Room and park tickets?

[Allygator]

Last year I booked a military discount room and ddp. I was told by my TA until I was ready to purchase the park tickets they wouldn't be a part of my vacation package. So next year I'm thinking of not doing the dining plan. If I don't use the military discount can I book the room and tickets together for $200 when the dates open later this year for next year? We are planning for April 2015 and won't be paid in full not too far from our 45 day mark. I know you need tickets linked to your MDE to schedule your fp+ (at 60 days?). Thanks. I hope that wasn't too confusing.

 

[KCheatle]

Yes. You can just book the room and tickets and just skip over the dining plan. The way the website is set up now, you have to actually add the dining plan if you want it. A "vacation package" is created when you book both a room and tickets. It's a "vacation package" that you can put $200 towards and pay the remainder off 45 days in advance of the trip. the dining package is simple another element of your "vacation package" it does not need to be included. However, just FYI, if you only book the room, then you have to put down one night's rate. For some people, that's cheaper than $200. For others, one night of a room is more expensive than $200.

 

[Allygator]

Yes. You can just book the room and tickets and just skip over the dining plan. The way the website is set up now, you have to actually add the dining plan if you want it. A "vacation package" is created when you book both a room and tickets. It's a "vacation package" that you can put $200 towards and pay the remainder off 45 days in advance of the trip. the dining package is simple another element of your "vacation package" it does not need to be included. However, just FYI, if you only book the room, then you have to put down one night's rate. For some people, that's cheaper than $200. For others, one night of a room is more expensive than $200.

Thank you. My daughter and I did the deluxe dining a couple years ago. Half of our dinners we went to she was still full from breakfast. Lol. My husband is going this time and he's not a dessert person so I'm thinking paying out of pocket may be the way to go. I just didn't want to miss the 60 day prior for fp+ selections.

 

[KCheatle]

Thank you. My daughter and I did the deluxe dining a couple years ago. Half of our dinners we went to she was still full from breakfast. Lol. My husband is going this time and he's not a dessert person so I'm thinking paying out of pocket may be the way to go. I just didn't want to miss the 60 day prior for fp+ selections.

The deluxe dining plan may have been a bit much. We enjoy the regular dining plan. Some days we skip a table service so that we can combine it with a second TS for a meal in Canada or another "fancier" restaurant. It keeps us from feeling so "stuffed" every day too. Maybe something to consider??

The prices for restaurants now are very high! You can see the prices for all the restaurants online. Maybe go through and estimate what you'd be spending at each and compare to the cost of the dining plan??

 

[dreamfinder]

You don't need to book tickets as part of your package to be able to use them for FP+. If you don't want the dining plan, then book your room with whatever discount is applicable (or at rack if needed) and then buy your tickets from a 3rd party reseller. You end up saving money both ways.

Definitely run the numbers on the dining plans. If you don't eat exactly to the plan, you will end up spending more than if you paid out of pocket. And the "savings" from the dining plan may easily be offset by the savings through a room discount/3rd party tickets. The dining plan often only makes sense financially when its free.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

i've found two excellent resources for planning re: the dining plans. distripplanner(dot)com and seeyareelsoon(dot)wix(dot)com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0. the first is very easy to use and web-based. the second is a spreadsheet you can download that i find is VERY thorough. i've toyed with both using a couple of different ideas i've come up with for dining on our october trip.

we currently have the regular dining plan booked but have gone back and forth between upgrading to deluxe or just paying oop. but as @dreamfinder said, the dining plan often only really works with it's free or if you will always order the most expensive thing on the menu. on regular days, i'm 90% vegetarian and have really lost a lot of my desire for meat. i think i might be ordering vegetarian options most sit-down dinners, which are not the most expensive. imho, if it works out close to go with the dining plan vs. oop, the convenience of prepaying for a lot of you meals might be worth it. we're considering buying a bucket of disney gift cards to do that though, as well as to cover souvenirs and stuff, so our trip is really paid in full.