I NEED help!!!! WWYD as far as plan?

[BaysMom]

We are going in October, and are currently booked with the QSDP.

Since originally booking, I have gone ahead and made some dining reservations. I decided to go on and live it up since we will be there...and we found out we are getting tax money back this year! Wooo Hooo!

So.... I need advice with regards to upgrading.

I have CRT (DD's bday) booked for 10/6 breakfast, and already used my credit card to book that.

I now have Crystal Palace for dinner booked on 10/6. (just booked that one today)

I also have Chef Mickey booked for breakfast on 10/7.


Does it make sense to upgrade to a different dining plan? I am sure that will save us money, right? I know CRT uses 2 TS credits. But, does it matter that I have already used my credit card? Can that be refunded?
Which one would you upgrade to?? Whats the diff in cost?

I lose the refillable mug, right?

I need all the help you wonderful experts can give me. I am new to this...and am in over my head!

I'll be anxiously waiting for your answers!

 

[5boyz]

We are going in October, and are currently booked with the QSDP.

Since originally booking, I have gone ahead and made some dining reservations. I decided to go on and live it up since we will be there...and we found out we are getting tax money back this year! Wooo Hooo!

So.... I need advice with regards to upgrading.

I have CRT (DD's bday) booked for 10/6 breakfast, and already used my credit card to book that.

I now have Crystal Palace for dinner booked on 10/6. (just booked that one today)

I also have Chef Mickey booked for breakfast on 10/7.


Does it make sense to upgrade to a different dining plan? I am sure that will save us money, right? I know CRT uses 2 TS credits. But, does it matter that I have already used my credit card? Can that be refunded?
Which one would you upgrade to?? Whats the diff in cost?

I lose the refillable mug, right?

I need all the help you wonderful experts can give me. I am new to this...and am in over my head!

I'll be anxiously waiting for your answers!

Are you doing qsdp or regular dining plan?

 

[Perditamarie]

Here is my spin on it:

* do the math - how much OOP will the TS meals be while also paying for the QSDP? If more than the DDP, upgrade. When running the numbers, check if there is a DDP upcharge for holiday time. The DDP can be a great value if your children are aged under 10 and you dont mind obligating yourself to an ADR and paying tips.

* yes, you lose the cups if you upgrade to DDP ... it may not be that big of a deal tho - while they are a great souvenier, it is a pain to carry them in the parks all day if you grab a dring on your way out and you may not be tempted for a drink on the way back to your room if your cup is a bit sticky and has been rolling around in your bag all day!

* if you upgrade, be careful!! You will second guess all of your dining choices and times until you arrive!!

Happy planning!!

Just wanted to add that the cc will only be charged if you pay oop or miss your adr -- you can use TS credits from DDP for CRT (it is 2 TS credits per person) at the time of your ADR

 

[BaysMom]

Are you doing qsdp or regular dining plan?

We are currently booked for QSDP.


I was wondering if upgrading to the basic dining plan is less money. I think it may be.

anyone else have advice? open to hear everyone's ideas!

 

[2Tiggies]

We are currently booked for QSDP.


I was wondering if upgrading to the basic dining plan is less money. I think it may be.

anyone else have advice? open to hear everyone's ideas!

As all the meals you have booked so far are fixed price meals, add up the cost of all these meals, plus tax. Add this to the cost of the QSDP for your party for the duration of your stay. Then look at the regular DDP price and work out if that is going to be more or less expensive.

It always depends on where you eat, how many TS you book, and various other factors as to whether it is cheaper to upgrade.

For the third year running I am doing QSDP and staying with it, but booked a few TS and will pay OOP for them. It still works out cheaper for me this way. Last year we had 6 TS which I paid for OOP and it was a breakeven with staying on the QSDP vs upgrading. And to be honest, we would have bought the refillable mugs anyway if they were not included and really didn't want a TS every day so it was a more practical choice.

This year we are doing fewer TS meals and it is still cheaper to keep QSDP and pay for our TS.

It also depends how long you stay. We are there 15 nights. Four TS over 14 nights works out to a nominal additional cost against the per person per day average for the QSDP. The only way to work it out is to do the math.

 

[catra121]

How many days are you staying?

I am a big fan of TS and I have become a die hard deluxe dining fan...but I am thinking that maybe sticking with QSDP would work best for you. I say this because on the regular DP you only get 1 QS, 1TS, and 1S per day. If you are using 2 TS for character meals then you will probably need to buy at least 1 QS extra on other days to make up for that and that would be OOP...and that's if you stick to just 2 meals a day. If your kids like breakfast too...the 1 snack a day won't really be enough to take care of that need in most cases. I think if you switch you will end up with a lot of exrta OOP costs, where as if you just pay for the 3 character meals then you can at least budget for that ahead of time and you won't be paying the cost to upgrade. I could be wrong (I'm not an expert on anything except knowing what works for me which is the deluxe plan). But the more I think about it I think sticking with QSDP may be the best option for you.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We are currently booked for QSDP.


I was wondering if upgrading to the basic dining plan is less money. I think it may be.

anyone else have advice? open to hear everyone's ideas!

The difference between the QSDP and the DDP is $11/night/adult and no difference for kids. But remember you are loosing a 2nd snack along with those cups. Also with CRT you are using up 2TS credits so on another day you'll likely have to pay OOP for a meal. Oh and they will refund that CRT $$ when you use your credits instead.

 

[squirrel]

Don't forget if you upgrade to DDP, you also have tips on the TS meals.

It depends on how many nights, how many people and their ages.

 

[smiths02]

How many nights will you be there? How many Disney adults and Disney kids?

If you "upgrade" you lose 1 CS a day, 1 snack a day, AND the mugs

Crystal Palace dinner would be a "good" use of an adult TS credit
I think Chef Mickey breakfast is iffy as a good use of an adult TS credit
I think CRT breakfast is a "poor" use (valuewise) of 2 adult TS credit
(all are probably good uses of a child's TS credit)

Since you only have 3 TS (4 credits) planned, I would think it would be better to just go OOP and keep the entitlements of the QSDP. I think with the QSDP and the 3TS OOP, you should probably not have to pay for any other food OOP.

If I were going to keep the QSDP and pay OOP, I would consider changing Crystal Palace to breakfast or lunch to save a few $

 

[brymolmom]

Not sure how many nights you're staying or how many in your party size, which would both affect the actual calculations in terms of which would 'save' you money. BUT, generally speaking I tell clients that if you are going for a week (give or take a night) and want to do MORE than 2 TS meals....with a family of 2 adults and 2 kids it generally works out better to upgrade. This is, of course, assuming that this family can not purchase much (if any) OOP using the Regular Dining Plan (which is entirely possible with 2 adults and 2 kids - it is a lot of food).

If it was me, I'd figure out the actual Math...For example:
Staying with QSDP:
CHEF MICKEY
# adults x $26.62 =
# kids x $13.99 =
TOTAL = $x
And add those up for all 3 of your TS meals you have booked. Then take # of nights you are staying x $11 per adult and see which one is less.

I am guessing it will end up less expensive to upgrade to the DDP. And then I would just use all credits for every TS meal, including 2 of my credits to CRT and have one night with just CS dinner.

 

[CarrieR]

I was in a similar situation -- QSDP (free,) and we had two TSes booked -- CP for breakfast and Raglan Rd for dessert. I ran the numbers, and we figured it out it would be $16 extra over that to upgrade to the DDP ($11/day) vs paying OOP for that trip. I felt that the $16 was worth it to get three extra TS meals (we're on a four-day trip.) We will have to pay tips on top of that, I'm ok with that.

It really comes down to running the numbers, and laying out what/how your family eats. I laid out our park days, what/where we expected to eat, and ran numbers for OOP w/room discount vs. "free" QSDP vs. paid upgrade to DDP, and although QSDP was the clear "cheap" winner we felt the exchange in value was worth it.

I'm getting $102 (with tax, before tips) for those three meals paid OOP for an adult. At $11/day upgrade, it seems like it would be worth it... on a four-night trip $44 would cover those three meals (4 credits) exactly, on a seven-day trip $77 would cover those four plus give you three more TS credits. So you would save $ but lose the mug and a snack (while exchanging the CS for a TS.)

It also depends on whether or not you want those three (or however many) extra meals. For me, I was excited about the opportunity to try new places (I've only eaten at Disney TSes maybe twice in my life,) but if I had little kids, I might sway the other way and know that those few TSes was all they could handle.

HTH

ETA: Crossposted with the above. I didn't even factor in the kids -- whatever the price difference is between the kids' TS and CS+snack is pure savings.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

If it was me, I'd figure out the actual Math...For example:
Staying with QSDP:
CHEF MICKEY
# adults x $26.62 =
# kids x $13.99 =
TOTAL = $x
And add those up for all 3 of your TS meals you have booked. Then take # of nights you are staying x $11 per adult and see which one is less.

BUT - also add up any additional snacks, CS meals, and mugs if you will purchase them and add that to the $11 per night per adult and THEN see what is cheaper. The mugs are another $14 pp.

 

[brymolmom]

BUT - also add up any additional snacks, CS meals, and mugs if you will purchase them and add that to the $11 per night per adult and THEN see what is cheaper. The mugs are another $14 pp.

I guess so - depending on your style. If you need a mug or two (I highly doubt anyone needs a mug for everyone in the party unless they plan to spend a lot of time at the resort)....Most of the time on the DDP, a lot of people find they don't even need the mug (although I will agree it's a 'nice to have'), since you get a drink with your TS and your CS. When we have DDP, we always get 2 mugs for our family of 4....We never need more than 2 drinks at a time.

And IF you're going to actually buy those extra snacks....then add them in. But if you're not going to need them (and thus won't be spending that $$), then I personally wouldn't factor them in. Many people on the DDP end up with extra snacks at the end of the trip and fill up a suitcase with stuff to take home...so realistic out of pocket costs wouldn't include the extra snacks in most equations.