Using up TS credits?

[skent10]

For those of you who've used the dining plan, have you run into problems using up your TS credits a whole lot faster than the CS?

I'm trying to figure out where to eat for our ADR's, and I'm worried I'm going to run out of TS credits and have a lot of CS credits left over. I've booked HDD Revue (2 TS) already, and will want to do CRT (2 TS) if I can get it. I am definitely doing the Fantasmic Pkg (to avoid waiting in line with our cranky kids) but, since we'll probably only go to MGM one day, will need to also eat at Sc-Fi, which means 2 TS in one day.

Plus, DH intends to eat his way around the world during our vacation (hopping over to Epcot most evenings), so that will use up a lot of TS credits as well.

I know I can always pay OOP, but that seems horrible if I still have a pile of unused CS credits by the end of the trip. Is anyone else having trouble figuring this out?

Just looking for some commiseration with my dilemma, I guess.

 

[LaLa]

We just got back and were in the same boat. We like to eat at sit down restaurants better than CS. Especially at Epcot. So we did end up paying for I think 3 meals OOP and just used our extra CS meals for breakfast at the POR Food Court several mornings. Before we left, I just tallied my CS and TS meals for the week. That way, I knew how many CS meals we would have left over and planned which days to eat breakfast. The other days, we just ate breakfast in the room. The times we did pay OOP were for lunches only because they were always so much cheaper than dinner. Plus with all the food you are allowed, I'd much rather have that big meal at night anyway instead of in the middle of the day.

It really is a lot of food, much more than we are used to eating. But both DH and I have said that we will not go back to DW without it. Even with paying OOP for 3 meals, the price we paid vs the prices listed on the bills we signed...it wasn't even in the same ballpark.

 

[goofyfordisney]

This happened to me when I was planning my ADR's. I had a list of all of the "must do's" because we are celebrating my mom's 70th birthday this trip. Most of our ADR's are used up in our first days at WDW. Towards the end of our week, I have much more CS dinners and lunchs.

This is what I came up with:
We have 14 TS and 14 CS:
Crystal Palace breakfast 1 TS each (2 total)
CRT dinner 2 TS each (4 total)
Brown Derby dinner (sharing) 2 TS
Le Cellier 1 TS each (2 total)
O'hana's 1 TS each (2 total)
PrimeTime Diner sharing 1 TS
Epcot TS meal TBD--probably dinner (Mexico or Italy?) Share 1 TS
Total: 14 TS

We will probably pay out of pocket for dessert at Sci-Fi

We are using most of our CS's for breakfasts at the food court at POFQ(2-3 days)

We will also do 1 CS at MGM, 1 at MK, and a few at Epcot--sharing where we need to

I think that Epcot is a place where you can use most of your CS's because there seems to be alot of places where you can get good CS offerings. You can always share them too.

We are also going to Universal for a day, so we won't be doing meals at WDW (except for CS in the morning for breakfast that day)

Hope it's a good plan for us!

 

[pedro2112]

I know I can always pay OOP, but that seems horrible if I still have a pile of unused CS credits by the end of the trip. Is anyone else having trouble figuring this out?

Embrace the horribleness! Skent, we had used the dining plan last March and had a lot of TS ADRs.. we ended up paying for some of them out of pocket because we used up our TS vouchers. We also had 6 CS vouchers and half our snack vouchers left over. But you know what? We still saved money, ate where we wanted to, and didn't have to worry about how to pay for most of our meals.

If your family is like ours (likes to eat more sit down meals than allowed for under the plan), the plan can still save you money even if you don't do the dining plan "commando" style.

 

[Nancyg56]

We are in the same boat. We are over in our TS and will have CS left. My DS and his wife are joining us in the parks, as is my niece, for part of the trip, so I know someone will use the CS credits. In our family, we can always find someone who is hungry.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We were there last month for 9 nights. I knew going in that we had ADRs for 10 TS, and one was signature. We paid OOP for breakfast at Crystal Palace and lunch at 50's PT because they were less expensive and I didn't think we would want appetizer-entree-dessert at 50's. I was so full after that lunch I could hardly walk and all I had was an entree and dessert.

Even though we ended up with 2 unused CS we still saved about $250 with the plan. Next time we won't do a signature meal and we'll save even more.

I have been adding up my receipts (which has been absolutely terrifying - nobody should do that!) and we didn't spend much at all for food other than those 2 TS and some sodas & snacks here and there. I can't account for all of the money because I am missing at least one whole day of receipts, but the bulk of our OOP spending was NOT for food!

 

[Cookie Princess]

Just got back yesterday and had 2 CS leftover. Tried to buy meals for people at the POR foodcourt, but they were all on the dining plan as well. I am not going to sweat over it. DH had a stomach bug at the beginning of the trip and I had it at the end of the trip so we just didn't feel like stuffing ourselves on those days.