Christine
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 1999
Good morning!! We are getting very close to our big, group trip (16 ppl) and it's about time to make the dining plan decision. If you've read any of my previous threads, you'll know that I am the "director" of this group trip which consists of my family and my extended family. Part of group has not been to Disney since the 1990s. This is a big trip for them for various reasons, and for other various reasons, they have not been involved much at all with the planning.
So for this "subgroup" I have 9 ppl. They are 7 adults and 2 children (ages 3 & 4). My cousin is paying for most of the group of 9's expenses and for ease, she is pretty set on getting one of the dining plans. The rooms are as follows:
Room 1: 3 adults, 2 children (2 of the 3 adults are eaters/drinkers, and one adult is picky)
Room 2: 2 adults (eaters/drinkers)
Room 3: 2 adults (both have health issues and don't eat much. One of them, due to Crohn's will probably eat light at every meal).
One option is to get the DDP for Rooms 1 & 2 at a cost of $3441.69.
2nd option is DxDP for Room 1 to be shared across all 3 rooms at $3033.87
I've done some calculations and I was leaning toward the standard plan, but now I'm not sure.
So far, they have the following dining plans:
Arrival night: Citrico's Birthday Dinner: If on DxDP, they could use 14 credits here (paying for kids OOP). But man, that's a LOT of apps and desserts we probably wouldn't need as we've ordered a custom cake. But I thought maybe the light eater in Room 3 could not order a meal and eat the apps. If on DDP, everyone would just pay OOP.
Day 2: BoG QS breakfast - Use of 9 credits on DxDP or use of 7 QS on regular DDP with the two light eaters paying OOP.
Day 2: Chef Mickey's Buffet: Use of 9 TS credits on both plans.
Day 3: No real plans yet. Four adults from Rooms 1 & 2 will be going to Universal. Plan is to come back in time for dinner. We have an ADR at the GF Cafe for dinner. So if the DxDP was used, that would be 9 of the 15 TS credits used for this day (or 7 if the kids don't want to eat). Otherwise, they'd use credits from the DDP.
Day 4: Epcot Day: No plans yet but plan to hit the F&W. But still looking for a dinner option (everything is booked).
Day 5: Animal Kingdom Day: Again no plans yet.
Day 6: HS day. 'Ohana character breakfast - same thoughts as above. The Wave dinner
Day 7: Water park maybe. Then MVMCP. Again, no plans for them here.
As you can see, I have a *LOT* of gaps in dining for them. Mainly because we booked our rooms within the 180 day window and getting a reservation for 9 or even breaking them up has been tough. I plan on "hoping for the best" closer to the trip as people change plans and cancel. I have had luck with that before. So basically, there WILL be at least one TS per day, just not sure where.
The DxDP seems like it will cover everyone across the party of 9; however, not sure if it's the best choice for the extra $400. I can only analyze so much and I've hit the wall with figuring it out and providing her any advice.
What would you do?
So for this "subgroup" I have 9 ppl. They are 7 adults and 2 children (ages 3 & 4). My cousin is paying for most of the group of 9's expenses and for ease, she is pretty set on getting one of the dining plans. The rooms are as follows:
Room 1: 3 adults, 2 children (2 of the 3 adults are eaters/drinkers, and one adult is picky)
Room 2: 2 adults (eaters/drinkers)
Room 3: 2 adults (both have health issues and don't eat much. One of them, due to Crohn's will probably eat light at every meal).
One option is to get the DDP for Rooms 1 & 2 at a cost of $3441.69.
2nd option is DxDP for Room 1 to be shared across all 3 rooms at $3033.87
I've done some calculations and I was leaning toward the standard plan, but now I'm not sure.
So far, they have the following dining plans:
Arrival night: Citrico's Birthday Dinner: If on DxDP, they could use 14 credits here (paying for kids OOP). But man, that's a LOT of apps and desserts we probably wouldn't need as we've ordered a custom cake. But I thought maybe the light eater in Room 3 could not order a meal and eat the apps. If on DDP, everyone would just pay OOP.
Day 2: BoG QS breakfast - Use of 9 credits on DxDP or use of 7 QS on regular DDP with the two light eaters paying OOP.
Day 2: Chef Mickey's Buffet: Use of 9 TS credits on both plans.
Day 3: No real plans yet. Four adults from Rooms 1 & 2 will be going to Universal. Plan is to come back in time for dinner. We have an ADR at the GF Cafe for dinner. So if the DxDP was used, that would be 9 of the 15 TS credits used for this day (or 7 if the kids don't want to eat). Otherwise, they'd use credits from the DDP.
Day 4: Epcot Day: No plans yet but plan to hit the F&W. But still looking for a dinner option (everything is booked).
Day 5: Animal Kingdom Day: Again no plans yet.
Day 6: HS day. 'Ohana character breakfast - same thoughts as above. The Wave dinner
Day 7: Water park maybe. Then MVMCP. Again, no plans for them here.
As you can see, I have a *LOT* of gaps in dining for them. Mainly because we booked our rooms within the 180 day window and getting a reservation for 9 or even breaking them up has been tough. I plan on "hoping for the best" closer to the trip as people change plans and cancel. I have had luck with that before. So basically, there WILL be at least one TS per day, just not sure where.
The DxDP seems like it will cover everyone across the party of 9; however, not sure if it's the best choice for the extra $400. I can only analyze so much and I've hit the wall with figuring it out and providing her any advice.
What would you do?