No regrets

[Deb & Bill]

So, I plan on doing a split stay next year, if I stay at one resort 3 days I would have to purchase 3 days of ddp correct? Then the next 4 days just pay as you go. Or would I be able to purchase just one day during my 3 day stay? I feel like I’m overthinking this

Remember that the plan goes by nights of your stay. So if you have three nights, four days, you get the plan for three nights x the number of guests on the reservation.

 

[kboo]

I know!! It was an extremely good deal for us for awhile. Mods had reg dp, kids were "adults" but not really (didn't feel squeezed in) and you only had to buy 1-2 day base ticket and could upgrade (or not) or use for another time or transfer them to a family member....

Now, kids really are adults, one with a boyfriend coming with us, mods only get QSDP, low availability on dates and resorts.....DVC here I come!

But now I'm trying to figure out how to keep my food costs manageable. I'm used to booking wherever and ordering whatever. Now I'm studying charts of which restaurant takes which discount at which mealtime. It's like my brain needs to be reprogrammed! I've been on here all morning and am so overwhelmed. ADR booking date is fast approaching!!!

Oh, and the realization that the mugs cost $22 each now!!!! I just read (on an old thread somewhere) that you can sometimes get discounts on the mugs depending on where you buy and with what discount you try to use. But it's fuzzy at best.

It's fine... I'll probably just wing it. I used to love deal hunting. Now I'm old and tired. And I've got to save some energy to re-learn fastpasses and park plans and....everything else! lol

Count me as another TiW fan. Especially if you have real adults who like adult beverages and TS meals, it's a good deal. Right now, because we also do a bunch of character meals with the kids, and need a drink with dinner (after all day with them, lol!), we manage to break even near the end of 1 trip. It makes lunch or breakfast at The Wave, for example, cost about the same as a QS meal, with much healthier choices.

(Edited to add: and you don't need to stay onsite for TiW - so same discount if we do a split stay at the Swolphin.)

 

[Greg36]

We also watched this deal get dropped this year... Always did 'free' dining when possible... Bought into DVC last year so skipped trying to book it this year. I did play around with some of the numbers though. Costs for the package have definitely gone up again... What could have been purchased for 5K (two weeks at a moderate with the DDP) only a few years ago would cost closer to 7K now... I think there is still value to be had with this deal especially if you are looking for a value resort. We found last year that AKL standard view was a decent option as well but looking this year I felt like they really increased the rack rate on the standard view (or something). The price difference from last year, same dates/same room, was significant. Nevertheless, if you plan to upgrade to an AP anyways, taking the package tickets and applying them to an AP is a great way to get a little more value out of the free dining promotion. We had bought the 10 day PH tickets last year and just applied this cost to the DVC AP deal. Got the upgraded AP for something like $150 for the four of us...

We still love the DDP though. I think a little money can be made back on the DDP if you have kids 3-9. There are a number of ways to maximize value in that situation. IMO the cost of the DDP gets ridiculous for a lot of Disney kids aged 10 and up... With the ever increasing OOP costs at Disney restaurants though I suppose it is just expensive no matter which way you go...

 

[ScubaCat]

Count me as another TiW fan. Especially if you have real adults who like adult beverages and TS meals, it's a good deal. Right now, because we also do a bunch of character meals with the kids, and need a drink with dinner (after all day with them, lol!), we manage to break even near the end of 1 trip. It makes lunch or breakfast at The Wave, for example, cost about the same as a QS meal, with much healthier choices.

(Edited to add: and you don't need to stay onsite for TiW - so same discount if we do a split stay at the Swolphin.)

I actually like the automatic gratuity, too. (yeah I know this is a risky topic in these parts but I'm only referring to the convenience, not the principle, so everybody chill ) It's yet one more mental break on vacation. I didn't see it that way before I got it, but I found it to be surprisingly convenient not having to fill out the receipts and think about that every time. Although I did have to walk all the way back to hurricane Hannas once because I forgot to tip the bartender since my brain was in TIW mode and I totally forgot. Hah. That 20% discount really does add up to a significant amount if you use it, though. My only complaint is that they don't take it at resort QS places. It'd be a nice break at BC marketplace, for instance. Hardly the end of the world, but it'd be nice (watch, they'll suddenly include it, I'll be excited, then discover prices went up 30%. that'd be my luck!)

 

[pineapplepalms]

I actually like the automatic gratuity, too. (yeah I know this is a risky topic in these parts but I'm only referring to the convenience, not the principle, so everybody chill ) It's yet one more mental break on vacation. I didn't see it that way before I got it, but I found it to be surprisingly convenient not having to fill out the receipts and think about that every time. Although I did have to walk all the way back to hurricane Hannas once because I forgot to tip the bartender since my brain was in TIW mode and I totally forgot. Hah. That 20% discount really does add up to a significant amount if you use it, though. My only complaint is that they don't take it at resort QS places. It'd be a nice break at BC marketplace, for instance. Hardly the end of the world, but it'd be nice (watch, they'll suddenly include it, I'll be excited, then discover prices went up 30%. that'd be my luck!)

I like not having to think about the gratuity too. It actually saves us more money since we typically tip more than that (just what we're used to with the cost of living around here). TiW is great and it's easily worth it when we decide to get it (3 ~10 day trips within this one year of having it). We've never done the dining plan because it seems like a lot of food compared to what we would normally get and I don't think it would save us money, and before DVC we used to book the runDisney room discounts rather than the free dining promos. I'd also rather just pay the bill with my MB and not worry about keeping track of how many credits we have left. Maybe this will change when we have older kids but we'll have to see what the dining plans look like by then.

 

[motherof5]

Only "problem" I see as well as others is that buying into DVC and it doesn't matter if its direct or resale is that in the long term we dont save money we actually spend more money. We go to disney more often than we perhaps else would. Not that its a problem well maybe a "luxury problem" but most owners go more often and then whatever saving you thought you had compared to renting directly with disney is gone.

On the positive side you have gotten a lot more trips with DVC in nicer rooms compared to renting.

On another note we have done the deluxe Plan and its been way too much food for us. I dont think the value of the other plans are quite as good as the deluxe.

Now we do the deluxe for the first day only(split stay) and then we have the mugs for LOT.

If you go often enough you could buy the TIW card that will give you some savings also on alcohol.

I just booked a 1 night at camp site and paid for deluxe plan. Not staying there just did it to buy 1 night deluxe since it was cheaper to do that and bring my kids to eat at Cinderella Castle and Lilo and Stitch breakfast then paying outright. Staying at the resort with no dining plan but didn't do a split stay. Even paying for 2 places for 1 night was discounted. Sometimes have to think outside of the box.