Upgrade Plan or go OOP

[Spoiledtcangel]

Hi All as you can see from my siggy we finally have a semi-quick trip to Disney booked for November, I also booked after the 180 day mark so have managed some decent reservations thanks to finding these boards/reservation finder/sleeping with my laptop LoL!!

I was considering upgrading the plan only because we have 4 nights there so it will come with 1 table credit Per Person Per day if I'm correct (still reading all the ins and outs) 3 of us 2 adults 1 (2)Year Old)

11/27 Chef Mickey Dinner 6:45
11/28 MVMCP Crystal Palace Dinner 7:25 (Also trying to get CRT or BOG for breakfast and earlier TCP)
11/29 Breakfast Garden Grill 9am Dinner Akershus 6:55
11/30 Fantasmic H&V Lunch 1:55
12/1 Ohana Breakfast 11:25

So it looks like we would need 7 if I manage BOG or 8 if I manage CRT (which I'm shooting for), however my other problem would be upgrading IMHO would be a serious waste because I plan to share my meals with the little one as I have Bypass and eat less than her at this point so the dinning is mainly so she gets the character experience, no need for her to miss out because mommy had surgery

My questions are:

1) Are any of these Ala Carte?
2) If we don't upgrade which ones do you suggest paying OOP for?

TYIA

 

[Spoiledtcangel]

I am also not opposed to letting my mom and her dine alone at maybe 1-2 places if need be while I grab something small from the QS, so if as an adult which would you consider skipping?

 

[sharonabe]

11/27 Chef Mickey Dinner 6:45
11/28 MVMCP Crystal Palace Dinner 7:25 (Also trying to get CRT or BOG for breakfast and earlier TCP)
11/29 Breakfast Garden Grill 9am Dinner Akershus 6:55
11/30 Fantasmic H&V Lunch 1:55
12/1 Ohana Breakfast 11:25

Nothing you have listed here is a la carte, so you will pay for two adults if both of you go.

Do you currently have a dining plan, and if so, which one? Is it a free dining plan package or did you pay for a dining plan with your package?

Personally, I would cancel the CP dinner you have scheduled during the MVMCP. That meal will take at least 1 1/2 hrs out of your party time, if not more. You're paying a lot for the party to use so much time at dinner. A QS meal would be better or see if you can find an earlier dinner before the party begins.

 

[Faldred]

The two year old neither receives credits nor requires them at any of your fixed-price choices.

You will get credits per night, not per day, but it looks like you've accounted for that already. Standard DDP comes with 1 table service (TS), 1 counter service (CS), and 2 snack credits per person, per night. That's a total of 8 TS, 8 CS, and 16 snacks for you to split amongst yourselves.

Breakfast at BoG is CS, not TS. You can use your CS credits for that if you get it.

As for OOP, all of your TS choices are fixed-price locations, which makes it easy. Just look at the posted prices and figure out which ones are least expensive, and pay those OOP, saving dining plan credits for the more expensive ones. As a general rule, breakfast is cheaper than lunch, and lunch is cheaper than dinner. CRT breakfast is almost certainly your best OOP choice if you manage to book it, as its two credit requirement doesn't make a lot of sense compare to the price point.

All of that said, if you're not on a package discount like free dining, paying for the dining plan for two adults is unlikely to save you money. With fixed-price locations being your choice across the board for TS, it should be easy to do the math and see how much you'd have to get out of your CS and snack credits to make it worthwhile. I'm guessing you'd do better to just load up a gift card with the amount you'd need in this case rather than paying for DDP. (Of course, if you're on free QSDP or DDP, it's a totally different story.)

 

[Spoiledtcangel]

Thank you both yes we have the middle dining plan 1QS 1TS 2 snacks, even though the dates were included in the free promo they had nothing available except the resorts that were $500+ per night which doesn't really offset the free dinning option LoL

I am trying to get CP earlier it's in the reservation finder right now I just took the first available to be safe. I was hoping 4pm or similar.

Now at buffets is my DD free or do we share a plate? I don't mind sharing but want to know the rules? Luckily we're going on a cruise after so I'll have my daughters passport no one ever believes her age as since birth she's been in 100% for everything so sadly I'm walking around with it in case I get questioned. LoL

One last question if I can secure CRT I know i prepay online which is fine, will I pay for her also or since her age is listed on the reservation will they know? And since it makes no sense to use the plan on CRT breakfast does the charge include gratuity?

 

[Nancyg56]

Although Disney never really says how it works for kids under three, at buffet and all you care to eat restaurants they are not charged. They can have their own plate. You can order a beverage for them and at that point the server will decide if there is a charge for the drink or not.

At the other TS locations you share your food if you do not want to order a children's meal. You can ask for a plate.

You will not be questioned in regards to your child's age, but CM's will sometime talk to the kids. She knows her age, so no worries!

 

[Aurora2017]

Since you already have reservations for Akershus, I would chose the BOG breakfast instead of CRT because it will be a QS meal so then you will only have to pay OOP for 2 meals. Out of those 2, Garden Grill breakfast will probably be the cheapest to pay OOP.