Mother/Daughter trip reviews Aug13-22 updated 9/26 complete with final analysis

[JJ&JHsmom]

We decided to head back to Magic Kingdom to use the 7 sets of fast passes we had left and grab a quick dinner from a counter service place. I really wanted to go to Columbia Harbor House. We had fast passes for Splash, Big Thunder, Buzz and Space. I had figured that we could walk through Liberty Square and have dinner on our way to Tomorrow Land; nope DD wasn’t feeling hungry so we took the train to Toontown and walked to Buzz that way. We rode Space and Buzz and by this time it was time for Wishes. We watched them for a few minutes and then decided to just grab something back at the resort. We headed to the Contempo Café and decided to share a Pepperoni Flatbread. DD grabbed an Orange soda as well. The flatbread was actually very good. It was large enough to share and we both had plenty to eat. I would definitely order this again.

Pepperoni Flatbread $7.39
Soda $1.29
Tax $0.57
Total $9.25

Total OOP $887.85

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

So after spending the morning in Future World, DD needed a snack. It was almost 11 am so we headed to Fountainview and ordered an ice cream sandwich, chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream. We knew this was huge so we decided to share. The cookies were as big as the plate and I think there were three scoops of ice cream in between the two cookies. It was very good. The cookies were soft so the ice cream did not push out the sides too much. We will definitely be going back for more of these. Just the right snack to keep us going until lunch.

Ice cream sandwich $4.99
Tax $0.33
Total $5.32

Total OOP $893.17

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

Our lunch ADR was for 2:10 at Le Cellier. This was part of the reason I decided to pay OOP for this trip. I had asked DD what she would order for lunch as this was one of the restaurants she really wanted for this trip. She told me the cheese soup and the chocolate moose. Okay, so I really couldn’t see paying $47.99 per day for her meals based on this.

We arrived at about 1:45 and were seated very quickly. DD ordered a sprite and I ordered lemonade. Our waitress brought our drinks and breadsticks. DD loves the pretzel bread and immediately grabbed the whole thing for herself. DD ordered a bowl of the cheese soup and I ordered House Burger, with maple barbeque, Canadian cheddar and crispy onions. DD loved her soup and pretzel bread. The burger was enormous!!!!! It was very good but I could barely eat half of it. It was served with thick cut fries and it was just way too much food. The barbecue sauce was a nice change from my usual ketchup. For dessert DD ordered the Chocolate moose and I ordered the maple crème brulee. I love this dessert; it is creamy and cold with just the right amount of maple flavor. DD ate her moose and proclaimed it very yummy. The waitress brought the bill and told me she had just put DD’s soup and moose in with my burger and charge us the special lunch experience meal price(comes with appetizer, entrée and dessert for $28.99) and then charged for my dessert. Not sure which way would have been less expensive but this is how the bill came.

Sprite $2.69
Lemonade $2.69
Lunch Experience $28.99
Crème Brulee $6.99
TIW discount $8.27-
Tax $2.16
Tip $7.44
Total $42.69

Total OOP $935.86

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

I really wanted to try the counter service in Morocco so when we were hungry we headed to Tangierine Café. We decided to split a Chicken Swarma platter and a side of olives. DD ordered and orange soda and I ordered and iced tea.

It was raining out pretty hard by now and this place was packed. We received our food and sat at the counter. The platter came with chicken, bread, tabouleh, couscous salad, and hummus. DD and I both love hummus so we used the bread to scoop up the hummus and it was very good. The chicken was different and I liked it but DD did not. The couscous salad was sweet and had a strong cinnamon flavor. The tabouleh had an abundance of parsley, that was all I could taste, a mouthful of parsley. DD did not like the tabouleh or the couscous. I ate the small container of olives as DD doesn’t like them, they were regular green olives. All in all I’m glad we tried it but will not be rushing back any time soon.

Chicken Platter $11.99
Olives $2.99
Iced tea $2.39
Orange soda $2.39
Tax $1.29
Total $21.05

Total OOP $956.91

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

This was our last day so I had planned breakfast at ‘Ohana before we needed to catch ME back to the airport. We had an 8:35am reservation. We arrived at about 8:00 as I wanted to take some pictures around the resort. We checked in at about 8:15 and were given a buzzer. We had our picture taken and were seated shortly after. Our server brought out bread, pastries, fruit, and juice. We loooooove this juice!!!!!!! DD wants me to recreate it here and now I need to find the right juices. The bread was so good, just a little sweet and perfect for breakfast. The fruit was fresh and we ate every bite. Next came the platter with the eggs, potatoes and sausage, the eggs were eggs, the potatoes were actually very good and the sausage was tasty. They bring around the Mickey waffles separate and DD had two and I had one. They were great as always. The food part of this meal was great. The characters on the other hand were very rushed. We were in and out of the restaurant in 35 minutes. What a difference from Crystal Palace two days before. We liked the meal and will definitely be coming back in future trips. Stitch is a hoot!!!!!

2 adult breakfast $41.98
TIW discount $ 8.40-
Tax $2.19
Tip $7.56
Total $43.33

Total OOP $1000.24

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

So when taking into consideration what the dining plan would and would not have covered, and what DD and I would have ordered I think overall paying OOP was the way to go. We spent more than the dining plan would have cost us for the nine nights, but we would not have had enough meal credits for all the meals we planned and Afternoon Tea does not accept dining plan. We would have needed 13 table service credits but would only have had 9, so I would have had to pay for some OOP anyway. I had originally budgeted $100 for snacks, but as you can see we went over on those. We did not eat as much at meals as I thought we would. Sometimes we were too hot, but mostly the portions are so large that we would share or just eat appetizers.

We have done the Deluxe Dining Plan and the regular dining plan on previous trips and I have to admit that while it was way more convenient to have everything paid for before we left, I really liked the flexibility of paying OOP and getting exactly what I wanted and not worrying about meal credits and such. I put $900 on a couple of gift card from the Disney Store and brought cash with me for snacks. I also had my credit card with me in case we went over my original budget. I returned home with a $50 gift card that was not used and about $100 in cash.

DDP 9 night x 2 adults $920 roughly with tax not including tips
Total OOP $1000.24 including tips
TIW card $75.00
Total saved with TIW $92.88

I have another trip planned for April 2011, just DH and I, and maybe a family trip for August 2011. The TIW card has already paid for itself this trip so anything else is a bonus.

Hope you enjoyed my reviews and that is helps someone out in there planning. If you have any questions I will be happy to try and answer them. Thanks for joining me!!!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I really enjoyed your reviews! We have done the DDP and OOP with the TIW card and I much prefer the TIW route. Problem is we can't make enough trips down anymore to justify the AP's so we do the DDP now. I just miss the flexibility and miss sharing with my dd14 who can never even come close to eating all that food on the DDP!

Loved reading about your mom and daughter trip, your dd will have those memories forever.

 

[tortoni]

Great trip report and thank you for the detailed analysis of costs. I have never done this, but always figured it was about a wash if you have TIW and don't necessarily conform to dining the way the DDP works. We, too, like the flexibility of OOP because we often share and don't eat so many desserts in the restaurants. Your report confirmed my suspicion that it may not always save much to use DDP. That said, it sure is nice on DDP having the credits and not having to even think about the right side of the menu?

BTW, your daughter is a real cutie!

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

I really enjoyed your reviews! We have done the DDP and OOP with the TIW card and I much prefer the TIW route. Problem is we can't make enough trips down anymore to justify the AP's so we do the DDP now. I just miss the flexibility and miss sharing with my dd14 who can never even come close to eating all that food on the DDP!

Loved reading about your mom and daughter trip, your dd will have those memories forever.

Thank you. I can't wait to see what my April trip with just DH will bring. He is pickier than DD and I know he won't share with me!!! I may have to do a review of that one.

Great trip report and thank you for the detailed analysis of costs. I have never done this, but always figured it was about a wash if you have TIW and don't necessarily conform to dining the way the DDP works. We, too, like the flexibility of OOP because we often share and don't eat so many desserts in the restaurants. Your report confirmed my suspicion that it may not always save much to use DDP. That said, it sure is nice on DDP having the credits and not having to even think about the right side of the menu?

BTW, your daughter is a real cutie!

Thanks, I did worry alot right before the trip about our food budget, but I did take my credit card as a safety measure. I am glad we did not have to use it and I still have that $50 gift card to put toward my next trip. I am already worrying about the food budget for that one!!!!!