Use DDP for 2 credit meals or not?

[DADof2Princesses40]

My family (DD, DM, DD3, DD4) are staying for 6 nights, and using the DDP. I've made reservations at Hoop-Dee-Doo, and Cinderella's Breakfast, each costing 2 TS credits.

My question is, should pay OOP for one of these?

I know the answer might be "it depends", but I do suspect I'll have a table service meal the other 2 days, just not at a "biggie". Most likely at a restaurant that would be equal to 1 TS credit.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[cdntourguide]

IMO you should pay for HOOP DE DOO Review on your own. Use that 1 TS for a good dinner and maybe have a good lunch at one of the TS restaurants. (or add a character meal)Use the credits at stops where you will minimize your out of pocket expenses.
Using 2TS for HDDR is minimizing the value of the credits.

 

[HalfDozen]

First - a free meal is a free meal - and I'm sure you'll hear that all over the place, if you are on the free DDP this promotional time.

That said, I wouldn't do it. I've never been to Hoop De Doo, but I haven't heard great things about it - some say it's a "must see once" but I hear the food isn't that great, and I don't think I'd waste two credits on one experience like that. I'd rather do two nice sit downs, myself - but if HDD is as expensive, then sure, use two credits for it.

As for Cinderella's - gosh, you know, if you haven't eaten in the castle before, yes - do it. BUT - I'd probably pay out of pocket for it. The cost of two table service credits, for one person IMO, is around $40+ per meal. If you're using two credits, that's putting an average $80 value on that one meal. (That's pretty much the minimum I'd "spend" when choosing where we're going for a decent sit down). It's not going to cost you remotely anywhere near that if you do CRT for breakfast - and the breakfast experience is SOOO much better than the dinners and lunches.

 

[kcashner]

Check the prices and pay OOP for the least expensive of the 2 TS meals. You might also want to consider whether or not to share any meals where you order off a menu in order to have enough TS for your other days.

 

[HalfDozen]

Let me explain that a little bit more, because I think it was sort of confusing.

When I plan our meals (I just plan table service - nothing else - so we don't have to park hop those days) I try to look at the menus and values of the items when I consider where to go. When paying for the dining plan, I wouldn't necessarily eat at the same places (or order nearly as much food! - appetizer, entree, dessert, etc) nor would I order those things at counter service. So, I like to maximize what my values are, and go somewhere that it's REALLY worthwhile - that I feel I'm getting a great meal and saving some money on our trip.

I calculated some of the most expensive meals in WDW and here is what I came up with. If I can get dinner at Le Cellier that's a $50 value - I'd better be getting a $100-value meal at Hoop De Doo or CRT, if I'm paying two credits. California Grill is the only place I'd consider paying two credits for, and that's because the food is ABSOLUTELY EXCEPTIONAL. However, we've done that already, so this time I think we're going to try Wolfgang Puck's and just use one credit for an exceptional meal as well

Counter Service:
All of these, with dessert and drink, are greater than $10-$12 dollars and could easily serve an adult and a child *or* be a dinner for a hungry adult:
Flame Tree - AK
1/2 Slab of STL Ribs with beans and corn $8.49
Smoked 1/2 chicken with beans and corn $7.99
Tusker House - AK
1/2 Rotisserie Chicken with potatoes and veg $7.99
Grilled salmon with rice and veg $7.99
Catalina Eddie's - MGM
Cheese pizza with garden salad $7.59
Pepperoni and cheese pizza with salad $7.89
Toy Story Pizza Planet - MGM
Cheese Pizza with salad $7.59
Pepperoni pizza with salad $7.89
Veggie pizza with salad $8.19
Cantina de San Angel - Epcot (Mexico)
Plato Cabinacion (taco, burrito, quesadilla, beans, rice) $7.99
Wet burrito $7.49
Ensalada Mexicana $7.99
Tangierine Cafe - Epcot (Morocco)
Shawarma Sandwich (chicken or lamb) $9.95
Shawarma Platters:
Chicken and lamb: $13.95
Lamb: $11.95
Chicken: $11.95
Saffron rotisserie chicken with yellow rice $14.95
Meatball Platter $10.95
Mediterranean wraps (chicken $8.95, Tabouleh $7.95)
Vegetarian Platter $8.95
Cosmic Ray's - MK
1/2 chicken and BBQ rib combo with potatoes and vegetable $13.89
BBQ Rib Meal 1/2 Rack with potatoes and vegetable $8.69
1/2 Rotisserie Chicken with potatoes and veg $7.29
Kosher Beef Burger with Roll with potato croquettes $8.99
Kosher chicken strips with potato croquettes $8.99
Kosher Corned Beef on Rye with potato & carrots $8.99
Wolfgang Puck's Express - DTD
Chinois Chicken Salad $8.25
Chicken Caesar salad $8.25
BBQ Chicken Salad $8.25
Rosemary Rotisserie Chicken with 1 side $9.95
BBQ Glazed Rotisserie Chicken with 1 side $9.95
Viennese Style Chicken Fingers with 1 side $7.95
Four cheese pizza $9.25
BBQ chicken pizza $9.25
Spicy Chicken pizza $9.25
Margherita (tomato basil) $8.25
Spinach and mushroom pizza $9.25
Pepperoni $9.25
Linguini wtih chicken bolognese $9.95
Linguini with tomato, basil, and garlic $9.95 ($11.95 with chicken)
Cooke's of Dublin (raglan road - pleasure island - DTD)
fish and chips $8.50
Smoked cod and chips $9.50


Table Service Optimal Meals (big portions, high quality, above-average prices)
Spoodles - boardwalk - shrimp starter, strip steak and scallops, and creme brulee, plus drink = $54+
Concourse steakhouse - Contemporary - chicken wings, filet mignon wtih potatoes and gorgonzola butter, creme brulee $45+
Maya Grill - coronado springs - shrimp cocktail, mixed grill (filet mignon, fresh catch, and ribs), $47+
Grand Floridian Cafe (GF resort) - crab cakes, land and sea (strip steak and skewered shrimp), dessert, drink $39+
Olivia's Cafe - OKW resort - crab cakes, filet mignon and chimi churri shrimp, dessert, drink $39+
Boatwright's Dining Hall - Port Orleans Riverside - shrimp cocktail, top sirloin steak, chocolate cake, drink - $39+
Whispering Canyon Cafe - wilderness lodge - nachos, NY strip steak, dessert, drink $37+
Mama Melrose's - MGM - crispy calamari, veal osso buco, coffee tartufo dessert, $46+
Chefs de France - Epcot - crepe au saumon, filet of beef, cheese plate (dessert), drink - $48+
San Angel Inn (Mexico, Epcot) - ceviche, combinacion cozumel (tenderloin, shrimp, etc), dessert, drink $38
Le Cellier - (Canada, Epcot): Cheese plate, mushroom filet, whiskey cake, drink - $50+
Coral Reef (Future World - Epcot) caesar salad with rock shrimp, pan-seared crab cake, the chocolate wave, drink $48+
Alfredo di Roma (Epcot - Italy) - calamari, roast lamb, dessert, drink $44+
Rose and Crown (Epcot - UK) Fruit and cheese plate, Rose & Crown steak and prawns, chocolate guinness cake, drink $38+
Marrakesh (Morocco - Epcot) seafood bastilla, Mediterranean Seafood Platter, crepes atlas, drink $41+
Teppanyaki (Japan - Epcot) sushi sampler, Cold water lobster and NY sirloin specialty dinner, chestnut cake, drink $49+ (kids meals are $12 here!)
Tony's Town Square (MK) calamari, veal t-bone, dessert, drink $42+
Cap'n Jack's - DTD - crab cakes, salmon with caper white wine sauce, lava cake, drink $43+
Raglan Road (Pleasure Island - DTD) Crab me silly, lamb shank or salmon, dunbrody kiss (dessert), drink - $44+
Wolfgang Puck's (West Side - DTD) crab cakes or sushi, filet mignon, warm dark chocolate souffle cake, drink - $57+

 

[DaniDownUnder]

My fiancee and I are flying in from Australia for our US wedding and WDW honeymoon, so I know how budgeting can be a pain.

We are on the DP and are doing Hoop-de-Doo the first night as something silly and filling (as well as the fact that he likes ribs and American beer *lol*). I'm using 2TS for each of us for that and then paying OOP for our last meal of the honeymoon (dinner at CRT).

Basically, the person I talked to at dining (lovely gal) suggested that if we weren't going to drink alcohol at CRT, that it would be better to use the TS credits for Hoop-de-doo since it would cost more (a little over $100 for the 2 of us). The CRT dinner on the other hand, without alcohol would be around $90+tip. In the end, the prices may be the same, but depended greatly whether we chose 'extra' drink options at CRT. In Aussie prices (cuz that is what I have) the HdD dinner is $150 and the CRT dinner is $115...which is a significant difference.

Best of luck sorting it out

 

[DADof2Princesses40]

Thanks to everyone that posted a reply. I haven't decided what to do yet, but I think I'll be paying OOP for one of them based on some of your suggestions.

 

[jjatwdw]

Does anyone think it's worth it to use 2 TS for Hollywood Brown Derby? We have ADR there for our upcoming trip and I'm starting to have second thoughts. Should we switch to Mama Melrose or 50's Prime Time Diner? We've done H&V and I don't really want to go back. Any input would be helpful.

 

[HalfDozen]

Is Brown Derby buffet? I can't remember if that's H&V or BD.

Anywhoo - I'd go with Mama Melrose's. The food there is SPECTACULAR. Really, really good. I didn't set my hopes very high on "an Italian place" because we have a great restaurant here back home. But it was amazing. And, as always, the service was phenomenal. It's a place where you can definitely dress up a bit, too, if you wanted to. But, we wore park attire and ate on the early side. I highly recommend them. The ambiance is lovely and the flatbreads were great - even the kids polished off the entire meal.

It's VERY hard for me to justify a two credit meal. Like I said, it would have to be a super expensive price that was worth two times the price of any of the other one credit meals to make it "worthwhile" - especially when there are just so many amazing restaurants to choose from. I figure if I can do really great restaurants every night, and just use one credit, then that's worth it.

 

[HalfDozen]

And 50s Prime Time is interesting, but not really spectacular. We had lunch there and the experience wasn't something that sticks in my head as being memorable, kwim? I think I had a chicken pot pie and it was pretty good - but not the *dining* experience at Mama Melrose's - more of a "let's grab something to eat" type of place.