Dining Plan or Out of Pocket at Cinderella's Castle?

[thebells_Dallas]

I am tinkering with the idea of do i use the plan or pay for Cinderella's Breakfast on May 1st? I figure $85.97 for my wife and i and our 5 year old daughter. essentially i would be paying the equivalent of $74 for my wife, $74 for me, and $24 or so for my daughter if we used the plan. What have you done for table services that are 2 credits? I am a picky eater so most of our meals are breakfasts that we have planned. Any suggestions out there?

 

[thebells_Dallas]

i stand corrected in my thinking. i wouldn't be paying that much for breakfast because my $37/night includes snacks and counter service. i'm still trying to figure out what is cheaper though.

 

[tinkamom]

I would pay for the breakfast and plan two more nice dinners with the 2 TS credits.

 

[TAKitty]

I am paying out of pocket for the breakfast. We like the table service meals and it is cheaper for us to use the two credits for those meals instead of for the castle.

 

[Luv4Disney]

We did OOP especially since we also have the DDE. We don't think it's worth it to use 2 TS credits.

 

[gottalluvmickey]

I'm going through the same dillema! I think we've decided to use the credits and pay out of pocket at the end of our trip if we run short on credits. I know that the last two times we've been with the DDP, we've left with CS that we didn't use. Hoping to make it work so we don't have to pay anything for food once we get to Disney!

 

[LoriNSC]

Last year we paid out of pocket & will be doing it again this year. I've already prepaid our CRT breakfast-$148. Last year our TS meals ran about $120-$180each. So my math tells me we get more if I pay OOP for CRT. That's 2 TS credits I can use elsewhere. My family loves to eat so I don't want to waste a single credit.

 

[daisyduck123]

We've got CRT booked for August.

We'll be paying OOP and using our DDE card.

 

[LizinSTL]

I am tinkering with the idea of do i use the plan or pay for Cinderella's Breakfast on May 1st? I figure $85.97 for my wife and i and our 5 year old daughter. essentially i would be paying the equivalent of $74 for my wife, $74 for me, and $24 or so for my daughter if we used the plan. What have you done for table services that are 2 credits? I am a picky eater so most of our meals are breakfasts that we have planned. Any suggestions out there?

It would depend on the rest of my plans for the week. I look at the DDP on a whole rather on a day by day basis. Some days you lose, some days you win. (Kind of like how you look at a toddlers eating habits!)

IF you are dining at other huge value 1 TS credit restaurants the rest of the week and don't really have room in your plans for 2 more meals, I'd use my credits for CRT. If you have more ADRs than TS credits anyway and are going to have to pay OOP for something, then I'd pay OOP for CRT breakfast.

 

[thebells_Dallas]

funny, but i'm the one with the odd eating habits. i am a very picky eater. my plans are as follows:
saturday: nothing planned
sunday: breakfast at GF and dinner at CP (DDP)
monday: storybook breakfast at epcot and 50's diner at mgm (DDP)
tuesday: breakfast at hollywood and vine (DDP)
wednesday: cinderella breakfast (OOP)
thursday: breakfast at CP
friday: nothing planned, leave at 7:50 pm

 

[Tam1067]

You'll get more "value" for your TS credits if you pay OOP for the CRT breakfast and then do two dinners with those TS credits. Of course, the decision is up to you, but the value would be better if you did it that way.

Just by way of comparison, our dinner at Kona Cafe easily ran over $40 for each adult (kids are less). That's only one TS credit a person. Dinners are a wiser use of your TS credits than breakfasts are, too, because you get dessert whereas at breakfast you do not.

If you want to save money, then use the two TS credits at CRT for that breakfast. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, pay OOP for CRT and then get two ADRs for dinner somewhere and use the TS credits for those dinners.

 

[thebells_Dallas]

yeah, that's true about the dinners being better because of dessert. but since i am picky, i know i can enjoy breakfasts, but i don't know that i'll enjoy dinners. i am a chicken eater. if i can eat chicken strips while there i am good to go. i know the 50's diner has fried chicken and was told the CP has chicken strips. was wondering if they would let me eat chicken strips from the kids buffet. i figure it's all food, and i'm paying for it......

 

[LizinSTL]

yeah, that's true about the dinners being better because of dessert. but since i am picky, i know i can enjoy breakfasts, but i don't know that i'll enjoy dinners. i am a chicken eater. if i can eat chicken strips while there i am good to go. i know the 50's diner has fried chicken and was told the CP has chicken strips. was wondering if they would let me eat chicken strips from the kids buffet. i figure it's all food, and i'm paying for it......

You can eat any food you want from the buffet Don't worry! Just glancing at your ADRs you'll probably want to pay OOP for CRT and then use your TS credits for your other meals. But if you want to be sure, then go ahead and estimate your meals w/ the prices on allearsnet.com to see for sure. Enjoy your meals! Part of the fun of the DDP is that you can enjoy your trip without stressing about the cost of the meals (at least for me!) So eat your chicken strips at CP and have fun at your character breakfasts!

 

[Michigan_tinkerbell]

I'm going through the same dillema! I think we've decided to use the credits and pay out of pocket at the end of our trip if we run short on credits. I know that the last two times we've been with the DDP, we've left with CS that we didn't use. Hoping to make it work so we don't have to pay anything for food once we get to Disney!

We are doing the two ts and then if we run out at the end of the week we will just hit McDonalds or somthing.