If You Were Me...

[JacksMama]

I'm terrible at math so I'm coming to the experts to see if the DxDP would be worth it for us.

A little bit about our dining style: we're big sharers. We love to try a variety and even at 3 years old DS normally shares with us. If we do the DP, is it required that we purchase a dining plan for everyone in the room, or could we just do it for the two of us, and let him share with us? Also, based on our restaurant picks, would there be a real savings?

Thank you for your help!

Breakfast at Tusker House
Lunch at Yak & Yeti
Dinner at Jiko

Sunday
Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare

Friday
Breakfast at 'Ohana
Lunch at Liberty Tavern
Dinner at HDDR

Saturday
Breakfast at Whispering Canyon
Lunch at Biergarten
Dinner at Flying Fish

Sunday
Breakfast at Boma
Lunch at Les Chefs
Dinner at Victoria & Albert's

Monday
Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Lunch at Peco Bills or Beaches & Cream
Dinner at Le Cellier w/Candlelight Processional

Tuesday
Breakfast at Kona Café
Lunch at Restaurant Marrakesh

 

[squirrel]

Yes everyone in the room needs to be on the same Dining Plan. Since he is 3 now he needs to be on the DP if you decide to go with a DP.

I don't know if your son would like to be on the DxDP that's a lot of siting at restaurants waiting for food.

I found the DDP was enough food for my niece (4) and I. I would share my CS meal with her-1/2 chicken, pizza, etc.

How many nights are you staying? It looks like you are doing a split stay. Maybe try the DxDP for the first part and have the DDP for the second part and you can always upgrade (72 hrs before the next check in) if you think you really want/like the DxDP.

 

[clanmcculloch]

You have a lot of fixed price restaurants on your list. In fact, at least half are fixed price. Regardless of whether he has his own plate or eats off of yours at these restaurants, you'll be charged for him. The cost of just these meals alone are worth the price of a child dining plan. Add in the additional snacks you'll get with his dining plan and you're coming out ahead. At this point you'll still have all the additional child TS credits plus all those CS credits that you can either use or even just leave to go unused if you don't want them since they're really like bonuses. I would use the credits anyway but you don't need to feel pressured to use them if there's nothing he'd like to eat on the kids' menus.

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

You have 21 restaurant credits planned, plus a trip to Victoria and Albert's which is not on the DDP and will be an out of pocket expense.

In general, you have made wise choices for your dining, but I would re-think the Beaches and Cream or Pecos Bill lunch choice. Neither place has reservations and you may find yourself waiting a very long time to get a meal that is a "poor" use of a meal credit. If you want a more casual meal or a great burger think about the Grand Floridian Cafe. Great lunches including a wonderful Lobster topped burger.

Your Sunday plan of Boma, Chefs de France, and Victoria and Albert really has you running around a LOT. You will need to hoof it from either the Grand Floridian or Poly out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast, which can be a real pain first thing in the morning if you are relying on Disney transportation. Then you will head to Epcot for Lunch and then back to Grand Floridian for dinner (with a stop at your room to look fresh and presentable for this wonderful meal). I might get rid of one of those and add another meal to the day when you are only planning on 1900 P.F. You might want to try a breakfast at Norway's Akershus. Great Characters and a little extra, too.

Lastly, I love Middle Eastern Food, but cannot recommend Restaurant Marrakesh, especially as your good bye meal. The building is beautiful, the entertainment is grand, and I have always had good servers, but the food has been second or third rate each time I have eaten there, and finally had to cross it off my list of restaurants. I still love to eat at the counter service, Tangerine Cafe, but not the Table Service.

Have a blast. Many people on the deluxe plan end up with extra credits so do not pay for any snacks out of pocket with the idea that they are not "good uses" of a credit. Even if you are getting water or a piece of fruit, use the credit. It is exceedlingly unlikely that you will run out of credits. It is a huge waste of money to pay OOP for "cheap" snacks and then end up not using up your snack credits.

For your dinner at Victoria and Albert's hire childcare. Either in room or one of the Children's Centers. There is no kids menu there, so your little one will be charged $125 for dinner. Better to pay for the child care center which will provide a kid centric dinner for the child and allow the adults some wonderful adult time together.

 

[2Tiggies]

Not math related, but I just want to suggest that you pay careful attention to the spacing between your ADRs. You are planning 3 TS per day. Try keep at least 5-6 hours between them.

In terms of value, just a quick look and some mental math says you are probably coming out ahead on the DxDDp with these. Add in 2 snacks per person per day and you are doing even better. Is this what you would want as your TS line up if you were not considering the DxDDP (I mean if price was not a factor)?

 

[purple figment]

First of all, everyone in the room will have to be on the same dining plan.

Second, unless you have an AP (I'm assuming you're not DVC since you'll be at GF and Poly) you will have to purchase at least a one day ticket for everyone in the room for each stay in order to purchase the dining plan. You can add enough days to cover both stays on your first set of tickets and save the second set for a future visit. Just be sure not to accidently use them.

With the restaurants you've chosen, the DxDDP would be a good choice because they're all TS, Sig restaurants (2 credits) and a dinner show (2 credits).

On your first stay you're using 5 of the 6 credits. Are you arriving really early in the morning (looks like Sat.) or will you be checking in the night before? If the night before you could add a dinner to use the 6th credit.

You're over by one on your second stay so Pecos Bill or Beaches & Cream will probably be the best choice for OOP.

One of my biggest concerns would be the amount of time you'll be traveling to and from restaurants and eating. Figure an hour to eat at TS or buffets, and at least 90 min to 2 hours for the Sigs. Add in travel time of 30 to 60 minutes and you're not leaving too much time for the parks. You've picked many excellent restaurants and it's tempting to want to try them all, but it does involve a big time committment.

Also there are a lot of big meals on your list so you'll need to allow plenty of time between meals. On the DXDDP you're entitled to an appetizer, entree, dessert and beverage. You don't have to order a 3 course meal everytime, but with the places you've chosen, it is very tempting.

Will your son be able to handle fairly long days and long periods of sitting in restaurants every day?

An earlier poster mentioned taking him to V&A, but you will definitely need to make a child care arrangement for him because V&A has a minimum age of 10 years.

Whatever you decide to do, it looks like you have a memorable vacation planned.

 

[JacksMama]

Thank you for the wealth of information y'all have provided.

I don't know if your son would like to be on the DxDP that's a lot of siting at restaurants waiting for food… How many nights are you staying?

We own a restaurant, so (un)fortunately he’s more used to eating out than eating in. We’re staying a total of 8 nights.

We also definitely plan on utilizing child care for half of the dinners as we want him to be able to interact with other children, and not feel like he needs to sit.

You have a lot of fixed price restaurants on your list. In fact, at least half are fixed price… I would use the credits anyway but you don't need to feel pressured to use them if there's nothing he'd like to eat on the kids' menus.

Thanks for the scoop. He’s not really a kid’s meal kind of kid, so I was concerned about wasting his credits. I didn’t know so many were prix fixe, thanks for the scoop!

Your Sunday plan of Boma, Chefs de France, and Victoria and Albert really has you running around a LOT. You will need to hoof it from either the Grand Floridian or Poly out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast, which can be a real pain first thing in the morning if you are relying on Disney transportation.

For your dinner at Victoria and Albert's hire childcare. Either in room or one of the Children's Centers. There is no kids menu there, so your little one will be charged $125 for dinner. Better to pay for the child care center which will provide a kid centric dinner for the child and allow the adults some wonderful adult time together.

Thanks for the scoop on our Sunday plan being to ambitious. It’s a non-park day as we’re sending the little one off on a pirate adventure, so I just picked a few places some friends had recommended. We’re using child care for our dinner at VA as well. Thanks for the much appreciated info on Marrakesh. Some friends recommended it, but it’s been years since they’ve gone. Do you have any alternate suggestions?

Not math related, but I just want to suggest that you pay careful attention to the spacing between your ADRs. You are planning 3 TS per day. Try keep at least 5-6 hours between them.

In terms of value, just a quick look and some mental math says you are probably coming out ahead on the DxDDp with these. Add in 2 snacks per person per day and you are doing even better. Is this what you would want as your TS line up if you were not considering the DxDDP (I mean if price was not a factor)?

We were planning on breakfast around 7:30, lunch around 1 and dinner around 7. That's similar to what we do at home. We also planned restaurants right at where we'll be park wise, so there shouldn't be too much travel.

Worse case scenario we'll just cancel some for the end of the trip if our plan seems to be too ambitious. Price isn’t a factor and based on the fact we generally share 2 apps, 1 entrée and 1 dessert between the three of us, I wasn’t sure if this plan was right for us. None of us drink soda either, just water (or booze, haha).

On your first stay you're using 5 of the 6 credits. Are you arriving really early in the morning (looks like Sat.) or will you be checking in the night before?

We get in on a Friday night at 6:15. Our plan for days is up early for breakfast at 7:30, parks from 9ish until 1, lunch then back to the hotel to play/swim/nap and head out for dinner around 6-7pm. We’re there for 8 days total so I’d say we have equal time in the parks and equal time for down time, or looking forward to our next meal.

So overall it seems as if the DxDP would be a good idea, but considering how we normally dine (an app or 2, 1 entree and *maybe* 1 dessert), I'm concerned it will be too much food. I'm also worried about quickly burning through our credits with the amount of signature restaurants we plan on visiting. We also don't drink soda, so I wondering if that would be lost on us.

I suppose I have time to think on it, as our 180 days isn’t until June 3rd, or around there. ☺

Thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate the input!