How to Maximize DDP w/o Table Service Every Night

[Christine]

Just curious and thinking about getting the DDP this year.

Due to a lot of great QS meals out there, we were toying with the idea of being a little less "formal" in our dining and possibly not doing a table service meal every night. Certainly we are doing it some nights. I feel like if I don't do the table service every night, I'm not getting my value on the plan and Disney wins. I cannot let that happen. Right now we don't have much dining planned. I have a Chef Mickey's breakfast and one night at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We also have a big dinner planned at Citricos but I've already read numerous times that it's really a poor value to use 2 credits on signature dining as the meal price, dividing by two credits, lowers the credit value.

So, is there some QS or maybe lunch dining that would at least help me to break even. I'm thinking there isn't, but I don't want to overlook anything.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

Are you talking about purchasing the regular DDP but swapping out some of the table service for quick service? If so, I can’t think of any way you would still be able to get your money’s worth. For your plans it seems better to just pay OOP.

 

[Christine]

Are you talking about purchasing the regular DDP but swapping out some of the table service for quick service? If so, I can’t think of any way you would still be able to get your money’s worth. For your plans it seems better to just pay OOP.

Yes, I guess that's what I'm talking about. Just wondering if there were some really pricey QS that would get me to break even.

 

[e_yerger]

I mean, I feel like BOG is the best use of a QS dining credit? But I also feel like no matter what you order it wont equate to the value of a TS credit.

 

[Christine]

I mean, I feel like BOG is the best use of a QS dining credit? But I also feel like no matter what you order it wont equate to the value of a TS credit.

Okay, thanks! Just wanted to be sure. Sounds like if I get the dining plan (which I will maximize the snacks on due to the F&W festival) I'll need to lock myself down to nightly table service.

 

[e_yerger]

Okay, thanks! Just wanted to be sure. Sounds like if I get the dining plan (which I will maximize the snacks on due to the F&W festival) I'll need to lock myself down to nightly table service.

no necessarily nightly - i'm using the DDP on my upcoming trip and one day we are doing 2 TS meals, and another day we're doing two QS meals. The credits are given to you in a pool and they can be used among any members of your party in any order they want.

 

[sharonabe]

Let's break down the numbers to see if it helps you.

Assuming you only have adults and with the knowledge of using snack credits at F&W, we'll give those snacks a $6 average value. That makes the QS portion about $20 per meal and the TS is right at $43 (no value given to the mug, but if you tend to use it, then take a dollar or two off the TS value)

PP is correct. There isn't a QS that's going to "cost" you $43 even with an alcoholic beverage.
Chef Mickey breakfast is right at $50, so you have a $7 gain there you could put toward one QS meal, but I still don't think there is a QS meal that costs $36.
Citricos has some entrees that are $50, desserts $12 and let's say $15 alcoholic drink. With tax, that gets you close to $80. Your 2 TS credits are "worth" $86, so you just lost that $7 gain from Chef Mickey, but you're breaking even with those two meals.

I would say you get the QSDP and pay OOP for the few TS meals you really want. Between snacking at F&W and using all your QS meals, you won't have many meal slots or empty bellies for TS, but you can easily max out the QS with F&W snacks and alcoholic beverages with your QS meals.

 

[Christine]

Let's break down the numbers to see if it helps you.

Assuming you only have adults and with the knowledge of using snack credits at F&W, we'll give those snacks a $6 average value. That makes the QS portion about $20 per meal and the TS is right at $43 (no value given to the mug, but if you tend to use it, then take a dollar or two off the TS value)

PP is correct. There isn't a QS that's going to "cost" you $43 even with an alcoholic beverage.
Chef Mickey breakfast is right at $50, so you have a $7 gain there you could put toward one QS meal, but I still don't think there is a QS meal that costs $36.
Citricos has some entrees that are $50, desserts $12 and let's say $15 alcoholic drink. With tax, that gets you close to $80. Your 2 TS credits are "worth" $86, so you just lost that $7 gain from Chef Mickey, but you're breaking even with those two meals.

I would say you get the QSDP and pay OOP for the few TS meals you really want. Between snacking at F&W and using all your QS meals, you won't have many meal slots or empty bellies for TS, but you can easily max out the QS with F&W snacks and alcoholic beverages with your QS meals.

Thank you. That makes it pretty clear that the plan is not a good value unless we do one table service per day.

Edited to add: We are getting 3 rooms. If I booked the DDP in the room with 5 people (3 adults, 2 kids), I could farm out some of the adult table service credits to some of the family in other rooms. That could make it "worth it."

 

[Christine]

no necessarily nightly - i'm using the DDP on my upcoming trip and one day we are doing 2 TS meals, and another day we're doing two QS meals. The credits are given to you in a pool and they can be used among any members of your party in any order they want.

Yes, that's a thought too: a character breakfast and a regular dinner one or two days could work, then do QS other times.

We have such a large party going with us and my cousin is paying for a lot of her family's meals (she has 3 rooms booked). I think she's looking at doing a plan in order to make that all a bit easier. That's one reason we don't want to lock into to many TS places. There will be nights that people will split off or the young kids will be too tired/antsy, etc.

 

[e_yerger]

Yes, that's a thought too: a character breakfast and a regular dinner one or two days could work, then do QS other times.

We have such a large party going with us and my cousin is paying for a lot of her family's meals (she has 3 rooms booked). I think she's looking at doing a plan in order to make that all a bit easier. That's one reason we don't want to lock into to many TS places. There will be nights that people will split off or the young kids will be too tired/antsy, etc.

You mention also doing the DDP on one room and not the rest - if that's the case I may even suggest the DxDP.

You can use your dining credits on ANYONE you want - they have just to be with you at time of purchase. You could pay for a strangers meal using your dining credits if you wanted.

This being said, it may be beneficial if you plan on all eating together to get the DxDP for the room with 5 people, and then use your credits with the people in the other rooms while they dine together. You just have to make sure that someone from the 5 people room you mentioned scans their band at dinner so the dining credits come off.

 

[Christine]

You mention also doing the DDP on one room and not the rest - if that's the case I may even suggest the DxDP.

You can use your dining credits on ANYONE you want - they have just to be with you at time of purchase. You could pay for a strangers meal using your dining credits if you wanted.

This being said, it may be beneficial if you plan on all eating together to get the DxDP for the room with 5 people, and then use your credits with the people in the other rooms while they dine together. You just have to make sure that someone from the 5 people room you mentioned scans their band at dinner so the dining credits come off.

I was analyzing the DxDP yesterday for the 5 person room (3 adults/2 kids). What I've come to is that it is a LOT of credits (and again, you almost have to use them as table service to really get the value). It ended up averaging out to 15 credits per day for dining and 10 snack credits. I think the snack credits are easy but the counter/table service may be a bit much. Of course if I use too many as QS on that plan, it doesn't work. But it's really an appealing/economical way if we we were to TS often. The hardest part is figuring where to eat. If I could do that, then I think we could make the decision. We were within the 180 day window when we booked our hotel, so just about everything is gone. At least for larger parties. Even breaking the group up into small chunks is proving difficult.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Just curious and thinking about getting the DDP this year.

Due to a lot of great QS meals out there, we were toying with the idea of being a little less "formal" in our dining and possibly not doing a table service meal every night. Certainly we are doing it some nights. I feel like if I don't do the table service every night, I'm not getting my value on the plan and Disney wins. I cannot let that happen. Right now we don't have much dining planned. I have a Chef Mickey's breakfast and one night at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We also have a big dinner planned at Citricos but I've already read numerous times that it's really a poor value to use 2 credits on signature dining as the meal price, dividing by two credits, lowers the credit value.

So, is there some QS or maybe lunch dining that would at least help me to break even. I'm thinking there isn't, but I don't want to overlook anything.

Have you read this? https://touringplans.com/blog/2019/07/29/the-disney-dining-plan-is-it-worth-it-2019-edition-part-1/

 

[Christine]

Have you read this? https://touringplans.com/blog/2019/07/29/the-disney-dining-plan-is-it-worth-it-2019-edition-part-1/

Yep, just read it, as well as part 2, yesterday. Part was really good.

I think if you are just one group, it's pretty straightforward. I really have the added twist of having two more rooms (with 4 more adults) who could use the adult credits on the standard plan. Just trying to help my cousin figure out a way to easily cover costs for others without cheating herself out of money. The DxDP seems one good way to go, especially since the kids credits could really serve as adult credits. I've read here that people consider that cheating and I guess it is. But Disney does allow it and these kids are just turning 3 and 4. If they eat a PB&J for dinner, we'll be lucky.

 

[e_yerger]

Yep, just read it, as well as part 2, yesterday. Part was really good.

I think if you are just one group, it's pretty straightforward. I really have the added twist of having two more rooms (with 4 more adults) who could use the adult credits on the standard plan. Just trying to help my cousin figure out a way to easily cover costs for others without cheating herself out of money. The DxDP seems one good way to go, especially since the kids credits could really serve as adult credits. I've read here that people consider that cheating and I guess it is. But Disney does allow it and these kids are just turning 3 and 4. If they eat a PB&J for dinner, we'll be lucky.

I think if you do the DxDP for one room and then all 3 rooms sharing those credits & costs could work out in your favor? I didn't crunch numbers but I could see it coming out ahead?

 

[Christine]

I think if you do the DxDP for one room and then all 3 rooms sharing those credits & costs could work out in your favor? I didn't crunch numbers but I could see it coming out ahead?

I started crunching the numbers last night. It got tough.

So for that group (I've got my own 3 rooms), they have one room with 5 people (3 adults/2 kids), and two other rooms with 2 adults each. Total of 7 adults, 2 (very young) children.

I thought they would buy the DxDP for the 5 person room. Someone on the DxDP Sharing Sticky actually had done the math for the exact scenario of 3 adults/2 children in one room. To get the most value, it's best to spread all the credits across table service only and pay OOP for QS to the maximum extent possible. So that's average 15 table service meals per night across 7 adults. The kids would be paid for OOP unless they did any buffets/character meals of which we do have at least one of those booked. After that, I don't think those two kids are going to eat much more than bites here and there. Now, I think, doing the math, we could still come out ahead booking those same 7 adults plus the kids with QS. We'd stick to places that had somewhat higher priced meals. For instance, I know at Satuli, we'd all likely get the $16.99 combo bowl with an alcoholic beverage. That would definitely take care of our 15 credits per day so it seems more like the way to go over the standard plan. I'll have to see if I can crunch some more numbers tonight on that scenario.

 

[Bjkandma]

You said the kids would eat very little. Just so you know, you can order one kids meal and have them share. Also, when we use the DDP, I share an adult entree with granddaughter (13) and it's plenty of food.