I decided against the DDP ... does my logic make sense?

[inky dinky doo]

No one has questioned it so it must be right, but I wonder how you arrived at $847.00 for you and your wife for 10 nights.

We're going in 8 days (yippee!!) for 10 nights at $37.99 per adult, which, times two, would be $759.80 for the 10 nights. Is the price per adult going up to $42.35 in 2007? I hadn't heard that, if it's true.

I'm kind of curious since we have another trip planned for next fall.

Pat

8 days and counting . . . again!

 

[Corwin12]

No one has questioned it so it must be right, but I wonder how you arrived at $847.00 for you and your wife for 10 nights.

We're going in 8 days (yippee!!) for 10 nights at $37.99 per adult, which, times two, would be $759.80 for the 10 nights. Is the price per adult going up to $42.35 in 2007? I hadn't heard that, if it's true.

I'm kind of curious since we have another trip planned for next fall.

Pat

8 days and counting . . . again!

You are fogetting about the resort tax. Unless I have been misguided, I was told to add 11.5% tax because it is a resort package. Someone correct me if I am misguided.

 

[amytheobald]

I thought the 37.99 included tax?

 

[inky dinky doo]

I'm a DVC member and we're staying at the Beach Club Villas, but we were told that the $37.99 is all inclusive (tax and tips) and that's the only charge for the dining plan -- nothing extra. I believe it's the same for everyone. You might want to look at your comparison, again. The dining plan might be of more benefit to you than you think (although, personally, I wouldn't spend two TS credit on the castle).

There are 14 in our party, so if my information is wrong, it would be a pretty big difference for us. I'm confident, though, that what I was told was correct. The total they gave me matched what I had calculated.

Pat

8 days and counting . . . again!

Edited to add: Please don't let my comment about the castle and 2 TS credits stop you from eating there if that's what you want! Heck, they're your credits! Whatever floats your boat . . . right??

 

[Corwin12]

Okay, I just called Disney and spoke to a CM. He did not seem to sure of himself, but he said that the 37.99 is added on to each night of your stay per person. As you do have to pay 11.5% repsort tax, he said, "Yes, I guess you would be taxed on that amount."

I hate to start an erroneous rumor, so I hope someone who knows exactly posts on this thread.

 

[camdensmom]

Hey Corwin: A bit off topic, but I figured I mention something. I assume your wife is a Rain Forest fan. I'm not sure where in NH you are, but there is a RFC at the Burlington Mall in Burlington, MA. It's about 20 minutes from Nashua, NH and 30 minutes from Salem, NH. Maybe you could make the trek down. FYI: there is a Disney Store across from it. It sets the mood for Disney. Enjoy your trip.

 

[momto1disneyfan]

What I was told by a CM was this. Since you have to book your reservation as a package, it is calculated like this. (2007 Pop Century Resort example)
38.99 per night for dining plan. Hotel $82 plus 11.5% Tax for resort, Total $92.25 per night. Your hotel is the only thing you have to pay tax on.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

What I was told by a CM was this. Since you have to book your reservation as a package, it is calculated like this. (2007 Pop Century Resort example)
38.99 per night for dining plan. Hotel $82 plus 11.5% Tax for resort, Total $92.25 per night. Your hotel is the only thing you have to pay tax on.

This is right. The Dining plan is not taxed above and beyond the daily cost per person.

 

[Corwin12]

Hmmmmmmm ..... well, let's see if I can calculate this for the 197th time and see what I come up with. BRB.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

We did not pay the resort tax on top of our dining plan price.

 

[Corwin12]

Okay, here is what I came up with. I calculated what we would order, not what the DDP would give us, to come up with these figures. Of course, if it was a buffet or a package, it made things easier.
Akershus: 72.50
Wolfgang: 75.00
1900 Park Fare: 72.50
Brown Derby Fantasmic: 93.00
Le Cellier Candlelight: 115.00
Boma: 65.00
CRT: 95.00
Marrakesh: 80.00
Total of TS dinners: 668.00
Now, with my previous calculations I thought I hade to spend 180.00 on breakfast/lunch to break even. Since we are at Universal 2 days and leaving early our last day, I did not think I would do this based on our eating habits. In March, we spent about 65.00 on breakfast and lunch for 7 days. However, now we will have 8 days (-2 at Universal) + 1 night to eat a CS dinner (to make up for spending extra TS credits at CRT and Brown Derby (Rainforest 1 night.) 760 - 668 = 92.00. Yes, I think we can swing that. Uhhhhhhhggg. How on Earth does anyone do the DDP without 6 months of advance planning?

 

[bicker]

And that's pretty consistent with what I've seen: The Dining Plan typically either saves people a little money, no money or costs them a little extra -- it doesn't save many people vast boatloads of money, nor results in anyone who uses all the TS credits up losing too much on the deal.

 

[kevin75]

you can be flexible and share meals on the DDP, thats the positives about the DDP.

the only problem is that she could be really hungry and still eat like a bird so i am worried that we will get the DDP and then waste a ton of food. we know that we are doing fantasmic at MM for sure but after that we don't know. every time i think that we have decided to not go with it, i think again, "well, maybe i am not so sure". one thing that keeps me undecided is her MSG allergy and i am worried that there won't be as many CS places that can deal with it.

 

[bicker]

the only problem is that she could be really hungry and still eat like a bird so i am worried that we will get the DDP and then waste a ton of food.

How would it work without the Dining Plan? Wouldn't you purchase food for her anyway that, perhaps, she won't end up eating?

 

[mom2my3kids]

We didn't use the dining plan with our October trip. We probably didn't save any money, but I am glad we didn't do the dining plan. My three year old was a monster by 6:00 and their would be no way he would sit for a TS at the end of the evening. Now I am hoping they offer free dining the end of Sept, we are planning on going if the free dining if offered.

 

[kevin75]

How would it work without the Dining Plan? Wouldn't you purchase food for her anyway that, perhaps, she won't end up eating?

after looking at the restaurants that we are interested in, without the dining plan i think we would mainly limit ourselves to the places where we could share an entree. since her appetite isn't the biggest, we find ourselves often sharing food whenever we go out.

 

[Desnik]

We didn't do the dining plan this trip either. I totaled up all my receipts and spent about $80 more than the DDP would've cost. I am still glad we didn't do it. It would've been way to much food and I just would feel terrible to waist it. We have 2 kids 3 and 8 and they eat like birds!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

The plan for DW and I for 10 nights = approx $847.00 (inc. tax).
I looked at the menus for our ADRs and selected items we would normally order (we don't always get dessert and apps.)
I included what we would normally get for breakfast and lunch (this was accurate as we were just there in March.)
I added $40.00 (snack allowance) because I know we would at least get a bottle of water each every day.
My OOP total = $796.00

Why I do not think we will save money:
- We are eating at CRT and the Brown Derby (each 2 TS credit each)
- We usually (9 times out of 10) do not eat dessert or like to wait until later
- We usually only get an app if something really appeals to us

Even if we were +50.00 OOP, I still don't think I would get it because I don't want to have to worry about getting my money's worth if we have to cancel an ADR or want to skip lunch or something/

Does my logic make sense or am I missing something?

I calculated what we would normally spend (including tax and tips) for all meals for our recent trip. I concluded that the dining plan would save us THIRTY-SEVEN CENTS. Yep, you read that correctly! So I was definitely against it, since we wouldn't save a dime (well, okay...we would...three dimes, to be exact! ). Then a package discount came out about two months before the trip, making the dining plan only an additional $180 for 5 nights for 2 adults...so I jumped at it. $30/per person/per day (meals were stretched over 6 full days) for food...can't beat that! Bottom line: we saved a ton of money ordering ONLY what we would have ordered previously (okay, we did get some extra brownies at CS for dessert and saved them as snacks, but that's only $2 a pop). Had we not gotten a deal on DDP, we would have passed!

 

[S.Poppins]

We loved the DDP for a couple of reasons. I am not a numbers person, so I have never sat down and figured it all up. But we really like being able to include it with our whole package and since we usually book at least 9 months in advance, we have the whole thing paid for when we get there! I know that some of you might say we should just set food money aside every month - but I know we never would (just like I have said for the last 10 years we would set aside money every month to pay for Christmas, I am also the person who puts something on layaway and then never make a payment ).

Honestly, it probably would be cheaper to just do mostly CS and a few TS. But for us (a family that loves to eat out!) it was so much fun to try restaurants we never would have and order what we wanted without reading the menu left to right! The couple of times we went when I was a kid ( okay the one time we went) we had to eat snack crackers and split hamburgers! It was so cool to let my DD 10 eat salmon every day - something she doesn't normally due because I talk her into cheaper things. I guess for us it was just convenient and allowed us to experience more.

 

[bicker]

after looking at the restaurants that we are interested in, without the dining plan i think we would mainly limit ourselves to the places where we could share an entree. since her appetite isn't the biggest, we find ourselves often sharing food whenever we go out.

Makes sense. With the Dining Plan you could still do that, of course, since you're both adults, but then you'd be looking at two TS meals per day and that really would be too much for most people.