This was our second trip with the
Disney Dining plan. We purchased the "Basic" plan again. The Quick Service plan wasn't going to cut it with my DH, and the Deluxe, a bit pricey, so we went with what we had last Nov, because we liked it. Because we just purchased APs, we decided to get the TIW card as well. This entitled us to 20% off food and drinks (including alcohol). We used it to supplement our
DDP credits, for drinks, a few appetizers, and two OOP meals. It does require you to "tip" 18% so basically the savings is your tip. We also purchased refillable mugs for DH and I.
From home I brought:
Bottled water (a case)
A bottle of wine
Coffee
Half and half
Horizon Chocolate milk boxes
English muffins
Juice boxes
A MEGA box of Cheerios
Granola bars
Single serving bags of Pirate Booty (kinda like white cheddar popcorn)
Annies cheese bunnies
Apples
Baby carrots
Strawberries
Mostly snacks that I could throw in the park bag. Because we took the train, we had our whole car, so we were able to bring a cooler. These were helpful because I didn't use snack credits for beverages, since I could throw these items in the bag for the kids quite easily.
So our Dining costs and choices are as follows ...
Table Service Meals:
Sanaa = 70.00
California Grille = 59.00 (DH did OOP, and I did DDP -- see note below)
Tokyo Dining = 96.00
Whispering Canyon Café = 105.00
The Wave = 90.00
Crystal Palace = 76.00
Le Cellier = 106.00
(we also ate lunch at Chef's and at 50's Prime Time but these were OOP)
Quick Service Meals:
Anandapur Café = 44.00
Caseys = 13.00
Wolfgang Puck Express = 63.00
Cantina de Angel = 40.00
Wolfgang Puck Express = 55.00
The Contempo Cafe = 47.00
The Contempo Cafe = 33.00
Wolfgang Puck Express = 61.00
Goods to Go at OKW = 13.00
Our Snack choices were an average of $3.29 - $3.99:
Frozen Dole whip floats
Ice Cream Sandwiches
Frozen Orange Slushies
Goofys pretzels and oreos
Soft serve Ice Cream
Popcorn
Cappuccinos
Muffins/Cookies
Frozen cokes
Crepes
When I total all of our receipts, it looks like our restaurant bills from the DDP were about: $1060.00 The cost of the plan $715.00. A difference of $345.00.
Basically we easily saved 40% on the DDP given the difference between the cost of the plan and the restaurant totals. However, since we used the TIW card for a few things, two extra TS meals, appetizers, and drinks; we spent some of that savings through OOP dining and of course tips!!
While I estimated $3.20 for our average snack price, I know we were often selecting options over that, and we did pay OOP for the random popsicle or plain pretzel. Most TS meals we had at least one cocktail or glass of wine we splurged for our Cali Grille date night meal.
Our most expensive TS meal (for all four of us) = WCC and Le Cellier (practically tied)
Our least expensive TS meal (for all four of us) = Sanaa
If you are on the basic plan, I am not sure if the Signature dining establishments are really worth the two credits. I mean I will continue to select the Signature restaurants, dont get me wrong, but even if only ONE person used the DDP, it still isnt much of a deal. For example, at Cali Grille DH ordered an Appetizer and Entrée OOP, and I ordered a salad OOP and my Main and Dessert were of course on the plan on the DDP that meal my entrée, dessert, and cappuccino were $59.31
For the two credits we could have had a meal at Le Cellier
.. together! I think in December we will pay OOP for dinner at Cali Grille, if we go
I am planning on trying a different Signature restaurant next trip.
Even though we spent extra, ordering an appetizer here and there and drinks, I still think we got a good value from the plan and for the $. The question is age old, though: Would we be eating this much if we didnt have the plan? I, like many on the DIS, just wish they would give you the option of Appetizer OR Dessert
it would be perfect then.
I did find that we struggled to use our CS meals. I think this is because we had TS lunches two times on the trip. We ended up using them for QS breakfasts, which worked out very nicely The Contempo Café is PERFECT for this! We will no doubt do that again. Snacks, we had a few left that we scurried to use our final morning, but it wasnt a problem. I did not feel were were fitting our vacation around when we had reservations, so I think we had a great experience using the plan.
We will definitely be using it again in December, especially since those holiday surcharges will be back!
Coming up, the final post and musings... 
, but we had a fabulous trip out west and I can't wait to share a few highlights! ANYhoo, gotta run to work today, and am catching up on TRs and PTRs right now. I wanted to say Hi to everyone, and that I will be finishing this report this week, and starting my new PTR as well, so stay tuned!
a new PTR! Looking forward to it!
Looking forward to hearing all about Oregon!
I missed me around here, too!! 
Oh, how often I have had those exact same sentiments!
