DP and Signature Dining?

[DisneyLvr12]

We are getting the DP for the first time this trip! We haven't done it in the past and I can't believe we haven't!
We're going with the basic - 1 QS, 1 SD and 1 snack. The only signature dining we plan do do this trip is CRT. That requires 2 points, right? I'm trying to understand how this works. IF we're going for 5 nights and we have CRT booked, do we just pay out of pocket for a dinner one night and that'll 'reserve' 2 points for CRT? That's how I'm understanding it but I want to be sure. TIA!

 

[havoc315]

Correct. You have 5 credits to allocate however you wish. You can pay for "extra meals" out of pocket.
Typically, CRT is a poor use of credits -- especially if you paid for the dining plan, as opposed to free dining. You are paying about $30 per TS credit, and CRT is $53 or so. So you are losing money on the reservation.
Thus, many people in your shoes, if they were having 6 TS meals, they would pay for CRT out of pocket.

 

[DisneyLvr12]

Ah, thank you! That's very good info! I hadn't gotten around to figuring out the better deal. But I did just assume it'd be better to use my DP at CRT. Guess not! There's probably not many options where using 2 points would be a wise decision, huh? I wonder if we should cancel out a day with the DP and do 4 instead of 5. Then we'll just do CRT that day and completely pay OOP.

Hmmm...

 

[empty_nester]

When we went to Disney World we had the same dilemma but decided that $53 per person was a lot to spend out of pocket. We used the dining plan for CRT and then payed out of pocket for Pizza from Giordanos which only cost us $60 total for 6 adults and 2 kids (2 stuffed and one thin). We had a car so we picked it up but I understand they also deliver. Another suggestion is the Pizza on the Boardwalk-it wasn't bad and they have picnic tables right there.

 

[havoc315]

Unless you do a split reservation, the ddp is all or none. You can't get it just for part of the trip.
In many cases, it can be more cost effective to skip the ddp if your dining preferences don't neatly align to the design of the plan.

Under the deluxe plan, 2 credit meals are worthwhile.
Under the regular dining plan, very few meals are worth 2 credits. The only meals that come immediately to mind, are the lobster and Surf and turf at Narcoose's. Those entrees, with tax, dessert and soda, are $70+.

Obviously though, you don't need to maximize the value out of every credit. It's not uncommon to "lose money" on some meals, while saving on others.
Dinner at CRT would still be a better credit value, than, for example, lunch at the Plaza or a regular ts breakfast.

 

[havoc315]

When we went to Disney World we had the same dilemma but decided that $53 per person was a lot to spend out of pocket. We used the dining plan for CRT and then payed out of pocket for Pizza from Giordanos which only cost us $60 total for 6 adults and 2 kids (2 stuffed and one thin). We had a car so we picked it up but I understand they also deliver. Another suggestion is the Pizza on the Boardwalk-it wasn't bad and they have picnic tables right there.

$53 is a lot oop. But with CRT you are prepaying either way. So, if you use credits, then you are prepaying about $60. Or you can prepay $53. 60 is still more than 53.

 

[sukhakuli]

Correct. You have 5 credits to allocate however you wish. You can pay for "extra meals" out of pocket.
Typically, CRT is a poor use of credits -- especially if you paid for the dining plan, as opposed to free dining. You are paying about $30 per TS credit, and CRT is $53 or so. So you are losing money on the reservation.
Thus, many people in your shoes, if they were having 6 TS meals, they would pay for CRT out of pocket.

I'm curious how you figured out 30 for TS? How much do you figure a CS and snack are?

 

[havoc315]

I'm curious how you figured out 30 for TS? How much do you figure a CS and snack are?

Actually, I stole the numbers from others, but it's pretty basic.
2011 regular season price is $46
A cs breakfast is about $8-$10. Cs lunch/dinner is $14-17
And most snacks are $2-4.
So at regular season 2011 prices, about $3 for snack, $14 for cs, and $29 for ts. Anything above, is "savings."
2011 peak pricing would be about $31 for ts.

2012 regular season ts is about $32.
2012 peak season is about $34.

 

[Cafeen]

Actually, I stole the numbers from others, but it's pretty basic.
2011 regular season price is $46
A cs breakfast is about $8-$10. Cs lunch/dinner is $14-17
And most snacks are $2-4.
So at regular season 2011 prices, about $3 for snack, $14 for cs, and $29 for ts. Anything above, is "savings."
2011 peak pricing would be about $31 for ts.

2012 regular season ts is about $32.
2012 peak season is about $34.

Yup.

Faldred came up with the initial calculations. I applied them to the 2012 plan to see what we came out with. There's quite a bit of math behind them, but it seems to make sense and works out nicely.

They're actually based around an average $3 snack and it uses the pricing of the QSDP to figure out the QS credit cost, and then subtracts all that funky stuff to figure out the TS cost. 2012 is a bit easier, since we can just call the mugs as free since all levels receive them now (it used to make a slight difference for Dx and QS as they were added value).

-- Wandering Mind Warning! --
In the thread about upping the poster's child's age to 10 so they could apply credits for themselves at CRT found a neat little thing about CRT dinner. It may actually be the exception to the "don't use TS credits for 2 credit meals" rule IF you have at least 1 kid for every 2 adults AND you are doing dinner. (And this is only off of 2011 prices)

CRT dinner is ~$55 for Adult and ~$34 Child or 2 TS credits. So, just for the adults, you're going to be ~$5 behind on each. However, using a slightly different method for kids meals (which also seems to get decent, plausible numbers) of $3 snack, $3 CS, $6 TS (so it's $12 - snack = meals then 2/3 meals = TS, 1/3 = CS), this shows a rough gain of about $11 per kid. So with 2 Adults and 1 kid, it's basically a wash. For increasing the ratio of kids to adults, you will actually save money on DDP here, reversing it and you won't.

Of course, this only works for dinner as the adult prices are too "low" at breakfast and lunch to make up with the vast difference in the kids' pricing. And it only works for 2011, as I didn't bother looking at 2012 prices .

And, of course, it's still better money-wise to pay OOP for adults here and use DDP credits at more expensive per-credit meals, but for those who are more prone to try and keep everything paid for by the same method, it's not really a big hit to the overall savings. (And, this little math thing only works with parties where the Adult to Kid ratio is at the very least 2:1).