Haven't gotten a DDP in awhile. Specialty non-alcoholic drinks included?

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eeyoresmom

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I am thinking of getting the DxDDP for one night of our upcoming DVC stay since the first night we are staying at a different resort (if waitlist doesn't come through) Anyway, can we order the specialty non alcoholic drinks lots of restaurants have? Specifically at Tuttu Italia they have some Italian bottled sodas that are around $5.......:confused3 TIA
 
Depends on the restaurant. Some will allow it and some won't. Not sure about Tutto but I do know that its sister restaurant, Via Napoli, does not allow specialty beverages on DDP.

Drinks served in souvenir cups or accompanied by glow novelties are never included.
 
As the PP said, the VN (run by the same company as TI) does not allow guests to order the specialty beverages as the beverage component of a DDP meal (you can certifiably order it and pay OOP for it). My guess is that TI does not include the specialty drinks either. Some places (usually Disney-owned are more flexible) include milkshakes and smoothies as drinks, but from what I remember, single serving "bottled" type drinks are generally not included on the DDP. That being said, it's always best to ask your server when you get to any restaurant if a specific drink is included on the DDP.
 

The non-alcoholic beverage refers to standard fountain drinks - generally the kind for which you get unlimited refills at a restaurant or are at the self-serve taps at beverage machines. Beyond that it is up to the discretion of each restaurant. As the PP mentioned, the Disney owned restaurants are more likely to allow shakes, smoothies, virgin cocktails, specialty coffees, but it will depend on the restaurant. The third party restaurants like Tutto are reimbursed by Disney according to the rules of the dining plan so it's unlikely they'll allow the bottled sodas or any other specialty beverage.
 
We have ordered smoothies at Portobello, Artist Point, Narcoossee's and Le Cellier at a minimum. I seem to recall there were a couple of others as well, maybe Yachtsman and Capt Jack's. I don't ever recall being denied other than those with souvenir glasses or similar except at PM part of the time.
 
Thank you....trying to figure out if DDP or TIW makes more sense is so complicated, even for a Disney vet. I was all set to do DXDDP for 1 night followed by TIW, then found out Tuttu gives a 15% discount to DVC members as well as 10% to the other 2 TS we have planned:confused::rotfl2: Really not fun at all.
 
Thank you....trying to figure out if DDP or TIW makes more sense is so complicated, even for a Disney vet. I was all set to do DXDDP for 1 night followed by TIW, then found out Tuttu gives a 15% discount to DVC members as well as 10% to the other 2 TS we have planned:confused::rotfl2: Really not fun at all.
Short stays and kids are two situations where it's much easier to get value, esp from the dlx plan. Several reasons include that you have a lot less risk if something happens since it's use or lose and that you can target the best value options for that portion pushing other options to the non plan portion if staying longer. You also get an extra day to use the credits potentially. I don't know your other choices but Tutto should be a good one to get value from the Dlx plan. My bet in that situation is that if you run the numbers and all of your choices are TS & single credit but not buffet, you'll get a paper value of around $150 to $160 per adult. A little less if the assumptions aren't completely correct with breakfasts or lunch buffet's. One consideration would be to concentrate on 2 dinners with either an early lunch or large breakfast on change day. You can even do a signature for one night if your dining habits don't require you order a full 3 course meal for every person every meal.

Here's what a 1 day stay might look like for the 2 of us for the DP if no park those days. One meal with apply & dessert and one drink, Kim often get's water. sometime order a second apply or salad or just a couple of sides. I've had them make me a veggie plate non uncommonly. We often arrive early and leave later.

Lunch day 1 at someplace that has an all day menu maybe TRex, Capt Jack's, Olivia's or similar. One credit between the 2 of us.
Dinner day 1 at Artist point share a meal, 2 credits.
Lunch day 2 similar to day one, 1 credit
Dinner Narcoossee's day 2 share steak and lobster. Often get cheese plate dessert as apply plus regular apply and no dessert.

6 Credits paper value in the $325 range from what we'd order, maybe up to around $350-360 for top options. That includes the snacks at $4 and the mugs. For in the park for part or all, we could push it up even a little.
 
Wow Dean. This is incredibly helpful. I never thought of sharing a TS credit between the the two if us.In your experience, is there anyplace this is frowned upon? Right now we have adr's at Sanaa (dinner the first night), Yak and Yeti for lunch the next day followed by dinner at Tuttu. Also, I have read that the mugs received with the ddp are good for 14 days so we wouldn't have to purchase a second set. Thanks for the help...sharing a credit and paying oop for an app or salad would be just the right amount of food for us.
 
Wow Dean. This is incredibly helpful. I never thought of sharing a TS credit between the the two if us.In your experience, is there anyplace this is frowned upon? Right now we have adr's at Sanaa (dinner the first night), Yak and Yeti for lunch the next day followed by dinner at Tuttu. Also, I have read that the mugs received with the ddp are good for 14 days so we wouldn't have to purchase a second set. Thanks for the help...sharing a credit and paying oop for an app or salad would be just the right amount of food for us.
Obviously no one size fits all but this general approach has worked well for us in many situations. Other than buffet's or similar (like Teppan Edo and V & A's), I've never felt any hesitations or any negative comments and we've shared at almost all of the Disney locations including all that are signature's except Brown Derby. We're not large eaters and usually have no issues finding choices that we're both happy with. Sometimes we add a salad or similar, often we don't. Even when one of us wants something the other doesn't, that's a good time to get a soup or salad, larger apply or just entree alone OOP. Our primary goal is not overeating but IF one is going to do the DP, it's foolish to do so and pay more than OOP. Actually, IMO, one needs a 20% of spread of savings or added value for the DP for most situations, esp in your case since you'll have the TIW anyway. For you it only makes sense if you're saving more than 20% assuming no blackout times for TIW. One thing I'd encourage and what we do in this situation, is upping our tip % a little. If we share and thus order less than we would otherwise, we up it 2-5% depending on specifics then use the same thought process we'd use for any other restaurant tipping situation of 15% for good, 18% for great and 20% exceptional (increased for sharing) and 15% for ETOH.

With your current ADR's this might not be that helpful unless you can get lunch or breakfast out of it arrival day or want to do 3 meals (we don't usually) on the next day or you change your choices. I don't know how tied you are to these choices and I certainly don't want to come across as telling you what to do, but were I in that situation with those choices reserved, I'd try to change one to a signature. You could even add a lunch on arrival day and do a signature with this approach if you so chose.

The one that consistently doesn't allow feeding 2 people with 1 credit is Via Napoli.

If you are trying to see what is better (DDP vs. OOP), here is a chart that lists DVC/AP/TiW discounts: http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf
We haven't eaten there since they changed but my understanding was this was only limited to the pizza question. Do you have other information.
 
Dean, thank you and please feel free to tell me what you would do...I really appreciate it. We are arriving at AKV around 11 am so a TS lunch would be perfect and I really want to try either Jiko or possibly Narcossee's. We have never done a signature and have no plans for this evening so are willing to dine anywhere on property. We could do Sanna for lunch sharing 1 credit, Jiko or Narcossee's for dinner sharing 2 credits. The next day would be sharing 1 credit at Yak and Yeti for lunch then 2 credits at Tuttu. I do not currently have TIW and don't know if I will purchase it for this trip. I also have to research if it is valid for 13 months. If so it would make more sense to buy it just before my March trip with DD as we go every year that week for 7-9 days. Again thank you I do appreciate your advice.
 
Dean, thank you and please feel free to tell me what you would do...I really appreciate it. We are arriving at AKV around 11 am so a TS lunch would be perfect and I really want to try either Jiko or possibly Narcossee's. We have never done a signature and have no plans for this evening so are willing to dine anywhere on property. We could do Sanna for lunch sharing 1 credit, Jiko or Narcossee's for dinner sharing 2 credits. The next day would be sharing 1 credit at Yak and Yeti for lunch then 2 credits at Tuttu. I do not currently have TIW and don't know if I will purchase it for this trip. I also have to research if it is valid for 13 months. If so it would make more sense to buy it just before my March trip with DD as we go every year that week for 7-9 days. Again thank you I do appreciate your advice.
The TIW is good for 12 months but the expiration is often the end of the month (or next month if late in the month). I've heard some rumblings that this may have ceased or might be about to. There's no way to guarantee it regardless. Most people need to spend around $6-700 on discounted food to break even. 20% puts you at 500 but there are often other applicable discounts that you might get if you didn't have TIW such as AAA, Chase CC, DVC, & AP type passes.

I assume you're staying at AKV or AKL. If so, my suggestion (pulling from your post info) is Sanaa for lunch on arrival then either of the ones you mentioned. Jiko will be more convenient if staying there but we prefer Narcoossees. I probably would not change parks for dinner on the second day. I'd either do both same park or dinner outside the park possibly a second signature. Y & Y isn't necessarily the best place to use the DP for many. I'm not trying to talk you out of any preferred options but point out alternatives. I have to answer based on what we'd do for most situations.

If the assumptions are wrong, the principles still apply of lunch and dinner fairly close to check in resort and no park hopping for meals and no trying to get from one resort to another for a meal. If you won't have a car, those principles become even more important and for us, stringent, though we essentially always have a car and use it except for MK and if we're changing parks during the day. The exception for dining also is the MK area if we can reach the restaurant by monorail or if we've parked at the resort we can reach by boat such as Hoop or WL. Note, we don't use the resorts for park parking other than if we have dining reservations but we do sometimes then for convenience.
 
Thank you. We are staying at AKV that first day and night and it is a no park day so Narcossee's would be easy enough to get to. We have already planned on park hopping the next day, spending the morning in AK and evening on Epcot so Yak and Yeti and Tuttu fit the plan. One more thing, in general of course, how are the portion sizes in the signature restaurants? Jiko is more convenient , but the lobster and filet and almond cheesecake at Narcossee's look fabulous!
 
Thank you. We are staying at AKV that first day and night and it is a no park day so Narcossee's would be easy enough to get to. We have already planned on park hopping the next day, spending the morning in AK and evening on Epcot so Yak and Yeti and Tuttu fit the plan. One more thing, in general of course, how are the portion sizes in the signature restaurants? Jiko is more convenient , but the lobster and filet and almond cheesecake at Narcossee's look fabulous!
We've never had an issue for portion sizes for TS options at WDW that I can recall but we're lightweights I'll admit. The steak and filet at Narcoossees is a full tail and around 6-7 oz filet. We normally get the cheese plate as the appy which is currently listed on their menu as a dessert as well though that option has been hit or miss at such places except at Artist Point IIRC. There are consistently no desserts at Narcoossee's that we enjoy, we find the cheesecake there horrible and generally like cheesecake. The other drink option, esp at signatures, is the pressed coffee. Sometimes we'll delay the drink until after dinner and use it for the pressed coffee or I'll get a strawberry smoothie if available (no refills).
 
I didn't think mugs were valid for 14 days, I thought they were just length of stay?? Interesting if it is.
We are staying 2 nights at BLT and getting deluxe plan for that and having 2 meals a day for the three days. Thats more than enough for us with 3 courses :)
 
I didn't think mugs were valid for 14 days, I thought they were just length of stay?? Interesting if it is.
We are staying 2 nights at BLT and getting deluxe plan for that and having 2 meals a day for the three days. Thats more than enough for us with 3 courses :)
I don't have direct experience since they made this change but there are many reports they are good for 14 days no matter the LOS. I'm also betting they would expire at 14 days even for a longer stay and they'd need to input them again into the system at that point.
 















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