I'm sure this is showing my "noob-ness" but I need help....

[southern_redhead]

with sorting out dining in Disney. Originally, when I jumped on the Disney bandwagon, I was going to go with the DDP. It just seemed sooo easy. You have these credits and these places to spend them. I thought it would keep my kids in check as well (my stepson and my tween tend to go straight for the steaks and such at sit down restraunts) - on DDP they could eat it and DH and I wouldn't be doing mental math and thinking that we'd all eat cold cereal for the next three days to afford it

However, I made a list of the places I'd like to try to get ADRs for and then insomnia struck again and I decided to price eating there OOP. After all I wanted to see just how much I might be saving. Now, for what it's worth, most of the "big" meals are character meals and they seem to be priced as one price for adults/one for kids. I am assuming that means it is either a buffett OR you may choose one item from each category and regardless of how you round out your meal you will owe "X" amount. The ones that I've been leaning towards are: 1900 Park Fare (dinner), Mickey's Backyard BBQ (dinner), Tusker House (bkfst- and, btw, does anyone know if you can do "late" breakfast here?), Crystal Palace - (bkfst - sadly an EARLY one as I want the photo op LOL, this will likely mean we take naps this day.) I would like to do a dinner at Hollywood and Vine as well if I can get reservations for dining during Fantasmic. If I can't then we may scrap that plan and just do a QS meal and try to find seating for the show elsewhere.

I was already planning two non DDP meals - one at Fulton's for my DS's bday as he LOVES crab and one at Trex for my bday (yes, I know what a loud way to turn 33 BUT I know my kids will love it and be good so I can enjoy a meal without them complaining LOL) I would love to have special cakes for those nights but am unsure as to whether I can get them delivered to those places? I am also figuring on breakfast in the room most days (we tend to eat cold cereal at home, we're not really breakfast folks) and a CS lunch. We will probably get a snack in the parks as well, either between breakfast and lunch to tide us over or after lunch as a dessert before heading back to the rooms and pool. I looked at menus and figured that budgeting $60 a day ($10 per person) would get us CS pretty much anywhere. If I'm wrong let me know. I was figuring $5 ea for a snack each day.

Anyway, when adding up the whole shebang OOP I came up with about $500 less than doing the DDP (this included doing the Wishes pirate cruise either way - if we can't book that then we'll save even more LOL, it also included $100 for cakes.) That's a substantial savings! What I want to know is ... am I right about the above places being "whatever you want" for the price quoted. As in if it says "$37 for adults" then the adult either hits the buffet or orders A,B, and C (or C, D, and G) off the menu for that price. If that's true then I think the DDP is overkill for us. I was planning to use the character meals as our "character time" to avoid lots of waiting in line. My kids will want the photo op and signature. Maybe a quick hug. We can get that at a character meal right? Seeing them once would be huge for them, I can't see them getting upset that Minnie didn't come back 2 or 3 times during the meal. Also, many of those places had foods I know will appeal to all 6 of us vs some of us eating and the little ones pouting that stuff is "weird". If this works out we can knock out dining and characters (all except for the pixies and Toy Story Characters) and leave the rest of the time open to park fun. All while saving a chunk. What do you think? If it were your vacay which way would you go?

 

[baler31]

We never do the DDP and always spend less than the plan would have cost. However, we do stay CL and make wise use of the food/beverage offered there and frankly the DDP is just too much food for us.

Some of the portions at WDW are enormous. We share in those instances, we also like to order appetizers rather than many desserts. Another factor for us is that we have AP's and TIW so 20 % off alcohol and food at most TS . We always rent/have a car and do some dining off site. All of these factors add up to making OOP MUCH less expensive for our family than the DDP. I understand it will vary from family to family depending on dining style, so price it out by looking at more menus and then you can decide.

To our family the DP is not flexible enough and we would prefer to just pay OOP, we just don't get the desire to pay for it ahead of time either

 

[DISNEY1975]

You could be right....DDP is $42 for over 10yo and $12 for 3-9..free under 2.


Breakfast for adults at CM will be $27. A counter service will be $8 and a snack about $3 = $38

Breakfast for kids at CM is $14..already more than what you paid for the dining plan, plus you still have a CS and snack for the child.

You will really have to go through menus and try to guess exactly what you will be getting to know if its worth it.

Its worth it for me as its all paid for before I leave. Whatever small amount I may be losing is worth it in convenience. Ive never done the math..but I could be saving too! Who knows.

 

[baler31]

After looking at your questions again, I meant to add that IMO I would keep Crystal Palace and not do the others especially Hollywood and Vine. If you want to keep H & V I would look at reviews and other posts and the menus to make your final decision. While I cannot say we would choose and of the Studios meals we do Mama Melrose for Fantasmic and 50's because my kids love it. Mama's is not great but after trying all 3 it is our "go to" for the Fantasmic seating.

As for skipping the others; unless you are going for character interaction and to see whatever the location is the food for all of those IMO is "bleh" We do CP for breakfast and 1900 for breakfast occasionally for the character interaction. Everyone seems to enjoy the food more at CP. The food is slightly better at Akershus in Epcot which is a Princess meal and the Garden Grill (if you like the menus) Again, these are JMO look around the restaurant thread or search the specifics for more info.

 

[bumbershoot]

Are you adding tax to your calculations of the OOP costs? You just ignore the idea of taxes with the dining plan, but to get things properly compared you have to add on the taxes. (tips IMO can be ignored because one imagines you would pay the same in tip for any given meal, no matter how it's being paid for)

 

[indimom3]

We always spend less paying OOP than we would have on the DDP, because of the way we eat. I've priced it out before and after our last 3 trips, and each time we saved money just paying OOP.
If you are asking for opinions on your ADRs, I agree with pp that I wouldn't do H&V. Finding a good restaurant at DHS is hard to do, lol. But that place is on my never ever ever again list. I also wouldn't do Mickey's BBQ with tweens. I think the dancing and games are fun for younger kids, but if you've got a couple of 10+ kids I think it would be a waste. My kids loved it, but they are younger.

 

[Punchy]

We're doing the same thing and realized it's cheaper for us to pay out of pocket. Part of that is in table service restaurants we never order appetizers or dessert. We prefer to just have an entree then get an ice cream or snack later in the evening.

We often will snack over a meal when it's hot, too.

 

[VAN]

Sounds like you have crunched the numbers and have found that "for your family" DDP may not be the way to go. Many people find this as well.

DDP is not for everyone. Also the TS does not include gratuity, so it is not all-inclusive. Many reasons besides cost that DDP is not a one-size-fits-all.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

In my hyper-planning frenzy for my trip last year, I actually did the math on OOP v. DDP and you are probably correct, OOP can be cheaper depending on how you and your family order. Nevertheless, we still went with the DDP as we had on most of our previous trips.

I find that there is something very nice about having meals paid for and not worrying about those costs while on vacation. We save and pay for the DDP in advance of the vacation and so we never really "feel" like those dollars are being spent on food. We stayed off property a few years back and were astounded by how much of our vacation dollar went to meals.

(I must confess that I also like that my hubby doesn't start grumbling about paying $60 for a lunch of burger and fries for the family.)

 

[GatorLady]

Without putting pencil to paper, if you say two of your main meals are non DDP restaurants and a couple are breakfasts, I would agree that DDP would probably not be a good fit for you and your family.

We do one TS per day, all are DDP restaurants, and almost, if not all, are dinners. We also probably tend to eat at the somewhat more expensive CS choices (Wolfgang Puck, Tangierine Cafe, etc). So we do save money. Not a ton, but every little bit helps at Disney!

What ever you decide, hope you have a great trip!

 

[DonaldTDuck]

You could be right....DDP is $42 for over 10yo and $12 for 3-9..free under 2.


Breakfast for adults at CM will be $27. A counter service will be $8 and a snack about $3 = $38

Breakfast for kids at CM is $14..already more than what you paid for the dining plan, plus you still have a CS and snack for the child.

You will really have to go through menus and try to guess exactly what you will be getting to know if its worth it.

Its worth it for me as its all paid for before I leave. Whatever small amount I may be losing is worth it in convenience. Ive never done the math..but I could be saving too! Who knows.

Your example has me puzzled. Unless all the meals are breakfasts, 27 bucks is very low. And what counter service MEAL is $8. The cheapest with a drink is more than that, even if you skip the dessert.
I don't think it could be $500 cheaper if you did the math right. Even with buffets, you start with over $30 an adult, and cs will average more than $10. Did you count snacks at all? You may save some, but not that much. And if the kids eat a steak at a TS, with a drink and dessert, that total will be more than $35 most places.

 

[MHSweb79]

If you're planning table-service meals every day, than the DDP can save you money if your kids are the types to order the most expensive entrees anyway. With the DDP it doesn't matter which entree they order and it takes a lot of worry out of it.

You are correct- the buffets are all you can eat. Otherwise, a typical table-service meal includes an entree, drink and dessert for everyone. At LeCellier, for example, this can really add up. Our first table-service meal was at the Garden Grill for lunch- it came to $88 for two adults and one child. Yikes! And this was over 10 years ago! (And the food wasn't very good....)

We've found the meal plan to be a lot of food - there's no "tiding us over" until the next meal. We end up with a lot of snack credits to use up on the last couple of days. We also save a lot of desserts which can become breakfast the next morning.

On the other hand, we've found that some CS meals will actually feed two, and easily: breakfast platters at our resort; Cosmic Ray's half rotisserie chicken; Flame Tree BBQ ribs/ chicken, to name a few. So there's some real $$ savings there if you decide to pay OOP.

We waffled over purchasing the dining plan for our December trip, then Free Dining was extended. It cost us our $30/ day room discount, but to feed two people at Disney with some very pricey restaurants thrown in, it was a great deal.

 

[southern_redhead]

Your example has me puzzled. Unless all the meals are breakfasts, 27 bucks is very low. And what counter service MEAL is $8. The cheapest with a drink is more than that, even if you skip the dessert.
I don't think it could be $500 cheaper if you did the math right. Even with buffets, you start with over $30 an adult, and cs will average more than $10. Did you count snacks at all? You may save some, but not that much. And if the kids eat a steak at a TS, with a drink and dessert, that total will be more than $35 most places.

You are correct- the buffets are all you can eat. Otherwise, a typical table-service meal includes an entree, drink and dessert for everyone. At LeCellier, for example, this can really add up. Our first table-service meal was at the Garden Grill for lunch- it came to $88 for two adults and one child. Yikes! And this was over 10 years ago! (And the food wasn't very good....)

~MHSweb79 (sorry I didn't know how to use the quote button twice in one post! lol)


Thanks to everyone for the input. For the above two excerpts -

Donald - I ran the #'s twice (and will do it again LOL) but both times it came out to be cheaper by $500. For one thing every place I looked at had the one set price for adults, one set price for kids. I don't know that they offered steak, I was just using an example. What I meant was if they say it is $38 for adults and $12 for kids then does that mean no matter which entree you order? Most, I am assuming, were buffett style. I was using $10 CS as an average as we may share meals and the little ones will do kids meals which looked to be a few dollars less. I did count $5 a day for snacks (per person not $5 total LOL) We will only be in the park from morning to lunch or so and we'll bring water bottles and a few snacks in the bag. I could be wrong but I didn't really see them needing more than one snack a day.

MHS - I'd love to try LeCellier or a place like O'hanas......unfortunately my kids aren't into that. Well, the older boys might like LeCellier but the two little ones would be unhappy, thus, making the rest of us miserable LOL Maybe one day. Then again, if the food wasn't great, maybe I'm not missing anything....yeah, I'll just tell myself that

To anyone else who posted that they would only keep the Crystal Palace (or anyone who reads this later and thinks it)...why? I've never eaten at Disney so I am looking for any and all opinions. I was just basing it on what I saw on the menus and, basically, seeing at least one thing that each of us would eat. I looked at Askershus (sp?) and dropped it from the list for a few reasons. One was that it would be another am reservation and, like I said, we don't really do early breakfasts well. I guess we could go to the latest seating. Also, from what I read it isn't Cinderella there but rather the other princesses. Which is fine but none of us are hugely into princesses (anymore LOL) and I thought DD might prefer the Cinderella set 1900 Park Fare sports in the evening. I also didn't want to do the Epcot one at night because I looked at their menu and I would likely be the only one eating. Kind of expensive to feed one person IYKIM. I will have to look at Mama Melroses vs Hollywood and Vine. We may not even do an ADR for that, just do a QS meal and see where we land and if we can see the show.

 

[hsmamato2]

I don't know....in our fam we're 4 'adults' so a buffet at Boma or anywhere on property will cost us approx 150.00
--just for a dinner for one night- that's 32 pp plus 10% tax(?) plus 18% tip- if DDP is 42 per person per day, that's 168.00 for our family. that's the cost of one really good dinner plus a cs lunch for 1 1/2 ()-----
so with snack credits this seems to cut our costs a LOT>
If you eat TS nightly you will recoup the cost
of course my #'s may be wrong.....
if we don;'t do DDP, we will just eat less,with cs etc.

 

[southern_redhead]

Ah! It finally hit me where the large $ difference was...it has been a looong day LOL If we do DDP then we will get a TS, CS, snack each day correct? Well two of those days I'd like to eat at places that don't appear to have ever been on DDP (so I am assuming here that they aren't likely to appear on the DDP in 2011.) These meals I totalled up to around $200 each. So that is $400. Then two of the places I planned to eat that could be DDP were breakfasts....so I think it comes in a little under there.

So basically if I do DDP then the days we eat non DDP for dinner we would have to do a CS breakfast, TS lunch (and possibly ADR for a lunch to be assured we get in somewhere everyone will eat?) and then pay OOP for the dinner anyway. I'm not completely sure I'm looking at this right, and if I'm not please tell me as that's why I started this thread LOL And, it may be that I decide breaking even or even going a bit over with DDP will be worth it in the "don't think about it" category.

 

[Erin_Akey]

Something else to remember- we used to do the dining plan, and i can tell you it was just too much food.

Also, you have to remember the tip factor- we tip very well for good service. However, on the dining plan, even at a buffet, where the server only brings your drinks, you are automatically charged 18% gratuity. I just do not believe in paying more than 2-3 dollars per person for a buffet.

I noticed where a lot of the meals you are choosing are buffets.


We no longer do the dining plan and unless you plan to really eat that much food in a day, it doesn't really save you money. The reason I liked it was for the idea of my meals being pre-paid. it was more a budgeting ease thing than a real savings thing.

 

[o2bnoz]

Southern Redhead,
You are going to have a WONDERFUL time!!!

You asked the question about the character meals. I can't speak for Park Faire because we haven't done that one. We have done Crystal Palace and it was very nice. The food is somewhat typical buffet food, but it was pretty good quality when we were there. I adore the Pooh characters, so I admit it was more for me than for my son!

We also did Ohana's at the Polynesian and it was really, really fun! We loved the character interaction there, and the poly is just beautiful! Love the fact that it's on the monorail for easy access back to the parks, as well.

We also enjoyed the Cape May breakfast. It was good and the character interaction there was great, too! The area back by the boardwalk is so nice and so much fun. I recommend all of the ones that I mentioned.

This next trip we will be doing Tusker House because I really want to get into AK early and I've heard that this meal is a good one, and that Safari Donald is fun.

We will also do CRT, just for the experience of eating in the castle. I think my son will enjoy the "sword ceremony". It's expensive, but how many people get to eat in the castle?? (OK... well LOTS of people on these boards... but not in normal life

And we will do the Pirates and Pals cruise. I really want to meet Peter Pan! (umm... so does my son, I suppose.... )

From the vast amount of reading that I've done here over the past couple of years, it seems that most people feel that the best character meals are CP, Askershus and Tusker House. This is based on food quality and character interaction combined. I don't think most feel that the others are "bad", but they just aren't as "good". So, when choosing what's best for your family, it's probably more about choosing the location and the characters than anything else.

The characters come around several times while you are dining, and in our experiences, they play a bit and interact with your kids for a few minutes, up to several minutes! It's great! My very best pictures were from the character meals.

We didn't do a single meet 'n greet in the parks because the lines were long, and we didn't feel the need. That part is wonderful!

Hope that helped a little. Enjoy this fabulous trip with your family!!

Dee (o2bnoz)

 

[baler31]

My opinions on skipping the others are primarily based on the food quality, if they are important to you for character interaction by all means keep them but I would go in with low expectations on the food and maybe it will be better than expected. Except for breakfast foods there are really not any buffets (except Akersus) that we would do again and I am pretty sure we have done them all once.

Hollywood and Vine is on our never list also, the food was truly awful and the restaurant dirty (IMO) We enjoyed TREX , food was slightly better than Rainforest. The last Akershus breakfast is at 11:10 and we often do this as our "lunch." We have just found the character interaction to be great there, even when they are not our favorite characters. Everyone should do the Cinderella's Royal Table once but you are paying for location, and while you do get Cindy and princesses for some reason is seems more rushed than the experience at Akershus. Also the food at breakfast is better than lunch or dinner. We have done Park Faire for breakfast and dinner and prefer the breakfast food AND the characters over dinner.

Have you looked at the menu's on allears ? They are great and very up to date, most all TS have "kid food" so there should be something for everyone at most of the places. Good luck with your planning, all the thought you are putting into your trip will really pay off once you are there. Hope some of this was helpful.

 

[Taja]

Based on personal experience, the DDP is nice, but it does tie you to ADRs. And you need to coordinate those with your touring plan, so you don't run all over WDW! *LOL*

Have you considered the QSDP? Quick Service Dining Plan. Two QS meals and 2 snacks per day plus one refillable resort mug per person. That might fit your style a little better. You could still pay OOP for your TS options. You'll need to check the price, but I think it's around $30 per adult, significantly less for children age 3 - 9.

QS meals usually will run $10 to $12 per person (children's meals a bit less), and most snacks are about $4 each. Drinks probably $2.50 to $3.50 (non-alcoholic and non-specialty) on average. You can save money on park beverages by standing in QS lines (not carts) and requesting a cup of ice and water for each person in your family. Some people prefer to bring some type of powdered flavouring to add to it--personal preference!

More numbers!

Edited to add:

We liked Crystal Palace the best of the WDW buffets--for dinner. It had a decent variety of food that was well-prepared and served at appropriate temperatures. Character interaction was very good, too! Not sure if your family loves Pooh & Friends enough to dine with them, though! This recommendation primarily is based on the food!

 

[wizzzzzard]

OK so it seem like most people here are down with the DDP. I respectfully disagree, but with the caveat, that the DDP works really well for our family. We happen to eat in a way that works with the DDP.

My DW has a degree in Economics. When the DDP first came out, she sat down and figured out the cost of the plan vs. paying OOP. IIRC, if we bought what we would buy paying OOP, the cost breaks even, or just a little better.

But on the DDP, we can 'order up' as I like to call it. Let me explain. Let's say we go Cosmic Rays for lunch, and Tony's Town Square in MK for dinner.

A CS & TS meal on the DDP consists of your entree, non-alchoholic drink, and dessert. The DDP gives you 1 TS, 1 CS, and 1 snack credit per day per person.

If I were paying OOP, I would probably order the Chicken Parm, or the Shrimp Scampi at $16.99. I might get a gelato ($4.99) for dessert, should I desire one.

Now on the DDP, I can get the Seafood Diavoli ($22.99) or the NY Strip ($27.99), and 'pay' the same price. And my dessert is included. I can now get the $6.50 Tiramisu, instead of the $5 gelato.

Bottom line is, you should do the math. And do it both ways. See if what you would buy with your own money is the same or better. Then buy what you would, if money were no object. An example:

Prices taken from Allears.net. Assuming a 7% florida sales tax.

OOP
Lunch @ Cosmic Rays
Bacon Double cheeseburge meal: 8.59
Drink: 2.49
Dessert: 2.39 (no-sugar brownie)
$13.88 + 7% tax = $14.85

Dinner @ TTS
Shrimp Scampi: 16.99
Drink: $2.29
Dessert: $4.99
$24.27 + 7% tax = 25.97

Snack: $3.25 (Water) (Tax is usually figured in for this already.)

$14.85
$25.97
$3.25
$44.07

At $42 a day (IIRC) for the dining plan, this is slightly better. Knock off any one the desserts at both meals, or the snack, and the plan becomes more expensive, by a couple of dollars.

Now, if I do what I want to order:

Lunch @ Cosmic Rays
Chicken & Rib combo meal: 13.99
Drink: 2.49
Dessert: 3.59 (carrot cake)
$20.07 + 7% tax = $21.47

Dinner @ TTS
NY Strip: 27.99
Drink: $2.29
Dessert: $5.99
$36.27 + 7% tax = 38.81

Snack. $3.25 (Water) (Tax is usually figured in for this already.)

$21.47
$38.81
$3.25
$63.53

$42 vs. $63 and change. That, to me, is added value of the plan.

Additionally, I don't use credit much, perferring cash for most of my transactions. In the past, I tended to use travelers checks when at Disney. Now with the Dining Plan, I no longer need to carry that extra money. That to me, is another intangible benefit of the plan. Well, maybe it is tangible, since I don't have a wallet stuffed with cash and/or traveler's checks.

Now, you are throwing into the mix a pair of meals that are not on the plan. That does complicate things somewhat, but you can still plan the TS meals as breakfasts those mornings you are eating meals off the plans.

Hopefully this helps.