This could be a really dumb question...

[klitteral2009]

I originally booked our stay about three weeks ago for january 2013 (19-25). I then, about a week or two later, amended it when the discounts came out and was able to secure a 15% discount on our suite at AoA. Now I see that they are offering free QS dining in packages now and wondered if I could amend things AGAIN, but still keep my 15% discount as well as the new packaging perk of the QS dining? I hope this makes sense and someone can tell me that it would work! Thanks

 

[Cheshire Figment]

No. Disney will not allow use of multiple discounts on a package. To get "free" dining you must pay full rack rate for the room.

 

[HM]

You should at least have someone look to see what is the better deal for you, the room only discount or the dining package discount. It all depends on the number of people and ages of them that are in your room. But, yes, you can't combine discounts...one or the other.

 

[klitteral2009]

Thanks for the quick reponse!!! I have another question..it will be me, DH and .my children are 10, 3, and 1. We have planned several ADR's already for our trip...(dinner at Le Cellier, Biergarten, and 'Ohana..Breakfast at CRT and Lunch at Yak and Yeti) Would it be beneficial to go ahead and give up my little discount on the room and get the QS dining plan for the rest of our meals? We had planned on paying OOP because the dining plans were so expensive but when I just priced a package with the free DDP it is acutally CHEAPER than my original package price without the discount Opinions are very welcome! Thanks

 

[TiggerStac]

Thanks for the quick reponse!!! I have another question..it will be me, DH and .my children are 10, 3, and 1. We have planned several ADR's already for our trip...(dinner at Le Cellier, Biergarten, and 'Ohana..Breakfast at CRT and Lunch at Yak and Yeti) Would it be beneficial to go ahead and give up my little discount on the room and get the QS dining plan for the rest of our meals? We had planned on paying OOP because the dining plans were so expensive but when I just priced a package with the free DDP it is acutally CHEAPER than my original package price without the discount Opinions are very welcome! Thanks

With all of those sit downs, you may want to also price out upgrading it to plus dining from quick service if that's the route you go. you'll pay the difference in price between quick service and plus.

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks for the quick reponse!!! I have another question..it will be me, DH and .my children are 10, 3, and 1. We have planned several ADR's already for our trip...(dinner at Le Cellier, Biergarten, and 'Ohana..Breakfast at CRT and Lunch at Yak and Yeti) Would it be beneficial to go ahead and give up my little discount on the room and get the QS dining plan for the rest of our meals? We had planned on paying OOP because the dining plans were so expensive but when I just priced a package with the free DDP it is acutally CHEAPER than my original package price without the discount Opinions are very welcome! Thanks

I'm not a big fan of the DDP, even when it's free. So, take that into consideration when you read my reply.

You're staying 6 nights. This would translate to 12 QS dining credits per person (except for the baby) if you don't upgrade to the regular dining plan. Would you use all of those credits in addition to all of those TS meals? I'm thinking that the answer would be 'no'.

Okay, so then let's say that you were to upgrade that free QS plan to the regular DDP. Now, you would have 6 TS credits and 6 QS credits per person. You will need 2 credits per person for each of the meals at Le Celier and CRT plus 1 credit per person for each Biergarten, 'Ohana and Yak & Yeti*. That would consume all of your TS credits.

Now, the real question becomes whether the increase in the cost your package is offset by the decrease in your OOP costs for the TS and QS meals. There's no way for any of us to break down those numbers. We don't know what your old package costs were. We don't know what your current package costs are. And we don't know what you budgeted for OOP costs for food.

You really need to sit down and do the math for yourself. There is no magic formula that can be applied to every family. I will caution you to not look at the cost of the dining plans and consider that to be your savings. In my experience, there's a lot included in the dining plans that I would not normally use - such as desserts with every meal. You want to compare apples to apples. Not apples to pears or oranges.

* ETA: As of right now, Y&Y is not on the 2013 dining plan. That is subject to change as Disney continues to complete agreements with the non-Disney-owned restaurants which are on the property.

 

[klitteral2009]

Well I went ahead and fiddled with our reservations to include the plus dining. CRT is already prepaid since I didnt have DDP when I booked it (I grabbed the availability!) so I wont be using any DDP credits for that. I've been reconsidering Y&Y for a while now anyway, as its a lunch ressie and I dont know that we'll be in AK for all that long.

The difference in price wasn't really all that bad. We did sacrifice the suite in Nemo at AoA and moved to LK to grab the deal but the extra 250 added to my package was leaps and bounds cheaper than what we'd pay OOP, and what I'd budgeted for.

PLUS, we're big eaters. I think that having the worry of food budget removed and just being able to swipe my card will be a blessing in and of itself, knowing that we've paid for all of it ahead of time.

Marionette, I really appreciate your opinion and breakdown! This is why I have fallen in love with the DIS boards...so much help and its always so kindly given.

 

[Suz D]

Well I went ahead and fiddled with our reservations to include the plus dining. CRT is already prepaid since I didnt have DDP when I booked it (I grabbed the availability!) so I wont be using any DDP credits for that. I've been reconsidering Y&Y for a while now anyway, as its a lunch ressie and I dont know that we'll be in AK for all that long.

The difference in price wasn't really all that bad. We did sacrifice the suite in Nemo at AoA and moved to LK to grab the deal but the extra 250 added to my package was leaps and bounds cheaper than what we'd pay OOP, and what I'd budgeted for.

PLUS, we're big eaters. I think that having the worry of food budget removed and just being able to swipe my card will be a blessing in and of itself, knowing that we've paid for all of it ahead of time.

Marionette, I really appreciate your opinion and breakdown! This is why I have fallen in love with the DIS boards...so much help and its always so kindly given.

If you are big eaters you will love the dining plan. FWIW, Yak and Yeti is one of our very favorite restaurants on property. Their lo-mein is absolutely delicious (I order it with shrimp and chicken because we're always on the dining plan so the extra cost for shrimp doesn't matter). The portion of lo-mein is so large that if your 3 year old likes it you could split it and still have plenty left over. They have a steak type entree that my BIL really liked. If you can splurge a little bit and get an appetizer (that would be OOP) the fried green beans are super good.