First Trip!

[CanaQueen90]

Booking our first DW trip in Feb 2015 (pretty soon!) 2 adults and a 4 year old.
Never booked a trip before so looking for any tips/advice.
I have priced out staying at POP with the play/ stay/dine package for 9 nights $3300 ($3800 canadian) and the room only discount with park passes (7day) /park hopper/and memory maker for $2400 ($2700 canadian). Obviously that one doesn't include the dining plan. Still not sure if the dining plan is worth it at this point or not.
Good deals ? Seems pretty good to me but having never booked before I have nothing to compare it to.

 

[MickeyMomV]

Its all about personal preference. Your looking at $100/day (american) to feed 3 people at disney. To me that sounds good but there are the "anti-DDP" people that will tell you that unless it is free it is not worth it and you are waisting your money. If you are planning 1 TS, 1 CS, and atleast a snack per day the $100/day is worth it IMO. Sorry I dont know how that translates to Canadian $.

 

[CanaQueen90]

$100/day without the plan? I guess I should make sure we can get some character meals in before I book the DDP since we are closer than 180 days

 

[sxeensweet]

$100/day without the plan? I guess I should make sure we can get some character meals in before I book the DDP since we are closer than 180 days

Yes easily $100 or more a day for 3 people if paying cash so the deal including dining above is a good deal in my opinion.
Me and DH at 1 restaurant not including a quick service or snack for the day will spend over $100 NOT including any alcohol! Disney food albeit delicious is pretty pricey. Personally me and DH love the regular dining plan and get our money's worth and like our food being pre paid for etc.

 

[CanaQueen90]

Awesome thank you! I think you just made my decision
Ever go over on the plan?
Also if we wanted to skip a TS one day and do a 2 QS can u on the plan or no?

 

[sxeensweet]

Awesome thank you! I think you just made my decision
Ever go over on the plan?
Also if we wanted to skip a TS one day and do a 2 QS can u on the plan or no?

Yes it goes by credits so you can use up all QS credits on 1 day if you want etc. Then say the next day you eat at a 2 TS credit place etc. You do not have to use your credits in any kind of order. If you are there 9 nights you get per person 9 TS, 9 QS, and 9 snacks so for 3 people you would have 27 total for the 3 categories.
Oh and yes we have gone over and had to pay for a few extra TS places out of pocket, etc but we save the cheapest places to pay out of pocket etc if we do that.

 

[sxeensweet]

$100/day without the plan? I guess I should make sure we can get some character meals in before I book the DDP since we are closer than 180 days

Oh also I would recommend only doing 1-2 character meals. Pure opinion but the food at most of them is not the best Disney has to offer (good but there is better..have done most of them ourselves) and they eat up your dining credits (most are 2TS credits per person at each.. A few are only 1 like Ohana' breakfast with Lilo and Stich) Now if your little one absolutely wants to be guaranteed to meet certain characters it is a wonderful way to do that. All on preference but a lot of family members and friends that did mostly character meals are the same ones coming back saying the food was just okay and too expensive. You can look at the recent menus of all restaurants on Allears.net as a guide to see what they have to eat on adult and kid menus. Again purely opinion and what your little one wants.

 

[MickeyMomV]

I just looked at your origional post again and realized that you are also adjusting the number of days you are at the parks. With the 9 night PSD you are getting a 10 day park ticket compared to a 7 day ticket. Even though its not a lot it makes up about $100 of the price difference. So now you are looking at $800 for the DDP.

 

[sxeensweet]

I just looked at your origional post again and realized that you are also adjusting the number of days you are at the parks. With the 9 night PSD you are getting a 10 day park ticket compared to a 7 day ticket. Even though its not a lot it makes up about $100 of the price difference. So now you are looking at $800 for the DDP.

Good Catch that's another upside to that package. I like having tickets for all days and usually we use them even if it's just to go eat at a restaurant for dinner on a relax day or a quick run into a park again on the check out day.

 

[MickeyMomV]

Oh also I would recommend only doing 1-2 character meals. Pure opinion but the food at most of them is not the best Disney has to offer (good but there is better..have done most of them ourselves) and they eat up your dining credits. Now if your little oneabsolutely wants to be guaranteed to meet certain characters it is a wonderful way to do that. All on preference but a lot of family members and friends that did mostly character meals are the same ones coming back saying the food was just okay and too expensive. You can look at the recent menus of all restaurants on Allears.net as a guide to see what they have to eat on adult and kid menus. Again purely opinion and what your little one wants.

Ohana is a great Character Breakfast and only takes one TS credit. Good food served family style and you get Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. We do this one every time we are there!!

You do have to watch the some of the meals. We would probably avoid the Character meals that are buffet that take 2 credits. Most of the time its just regular food and you are givig up the extra credit just for the Character.

 

[sxeensweet]

Ohana is a great Character Breakfast and only takes one TS credit. Good food served family style and you get Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. We do this one every time we are there!!

You do have to watch the some of the meals. We would probably avoid the Character meals that are buffet that take 2 credits. Most of the time its just regular food and you are givig up the extra credit just for the Character.

Good point again! We are actually doing Ohana' for breakfast this upcoming trip(and dinner of course we love there for dinner minus characters as well). Great character option for only 1 credit! Also agree with Character buffets they are mediocre and not worth 2 credits etc. Cinderellas Royal Table is a nice one because it is a sit down meal and not a buffet esp for breakfast the food is delicious and its a great way to meet the popular princesses.