Would any of you mind helping me figure this out?

[Mushymom]

We are new to Disney planning, so if I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about - you're right! LOL!

We have room only reservations for November 26-December 3 at the Contemporary Resort with a MK view. With AAA, it's 2552.00. If I didn't have AAA, it would be just over $3000.

We didn't realize (until reading here) that if we wanted the dining plan, we needed to go through an AAA agent, so I called one (super nice lady) who gave me a quote of the Contemporary Resort with MK view for the same nights as I had already booked, 6 day Park hopper tickets, Magic your way and the dining plan for $4621.10. This is the same price I can get if I booked the same things online with Disney.

I'm thinking that in this particular case, it's not worth it to me to get the dining plan. If I just bought the Park Hopper Tickets off of Disney's website and kept my room reservation as is, my cost would be $3290. The difference between that and adding the dining plan would be $1331.10. Is the dining plan for 2 adults and 2 kids worth $1331.10? That's close to $200 a day in food for our family - I'm thinking that it may not be worth it getting the package and just booking the room and the tickets seperately - thus not getting the dining plan.

If you've made it this far without keeling over, (sorry for the long post), thanks - did this make sense, or am I not figuring out things correctly?

Thanks!

 

[Nemo14]

I think a lot depends on how much you plan to eat at the parks. With the dining plan you would be able to eat at a good sit-down restaurant every day and have a complete meal with dessert, plus you'd get a counter service meal and snack each day. For 4 people, this could easily come to $200 per day. There are certainly cheaper ways to eat at WDW, and many people choose not to do the dining plan because of this.

BTW, Welcome to the boards!

 

[Mushymom]

I think a lot depends on how much you plan to eat at the parks. With the dining plan you would be able to eat at a good sit-down restaurant every day and have a complete meal with dessert, plus you'd get a counter service meal and snack each day. For 4 people, this could easily come to $200 per day. There are certainly cheaper ways to eat at WDW, and many people choose not to do the dining plan because of this.

BTW, Welcome to the boards!

Thanks!

Not sure how well my 2 year old would handle a sit down restaurant each day. I think I'll look at the menus and add things up. That'll give me an idea.

Thanks for your help!

 

[shoppingnut]

Normally, I'm in favor of the dining plan, but this for this price difference, I would say go without the dining plan. Also, you can buy your park tickets separately from AAA and they do give a discount that you won't get by buying them on the disney website or at WDW.

 

[Nemo14]

Thanks!

Not sure how well my 2 year old would handle a sit down restaurant each day. I think I'll look at the menus and add things up. That'll give me an idea.

Thanks for your help!

On one of the other threads it mentioned that 2 year olds eat free at the full service restaurants, but I'm not sure how true that is.
And if one of the kids is only 2, the $200 per day for food seems pretty high IMHO

 

[shoppingnut]

Thanks!

Not sure how well my 2 year old would handle a sit down restaurant each day. I think I'll look at the menus and add things up. That'll give me an idea.

Thanks for your help!

That depends on the restaurant because if you are doing character meals, there is more than enough going on in the restaurant that will keep a 2 yr old occupied. Here's the website for the menu's with prices www.allearsnet.com.

 

[shoppingnut]

On one of the other threads it mentioned that 2 year olds eat free at the full service restaurants, but I'm not sure how true that is.
And if one of the kids is only 2, the $200 per day for food seems pretty high IMHO

Yes, they eat free, but at full service restaurants, other than you sharing your meal with them if you order anything you pay for that item. The buffets are definitely free.

 

[wannab@dis]

If you want, you could go ahead and book the nights at the CR through AAA. More than likely, new discounts will be released that will be better than the AAA discount and you can cancel and rebook a package with CRO. We've had AAA for years and have always done better just booking ourselves when the discounts are released. With this in mind, I would wait to get the park tickets. You'll be able to get them right up until you leave at the same price.

Just be sure of cancellation policies before you make a decision.

 

[wannab@dis]

Yes, they eat free, but at full service restaurants, other than you sharing your meal with them if you order anything you pay for that item. The buffets are definitely free.

We didn't pay for our daughter at Le Cellier in Dec. :wave:

 

[Mushymom]

If you want, you could go ahead and book the nights at the CR through AAA. More than likely, new discounts will be released that will be better than the AAA discount and you can cancel and rebook a package with CRO. We've had AAA for years and have always done better just booking ourselves when the discounts are released. With this in mind, I would wait to get the park tickets. You'll be able to get them right up until you leave at the same price.

Just be sure of cancellation policies before you make a decision.

Thanks - I do have the room booked right now through the AAA discount, so I'll keep it that way for now. Thanks for the advice.

One more question - do I have to have the dining plan and/or tickets to make dining reservations?

 

[DisneyMarg]

You may still want to purchase your tickets through AAA. We did that last month (5 day park hoppers) and got the equivalent of one day free. Our AAA office didn't sell more than days, but once you get to Disney you can add more days at Guest Services for very little money.

From other threads, it looks like all AAA office discounts are different.

As for dining plan... you can definitely eat more cheaply - but not as much food or as high quality for less. So your decision is really around "how important is the dining experience?" to your family? When my family was the age of yours, we used mostly counter service restaurants, supplemented with snacks in the room, and one or two nice table service meals during the week. Now, with teenagers, the dining plan is a STEAL!!! I could not afford to fill up my 19 year old son, otherwise!

 

[Mushymom]

You may still want to purchase your tickets through AAA. We did that last month (5 day park hoppers) and got the equivalent of one day free. Our AAA office didn't sell more than days, but once you get to Disney you can add more days at Guest Services for very little money.

From other threads, it looks like all AAA office discounts are different.

As for dining plan... you can definitely eat more cheaply - but not as much food or as high quality for less. So your decision is really around "how important is the dining experience?" to your family? When my family was the age of yours, we used mostly counter service restaurants, supplemented with snacks in the room, and one or two nice table service meals during the week. Now, with teenagers, the dining plan is a STEAL!!! I could not afford to fill up my 19 year old son, otherwise!

Yeah, if I had three teenagers, (instead of a 9, 7 and 2 year old), I'd definitely go for the dining plan. I'm not sure if it's truly worth it (considering the huge discount for just room only) in this case.

Thanks so much everyone for the QUICK replies! This place is amazing!

 

[wannab@dis]

You may still want to purchase your tickets through AAA. We did that last month (5 day park hoppers) and got the equivalent of one day free. Our AAA office didn't sell more than days, but once you get to Disney you can add more days at Guest Services for very little money.

From other threads, it looks like all AAA office discounts are different.

As for dining plan... you can definitely eat more cheaply - but not as much food or as high quality for less. So your decision is really around "how important is the dining experience?" to your family? When my family was the age of yours, we used mostly counter service restaurants, supplemented with snacks in the room, and one or two nice table service meals during the week. Now, with teenagers, the dining plan is a STEAL!!! I could not afford to fill up my 19 year old son, otherwise!

If you purchase your tickets separately, you can't add the Dining plan. It's part of a package that includes the tickets. You would end up having more tickets than necessary.

One more question - do I have to have the dining plan and/or tickets to make dining reservations?

No, you do not have to have the dining plan to make ADRs. :wave:

 

[shoppingnut]

We didn't pay for our daughter at Le Cellier in Dec. :wave:

That's great. I thought I recalled a post by JP you had to pay for anything at the full service restaurants or maybe I'm recalling counter service.

 

[wannab@dis]

That's great. I thought I recalled a post by JP you had to pay for anything at the full service restaurants or maybe I'm recalling counter service.

It may not be a perk... just that the waiter didn't charge us for whatever reason. It happened a couple of other times over the week. Maybe the fact that our meals were covered by the DP and they didn't want to run another ticket for the few dollars for one child?

And yes, kids under 3 always eat free at buffets.

 

[Nicole]

I would not do the dining plan. You can buy it separately for less than $200 a night!

When we went to WDW in Feb with my sister and her family who were on the plan it was really more food than any of us needed. We don't necessarily do a sit-down meal every single day. When we were doing a buffet night after night by the end of the week it was almost a chore to go eat AGAIN.

 

[MouseearsDeb]

Are your dates set? or could you back them up? Disney is offering the dining plan FREE if you stay between the middle of August and the end of Sept. As long as the first day of your vacation is Sept.30, you get the dining plan. If we weren't using the free dining plan, we would normally not get it. However, after this vacation that could change. One thing it allows, is for you to try places and things you might not normally want to fork out the cash for. I know last year at Garden Grill for a 3 adults, 1 child was almost $100. Our three year old in 2004 did fine at the resteraunts. Better than I would have expected. :lookaroun

 

[Teddy1]

If I were in your shoes, I would not do the dining plan. We got back last month and for four of us - me, husband son (13 who can eat) and my daughter 10 - we spent about $778. We grab fruit for breakfast, counter service for lunch and a nice sit down each nite (Le Cellier, Brown Derby, etc.). However, an appetizer, entree and dessert is too much for us each night. We have never spent what the dining plan would cost and we eat pretty well. I keep adding it up every year trying to decide on the dining plan and we always spend less. Good luck.

 

[JPVonDrake]

Allow me to help clarify....

The cost of the Dinning Plan is always $37.99 per guest age 10 and over, and $10.99 per guest ages 3-9 per night plus the cost of the room and MYW tickets. Also, when a total package price is first quoted, it will also include an optional vacation insurance plan unless the insurance is verbally declined by the Guest. This insurance plan cost $59.95 per adult age 18 and over, with children age 17 and under included free. The $59.95 per adult will cover your entire length of stay.

Based on the OP post, it appears that there simply was no AAA MYW Package discounts left available for the dates and resort you requested, hence the reason it was the same price as quoted by the Disney website.

Remember, there is only a limited number of rooms or packages available for any marketing offer, for any given date or location. Once they sell out they are gone. The AAA room-only discount offer is a separate offer from the AAA MYW Package discount offer, and each has a separate pool of rooms to draw from.

From other threads, it looks like all AAA office discounts are different.

The availability and pricing of a AAA discount offer will be the same regardless of which AAA office you use. When you book with a AAA Travel Agent, (or any Travel Agency) you are simply placing an order with them, after which your travel agent will then calls the Disney Reservation Center on a dedicated phone line to book your vacation for you based on availability.

You may still want to purchase your tickets through AAA. We did that last month (5 day park hoppers) and got the equivalent of one day free.

Note that the AAA website will always compare their member's price to the Walt Disney World Gate price for the same ticket. If you compare the AAA member's price to the Advance Savings Price on select tickets as found on www.disneyworld.com or by call 1-407-W-DISNEY you will find the savings is not really significant. Also keep in mind, if you purchase your tickets at AAA, you will get a separate ticket that is not trackable. If this ticket is lost, destroyed or misplaced it cannot be easily researched by Disney and replaced.

Our AAA office didn't sell more than days, but once you get to Disney you can add more days at Guest Services for very little money.

In total, there are 312 different possible Magic Your Way Ticket combinations available to Guests. AAA Offices and other third party vendors do not have the means to print tickets on demand, and must carry preprinted tickets on hand. Each office will only choose to stock the most commonly requested tickets for that office.

On one of the other threads it mentioned that 2 year olds eat free at the full service restaurants, but I'm not sure how true that is.

Children age 2 and under are Mickey's personal Guest. They get to stay in your Disney Resort room for free and get a crib for free. They get to enter the Disney Theme Parks for free. And they get to eat from their parent's plate for free at all of the Table Service / Counter Service restaurants. If you want to order a specific item off the menu for your infant, you will need to pay for it separately, but with the portion sizes given, this normally is not necessary.

One more question - do I have to have the dining plan and/or tickets to make dining reservations?

Anyone can make a Dine Reservation up to 180 days in advance by calling 1-407-WDW-DINE. You do not need to be on a dinning plan, purchase tickets, or even be staying at a Disney Resort.

I'm thinking that it may not be worth it getting the package and just booking the room and the tickets seperately - thus not getting the dining plan.

What you need to decide is whether the room-only discount will out-weight the cost savings you may get with the dinning plan. This answer will be different for every family. The average Guest will save about 30% per person on their meals by using the dinning plan, depending on how and where they choose to eat. The AAA room-only discount offer will save you 10% - 20% per night depending on when and where you stay. Like other have said, look over the menus, look at your resort prices with and without the room discount, and decide from there.

Hope this helps! :sohappy:

 

[Mushymom]

JP - WOW! You are so helpful!

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I truly appreciate it.

We'll pour over the menus for the next couple of days and see if the dining plan really is for us.

Thanks!

Oh, and "hi" Nicole! Nicole lead me to this board from the Dark Side (of scrapbooking that is ...LOL!)