Using the DDP TS credits most cost effectively

[jakensydsmom]

We have more Table Service reservations than we have TS credits. You have to present your Key to the World before you order, and let the waiter know you will use the Dining Plan. My question is - for which restaurants does it make more sense to pay for out of pocket and for which ones does it make more sense to use the plan? We are staying 7 nights; each of these uses 1 TS credit pp.

We have the following reservations:
Chef Mickey's - dinner
Mama Melrose - Fantasmic Package
Crystal Palace - breakfast
Boma - dinner
Kona Cafe - breakfast
Chefs de France - lunch
Marrakesh - dinner
Ohana's - dinner
Ohana's - breakfast

Thanks for your help!

 

[TruBlu]

Check out the menus on www.allearsnet.com. Prices are listed, so you can figure out what you would spend at each meal.

 

[Frantasmic]

breakfast or lunch is generally cheaper. I'd pay for those.

 

[suffolkprincess]

here is how we decided:

1. go to allears and look at the menus, figure out the prices for OOP. obviously, some places you will not be able to be certain what your tab would be because all the entrees and apps cost differently, in that case you need to estimate and, to compare apples to apples, calculate buying everything that the DDP includes (an app, entree, dessert for everyone.)

2. Make a chart (which you can take with you for reference) and line up all the OOP costs

3. Now-- assign TS credits to the most expensive ones first. See what's left.

4. If some of the "most expensive" ones are most expensive because of the a la carte pricing for two apps etc etc, then figure out if you are actually likely to order less than that-- and maybe you'll move things around

with what you have listed, this is what I would do:

We have the following reservations:
Chef Mickey's - dinner- use TS credits
Mama Melrose - Fantasmic Package- use TS credits
Crystal Palace - breakfast-- OOP
Boma - dinner- use TS credits
Kona Cafe - breakfast-- OOP
Chefs de France - lunch- use TS credits
Marrakesh - dinner- use TS credits
Ohana's - dinner- use TS credits
Ohana's - breakfast- use TS credits

I do not think that you get great value out of DDP at the TS breakfasts that are not buffets, hence not using them at Kona. Also, the Crystal Palace buffet is price controlled and not very price-y, so paying OOP for that makes sense. Lunch at Chefs de France *could* be less $ than a bfast buffet but it also *could* be MUCH more. That is why I left it for TS credits.

That's that!

But seriously, jot down everything and estimate and then do the math. You might be surprised; by paying OOP for the CRT we actually got better value out of the DDP than if we had used TS credits. It surprised us, but it did work that way.

 

[thunderbird1]

You also need to decide how certain you are that you'll keep all your ADR's. We overbooked last time as well (12 ADR's for 10 nights), and I was going crazy trying to figure out which meal would be cheapest for us to pay OOP. My dh finally said we should just use our credits until they're gone, and then pay for anything else OOP. Several people have reported paying OOP for things the first couple days of a trip in order to "save" credits only to end up with leftover credits at the end because of cancellations for whatever reason (illness, too full, being at a different park at ADR time, etc.).

We ended up cancelling a couple of those ADR's, and had to struggle to use up those TS credits on the last day (note to self: 2 TS meals in one day really IS too much of a good thing). I can't imagine how upset I would have been if we had paid OOP for a meal or two and then left with unused credits. But that's just us--I know some people wouldn't miss an ADR for anything, so if that's the case, then breakfasts will almost certainly be your cheapest meal (not to mention no dessert included), so pay OOP for those.

 

[jakensydsmom]

Thank you all for your very helpful advice!! That's what I LOVE about the DIS.

 

[kaytieeldr]

and I was going crazy trying to figure out which meal would be cheapest for us to pay OOP. My dh finally said we should just use our credits until they're gone, and then pay for anything else OOP.

Smart husband!