Please ...Can I get another set of eyes on this... Thoughts are appreciated...

[LovesTimone]

We have very good friends that will be visiting during the holidays... 12 nights on DDXDP - They only come every 2 to 3 years... so when they do come to see Mickey and the gang the like to make the most of every minute.

This year they decided to go with a moderate... CBR.. which they are super happy with the rate that they got and only the need for 1 room for the first time in years... they only have 2 teenagers at home ( 13 and 15 boys)... the 2 older kids will be spending the holidays with their in laws... One of the reasons that they went with DDXDP is that "both boys eat like a pack of wolves"... their dads words not mine... LOL...
Both boys are very laid back, and have no problem sleeping in the same bed... My friend however is bring a blowup mattress just in case...

So I have been helping her plan, planning for this many nights is alot... and are not finished by any means... so lots of spots to fill in...

They are driving for the first time in a long time... 12 hours with the stops for food, gas and potty breaks...

They will arrive and stay at the Hilton at Disney Springs... on points free room... they are planning to pick up drinks, more snacks and coffee must haves for the rooms... when they get here, as the boys will have eaten all the stuff that they bring with them.... On the boys they are both super athletic, they play lacrosse, run track, and soccer, baseball, swimming... they are both over 6' foot and still growing like weed's as my friend says... the 13 year old is the same height as the 15 year old, they look like twins...and she says that they eat non-stop all day and night.... they even will get up in the middle of the night to eat... they are hungry all the time... LOL

Then they will move to CBR... and do a early morning check in... leaving the bags in the car until the room is ready... she is hoping that the room will be ready... yet knows that with it being during the holidays it most likely is not going to happen...

Departure day, her DH will take the Bags early morning, and check in to the Hilton at Disney Springs - free room on points- parking the car at the Hilton, checking one bag with luggage service with all their clothing and stuff for the next day's drive home...so when they get to the Hilton after fireworks, all they have to do is get one bag.. after checking in and dropping the car and one bag, her DH plans to walk over to Disney Springs, then catch a bus back to the CBR, then check out at 11:00... then all of them head into the parks for their last night...

Okay all that's done...

Dinning plan entitlements... 4 Disney Adults X 3 TS meals per day = 12 meals... 12 meals per day X 12 nights = 144 meals...
4 Disney Adults X 2 snacks per day = 8 snacks per day .... 8 snack X 12 nights - 96 snacks..


So since they are arriving early and you can use entitlement from the minute you check in until midnight on departure day... which they are planning on doing.. on the last day staying until after the fireworks...


That's 13 full days... Right?

she is planning on 2 TS meals per day per person... mostly Breakfast and Dinners...

8 entitlements X 13 day = 104

144 entitlements total - 104 entitlement over 13 full day = 40 entitlements left over...

She is planning on Cali Grill adding to 4 Disney adults X 2 entitlement = 8

40 entitlements - 8 entitlement = 32 entitlements

She was thinking about the Boathouse as well as another signature meal... but has not decided on if they want to have 2 signature meals...planned as the boys will be fine with cleaning up for 1 of "those fancy meals" she is not sure about 2 if she will get push back on "cleaning up for 2 of those fancy meals"

32 entitlement - 8 entitlement - 24 entitlements possibly...

So she will either have 32 or 24 entitlements left over to use up for QS...

She did tell me that she just bought tickets for the Christmas party... so they will using some of the left over entitlements for grabbing something to eat during the party... and using some of snack credits to try the special treats that will be offered...


So what do you guys think? Thoughts

 

[sharonabe]

If the adults don't need a meal between breakfast and dinner, then the boys will each have the credits needed for a QS meal in the middle of the day. If they don't do the second 2TS meal, then mom and dad would be able to share a meal on some of those days.

I think they'll likely have some credits leftover no matter how they do it, but they can always get snacks and to-go type QS meals from the resort for their ride home.

Couple of non-food suggestions. They don't have to do anything to "check-out" per se. While Dad is taking the car and bags to Hilton, the rest can head to a park and have him meet them there. It seems like a waste of time for everyone to wait for him. As to sleeping arrangements, I think most of CBR rooms (except the Pirate rooms) have an extra bed. It may be a bit small for a 6' teen, but that would be easier than a blow-up.

 

[pooch]

Confused as to why dad is taking the car/checking a bag at the Hilton on check out day.
A: If he is checking only one bag at the Hilton is he leaving the rest of the bags in the car? If so why check the bag at all. Leave it in the car & grab it that night.
B: how are they getting to the Hilton after the fireworks? Won’t they need the car?
C: why does he need to go check in at all? Hilton, like every major chain I’ve ever stayed in, must have an on-line check in?
Throw the bags in the car, go to MK & stay through the fireworks. Check in on the phone when there’s time. Drive to the Hilton after.

 

[LovesTimone]

If the adults don't need a meal between breakfast and dinner, then the boys will each have the credits needed for a QS meal in the middle of the day. If they don't do the second 2TS meal, then mom and dad would be able to share a meal on some of those days.

I think they'll likely have some credits leftover no matter how they do it, but they can always get snacks and to-go type QS meals from the resort for their ride home.

Couple of non-food suggestions. They don't have to do anything to "check-out" per se. While Dad is taking the car and bags to Hilton, the rest can head to a park and have him meet them there. It seems like a waste of time for everyone to wait for him. As to sleeping arrangements, I think most of CBR rooms (except the Pirate rooms) have an extra bed. It may be a bit small for a 6' teen, but that would be easier than a blow-up.

Op here

Looking at all the credits I was thinking wow that's alot, she thinks that they most likely will have to pay oop for a few QS meals... She is working on that now...

Since they are driving, bringing the blow-up bed with them will not take up really any room, they have a Suburban so plenty of room.. Plus being there 12 nights sleeping on a to small bed would be really uncomfortable... I think she is just taking it for the just in case...

Edit - I wanted to add, that they aren't rope drop kinda people, they rather stay late until the park close's.. So most likely the boys will be sleeping... When I say go early and check in at the Hilton, I am talking about like 6:00 am or before... he will be back before they even realize that he is gone..

 

[LovesTimone]

Confused as to why dad is taking the car/checking a bag at the Hilton on check out day.
A: If he is checking only one bag at the Hilton is he leaving the rest of the bags in the car? If so why check the bag at all. Leave it in the car & grab it that night.
B: how are they getting to the Hilton after the fireworks? Won’t they need the car?
C: why does he need to go check in at all? Hilton, like every major chain I’ve ever stayed in, must have an on-line check in?
Throw the bags in the car, go to MK & stay through the fireworks. Check in on the phone when there’s time. Drive to the Hilton after.

OP here,

A- they are going to put whatever they need for the next day to travel home all in one bag... they want to check the bag so that they just have one to grab on the way to the room at the end of the night... instead of having to trip all the way out to the parking lot to get a bag... and she can store whatever last minute Disney stuff she just has to have in the bag...
B - They are thinking of taking a bus to Disney Springs and hanging out a while, then walking over to the Hilton... or they can always just Uber to the Hilton or Disney Springs
C- I'm sure that he will valet the car, and with them wanting to drop 1 bag off with the luggage service... some people like to check-in in person... plus they are Hilton members so maybe a checking on a up grade as well...

At this point she doesn't know which park they will be in their last night... she said that she wants to see fireworks the last night, it's not a big deal if they don't they will have had plenty of nights to see them... She has planned to end at Epcot dinner at Coral Reef... the 13 year old wants to be a Marine biologist/ researcher and he is requesting eating here... plus they might want to enjoy a few adult beverages in Epcot... the adults...not the boys... LOL

 

[Pumbaa_]

I am not a fan of leaving belongings in an unattended vehicle for long amounts of time. It’s just aninvitation to break in and steal your stuff. Which sadly is a thing.

 

[LovesTimone]

I am not a fan of leaving belongings in an unattended vehicle for long amounts of time. It’s just a PJ invitation to break in and steal your stuff. Which sadly is a thing.

I did bring this up to her... which even at Disney could happen... she did not seem to worried about it at all... she said they have done it plenty of times at Disney and no problems, and she said just walking by cars on the way to the Bus Stop you see cars filled with stuff...

So it's really up to her.. me personally I am more cautious.. and agree with you...

 

[nonnadisney]

Hope this helps. So from your calculations at 8TS credits per the full 13 days will use up 104 dining credits. But unless they are making the 2TS credit meals a 3rd meal for those days you need to calculate only 4 more credits per Fancy ( 2TS) meal because you already have figured in the 1 credit for each of them with the 8TS per day. So that leaves them 32 credits I believe if they do both of the fancy meals. The boys don't need to get too dressed up nice shorts and a polo work. I would use that extra for the boys to get a QS each day at lunch time or later in evening to take back to the room. That uses 26 more credits. Leaving 6 credits for the Party night. Anything left and snacks of course they can get for the trip home. They just need to use the credits before midnight on their last day.

 

[summerlvr]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that if their on site stay is 12 nights, then they have "12 days" worth of dining credits, not 13.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that if their on site stay is 12 nights, then they have "12 days" worth of dining credits, not 13.

Yes, dining credits are per night, so 12 nights equates to credits times 12, but they can be used from check in day to midnight on check out day, so spread over 13 days, if one chooses.

 

[LovesTimone]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that if their on site stay is 12 nights, then they have "12 days" worth of dining credits, not 13.

OP here.
Dinning entitlements are good and you are able to use them from the time you check in on arrival day..... to midnight on departure day... so even after you leave the hotel, the dinning plan is still good...

So if you plan you can stretch the dinning credits to cover departure day as well... It's about planning... and with the DDXDP it is easy to spread out your credits and cover the last day easily... since they are planning to stay in the parks until late/closing and/or head to Disney Springs for the rest of the evening, they can use the credits that they have until midnight...

So 13 days....

 

[LovesTimone]

Hope this helps. So from your calculations at 8TS credits per the full 13 days will use up 104 dining credits. But unless they are making the 2TS credit meals a 3rd meal for those days you need to calculate only 4 more credits per Fancy ( 2TS) meal because you already have figured in the 1 credit for each of them with the 8TS per day. So that leaves them 32 credits I believe if they do both of the fancy meals. The boys don't need to get too dressed up nice shorts and a polo work. I would use that extra for the boys to get a QS each day at lunch time or later in evening to take back to the room. That uses 26 more credits. Leaving 6 credits for the Party night. Anything left and snacks of course they can get for the trip home. They just need to use the credits before midnight on their last day.

Yes she is "planning" for California Grill to be a 3rd meal, She is wanting a late ADR around 9:00 pm... so maybe they can see the fireworks.... for that day she is planning for Buffet for Breakfast, and then somewhere like the Plaza, or Beaches and Cream, Sci Fi, kinda sandwiches, burgers or salad not nothing really heavy...

As far as the boys sprucing up a bit....I talked to her last night a quick conversation and not about the trip, we have a plan to talk later on in the week about it.... , and apparently the 15 year old has an "official girlfriend" and the 13 year old has started "hanging out" with all of her friends .... she said that now all of a sudden they want to go shopping and get some clothing, shoes... and they spent like 30 minutes in the hair care aisle alone, at Target over the weekend... both boys have what she calls long, floppy, moppy, curly, hair...... So now she thinks sprucing up won't be as traumatic as they acted like it was just a few short months ago... LOL

She is trying to nail down what restaurants the newer ones she wants to try, and the old favorites... and rank them so that she has some place to start...

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

As far as the boys sprucing up a bit....I talked to her last night a quick conversation and not about the trip, we have a plan to talk later on in the week about it.... , and apparently the 15 year old has an "official girlfriend" and the 13 year old has started "hanging out" with all of her friends .... she said that now all of a sudden they want to go shopping and get some clothing, shoes... and they spent like 30 minutes in the hair care aisle alone, at Target over the weekend... both boys have what she calls long, floppy, moppy, curly, hair...... So now she thinks sprucing up won't be as traumatic as they acted like it was just a few short months ago... LOL

Oh, I remember those days.

 

[summerlvr]

OP here.
Dinning entitlements are good and you are able to use them from the time you check in on arrival day..... to midnight on departure day... so even after you leave the hotel, the dinning plan is still good...

So if you plan you can stretch the dinning credits to cover departure day as well... It's about planning... and with the DDXDP it is easy to spread out your credits and cover the last day easily... since they are planning to stay in the parks until late/closing and/or head to Disney Springs for the rest of the evening, they can use the credits that they have until midnight...

So 13 days....

Yes, absolutely they can stretch the credits out from check in day until 11:59 PM on check out day. But the number of credits would be multiplied by 12, not 13. That's all I was trying to say.

 

[sharonabe]

Dinning plan entitlements... 4 Disney Adults X 3 TS meals per day = 12 meals... 12 meals per day X 12 nights = 144 meals...
4 Disney Adults X 2 snacks per day = 8 snacks per day .... 8 snack X 12 nights - 96 snacks..

Yes, absolutely they can stretch the credits out from check in day until 11:59 PM on check out day. But the number of credits would be multiplied by 12, not 13. That's all I was trying to say.

First quote is OP's original post and the math showing they did multiply by 12.

 

[summerlvr]

8 entitlements X 13 day = 104

I was referring to this

 

[LovesTimone]

I was referring to this

OP here...

Dinning plan entitlements... 4 Disney Adults X 3 TS meals per day = 12 meals... 12 meals per day X 12 nights = 144 meals...
4 Disney Adults X 2 snacks per day = 8 snacks per day .... 8 snack X 12 nights - 96 snacks..


So since they are arriving early and you can use entitlement from the minute you check in until midnight on departure day... which they are planning on doing.. on the last day staying until after the fireworks...


That's 13 full days... Right? this is that they will be going into the parks on departure day from CBR and staying until possibly after the night parade and fireworks, before heading to the Hilton at Disney Springs...

she is planning on 2 TS meals per day per person... mostly Breakfast and Dinners...

8 entitlements X 13 day = 104 - Here I was counting... 2 TS meals per day for the 13 day... which is her jumping off point for planning... showing how she is planning on using her credits...

144 entitlements total - 104 entitlement over 13 full day = 40 entitlements left over...

 

[sharonabe]

I was referring to this

Okay, I see your confusion, but the 8 x 13 you reference comes AFTER they had shown their math with just 12 AND after they explained there are only 4 people wanting to do 2 TS meals per DAY. The 8 x 13 = 104 is their way of saying, the family NEEDS 104 credits to do what they want to do.

 

[Alli1988]

I would suggest your friend over book if anything, intentionally, and cancel if/when needed. I wouldn't worry about getting it exact, because chances are, it's not going to matter. On a trip this long, with kids that can IMO go off on their own, there's about a 99% chance your plans are going to change. By day 5 you're going to look at day 6 and want to change or cancel it. etc. You never know when your #1 choice becomes crossed off the list because you scored a FP+ to something, or are just.to.tired. to go anymore. I think almost everyone with a Dining Plan checks their receipt with number of entitlements after most meals, etc. so she will keep an eye on it. I highly doubt she's going to deny her family food shall the credit be gone by accident, etc. but with this many, there's a realllly good chance she ends up with a bunch of extras.

 

[pooch]

Back in the day when the regular DDP included 1 SC, 1QS and a TS with appy, entree, dessert, tax and tip - we took a 10 day trip. By day 5 nobody wanted to eat! We left 3 TS, 8 QS and about 15 SC unused. We could not believe how much food this was. I realize they have 2 growing boys but my eating machine was 16 at the time and even he couldn’t keep up. I agree with PP, just book stuff & don’t worry about how many credits you have. I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll run out.