Please help me figure out the best plan

[Graciegirl5]

We leave for Disney in less than a week. We have the QDSP from the free dining offer. I had thought that would be fine for us, but now we are interested in a some TS meals. I've already booked HDDR and CRT that we will definitely keep regardless. I also have a CP pre park bfast that I'd like to keep. If I've done my math correctly, we'd be better off upgrading to the DDP since these 3 meals alone would cost more than the upgrade. I have the upgrade cost as 19.02/person/night. Is that correct? We are 5 Disney adults. The CRT ADR is only for myself and my daughter. I know that HDDR and CRT count as 2 TS credits per person and tip is not included (I'm a non drinker, so alcohol is not a consideration either). We have also found that QS meals are easy to share for us, so I can stretch those credits easily.

I guess my first questions are can I even upgrade at this late date and will the prepaid ADRS transfer to dining credits and refund my credit card charge? Also, the gratuity was included in the prepaid amt for HDDR, so is it included in the 2TS credits or will we pay it out of pocket? That was a little confusing for me since it was billed already.

Thank you so much for your opinions and expertise!

 

[supersnoop]

How soon do you check in? The rule for adding the dining plan is 72 hours before check-in, and I'd imagine the same would apply to an upgrade. There will likely be a $15 expedite fee, since you're within two weeks.

 

[Graciegirl5]

We check in on Monday 11/16 and I was expecting the $15 fee. With having to pay tips oop, it may be better to just keep the plan we've got and pay oop for the TS meals we want. I'm still trying to run the numbers and check for other TS ADRs we might be interested in. I can't believe so many good ones have opened up so close to our trip.

 

[mom2of2]

HDDR and CRT the tip is included already, for CP it is not

 

[cassie58]

I would upgrade if you are going to add more TS to make it worth the extra money. If you are staying for six nights for example, you would have 6 meals per person or 30 meals total. They can be used interchangeably by any of you on any day, or 2 meals one day and none on another(same with QS). You will have used 3 meals for your entire party with HDDR and CP,(15 meals), but would have 3 (15)left to spread over your week. I know you and DD have CRT, which would take 2 from you two, depending on what you want to add, you 2 may want to pay OOP for one meal to compensate(CP brft is one of the cheapest). This way, the rest of the party can eat somewhere the day you have CRT, and you can have two more meals together.

 

[havoc315]

We leave for Disney in less than a week. We have the QDSP from the free dining offer. I had thought that would be fine for us, but now we are interested in a some TS meals. I've already booked HDDR and CRT that we will definitely keep regardless. I also have a CP pre park bfast that I'd like to keep. If I've done my math correctly, we'd be better off upgrading to the DDP since these 3 meals alone would cost more than the upgrade. I have the upgrade cost as 19.02/person/night. Is that correct? We are 5 Disney adults. The CRT ADR is only for myself and my daughter. I know that HDDR and CRT count as 2 TS credits per person and tip is not included (I'm a non drinker, so alcohol is not a consideration either). We have also found that QS meals are easy to share for us, so I can stretch those credits easily.

I guess my first questions are can I even upgrade at this late date and will the prepaid ADRS transfer to dining credits and refund my credit card charge? Also, the gratuity was included in the prepaid amt for HDDR, so is it included in the 2TS credits or will we pay it out of pocket? That was a little confusing for me since it was billed already.

Thank you so much for your opinions and expertise!

The math isn't that simple. Yes, the upgrade cost is less than paying for those meals. But how many nights are you there? You will be burning 5 credits on just those 3 meals.
Meaning, there are likely other meals that you will have to pay OOP for now.

So you need to examine a price comparison of:
Keeping the QSDP, plus OOP for those 3 meals, plus any other OOP costs. (any uncovered meals, tips, , etc)
Versus
The upgrade cost of the DDP, plus any extra OOP costs, (which may now include additional OOP meals).

As part of that consideration, you need to consider whether you want to book extra TS meals beyond those 3. If you are just staying 5 nights, then you are out of TS credits. But if you are staying longer, you'll want to add more TS meals.

I would guess the upgrade is probably worth it for you, especially if you routinely share.

 

[Graciegirl5]

Yes, we worked out the math last night. We usually eat breakfast in the room and we are easily able to share most of the QS meals. Plus if we have a large TS meal, I doubt we'd eat as much during the day. And since snacks can be used on some more savory items, that will help too. We are a family of 5 staying 6 nights, so by my calculations we would have 30 TS and 30 QS meals and 30 snacks. We could come out slightly cheaper, but not by much and my DH said he'd enjoy TS for some meals. By only having to pay the upgrade even with the expedite fee, it seems to work for us.

 

[cassie58]

I think you'll be good with the upgrade, and it's nice to not have to worry about what you are spending and order what you want(on non-buffet). Just remember if you want to pay OOP for one meal as I mentioned above, just be mindful to tell your server that those meals will not be on DDP, so they do not automatically remove them. We did that on a previous trip when we had extra meals booked, and were so used to scanning our card(pre-band), we forgot and used the DDP for CP, and ended up having to pay OOP for a non-buffet meal, and found ourselves ordering on a budget instead of choosing what we wanted! Hopefully you can book a couple more TS that you like before you go. Enjoy!