We're thinking of NOT using the DDP!

[01Sweetpea]

EEK!!! After ALOT of calculations, spreadsheets, running numbers, etc I don't think we are going to use the DDP for our Thanksgiving trip.

It would cost our family of 5 (Me, DH, 13, 11, 11) $1330 for the DDP. Our two 11yos would NEVER eat all the food that the adult menu allows, so in addition to the $1330 we'd be paying OOP for most of their meals, PLUS OOP for breakfast. DH also doesn't want to do alot of character meals....maybe 1 he says. We are going to do HDDR though.

Reality is we just don't eat alot of food for dinner. When we eat out DH & I RARLEY get an appetizer, the kids never do, DH & I usually split a dessert, and the kids eat ice cream. When I think back to our 2004 trip, we RARELY ate a TS meal. We more eat on the run, which I DON'T want to do this trip, so I will be making ADR's for most of our dinners.

So at this point, I think I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for a code that is better than AAA.

Am I nuts?

 

[Luvamouse]

Not to disagree with your thoughts, but

Our two 11yos would NEVER eat all the food that the adult menu allows, so in addition to the $1330 we'd be paying OOP for most of their meals,

why are you expecting to pay OOP for the 11 YO's? Even though it is a poor bargain, you can use their adult credits to order from the children's menu. (Just want to clarify that.)

Again, that said, it may not be worth it to you for the many reasons you listed. Knowing how you eat is the best way to determine if the DDP is a good value.

Have fun either way!

 

[01Sweetpea]

Luv - I just think it would be a HUGE waste of money to use their adult TS credits to buy a "child" meal. When I priced out what a dinner would cost us, most of the meals my 11yo would eat only cost $10-$15 and that is WITH a drink. They would never eat $38 worth of food a day.

I still have time to decide this.

My next "exercise" is to sit down with DH, the kids & some of the menus, and have everyone pick out what they would eat. From there I will know what I am looking at price wise.

I never thought planning a vacation would be SOOOO difficult!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Just remember when making your calculations that at any buffet or all you care to eat restaurants you will have to pay the adult price for your 11 yr olds.

 

[Luvamouse]

Hey Sweetpea, I just totally erased my post to you!

I agree with your thinking 100%. I think even though it may take a while, it would be worth it to have your 11YO's take a look at the menu. My DD11 (13 when we go) does not consume huge amounts of food, but most kids' meals wouldn't be enough over the course of the trip. Most importantly, she loves all kinds of food-- salmon, baked/stuffed chicken, steak, etc. I know that the kids' menus are pretty limited and figure that I am much happier traveling and giving her the opportunity to try all sorts of dinners. That and the fact that she LOVES desserts! (Good thing she is skinny as a rail!) Since we'll be on the DDP, I won't feel quite as bad when she doesn't finish. I think you know your family best and how they will eat. I was just making sure you realized that you can order the kids' meals for them, even if it is a lousy financial prospect!

Again, think where you'll eat and what they'll order. You sound as if you really know your familiy's eating habits very well. Consider what PrincessTrisha said, if it is a buffet/ character meal (buffet)/ all-you-care-to-eat... you'll have to pay adult prices for them anyway. You may find that it is too close to call in which case you take a 50-50 chance with your choice. I bet though, in that case it won't be too much of a win or loss.

 

[Lewisc]

It's not how much your kids eat but rather how much you'd be paying if you don't get the dining plan. It sounds like you're planning a TS meal most days. If those meals are going to be restaurants that charge every guest; buffets, all you care to eat, dinner shows and dinner packages like FDP then the meal plan still makes sense. "Overpaying" with the meal plan is cheaper than "overpaying" out of pocket.

You'd be paying adult prices for your kids. Instead of ordering child meals could you just order 1 or 2 adult meals, pay for extra drinks, and share? Assume your 11 year olds share adult meals. You can use the extra credits for HDD.

 

[Toots]

We're trying the DDP for the first time in a few weeks. Because I knew we wanted to do at least a few TS meals we ended up with a split reservation. Our first 3 days on DDP and MYW package and remaining 4 days room only. Our big meals will be clustered into the first part of our trip. I hope to share counter service meals with DS age 12 and to use these over days 1-4 since the plan is good until midnight on the final day.

I'm not sure if we will save tons, but since we are usually very frugal with dining I thought it might be a nice treat for a few days. When dining out, we normally order water and very rarely dessert or appetizer.

Our last four days we have a room only AAA rate. Do you have the AAA rate booked? I would go ahead and reserve now. I delayed booking and had a hard time getting the AAA rate later.

Our ADR's are 'Ohana, Coral Reef and Teppanyaki. We considered HDDR but didn't think it was the best use of 2 TS meals.

 

[01Sweetpea]

Thanks everyone....I think I am going to have to revisit my decision... AGAIN!!!

I'm 1/2 trying to base this decision on our 2004 experience. We stayed at POR and ate breakfast at the "food court" every morning. It was usually a "big" breakfast, ie... pancakes or french toast, rarely cereal or fruit. For lunches it was CS, and either the kids split something or I split something with one of the kids (we only brought 2 kids with us that year).

My 11yo are not adventerous eaters. Chicken, pizza, pasta, are the staple in their diets when on vacation. My 13yo, is a steak & potatoes kinda kid. He will eat ANYTHING!

As for our dinners... we are going to do Chef Mickey's and HDDR, the rest will be regular restuarants. I'm leaning towards:
Kona
Le Cellier
Mama Melrose w/Fantasic package
Whispering Canyon
Coral Reef OR Concourse Steakhouse

I may throw in 1900 Park Fare for breakfast the day we leave, but that is up in the air right now, going to depend on flights.

When looking at the menus... I was picking out some of the more expensive items on the menu, but truth be told DH & my 13yo are NOT going to eat steak every night.

At least I still have time to make this decision. Right now I have a room only with AAA code booked thru CRO.

 

[Pedler]

I don't envy you having to do those calculations. Last year when we went we had decided to get the plan before they offered it for free. Then it would have cost $90 per day for myself, DW, DS6 & DS8. Eating just on TS meal a day made it a no brainer. There really wasn't any calculation where the plan didn't work.

Now looking at when we go next year it will be myself, DW, DS8 and DS10 then. At that point it would be somewhere around $125 per day. Still probably a no brainer because of DS8 and knowing that DS10 will want the kids menu at places where it is offered and we could pay OOP for those and use the credits for additional character meals.

Jumping ahead another 2 years and it would be the equivalent of 4 adults at somewhere around $150 per day and 2 of the "adults" will be 10 and 12 it will be a much harder decision. At that point I think I would have to take a look at each menu of where we think we may go and start to add up the numbers. Keeping in mind that if we were paying OOP we wouldn't get appetizers everywhere and DS's definitely wouldn't get them. I think the calculations on the savings would be much closer then.

I have always thought that for the family that does want to eat at 1 TS place a day with kids under 10 or older teenagers and adults then the dinning plan would make sense. Its those folk with have the kids on the bubble that are considered adults that have to do some serious evaluations.

Good luck with it. Were it me I would go check out the menus and start adding up what you think it would cost OOP for the trip and then compare that to the dinning plan. Be sure to add the tax and tip to the amounts you get from the menus. It think the tip amount is 18%.

 

[01Sweetpea]

We are a "bubble" family. Our 11yos would never eat all the food that comes with an adult meal. 1/2 the time they don't finish a child's portion of pasta when we go out to eat.

We would need to eat $190 worth of food PER DAY to make it worth while for us. My grocery bill per WEEK isn't that high!

So back to the spreadhseets I go.

 

[formernyer]

You are in probably the worst possible situation for getting good value out of the DDP. For families with young children (9 and under) it's a no brainer. The kids only cost $11/day. It's a lot different when you have a child who still eats like a child but you have to pay $38/day...and you have that scenario times 3!

The first question that you need to ask yourself is this: "Do I not usually eat appetizers and desserts because I don't want them or because they add too much to the bill?" In other words, would the addition of appetizers and desserts to your meals be a treat for you or would they be something that you don't even want? If you think you'd like the larger meals (assuming you could make the deal cost-effective) read on...

Based on your DDP cost, it looks like you'd have 7 nights at the resort, plus one breakfast on the day of check-out. My recommendation is to recalculate your DDP value factoring in meal-sharing.

If you use the DDP you'll have a total of 35 TS credits. You would have to pay 10 credits for HDDR, 5 credits for CM, and 5 credits for MM. You won't be able to share at those meals. You've listed 5 other meals you'd like to try (including the one on the morning you leave). Your remaining 15 credits would cover all five of those restaurants if you order three meals per restaurant and split them up. The server will bring you extra plates. As for the picky eaters, you can generally order an adult-sized portion of food from the chicken menu. For example, you might be able to get 5 chicken fingers instead of three, plus extra fries. The kids would still be entitled to an adult appetizer and adult dessert. Based on what you've said about your family, the 3 meals should be more than enough to feed five of you. By working it this way, you've covered 8 TS meals (including a 2 credit meal) with no OOP cost.

Now on to the CS meals. Your kids shouldn't have trouble ordering from the adult menus here since many of the adult menus include pizza, chicken fingers, etc. You should be able to easily feed 5 people on 3 meals. Just search the forums for threads on which places serve "large" CS meals. If you do it this way, you'll be able to cover 11 CS meals with 2 CS credits left over. That basically means you can get all 7 lunches, plus 3 breakfasts. You can use the 2 leftover CS credits to get a 4th breakfast and supplement with some fruit cups or yogurt (via snack credits) to make it enough food for everyone (hotel food courts will usually allow a fruit cup as a snack, but YMMV).

I think the plan might seem a little more economical to you once you plan for meal-sharing. I think you were expecting to have to pay for a lot of meals OOP even if you took the DDP, but in reality it only has to be a few breakfasts OOP.

 

[jjohnson]

We're trying the DP for 1/2 our May trip & I have 3 "adults" and 1 child. That's $200 per day for the plan. When I priced out our meals I assumed 2 of my "adults" would be ordering a KM & dessert. It's just about even either way not including the snack.

You do have alot of TS planned so it may work out for you too.

 

[formernyer]

We're trying the DP for 1/2 our May trip & I have 3 "adults" and 1 child. That's $200 per day for the plan. When I priced out our meals I assumed 2 of my "adults" would be ordering a KM & dessert. It's just about even either way not including the snack.

You do have alot of TS planned so it may work out for you too.

3 adults plus 1 child should be $124.96/day, not $200.


edit: just realized you probably meant 4 kids PLUS yourself and your spouse. I thought you were talking about 4 people total.

 

[texasthree]

Keep in mind the dining plan includes the tax and tip. For us just a dinner at chef mickeys alone will pay for the dining plan and we will almost be eating "free" the rest of the day. Adults are around $28.99 and the kids are 20.99, plus tax and tip.

 

[debbiepump]

We never do any of that, just pay cold, hard cash....in today's different 'programs' WDW is offering, the poor servers are so confused. For our upcoming trip, when I made our 2 ADR's, for some odd reason, I was asked which dining 'plan' I was on...........

We don't eat appetizers and/or dessert and just want to be able to eat where we want, big meal, little meal, no meal or just grabbing a little bit of something all over the 'world.'

 

[01Sweetpea]

If you use the DDP you'll have a total of 35 TS credits. You would have to pay 10 credits for HDDR, 5 credits for CM, and 5 credits for MM.

So if I do the MM w/Fantasmic I can't pay OOP for the 11yos to order off the child's menu?

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Hey Sweatpea I had a thought. Why not do a split stay?

You'll have to put Hoop Dee Doo and Cm's and any other character dinner you were planning up front. Buy a package with meal plan for 3 nights.. Purchase all the tickets you will need for the entire trip with the package. Then book a hotel only the rest of the nights of your trip. That way, you get dining plan savings where you need it Hoop De Doo uses 2 credits and you have to pay the price anyway. CM's uses 1 and you have to pay the price anyway. The rest of the places where you can share meals or the kids can share or such and eat very little, you don't need it.
Also, if you add something like another buffet, or chracter meal, note you'll have to add a day on the meal plan portion of the trip.
The only inconvenience is you'll have to put your meal plan stay first (so your tickets will activate upon check in, and you'll have to re check in the morning of the hotel only portion of the stay. Your tickets will still be good. You'll be issued new hotel room keys (which look exactly like your other ones with the park tickets on them so you'll have to keep em seperate.) And remember, all meal plan credits do not expire until the end of the day you check out of the meal plan portion of the stay. So you could in theory use some counters that day if you have any left and snacks too.

Just a thought.

 

[kizmac]

Luv - I just think it would be a HUGE waste of money to use their adult TS credits to buy a "child" meal. When I priced out what a dinner would cost us, most of the meals my 11yo would eat only cost $10-$15 and that is WITH a drink. They would never eat $38 worth of food a day.

I still have time to decide this.

My next "exercise" is to sit down with DH, the kids & some of the menus, and have everyone pick out what they would eat. From there I will know what I am looking at price wise.

I never thought planning a vacation would be SOOOO difficult!

That is really the best way to decide. If your 11 yr olds would enjoy the pricer meals then it may be more worth it. My 11 yr old enjoyed eating like a king last year. Do remember to factor in the tip and taxes too. I think it all depends too on if you really want to eat a TS every day. If you think doing two CS places a day and eating only 2 or 3 TS during your trip better suites your family, then skip the DP. It can be a tough decision when your preteens cost as much as an adults but if they can eat like adults then it really can be worth it.

 

[tinkerbell60]

I agree with you - it sounds like the Dining Plan is not cost effective. Last July we went without the Dining Plan - we ate in quite a few TS restaurants, and even with that when I calculated the cost of the DP vs what we spent, we still spent less. We did have appetizers sometimes and desserts almost every meal - so I felt it was a fair representation. DD12 eats like a bird - I just cannot justify the adult cost for the Dining Plan for her. We did tell the kids no more buffets thouugh - it is really outrageous. DD did order off the kids menu at many of the TS. So, for us, we would not pay for the Dining Plan but would be glad to use it if it is free deal like this summer.

 

[formernyer]

So if I do the MM w/Fantasmic I can't pay OOP for the 11yos to order off the child's menu?

I can't give you a accurate answer on this one. The Fantasmic package is not the same as ordering off of the regular MM menu. If you just order from the menu without the package, the 11-year olds can most probably get kid's meals and you can pay OOP.

I booked MM for my trip during the free dining (fantasmic package). I originally thought it was a buffet, so I didn't think I could meal-share. Then I realized that the entree was actually something each person chooses from a menu. At that point I posted a thread asking if it was possible to meal-share at MM. I was told that since the appetizer and dessert are served family style, each person must order his own meal. Your question about getting 11-year olds in under the child's price is going to depend on whether your server considers it a buffet or a sit-down. At buffets, you will not be able to allow your 11-year olds to order at the child's price. At sit-downs, most places will allow it. You might want to call the restaurant in advance and ask. If they let you pay OOP for the kids at a child's menu price, then you would have 2 extra credits to apply to other meals on the DDP if you choose to get it.