Is an upgrade to Deluxe worth it?

[Anna_Claire]

I just booked my ADR's today, and realized I will be paying for some meals out of pocket. I mostly will just fill in with Quick meals, and I know the DD & DS would love extra snacks! popcorn:: I'm just wondering if it would be cheaper to upgrade or just pay out of pocket. :confused: Any thoughts or experiences to share?

[bluwater]

It's hard to answer your question without the ages of your children..how long you'll be there....and style of park touring....and how your kids like to eat.

I am one who decided to upgrade to DXDDP. But, it was a very personal decision.

[gigi1313]

i ditto the previous poster... it truly depends on your family's "style"... i know people that say the regular DDP is "too much food" and others that say Deluxe is not enough... do the math, figure out a "typical" day or week and work from there... also, don't forget to include the refillable mug... that totally tipped the scales for our family as we're planning a lot of pool time this trip! :)

[bluwater]

I'll give a specific examply of my rationale...

I am one single adult traveling with one child who is almost 10.

THe way I see it, I will only pay $10 extra per day for my DD - and $20 extra per day for me.

My daughter is really one who is bordering between kids meals and filet mignon. She would enjoy either one. Therefore, $10 per day extra to get her the extra food (snacks, etc) is more than worth it. Also, I can order appetizers and share with her (she can order her own, but might enjoy mine more)....giving us both the opportunity to enjoy more food. She is the kid who loves calamari, etc..She is not a chicken-finger, hot-dog girl. I envision her kids meal as a side-bar to my entree for us both.

At worst, we'll not use the TS for 3 meals and have the flexibility to use CS. We can choose. That's worth $20 a day, IMO....choices.

We are breakfast eaters....and are staying at Poly...so we envision breakfast at Kona Cafe.

See how the details of your own situation can make the difference?

I am a fancy eater....the more gourmet, the better. Disney is pretty basic...not much gourmet going on..

We have been to WDW 2X in the last 15 months (3 weeks total). We are beyond the commando park-touring. We have our favorite rides - and attractions....but can blend that with pool and dining for a nice vacation.

[pmama]

I think the breakfast issues matters quite a bit. Our family of me, DH, DD7 and DD4 are fine w/ a light breakfast of granola bar and fruit. We got the regular dining plan last year and still felt like we were spending too much time dining. I guess if your family must have a sit down breakfast and has bigger appetites it might be worth it but definitely not for our family. We brought our own granola bars for breakfast and never once spent out of pocket for any food item.

[jellybeans0607]

to me no it isnt. the way i look at it is all im really gaining is breakfast and a snack. now we eat breakfast on international drive(i can rent a car cheaper than upgrading) for my family of 5 i can get breakfast for $30 total a day.
plus i dont like the idea of that many reservations.

[pooch]

it would cost over $60 to upgrade per day. I can't imagine spending that much OOP over and above the regular DDP every day. We split all our CS meals and no plan pays for the Grey Goose Slushies!!!

[Tam1067]

I spent many hours going back and forth and running numbers. Here's the basic deal as far as I've been able to determine.

If you eat a TS dinner and a TS breakfast each day, you're probably slightly better off doing the deluxe. If you eat three TS meals a day, you're certainly better doing deluxe.

We decided against deluxe because

1. We don't have TS breakfast each day (just a few).
2. Even though we have TS breakfasts (and one OOP lunch) planned about 50% of the days we're there, we might not make it to all those. If you miss or cancel one for whatever reason, you "lose" the value of the deluxe plan.

Most of the resort food courts or CS places do have hot breakfasts for a lot less than a TS meal would cost, and if you're happy with something from there for breakfast, even if you pay OOP for it, you're spending a lot less than you would by upgrading to deluxe. Remember, too, that each TS will cost you extra in tips which adds up.

[gigi1313]

THe way I see it, I will only pay $10 extra per day for my DD - and $20 extra per day for me.



how are you adding deluxe for $20/day for yourself? the cost difference is $32/day/adult plus tax...

[ThruTheEyesOfMyChild]

I just spent the past 30 minutes mulling over this same dilema too...and then found this post! DD and I are going 8/24 to 9/1 with FREE dining. I made the ADR's 2 months ago and am pretty happy with our choices, a lot of old favorites and few new ones too! Well, I have been thinking about the upgrade to deluxe....would be $381 for DD and me for 8 nights! I think I should probably just pay out of pocket for the occassional extra snack or appetizer at our TS meals....right?!?!?!?! I can pay for apps at TS?!?!?!?!?

[Anna_Claire]

:thumbsup2 Thanks for the advice, everyone! Keep it coming. I have the following meals scheduled:
Chef Mickey for dinner
Crystal Palace for breakfast
Cindy's Table for dinner
San Angel Inn for dinner (although I'm continually checking for Le Cellier)
50's Prime Time for lunch
Sci-Fi for dinner
Rainforest Cafe for lunch
1900 Park Fare for breakfast.
So, that's 6 TS's not counting Rainforest. We've already paid for Cindy's. So, there's only 1 table service meal I'd have to pay for.

I suppose if those meals are big and we skip some and snack a little more, it won't be too bad OOP. Does the Deluxe plan give you 2 TS's every day or can you choose a CS instead? I guess that might be a determining factor as well. I KNOW we won't do that many TS's every day, but CS's probably so....What do you guys think?

[victorandbellasmom]

Does the Deluxe plan give you 2 TS's every day or can you choose a CS instead? I guess that might be a determining factor as well. I KNOW we won't do that many TS's every day, but CS's probably so....What do you guys think?


The deluxe plan gives you 3 meals (table service or counter service) a day. You can use them any way you want them. Whether it be 3 TS a day or 2 TS and 1CS a day. You'll also get 2 snacks a day and a refillable mug. We're opting to upgrade during free dining. We were going to pay oop for CRT and buy the refillable mugs and a few other meals. After running the #s, it was only going to cost us roughly $250 more to upgrade and we'd be able to do dinner shows like HDDR and SoA.

[pooch]

we found that we can't eat 2 TS in one day, even an early breakfast and a late dinner. The 1 time we tried, we were sick the rest of the evening & still feeling the effects the next day. We go in Sept and its too hot to eat too many big meals. Now, if you want to do the 2 TS places, the Deluxe plan makes sense to me. If not, I can't imagine being able to eat that much and I'm not a small girl!!

The upgrade would cost us $448 for 7 nights, way more than I'd spend OOP.

[iluvpluto27]

We upgraded to the Deluxe, because we enjoy TS much more than CS. We will be having a signature meal each night and an early lunch, I don't see this as too much food as we won't be eating a full 3 courses at lunch.
Even with not maximising the plan, I found we more than broke even, but I guess the only way to know whether it's worth it for you is to run the numbers. If you would end up spending less on the extra meals than you would on the upgrade cost, it may not be worth it.

[Bete]

I think in a lot of instances people are leaving credits on the table with this deluxe plan. Next, if you use it for 3 meals a day that's a lot of time away from doing the parks especially with TS meals. It's also a lot of food. I don't think most kids enjoy the signature restaurants; so, going that route is not so hot, either.

I booked the basic DP and I know I will add some appetizers and such, but I'll still be money ahead without the deluxe plan. I'm even going to a two signature restaurants and one meal will be OOP (Lunch with an Imagineer at the Hollywood Brown Derby) and Narcoossee's. I'm buying the drink mug OOP. Looking at your plan I think you can stick with the basic plan and add-on snacks or get some CS combo meals and split them; so, you can get some extra meals that way. Cosmic Rays in MK is a perfect example of a huge combo CS meal (ribs and chicken) that can be shared easily.

Now, if I was on my honeymoon and I wanted to spend some quieter moments with spouse and go to some of the better signature restaurants I might choose the deluxe plan.

I always bring breakfast bars with me in my luggage and that does the trick for early morning nibbles. This travels very well and does not take up too much space. Also, snacks like pringles, nuts, etc. are very easy to add to luggage, too.

I think another problem with the deluxe plan is that you want to maximize your benefits; so, you want to order the most expensive items and not necessarily what you really like and go to the more expensive restaurants while you may enjoy the other ones better. I would vote no 90% of the time for the deluxe plan. The premium plan would never be an option for me.

You know how you like to vacation. If meals are very important to you then the deluxe plan might work for you. I rather save the money for souvenirs or a tour, etc.

[Narnia]

We chose to get the deluxe. I'm going with 1 adult 2 children. We are eating alot of buffets. I think eating 2-3 times aday as long as they aren't all off the menu resteraunts should be fine. there is no reason it's too much food. I'm not going to be waitng for the kids to visit charictors in the parks because we are going to alot of charicter meals( I've hear there could be a half an hour wait!).I plan on having light foods that aren't fried at the buffets. Bring on salad, fruit,soup it's fine with me. I also have crt, hoop de doo, and luau booked. Our snack credits =6 (42)a day so I won't need to buy much food at all for the 8 days. sure it's a lot of food but my kids will need to eat at least it won't be hotdogs and pb&j sandwiches for the whole trip(we are only eating 2 cs meals with the plan).The best thing other then tips it's all paid for.

[bytheblood]

If Disney keeps pulling the sandwiches and chicken off the CS menus leaving only the pizza, burgers and nuggets, I would say the DxDDP is the only way to go.

It is a good amount of food, but if you work it right going to signature meals, it might be a great deal.

We considered it for our next trip, but we all decided against it. We did not want to be slaves to the plan, so-to-speak.