Split Stays/Dining Plan/MagicBands

[squirrel4569]

Pardon if this isn't the right place or if the question has been answered before. I didn't see it in the searches.

We're in the process of buying DVC right now and I'm curious how split stays work with the dining plans and MagicBands. Is it similar to how it works when paying cash and you have multiple reservation numbers and get multiple allotments of dining credits and multiple sets of MagicBands or is it all linked together?

Speaking of the dining plan, do you prefer the dining plan and the pre-paid aspect of it or TIW?

 

[supersnoop]

DVC works almost exactly the same. The only difference is that you can add the dining plan up to 48 hours in advance, whereas with a cash reservation, you have to add it at least 72 hours in advance. Also, the cost of the plan through DVC is not affected by mid-year price increases, so it sometimes looks like you're getting a small discount from current cash prices. Keep in mind that you'll never be eligible for any dining promotion with DVC, such as "free" dining or Stay-Play-Dine.

Unless you have multiple children under ten, the dining plan rarely saves money. Usually you're better off just paying out of pocket and ordering what you want. Some restaurants offer a 10% discount just for being a DVC member, so that does help save some more money. The TiW card will typically save you even more. You still need to do your own math teacher be sure.

 

[CarolynFH]

We much prefer TIW. We like to have appetizers/salads with our meals and almost never have dessert. TIW also discounts adult beverages.

 

[disneynutz]

The only way to determine if any dining plan is worth the money is to figure out where and what you will eat and comparing the OOP prices with the plan prices.

Split stays can cause issues with the dining plans and checking in at the new resort.

Bill

 

[squirrel4569]

We much prefer TIW. We like to have appetizers/salads with our meals and almost never have dessert. TIW also discounts adult beverages.

I found the desserts on the last trip to be really rich so I hardly touched mine most of the time. The discount on adult beverages would be nice.

One major downside I see with TIW is the blackout dates. Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, March and April and Star Wars Weekends. While I can't say I won't go during Christmas week it's not likely, but Spring Break, Thanksgiving and Star Wars Weekends would definitely be on my list. We're stuck with the school schedule for the most part and that seems to be a disadvantage there.

The only way to determine if any dining plan is worth the money is to figure out where and what you will eat and comparing the OOP prices with the plan prices.

Split stays can cause issues with the dining plans and checking in at the new resort.

Bill

I know that we don't always use one snack, one QS and one TS meal a day and we certainly don't need two mugs per trip. A split stay sounds like it would crap our style (and our suitcases) some.

We like the DP because we do a lot of character meals. Plus with it being pre-paid it's nice not shelling out hundreds day after day while we are there (aside from tips & alcohol of course.) DD1 is 9 so this is our last year of having her on the kid plan, but on our last trip she wanted to order off the adult menu at the QS places anyways so we are on the verge of her needing more food and more food choices.

 

[disneynutz]

I found the desserts on the last trip to be really rich so I hardly touched mine most of the time. The discount on adult beverages would be nice.

One major downside I see with TIW is the blackout dates. Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, March and April and Star Wars Weekends. While I can't say I won't go during Christmas week it's not likely, but Spring Break, Thanksgiving and Star Wars Weekends would definitely be on my list. We're stuck with the school schedule for the most part and that seems to be a disadvantage there.



I know that we don't always use one snack, one QS and one TS meal a day and we certainly don't need two mugs per trip. A split stay sounds like it would crap our style (and our suitcases) some.

We like the DP because we do a lot of character meals. Plus with it being pre-paid it's nice not shelling out hundreds day after day while we are there (aside from tips & alcohol of course.) DD1 is 9 so this is our last year of having her on the kid plan, but on our last trip she wanted to order off the adult menu at the QS places anyways so we are on the verge of her needing more food and more food choices.

The dining plans aren't there to save you money, they are there to make Disney more money. You really have to work to use all of your DDP credits and snacks. It almost makes you a slave to the DDP and for us, we can eat food at home.

Also as a DVC owner you will be going to Disney at least every year and what you don't see or do this trip, you will do the next, and the next, and the next.

Some like to collect gift cards during the year and use the funds to pay for their Disney expenses which could be MB room charges, TIW, or DDP.

Bill

 

[lovin'fl]

We use TIW and love it. We have tossed around the idea of getting deluxe DP for part of a split stay...we like to do split stays. But the cost of the deluxe DP is just crazy!!! We like to do a lot of TS meals (maybe 2 per day) and we sometimes like to just order apps and we like bar drinks so TIW works well for us. And our 3 kids are well past child age for dining plan (if you have kids under age 10, then DP might be best). We also get AP or PAP and go multiple times per year (3 smaller trips for about 14 days total), therefor we end up using that TIW card a lot. Here are a couple of tricks some DVC folks use:

1- book split stay...3 nights at A resort and 4 at B...get deluxe DP at A resort and it can be used until midnight on first day of stay at B resort (so use for 4 days).

2- get discounted AP and do one trip July 10-17 of 2014...then use same AP for trip in 2015 by booking a week sooner, July 3-10, 2015.

 

[supersnoop]

One major downside I see with TIW is the blackout dates. Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, March and April and Star Wars Weekends. While I can't say I won't go during Christmas week it's not likely, but Spring Break, Thanksgiving and Star Wars Weekends would definitely be on my list. We're stuck with the school schedule for the most part and that seems to be a disadvantage there.

To be clear, those dates aren't blacked out. Seven restaurants have extra blackout dates over those weeks.

Blockout dates for Tables in Wonderland are Mother’s Day, Easter Sunday, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

*Beginning August 1st 2014, 1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey’s, ‘Ohana (Dinner Only), Cinderella’s Royal Table, LeChefs de France, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, and Le Cellier Steakhouse will be subject to the additional blockout weeks of: November 23-29, 2014; December 21-27, 2014; March 8-April 4, 2015; May 31-June 20, 2015.

 

[supersnoop]

We use TIW and love it. We have tossed around the idea of getting deluxe DP for part of a split stay...we like to do split stays. But the cost of the deluxe DP is just crazy!!!

I was considering doing this, too. We have a split stay where one reservation includes some blackout days, and thought the DxDP would be a good value for those days. If it was just two, or maybe three days, I'd have done it. But at four days, the DxDP just costs too much and I can't squeeze enough value out of it. TiW it is!

 

[lovin'fl]

I was considering doing this, too. We have a split stay where one reservation includes some blackout days, and thought the DxDP would be a good value for those days. If it was just two, or maybe three days, I'd have done it. But at four days, the DxDP just costs too much and I can't squeeze enough value out of it. TiW it is!

I was thinking for this Aug...our TIW is expired and we will be 3 nights at one resort and 4 nights at another so I thought deluxe DP for the 3 nights would cover 4 days...but we are a party of 6 adults so that's just too much $$$$.

 

[Dean]

Pardon if this isn't the right place or if the question has been answered before. I didn't see it in the searches.

We're in the process of buying DVC right now and I'm curious how split stays work with the dining plans and MagicBands. Is it similar to how it works when paying cash and you have multiple reservation numbers and get multiple allotments of dining credits and multiple sets of MagicBands or is it all linked together?

Speaking of the dining plan, do you prefer the dining plan and the pre-paid aspect of it or TIW?

One other caveat is that for it to be truly a split stay it has to be a different unit type or resort. You can't just book 3 days in a studio followed by 4 days then get the DP for a portion. They consider that one stay. I realize that sometimes people squeak by in this situation but what I stated is how it's supposed to work.

As for worth it or savings, it's getting less and less possible but there are still situations. It can be a savings/reasonable choice when kids 3-9 are involved, for short stays when you target high end options and when multiple rooms are involved and you group those who the DP fits better for. Even then it's really only possible to get much savings out of the deluxe plan for adults if one puts an effort into doing so. One can get the "savings" up to about 27-30% max if one is favoring signatures for about half the meals assuming one generally orders about the most expensive thing in every category and counts the snacks and mug and avoiding character breakfasts. If one mostly avoids signatures, one can do a little better still. By the time you get to day 4 or 5, most people are not ordering as aggressively because it's generally the same things, steak, that are the more expensive entree items at most locations. Thus it can be a good deal IF one would order all of those items anyway or would like too but remember for every extra amount you also add to the tip. Plus there are often other discounts one is losing out on. Then there's the use or lose risk.

I was thinking for this Aug...our TIW is expired and we will be 3 nights at one resort and 4 nights at another so I thought deluxe DP for the 3 nights would cover 4 days...but we are a party of 6 adults so that's just too much $$$$.

There is potential there but it depends on the other components along the lines I mentioned above plus when one is arriving/departing. We often stay about an hr away and arrive early enough to take advantage of an early lunch day one and then get lunch on the last day for the times that the DP does work for us (we pick and chose depending on our plans/itinerary). One advantage of a split stay is one is either already there late on the last day or early on the first day depending on which segment is chosen (assuming only 2 segments). Just do a look through the menu's and do some quick math and you should have the answer. One option is to get separate rooms for some portion so that each group has a choice.

 

[squirrel4569]

The dining plans aren't there to save you money, they are there to make Disney more money. You really have to work to use all of your DDP credits and snacks. It almost makes you a slave to the DDP and for us, we can eat food at home.

Also as a DVC owner you will be going to Disney at least every year and what you don't see or do this trip, you will do the next, and the next, and the next.

Some like to collect gift cards during the year and use the funds to pay for their Disney expenses which could be MB room charges, TIW, or DDP.

Bill

I was just talking to the wife about not going with the DP on our next trip to see how we fare and just getting gift cards instead. We can get the 5% off at Target with the RedCard discount so that saves some. I know that I wouldn't order dessert at every meal and we likely wouldn't buy the mugs either (we hardly use them) and have been scrambling to use our snack credits by the end of the trip on our last few trips. This last trip we even had left over QS credits. And you're right, we'll be going more with DVC. We've got at least two trips planned already and kicking around the idea of a couple more.

To be clear, those dates aren't blacked out. Seven restaurants have extra blackout dates over those weeks.

Blockout dates for Tables in Wonderland are Mother’s Day, Easter Sunday, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

*Beginning August 1st 2014, 1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey’s, ‘Ohana (Dinner Only), Cinderella’s Royal Table, LeChefs de France, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, and Le Cellier Steakhouse will be subject to the additional blockout weeks of: November 23-29, 2014; December 21-27, 2014; March 8-April 4, 2015; May 31-June 20, 2015.

True that the entire thing isn't blacked out, but we hit a majority of those places on a trip typically, so we would lose out on the discount for those.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I've never thought about a dining plan on a split stay....but now you got me thinking and I have questions. Personally, we stopped doing the dining plan because of all the planning involved and I hated the prescheduling of a multiple day trip. But our adults only weekend in January has us friday night at Beach Club and Saturday night at Boardwalk....so we could add the dining plan for just one night. If I were to add the dining plan for Saturday night.....do I have Saturday and Sunday to use the credits? or does it require all in one of the days? And do I have to use it AFTER the check in at BWV or could I use say the QS lunch before checking in at BWV but AFTER checking out at BCV?

Edit....Actually we have the Luau booked already for the Saturday....so could it be added for Friday at the Beach Club....and would I have all day friday through to Saturday to use the credits? Might be worth it....Might not be worth it....just curious as to what's allowed as I'm also considering what meals we'll be doing and possibly getting the TiW card since it's 4 adults and alcohol is included in that.

 

[Dean]

Edit....Actually we have the Luau booked already for the Saturday....so could it be added for Friday at the Beach Club....and would I have all day friday through to Saturday to use the credits? Might be worth it....Might not be worth it....just curious as to what's allowed as I'm also considering what meals we'll be doing and possibly getting the TiW card since it's 4 adults and alcohol is included in that.

It would depend on your other choices and preferences. IF you could move the luau to Fri or Sun and get the deluxe plan for the other night, you'd have up to 2 full days to use the credits. Then it's simple to look at where you want to go and see if it offers sufficient savings. IF you could get both nights at one resort, you might actually be better off. You could also get the deluxe plan for either night and use it for the luau and then have one credit left per person to use for other options that are one credit. You'd just need to get at least a $40 return between that one credit, the mug and the snacks per person. For us this would mean sharing and getting two single credit TS restaurants plus the luau between the spouse and I.

 

[luckyman_apd]

It would depend on your other choices and preferences. IF you could move the luau to Fri or Sun and get the deluxe plan for the other night, you'd have up to 2 full days to use the credits. Then it's simple to look at where you want to go and see if it offers sufficient savings. IF you could get both nights at one resort, you might actually be better off. You could also get the deluxe plan for either night and use it for the luau and then have one credit left per person to use for other options that are one credit. You'd just need to get at least a $40 return between that one credit, the mug and the snacks per person. For us this would mean sharing and getting two single credit TS restaurants plus the luau between the spouse and I.

We fly home Sunday night. The deluxe plan is available for DVC now? I missed that.

 

[tjkraz]

The dining plans aren't there to save you money, they are there to make Disney more money.

The two aren't mutually-exclusive. Dining Plans CAN make money for Disney AND lead to guests spending less. Really comes down to the makeup of the party and plans for dining during the stay. In my experiences, the child DDP is usually a much better value than adults. A family with 2, 3, 4 young children can save a tidy sum over paying menu prices. Most Disney resort guests don't have that full kitchen in their room, or choose not to use it.

Definitely doesn't work for my family--having two Disney "adults" age 11 and 13, neither of which is a big eater--but many others do just fine with the DDP.

 

[Dean]

We fly home Sunday night. The deluxe plan is available for DVC now? I missed that.

The dlx plan has been there for some time but not the platinum plan. You get 3 credits per day that include an appetizer, entree and dessert plus 2 snacks per day and one mug per. The credits work for TS AND QS interchangeably but obviously much or maybe any QS usage would negate any value one might garner. Since you only have one night at each location the basic plan would not work for the luau as you'd need 2 credits per, that's why I mentioned you'd be better off at the same location both nights. Obviously the appetizer would be wasted on the luau but would allow you go get a plan that covered the luau and the mug on a single night drives up the value somewhat. For just Kim and I we'd likely get the dlx for the one night using up 2 credits per person for the Luau then share at two single credit TS options for other meals. OR we'd use them for dinner the other night for a signature. In reality you'd basically break even on the DP and the snacks and mugs would be your savings so one would have to decide if it's worth it to fool with and whether other discounts are applicable. The big issue is being orphaned on the change day and the risk one might not get into the room till 5 or 6 could create issues, esp getting from the EPCOT resorts over to the Poly. Or you could do the basic plan for one night and pay OOP for the Luau. Enjoy your trip.

 

[luckyman_apd]

The dlx plan has been there for some time but not the platinum plan. You get 3 credits per day that include an appetizer, entree and dessert plus 2 snacks per day and one mug per. The credits work for TS AND QS interchangeably but obviously much or maybe any QS usage would negate any value one might garner. Since you only have one night at each location the basic plan would not work for the luau as you'd need 2 credits per, that's why I mentioned you'd be better off at the same location both nights. Obviously the appetizer would be wasted on the luau but would allow you go get a plan that covered the luau and the mug on a single night drives up the value somewhat. For just Kim and I we'd likely get the dlx for the one night using up 2 credits per person for the Luau then share at two single credit TS options for other meals. OR we'd use them for dinner the other night for a signature. In reality you'd basically break even on the DP and the snacks and mugs would be your savings so one would have to decide if it's worth it to fool with and whether other discounts are applicable. The big issue is being orphaned on the change day and the risk one might not get into the room till 5 or 6 could create issues, esp getting from the EPCOT resorts over to the Poly. Or you could do the basic plan for one night and pay OOP for the Luau. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks. What is the cost of the deluxe plan per person?

 

[Dean]

Thanks. What is the cost of the deluxe plan per person?

The 2015 adult pricing is $41.99 for the QS, $60.64 for the basic DP & $109.53 for the Dlx plan. Between the basic plan and Dlx plan you pick up an extra snack per day, appetizer on applicable locations, one additional credit and the ability to use all credits for either TS or QS. The prices cont to push the envelope on getting a savings from the plans but the Dlx gives the most opportunity for the right situation. Often using DLX credits for buffet's reduces value but I assume the Luau includes tip as do the other dinner shows. One needs to average $36.50 per credit to break even after discounts, including tax but excluding gratuity. With tip you would hit that target for the luau almost exactly. If you allow $5 for the mug & $7 for the 2 snacks, anything above $24.50 for the other meal is a savings.

I'm looking at my daughter's plan from last week. On 18 adult credits per adult with 1 lunch buffet, 5 signatures & the rest mostly lunch TS; she averaged over $42 per and only had 4 meals that were under $40 per & 2 of those were signatures. She did have one very large charge (lobster at Narcoossee's), if you remove that she was still over $40 per on average. No QS using the plan. One just needs to look at their own situation and decide.

 

[MountainMouse]

The 2015 adult pricing is $41.99 for the QS, $60.64 for the basic DP & $109.53 for the Dlx plan. Between the basic plan and Dlx plan you pick up an extra snack per day, appetizer on applicable locations, one additional credit and the ability to use all credits for either TS or QS. The prices cont to push the envelope on getting a savings from the plans but the Dlx gives the most opportunity for the right situation. Often using DLX credits for buffet's reduces value but I assume the Luau includes tip as do the other dinner shows. One needs to average $36.50 per credit to break even after discounts, including tax but excluding gratuity. With tip you would hit that target for the luau almost exactly. If you allow $5 for the mug & $7 for the 2 snacks, anything above $24.50 for the other meal is a savings. I'm looking at my daughter's plan from last week. On 18 adult credits per adult with 1 lunch buffet, 5 signatures & the rest mostly lunch TS; she averaged over $42 per and only had 4 meals that were under $40 per & 2 of those were signatures. She did have one very large charge (lobster at Narcoossee's), if you remove that she was still over $40 per on average. No QS using the plan. One just needs to look at their own situation and decide.

Is that the set price for 2015? What's the likelihood they raise between now and next summer?