For those who have done DxDP, do you do any CS?

[steph73]

We're on the DxDP for the first time (yay!) for our May trip. We did the DDP last year, so I'm familiar with how it works but had a quick question for those who have done the DxDP before.

Do you "save" any of your credits to use for CS? Right now, we still have 2 credits left that I don't have an ADR for. I figured we'd use those for in-room dining one night, I know there was a point last year while on the DDP that we would have preferred to just cancel our dinner plans and dine in, but we didn't because it was 2 credits.

I of course want to get a good value out of the plan since we're paying for it, but at the same time we're not getting the plan to save money - it's really for convenience. I was just wondering what other people tend to do, if they set a few credits aside to use for CS. We do like some of the CS options, WPE in DTD was especially good, but since we'll have 56 (!) snack credits for the week, I kind of figured we wouldn't need to bother with any CS.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We plan on using 1 credit for CS: our lunch at Tyhpoon lagoon. We plan on spending the whole day there, so it's either OOP or use the credit.

The way it worked out, we had the "extra" credit, so we are using it for that.

I wouldn't plan an extra TS meal I didn't want just to use a credit for TS as opposed to QS, but I don't hesitate to use them for QS if it comes out that way, either.

 

[JJsmama]

I was talking to my sons about this today. I planned Dx this year. We have always done DDP before. I think we will want to do a couple CS whether we do Dx or DDP. I've got all these ADRs booked and it just looks like a LOT of time waiting for a waiter... A couple mornings we will want to go to Contempo Cafe before AM-EMH and there is always a lunch or dinner sometime that we would rather just do something quicker or eat by the pool.


Because of this, I am wondering whether to do DxDP or just put money on a gift card for myself. None of us actually eats 3 courses at all meals plus snacks, but I too wanted to do DxDP for convenience and flexibility of choices and I wanted to do HDDR and Luau. But my one son's favorite restaurant is Cosmic Rays confused3) and they LOVE Contempo in the mornings.

I think you have to ask yourself if you would allow yourself to eat a couple CS guilt free. Or would you feel you had not 'gotten your money's worth?' If you know you would like to do CS, and especially if you would ever share meals, you may want to reconsider DxDP IMHO. I'm doing the same calculations now myself...

 

[effervescent]

We don't plan CS per se on DxDDP. We make ADRs for the meals that we absolutely want to do - at least one TS or show a day - and then fill in from there. We do usually have "unassigned" credits that we'll use for CS here and there. We did do pizza delivery to our room our last night there to use up our last two credits, it was nice to not be rushing to an ADR that night.

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

We also have always done the DDP and are trying Dx this time as well. We always spend OOP for several restaurants, so we thought Dx would be the way to go. I made several signature dining ADRs as well as other TS meals, so I know we will get our money's worth. I purposely left a few dining credits for WPE and the random hot dog my H seems to crave.

 

[havoc315]

We have 18 dx credits per person on our upcoming trip. 15 are allotted between various lunches and dinners each day. We will likely use the last 3 for CS breakfasts. Since we are starting early each day, we don't want the time commitment of a TS breakfast.
Plus, not like you are getting great value out of the TS credit at someplace like the Wave for breakfast.

Mathematically, it would be nice to get more value. But I am not going to change the dining preferences that work best, just to get value.

For most families, you will get value out of the plan, as long as the bulk of your credits are used for TS. For example, if you do 2 TS credits for a $65 signature dinner, 2 snacks for a $6 breakfast, and a $15 CS lunch, then you still got $86 value out of the $79 plan.

 

[phoebec]

We are doing deluxe in June. My kids eat three meals a day at home. Not always big meals, but always 3 meals. To me, Im not worried about if the meals are TS or CS. I got the Deluxe so we can have the flexibility to have 3 meals if we need it. I want to do Hoop de Doo, Cinderella's and LeCellier. I also want to do a few character breakfasts. The deluxe allows us to do this easily. If my kids need a third meal on those days, we have all those snack credits to use. I plan on using CS for some breakfasts and lunches and won't feel bad about it. I just look at the deluxe for the three meals a day, not what type.

 

[sjs314]

We will be using the DxDP for the first time on our upcoming trip. I have been going over where we want to eat, the main reason we purchased the Deluxe DP is because we want to try all the restaurants we haven't yet, plus going to F&W and see using the snack credits there as a "good value" since between DH and myself we will have 28 to use.

I am planning on trying WGPE in DTD and we love Fish and Chips so rather than schedule 2 ADR for Rose & Crown, I am thinking lunch one day at Yorkshire Fish Shop not sure if I will add any more counter serve to our list but I do not see any reason not to, not worried about breaking even so much as the freedom to just order what we want without thinking about the prices

 

[MSLRAC]

We did the DxDP last February and will do it again for our upcoming trip and I did not plan/schedule/allot credits for any CS meals. One of the many reasons we opt for the DxDP is because we do not like CS style meals while on vacation.

That said, we had one CS meal at Pepper's Market last time simply because we got drenched by rain right before our scheduled dinner at 50's PT. So we canceled, headed back to the room to change and then went to eat at the hotel. We still saved a ton by using the plan so that meal didn't throw the value of the plan off by any means.

 

[buzz1fan]

We are only staying for 2 nights, so we got the deluxe plan, so we can get in 2 character breakfasts, then sit down dinners. For only 2 nights, for what we would have had to pay OOP it was cheaper to pay for the deluxe. Then for lunch, we will grab a CS if we see one, or a CS our last AM. So yes we will use some for CS.

 

[erosenst]

We've definitely used the CS meals on the DxDP, and will again this year. We do character (TS) breakfasts, CS lunch, and TS dinner. Having three TS would be too much for us, and DD needs to eat more frequently. We still come out ahead, although obviously less than if we used all three.

I don't buy the DxDP to maximize it (although I know a lot who do) - I do it because it pays off for what we would otherwise be doing.

 

[aaarcher86]

We usually do an early TS breakfast, a late TS dinner and a QS lunch or large snack during the day when we're hungry. We like to leave lunch open so that way we aren't nailed down to a time.

We made the mistake on our last trip of having a TS breakfast, TS lunch and TS dinner some days (first trip) and it was just too much. We couldn't thoroughly enjoy the parks because we were running around for reservations a lot.

If we do have a TS lunch for whatever reason we'll do a QS breakfast.

 

[Faldred]

When we went two years ago, I think we did three CS lunches over the course of a week. Frankly, the next time we go, I imagine we'll do zero.

It has nothing to do with "value" and everything to do with preferring not to deal with the hassle of lines and seating, as with autistic kids we tend to want to stay "on schedule" which means peak periods, especially for lunch. Plus, we found the "down time" of a TS lunch to be lot better for keeping energy up for the afternoon.

I've never been a fan of the "TS meals miss out on park time" argument. I think a solid touring plan and a dining plan that meshes with it manages a fine balance of park activities and dining.

 

[pharmgirl69]

We used the DxDP last May when we went and will be doing it again this year. We love food and part of the fun of Disney for us is the food. Last year we did all TS with the exception of maybe 1 or two days. It's not so much the value for us but more of the convenience. This year I would imagine that we are going to use a few more CS because I don't really have too many things planned for lunch. We always do a TS for breakfast and dinner. There are 4 days out of 10 this year that we are not doing a lunch because our meals are at odd times or whatnot. I figure if we get hungry we can do OOP but I highly doubt we will be hungry. We never really "save" credits because we do a few 2 credit meals.

 

[Wendy31]

We do the DxDP because I normally always end up scheduling a few more TS restaurants than I have credits for w/ the basic DP.

Additionally, we do the DxDP because our kids are used to eating 3 meals/day, &, like someone else said, I tend to look at the DxDP as the 3 meals/day plan.

I do try to get the most "value" out of the plan, but I also plan CS meals too. There are some CS places at which we like to eat, &, many times, in the morning, we're just ready to hit the parks & not stop for a sit-down breakfast - so we'll just grab a CS breakfast at our resort.

So, for our upcoming 8 night/9 day stay, I currently have 15 TS restaurants planned (2 of those are 2 TS credit restaurants) & 9 CS restaurants planned. (In order to not run out of credits, we will share breakfast on CS breakfast days - I only have 2 TS breakfasts planned.) Of course, this is all subject to change depending on when the MNSSHP parties are scheduled - I have 2 different dining scenarios going!

I also like to mix up breakfasts/lunches/dinners, so we're not running to an ADR for all 3 meals. Sometimes, it's nice to stop in the middle of the day for a nice sit-down lunch & to just grab a CS meal for supper.

 

[NMW]

We usually do one CS meal that we pay OOP for when we do the deluxe plan. We eat a TS breakfast and dinner every day. However, we do lots of signature dinners...5 for our 8 day May 2011 trip are planned. We do some days where we use snack credits for lunch, we pay OOP for lunch at Brown Derby and ESPN, some days we use credits for TS lunches, and usually 1 day we pay OOP for CS food. It just depends. But, yes, even with the deluxe plan we end up eating CS one day, we just don't use the plan to pay for it.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

We make our plan with where we want to eat but then we eat where we want. That said if we are hungry when we are at HS and don't want to take the time to sit down then we get a cs and don't feel bad about it. Basically the biggest benifit of the DDDP in my opinion flexibility. We don't try to maximize every dollar but we enjoy our trip. We eat pizza in room, room service, TS, signatures, CS and anything else that isn't nailed down. Then we go on a major diet for the next month!

 

[Colleen27]

We make two ADRs per day and leave the rest of our credits unplanned. Since we do a lot of two credit meals, that leaves just a couple credits per person unaccounted for. Sometimes they get used for counter service between ADRs or a late-night snack from the resort food court, sometimes they get used for room service or pizza delivery.

 

[dntd]

Last time we used all but one at sit down meals, most of our credits were used for 2 credit meals.

 

[LoriABil]

We used CS for breakfast a few days, and at Yorkshire...for fish and chips (a tradition). We just aren't big breakfast people! That's probably one reason we'll stick with the regular DP from now on.