Help! DDP for 12

[lovehoney]

We are coming up to the 180 day mark for reservations and haven't made up our minds if we are doing the ddp or not. Next May we will have 12 people at a Grand Villa at OKW (thanks to aunt's dvc). It will be my sil and her family (sil, bil, stepdd18, dd 9, dd8, dd6, and dd4), my family (dh, me, ds 6, ds3) and my MIL.

My MIL and DH are all for the dining plan (they don't want to worry about cooking or cleaning). MY SIL and I are on the fence because of the little kids and logistics.

1. Does anyone have experience doing the dining plan with a large group? How do you divvy up the credits and other concerns?

2. Any suggestions of where to eat if we decide yes?

3. Regardless of the ddp, we would like to have a meal with the princesses in the castle - anyone ever do this with 12?

Here is our daily park schedule. We will have hoppers but no car.

Sunday arrival mid-day - MK emh
Monday –Epcot
Tuesday - AK
Wed - MK
Thursday - DS
Friday - departure day.

 

[disneymom06]

Most of the children listed are 9 and under which would be only 10.99 per child. Look what you get for that for each child, TS, CS and snack. Imagine on where you might eat and the price of the meals and I believe that you will come out ahead.

The credits are on the room keys. I think your keys would have everyone credits together on the card.

 

[thunderbird1]

Wow--12. That's going to be quite an adventure. We loved the dining plan, can't wait to do it again, and would highly recommend it to your group. It will make it so much easier to deal with the bill at meal time! One good thing you have going for you is all the kids are 9 and under (except for the 18 yo, but she's quite a bit older than the next in line). This means that their DDP will only cost $10.99 vs $38.99, and they'll all be on the same menu at TS restaurants (there can sometimes be competition if you have a 10 yo and a 9 yo on different menus). Now on to your questions:

1. Since you're all staying in one villa, all your credits will be on one account. Your cards will say 6A/6C. Each person in the group will be entitled to one TS, one CS and one snack per day. In my experience, it would be very difficult for you to exceed this, especially with since you have the villa (kitchen) and several young kids. If each family keeps track of their credits to make sure no one is going over, you should be fine (I used the back of a business card in my wallet). You can also have the hotel print out a summary of charges for you so you can double check everything. They're happy to do this as many times as you'd like.

2. Buffets are a great option for larger groups. We love Boma, but many others swear by the character meals--Chef Mickey's, etc. Family style may work well, especially Ohana because of the fun games for the kids. Whispering Canyon Cafe also has a family style option, or you can order off the menu, and it's lots of fun for kids. One thing that might make regular, sit-down TS meals less appealing is the sheer volume of food. 12 appetizers, 12 entrees and 12 desserts would be a TON of food. Of course, you could share meals, but then you'd have to figure out how many extras credits you have, and who they belong to, and how and when to use them up.

3. Sorry--no advice here.

One other thing you might want to check into is the Grand Gathering options. I don't think it would be included on the DDP, but here's the link:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...?id=GrandGatheringsSpecialProductsPage&bhcp=1