Family of 4 Dining Reviews from last month's (May 2008) 10th Anniversary Trip!

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Okay, so question of the day ~ the question I get asked quite often ~ IS THE DDP PLAN WORTH IT?????

Unfortunately I don't have the answer to that! I guess it just depends. . . .

All of our food totaled $985. We paid about $675 for the DDP. So, it looks like it was a great deal, right?!? Well, that depends on how you look at it. Yes, we saved $310 !! But, if we had not had the DDP would we have ate at all those places? Would we have bought all the "stuff" at Goofy's Candy Co that we didn't need? Would we have done 3 character meals? Would we have gotten dessert with every meal? Um. . . No. . No. . . No. . . and No!

So, it's all in how you look at it. It is nice to be able to experience all those restaurants, go to all the character meals, take the kids to a candy store and tell them to pick out whatever they want and so on! But, I don't like the feeling of being tied to all those reservations. It seems like you have to plan your day around where you need to be at a certain time for your ADR and it makes things a little hectic. Also, it can make you uncomfortably full because you eat so much trying to get your money's worth!

We could go and eat mostly CS and just do a few TS and spend less than the $675 we spent on the DDP. So that's another way to look at it. But then you don't get to do all the character meals. And those are so nice because those lines in the parks are so long to see the characters.

So again, I don't know!! We were set on not doing the DDP on the next trip. But then we reconsidered. It will be the last trip before DS9 is considered an adult by Disney. We will definitely NOT be getting the DDP when DS turns 10. There's no way I would pay nearly $40 a day for a 10 year old picky eater! So now we are thinking that we will do the DDP in 2009 (depending on the 2009 price) and then we will probably be done with it. At least until the boys are teenagers and they eat so much that it becomes a good deal again!!

 

[Anna_Claire]

Thanks for taking the time to do these reviews. We are taking our first trip to WDW in December (For NYE) with my DH ::cop: (who hasn't been since he was 7 and is now 31!) DD4 , and DS3 . I haven't been since I was 12, and am now 30! So, it's like the first time for us! I will be making my reservations on Tuesday, which will mark our 180 days until. We are doing the DDP and I feel like it will be well worth it because we are doing at least one character meal every day. (I don't want the kids missing out on any character meet & greets!) The reviews have been very helpful in trying to figure out what's worth it and was isn't. I'm a little OCD when it comes to this planning thing and I'm super organized. I even have Excel spreadsheets for this junk!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks for taking the time to do these reviews. We are taking our first trip to WDW in December (For NYE) with my DH ::cop: (who hasn't been since he was 7 and is now 31!) DD4 , and DS3 . I haven't been since I was 12, and am now 30! So, it's like the first time for us! I will be making my reservations on Tuesday, which will mark our 180 days until. We are doing the DDP and I feel like it will be well worth it because we are doing at least one character meal every day. (I don't want the kids missing out on any character meet & greets!) The reviews have been very helpful in trying to figure out what's worth it and was isn't. I'm a little OCD when it comes to this planning thing and I'm super organized. I even have Excel spreadsheets for this junk!

You're welcome!

I hope you have a wonderful first trip with your kids!! They are at a great age to go! And if you are wanting to do a lot of character meals, then the DDP is definitely worth it. Character dinners run around $100 for a family of 4!

Good luck getting all the ADR's you want!

 

[trixiequilts]

Thanks so much for the great reviews, I appreciate all the time, effort and honesty you put into them! We're still leaning toward the DDP. Last night I added up what we would choose at the TS restaurants (7) and we're already at at least $551! And that's just TS! DDP will be around $686. Like you said, if we didn't do the plan we definitely would not eat at all those places. But DD8 will still be a child (even though she doesn't eat like one...they'll lose money on her!) so now's the time!

Are you going to do more reviews after your next trip?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks so much for the great reviews, I appreciate all the time, effort and honesty you put into them! We're still leaning toward the DDP. Last night I added up what we would choose at the TS restaurants (7) and we're already at at least $551! And that's just TS! DDP will be around $686. Like you said, if we didn't do the plan we definitely would not eat at all those places. But DD8 will still be a child (even though she doesn't eat like one...they'll lose money on her!) so now's the time!

Are you going to do more reviews after your next trip?

No problem!

I think you will be happy with the DDP, especially if you are wanting to do a lot of character meals and if your DD is a good eater!

I probably will do more dining reviews after the next trip! It was fun! We are thinking about these for the next trip: LeCellier (again), Mama Melrose (again), Chef Mickey's breakfast (since we've only done dinner there), 1900 Park Fare, The Plaza Restaurant, and that leaves one more to choose if we go for 6 nights. . . . .

We will have to see what the 2009 DDP is like first though!

 

[mari360]

loved all the reports...... also the review on the DDp... for us it was great... i would do it again... i just like the that i don't have to worry about food or anything.....we'll see how much they change it throughout the years...

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks Mari!

 

[rusafee1183]

Okay, so question of the day ~ the question I get asked quite often ~ IS THE DDP PLAN WORTH IT?????

Unfortunately I don't have the answer to that! I guess it just depends. . . .

All of our food totaled $985. We paid about $675 for the DDP. So, it looks like it was a great deal, right?!? Well, that depends on how you look at it. Yes, we saved $310 !! But, if we had not had the DDP would we have ate at all those places? Would we have bought all the "stuff" at Goofy's Candy Co that we didn't need? Would we have done 3 character meals? Would we have gotten dessert with every meal? Um. . . No. . No. . . No. . . and No!

So, it's all in how you look at it. It is nice to be able to experience all those restaurants, go to all the character meals, take the kids to a candy store and tell them to pick out whatever they want and so on! But, I don't like the feeling of being tied to all those reservations. It seems like you have to plan your day around where you need to be at a certain time for your ADR and it makes things a little hectic. Also, it can make you uncomfortably full because you eat so much trying to get your money's worth!

We could go and eat mostly CS and just do a few TS and spend less than the $675 we spent on the DDP. So that's another way to look at it. But then you don't get to do all the character meals. And those are so nice because those lines in the parks are so long to see the characters.

So again, I don't know!! We were set on not doing the DDP on the next trip. But then we reconsidered. It will be the last trip before DS9 is considered an adult by Disney. We will definitely NOT be getting the DDP when DS turns 10. There's no way I would pay nearly $40 a day for a 10 year old picky eater! So now we are thinking that we will do the DDP in 2009 (depending on the 2009 price) and then we will probably be done with it. At least until the boys are teenagers and they eat so much that it becomes a good deal again!!

good point shelly! i am still wondering if i will do it next time or not- you'll have to teach me how to be so organized next time!!!

great job!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

good point shelly! i am still wondering if i will do it next time or not- you'll have to teach me how to be so organized next time!!!

great job!!!

Ah, thanks!

 

[ktkerber]

Hi Shelly...

I was wondering where in the Pittsburgh area you are from. We are out in the Eastern suburbs between Monroeville and Greensburg. We also stayed at CSR on our last trip in Dec 07. We also had the same experiences with the Pepper Market staff, especially the drinks people. I also had a problem with one the people in the lobby at the concierge desk. We had booked Mickey's Backyard BBQ and had to hold the reservation with our cc. I went to the desk because we had to pick up the tickets. We wanted to pay for the tickets instead of putting it on our credit card since we had Disney Visa dollars, gift cards, and cash. I went up to the desk and explained this to her. Should have been no problem, right? Well instead of taking my Visa dollars and gift cards she went ahead and charged it to the DDP. We didn't want to do this either because we had already planned 2 TS meals that were way more expensive for the 2 of them than the BBQ would have cost out of pocket. So I told her this and she said it was already done and she could not reverse. She was just like "Oh, Well! Sorry! I told her she had better find a way because that is not what I asked for. She was very rude and acted like I was crazy because I didn't want it on the DDP. We had Le Cellier and Coral Reef left. I was confident that those meals were a better use of our 2 remaining TS credits than the BBQ. She made me explain this to her in great detail and then complained that it was time for the desk to close so we was going to have to close up. I was so mad if she would have just taken the Visa dollars and gift cards and done what I asked, there would have been n problem. I insisted that she fix the problem and informed her I had all night to wait. Magically(since it was time for her to go home,) she was able to reverse the charge and take the gift cards.

I will also say that our mousekeeper was not very good either. I am pretty sure there were days that she just put the paper caps back on the dirty cups. Also she didn't move any of the chairs when she vacuumed since we had Mickey head confetti under our table for a few days.

We did enjoy our stay there and would probably go again, but I would be more insistent of a better job cleaning our room. The bell services were very good about bringing our luggage and picking it up again. The buses ran pretty regularly and we never had to wait very long. We always got a spot on the bus when it came. When we stayed at Pop, we waited and waited for buses. When they finally came, they were always already full. We never had this at CSR.

Thanks again for a nicely written trip report.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hi ktkerber! I am about 50 minutes north of the city in a little town that has a pretty popular college and outlet mall!

Yes, the CM's at CSR leave a lot to be desired (to put it nicely)! They just don't listen to what the guest is saying or are just plain lazy I think. It's a shame because it really is a beautiful place and the pool is awesome.

Glad you enjoyed the dining reports!

 

[KatMark]

Hi Shelly...

I was wondering where in the Pittsburgh area you are from. We are out in the Eastern suburbs between Monroeville and Greensburg. We also stayed at CSR on our last trip in Dec 07. We also had the same experiences with the Pepper Market staff, especially the drinks people. I also had a problem with one the people in the lobby at the concierge desk. We had booked Mickey's Backyard BBQ and had to hold the reservation with our cc. I went to the desk because we had to pick up the tickets. We wanted to pay for the tickets instead of putting it on our credit card since we had Disney Visa dollars, gift cards, and cash. I went up to the desk and explained this to her. Should have been no problem, right? Well instead of taking my Visa dollars and gift cards she went ahead and charged it to the DDP. We didn't want to do this either because we had already planned 2 TS meals that were way more expensive for the 2 of them than the BBQ would have cost out of pocket. So I told her this and she said it was already done and she could not reverse. She was just like "Oh, Well! Sorry! I told her she had better find a way because that is not what I asked for. She was very rude and acted like I was crazy because I didn't want it on the DDP. We had Le Cellier and Coral Reef left. I was confident that those meals were a better use of our 2 remaining TS credits than the BBQ. She made me explain this to her in great detail and then complained that it was time for the desk to close so we was going to have to close up. I was so mad if she would have just taken the Visa dollars and gift cards and done what I asked, there would have been n problem. I insisted that she fix the problem and informed her I had all night to wait. Magically(since it was time for her to go home,) she was able to reverse the charge and take the gift cards.

I will also say that our mousekeeper was not very good either. I am pretty sure there were days that she just put the paper caps back on the dirty cups. Also she didn't move any of the chairs when she vacuumed since we had Mickey head confetti under our table for a few days.

We did enjoy our stay there and would probably go again, but I would be more insistent of a better job cleaning our room. The bell services were very good about bringing our luggage and picking it up again. The buses ran pretty regularly and we never had to wait very long. We always got a spot on the bus when it came. When we stayed at Pop, we waited and waited for buses. When they finally came, they were always already full. We never had this at CSR.

Thanks again for a nicely written trip report.

Sorry you had a bad experience with a CM in the lobby. We have nothing but superb service from all of the CM's at the CSR--they have gone above and beyond on more than one occasion for us.

 

[ktkerber]

Hi ktkerber! I am about 50 minutes north of the city in a little town that has a pretty popular college and outlet mall!

Yes, the CM's at CSR leave a lot to be desired (to put it nicely)! They just don't listen to what the guest is saying or are just plain lazy I think. It's a shame because it really is a beautiful place and the pool is awesome.

Glad you enjoyed the dining reports!

I know exactly where you are! I have been to those outlets many times. You are lucky to be so close!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I know exactly where you are! I have been to those outlets many times. You are lucky to be so close!

Yes, it's one of those things where it's so close that you hardly go there! Usually go for back to school shopping and maybe a few other times a year! We go over quite often to eat at the food court though!!

Sorry you had such a bad experience at CSR. That stinks! I had some pretty rotten CM's there too. I am pretty sure we had the same thing happen to us with the dirty cups too. It got to the point where I told the kids not to use them at all! Guess we can't all be as lucky as KatMark.

Thanks again for reading!

 

[KatMark]

Yes, it's one of those things where it's so close that you hardly go there! Usually go for back to school shopping and maybe a few other times a year! We go over quite often to eat at the food court though!!

Sorry you had such a bad experience at CSR. That stinks! I had some pretty rotten CM's there too. I am pretty sure we had the same thing happen to us with the dirty cups too. It got to the point where I told the kids not to use them at all! Guess we can't all be as lucky as KatMark.

Thanks again for reading!

I'm not the only lucky one. There are several recent returnees from CSR that had a good trip and no problems with CM's or other things at the resort. But, like I have stated before, it can happen at any resort. We had terrible CM's at the Contemporary and one of the many reasons we will not stay there ever again.