Mom's buying so we're flying TR About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

A great travel day and great pictures! Looking forward to your final thoughts!

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by B.M.

Great photo pass pics!

Originally Posted by WeRDisneyFanatics

Great photopass pics! I especially love the ones with the fireworks by the castle - awesome!

Thanks guys.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by Cinderella072004

Great job! This is the first trip report I have actually remembered to read from start to (almost) finish! It was very funny and REAL!! I love the pictures, I think one of my favs is the near AK where Abby is holding one of her many Disney babies.

Thank you so much. I'm glad that you stayed with me and read (almost) the whole thing. I do try to make it both - funny and real - because without the humor, it would be boring. Leaving the real just goes to show we all go through similar things while on vacation. It's not always easy to admit to but I'm in good company so it makes it easier, KWIM? Abby and her Panda - we didn't get any Baby Simba shots this year as almost all the photographers we had we using tripods (they say they can't do magic shots with the cameras on the tripods ) so we did the next best thing - especially since we already had a Baby Simba, but he was back in the room, resting .

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

A great travel day and great pictures! Looking forward to your final thoughts!

Thanks Marnie, it really was. Everything (for the most part) went really smoothly so all the nerves I had about the airport are gone. I know what to expect for future visits. I'll finish up sometime tomorrow so you'll have to check back.

[omd]

I just love all of your photo pass pictures. They all came out great! I loved reading your trip report as always.

[Nyreak]

I also have no idea why you can't see my Photopass pictures. Hopefully it's just a page error and they'll come back if you hit refresh.

As for coming along, as my title indicates, if you're buying, I'm flying . Although you won't be able to shove me in a suitcase - I'm a little too overweight for that - it would be cheaper to buy me seat And if I go, that means lots of pictures and notes for a TR.

Well, if our second room in the condo wasn't already being filled by my in-laws, you'd be welcome to it.

I refreshed, and it didn't work. Tried in another browser, didn't work. Came back later and opened the page and tada, pictures! I think my favorite of the three of you is the one in front of the hat (HS), and I love the ones of Abby with the "balloons" and the one with Cinderella!

[Tink and co.]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! My favorite thing is Abby's princess poses! She's a natural. I also loved the airport photo of her. That girl knows how to relax.

[sophierushmom]

Just got caught up on your trip!!! It is so funny how we were in so many of the same places at the same time but only ran into each other once. I am the exact same way when I get home from Disney I can't even think of planning another trip. It usually takes me a few weeks to get my Disney MOJO back but never fail it always comes back. Love the pictures of Abby she looks like a lovely girl. I wish I would have gotten with you before I left because I think my DD Sophie would have enjoyed hanging out with Abby and taking in some WDW sights with a girl her age. Plus we could left our two often sour puss husbands sitted next to a pool with a few beers!

Oh I also wanted to add but we also ate at the GG and do everytime we go but usually because of the great character interaction. This time we found the food to be a 100% better than usual and would rank it as one of our best meals right next to Cape May which was super yummy and had the greatest fried shrimp ever.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by omd

I just love all of your photo pass pictures. They all came out great! I loved reading your trip report as always.

Thank you so much Olive. I'm glad you've enjoyed my TR again.

Originally Posted by Nyreak

Well, if our second room in the condo wasn't already being filled by my in-laws, you'd be welcome to it.

I refreshed, and it didn't work. Tried in another browser, didn't work. Came back later and opened the page and tada, pictures! I think my favorite of the three of you is the one in front of the hat (HS), and I love the ones of Abby with the "balloons" and the one with Cinderella!

Thanks Jamie. I'm glad you were finally able to get the pictures loaded and enjoyed them. I have trouble choosing the ones I like the best so it was hard to pick which ones to post.

Originally Posted by Tink and co.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! My favorite thing is Abby's princess poses! She's a natural. I also loved the airport photo of her. That girl knows how to relax.

Thank you so much for joining me with my TR. Abby definitely is a natural for poses - when she's not being camera shy, she's definitely a big ham and does pose. As for relaxing, I swear she only does it when she thinks no one is looking. When people are paying attention, she doesn't sit still.

Originally Posted by sophierushmom

Just got caught up on your trip!!! It is so funny how we were in so many of the same places at the same time but only ran into each other once. I am the exact same way when I get home from Disney I can't even think of planning another trip. It usually takes me a few weeks to get my Disney MOJO back but never fail it always comes back. Love the pictures of Abby she looks like a lovely girl. I wish I would have gotten with you before I left because I think my DD Sophie would have enjoyed hanging out with Abby and taking in some WDW sights with a girl her age. Plus we could left our two often sour puss husbands sitted next to a pool with a few beers!

Oh I also wanted to add but we also ate at the GG and do everytime we go but usually because of the great character interaction. This time we found the food to be a 100% better than usual and would rank it as one of our best meals right next to Cape May which was super yummy and had the greatest fried shrimp ever.

I'm surprised too - but then again you were with the groups and we always seemed to be heading the opposite direction from them . You gotta love how that Disney mojo always comes back - despite all of Lenny's grumpiness, we already have ours back. Abby - a lovely girl?? She can be, but once you get to know her, you know it doesn't last - she's a brat and all she wants are vacations to Disney . I, of course, want to oblige her but my pocket book doesn't . I wish we could have gotten together too because I know Abby would have loved to have someone else to be with other than mom or dad. And leaving two Grumpies next to the pool with a couple of beers - I could go for that. That alone would be a "vacation" for me

I'm glad you found the food much better than usual at GG. This was only our second time. Last year the Chef made me a dinner, this year I ate what Lenny and Abby had so I can't say whether the food was better this year or not. I know the maple butter was not the same as last year and I was disappointed in it but since that was my only disappointment with dinner, we'll certainly go back. It's been a few years since we did the CM dinner so I can't comment on that but maybe we'll go back one of these days as Lenny does like his seafood.

[lazanya]

Glad you got the rental car back in time and your flight home went smoothly!
I all the Photopass pictures!
Thanks for sharing your TR Darlene! I enjoyed following along!

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by lazanya

Glad you got the rental car back in time and your flight home went smoothly!
I all the Photopass pictures!
Thanks for sharing your TR Darlene! I enjoyed following along!

Thanks so much Jodi. I'm glad you followed along and enjoyed my TR and the pictures.

[CinderAbby]

I am so sorry everyone. Today was just a busy day all around and the few minutes here and there that I spent on the boards today wasn't enough time to finish up my TR. I promise tomorrow I WILL have enough time to finish up and post my last 2 installments.

[lauriep]

No problem, Darlene. With all you've got to do I'm amazed you've produced your nice, detailed trip report as promptly as you did!

[Cam22]

Work has been hectic this week, but I never dreamed I'd get this far behind on your TR! You all had a great final night at MK! Sounds like the travel day cut it close on the rental, but close counts! Every one of your PP pictures is terrific! for sharing another trip with us!

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by lauriep

No problem, Darlene. With all you've got to do I'm amazed you've produced your nice, detailed trip report as promptly as you did!

Thanks Laurie - and as for the TR - I make time to do it. If I didn't, I don't think I'd have any sanity left.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Work has been hectic this week, but I never dreamed I'd get this far behind on your TR! You all had a great final night at MK! Sounds like the travel day cut it close on the rental, but close counts! Every one of your PP pictures is terrific! for sharing another trip with us!

Thanks Cam. I'm glad you've enjoyed my TR and all my photos. And you've caught up in time for it to end . We did have a great last day - and night - at the MK. It really ended the trip on the right foot. Returning the rental was close but it was still on time (barely) so that's all that matters.

[CinderAbby]

I promised everyone I would give a review of going to Disney OOP for us and here it is:

Before we left for Disney, as I mentioned in my PTR, I originally had concerns about canceling meals and ending up with credits I had paid for but didn’t use so that’s what lead me to canceling the dining plan we have always gone with. I was happy when I did it and I’m still happy with that decision . To go with the DDP would have cost me roughly $1008. and to go without it, my OOP cost would have been $1093 and this was based on estimated meal costs, not including tips . It was also based on getting drinks and desserts with every single CS meal we got. I know in my PTR I had other numbers but those included extra snacks and meals I had thought we would get but for this review, I’m keeping it apples to apples, strictly what the dining plan would have paid for, no extras. As Lenny pointed out, the cost of all those extras would have to be added to both sides of the equations (ddp cost AND oop cost) but it wouldn’t change the final cost difference between the two .

So after talking with Lenny and both of us getting confused and taking close to an hour and a half to figure out whether we saved money or not going without the DDP, I finally sat down and I made a spreadsheet of everything we actually bought in food this year and I made 6 columns - 3 for the amount of credits we would have used (TS, CS, snacks) and 3 for what we paid in cash and it really helped to see what we spent and where

TS credits: 30
TS cost: 975.16
CS credits: 20
CS cost: 193.08
Snack credit: 24
Snack cost: 63.63
-------------
Total cost 1231.87

For this trip, since it was short for us at only 7 nights, that meant we would have had 7 credits each for a total of 21 TS, CS and snack credits pooled together. We would have gone over our TS credits and snack credits so then when I took those extras out of the equation and based it solely on what the DDP would have paid for, this is what it looked like

　
TS credits: 21
TS cost: 722.83
CS credits: 20
CS cost: 193.08
Snack credit: 21
Snack cost: 53.13
------------
Total cost 969.04

　
Breaking it down the way I did, we clearly saved money by going out of pocket. It may not be a huge savings but it is still a savings.

And although what I showed seems really cut and dried, it is and it isn’t . Not having the dining plan meant we ordered things differently than we would have had we gone with the dining plan. Getting the DDP meant we would get everything the plan paid for - meal, desserts, drinks. Going OOP meant we didn’t order any desserts with any of the counter service meals. We also didn’t get any drinks whenever we ate at the food court, we only used our mugs. There really are so many variables that could change those numbers that for us, it ends up being that no matter which way we go - DDP or OOP - we don’t "lose" anything. We work with what we have and make the best use of it .

So I ultimately look at it that we ended up saving money going without the dining plan this year. Would I continue to go without the dining plan ? Truthfully, It depends. I think if I asked Lenny, he’d probably say stop getting it because he recently made the comment to me that the DDP is too much food and that we don’t need that much . I have to agree with him on that but in the past having a fridge in the room and then driving home, we had both the room for all the snacks and uneaten desserts and bottles of drinks that we took from our CS meals and the opportunity to eventually eat it all. Taking a plane, we didn’t have the room to carry things with us and any drinks would have had to get tossed out. We did still have a fridge but once back in the room at night this year, not once were we hungry to eat any snacks. Is it because it was all a mental thing of being out of sight out of mind? We knew we didn’t have any snacks to munch on at night so therefore we didn’t get hungry? I suppose it’s possible but the fact still remains we didn’t go hungry this vacation by going off the dining plan and not getting desserts and snacks and drinks.

So basically what makes it so tough to say whether we will or won’t go with it in the future is the fact that we’ve made both ways work for us really well so there is not clear case of one being better than the other for us. In the long run, I guess what will be a determining factor in the future will be the meals we really want to do. By the time we go more character meals could fall by the wayside just like LTT and the GG lunch or Abby could be past the point of wanting to go to big meals during our stay. And of course the biggest factor is Disney - they could do away with the all the meal plans entirely. I don’t think that’s likely but who knows what the choices will be when we go again.

So for now I guess I’ll just leave it at going with the DDP works well for us and going without the plan works well for us . In the future, when I have another trip to plan, I’ll research going with a dining plan and going without a dining plan and just go with whatever decision will work out best financially for that trip.