Thinking about upgrading from QSDP to DDP.. HELP!!!!

[suzannekelder]

Okay, so I might be going alittle overboard, but help me please. it's our first trip. We have 4 adults and 2 children 10 and 8.
Right now with free dining we have QSDP included.
I read we can upgrade for about $10 per night, so about $480 total to ddp.
So here's where I start to go crazy, if we do 2 character meals oop will we be close to that number? ie Crystal Palace and Askerhaus?
Is it worth the extra to be able to *maybe* do a character meal each day? Or even every other day?

Is it worth losing the extra snack and refillable soda?
How much more will they cost oop?

Thanks!!!!

 

[PHXscuba]

The way I've read it (not so easy to figure out) is that it's $11 per adult per night to upgrade an adult. So $33 times however many nights you are going. It doesn't appear to cost extra to upgrade a child from the numbers I've seen, but I'm not sure why or if that's really true.

Don't forget to budget extra for the tips you will be paying for all those TS meals!

I ran the numbers for our family (4 w/ adult plan, 2 kids) and we broke "even" on about TS meal #5. So if we want to do 4 or less TS meals we should pay out of pocket. For 5 or more meals, upgrading from QSDP would save us money. If you are only planning every other day for a sit-down, you may be better off out of pocket.

To figure out your OOP costs for the meals you are interested in, go to the "Dining" bar at the top of this forum (in light blue) and figure out what you'd spend. I don't think the two you mentioned will be half of $480 together.

PHXscuba

 

[suzannekelder]

thanks, thats kida where my problem lies
DIS says crystal palacea at $20.99 for breakfast
but the offical site says 15-35.99 for breakfast

so i dont know which to plan on.. any help?

 

[lillylynnb]

Ok So right now we have the QSD but are thinking of upgrading , right now we have three Dinners we were just paying OOP if we upgrade can we just add those on to the TS part of dining and use as credits ?

 

[suzannekelder]

^^^thats exactly what i'm thinking!!

 

[sam_gordon]

Don't forget to budget extra for the tips you will be paying for all those TS meals!

If you would normally dine @ TS meals regardless of the dining plan, the tips are a wash (you pay them with or without the plan). However, if you're happy eating the majority of QS meals, then you wouldn't have to spend the tip $$.

Even if we weren't on DDP, our family enjoys a TS meal every day. So DDP will save us $100+. I priced out 5 TS meals and 2 QS meals. Averaged the other three QS meals and averaged $2.50 for each snack.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Figuring in the tips and additional costs per person per day, if you can afford it, I would GO FOR IT!!!

We have never used the refillable mug much. So in my (humble ) opinion, you are not loosing much there.

And, the table service meals are so filling we eat less snacks. Plus you still get a snack and desert with the quick service portion of your plan. Our family tends to be "big eaters" and we usually have PLENTY of snack credits to go around.

I think it is worth it...table service meals are MUCH better...plus....it gives you time to rest. And, the character dining is so FUN!!

 

[suzannekelder]

i guess the problem is we're first timers, so we're not sure what we want. i hate having to make all the decisions and reservations pretty much blind.

 

[mommyarewegoingback]

i guess the problem is we're first timers, so we're not sure what we want. i hate having to make all the decisions and reservations pretty much blind.

Oh, as first timers, how willing do you think your kids would be to sit/wait for 1.5 to 2 hours for TS meals when Disney world is outside the restaurant? My 9 and 6 year old have a very tough time doing it for every night. Good luck in your decision. I had a similar decision to make on my upcoming trip too.

-virginia

 

[sndral]

FYI, your 10 yr. old counts as an adult on the DP. So w/ your 4 adults & 1 jr. adult that's $10 X 5 = $50 per night plus $2 per night for the 8 yr. old child to upgrade.
$52 x 8 days=$466. Refillable mugs @ $13.84 ea = $83.04. $549 to upgrade and replace the mugs.
Dinner @ Crystal Palace is ($32.99 per adult x 5)+15.00 for the 8 yr old=$175.95
Dinner @ Akesrhus is ($35.13 per adult x 5) + 21.99 for the 8 yr. old =$197.64
So those 2 meals = $373.59.
$549 upgrade + mugs cost - $373 =$176

You lose a $12 counter service + $4 snack ($16) and $1.73pro rated cost/day of refillable mug over 8 days = $18 per day. You gain on average a $30 sit down dinner a day, net gain of $12 for which you paid $10 per day. If you plan sit down breakfasts, which run closer to $20 you only gain $2 per day for which you paid $10 so net loss of $8 per day.

IMO, it really depends on how you will eat. I use my snack for breakfast, cs for lunch and ts for dinner - I like the break and experience of a sit down restaurant. I had the DP when there were 2 snacks per day, we ended up with a lot of extra snacks. The refillable mugs are great if you are @ the pool/food court a lot - but you get drinks w/ 2 meals a day in any event. If you spend most of your time in the parks, those mugs will sit in your room, unfilled.

If you plan on 2 character sit down breakfasts, will use your snacks and mugs and don't want the sit down dinning experience, then upgrading isn't a good deal.
If you'd like 3 or 4 sit down dinners, or dinner @ CRT or HDDR or SOA (2 TS) and won't miss the extra snack a day - then the upgrade might be a good idea.

 

[amyr1]

Your 10 year old is an adult.

We have 3 adults and 1 child. Got the free QSDP and want 3 TS character meals. I priced it out and to upgrade is within a few $$ of what paying oop would be--and by not upgrading we get all the CS meals, snacks, and the mugs (which my family will use.) So for us it just makes more sense to pay oop. We will do breakfast TS, if using DP credit would have probably went with dinners, to keep costs down a bit.

HTH
Amy

 

[2Tiggies]

thanks, thats kida where my problem lies
DIS says crystal palacea at $20.99 for breakfast
but the offical site says 15-35.99 for breakfast

so i dont know which to plan on.. any help?

That is the price range between breakfast and dinner (dinner being $35.99).

It's a tough call and although everyone can make suggestions based on personal experience, unfortunatley this is one of those things that depend on so many variables of your specific family that it is impossible to guage from other people's responses what is going to work for you without sitting and taking a look at how you usually eat and what is important to you for this trip.

If I could give a first timer a little bit of advice it would be to accept that you will NOT do everything on one trip .... or even 3 or 4. YOu have to choose from what you believe will be most important to you for this trip and stick with that. There will always be other options that appeal to you and you have to force yourself to focus on what you have planned for now and not second guess yourself on what you think you could have or should have been doing.

A good point was raised on here about whether your kids would be happy with a sit down meal and the time it takes to do this every day. Will you be happy planning your vacation around your ADRs every day or would you prefer to have some flexible days? While it sounds like you will be chained to your ADRs, with careful planning this can work very well, especially if your family is used to structure and routine, you feel you could benefit from a good, scheduled break every day and if you want to cut down on waiting in line for autographs by booking character meals which cover a variety of your kids' favorite characters.

From a cost perspective, again, it depends what you would order as to how many TS meals would bring you to your break even point for the upgrade. For me it was 7 out of 15 days. We are slightly over break even but I didn't want a TS every day over such a long period of time and add in gratuities on another 8 TS and we would be spending more money but I would have lost the flexibility that is so important to me. That said, this is not my first trip.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Wow, let's not overthink this people.

OP, yes, with your family make-up, if you eat at least 2 table service meals then it is worth it to upgrade your free dining quick service to the basic plan. Plus you will get do make some other table service reservations on top of those two meals and still come out ahead.

As for taking the time out to eat 1 table service meal per day, it's not a big deal at all. We have been going as a family since my kids were 2, 3, 4 and 7 and they have all welcomed a break in the evening to eat and sit for a while. Especially, if you are doing character meals.

Good luck!

 

[danielephant]

this is what my husband and i are doing, we have our two LOs but they will just share with us. and as far as the refillable mug...i think we are going to take our own bottled wate and pop to the park (buying them on the way in) also going to take the makings for peanut butter and jelly as my DD would eat them any day of the week and this will be a good thing to have in the diaper bag just in case she does not want to eat when we tell her (which happens all the time with 2 year olds anyways)

 

[squirrel]

For a first trip, I would stick with the QSDP and pay out of pocket for the two buffets that you wanted. The cost will be about the same as upgrading to the DDP, but you keep your mugs and the extra CS and snack credits. You will have more than enough to eat and will not be tied to getting to ADR's each day. It will also give you a break from eating CS for the entire trip.

 

[sndral]

this is what my husband and i are doing, we have our two LOs but they will just share with us. and as far as the refillable mug...i think we are going to take our own bottled wate and pop to the park (buying them on the way in) also going to take the makings for peanut butter and jelly as my DD would eat them any day of the week and this will be a good thing to have in the diaper bag just in case she does not want to eat when we tell her (which happens all the time with 2 year olds anyways)

Just 2 notes - the refillable mugs are for resorts only, you can't fill them in the parks, so you wouldn't be taking them to a park w/ you anyway.
Make sure the peanut butter and jelly are not in glass containers - glass containers are not allowed in the parks. I know peanut butter comes in plastic jars, not so sure about jelly - although there are those little squeeze packets of jelly.