TIW vs dining plan

[abarnes64]

We are a family of four and are going for 8 nts ovwr end of sept and early oct...,2 toddlers and 2 adults. Grandma and grandpa live local and will be joining us for 3-4 days.

Question- which dining plan is best? We will do 3-4 character dinings.

Here is the kicker though- I had to combine a few cash nights and also have a split stay booked so we have 4 reservation numbers and I'd have to buy the Dining plan like 4 times! And keep good track of when used and how much used and when new plan starts and old one ends before I need to check back in on new ressie each time.

Opinions? Appreciate it!!!

 

[lovin'fl]

Well...you have 2 kid prices and that's good. You have have a bunch of the expensive character dining meals and that's good to get DP with. I would lean towards DP but with all your resies it may be a pain to keep track of. There is a calculator thing that I have done to see which way is better to go (and it always comes out to be TIW for me but we are all 5 adult prices). Here is the calculator: http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0
It is free and very easy to use (looks a little intimidating but it isn't hard at all).

 

[abarnes64]

Forgot to mention youngest is STILL 2 when we go so no DP coat for her! Thank you!

 

[AmyB2006]

Honestly, every single time I compare DDP to TIW, TIW comes out ahead every single time. It would be a no brainer for me.

IMO, unless you maximize and order the most expensive thing every single time with DDP, you're not getting your money's worth. But again, that's JMO and how we eat. We're not dessert eaters and DDP sometimes includes dessert. I'd rather have appetizers than dessert, and a drink or two. So TIW always is better for us.

You didn't specifically ask in your post about TIW, but your title is TIW vs DDP, so that's why I gave you my opinion on that.

 

[nalajms]

If you're willing to group your character meals, you can just buy DDP for a part of your trip.

For example, you have 2 nights starting on Monday. The DDP is good from M-W. Character meals Monday PM, Tue AM, Tue PM, Wed PM.

Are you doing any other TS? If so, I'd look at the cost and consider another DDP for a different reservation and possibly the TIW.

 

[lovin'fl]

Don't forget you have to pay $100 for TIW card so you need to spend $500 to save that $100 for break even...so it is only good to get TIW if you will be spending more than $500 and that may take many meals for your family (with the 2 kids...but you can use it on meals with Grandma and Grandpa). And as PP mentioned, it is good to use at menu places where you can order apps if you want and it covers bar drinks. We haven't gotten the DP since 2008. I had bought DP for our past Xmas trip and then cancelled it to get the TIW card (my previous card had expired...now I can use that TIW card for my Aug trip with my DDs).

 

[abarnes64]

Hmmm.... We are going during F&W also and so i was told by MS that we can use the DDP for F&W stations so I thought this might be nice.

In the past we had DDP and my kids LOVE silk milk which Disney carries THANKGOD, lol and so I think we save some money there also bc the little cartons are $$ and my kids drink about 3 each daily and possibly more. We buy cartons at store and also stock in room fridge

Anyone know how DDP works with F&W???

 

[lovin'fl]

You can use snack credits for F&W booths. You could get deluxe dining for part of the trip (one of your splits)...that gives you 2 snack credits per day per person (but you can use 8 in 1 day if you want). If that part of your split is, say 4 nights you can use the DP still on the check out day (so 5 days)....12 TS/CS credits over the 5 days. If you get basic DP, you get 1 snack credit pp per day and can use all on 1 day at F&W.

 

[nalajms]

It's a double edged sword. The deluxe gives you 2 credits per day per person, but to finish all those dining credits you'd have to eat 3 meals a day or 1 signature and 1 TS a day. And it gets a little hard to fit in the expensive snacks at F&W. What will work is if you have a day where the grandparents might join you at F&W, then you can get snacks for everyone to share.

Edited to add: For our upcoming F&G trip, I have a QS plan for the first 2 nights. That gives me 6 snacks (2a, 1c) to use at the booths. This plans works best for us because we can have the character breakfast, that I pay myself with TIW discount, and I spread the QS meals over 3 days and use my snack credits when we're eating around the booths.

 

[abarnes64]

It's a double edged sword. The deluxe gives you 2 credits per day per person, but to finish all those dining credits you'd have to eat 3 meals a day or 1 signature and 1 TS a day. And it gets a little hard to fit in the expensive snacks at F&W. What will work is if you have a day where the grandparents might join you at F&W, then you can get snacks for everyone to share.

Edited to add: For our upcoming F&G trip, I have a QS plan for the first 2 nights. That gives me 6 snacks (2a, 1c) to use at the booths. This plans works best for us because we can have the character breakfast, that I pay myself with TIW discount, and I spread the QS meals over 3 days and use my snack credits when we're eating around the booths.

Great suggestions......that does break it down. I need to scratch it out on paper the old fashioned way and fig out best way to so this all. I am finding there isn't much room for spontaneity at Disney! Lol