Help...DDP or not??

[skjj2009]

Ugh...my AAA TA keeps trying to talk me into it. We had decided against it. My DS 3 hardly eats anything. Anytime we go out to eat we NEVER buy a meal for him. He gets a PB&J from home along with a fruit cup from home and then some french fries or bread and a drink. He is EXTREMELY PICKY! DD 5 is an awesome eater. She can be a bit picky but I've looked at enough menus to know that she'll eat a hot dog, chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, grilled cheese, and even PB&J.
We have ADR at CRT for breakfast already 142 out of pocket. We also have dinner reservations for Chef Mickey's approx another 100 OOP. So I'm already half way to the DDP with 250 in meals. and that's just two meals!
We plan to eat in our room for breakfast. My kids aren't huge breakfast eaters so we are bringing cereal, cereal bars, etc for that meal (we are driving to WDW). So the only meals we'll need are lunch and dinner.
With a picky 3 yo that barely eats is the DDP worth it for the rest of us???
I'm afraid we'll feel too restricted with dinner reservations every night and such. My dh is NOT a planner. He hates the fact that we will not be able to just walk into where we'd like to sit down and eat when we feel like eating. I thought before we wouldn't spend the $$ it would cost but the more I'm looking into it if we do TS meals at all its definitely worth it.
Opinions greatly appreciated!
This is our first family visit btw so that is why we aren't sure how we'll spend our days not knowing how tired/crabby/agreeable the kids will be.

 

[karliebug]

DH will get a rude awakening if he thinks he'll just walk in where ever he wants to eat. That is very difficult to do unless you are going at a very slow time of year. Having a scheduled dinner each night will give you a much needed break. I would do the DP . The price for kids in minimal and I'm sure you'll be able to find something for your 3 year old to eat, even if he is picky. If you do buffet meals, especially, there is something for everyone.

 

[kldmom2000]

In my opinion, since your children are still able to be charged the child rate, it makes sense. Where else could you feed them for less than $11 a day each? The total cost of the plan for 2 adults and 2 children is just under $100 per day (excluding tips) As you pointed out, most sit down meals will run you at least that before tips as well... PLUS you'll get a CS meal and snack

We try to do character buffets so that there's bound to be something my picky eaters will choose Also, we stagger the meals so that we don't have a dinner to get to every night-we do some breakfasts, a lunch or two, and the rest dinner.

I do miss the "old" days when you didn't need ADR's-DH and I would just wing it and show up at a podium and be given a table

Times have changed in Disney and that's almost impossible sometimes....

Good luck with your decision!!!! Have a magical trip!

 

[cjackearl]

My two cents are do the dining plan. Reasons:
1) Like a pp said, having kids on the plan really makes it a smart financial move.
2) You'll have to pay for the littlest one at buffets regardless of how much he eats, and at the ages of your kids, character buffets are probably a great choice! Very little sitting and waiting, lots of choices for picky eaters, and of course the characters!
3) Although I completely understand your hubby's balking at working around ADRs, its just not really possible anymore to plan on walking up to a restaraunt and getting in. Why not decide which park you plan on visiting each day and plan your TS lunchl for that park, maybe on the early side? That way you won't have to alter what you're doing as far as touring goes. Plus, I think you'll all appreciate taking a break, sitting down and refueling midday. Alternately, you could have CS in the park you're visiting and make an early dinner reservation for a restaurant at a resort?
Good luck planning!

 

[Get me to Disney!]

With the two children being young enough to be on the child rate, I say go for it!!

 

[ilovemickeymost]

If you are going in 2009, they will have the Quick Service DP(2 CS & 2 snacks pp pd & a resort refillable mug for soda). Its going to run $29.99 pp pd & kids will be around $8 pp pd. Then, you could eat as you please. And pay OOP the 2 CMs you have ADRs for.

If you'll be going in 2008:
I make charts for everything to figure out the best deal for us. I'm in the process of doing one right now for our next trip. I'd make a chart that has the days you will be there (down the side of the paper) & breakfast, lunch, dinner, & snacks (across the top). Fill in the days you have ADRs for CMs & the price for the whole family. They charge for CM meals & buffets even if the child doesn't eat anything. Take a look @ the menus for CS & TS places & use them as your guide. You should be able to find most of them on this site or other Disney sites. They list the prices too. Then, I'd figure a basic menu (what you think everyone is most likely to eat) for each meal. And the cost for each item. So for the noneater, you'd figure $0 b/c they can just eat off of someone elses plate. Don't forget to add beverages, apps, & dessert if you think soemone will order them. For my DH, I always put one alcholic bev per lunch, dinner b/c I know he will order one. Then total it up & show your hubby. I'd print out some example menus too. That way he can see what it will cost w/out & w/ the DP. My DH is very visual, so I have to do this for him every trip. I know it sounds complicated, but its not. Once you've done it once, you'll be a pro. Have a great vacation. PS: The only places we haven't liked were Cindy's RT & the TS place in Mexico. Moracco is our favorite & its normally not very busy. We also love Sci-Fi diner, but they book by 11 am for the entire day. Coral Reef is beautiful, but I've heard mixed things about the food. If you want anymore food ideas PM me. We've been to several, several of them. Unlike some, I like the food. If you tell me what your children, DH, & you are interested in I could maybe give you some ideas of really neat places that were yummy.

 

[skjj2009]

Thank you all so much!
We are going January 11-16 2009.
It will be our first family trip to WDW and both dh's and my first trip in MANY MANY years. So rude awakening...maybe however it is very unknown to dh that you can't just walk in to restaurants and wait...however I wouldn't want to do that anyway (we don't now so I don't know why he think we would then) with an ansy 3 yo boy. Dh was shocked and kind of taken aback when I told him you have to make ADRs way in advance in order to get the places you want to eat. He's all in favor of reservations but in his mind he'd rather do it a few days before or even the morning of that way we have a better idea of how our day will play out. Planning 180 days out for a dinner is a bit much for him
In any case, I will have a look at the menus and try to figure out with dh ofcourse what is going to benefit us more.
ilovemickeymost...thank you for your specific suggestions. I definitely will pm you and give you some info and maybe you can suggest some restaurants for us to check out!

 

[Luv2Roam]

In January you could get by without ADRs more so than any of time of the year. However I would suspect there are still places you could not get in by walking up, esp at regular meal times.
It would be easy to just go ahead and make some ADRs if you have a few places where you really want to eat.
The resorts often have very good restaurants that are easier to get in. However unless you have transportation or take a taxi it can be time consuming and somewhat of a pain to get around.
You could wait until the end of this year or beginning of January, or even make some when you reach your resort. The longer you wait the fewer options will be available is all. You might not get the time you want at your first or maybe even second choice.

 

[septbaby]

So that you don't feel so tied down I would book some TS lunches at the parks you'll be in for the day. Those meals are full meals and will fit into your day plans so you won't feel so "tied". In fact you and DH will probably be ready for those as it will give you and the kids a break in AC. Then you can decide to hit a few more items or head back to the room for some pool or relaxation time. Having a CS for dinner will give you the flexibility DH wants.

The CS and Snack credits on the DP are pretty flexible. You can order items off the menu for CS. In addition at your resort you'll have a grab and go section. Take the 3yo there and let her pick, you might be surprised what she grabs for her meal. An Uncrustable PB&J, fruit cup and drink would be a CS meal for her there. You can get that anytime and even keep it in the room or stroller as needed so that even if you are having something else at the park, you'll have a little something to make her happy as well.

Bottom line the DP can be so much fun, esp for you and DH. Order w/o looking at prices; with two small kids how often do you do that? Also when the girls ask for treats you won't have to say NO because they aren't in the budget. As long as they qualify as Snacks and you have credits you can say "sure baby". Disney is no fool the kids will know that you say YES more at WDW and they'll be asking to return again and again!

The other thing to keep in mind: your trip and those Christmas bills start showing up at the same time. You'll have your food covered before arriving so you'll really just be able to enjoy the vacation.

I didn't really understand the comfort having the meals pre paid would give me until a few weeks before our trip and I was setting aside my final "pocket change" for the trip. It was quite the "a ha, cool" moments for me.

Make plenty of magical memories at Disney.

 

[skjj2009]

Thanks again!
Dh told me do whatever I want and tell him when and where to show up...he's tired of talking about it with me He says we can't debate this to death for the next 5 mos
I agree about having it prepaid or at least not having to budget your cash for oop expenses such as food.
I think it will be less headaches. So I'll probably just book it. We aren't doing park hopping (at least not yet ) so we really do need to eat where we are. I thought about doing the bigger lunches so maybe I'll continue looking into those some more.
I'm open to dining suggestions for anyone wanting to give them

 

[septbaby]

Thanks again!
Dh told me do whatever I want and tell him when and where to show up...he's tired of talking about it with me He says we can't debate this to death for the next 5 mos
I agree about having it prepaid or at least not having to budget your cash for oop expenses such as food.
I think it will be less headaches. So I'll probably just book it. We aren't doing park hopping (at least not yet ) so we really do need to eat where we are. I thought about doing the bigger lunches so maybe I'll continue looking into those some more.
I'm open to dining suggestions for anyone wanting to give them

Even though you aren't park hopping you can still leave and return to the same park using that day's ticket. That will work great if you decide to leave the park for a meal or return to your resort for a break. At the parks here are some choices we made:

MK: Main St Bakery - I think Mom got snacks one morning and we shared a sandwich, carrot cake, drink meal (dessert are awesome here)

Epcot: Lunch at Coral Reef (full wall aquarium), kids menu has pizza

DHS: Dinner at Hollywood & Vine; they also have a Playhouse Disney lunch and breakfast character meal that could suit your kids, gets wonderful reviews

AK: At the end of our park day we took the 5min bus ride to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma, a must do again restaurant for us

Character meal: we only did Chef Mickey's and my 5yo nephew loved it. I think CRT, Hollywood & Vine and Crystal Palace could also be good choices for your girls. Those 3 all offer B, L and Dinner. I know you already have CRT reserved. There is a character breakfast in AK, but I wouldn't trade my chance to go Boma, sorry.

 

[cjackearl]

I'd second the character buffet suggestion for your girls. They (and you) might also like Sci Fi Dine in Theater for the fun atmosphere and perhaps Ohana, which is served family style and has lots of fun kid activities during the meal. The food is a little less picky eater friendly though, so something to keep in mind. It's a short monorail ride from the MK, which would also be a fun thing for the kids.

 

[skjj2009]

Thanks again for all the suggestions!
I'm still trying to decide what to do. I went to the menus and tried to pick places I thought we may eat...mix of buffets and other TS restaurants. Without paying for my son (excpet for buffets and CRT) we would roughly spend about $530 without tips and NO snacks which I assume we'd have once in a while. That's two character dining meals. The problem is aside from pizza or hot dogs there is just NOTHING and I mean NOTHING this boy of mine will eat. I typically take a PB&J sandwich when we go out for dinner unless I know they have pizza or hot dog at the restaurant and if I forget he eats french fries, saltine crackers if they have them, and applesauce if they have that. He just doesn't like the typical kids menu items chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, etc. We sometimes luck out if the restaurant serves bacon on sandwiches or something we'll ask for a side of bacon well done...he eats that He'd seriously be happy eating PB&J for every meal along with pancakes, toast, bacon, hot dogs, some fruits, cereal, and cereal bars mixed in every now and then for some variety. Eating is the part of this trip I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO

 

[ilovemickeymost]

Thanks again for all the suggestions!
I'm still trying to decide what to do. I went to the menus and tried to pick places I thought we may eat...mix of buffets and other TS restaurants. Without paying for my son (excpet for buffets and CRT) we would roughly spend about $530 without tips and NO snacks which I assume we'd have once in a while. That's two character dining meals. The problem is aside from pizza or hot dogs there is just NOTHING and I mean NOTHING this boy of mine will eat. I typically take a PB&J sandwich when we go out for dinner unless I know they have pizza or hot dog at the restaurant and if I forget he eats french fries, saltine crackers if they have them, and applesauce if they have that. He just doesn't like the typical kids menu items chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, etc. We sometimes luck out if the restaurant serves bacon on sandwiches or something we'll ask for a side of bacon well done...he eats that He'd seriously be happy eating PB&J for every meal along with pancakes, toast, bacon, hot dogs, some fruits, cereal, and cereal bars mixed in every now and then for some variety. Eating is the part of this trip I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO

You can always request pb & J at the resturaunt. They are normally pretty good at accomadating. I like what someone else mentioned about getting counter service for him & taking it w/ you. Also, you don't have to order him a meal. If something he will eat part of whatever you or DH is eating, then do that. It sounds like you will get your $$$$'s wprth even if you don't use any of his children's TS credits. One of the things I noticed is that kids get an appetizer, like soup. They don't get all the choices, but I figured that I'll order it w/ my son's credit & eat it myself. That way I don't have to pay extra for it off the adult menu. I'm gonna PM you know. We were out of town this weekend.