Please help me figure this all out

[acjsmom]

I am a newbie, I have posted on a couple of other forums, but need info. about the dining plan. Basically, we will have five adults and three children (6, 4, and 2) on a trip in January 2008 for roughly four days.

My mother and brother are diabetic. They should be okay on what is offered. My MIL doesn't eat anything because of her cholesterol (sp.?), and won't. I am not sure she will go for the dining plan.

We definitely want to do at least one character meal (Princesses) and maybe one more. What is the best option for us?

Would the dining plan really save us money?

TIA

 

[JimMIA]

We can't fully answer your question without knowing who's in which room.

DDP is a package, consisting of several parts. It's an all-in/all-out deal -- not a menu of options to select from.

The DDP package is composed of 1) a room at a certain rate (usually rack rate), 2) at least a one-day base park ticket for each person in the room, and 3) DDP for each person in the room for every night of the reservation. Because of these requirements, DDP often doesn't work well when some want it and some don't, or when some members of the party will not be present for the entire duration of the reservation.

If your MIL is in a separate room - on a separate reservation - and doesn't want the DDP, that's fine. If she's with someone else, either she will have to pay for DDP (whether or not she uses it) or nobody in the room will have it.

 

[acjsmom]

Thank you for the info. I think I am getting a clearer picture. My immediate family (Dh, three children and I) will be in one room together. If we do a suite, MIL may share it with us. My mother and brother will probably be in another room.

I think we may just have to convince her to purchase the dining plan. If she doesn't purchase one, she can still eat where we do, right? I just don't see her using the snack option. The meal part she would probaby be okay with getting.

 

[Katiebell]

If your MIL is on your room reservation, then she has to purchase the DDP if the rest of you do. You mentioned your mother and brother being in a separate room, so they could decide whether they wanted to do the DDP or not on their own. Both being diabetic, I'm sure they have to watch what they eat throughout the day to keep their blood sugar on an even keel. The snack credits might be very helpful for them. Also, virtually every restaurant has a sugar free dessert item -- you can call ahead, or even ask if they can note it on your ADR's (some CM's will, some won't, I guess).

The DDP can be great with the kids -- the 2 YO is free, the 4 and 6 YO's would only be about $11/day each. It's nice to have everything prepaid, and be able to tell the little ones "yes" to snacks without thinking about it. You should look at the kids' menus for the TS and CS restaurants you would likely go to to see if your kids will like the choices, or if you would end up buying them something different that wouldn't be covered by the plan.

If you plan on one TS meal a day, especially if you would likely order more expensive entrees, order appetizers and/or desserts, or if you are doing fixed price meals like character meals and buffets, the plan usually at least breaks even, and would often save you money. MIL can eat wherever you do, but if it's a buffet or fixed price meal, every adult will pay the same no matter how much or how little each one eats.

With kids 6, 4, and 2, I would be totally planning a character meal almost every day! Of course, I love them myself, too But there are so many great choices. Only CRT at the castle is 2 TS credits, all the others are 1 TS credit. There is 'Ohana breakfast with Stitch ; Princess Storybook at Akershus in Epcot (breakfast is American, lunch and dinner are Norwegian food, some love it but it's not for everybody); Chef Mickey's ; Liberty Tree Tavern; 1900 Park Fare (Mary Poppins and Alice for breakfast, Cinderella and friends for dinner); Crystal Palace for Winnie the Pooh and friends ; JoJo and Little Einsteins breakfast or lunch in MGM... You could seriously do a different one every single day. If your little ones like the characters (and aren't freaked out by them!) it's a great low-stress way to get pics and autographs because the characters come to you while you are eating, instead of having to stand in line in the parks. And the grandmas might really love seeing how the kids react when Pooh Bear, or Jasmine, or Mickey come over to say "hi"

 

[JimMIA]

Thank you for the info. I think I am getting a clearer picture. My immediate family (Dh, three children and I) will be in one room together. If we do a suite, MIL may share it with us. My mother and brother will probably be in another room.

If MIL is in the suite with you, she will either have DDP, or none of you will have it.

If she is in her own room, by herself, she has an option as long as that room is a separate reservation. If you reserve multiple rooms in one ressie, it's all-in/all-out.

If MIL shares a room with someone, same deal. If it's a separate ressie from yours, they have the option...but it's still all or nothing for that room. You can't have one person DDP and the other person not.

If she doesn't purchase one, she can still eat where we do, right?

Sure. They'll just give her a separate check from the DDP folks.

If you do that, tell her to watch out for the tip at TS restaurants. An 18% tip is included on TS meals with DDP, so if anyone at the table is on DDP, an 18% tip will be added to all checks at that table. If she's not paying attention, she could double-tip.

 

[cmwade77]

I say get her the dining plan, if she doesn't use it, more credits for breakfast for the rest of you in my opinion. We can never use the snack in place of a meal, there are way too many good snacks for that, so it would give you the ability to use her credits for snacks, the credits are in a pool so everyone can use them. Also you could use her TS credits to offset the the signature dining that takes 2 TS meals if you so chose.