Deluxe Dining ?

[momtocnc]

I am trying to decide whether or not to do the deluxe plan or not. We like to order appetizers and/or salads with our meals. We would also like to try a signature restaurant or two and go to the Hoop de Doo. We will not eat three meals a day in the park. We will eat brakfast in our villa except for CRT and Chef Mickey's, but I figured that those meal credits could go towards signature meals. Do you find that you are able to use all of your credits? What about snacks - we have five year old twin boys that do not eat alot at all at one sitting, but do like to eat multiple times in a day. There will be 4 adults - me, dh, and my parents, along with our 2 sons. Do you think that it would be worth it for us to do the Deluxe plan or not? I have looked at appetizer cost and paying oop for shows and CRT, just not sure that it all adds up to be a better deal or just way too much food. Just looking for opinions.

Thanks! We are going from Nov. 21 - 28 and staying in the treehouses! We are so excited as this is the first trip for my kids and the rest of us have not been in almost 20 years!!!

Thanks so much!

[Faldred]

Everyone is different, and what some people may find to be good value, others might not. So from that standpoint, advice is of little good.

That said... it looks like you are essentially going with a plan of typically doing 2 meals a day -- one "signature" and one "regular", which is a common DxDP tactic. From a "value" perspective, it's always handy to do cost comparisons. Figure your projected OOP cost, and then decide if the dining plan (or plan upgrade) is worth the cost.

Remember that just because you have the entitlements that allows everyone an appetizer and a dessert, it doesn't mean you have to use them. As a group, ordering one or two fewer and splitting them may help avoid "overkill" without diluting too much "value". Or, who knows, you may just be hungry enough to eat it all.

That will be a lot of snack credits, though. I would guess that you just shouldn't be afraid of using them for "suboptimal" choices like bottled water/soda, and/or bring back a whole lot of snacks from Goofy's. :thumbsup2

[Colleen27]

We really enjoyed the deluxe plan, using it the way you describe - lots of 2 credit meals, and only two meals most days. The snack credits are more than enough to fill in the rest. I re-do the math every time I'm in the planning stages, and it always ends up making sense for us to go with the deluxe plan.

As far as financial analysis, I have a spreadsheet in the link in my siggie that will do all the math if you take the time to look up pricing and plug in likely menu choices. It'll even put together a tip budget, based on the 18% middle ground on the "suggested tip" section of the reciept.

[momtocnc]

We really enjoyed the deluxe plan, using it the way you describe - lots of 2 credit meals, and only two meals most days. The snack credits are more than enough to fill in the rest. I re-do the math every time I'm in the planning stages, and it always ends up making sense for us to go with the deluxe plan.

As far as financial analysis, I have a spreadsheet in the link in my siggie that will do all the math if you take the time to look up pricing and plug in likely menu choices. It'll even put together a tip budget, based on the 18% middle ground on the "suggested tip" section of the reciept.


Thanks!! I will definitely look at the spreadsheet!

[plutolovr]

My DH and I decided to go with the DxDP for this October. We had originaly booked the QS plan, but after figuring out where we wanted to eat some table service meals it looked like we were going to spend the difference anyway. We're also going for the F&WF so the 14 snack credits will be used there. We also decided not to get too anal about using all the credits, we just wanted to be able to eat without worrying about cost. My DH also loves to have an appy with his meal, and if I don't want my appy, he'll probably use it for himself on soup or something. We also love to eat at signature places like Jiko, Cali Grill and Yachtsmen Steak House.

[nicole0992]

I did the deluxe dining plan this past June with my 8 year old daughter. Most days we did a snack for breakfast, TS early lunch and late signature dinner or meal show. A few days we did do 3 meals because we used the meals as our breaks and we recharged in the a/c. It worked out great for us. We only had 3 snacks left over at the end of our stay. We did use lots of them on water and drinks in the parks due to the heat. I would definitely do it again.