Will this work or are we crazy?

[ChelleinNC]

Allright, our trip is in less than 2 weeks and we are now considering the DDP. We're DVC members so we can add it to our stay without a problem. We are a family of 4 adults by Disney standards, Me, DH, DD14 and DS10. DS will not eat off the adult menu, he doesn't like most of the choices, give him a burger or hotdog and he's happy. Our thought is this, pay OOP for DS's kids meal and use his adult TS for us for extra TS meals (including Brown Derby). We'll use his TS credits for him at the buffets (won't try to pass him off as a "child"), but not the other TS restaurants.

This seems to be the only way we'd get our moneys worth out of the DDP until DS becomes a teenager and eats us out house & home Will this work, can we do this?

Any help/thoughts on this would be appreciated!

 

[jjohnson]

Yes you can do this but you will have a hard time finding a burger or hot dog anymore on the children's menus

 

[TLSnell1981]

The children's meals leave a lot to be desired. I had to check out the children's menus before I booked our ADRs. I still may have to order OOP for my oldest DGD for one or two meals. I don't know whose crazy idea this was to put such @%*# on the kids menu, but most look quite boring and unappetizing.

 

[melomouse]

FWIW -
My 2 little DIS'er's are 4 years apart like yours, and I think your plan is totally workable - NOT crazy! I did this on FDP a year ago, just once on regular DDP this past August, since DD - now 11 - has developed more "adult" tastes. DS is now almost 16 and has not quite YET eaten me out of house and home, but he gives the Disney restaurants a run for the money!

As long as you're willing to pay for the occasional kid's meal OOP< I'd say go for it and enjoy! One of the things I love about DDP is the mix-and-match kind of thing you can do when your kids having varying tastes, when you want to share, or whatever. Those credits may be used any way you like!

AND...you are still on '07 DDP with gratuities included - making it a definite value and chance to enjoy some restaurants you might not otherwise try.

Now make those ADR's immediately if you haven't done so already!

Enjoy!!

 

[ChelleinNC]

ADR's were made months ago but last night I saw the "holiday surcharges" for the buffets & all you can eat restaurants and almost fell over My dad & his wife will be down with us (their 1st trip ), staying on our points, different room. Now I need to call him and convince him that prepaying his meals is the way to go.

Thanks for saying my plan isn't crazy

 

[Gillian]

Those holiday surcharges suck. Can I say that without getting points, LOL? I'm so glad we're doing the dining plan, maybe for the last time. My parents are joining us for 2 days and it was difficult to tell them about the extra $$. They don't have the option of adding the dining plan.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't see any reason why it won't work (except, as somebody pointed out, hamburgers and hot dogs are not that common onsite).

Remember, while you can add the Disney Dining Plan without a package if you're using DVC points, it still needs to be added in advance. Reports vary, but plan on five days in advance to be absolutely safe.

As for your dad - since you have your reservations, calculate the approximate OOP costs using the menus here http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm#disneydining on the DIS host site. Then show your dad how much he'll save by adding the DDP!

 

[ChelleinNC]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the help. I've been going to Disney for years, and know lot about a lot of things, but I've never done the dining plan before.

My Dad didn't think it would be necessary when I brought it up to him (he doesn't spend money easily )--does it ever get easy to talk to your parents about money -- Thankfully his wife knew about ddp because her sister has used it several times and liked it. She said that if we were going to do it, they would too. I knew I liked her!
I'm not worried about DS starving, he eats pizza & pbj too

 

[n2mm]

Be prepared to pay for extra food. We just returned in August and our 2 1/2 year old grand daughter was with us. We bought her a kids meal at all CS and TS locations and she gobbled every meal right down. I commented several times how small portioned the kids meals are and when a 2 year old can eat all of it, there is no way a 9 year old would be happy with it. She had the kids pizza at several places and had no problem eating all of it, along with her cup of chicken noodle soup as the appetizer. You may have to buy a side item along with the kids' meal just so they have enough to eat. You'll figure this out when you see the portion sizes. I also agree, you won't be seeing any hot dogs or hamburgers on the kids' meal.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Just wanted to say thanks again for everyones help Our plan worked very well.

DS ordered off the kids menu and had:
Brown Derby, his favorite hot dog
Le Cellier, pizza
Les Chefs de France, cheeseburger
Turf Club, cheeseburger
Planet Hollywood, pizza
The rest of our meals were at buffets, Boma (chicken strips and lots of strawberries) Garden Grill (chicken strips and mac & cheese) Cape May Clam Bake (pizza, chicken strips, hot dogs & ribs)

We paid OOP for him and used our DDE card for his meals. Planet Hollywood (which was our last meal of our week long trip) tried to tell us that you can't use DDE & DDP It was seperate checks, and wasn't a problem anywhere else. They ended up giving it to us (we didn't push, just questioned it)

We also paid OOP for all of us at Brown Derby. While a little more expensive, we didn't think it was worth using 2TS credits, especially since we do have DDE.

All in all it worked out very well. My dad loved looking at what the total would have been Prepaying with DDP was definitely the way to go with him. He actually ate, and enjoyed his meals.