DP, is this going too far?

[sconnell]

Ok, I may have just been up too late, but tell me, is this going too far?
Ok, we (DH who had a gastric bypass, DD4 eats like a BIRD, DD2 eats good for a 2 yr old, and myself who likes to try lots but not eat a lot of it) are going with our best friends (wife eats like a bird, husband eats pretty well, DS4 eats very little, DD2 eats good for a 2 year old)
I KNOW that if one of our families got the DP it would be enough for ALL of us. Seriously. When we go out to eat together, we never get that much food. 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts? and then the Kids meals? I mean we may need to order something extra in the way of sides like more mashed potatos or something, and certainly extra drinks and a big extra tip, which we always do anyway cause after 4 kids have been at a table they need it! lol.
So, it this wrong? Have I been up too late? We probably wouldn't do this, really just wondering what ya'll thought.

 

[wrldpossibility]

Maybe some will disagree, but I don't see how you'd be being dishonest in any way. You'd be paying for the dining plan's amount of food for 4 (3 I guess, the 2-year-old won't count) people, and that's the amount of food you'd get.

Maybe you could do this if you paid OOP for the kids' meals, then just split 2 adult meals between the four of you. Actually, even though everyone in my party will have the DP, we plan to do exactly that several times during the trip to "save" some DP credits for breakfasts or shows. I guess you could trade off who paid for the kids' meals? Of course, this won't work if everyone's on the same package. But if not, I don't see why not. The only risk is if it DOESN'T work, and you find it's not enough food, one family is on the DP and can afford to eat lots of TS meals, the other can't. You can plan for that possibility, and how you'll all pay for things, but what if you disagree about the situation, and one group thinks it's working and another doesn't.

I think I would all get the DP, and then still try your plan, saving the extra credits for a few dinner shows together, a special meal out at California Grill, or breakfasts. I'm curious what you decide!

 

[LeesyUD]

One stipulation that everyone in your party must be on the dining plan..so if you want only one family to have the dining plan you would need to make sure it is two different reservations. There are 2 other problems I see: If the other family gets the plan then they will have the credits on their room keys. Therefore you would need to eat every meal together. If you want to split up they would need to give you one of their room keys or vice versa..to me more trouble than its worth. The other problem would be when it comes to paying...who uses the credits and who pays OOP? That too me would be too much confusion.

 

[DiszyDean]

I agree with everything Leesy said..I think there would be several issues that could arise and you would certainly want to discuss this with the other family in depth....

It seems to me like it would be too much of a hassle...

 

[jworthy]

to me its not a question about how much you eat, but rather what you order. If you want to order a $35 a plate entree, it would make sense to get on the dp. If you want to order less expensive items that go without. DP is designed for people to splurge and not have to worry about how much something costs.

 

[n2mm]

I'm sure this is doeable, but be warned, the portion sizes are not what they use to be. Back once upon a time, the portions were HUGE, now I can even finish my meal and still have room for desert. We do a similar thing that you are talking about. We did it in September and it worked fine for us. There were 8 of us and 4 were on the dining plan (all 4 adult credits). When we ate at more expensive places, we would use 7 TS. We would pay OOP for the junior, or anyone not wanting alot (have the DDE too). Then when we ate at the Plaza or Trail's end we would use our DDE (not worth using the DDP on these places). During our 9 night stay we had 5 nice meals using the DDP and used the extra TS on the last night for a couple of meals and paid OOP for the rest. We all used the CS, and since we ate some table service places for lunch and paid DDE/OOP, we had more CS to go around. We had no problem using all of the SC either.

On our next trip in April, me and hubby will be there 12 nights - DVC- and will buy the DDP. Mid trip my daughter and family (3 +infant) will arrive and spend the last 6 nights with us in another studio. We plan to use some of our TS credits to treat them to a couple of sit down dinners, plus let them use our CS credits. There's no way we can use 24 CS credits when we usually split CS meals (esp. harbor house and peco bills). We have no problem paying OOP for some meals -- again trail's end, 50s prime time, WCC. So I guess you could say, we use the DDP to supplement our meals. After all, most people would have to since it's really only 2 meals a day you are buying, plus snack. However, we always pay OOP/DDE for breakfast, hardly worth wasting a TS on. BTW, spliting the bill is never a problem when you're with your kids and grandkids, we pay the different always.

 

[sconnell]

We will be on seperate reservations. So no prob there. And we will almost always be all together. The only times we will be apart is when the wives and husbands split. lol. We no longer live in the same town with them and once a year we try to take a nice length trip together. We all get along good. My best friend and I, and my DH and her DH are great friends. (What makes it even better, um, how to say this, none of us is TOO friendly of the opposite SO. ) We will even split and alternate nap-time. Friend & I plan to do Tea one afternoon and DHs will have some other time.
I don't know if we will even do this at all, I've got a lot of figuring to do before I come to a conclusion. (As a DISer, I'm the official trip planner.) They tell me the things that they really want to do and I work it all together. DH want's Coral Reef, Friends wants to eat in the castle (lol), they have 1 off-site thing they want to do (Oh the horror! lol. j/k we'll all do it), - A lot more wishes, but as young parents we are on budgets lol.
Seriously, the food is not really an issue. It's more the opportunity to do experiences. - I was just wondering, will they even let one person "pay" for all of us at a character meal or a show?
It probably won't pan out, but I'll let you know what I decide.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

Hi Sunny! Glad to see you back again! We are just back from a trip to VWL in Dec. and we used the dining plan. It was wonderful! We're going back in Oct. and are using it again. Whether or not it's a good value really depends on where you use it. We used ours for the FDP, LeCellier,O'Hana,Chef Mickey's,1900 Park Fare among others. We felt like it was a great value for the money, since what we ordered would have been well over what we paid for the plan. I agree with the poster above who said you could just pay OOP for the kids, and use their credits for dinner shows or Coral Reef for your dh.

 

[sconnell]

HEY! I'm so glad to talk to you! Been a long time! Kirsten is getting so big! That cake is pretty, but not like on of yours! Where was that pic taken?
- I'm now weighing if it will be worth it just to do the character meals. lol.

 

[Lewisc]

Your plan won't work at buffets, dinner shows like HDD and all you care to eat meals such as the character meals.

All MYW guests are allowed an appetizer and dessert. As a result portion sizes, that were originally designed to be shared, have been reduced. The "good", somewhat healthy, portion of the CS meal really isn't enough to share.

Your plan might work for you since your DH will eat next to nothing.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

Yes, she is getting big, lol. She just lost her first tooth the other day. Where does the time go? The pic was at her birthday dinner at 1900 Park Fair at the GF.
How many days are you guys going to be at WDW? If it's just a weekend thing I would say skip the DP. If you're going to be there any length of time I would say you'd be hard pressed not to get your money's worth. We'll be there for 10 days in Oct., so we'll more than break even I'm sure!

 

[sconnell]

We're thinking we are going to do the 7 day thing (6 nights). Now we just need to decide if we want to spend more money on food/character dining or something else. IDK. We probably would do better to save that money and put it on something else and just to a couple of character meals that we really want to do. - What I was thinking before: We aren't big breakfast eaters so we would be fine with snacky type breakfasts. (It's what we do at home.) Then an early lunch and back to the room to rest for an hour or so if we need it. If not, (since parks close earlier in Dec.) then we'd go until dinner time and get something when parks close. Traveling with 2 4yr olds and 2 2 yr olds we will have snacks and be flexible. This is probably what's gonna work best for us. Just have one or two ADR's and then let the rest flow. Dang it, lol. I almost want to go and stuff myself! Maybe I need to stop reading every thread on the rest. board! lol.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

That's usually what we do too. We usually stay at the WL so we have a fridge in the room, and we bring breakfast stuff from home (those small boxes of cereal, instant oatmeal, stuff like that) and eat in the room. Not only does it save money, but time as well, since everyone can eat while someone is in the shower. We go every year the first week of Dec. for Kirstin's birthday, and this year the crowds were a little more than we expected. I would suggest a character breakfast only if you can do it before the parks open. We did Chef Mickey's at 9 am after a late night the night before, and by the time we got to Epcot it was packed! If you can do it for 7 or 8 you might be o.k., otherwise I would go for lunch or dinner.

 

[sconnell]

The last time we went with the kids, we did Donalds BFast before AK opened. That does work out great. Those first 2 wks of December are our favorite too!

 

[The Sweetness]

If your fam and your friends fam are willing to bypass all of the character meals (family style and buffets) as these wont allow sharing, Then give it a shot, but have a back up plan to pay for extra meals if you just dont stretch the plan as much as you thought.