs even if somebody in your party is sick as a dog then I'd pay for MM OOP since that one will give you the option to order off the menu as you'd like (maybe an appetizer instead of a meal or skip dessert or whatever you want) while all the others you pay the same price no matter how you order.

 

[smiths02]

It looks like you have 3 too many "credits" used in the above plan

I would definitely pay OOP for WCC Breakfast


And to confuse the situation even more...if you are traveling with adults (10 and up) and children (3-9)...you could even pay for the meals for some adults and some for the children

Also, you have to consider that someone may get sick or you may not feel like making an ADR...in that case, you could come out ahead just using your credits until they run out and then paying OOP for those last 3 meals

Overall, I think you usually can come out better paying OOP for meals that are a la carte-which you have 2 (WCC and Mama Melrose) b/c you can just order what you want, you don't HAVE to get a drink/dessert or for breakfast (they are just cheaper)

ETA: I didn't see the above post. My "gut" instinct on this is to pay for the BBQ OOP and then the WCC breakfast

 

[Bete]

on credits per night, not per day. The other posters are right; you are 3 credits above the dining plan credits for your stay. You either pay OOP or skip.

You need to look at the menus and somewhat figure out what you will order and then you can see what will be the lowest priced meal.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

Who is your party made up of? I'd probably pay oop for WC and MMR but it depends on the make up of the party. It might work to pay oop for MBBBQ for part of the party and use credits for others. It really depends on the number of adults/children in the party.

 

[nd_stclgrad]

Thanks for the info everybody! My group is 3 adults, for dining purposes, and 1 child. the info is great. We're almost 30 days out...

 

[squirrel]

For the child it's better to pay for non-buffet meals out of pocket as they are about $7 and buffets are at least $12.

Breakfasts are usually cheaper than lunch or dinner.

 

[2Tiggies]

For the child it's better to pay for non-buffet meals out of pocket as they are about $7 and buffets are at least $12.

Breakfasts are usually cheaper than lunch or dinner.

If you can just keep those two things in mind, you'll do pretty well.