Did we make the right choice?

[momof3girls6712]

Ok we have everything booked but now I am starting to wonder if we choose correctly. Trip details below -

We booked with the FL resident discount

Jan 27-31
2 Adults, 5 Children (6,7,11,11,12)
All Star Music resort

2 rooms - 442.96
3 day Park Hoppers/ Princess and Pirate Party 1400.00 (rounded Up)
Dinning 1700.00
(using the FL tix cant add DDP so estimated)
TOTAL 3542.96



If we went with the reg tix it would be

2 rooms. 3 day park hoppers, Princess and pirate party tix, and DDP it would be 3813.63


We have ADR at

Raglan Road - Dinner
Tusker House - Breakfast
Rain Forest Café - Dinner
Hollywood & Vine - Breakfast
Sci-Fi Café - Dinner
Chef Mickey - Breakfast
Crystal Palace - Dinner


We have never used the DDp so we just are not sure about it. Any advice, comments are apprecaite and needed.

Thank you

 

[ADisneyQueen]

This is just my personal opinion but I would not waste table service credits on breakfast unless it was at the castle. The kids are usually too excited in the morning to sit down and eat a good breakfast. Also, after walking all day, everyone is hungry at dinnertime. If you eat a large dinner at TS, will you want a big breakfast the next morning at another TS? I would consider changing.
We did the DP 1 1/2 yrs. ago. It was nice but time consuming even though all our TS were mainly buffets. We are going for 5 days in March but are not doing the DDP b/c we have only a short time and don't want to spend it a TS restaurant. But I am glad we did the plan once, it was fun.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I partially agree with ADisneyQueen about Breakfast. We did two table service breakfasts on the DDP. And both were late so it was really more like lunch. You haven't mentioned what time your ADR's are. If they are late than go for it. If not than you might want to skip one or two of them. They really interfere with that early morning touring. but keep the Chef Mickey one. It is a classic!

 

[twooley2]

why did u only do the 3 day hopper? I think for a couple more days its not much more

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

We don't do breakfast ADRs either. We're not too hungry in the morning and would rather be in the parks. We did one TS breakfast on our last trip at Donald's Breakfastarous in AK. It was a great place and great character interaction, but I don't the kids plates weren't touched. This time we are doing all dinners and 1 lunch (I think!).

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We don't do breakfast ADR's either, unless it is a non-park day. We are doing breakfast at O'Hana next trip so the kids can see Stitch, but it is the day we start driving home. We rarely do more than one table service meal in a day, unless there is just someplace we can't miss. We mainly do buffets when we do table service (my kids are 8 and 4), so we eat lightly the rest of the day. We almost always eat breakfast in our room (fruit, granola bars), but DH loves the Main Street Bakery on MK days!

For Hollywood and Vine, maybe you can do a late breakfast (you may already have that scheduled) so you can still see the characters but not waste park touring time. The characters are there for lunch as well. The first few hours that the park is open are the best for touring - with five kids, I'd probably want to get a lot of rides done while they are fresh and energetic!

If you are looking for budget tips, you can add days to your ticket cheaper than adding the hopper option (but I don't know what is available for FL tickets - never been so lucky!).

For the meals that you do counter service, don't necessarily order 7 meals! The portions are large and some items are easier to split than others.

Is it only $300 more to have the DDP for your whole family? That doesn't sound right - five of you are considered adults and would pay $38 per day each, plus $11 each for the two younger kids (roughly - I can't remember the exact numbers for 2008). DDP should cost you over $200 per day. If you are getting a deal that the DDP is only $300 more for everyone for four nights, I'd jump on that deal. I'd also consider adding a day or two to your tickets (depending what time you will be there) and dropping the hopper option. If you can go to the parks all five days you are there, you might not need to hop.

 

[mickimgm]

The best ADR advice we took was breakfast at Crystal Palace on our Magic Kingdom day. We were in before the park opened and finished eating before the ropes dropped. We had a crowdless view of the castle and hit our first rides without a wait. It was perfect.

 

[CastleCreations]

I'm not sure how much the pirate and Princess party is but the tickets without the hopper option is 825.00 and that's with tax, for FL resident

 

[trivial]

If I understand correctly, your current plan omits the DDP. I think it's a fine choice, as the DDP is unlikely to save you as much money as the difference in the two overall options. Do you have the Disney Dining Experience? If not and you're not familiar with it, I would suggest looking into it as it can save you a substantial amount of money.

 

[momof3girls6712]

Lets see lots of questions - Thank you all btw for your help. I haven't planned well in the best and I really want to do a great job this time.

We got 3 day passes for 2 reasons -
1. Its a FL deal 3 days plus park hopper for 147ish
2. We wanted to be able to spend the first day settling and go to DTD and the last day sleeping in and going to DTD before we leave

The current 3600ish bookings that we have does not include the DDP. We budgeted 1700 for dinning though. To get the DDP it would be 3800ish, but we have more TS ADRs then we would have credits, I think. We have never used DDR. Please let me know if we should change.

We do not have the DDE card. Advice needed on that. Is it worth the 86 bucks and do we have to buy each person a card?

My DH likes a big breakfast, which is why we have a few scheduled. Plus we go atleast once a year to Disney so we do not rush through the parks or worry about missing something. (was just there in August 07, but I never plan usually call Disney and take whatever they tell me). This is our first time making ADRs, well besides character meals. We all eat a lot of food. We have changed it somewhat.

Jan 27
Raglan Road - dinner

Jan 28
(AK 8am - 11am then MGM rest of the day)
Tusker House - Breakfast
Sci-Fi - Lunch/snacks really - only time we could get and its a must for DH
Prime Time - Dinner

Jan 29
(Epcot and then MK for the PP party)
Princess Breakfast - Norway - Breakfast

Jan 30
(MK)
Chef Mickeys - Breakfast
Cystal Palace - Dinner

Jan 31
Rain Forest Cafe - Lunch DTD

I know I should be a pro at this, but we are so laid back normal we just do not plan. We have yet to see all of any of the parks, because we just stroll around. Normally, we do not even grab a map. We just walk till the kids find something they like and leave when we are tired. But this trip they do not know I have found this board and am planning everything. So I really want to impress them with everything when we get there.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

OK, so if I am reading this right, you can stay four nights without the DDP for 3542.96, or you can stay four nights with the DDP for 3813.63. That's a difference of 270.67 and you get the following:

5 adult TS meals per day x 4 nights = 20 adult TS credits
2 child TS credits per day x 4 nights = 8 child TS credits
20 adult CS credits
8 child CS credits
28 snack credits - drinks, Mickey bars, popcorn, breakfast pastries, whatever (up to $4 each, I think)

I used the buffets to calculate your meal costs - the numbers are easier than trying to guess what you might order. You might actually spend more per person at Prime Time and Raglan Road, but you wouldn't have to. You could decide to use credits after you look at the menu. Here are the numbers:

Dinner at Crystal Palace - 5 adults, 2 kids - $165.93 + tax (covered by DDP) + tip (not covered by 2008 DDP)
Tusker House Breakfast - 5 adults, 2 kids = 116.93 ++
Princess Storybook breakfast - 5 adults, 2 kids=140.93 ++
Chef Mickey's Breakfast - 5 adults, 2 kids = 116.93 ++

So assuming the person who made your reservation knows that three of your kids will have to pay adult prices and you can get the DDP for four nights for $270, the DDP becomes a no-brainer. You are already committed to $540 of TS meals above, not counting the tax that the DDP pays for you. Even if you didn't use any CS credits or snack credits, you are still saving money. The other TS meals would be out of pocket, but they would be without the DDP anyway.

I would verify the numbers before you book, though. The DDP should cost your family about $210 per day, for a total of $840 for four nights. If you are getting it for $300, there is a $500 discount in there somewhere. Could you book the regular tickets (not FL) WITHOUT the DDP and get a similar savings? If that $500 is actually room savings and you can get it with any Magic Your Way tickets, then you would have to do the math again assuming no DDP but a lower cost. What I mean is, if you book the regular MYW package without dining, would it be $3000 ($3800-the $800 for the DDP)?

Have I thoroughly confused you yet?

 

[momof3girls6712]

Oh my gosh my head is spinning now. I am not even sure what you said. I am so lost when it comes to this stuff. Below ar the totals the Disney Rep gave me. We did talk about the older kids having to be adults. I rounded up to the nearest dollar to make it simple. Plus it has changed some as 1 of the 11s parents said no and we moved to preferred rooms at the Movies.


2 rooms, preferred ASmo - 552.00
3 day PH FL res. 900.00
P&P Party 264.00
Estimated Dinning Cost 1300.00
Total 2907.00

Fore the Magic Your Way Package which is for 4 adults (since the 2 kids are counted) and 2 kids with DDr and 3 day Park Hopper is 3060.98. But that does not include the P&P party.

My main concern is that our Dinning estimate is off and really the DDR is the way to go. Plus the lady I spoke with at suggested the Disney Dinning Experience card. Would that be a better way?

I am sorry for not understanding your prvious post. But appreciate all the help.

 

[trivial]

I think StitchandPooh'sMom may have missed that your first plan's cost includes $1700 for dining. I still think you're better off with the first plan, but I would get the Disney Dining Experience. Only one person in your party needs to have it (it covers up to 10 people in a group), and it will give you a 20% discount off food and drink at most Disney restaurants.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

OK, I see what you did now. I missed that the $1700 you estimated for food was included in your price - I thought you were getting the DDP for only $300 more than having no food at all.

In that case, you are probably better off without the DDP. With your budget of $1300 for food for six people (now), it is not worth the additional money to get the DDP. Given that you will already be paying for several meals OOP, you're probably better off to do your own thing.

As far as the DDE is concerned, it is good for 20% off food and beverages for up to 10 people in your party. As long as you will always be together, you only need one. I don't believe it is valid at Rainforest Cafe, but you should be able to use it at the other restaurants you have chosen. It would definitely be worth it to you to get it based on your party size and the number of TS meals you have chosen.

Here is the info for the DDE:

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

Sorry for the confusion - I didn't see that your OOP food expenses were added into your total. It makes more sense now!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I think StitchandPooh'sMom may have missed that your first plan's cost includes $1700 for dining.

That's exactly what I did! I couldn't figure out how the DDP was only $300 more for 7 people for four nights - I just couldn't make it work!

 

[momof3girls6712]

Thank you so much. I just want us to have a great time. I will plan on getting the DDE now.
Thanks so much!!