How to maximize DDP TS Credits?

[gwany1999]

I have the DDP and I am not sure how to use my TS credits. This is my families first trip to WDW and will be our last for a number of years so I am sqeezing a lot in. Kids are 8 and 2. Below are the ADR’s that I have. I only will have 8 TS to use while we are there. Which way is the best way to go about it (I hope to get the S/P/D promotion for our trip in Feb 2014). I know that I will have to pay OOP for some things but I want to maximize as best I can.

Breakfast
Crystal Palace
Asker House
Hollywood and Vine
O’Hanna

Lunch
Biergarten

Dinner
BOG
Rose & Crown
Aloha Show
Hoop Dee Doo
California Grill (just me and my husband)
Cinderella Royal Table

Thanks!!


JEnn

 

[TDC Nala]

I have the DDP and I am not sure how to use my TS credits. This is my families first trip to WDW and will be our last for a number of years so I am sqeezing a lot in. Kids are 8 and 2. Below are the ADR’s that I have. I only will have 8 TS to use while we are there. Which way is the best way to go about it (I hope to get the S/P/D promotion for our trip in Feb 2014). I know that I will have to pay OOP for some things but I want to maximize as best I can.

Breakfast
Crystal Palace
Asker House
Hollywood and Vine
O’Hanna

Lunch
Biergarten

Dinner
BOG
Rose & Crown
Aloha Show
Hoop Dee Doo
California Grill (just me and my husband)
Cinderella Royal Table

Thanks!!


JEnn

Have you considered upgrading to the deluxe dining plan?

If you aren't going to do that, with so many restaurants, so many 2 credit restaurants and only 8 table service credits (you have 4 restaurants that cost 2 credits, that would use up your 8 credits right there), maybe consider paying OOP for the breakfasts, (except maybe Akershus) Biergarten (a less expensive lunch buffet) and California Grill since the children are not going to accompany you. I think you might also be able to order less expensive meals at Rose & Crown but at dinner, if you like expensive items, you may want to have the flexibility to order whatever you want.

It 's also harder to make dining credits worthwhile if you use them on 2 credit restaurants.

If you're going to stick with 8 credits I think I'd use them at:

Be Our Guest (1)
Akershus (1)
Hoop de Doo (2)
CRT (2)
Rose & Crown (1)
Pick the most expensive breakfast buffet and use the last credit on that.

 

[figment_jii]

You do have a lot of table services venues selected. I would consider the DxDP (and then you also get an appetizer at the TS locations).

Otherwise, my rule of thumb is that a QS credit is about $17.50, a snack credit is about $4, and a TS credit is about $37.50 (including tax). So, I tend to look at the menus to see which meals are the most expensive and most likely to be "economically" worthwhile.

Very few Signature restaurants are worth 2-credits from an economical point of view. The pre-tax sub-total needs to be $70.50, which can be hard to do because drinks (~$3) and dessert (~$8-$12) don't really account for a large amount. For a 1 TS credit meal, the pre-tax sub-total is about $35 (assuming $3 for a drink and $8 for a dessert, you're looking for entrees over $24).

It is worth noting that you can also mix OOP and DDP at a given meal. That way, if one person does want to order the most expensive items on the menu and another wants the cheapest, you don't have to "waste" the credit on the cheap meal.

I would probably use credits at CRT (2) and HDDR (2) because those prices also include the gratuity, which normally the DDP does not cover. Akershus (1) is another good option.

The rest I would pick based on the cost of the items ordered. If you're going to order expensive items, then those are a good option. If not, I'd probably pay OOP.

 

[gwany1999]

Thanks for the advice. I would love to upgrade to the deluxe plan it costs a little to much for us at the moment.

Jenn

 

[TDC Nala]

You should add up how much you are going to be paying on all those character meals, signature restaurants and dinner shows and see if the deluxe plan might actually be better for you. Right now you have 11 restaurants and 4 of those cost 2 credits. You'd need 19 credits to cover all of them; deluxe would get you 24 meal credits (and an extra snack per night)

 

[momto3pirates]

That is a lot of sit down meals, especially with 2 small children. I understand wanting to cram it all in because it's your first time, but you will be spending a lot of time traveling to and from meals and will lose park time. I would pick one sit down meal per day and schedule around that.

If you really want to hit all of these meals, I would also suggest looking at the cost of upgrading to deluxe versus how much you are going to pay OOP with the extra meals you have planned.

 

[Cafeen]

Since nearly everything on here is fixed price, it makes it a bit easier to tell if the DxDDP would be better or OOP + DDP (or just flat out OOP!)

Using the following over 8 nights.
DDP: Adult: 58.66/nt/person Child: 18.88/nt/person
8 x ((2 x 58.66) + (2 x 18.88))
8 x (117.32 + 37.76)
8 x 155.08
1240.64 - Total DDP cost for 8 nights

DxDDP: Adult: 104.94/nt/person Child: 29.51/nt/person
8 x ((2 x 104.94) + (2 x 29.51))
8 x (209.88 + 59.02)
8 x 268.90
2151.20 - Total DxDDP for 8 nights

Breakfast
Crystal Palace - Ad: 26.62 / Ch: 14.90 = 83.04 (1)
Akershus - Ad: 44.72 / Ch: 26.62 = 142.68 (1)
Hollywood and Vine - Ad: 31.94 / Ch: 17.03 = 97.94 (1)
'Ohana - Ad: 26.62 / Ch: 14.90 = 83.04 (1)

Lunch
Biergarten - Ad: 26.62 / Ch: 14.90 = 83.04 (1)

Dinner
BOG - Ad: 28 / Ch: 9 = 74 (1)
Rose & Crown - Ad: 23 / Ch: 9 = 64 (1)
Aloha Show (Cat 3 for DDP comparison) - Ad: 58.99 / Ch: 29.99 = 177.96 (2) (58.98 / TS)
Hoop Dee Doo (Cat 3 for DDP comparison) - Ad: 58.99 / Ch: 29.99 = 177.96 (2) (58.98 / TS) - 29.50a per credit - 15c per credit
California Grill (just me and my husband) - 55 = 110 (2a) (27.50/ TS)
Cinderella's Royal Table - Ad: 73.04 / Ch: 43.25 = 232.58 (2) (116.29 / TS) - 36.52a per credit - 21.63c per credit

Looking at DxDDP first...
So, totaling up just your fixed price locations, we have:
$1078.24 (11)

Adding in rough estimates for BOG, R&C, and CG brings us to:
$1326.24 (15 a / 13 c)

Adding in 8 CS meals (which is probably ambitious with the other large meals here)
Ad: ~15/meal Ch: ~7/meal = 240 + 112 = 352
$1678.24 (15a TS / 13c TS // 8a CS / 8c CS or 23a / 21c)

We're still way behind on DxDDP, and I don't think snacks are going to make up the extra ~$475.

DDP "Best Use"
We're going to want to put the 8 most value gaining credits on the plan. To aid in this, I've added the per credit values for the 2 TS locations. This allows us to compare apples to apples.

From the list, the 8 most expensive per credit costs are:
1) Akershus (1TS) (1)
2) CRT (2TS) (3)
3) H&V (1TS) (4)
4) SoA (2TS) (6)
5) HDDR (2TS) (8)

Note that for kids, it's the same order up to this point (#6 is where it starts to change, but we're over 8 TS by that point).

Using these 5, plus the 8 CS meals (per person), plus 8 snacks (per person, avg $3.50 ea= ~$120) gives us an OOP cost of the stuff on the dining plan of: $1301.22. So, you'd save ~$60 by using the plan if paid in full. (Note that the CS on this savings is pushing it too, that's a lot of extra food off plan)

 

[DizneySue]

I pay OOP for breakfast, use QS for lunch and 1 TS for dinner. Another thing to factor in is the tip. Some places the gratuity is included, but I believe most do not include. Just got back and Be our Guest was awesome!

 

[Tammy296]

not really sure what you mean by "maximinzing" but here's my two cents worth.

Do your homework before you go to Disney. Check out the disney restaurant menus in various sites online (google it you'll find plenty). Then when you find stuff on the menus you like to eat... go to the boards and ask or look up if the place has any reviews or as if the food is good.

When I go to disney on the dining plan, I don't think of maximizing it in any way. I just want to eat whats good and forget whats not! If you ate good food that's all that really matters.

When people started "maximizing" the dining plan years ago, it turned out bad for everyone else involved and things have been cut drastically since. Now its been minimized so much that if you're eating well that's all that really matters.

Just go, have a good time and if you want to eat signature restaurants upgrade your plan!


Tammy