Help me use DP wisely pls

[jm106]

We went to WDW in May '09, first time on DDP. We were 2 adults, one child on DP and one free (2 weeks shy of 3 yo.) We did well with TS meals but had a lot of snacks and QS left. It was a lot of food for us.
That said, DH loved the ease of DP and not having to be aware of cost of entrees. So last night we booked Aug '12, 8 nights. Its a split stay 2 nights at ASM and 6 at AKL. I considered, since its booked like 2 trips, getting DDP for just AKL and eating AQS/OOP for the first two days(one being travel day arriving at MCO 2:00pm.)

Whether we do DDP for all or AKL segment, I need to plan better.
Do ppl use snacks for breakfast at food court or parks? We had cereal (from home)in room for kids unless we had a charecter meal. Is it mainly donut and sugary/carby foods at qs places for snack credit? (I know they have fruit too.)

We did a QS late morning/early lunch to hold us til dinner ADR which we booked early(5-5:30, upon afternoon re-entering parks) and if we had room, we had a snack but many days we didnt.
(Edited- apparently there is a big issue. I keep getting quotes of other ppls posts NOT posted by me showing up. Hacked?)

 

[jm106]

!

 

[ADisneyQueen]

First, maybe you already know this, but if you do a split stay and want any dining plans, you will have to buy park tickets twice. This might not be economical. You can't get the dining plan w/o getting a park ticket. I don't know the details, but you can pick up your park tickets the day before your package starts, but you may have to be checked into the resort already.

We have no problem using all of our credits, b/c our kids eat a hot breakfast. We use the leftover ones to bring home snacks.
There are a lot of non sugary snacks you can get, too. If you go to the sticky at the top of this forum, there is a list of snacks to get at each park and resort. You could even get a bagel or box of cereal with it. Sometimes we get 2 breakfast platters and 1 or 2 pastries and that is enough for all four of us.

 

[jm106]

Thanks, I was not aware(or hadnt thought it through I guess. ) I will switch it and just get DP whole time.
There are just so many snacks. We didnt plan enough to brign them home because I wasnt sure what would travel ok and what snacks could be stored in luggage on departure day and not get smashed or melted.
My kids enjoy a hot breakfast but together they woudlnt eat 2 full QS meal(they are little) and DH and I normally dont eat breakfast or much.

 

[TDC Nala]

I will switch it and just get DP whole time.

Unless you are an annual passholder or using a reservation made through Disney Vacation Club (or eligible for the military room discount, or a Disney cast member with access to a special offer) you will need to have a single room reservation to get DDP for the entire stay - so you'd need to give up the split stay, or pay for tickets twice.

Hard candy is a fallback transportable snack - won't melt or spoil. If you are trying to avoid sugar you can give the candy away.

You can use snack credits for bottled water or other beverages. It isn't the best value use of a snack credit, but it is better than not using them at all.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Like a PP said, for any package you're on, you need to get park tickets. (Unless you're an AP holder, I think there's a way to add on the DDP without getting parktickets, but that's usually not the case for most people.) The easy way to get around that is to stay with the DDP first and then do a non-DDP room only reservation, and just add extra days on the ticket that you have from the DDP package. That is also easier to use up credits since they're good until midnight the day you check out, so you can use them all on bottled water and stuff and just keep them for the rest of your stay. I've done that before for split stays, and didn't have to buy drinks at all OOP the last couple of days.

As far as getting value out of your credits, that is a matter of being able to eat most of what's included. If you don't think your family will eat most of what's included, I wouldn't do a DDP in the first place. It would probably be more economical to get a room discount and just pay for food OOP.

The DDP isn't really a great savings anymore anyway. Not unless you can get it for free.

 

[jm106]

I had considered not doing DDP with 2 night at beginning but I know I cant get my 7 day park passes with that stay then. Ugh, I screwed it all up it seems! And of course, being a nice guy, I had my BFF who is a TA do it all(so she could get credit) so I have to explain it to her and she call. Maybe I should skip DP if its a big issue. I dont want to move my 2 day stay to the end since its ASM and I would rather AKL second(alays better to move up

 

[TDC Nala]

What's the reason for the split stay? Are you good with switching the split stay so the DDP reservation is first? Then you can just buy the tickets with the package in a length that will cover both stays. You wouldn't be able to get DDP to cover both stays though, unless you bought MORE tickets with the second stay and kept them.

You could get 7 day park passes with your first stay if you wanted them. You're not limited to length of stay. The problem is that you will have to buy additional park passes as part of a package with the second reservation if you want DDP to cover both reservations.

 

[jm106]

What's the reason for the split stay? Are you good with switching the split stay so the DDP reservation is first? Then you can just buy the tickets with the package in a length that will cover both stays. You wouldn't be able to get DDP to cover both stays though, unless you bought MORE tickets with the second stay and kept them.

You could get 7 day park passes with your first stay if you wanted them. You're not limited to length of stay. The problem is that you will have to buy additional park passes as part of a package with the second reservation if you want DDP to cover both reservations.

we did split stay so we were able to add 2 nights more to the trip(affordably) We are staying at a value for those 2 and deluxe the second part for 6 nt/7days. Its not worth doing DP for 2 days so I might as well pay OOP and keep it as is. I have resorts booked seperatly and 7 day park pass with the ASM(first) stay. All is well, now I understand at least.

 

[purple figment]

we did split stay so we were able to add 2 nights more to the trip(affordably) We are staying at a value for those 2 and deluxe the second part for 6 nt/7days. Its not worth doing DP for 2 days so I might as well pay OOP and keep it as is. I have resorts booked seperatly and 7 day park pass with the ASM(first) stay. All is well, now I understand at least.

I don't want to confuse you, but...

Did you book tickets on both reservations? It sounds like you have ASM room +7 day tickets. Then for the AKL stay you have the DDP so that would have been room + another set of tickets + dining plan.

Instead book the ASM as room only. You have to book AKL as room + tickets + DDP package. However, you can pick up the tickets from AKL reservation up to 3 days early. Take a look at the Ticket sticky and it will explain the procedure for picking up your tickets early in Section 15I

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1452684

 

[jm106]

Well that would work perfectly. Right now I realized I have ASM as room only and my TA has akl as room plus 7 days park tickets. I dont have dining plan as of now. I just sent her a message today to be sure she switched park tickets to ASM but with your scenario I could do DDP And 7 day park pass on AKL? keep ASM as room only?I'll check the link, thank you!