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[jenndisney]

Since Disney went and added some of our favorite restarants to their dining plan, we had decided to give up our AP discount on the room and switch to a package. Since we leave in 44 days I realize we must pay for the package in full when I make the switch.

Here is my question....how close to our vacation can we make the switch? We have all but $800 saved for the trip and will have that in the next two weeks. Can we be 15-20-25 days away and then switch? Could we, in theory, call two days away and switch?

Please help! I am still upset that we must give up our room discount, but food is an important part of our trip. (as anyone can tell when they see myself or my husband)

Thank you to everyone here for making this one of the best planned trips I have ever taken.

 

[jjohnson]

CRO told me before 5 days of arrival.

You might want to post when you are cancelling your AP room & where you are staying so someone else can use it.

Why don't you get the DDE card? Then you can keep your room discount.

 

[jenndisney]

We talked about DDE, but then we need an adult AP and the savings are eaten up. Unless I am looking at it wrong....

 

[jjohnson]

How much are you saving with the AP discount?

I'm saving $350.00 with AAA. I added up typically what we would eat using the menus from Deb's site vs cost of rate rate & MYWDP. It's only a $20 difference going with the dining plan.

 

[jenndisney]

Okay, here is the breakdown
(I pulled menus from Allears and am making as fair of a comparison as I can)

Plan A: With AP discount on room and DDE:
Hotel : 1089.00 with tax
Tickets: 872.00
Food: 1100.00 (all food we would order from parks-snacks, drinks, tax, tip included)
-90.00 Subtract 20% for DDE (only $450 of items are from DDE places)
DDE: 50.00

Total Cost of Plan A: 3021.00


Plan B: Package with dining plan (same # of days and same restaurants as above)
Hotel: 1475.00 with tax
Tickets: 685.00 (do not need to purchase Adult AP)
Food Pkg: 720.00

Total Cost of Plan B: 2880.00

This is with us ordering what we want to eat. Not wasting anything. Of course, if we did not use any plan or discounts, we would probably try to share or bring food in, but that is something that drives my husband crazy. He says that since we do not do that at home when we eat out, why should we in the parks. Again, we like our food and love to try new things. We love to order appetizers and desserts, but the last trip did not because of the cost. This is why this is such a hard thing to look at.

 

[jjohnson]

Plan B is less. Go for it!

That's what I'm doing. I don't want to have to worry about the cost of everything when on vacation.

 

[jenndisney]

Thanks for the help! I needed the push. So I have a few weeks until I need to make the change and pay in full...as long as it is more than 5 days before we arrive.

I am glad I put it all down on paper. It really helped me to see the price difference for us.

 

[pezpam]

How much are you saving with the AP discount?

I'm saving $350.00 with AAA. I added up typically what we would eat using the menus from Deb's site vs cost of rate rate & MYWDP. It's only a $20 difference going with the dining plan.

Don't forget that the Plan covers tax and tip, which really adds up fast. The two together can add about 25% (a bit more or less depending on what your tipping habits are) to the food total.......

That said, the Plan is great for some and not a deal for others, so doing the math is the way to go.

 

[jjohnson]

Thanks for the help! I needed the push. So I have a few weeks until I need to make the change and pay in full...as long as it is more than 5 days before we arrive.

I am glad I put it all down on paper. It really helped me to see the price difference for us.

I would also call CRO & confirm its 5 days. I've been getting alot of wrong information from them lately.