Just clarifying the DxDD math -- help me make sure i am right on this!

[kniquy]

We have a family trip coming up in April. Our first 3 days will be at Poly and we will have 2 studios -One room with 2 adults the other studio with 4 Disney adults and one kid-

I am considering adding the deluxe plan for the one room with 2 adults which would be $697.50 (I am wondering does this include tax).

so 18 TS credits, 12 snack credits and 2 refillable mugs

For our first 3 days we have the following reservations:
Coral Reef - with an avg OOP cost of $258 -336 (not including alcohol which i guess is now included)
Ohana - 6 adults @ $46pp = $276
Sanaa - 6 adults avg OOP cost $252-348 (again no alcohol)

So just with these 3 meals on the low end would cost OOP $786. If we added an avg alcoholic drink of say $9 then that would add about $36 to each meal -- (we will have 2 disney kid/adults with us).

This seems like a no brainier.

Snack would say average $5x 12 = $60
The mugs I think are around $17 (not sure we would get much use but always a nice souvenir) -- would they be good for the second leg of our stay 4 days at AKL?

So looking at a total low OOP estimate of $988 -- could i really save $290.50 -- please correct me if i made a math mistake some where.

I am actually thinking about adding my 4DD to their room so we would get her meals, snack credits and the mug for $39.99 per day.

I feel like i am doing something wrong with my math, but i pretty much scoured each restaurant and figured the low end of menu items - i am correct factoring any appetizer, entree and dessert and isn't limited to a certain pre-fix menu, right? I did the dining plan a few years ago and i am pretty sure that we could order what we wanted.

 

[sharonabe]

Your math looks right to me. The only possible draw back would be if you really WANT SIX apps, SIX entrees, and SIX desserts on the table. Did you estimate based on what you WANT to eat or what the plan gives you?

Yes you can order anything on the menu, and yes, the two mugs would be good for your 2nd stay.

 

[kniquy]

Your math looks right to me. The only possible draw back would be if you really WANT SIX apps, SIX entrees, and SIX desserts on the table. Did you estimate based on what you WANT to eat or what the plan gives you?

I did think about that - a ton of food which is what we really don't like about the dining plan. I think because we are spreading out the meals - coral reef would be on a Saturday and Sanaa will be on Tuesday. We won't be over endulging every day. We are foodies so to be able to sample all those different apps and desserts would be great - but we will be rolling ourselves out of there for sure.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

If you weeren't on the plan, would you be purchasing that much? If you wouldn't buy it without the plan, then the plan isn't really saving you money.

 

[sharonabe]

I did think about that - a ton of food which is what we really don't like about the dining plan. I think because we are spreading out the meals - coral reef would be on a Saturday and Sanaa will be on Tuesday. We won't be over endulging every day. We are foodies so to be able to sample all those different apps and desserts would be great - but we will be rolling ourselves out of there for sure.

Make sure you figure in how much more your tips are going to be with that much food on the table. With a party of 6, you'll be charged an automatic 18%.

 

[kniquy]

Make sure you figure in how much more your tips are going to be with that much food on the table. With a party of 6, you'll be charged an automatic 18%.

Excellent point! I didn't even consider this. Just playing with the numbers right now to see what makes sense. I do have the other factor of AP or DVC discounts so i'll have to wait and see what restaurants/discounts are offered.

 

[lovin'fl]

Just want to share my recent experience with DxDP. We just got back a week ago from a 7 night trip where the first 4 nights were at BWV and the last 3 at AKV. We also had two studios with two adults in each so we got the plan for just one room for the 4 nights. We booked 3 signature dinners...Cali Grill, Artist Point and Jiko. We used all the snacks at F&W booths and tried to only use them on the $6+ items. We were calculating everything up until we broke even. We broke even with signature meal 2 and half the snacks used....Jiko and other half of the snack credits and the two mugs were all "free". Was soooooo worth it. And, yes, we could use the mugs the whole time at AKV too.

But we did decide we won't do it again next year. Just too much eating with getting apps, entres and desserts...plus we hit every F&W booth (paying OOP for a lot). So much food I felt icky a lot. May just get the TIW card instead.

 

[lovin'fl]

Excellent point! I didn't even consider this. Just playing with the numbers right now to see what makes sense. I do have the other factor of AP or DVC discounts so i'll have to wait and see what restaurants/discounts are offered.

You will have to pay tips either way...AP discount, TIW or any of the DPs.

 

[sharonabe]

You will have to pay tips either way...AP discount, TIW or any of the DPs.

While that is true, the total cost of the meal will probably be substantially LESS if not using the DxDDP. And the 20% TIW pretty much equals the cost of the tips, so you're only paying for the food.

 

[Faldred]

Yeah, the math on DxDP says it's a no-brainer if you want to eat in the manner the entitlements cover. The only exception would be if you're eligible for TiW and will use the TiW enough to make up for it's cost, then I'd recommend TiW for flexibility.

 

[reking96]

From my experience regarding tips.. I’ve done regular DPD and DxDP, and with the DXDP the tips can really add up fast. Being the geek that I am, I actually went though each menu, estimated the cost of the meal. Created a spreadsheet with the estimated cost times that by 18 percent... totaled all that up. During a weeks stay you can spend about $100 just in tips. (Of course that’s with some signature meals.) Hope that made sense.

 

[Dakota731]

During a weeks stay you can spend about $100 just in tips

Oh my it’s much more than that for tips when I did the math! For three table meals a day you would spend three times that easily depending where you ate

 

[Faldred]

If you tip a specific percentage, typically (and let's not get into tipping practices), my advice would be to budget that percentage of the total dining plan cost for tips on DxDP. The non-TS or gratuity included items will roughly offset the higher check totals, and it will at least be a decent ballpark estimate.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

If you tip a specific percentage, typically (and let's not get into tipping practices), my advice would be to budget that percentage of the total dining plan cost for tips on DxDP. The non-TS or gratuity included items will roughly offset the higher check totals, and it will at least be a decent ballpark estimate.

That is exactly what I did.

A set percentage of the cost of the plan.

Obviously, we didn't spend that much, since that included the snacks and mugs. BUT it did give us a ballpark figure.

 

[kniquy]

Discussed it with my husband and for certain - 6 apps and desserts is way too much for our group, but now i am considering using 3 TS credits per meal so that we get 3 apps (which might be what we would order anyways) and 3 desserts -- just enough for our group of 7 to sample. I still have to go back to the drawing board and see if the numbers make sense.

If you were only using a few credits per meal i wonder just how they figure out which meals would be part of the dining credit and which ones would not? obviously i would want our more expensive meals to be tied to the TS credit. Anyone experience this? Maybe i'll have to post this question as its own thread.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Discussed it with my husband and for certain - 6 apps and desserts is way too much for our group, but now i am considering using 3 TS credits per meal so that we get 3 apps (which might be what we would order anyways) and 3 desserts -- just enough for our group of 7 to sample. I still have to go back to the drawing board and see if the numbers make sense.

If you were only using a few credits per meal i wonder just how they figure out which meals would be part of the dining credit and which ones would not? obviously i would want our more expensive meals to be tied to the TS credit. Anyone experience this? Maybe i'll have to post this question as its own thread.

You just tell them.

Honestly, that is all you have to do.

I'd like to pay for my meal (with app), his meal (with app) and her meal (will app) with the dining plan. His, His and Hers are with cash.