This Dang Dining Plan, ARGH!

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UnbalancedLibra's picture
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This Dang Dining Plan, ARGH!

Between staying at BLT as a DVC member for the first time and having people come and go and thinking about dining and park tickets and everything else - my head is spinning. I need help guys!

Okay - we are still 'new' to visiting Disney, this next trip will only be our 3rd as a family. There are so many restaurants we haven't experienced and would love to. However, with the kitchen in our villa, so many people say it is really silly to not take advantage and use it! Save money! I agree BUT I really hate to cook here at home, the last thing I want to have to do on vacation is go grocery shopping ad then cook meals yuck
So, we're thinking yes, we'll bring snacks (we're driving down so we'll need them anyway) and we will definitely take advantage of the kitchen for breakfast - that sounds perfect! However, lunch and dinner? I really don't think I want to have to come back to the room on a regular basis to get some grub - so I've started to map out where we'd like to eat every day - we know we want at least one TS every day.

This is where the DDP comes into play. Last year it didn't work out very well for us because my son, who was only 2 at the time, wasn't able to be on the DDP but yet he ate a lot so sharing meals was not an option. Buffets worked out well for us but TS was a nightmare because we were still paying for him, plus any extras (drinks) and of course gratuity. I am trying to decide if it's better to just save $ and then use it for meals and pay as we go or if the dining plan would be with it this time. I know that it's going up in price for next year - something like $41.99 for adults and $11.99 for kids per day? That includes 1 TS, 1 QS and 1 snack. The places I think we'd like to eat average more than that per day. I mean, just figure an adult gets a sandwich/fries/drink for lunch somewhere - that's about $10 then a TS could be well over $30 per person (if it's not a buffet) so there's already at least $40 a day for that adult.

Then, it gets worse; me, CJ, the 3 kids and my grandma will be driving down together. Grandma is only staying for 3 days so she was just going to be coming as our guest. The day she leaves, my MIL and my BFF are coming. I was going to have Fawn (my MIL) on the reservation but not Cherie (my BFF) - she was going to be a guest as well. I thought if we did do the DPP we'd get it for Fawn and since she'd only need it for 5 days, grandma could use it for the 3 days she'd be there as I was told if we get the DDP for someone and they don't use all the credits, those credits can be used by the rest of us. However, grandma gets there before Fawn so would we even have Fawn's card for grandma to use? Or do I need to have grandma register and have Fawn as the guest?

Cherie was just going to be a guest as she said it was no problem for her to just get her own park tickets and pay for her meals each day. So perfect, if we choose the DDp that's 8 days for me, CJ and the kids - 8 days for Fawn used by grandma for 3 days and Fawn for 5. Cherie no DDP as she'd just be a guest. Perfect, right?

It gets even more complicated because if the person needs the Magical Express
then they need to be registered, cannot be a 'guest' and Fawn and Cherie need the ME waiting AND, if we want the DDP all those that are registered must be on it.

I have no clue how to manage this one - help!

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Y'know, having read this and your previous report, I would say that at some point, you need to consider if this is really all worth the effort.

While SOME planning is certainly advisable when going to WDW, after a certain point, it is no longer a vacation but a chore. Unfortunately, I think you've gone way past that point.

Since you have people coming and going during the stay, I would advice against getting the DDP. It isn't worth the confusion, the complication, and the aggravation. Eat breakfast in your room the way you planned it, and then just do mostly quick service, other than a few table service here and there, and let it go at that. Getting the DDP will force you not only to make dinner reservations to make sure you get to use your table service, but also to get everyone to agree upon where to go.

I don't think I've ever been this stressed out about going to WDW. I've been stressed about about COMING BACK, but never, ever going there.

Zz.

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ZapperZ wrote:
Y'know, having read this and your previous report, I would say that at some point, you need to consider if this is really all worth the effort.

While SOME planning is certainly advisable when going to WDW, after a certain point, it is no longer a vacation but a chore. Unfortunately, I think you've gone way past that point.

Since you have people coming and going during the stay, I would advice against getting the DDP. It isn't worth the confusion, the complication, and the aggravation. Eat breakfast in your room the way you planned it, and then just do mostly quick service, other than a few table service here and there, and let it go at that. Getting the DDP will force you not only to make dinner reservations to make sure you get to use your table service, but also to get everyone to agree upon where to go.

I don't think I've ever been this stressed out about going to WDW. I've been stressed about about COMING BACK, but never, ever going there.

Zz.

LOL - me? Stressed???? gaah

Actually I am not stressed - yet but I am trying t figure out the best approach as this aspect of Disney (the DVC) part, is all new to me and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do this.
When I calculated the places I think we'd like to eat at in one day vs the price of the DDP, I noticed we'd probably pay more per day than if we'd be on the dinning plan. waiting

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Hi, UL! I like your picture! mickey

I think ZZ is probably right, with people coming and going, the DP may be too much hassle. Also, if you're going to be eating breakfast in the villa/studio, DDP may not be worth the money.

We have not yet taken our first DVC trip (Feb!!! clapping ) But we are thinking that we will not get DDP because it is cheaper and much more relaxing to have breakfast in the studio than a noisy food court. If we take an afternoon break, we will have lunch in the room, otherwise probably a snack in the parks will do. We will still have dinners at TS, but probably would not use all the QS credits. We have a summer trip planned also, so will get APs and TIW, which provides a 20% discount off at most TS and QS places.

Even if you don't get DDP, be sure to make ADRs. Otherwise you may have trouble getting a table with a larger group.

Have fun!

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UnbalancedLibra wrote:
LOL - me? Stressed???? gaah

Actually I am not stressed - yet but I am trying t figure out the best approach as this aspect of Disney (the DVC) part, is all new to me and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do this.
When I calculated the places I think we'd like to eat at in one day vs the price of the DDP, I noticed we'd probably pay more per day than if we'd be on the dinning plan. waiting

Maybe I'm missing something, but what does the DVC part have anything to do with all this? Isn't it the same whether you are on DVC or not? Or are you saying that that the fact that you get a kitchen introduced another complication into the whole mix? I can't think of any other factor that would be different than a regular Disney resort.

So you have a full kitchen. Consider it as a convenience rather than something that you HAVE to use. In all the years that I've had a kitchen (or kitchenette) at a DVC resort, the most I've ever used it for was to boil water to make some tea! Whoever demands that I prepare a meal while I'm on vacation just because we have a full kitchen can go scre.... themselves! {pardon my French}.

Zz.

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dopeynme wrote:
Hi, UL! I like your picture! mickey

I think ZZ is probably right, with people coming and going, the DP may be too much hassle. Also, if you're going to be eating breakfast in the villa/studio, DDP may not be worth the money.

We have not yet taken our first DVC trip (Feb!!! clapping ) But we are thinking that we will not get DDP because it is cheaper and much more relaxing to have breakfast in the studio than a noisy food court. If we take an afternoon break, we will have lunch in the room, otherwise probably a snack in the parks will do. We will still have dinners at TS, but probably would not use all the QS credits. We have a summer trip planned also, so will get APs and TIW, which provides a 20% discount off at most TS and QS places.

Even if you don't get DDP, be sure to make ADRs. Otherwise you may have trouble getting a table with a larger group.

Have fun!

You're right, we probably wouldn't use all the QS credits either...We can't get APs because it would not be worth it as I am 99.9% certain we won't be going to WDW 2 times in one year. I may try to remedy that in the future - maybe in 2011 we'll go the 3rd week in May and then in 2012 we'll go in the beginning of May, or something similar.

I do know that we love Disney dining but maybe limiting ourselves to 1 TS a day would work out best. Although I know we have to eat at Ray's Starlight Cafe at least 2 times laugh

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ZapperZ wrote:

Maybe I'm missing something, but what does the DVC part have anything to do with all this? Isn't it the same whether you are on DVC or not? Or are you saying that that the fact that you get a kitchen introduced another complication into the whole mix? I can't think of any other factor that would be different than a regular Disney resort.

So you have a full kitchen. Consider it as a convenience rather than something that you HAVE to use. In all the years that I've had a kitchen (or kitchenette) at a DVC resort, the most I've ever used it for was to boil water to make some tea! Whoever demands that I prepare a meal while I'm on vacation just because we have a full kitchen can go scre.... themselves! {pardon my French}.

Zz.

Thank you for being patient with me - I know I'm being a pain waiting
I guess the DVC part is confusing to me because it's new - I am just used to getting the entire package; room, park tickets and dining - so I've never really had to 'think' about al this, individually. I booked and made ADRs to fill the space and maybe that's why my trips have been so off, so to speak.

I guess I've just been trying to figure in the whole having a kitchen aspect and how to use it to my advantage - without killing myself with grocery shopping and cooking and dishes laugh

So, as a DVC member I now need to think about park tickets and meals seperately and I guess it's making me nuts eek

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dopeynme wrote:
Hi, UL! I like your picture! mickey

I think ZZ is probably right, with people coming and going, the DP may be too much hassle. Also, if you're going to be eating breakfast in the villa/studio, DDP may not be worth the money.

We have not yet taken our first DVC trip (Feb!!! clapping ) But we are thinking that we will not get DDP because it is cheaper and much more relaxing to have breakfast in the studio than a noisy food court. If we take an afternoon break, we will have lunch in the room, otherwise probably a snack in the parks will do. We will still have dinners at TS, but probably would not use all the QS credits. We have a summer trip planned also, so will get APs and TIW, which provides a 20% discount off at most TS and QS places.

Even if you don't get DDP, be sure to make ADRs. Otherwise you may have trouble getting a table with a larger group.

Have fun!


Oh, thank you for the compliment on my picture cool

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UnbalancedLibra wrote:

Thank you for being patient with me - I know I'm being a pain waiting
I guess the DVC part is confusing to me because it's new - I am just used to getting the entire package; room, park tickets and dining - so I've never really had to 'think' about al this, individually. I booked and made ADRs to fill the space and maybe that's why my trips have been so off, so to speak.

I guess I've just been trying to figure in the whole having a kitchen aspect and how to use it to my advantage - without killing myself with grocery shopping and cooking and dishes laugh

So, as a DVC member I now need to think about park tickets and meals seperately and I guess it's making me nuts eek

This is what is confusing me. The "entire package" can be obtained even when you're not a DVC member. The Magic Your Way package contains the SAME thing, even at a lower price than for DVC members (you can't get free DDP via DVC bookings). So being a DVC member isn't anything new or special as far as having the "entire package" is concerned. That is why I brought up the kitchen convenience since a standard, non-DVC room doesn't have such a thing. So that's the ONLY difference I can think of that would be different than what you may have had before.

But this is such a small issue, and it is puzzling me why something that should have been a convenience, is causing such a headache. Don't tell anyone that there's a kitchen, or if they already know, tell them you don't plan on preparing any meals. If they want to cook something, that's their problem. You're on a vacation. I don't see that as being unreasonable at all.

Zz.

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ZapperZ wrote:
UnbalancedLibra wrote:

Thank you for being patient with me - I know I'm being a pain waiting
I guess the DVC part is confusing to me because it's new - I am just used to getting the entire package; room, park tickets and dining - so I've never really had to 'think' about al this, individually. I booked and made ADRs to fill the space and maybe that's why my trips have been so off, so to speak.

I guess I've just been trying to figure in the whole having a kitchen aspect and how to use it to my advantage - without killing myself with grocery shopping and cooking and dishes laugh

So, as a DVC member I now need to think about park tickets and meals seperately and I guess it's making me nuts eek

This is what is confusing me. The "entire package" can be obtained even when you're not a DVC member. The Magic Your Way package contains the SAME thing, even at a lower price than for DVC members (you can't get free DDP via DVC bookings). So being a DVC member isn't anything new or special as far as having the "entire package" is concerned. That is why I brought up the kitchen convenience since a standard, non-DVC room doesn't have such a thing. So that's the ONLY difference I can think of that would be different than what you may have had before.

But this is such a small issue, and it is puzzling me why something that should have been a convenience, is causing such a headache. Don't tell anyone that there's a kitchen, or if they already know, tell them you don't plan on preparing any meals. If they want to cook something, that's their problem. You're on a vacation. I don't see that as being unreasonable at all.

Zz.

I tend to look too far into things - I know. You've made some great points. Thanks for pulling my head out of my butt laugh

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UnbalancedLibra wrote:

I tend to look too far into things - I know. You've made some great points. Thanks for pulling my head out of my butt laugh

rolling This whole interchange is cracking me up! You guys are the best. UL, I agree, I think no DDP (even though I'm NOT a DVC member and really have no idea whatsoever); when things get this messy, I think you just take the straight and narrow. Who knows, you might end up making more meals in your room than you expect... and then it'd be wasted. Good to take a first DVC trip and see what your "personality" as a DVC member is.

In the meantime, I like your new pic, too! mickey

Oh, and thanks to Zz for explaining -- really helpful stuff!!

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Annie wrote:
UnbalancedLibra wrote:

I tend to look too far into things - I know. You've made some great points. Thanks for pulling my head out of my butt laugh

rolling This whole interchange is cracking me up! You guys are the best. UL, I agree, I think no DDP (even though I'm NOT a DVC member and really have no idea whatsoever); when things get this messy, I think you just take the straight and narrow. Who knows, you might end up making more meals in your room than you expect... and then it'd be wasted. Good to take a first DVC trip and see what your "personality" as a DVC member is.

In the meantime, I like your new pic, too! mickey

Oh, and thanks to Zz for explaining -- really helpful stuff!!

LOL - thank goodness Zz is patient - I think he wanted to shake me through the computer screen eek

I just know we will eat 'out' often because well, we're lazy like that laugh so I am trying to figure out the best route $ wise and in fact, the DDP would be the best - IF things would work out the way *I* want them to - but that ain't happening!

Thanks about the picture. I like to put a face to a name - we all need photos! mickey

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I would agree that you can certainly turn a vacation into work if you're not careful. Planning is one thing, agonizing over the smallest details is another. You're doing a great job planning. Try to nail down those last few details and be done with it.

It does sound like the DDP would be more trouble than it's worth in this case. Excluding that from your plans will give you some added flexibility. You can eat what you want, when you want, how you want. If you do want to save a few bucks without having to do much work in the resort kitchen, consider some easy meals like Banquet Homestyle Bakes. They take just a few minutes to prep, then you pop them in the oven, then...dinner's served. In addition, they don't create much of a mess. Just one bowl for prep, and one casserole-type dish. Family can eat on disposable plates and use plasticware.

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Do you have to do dishes in the villas, or do they have paper plates, etc? Dishwashers? (Sorry, UL, this doesn't help you, but I'm curious...) Wink

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All 1 bedroom and higher DVC villas will have ceramic dinnerware and silverware. Studios will depend on the location because there were issues with some locations about the level that they can clean those dinner wares.

All 1 bedroom and higher, it think, have dishwashers.

Zz.

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LifeIsForLiving wrote:
I would agree that you can certainly turn a vacation into work if you're not careful. Planning is one thing, agonizing over the smallest details is another. You're doing a great job planning. Try to nail down those last few details and be done with it.

It does sound like the DDP would be more trouble than it's worth in this case. Excluding that from your plans will give you some added flexibility. You can eat what you want, when you want, how you want. If you do want to save a few bucks without having to do much work in the resort kitchen, consider some easy meals like Banquet Homestyle Bakes. They take just a few minutes to prep, then you pop them in the oven, then...dinner's served. In addition, they don't create much of a mess. Just one bowl for prep, and one casserole-type dish. Family can eat on disposable plates and use plasticware.

You are so right - I have officially gotten my head out of my butt and I have decided against the DDP! mickey

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