FWIW, our gang really loved OKW--it's very relaxing. We had a van, though, so we only used the bus for MK. Because of the MK parking system, the bus is much better for going there.
We've also had success with the TIW card. We're actually a family of 6--this next trip, DH is staying home with DD17 and DS15, who can't miss school. So, for us to go to a WDW restaurant, it's $200 to say "hello". Keep in mind the TIW card means they'll automatically add on an 18% tip--not a big deal, just don't forget it's already on the bill.
P.S. You can save my "Mom of the Year" trophy until after the trip--we'll see if I'm ready to kill the younger two by Day 3...
We love OKW too. We're hoping the one little issue we had will be resolved with a car.
OH, so understand how it costs to just say, "hello" at Disney with a family, lol. We don't mind the automatic 18% as we always do 20% or more (just recently we discovered that it's suppose to be 20% BEFORE taxes as we do 20% AFTER therefore, at least here in HI, that's a 24% tip). The 18% would automatically save us 2% plus the additional 2% so theoretically we would be saving at least 4%. Throw in the fact that DH always has a drink or two with each meal, sounds like a good deal. But won't know until next year.
Pretty sure you deserve your cape. But I'll let you decide if you want to wear it or not
I love the deluxe dining plan but I have never been on it for 11 days. I think 11 days of eating like that would be too much. We are going to Disney for 9 nights and only have the plan for 2 nights then using TIW card for the remainder of the trip. The deluxe plan pays for our character dinner the first day, our 2 credit dinner on the second day and character brunch and 2 credit dinner on our 3rd day. We are paying out of pocket for CRT breakfast on the second day. TIW cannot be used on our 2nd day and 3rd day since they are major holidays. TIW is definately a better way to go if you are going to eat for 11 days. You save 20% on your food as well as your drinks and you do not feel obligated to eat an appetizer, entree and dessert in order to get your money's worth. Hope your daughter is doing better. My children cannot wear sunblock due to allergies. I have no idea what is in that stuff but even the Aveeno gives them an outbreak.
That's a very good point about the duration. The longer you're on it the harder it is to keep up with that amount of food and time needed to enjoy the program.
Thank you DisneyFansInLINY, DD is almost completely back to normal. It was weird as we live in sunscreen. It was a new brand plus the combo with whatever they put in the swimming water was freaky nightmare for us. I reported it to the manufacturer and they've been very receptive.
We only get the DxDP when it is just the two of us going. If we take the kids, it's the regular plan or out of pocket. Now that our hethans, I mean kids, are grown and either married or in college, I think that DxDP is just right for me and my wife. We don't eat breakfast, but we use a snack credit soon after getting to a park, eat a sit down meal for lunch, rest up at the hotel in late afternoon- evening and have a really nice two credit signature restaurant between 7-9. I know some feel we waste our other snack credit when we get something to drink with it, but we get one mid morning to share and one late afternoon to share. We have also been known to spread desert pixie dust
to families sitting near us as we are not big desert fans.
HEATHENS! LOL!!! I love that you are able to spread some pixie dust around! We were very blessed to have a lot pixie dust sprinkled on us and would mean a lot to us to return some it back to the WDW universe. I just thought of a way we could have pulled it off after our original rejections. If I hadn't been so anxious, I should have used the left over credits to buy meals at Earl and give them to the bell hop station. They're such great people and deserve a little pixie dust. They took all our bottles of milk and soda so thinking they would have loved the meals. Oh well, hindsight and all.
We love the Deluxe Dinning Plan and think it is a good value at least for this year. That said, it is not a plan for everybody. It does take quite a bit of time and planning. It can be too much for people with small children. Part of why we like it is because we feel that the Signature restaurants give us a more upscale adult experience. One thing nice about Disney is that there is something for everyone.
I totally agree. It's great that there is something different for everyone!
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Just wanted to clarify though for anyone reading that the actual Signature dining wasn't the issue, we still plan on doing many of them every time we go. The time issues were mostly centered around travel time. And the the Signature/sit down dining is more like what we're use to in real life. My kids don't know any difference since they've been eating like this since they were born. We'll just have to plan WHICH signature better so we're not running from one end of WDW twice a day, each and every day. Also, the portions were huge for us. Then all the left over credits made it not a good value for us. Although, if we had been able to make all the meals, it would have been a GREAT value.
Personally, I still love the concept of the DxDDP. It sounds so luxurious. All that yummy food. Just didn't work this time around for us. But I love to hear how it worked for others.
