Totally confused - how to save w/ AP and DDE?

[Fionasmommy]

Okay, we're going to WDW this May for 8 nights at POFQ, Dining for 2 adults and 1 child, and 9 day park hoppers. Got a great AAA rate, all in we're paying around $2600.

Now I'm thinking of going again for 4 or 5 nights in October for MNSSHP.

I was just looking into an AP, because I've read that they can pay for themselves if you go for 10 days or more, but when I price it out it just doesn't seem to add up to much at all. What am I doing wrong?

Here's my calculations:

I'd be looking at an additional $200 for the AP vs. the MYW ticket, as well as $60 for the DDE card.

I don't know what traditional AP room discounts are, but recently I saw a post about $119. + tax at POFQ. That's only $10 less than our AAA rate. So the room savings would cover the price of the DDE card with $20 saved.

In effect I'd be paying for my May and Oct tickets at once (by the price of the AP), but the savings from that off both trips would be about $78. (5 day hopper and 7 day hopper at 518 - 440 for AP). So together with the room savings that's $98 so far.

For our party, DDP is about $90/day. In addition to that we'd spend $15 or so on breakfast and about $220 OOP for CRT and MBBBQ. All in, approximately $1060 for 8 days.

Here's a sample day of we'd probably eat:

Breakfast: Main Street Bakery
3 muffins
2 large coffees
1 milk

Total: $13.90 (using 10% tax rate - might be too high)

Lunch: Cosmic Rays
2 orders of Rotisserie Chicken w/ mashed potatoes
Childs chicken noodle soup w/ cheese crackers and beverage
2 large soft drinks
3 brownies

Total: $33.68

Lunch: Whispering Canyon

2 all you can eat skillets
I childs meal
3 drinks
2 slices of cake

Sub Total: 68.95
DDE Discount: 13.79
Total: 55.16
+ tip 18%: 12.41
Grand total: 67.57

Total for whole day: $115.15

Total for 8 days of dining w/ DDE, incl. discounts at CRT and MBBBQ: $1094.00 (or about $34.00 more than using DDP)

So after saving $98 on the room and ticket price difference, I'd lose $34 of it through dining - giving me a total savings of $64.00.

Does that sound right?? I thought the AP holder savings were more substantial, but maybe I'm just verlooking something?

 

[kyirish25]

Your calculations look correct to me.

What we did last year is only buy 1 AP and then bought 10 day hoppers with no expiration for the rest of the family. We did this to get the DDE card, in which we eat lots of TS and only a few CS meals so very beneficial for us.

The other savings were about a wash with only the 2 trips, as you are finding from your calculations.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

What you can do is upgrade at least one of the tickets to an AP within the first 14 days. You will only pay the difference, and the AP will be back-dated to the first use day.

Then immediately call the DDE office to order a DDE card; it can be picked up that day (if a Monday thru Friday) after 7:30 at the Guest Services location outside Epcot's Front Gate. TYhis can be used immediately for any DDE location where you are paking purchases outside the dining plan, including any alcoholic beverages.

Then you will be able to get an AP discount on the rooms for your next rrip, although you will not be able to use the Dining Plan with the AP discount but you will still have the DDE.

 

[crisi]

The DDE is a good deal if you eat a lot of sit down meals and - especially - if you drink a lot of alcohol. But the counter service it covers is few and far between and it doesn't cover EVERY table service meal.

So if you take your WCC bill, and add a few $8 martini's to it - which won't be covered under the dining plan - you see where people get substantial savings.

Its also a good deal if you eat a lot of signature meals. Using two credits for a signature meal, then paying out of pocket for other meals, leaves you paying out of pocket a lot. Just doing the DDE gets you a 20% discount on both the signature meals and the regular table service meals.

But everyone needs to do their own math. Because the DDE isn't always a great deal.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Where the AP will save money for us is over the course of 2 trips of at least 8 days. I currently have a MYW package with 8-day passes in August. We are upgrading our passes to AP's when we arrive. Over 2 8-day trips we'll save $60 per adult on passes alone. If we go when there is a good AP room rate we'll do even better. For deluxe resorts the rate this year has been $100 off rack rate for regular season and $133 off rack rate for peak season. If we go over Spring Break next year $133 for each of nine nights would be substantial! Even if we stay in a value resort the discount for AP is higher than AAA.

The other thing to consider is our DS will turn 10 right after our August trip. We can buy an AP for him that will be valid for 1 year even though he turns 10 immediately after. We won't have to buy an adult AP for him until the one we get for him in August expires. (I'm not being sneaky - that's what WDW told me.) He eats NOTHING, so having to pay for him as an adult on the dining plan won't save us any money. With DDE we can save 20% on TS meals, and if he just wants an appetizer and a drink we can do that. DH and I will have enough food on our plates to share with DS.

We have AAA now, but we aren't saving THAT much money, especially when you subtract our membership fee from our savings! I worked out what we save with AAA & Dining Plan and we will save more with AP's and DDE when DS is 10. If DS ever starts eating more than a gnat we might consider looking at the dining plan again, but not now.

 

[jarrdisney]

I just purchased the DDE and AP. Unfortunatley I am going during peak season and will be staying of disney property this time around. However, we will definatley be going back atleast twice within the upcoming year. The MYW tickets alone would cost me $500 if I went twice so I figure $500 for an AP w/DDE is worth it. If the AP rates are similar for the upcoming year I would be saving $100+ on a deluxe resort. The biggest savings however, will be on our seated meals. We don't eat counter service very often so that's not soemthing we worry about. Take into account the bottles of wine, mixed drinks, etc...the DDE is great. I guess it all depends on how you will be using your ap and dde. for us it was a no brainer

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Since I know I'm going twice in the next year, and I schedule to TS meals a day the AP and DDE were an easy choice for me, but it does depend on what and where you eat.