I think I might be ditching the DxDP: Mom vs Kids?

[JJsmama]

I was planning to do DxDP and I have a ton of ADRs. The thing is, the places my kids are requesting to eat are CS. One son wants lunch at Cosmic Rays. Go figure, but he has the fondest memories of this place. The other one wants to eat at Starring Rolls at DHS, despite the fact that I have ADRs for Sci Fi. He loved those sandwiches and cupcakes, and the lovely patio. They do want to eat at Tutto Italia and Chef Mickey's , but aside from those, they seem happy with CS. The two olders are charged as Adults now, so it seems a waste to do the plan if what they really want is so much cheaper.

Plus, I realized that we usually don't have dessert right after a meal and that they would rather wander over to MSBakery or somewhere later and pick their own dessert from a larger selection, instead of always choosing from the 3 on the menu..... Kinda makes me sad though to let go of all those TS reservations, but I think I am the only one who cares. (I will be the only adult this trip.)

Has anyone has this delimma?

 

[moepanz]

We always did the TS meal plan. This year we went during free dining staying at POP. So it was CS meals. We loved it. Not being a "slave" to the ADR's. We really got to do so much more and not having to keep to a schedule it really felt like a vacation. While in AK on day we came across the Yak and Yeti and my DH knew I wanted to try it. We were able to walk up and get a window seat for 5 right in time for the parade. It was great. Yes we went OOP for that meal but that was OK. I'd say try it. Save yourself the $$$ and the time. Side note we had 18 snacks left and 9 meals (we converted to snacks)my son took 22 Mickey rice crispy treats for his class for his b-day. complements of free CS ddp.

 

[Reddy]

I would pick 1 TS that you really want to do & pay OOP for it then do the QSDP
I would hate to always be hurrying to get to the next meal
I loved the quick service - just eat when you are hungry & go with the flo
I would look at all the different CS & pick places so you dn't eat cheeseburgers or nuggets the whole time

 

[Disneyhayes]

I would pick 1 TS that you really want to do & pay OOP for it then do the QSDP
I would hate to always be hurrying to get to the next meal
I loved the quick service - just eat when you are hungry & go with the flo
I would look at all the different CS & pick places so you dn't eat cheeseburgers or nuggets the whole time

I was really afraid of eating cheeseburgers and nuggets the whole time so thats how I decided on the DxDP. We're gonna use this trip as a tester for places then in the future probably just use the DDP or even the QSDP since the kids will be older and we'll be doing more stuff.

 

[Colleen27]

You don't have to use every meal credit for TS for the deluxe plan to be worthwhile. Breakeven is generally around 2/3 of credits used for TS (including signatures). You also don't have to order every course - we skip desserts on a regular basis and still find that the plan saves us money.

Personally, I'd keep the deluxe plan. It sounds like you want to try the different restaurants, and there are ways to accommodate your boys' requests without cutting all the way back to the basic or quick service plans. As the only adult with three kids, table service meals are going to give you a bit of down time whereas counter service meals are likely to be a headache.

For Starring Rolls, make it a snack stop. It is the cupcakes that are the big draw anyway, and they're all available for a snack credit! And since the TS choices are so limited in the Magic Kingdom, just plan on Cosmic Ray's for lunch one day knowing that you're not missing anything spectacular by using that credit for QS instead of TS.

And who knows, the boys might find some new family favorites in the TS restaurants you try on the plan. I swear my 13yo has added a new must-do to the list on every one of our last three trips!

 

[emmysmommy]

You don't have to use every meal credit for TS for the deluxe plan to be worthwhile. Breakeven is generally around 2/3 of credits used for TS (including signatures). You also don't have to order every course - we skip desserts on a regular basis and still find that the plan saves us money.

Personally, I'd keep the deluxe plan. It sounds like you want to try the different restaurants, and there are ways to accommodate your boys' requests without cutting all the way back to the basic or quick service plans. As the only adult with three kids, table service meals are going to give you a bit of down time whereas counter service meals are likely to be a headache.

I absolutely agree! We had deluxe dining for 10 nites and didn't do TS every meal and still came out ahead - even with splitting a couple meals. We ended up cancelling some TS ressies but in the end we ate what we wanted and the cs and snacks filled in any gaps nicely.

 

[3boys4me]

I was planning to do DxDP and I have a ton of ADRs. The thing is, the places my kids are requesting to eat are CS. One son wants lunch at Cosmic Rays. Go figure, but he has the fondest memories of this place. The other one wants to eat at Starring Rolls at DHS, despite the fact that I have ADRs for Sci Fi. He loved those sandwiches and cupcakes, and the lovely patio. They do want to eat at Tutto Italia and Chef Mickey's , but aside from those, they seem happy with CS. The two olders are charged as Adults now, so it seems a waste to do the plan if what they really want is so much cheaper.

Plus, I realized that we usually don't have dessert right after a meal and that they would rather wander over to MSBakery or somewhere later and pick their own dessert from a larger selection, instead of always choosing from the 3 on the menu..... Kinda makes me sad though to let go of all those TS reservations, but I think I am the only one who cares. (I will be the only adult this trip.)

Has anyone has this delimma?

Why not just go with the regular dining plan? You can still choose some great ts meals. I notice your older kids are 10 and 12. Are they really going to want to spend 3-4 hours a day using up TS meals, and that's if you only do 2 a day. We have done te regular plan 3 times and we enjoy it. On our last trip, we were there for 10 days, we figured we spend about 20 hours getting to, waiting to be seated and eating our ts meals. Not to mention alot of money in tips. I am going back alone with the kids n MArch and we are going to give the qsdp a try. I am really looking forward to this after all of those reservations, hours and tips spent on our last trip.