Would It Be Enough?

[drj898]

I know this has probably been asked a ton of times. But I really want to just ask even if people just send me links to find my answers lol.

I'll be at WDW for 6 days, staying at CSR. We'll probably get there the first night and relax, then head to DTD just to kill the night and enjoy ourselves. Then do the parks wed,thurs,fri,sat. And then probably go to our favorite one again on sunday before our evening flight. It'll just be the two of us for that time. I'm planning on probably quick-serve or table-service for breakfast in the morning at CSR, then the other meals at the parks. Would the regular dining plan be enough for us? Or should I shoot for the deluxe? Orrr....do the regular dining plan and just bring enough extra money for food? If so..how much?

I know this is a lot, I just wanna surprise her with this trip and not be worried and still planning when we get there. I want her to relax and us to enjoy our time there.

Thanks so so much in advance!

 

[havoc315]

Unless it is free dining, you should skip the dining plan. Based on your description, neither dining plan would work at all for you.
The deluxe plan is pretty good -- But only if you intend to eat 3 sitdown meals per day, OR you plan on having a character breakfast and/or sitdown lunch, PLUS a signature dinner, with appetizers and desserts at every meal. So, if you use your credits for QS meals, or you don't use a lot of your credits, you lose a ton of money.
Under the regular DDP -- You're getting plenty of food. And meals are often big enough to share. But, you are paying approximately $34 per sitdown meal and $15 per qs meal. So if you use credits for breakfast, you lose a ton of money. If you skip dessert, you lose a ton of money. If you order anything other than steak for dinner, you probably lose money.

As an example, let's say you ate TS breakfast at CSR. And then ate lunch and dinner as counter service at the park:
2 people, breakfast (entree plus beverage) at CSR TS restaurant, about $30.
Lunch -- share 1 credit, at Cosmic Rays. Get the Chicken & Rib combo platter, plus dessert plus beverage. About $22. (by far, the most expensive QS at Magic Kingdom)
Then dinner at Columbia Harbor House --
Now, you have 1 QS credit left, so let's get 2 meals here, and pay OOP for 1 of them:
Lobster roll, dessert, beverage -- covered by 1 QS credit. It would cost about $16.
And then pay OOP for the shrimp basket -- $10.
Use snack credits for an extra beverage, maybe another dessert. Value, about $7.

If on the dining plan -- cost would be $102, plus the of the shrimp basket -- So if on the DDP, total cost would be $112.
If you used the DxDP, you wouldn't pay anything OOP -- but total cost would be $170.

If you skipping the dining plan totally, then the total cost would be $85.

So you can see, significantly cheaper to skip the dining plan totally, IF that's the way you plan on eating.

Now, if instead of TS breakfast in the morning, you did a steak dinner, or a character buffet dinner -- then the dining plan *might* save you a few dollars.

 

[drj898]

Whew...that was well worth the read. I didn't expect something so substantial as a reply! I'm so incredibly grateful to have such helpful members on here lol. A couple things:

1) Making breakfast TS is definitely realistic.
2) Lunch and dinner QS at the parks is unrealistic. I'd love to have a nice romantic dinner at least once. Especially at a nice international place at Epcot.
3) My mother made a deal with me when I was trying to plan this financially. She'll pay for the resort (within reason..moderate or maybe a cheaper deluxe), magic your way, and flight. I was kind of giving her approx. amounts with a dining plan, so maybe I should keep it lol.

In case I didn't say it already...thank you so much.

 

[havoc315]

If you are looking for 1-2 TS dinners, then you are still better off skipping the dining plan.
As you are adults only, it sounds like you don't have interest in character meals.

Where the dining plan would make sense -- If you decide to pay OOP for a small breakfast. Then do a QS lunch. And then order steak at a TS restaurant almost every night (TS every night, steak almost every night). And get dessert at every meal.

So let's look at an Epcot day, as an example --- As I said, it make sense if you want steak for dinner and a few other dining options. But let's again see a middle of the road example:

QS breakfast at the resort. Share a QS meal, use your mugs for beverages. Total price, about $10.
QS lunch at Epcot, Sunshine Seasons -- Use 1 credit, share an entree, get a dessert and beverage. use a snack credit for an extra beverage. Or about $20 total if paying OOP.

Use your other snack credit sometime during the day to share a pastry or ice cream or whatever -- About $4.

Dinner -- Coral Reef Restaurant -- Seared Chicken Breast - served over spaetzle finished with Applewood smoked bacon - chicken broth $20.99
Grilled Mahi Mahi - with laughing bird shrimp, heats of palm, jasmine rice and a coconut lime sauce $24.99
As you already had dessert at lunch, plus a mid-day snack dessert, let's share a dessert at dinner: The Chocolate Wave* - served with raspberries $7.99
Beverages -- About $6.

Total for the day --- $94 without tax. Add in tax, You hit $100 exactly.

The dining plan would be $102.
So if you shared a dessert at dinner, then it would have been $2 cheaper to skip the dining plan. If you each got your own dessert, then the DDP would have saved $3 for the day. (About 2.5% savings in total).

So as you can see, the DDP does make sense for you IF you want dessert at every meal, and entrees that cost over $25 every night.
If not following that formula, then it makes the most sense to skip the dining plan.

Footnote -- The deluxe dining plan makes sense if you want a signature dinner every night ($60+ dinner at a signature restaurant per person), plus you want a TS lunch every day.

 

[LJSquishy]

I just wanted to let you know that CSR does not have a TS breakfast option. Pepper Market is a CS buffet for breakfast & lunch (and regular CS style for dinner), and Maya Grill is a TS restaurant but is only open for dinner now. There is also Cafe Rix that offers CS credit breakfast sandwiches and lots of snack credit pastries.

With no ability to eat a TS breakfast at CSR, that may influence your plans. It does state in the 2012 DDP brochure that you may redeem your TS credits for CS meals if you wish, but it wouldn't be a good use of credits cost-wise.

 

[drj898]

I must update this now...and let everyone know that CSR is pretty much out. I've came to the conclusion to now go to either AKR or WL instead. And the DDP is still questionable. Thanks! =)