Major Dining Plan Rookie Seeking Help

[scoobygrl79]

Hi all, thanks in advance for your guidance;

Now I'm sure many of you have had the pleasure of calculating out values of the different dining plans by pre-choosing what you think you'd pick from the menus, etc..and figuring it against your costs of dining plan vs oop...and so on..however, a 8mo pregnant mother of a 2 & 3 yr old finds herself lacking opportunity to ever sit down to that kind of fun (or perhaps even sit down in the bathroom for toilet use..but I digress, a whole other subject) for a trip in November. So I'm asking a very general and simple question: Have many of you found the Deluxe Dining Plan to be worthy even if you do spend one of your meals a day on a QS? I am asking because I want food this trip, and lots of it...appez, desserts, everything in between and around it. The thing is, I recall seeing many people mention that they do not think its worth it unless all meals are spent on TS, maybe even a few signatures included at that. With two toddlers (and crossing fingers that family will spare me from having to bring the new infant along), Signatures are virtually out..ideal for me would be a daily food schedule of a character buffet for kiddos, a QS to recharge, and a decent regular TS that serves grown up food, in no particular meal order. I'm positive some of you deluxe diner veterans can gauge this for me in seconds, regardless of food choices. Thanks again for any input!

 

[mickeynut1]

We always got the regular DDP and tried the DlxDDP this past December and loved it . I thought it would be too much food as the regular DDP always worked out great for us, but the deluxe plan worked just as well if not better . We did a couple signature restaurants as well as some CS meals for breakfast. I know alot of people say you don't get your money's worth on the deluxe plan if you don't do 3 sit down meals a day, but we found that not to be true for us. We always get the refillable mugs (which comes with the deluxe plan), so that was a plus for us . After trying the DlxDDP, we now won't go to Disney without it .

 

[hannahdrewmom]

As a mother in the same situation I feel your pain! We just got back from dxdp and it worked GREAT with our 4 and 2 year old! We did use CS some days and some days we did room service (it was like hitting the mother load when we did it and food arrived for breakfast in our ROOM as soon as they woke up! BEWARE it's WAY BIG PORTIONS THAT CAN BE SPLIT!) We found that the low cost of the kids plan REALLY made a HUGE difference to us. A couple of character meals and the kids were so far over their price paid it wasn't funny! Plus with kids that are not old enough for dining plan (2yo) but in need of eating the extra snacks will not go to waste. (That was the other thing that people complained about that we didn't find... but my 2 year old had to have his own snacks when his sister did.)

Here is when I realized we would be fine... night one! We paid about $180 for the dxdp per night. We ate at Flying Fish = $185 for one meal and then Akersheur house lunch that day for about $80. So as you can see even with one meal we were fine. After I saw that I no longer kept track and just decided to enjoy ourselves. Without even looking at the snacks we were WAY over. Some days I'm sure we didn't break even but over all we came out WAY ahead. (Just by looking at how much we spent on tips I can tell that!)

 

[kollerbear]

Hmm. This is a really tough question. I actually did exactly what you're talking about meal by meal with 1 signature and 1 table service per day for my bf and I as vegetarians, and found out that it actually was just about spot-on in terms of price. I wouldn't save any money. This made me more skeptical. Then, I also did regular dining plan with 2 kids... and that didn't save any money, either. (Again, this is as a vegetarian, before everyone freaks out and tells me I'm wrong!!! Veggie entrees are MUCH less expensive than others.)

I know you're not vegetarian, obviously, but this whole experiment made me skeptical of the plan's inherent savings. The thing is, it seems unlikely to me that, for however many days on end (I planned 8), that I would actually EAT all appetizers I'd be entitled to, and all desserts, etc., and then the added cost of tip for all of those items I just "tried" because I had them coming... If you would order a full 2 apps and a full 2 desserts anyway, for each trip, and if you eat more expensive main courses on the menu, then I think the DxDDP is a fabulous deal, as long as you're only planning a few counter-service meals. But if you're planning, say, one CS meal per day? I think OOP would save you money.

I think that the DxDDP gives you license to go nuts, and that's awesome. Even knowing that I wouldn't save any money, I'd still probably get the DxDDP for that dream trip, because I don't trust myself to do this.

I kind of love doing these plans. If you send me a theoretical list of your dream restaurants, I'd be happy to price some of it out.

 

[Cafeen]

Utilizing DxDDP with 1 CS and 2TS per day will still let you come out ahead. Sure, you won't save the MOST money you possibly could, but you will still, more than likely, see some level of savings.

The break-even point on DxDDP is roughly at 2/3 of your credits spent at TS locations (with the rest unspent!), so tacking on that remaining 1/3 as CS meals will help bring you over.

 

[kollerbear]

The break-even point on DxDDP is roughly at 2/3 of your credits spent at TS locations (with the rest unspent!), so tacking on that remaining 1/3 as CS meals will help bring you over.

Good to know--thanks! I guess 1 counter service meal is around $10 (being conservative there, I know). So really as long as you spend around $31 per table service, then yeah, it would pay off. That's not very high. Huh. I'm going to redo some figures--I still don't know why it seemed to not really pay off at all for me when I did the math for my vacay.

 

[Colleen27]

As Cafeen said, the point at which the DxDDP becomes worthwhile is at 2/3 of meal credits used for TS meals, and those can be either one or two credit meals. The math is actually much easier for the DxDDP than the basic plan because it is priced at a point that is very flexible regarding how you use your credits. Things like signature dining, using two credits for Cinderella's Royal Table, or ordering room service torpedo the value of the basic plan but are all good uses of the deluxe plan.

And personally, I think the DxDDP is fabulous with under-3yos. We have used it 3 times so far, twice with a toddler, and all those snack credits that I never could seem to use up before came in very, very handy for when the 2yo needed a little something between meals.

Kollerbear, I'll bet the math didn't come out the same for you because you're a vegetarian. I've run my numbers two ways - using an average price for each course, specific to each restaurant, and using likely menu choices. But when you change that to run the numbers for a vegetarian, you're basically going with the cheapest menu items for both appetizers and entrees. For us the plan works in part because it removes price-considerations from what we order, meaning that DH will have the $44 steak at California Grill and DS will order the $58 lobster at Narcoosees. At those same restaurants, you're ordering the $20-something vegetarian entrees so of course the plan will be less of a value for you.

 

[sharonabe]

Some signatures might actually appeal to your kids:

Mickey's Backyard BBQ
Hoop De Doo
and maybe Spirit of Aloha

These are all more like dinner theatre and they use 2 TS.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

We've done dxdp twice now. First was an upgrade from free regular dp. I did not track our meal spending.
this past trip we paid for dxdp. I kept all receipts and calculated what we saved after we got home. Between myself, dh, and dd age 3 we saved over $150.
I love the extra snacks and mugs on dxdp and not having to figure out where best to use credits vs paying oop because we plan on eating 3 meals each day.

 

[Cafeen]

Good to know--thanks! I guess 1 counter service meal is around $10 (being conservative there, I know). So really as long as you spend around $31 per table service, then yeah, it would pay off. That's not very high. Huh. I'm going to redo some figures--I still don't know why it seemed to not really pay off at all for me when I did the math for my vacay.

$10 is a good number to use. Usually they are a bit higher ($12-$14), but for estimating the potential value of a dining plan, I find it best to underestimate on covered items so you don't inflate any potential savings (it's better to save more than expected than less).

Things like signature dining, using two credits for Cinderella's Royal Table, or ordering room service torpedo the value of the basic plan but are all good uses of the deluxe plan.

For those numerically inclined, there's quite a bit of math behind why this is true. The simple explanation is due to the average cost per TS credit on the DxDDP (that is how much you're paying per credit) coupled with increased entitlements.

So, let's say on DxDDP it costs roughly $23 per credit, and DDP costs roughly $30 per TS credit. (Those are the rough numbers from the 2011 dining plan costs, for adults). A 2 TS meal would (obviously) cost twice that, so the "target price" would be double those numbers.

For DDP, this means that you'd have to spend ~$60 on covered items to break even. Doing this with just an Entree, Dessert, and Drink is tricky. (Even at CRT dinner the cost is less than $60!)

For DxDDP, this number drops to $46 on covered items, which not only include both the above, but an appetizer as well. So, even going "cheap" at a 2TS, ($8 app, $25 entree, $3 drink, $6 dessert, totaling $42 before tax, or $44.72 after, since tax is covered), you're still coming out slightly ahead.

Figuring DDP into the same meal as above, skipping the app, we end up with $36.21 after tax, a far cry from the theoretical $60 cost for 2 TS credits.

That doesn't mean that people on the DDP should never do 2TS locations, it simply means they'll need to make it up elsewhere to come out ahead overall (which is what really matters!)

And personally, I think the DxDDP is fabulous with under-3yos. We have used it 3 times so far, twice with a toddler, and all those snack credits that I never could seem to use up before came in very, very handy for when the 2yo needed a little something between meals.

Kollerbear, I'll bet the math didn't come out the same for you because you're a vegetarian. I've run my numbers two ways - using an average price for each course, specific to each restaurant, and using likely menu choices. But when you change that to run the numbers for a vegetarian, you're basically going with the cheapest menu items for both appetizers and entrees. For us the plan works in part because it removes price-considerations from what we order, meaning that DH will have the $44 steak at California Grill and DS will order the $58 lobster at Narcoosees. At those same restaurants, you're ordering the $20-something vegetarian entrees so of course the plan will be less of a value for you.

I totally agree with Collen that the vegetarian choices could be what's bringing your numbers down, since the vegetarian choices do tend to be the cheapest items on the menus. In this situation, adding a few TS to the 2/3 rule would likely work, assuming still that you'd be interested in all the entitlements. If not going for the average cost though and sticking to the lower end, doing the math is highly recommended! (Which, I now realized after first posting this, Koller did already, so it's just really a general piece of advice )

 

[kollerbear]

I feel bad to have derailed the convo. bringing up the vegetarian issue! I think I was just trying to say that, if you're in doubt, it might help to be a little reflective about your ordering habits. If you like to split an appetizer or dessert, for example, paying OOP might end up saving you a little, esp. since you end up paying tip proportional to what is actually put on the table. (I forgot that the veggie meal is ALWAYS the cheapest, so most families will never end up at that lower price point.) So you'll definitely save money on the DxDDP!

As Cafeen pointed out, $23 per credit is pretty easy to make the most of at TS locations. Also, as other posters have pointed out, those extra credits and extra food at the table will really come in handy with the little ones! And the dinner shows are a great use of double credits.

 

[scoobygrl79]

Thank you kindly for all your responses.

Koller- I may take you up on your offer once I become more desperate if I get more unsure, but so far, it seems deluxe is the way to go to throw in that extra food for my lil guy who is too young. BTW-have you read around these parts if you are not allowed to use more credits at one meal than the people in party allow? In otherwords, I have 2 adults and 1 child (a 3yr old and an ineligible 2yr old for any dining plan)....this means I cannot use 3 adult credits OR TWO child credits at one time...only my limit of 2 adult/1child...right? I ask because I noticed more than once that it may work if I just got 3 adult meals at a sit down and we all share..or for another example, just use two of my 3yr olds credits to feed him too, etc...but I think that is probably a no-no, huh?...

 

[kollerbear]

It definitely does seem like DxDDP would be the way to go for your family--b/c no, I'm pretty sure that you can't use 3 adult credits or 2 child credits unless you have enough members present on the plan. (Of course, correct me if I'm wrong on this!) If you're concerned about the extra apps and leftover adult/kid's portion not being enough for him, it might also make sense to weight your restaurant choices more heavily towards buffets and family-style meals, since you can just get more on the plate for the little one. Best of luck!

 

[Wendy5055]

I have been taking my DD9 to WDW since she was 5 years old. I would not dream of going without the DlxDP...to me it is SOOOO worth it. I know we come out ahead as we eat at places like Citricos, Narcoossees as well as buffets and an occasional dinner show.

While my DD9 is changing in her character requirements (she is less concerned with autographs), I can totally remember doing as MANY character meals as possible for my dd. It saved time not having to wait in line at the parks for characters...gave us all a break out of the heat...and my dd ate something other than chicken nuggets.

I never worried about getting my monies worth as it was the value to me of not having to pinch pennies on vacation. My dd can get a snack when she would like one. I don't try to maximize the snack credits...we just get what we want...even it is water. She generally gets things like itzakadoozie popsicles, icecream bars, popcorn (especially for parade watching), water, lemonade slushee...and enjoys herself tremendously!

We have done the dinner shows...try Mikeys Backyard BBQ...the little ones might really enjoy it.

The buffets are great with kids as there is always something for everyone.

I never worry about what we might choose from a particular restaurant as we are on the dining plan...you can choose what you want from the menu. We also share our appetizers (even dd9 shares hers) so everyone always gets a taste of everything!

 

[mwatson011]

The DXDP is SO worth it with little ones who love character meals! We did it on both of our previous trips. Pretty much exactly what you are thinking, one character meal per day (we actually did character breakfasts most days), some days we did a mid-afternoon TS as a late lunch/early dinner and ate CS at the resort in the evening if we were hungry again, some days we grabbed CS in the park and had a later TS dinner.

I am sure you are fully aware that the kiddos are going to dictate when/if you eat in the evening, as we skipped many TS dinner ressies because our girls just zonked out. Even without using all of our credits, we came out ahead, and we did not (like some on these boards do) choose the most expensive menu items, we just ordered what we wanted.

This time around the girls are a little bigger and are more interested in searching the parks to find their favorite characters, so we are opting to try the QSDP. I can't talk myself into the regular DDP, it just doesn't seem right for us. I definitely plan to do the DXDP again in the future though, I love to eat!