I know it's been explained before but...

[SRUAlmn]

I'm so sorry, I know this has been explained before, but I need it all in one place in an understandable answer please. We are getting married at WDW in July and they have given us APs as a wedding gift

Since we will not have a MYW package, can we get the dining plan? I think I saw that you had to buy a 1 day MYW base ticket. Is that for each person? Does that limit how many days of the dining plan you can get?

It's for all days of your stay, right? One of our days will be filled with wedding food so I'm wondering if it would be a waste.

We did not use our AP discount to book our room, I don't know if that matters. Discounts for then haven't been released yet, so please tell me if it does make a difference in case discounts come out and we decide to use them instead of our wedding discount.

Would it make more sense to just spend the $60 and get the DDE? It would be about $600 for my fiance and I to get the dining plan. That's a HUGE difference. I know it all depends on how much we eat and things, but it's so hard to really know this far ahead, you know?

Ok, enough rambling. TIA for any help

 

[SRUAlmn]

Is everyone just totally sick and annoyed with this type of question so no one wants to answer again? Could someone at least point me in the direction of an answer? Thanks, sorry I'm a pain

 

[ntsammy5]

You both have to be on a package which means you both need to have at least a 1 day MYW pass. You can save a lot of money on DDP (we just had it free in Sept) but there's a lot of food and we didn't use it all. if you have any doubts at all get the DDE. It's a great deal and the difference won't be much.

We normally don't eat appetizers and desserts so that was a novel experience for us and part of the reason we overate.

 

[robinb]

Here's my take on it. You're going in September, so there is plenty of time for you to make your final plans.

* If WDW offers free dining, then you should go for it no questions asked. This year you could book free dining for the last bit of August and all of September between 4/4/06 and 6/25/06. Free dining was offered later in the year in 2005: from 6/02/05 - 8/20/05 for the same time period. Like ntsammy5 said, you will need to purchase a 1-day pass for both of you *and* you need to pay rack rate for the room. This year the pass was about $65 each and my room at Pop Century for two people was a little under $100 per night with taxes including the passes.

* If free dining is not offered, then you need to add up your expected meal costs and compare the cost of dining with DDE card. Basically, if you plan on one table service meal per day then the dining plan pays off.

* The DDE card give you 20% off at table service restaurants *and* food courts at the value resorts. You can also use the DDE card in many of the bars in WDW for a discount. There is no need to order the DDE card now and it would be to your advantage to wait as long as possible so you may be able to get two trips out of it. One advantage to the DDE card is that you don't need to buy any park passes and you can use any discount for your room that you wish. Note: If you are planning Victoria and Albert's, the DDE card pays for itself.

If I were in your shoes, I would start planning my meals so I knew how many table service meals you are going to eat. Table service is any sit-down restaurant including character meals. You seem like a planner, so I wouldn't be surprised if you use that 180 day window! If it looks like you will eat at enough restaurants, I would add the dining plan, even if you have to pay for it. Then ... wait. If free dining is offered, jump all over it! If not, then whip up a spreadsheet and figure out how much 20% of your table service meals would be *plus* any savings from an AP discount. You have until 45 days before your trip to cancel with no penalty.

Happy planning!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Here's my take on it. You're going in September, so there is plenty of time for you to make your final plans.

* If WDW offers free dining, then you should go for it no questions asked. This year you could book free dining for the last bit of August and all of September between 4/4/06 and 6/25/06. Free dining was offered later in the year in 2005: from 6/02/05 - 8/20/05 for the same time period. Like ntsammy5 said, you will need to purchase a 1-day pass for both of you *and* you need to pay rack rate for the room. This year the pass was about $65 each and my room at Pop Century for two people was a little under $100 per night with taxes including the passes.

* If free dining is not offered, then you need to add up your expected meal costs and compare the cost of dining with DDE card. Basically, if you plan on one table service meal per day then the dining plan pays off.

* The DDE card give you 20% off at table service restaurants *and* food courts at the value resorts. You can also use the DDE card in many of the bars in WDW for a discount. There is no need to order the DDE card now and it would be to your advantage to wait as long as possible so you may be able to get two trips out of it. One advantage to the DDE card is that you don't need to buy any park passes and you can use any discount for your room that you wish. Note: If you are planning Victoria and Albert's, the DDE card pays for itself.

If I were in your shoes, I would start planning my meals so I knew how many table service meals you are going to eat. Table service is any sit-down restaurant including character meals. You seem like a planner, so I wouldn't be surprised if you use that 180 day window! If it looks like you will eat at enough restaurants, I would add the dining plan, even if you have to pay for it. Then ... wait. If free dining is offered, jump all over it! If not, then whip up a spreadsheet and figure out how much 20% of your table service meals would be *plus* any savings from an AP discount. You have until 45 days before your trip to cancel with no penalty.

Happy planning!

Thanks, but we will actually be there in July and I seriously doubt the free dining plan will be offered that early in the summer. The last time we went we had the VKL vouchers and it was a LOT of food to eat 3 courses 3 times a day. I'm thinking it might be better to just do the DDE. Is it only valid for 1 year from when you purchase it, or when you first use it? We're going for a planning trip in February so I'm not sure if we should have it for then or wait a while and just pay OOP for the meals in Feb. Thanks again

 

[robinb]

Sorry! I thought I saw that you were going in September ... oh! I see that's your 2004 trip. *sigh*

The DDE card is valid one year after purchase. Do the math. Make a quickie spreadsheet with your dining choices and what you *think* you might want. I always figure the 20% discount to be the tip. I know that when we're not on the DP we will split an appitizer and a dessert. However ... I still think that if you are planning one table service meal per day then the DP is worth it. The Counter Service and the snack ends up being free. Make sure to take into account the tax and the gratuity that's included in the DP! That's another 24% on top of the cost of the food.

ETA: Will you be using your AP for both trips? Then I would still consider getting the DDE card anyway. It provides free valet parking and 20% off of any extras like alcohol ... not that I would recommend getting smashed and driving back to your resort!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Sorry! I thought I saw that you were going in September ... oh! I see that's your 2004 trip. *sigh*

The DDE card is valid one year after purchase. Do the math. Make a quickie spreadsheet with your dining choices and what you *think* you might want. I always figure the 20% discount to be the tip. I know that when we're not on the DP we will split an appitizer and a dessert. However ... I still think that if you are planning one table service meal per day then the DP is worth it. The Counter Service and the snack ends up being free. Make sure to take into account the tax and the gratuity that's included in the DP! That's another 24% on top of the cost of the food.

Good point! How much is the DP per adult per day? $37.99??


So let's see...
We'd have to pay $134 for 2 1-day MYW tickets
(However, we don't need the tickets, so I'm wondering if we would then foot the extra $150 and pay $284 for 2 2-day non-expiring tickets)

Then it would cost us $607.84 for 8 days of the dining plan.
This means that in order for this to make sense we have to see if we would spend $891.84 on food during our stay(this is assuming we'd do the 2 day non-expiring tickets.)

This comes out to be $111.48 per day. Now I have to go see what we're thinking of doing to see if that seems reasonable. It would actually come out to be $127.40 per day since we won't be purchasing much food on the day of the wedding

Now here is the question, do you actually have to book a 1 night MYW package with your hotel and everything, or just buy the MYW tickets? We already have our room booked through our wedding discount. If this won't work, then that's another added expense on top of everything.

 

[SRUAlmn]

ETA: Will you be using your AP for both trips? Then I would still consider getting the DDE card anyway. It provides free valet parking and 20% off of any extras like alcohol ... not that I would recommend getting smashed and driving back to your resort!

We were trying to decide if we want to activate our APs when we go in February or not. We will only be there for 3-4 days and most of the time will be spent looking at wedding stuff and not even going into the parks. It seems silly to 'waste' them for that time and then have them 'wasting away' for another 5 months before we even get there for our wedding.

at your last sentence

 

[Muushka]

Have they already bought you the AP's? If not, maybe they could give you the $$ and you could apply your 1 day pass that you have to buy towards the purchase of the AP.

Also, we have DDE and this Dec we are doing the DDP. The only reason we are doing the DDP is because I went to WDW with family last month and got it for free. I felt so guilty that I suggested to my husband that we do the DDP so he can experience it also. In all honesty, if I had to jump thru hoops to get the DDP, I would not bother with it. We are DVC members, so we do not have to do anything to get it (other than pay ). The DDP was fun and I enjoyed it, but if not for the guilt, we would not do it, well, I don't think we would. We never order appetizers or desserts, so that was a wash. I had my share of 6 snack credits, of which I used 2 (and that was to treat a visiting friend who came for the day). I used 2 more for some take home treats for my poor husband who did not come. The DDE is a pretty good deal, My only problem with it is that you can't use it at most CS locations.

I hope your plans go well. Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. And congratulations!

 

[robinb]

So let's see...
We'd have to pay $134 for 2 1-day MYW tickets
(However, we don't need the tickets, so I'm wondering if we would then foot the extra $150 and pay $284 for 2 2-day non-expiring tickets)

Then it would cost us $607.84 for 8 days of the dining plan.
This means that in order for this to make sense we have to see if we would spend $891.84 on food during our stay(this is assuming we'd do the 2 day non-expiring tickets.)

This comes out to be $111.48 per day. Now I have to go see what we're thinking of doing to see if that seems reasonable. It would actually come out to be $127.40 per day since we won't be purchasing much food on the day of the wedding

Now here is the question, do you actually have to book a 1 night MYW package with your hotel and everything, or just buy the MYW tickets? We already have our room booked through our wedding discount. If this won't work, then that's another added expense on top of everything.

Your math is a little off. First of all, you don't need the non-expiry option on the park pass on your room key. As long as you do not activate the pass it will not expire. Just leave it on your key. You can then upgrade it later to however many days you wish. Or, as Muushka suggests upgrade it to an AP on your way into the first park if you don't already have your AP.

I am not sure it's quite fair to include the park passes in the calculation because they will be saved for another trip. But you did, so here's that calculation:

2 1-day passes: 134.00
Dining Plan: $607.84
Total: $741

Price per day, counting 7 days and not 8: $105.85
Subtract 2 Counter Service Meals, entree, drink, dessert: ($24)
Subtract 2 Snacks: ($8)
Remaining to "spend" on Table Service restaurant (tax and tip included): $73
Remaining to spend on TS before tax and tip (18% tip, 6% tax = 24%): $58
Per Person TS meal pre tax/tip: $29

If you don't include the park passes, you get this:

Price per day, counting 7 days and not 8: $86
Subtract 2 Counter Service Meals, entree, drink, dessert: ($24)
Subtract 2 Snacks: ($8)
Remaining to "spend" on Table Service restaurant (tax and tip included): $54
Remaining to spend on TS before tax and tip (18% tip, 6% tax = 24%): $43
Per Person TS meal pre tax/tip: $21.50

Plus ... since you will be skipping one day, one of those meals can be a 2-credit Signature meal.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Have they already bought you the AP's? If not, maybe they could give you the $$ and you could apply your 1 day pass that you have to buy towards the purchase of the AP.

Also, we have DDE and this Dec we are doing the DDP. The only reason we are doing the DDP is because I went to WDW with family last month and got it for free. I felt so guilty that I suggested to my husband that we do the DDP so he can experience it also. In all honesty, if I had to jump thru hoops to get the DDP, I would not bother with it. We are DVC members, so we do not have to do anything to get it (other than pay ). The DDP was fun and I enjoyed it, but if not for the guilt, we would not do it, well, I don't think we would. We never order appetizers or desserts, so that was a wash. I had my share of 6 snack credits, of which I used 2 (and that was to treat a visiting friend who came for the day). I used 2 more for some take home treats for my poor husband who did not come. The DDE is a pretty good deal, My only problem with it is that you can't use it at most CS locations.

I hope your plans go well. Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. And congratulations!

Yes, they already sent us the AP vouchers, so I think it's a done deal. You're right, though, we rarely eat an appetizer/side, an entree and a dessert 3 times a day!! Not to mention snacks!!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Your math is a little off. First of all, you don't need the non-expiry option on the park pass on your room key. As long as you do not activate the pass it will not expire. Just leave it on your key. You can then upgrade it later to however many days you wish. Or, as Muushka suggests upgrade it to an AP on your way into the first park if you don't already have your AP.

I am not sure it's quite fair to include the park passes in the calculation because they will be saved for another trip. But you did, so here's that calculation:

2 1-day passes: 134.00
Dining Plan: $607.84
Total: $741

Price per day, counting 7 days and not 8: $105.85
Subtract 2 Counter Service Meals, entree, drink, dessert: ($24)
Subtract 2 Snacks: ($8)
Remaining to "spend" on Table Service restaurant (tax and tip included): $73
Remaining to spend on TS before tax and tip (18% tip, 6% tax = 24%): $58
Per Person TS meal pre tax/tip: $29

If you don't include the park passes, you get this:

Price per day, counting 7 days and not 8: $86
Subtract 2 Counter Service Meals, entree, drink, dessert: ($24)
Subtract 2 Snacks: ($8)
Remaining to "spend" on Table Service restaurant (tax and tip included): $54
Remaining to spend on TS before tax and tip (18% tip, 6% tax = 24%): $43
Per Person TS meal pre tax/tip: $21.50

Plus ... since you will be skipping one day, one of those meals can be a 2-credit Signature meal.

I did realize that it wasn't fair to include the ticket cost because you're right, we will use them at a later date. I did not know, however, that they aren't activated until you use your key card with them on it. How does that work? I don't get it

The calculations seem to make sense if we're going to eat that much food. It's a great deal! Now we just need to decide how much we're going to eat

Thank you so much for taking the time to figure that out for us!

 

[robinb]

I did realize that it wasn't fair to include the ticket cost because you're right, we will use them at a later date. I did not know, however, that they aren't activated until you use your key card with them on it. How does that work? I don't get it

Your pass is activated when you use it in a turnstyle. We saved our key card from 2005's free dining and were able to upgrade our one-day passes to an AP. We will be doing the same with our 2006 free dining key cards this December, except we're only getting a 10-day pass. We won't be coming back to WDW until New Years 2007/2008.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Your pass is activated when you use it in a turnstyle. We saved our key card from 2005's free dining and were able to upgrade our one-day passes to an AP. We will be doing the same with our 2006 free dining key cards this December, except we're only getting a 10-day pass. We won't be coming back to WDW until New Years 2007/2008.

So we will have our key cards and the 2 nights MYW tickets on them, and then when we go through the turnstiles we just use our AP cards and then we won't need to use the MYW ones? Will we have separate key cards for our APs?

What I don't understand is how it works with our room being booked separately and do we use the AP cards to charge things to the room?

Sorry, I probably sound like a total idiot, but we have always just had packages and never had to really think about all this.

 

[Muushka]

You probably have an AP voucher now, right? When you get to WDW you will trade that voucher into a pass (an AP!). This will be separate from your room key. So yes, when you go to the parks you will use your AP. Save that room key with the 1 day pass for future use. And we knocked our 1 day pass down to a 1 park only pass. So we committed about $75 towards the purchase of a future ticket (instead of the higher priced park hopper)

What I don't understand is how it works with our room being booked separately and do we use the AP cards to charge things to the room?

Your AP will only get you into the parks. And some AP discounts. No charging privleges, no room access.

 

[pigget74]

So we will have our key cards and the 2 nights MYW tickets on them, and then when we go through the turnstiles we just use our AP cards and then we won't need to use the MYW ones? Will we have separate key cards for our APs?

What I don't understand is how it works with our room being booked separately and do we use the AP cards to charge things to the room?

Sorry, I probably sound like a total idiot, but we have always just had packages and never had to really think about all this.

In order to get the DDP you MUST pay rack room rate, so if you are getting a discount from the wedding then i do not think that you can get the DDP. This past May we were trying to figure out the same thing even though we are DVC. Did we want the dining plan or did we want the discount card. This is what I did. I went to allears.net and looked at the menues. I made 2 different calculations: 1 as if i was on the dining plan--took how much it cost per person and calculated for the entire trip. Then I looked again at the places TS and CS and figured up just what we normally ordered plus tax/tip. Then I added the snacks. Then I compared the two prices. For us--even though the dining plan was more food it was cheaper in the long run for us by $50-$100. I can't remember the exact difference. Now you have a different problem--you need to also figure the difference of the room discounted with you eating using the discount card (but add the price of the card). Remember you can't use the discount card at CS. Then figure the cost with the nondiscounted room with the dining plan and 2 one-day tickets. I hope this was not confusing. Good luck on getting the cheapest deal and congratulations on your upcoming wedding


Even though you enter the park with your AP you will still use your room key to charge back to your room. That does not have anything to do with your park admission.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Yeah! I think I finally understand! Thanks everyone I've got some menu browsing to do.


Good tip about not adding the hopper option and being able to upgrade it later.

Great tip that you can't use DDE at CS too. I didn't know that!


I'll keep ya posted what we decide if anyone is interested.

 

[pigget74]

Let us know what you end up doing---I love crunching numbers and seeing what works best.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Let us know what you end up doing---I love crunching numbers and seeing what works best.

Me too! I think my fiance thinks I'm such a dork because every time we plan anything I make all these spreadsheets and ask him things like 'should we do option A, B, or C?' It's easier for him to make a decision if I make it into clear choices instead of a lot of hypothetical information

 

[SRUAlmn]

OK, I just went through and made a VERY rough draft of our 10 days there. The first and last days will really be half days, and the wedding day we don't need much extra food, so it's really more like 7 1/2 days.

It came out to be about $750 total for food for the 2 of us.

The dining plan would be $37.99 which I believe we would have to get for 10 days (or is it based on the number of nights which would be 9?) For the sake of this I'll say 10 to be safe.

For the 2 of us to get the dining plan it would cost us $759.80. Very close! I actually had a LOT of CS options in our rough estimate too so it seems like this would be a GREAT option!

However, since we got a discount on our room we might not be allowed to do it. I'll have to check and let everyone know!!

Even with the $134 we would have to pay for the MYW tickets it seems to make sense!