Thinking deluxe...what has your experience been

[Kansasdreamers]

We are a family of 5, DD6, DD5, and DD1. We are going to Disney in November for 7 nights. With the older DD's ages, we are thinking of doing Deluxe plan to have a character breakfast every AM. For dinner we are thinking the dinner shows, Hoop, BBQ, and the Castle. The other 4 nights, doing Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, 1900 Park Fare and Narcoossee. That leaves 3 extra and we will use them "on the fly.' We did this more for entertainment. It will probably be years before we come back and we wanted the DD's to experience the magic to it's fullest. So now the question...for those of you who have done dining plans, with the above schedule will be be dreading the next meal?
Thanks

[caroline1851]

The amount of food sound definently reasonable and I think eating TS meals with little kids beats eating CS, but..............don't underestimate the amount of travel time when using the disney transp when going from resort to resort to dine since you have to stop at a park in between. I found the getting back and forth time consuming.

[GC&S]

If it were just DH and myself, we would do the deluxe again. We did it last year with dd(6). We did several signatures and ts, a few cs. It was too time consuming for dd. It seemed like all we were doing was traveling from restaurant to restaurant. Near the end of the trip we ended up doing more CS because we were all tired. We hardly used any of our snack credits because we were never hungry. The sig restaurants were wonderful, but we spent around 2 hours in them. Travel time was sometimes 45 min-hour and then wait time was from 5 min. to 20 min. But we loved all the places we ate! DD wants to go back to Calif. Grill to see the fireworks. She doesn't remember the food because she fell asleep during dinner.

[Kansasdreamers]

Are the dinner shows worth doing?

[Colleen27]

We love the deluxe plan! We use it mainly for a TS breakfast or lunch and then a signature dinner, because we really enjoy the food at many of the signatures. We haven't done any dinner shows yet, but I'm thinking about the Spirit of Aloha luau for the next trip.

It does take more planning and a greater familiarity with Disney transportation than the basic dining plan, IMO, so that you don't end up wasting a ton of time getting to and from meals. But Disney offers so many great restaurants at the park-area deluxe resorts that there is ample opportunity for good dining variety without wasting a lot of time if you plan carefully.

One note about the Castle - the Princess character meal is breakfast & lunch only. Dinner includes a short show by the Fairy Godmother & mice, but Cindy in the lobby is the only princess in attendance. We enjoyed our lunch there, but I'm shooting for an early breakfast on the next trip for the pre-opening, empty Main Street photo ops on our youngest's first trip.

Also, some place you didn't mention on your schedule is California Grill, which is my favorite of the signature restaurants and probably the most child friendly. The view is fabulous even if you aren't there for the fireworks, the food is excellent, and they really do cater to kids with coloring pages, Goldfish crackers to snack on while waiting for their meals, and my kids' favorite Disney dessert, the rice crispy and gummy fish sushi.

[WDmommyof4]

I did deluxe dining for the first time this past March with my DS8 and DS7. We loved it and really didn't feel it was too much. In fact I am taking all four of my boys and my mom in December and am paying out of pocket for the deluxe plan again.

Most days we will do a breakfast with signature dinner or lunch with signature dinner, so there will not be three full meals a day. The snacks we will likely use for drinks in the park and treats to take home. I love being able to experience a wide variety of restaurants and the kids love it too. Plus it gives us a lot of bonding time. My children enjoy restaurants though, do not generally get fussy, and are very well behaved at meals. I guess it all depends on whether you feel it is something your family would enjoy, but for us it is more than worth it.

[gigi1313]

the only way i would recommend your plan (OP) is if you were to make your b'fast TSs first thing in the morning before the parks were open... otherwise imo you will spend far too much valuable-park-touring-time traveling to restaurants/waiting for your table/eating/waiting for your check [this always took FOREVER for some reason]/etc...

the dinner shows are well worth it in our family's opinion... we do HDDR nearly every trip... we went to the Luau in '08 and loved it... we enjoyed the b'fast in the castle over dinner in the castle for sure! (and you can get into b'fast before park opening as a bonus!)

[katieam1]

We are a family of 5, DD6, DD5, and DD1. We are going to Disney in November for 7 nights. With the older DD's ages, we are thinking of doing Deluxe plan to have a character breakfast every AM. For dinner we are thinking the dinner shows, Hoop, BBQ, and the Castle. The other 4 nights, doing Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, 1900 Park Fare and Narcoossee. That leaves 3 extra and we will use them "on the fly.' We did this more for entertainment. It will probably be years before we come back and we wanted the DD's to experience the magic to it's fullest. So now the question...for those of you who have done dining plans, with the above schedule will be be dreading the next meal?
Thanks

That sounds like an excellent plan. We went in January and August and did Deluxe Dining. We had a character breakfast every morning and the kids (and my husband and I) LOVED it. Hoop Dee doo is great our kids LOVED it, the castle was also very fun with the kids! Coral Reef is one of our families favorites! The kids LOVED it what an experience! Teppan Edo is our favorite place so entertaining!! You have made some wonderful choices and I think you will have an excellent time! :thumbsup2

[Kansasdreamers]

That sounds like an excellent plan. We went in January and August and did Deluxe Dining. We had a character breakfast every morning and the kids (and my husband and I) LOVED it. Hoop Dee doo is great our kids LOVED it, the castle was also very fun with the kids! Coral Reef is one of our families favorites! The kids LOVED it what an experience! Teppan Edo is our favorite place so entertaining!! You have made some wonderful choices and I think you will have an excellent time! :thumbsup2

Thanks, it was a hard thing to choose whether to do or not. We had the pin to upgrade QSDP to DDP at a value resort so it seems that adding the DxDDP at the POP is still a great deal. Likewise, however, we don't just want to throw time or money down the drain if it will be too much.

[Jeanieblue114]

Well my two thoughts are
1. That is a lot of food. App, entree, dessert or buffet for multiple meals a day. Also a potential big waste of food.

2. As others have said, you are looking at a lot of potential travel time not to mention multiple hours a day of sitting in restaurants.
Would it be more magical for DDs to spend many hours in restaurants each day or being in the park with rides, parades, shows?
You could do the basic plan and still have 1 TS credit per day for a character meal for them. Then just do one other OOP for the Castle or a Dinner show (you will get more character interaction at a 1 Credit meal than at CRT though).
It just comes down to what you think they would find more magical??

[StitchFan73]

We are a family of 5, DD6, DD5, and DD1. We are going to Disney in November for 7 nights. With the older DD's ages, we are thinking of doing Deluxe plan to have a character breakfast every AM. For dinner we are thinking the dinner shows, Hoop, BBQ, and the Castle. The other 4 nights, doing Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, 1900 Park Fare and Narcoossee. That leaves 3 extra and we will use them "on the fly.' We did this more for entertainment. It will probably be years before we come back and we wanted the DD's to experience the magic to it's fullest. So now the question...for those of you who have done dining plans, with the above schedule will be be dreading the next meal?
Thanks

We love the Deluxe plan! I think you made some great picks! I am glad you see the entertainment value as well:thumbsup2 If you plan your meals out well, you can benefit from being close to, or even right in the middle of the action. An example is plan you Naroossee dinner early enough that you can take the boat over to MK and see Wishes before going back to your resort:goodvibes. And nothing beats a character breakfast every morning:love:

[JenniD44]

We are also a family of 5, but my children are a little older--13, 9, and 7. I have been trying to decide if we should upgrade to the Deluxe plan. We have ADRs for Narcossee's, Brown Derby, Caly Grill, Spirit of Aloha, and dinner w/ CP at EPCOT. If we keep all those, we are already over our TS allotment (eight nights). Plus we have a couple character meals planned. I can't decide if it's better to pay OOP or to get the Deluxe plan.:confused3 (Oh, 3 of us are also going to CRT, but I was planning OOP for that.)

Any thoughts from seasoned dining plan DISers?

[Kansasdreamers]

We have been to Disney before about 3 yrs. ago. We routinely hit other parks closer to home. Honestly, we are just not die hard park people! We love going for to 3 to 4 hours and then relaxing. Sometimes we don't even go back. (I know...appalling!) If we make the parades or fireworks, then great, if not, if we are spending quality family time together, we don't dwell on what we've missed. I am about finished with all my ADRs, I would love tips on transportation when I am done!

[Colleen27]

We are also a family of 5, but my children are a little older--13, 9, and 7. I have been trying to decide if we should upgrade to the Deluxe plan. We have ADRs for Narcossee's, Brown Derby, Caly Grill, Spirit of Aloha, and dinner w/ CP at EPCOT. If we keep all those, we are already over our TS allotment (eight nights). Plus we have a couple character meals planned. I can't decide if it's better to pay OOP or to get the Deluxe plan.:confused3 (Oh, 3 of us are also going to CRT, but I was planning OOP for that.)

Any thoughts from seasoned dining plan DISers?

The upgrade costs $32/night per adult and $10/night per child, for a total of $928. The best thing to do would be to look over the menus, add up what you expect to spend out of pocket (including mugs if you buy them, since they're included on the deluxe plan), and see if it comes out to more than that. With that many 2 credit meals, I expect you'll find that it does make sense to upgrade.

[tnd]

I think using the credits for breakfast and 2 credit dinners makes the most sense because it's an efficient use of time, especially if you do character breakfasts in the park before opening. We've done the deluxe plan twice and loved it both times. I could see us doing it again in the future because we don't love CS, other than Epcot. For us, it's deluxe or no dining plan. We love the signature meals and the character meals and we wouldn't so so many if we were paying out of pocket. We also come out ahead on the deluxe plan, so we continue to do it. I think you should look at the menus and figure out what you'd spend to decide if it is a good deal.

[StitchFan73]

The upgrade costs $32/night per adult and $10/night per child, for a total of $928. The best thing to do would be to look over the menus, add up what you expect to spend out of pocket (including mugs if you buy them, since they're included on the deluxe plan), and see if it comes out to more than that. With that many 2 credit meals, I expect you'll find that it does make sense to upgrade.


:goodvibes I kept my reciepts from some of those restaurants and for 3 of us the bill was close to $200:scared1:. Also don't forget the snacks. That's 80 snacks for the stay. If you used them all on ice cream bars:goodvibes that would be $200 alone;)

[javaj]

We also have some little ones (a 3yo and a 7yo) but we're still going to try deluxe. Of course it all depends on your eating habits but we like sit-down meals. I'm fairly confident in my choice (I'll let you know in about a month!) after having been on lots of regular dining plan and no dining plan trips.

This upcoming trip is our first time using deluxe (doing a split stay, deluxe for sure the last 5 nights and undecided on regular or deluxe for first 3 nights). For the first half -- I estimated the amount we'd spend on food for 3 adults, 2 children for 5 nights:

Cost of food with no dining plan at all: $1307. We pay: $1307

Cost of food with TIW: $1307. We pay: $1152 (includes TIW card cost)

Cost of food with regular dining plan: $1471. We pay: $1260 (Regular dining plan cost $709.75 + meals paid for OOP approx $551)

Cost of food with deluxe dining plan: $1803. We pay: $1289.75 (Deluxe Dining Plan Cost)

This doesn't take into account the refillable mugs or gratuity.

The TIW card had us just slightly ahead saving us about $137, but the deluxe plan adds Narcoossee's and another 2 TS meal into the mix PLUS all the extra snacks that we'll get to try. I'm sure we'll skip appetizers and/or desserts here or there (did I say that?) but I think this is the best choice for our trip.

[ljcrochet]

We just did the Deluxe plan for our 9 day trip. I loved getting to try the 2 ts resturants that we have never been to. My girls loved the HDDR which we had never been to. I found that the days that we did 3 TS meals was too muchm but the days that we did a breakfast and dinner was great.

[Kansasdreamers]

Thanks for all of the responses.

[Canadian Girl 77]

We're doing Deluxe Dining in a week!:cool1:

Doing all the character meals - some twice! My husband and parents will want frequent breaks so this is a good way to do it. Perhaps I could have done it cheaper but it is all paid for now. And I'll let the kidlet get any snacks she wants.

[tarak]

We did the deluxe plan last December - there were 5 of us, but our son was only 1, so we didn't pay for him - we used snack credits to buy him food and he was happy as a clam. We've also done the regular dining plan and came out ahead both times. We were there for five nights and even leaving 4 TS credits on the plan, we came out ahead. We used the snack credits on the Mickey crispy treats to take home. We went to a lot of character meals - if we hadn't done all the character meals, I don't know that we'd have made out on it. I know we used some of the TS credits for CS meals from the WL, but can't remember exactly what we ordered. IIRC, when we used the deluxe plan, we went to the following:

CRT for dinner
Princess Breakfast at Akershus
Supercalifragalistic breakfast
Crystal Palace breakfast
Whispering Canyon cafe dinner
Whispering Canyon cafe breakfast
The Land with Chip and Dale for dinner
Artist Pointe dinner - this was the big one. My BIL and his family met us there and they allowed us to use our TS credits for their meals. I don't think they were supposed to, but they did. That meal alone was over $500.

When not on vacation, our family either eats at home or goes to sit down restaurants (more of the former than the latter). We eat pretty much the same way when we are on vacation - we don't tend to do a lot of CS meals. With my kids being young yet, I think the TS meals are nice because it gives them a break from running around the parks and they are pretty well behaved in restaurants (they sit and eat and do not get up until we are ready to leave). So they don't get restless.

I think a good plan is to look at the menus on allears, calculate what you think you'd spend and compare the OOP cost. We don't usually order appetizers when we eat out. But even figuring out what we probably would have ordered, it worked in our favor. I'm taking my mom and kids in a week and a half and we have the free dining plan - I figured out what I'd be likely to spend and calculated whether I would do better with the dining plan or with the room discount and we come out ahead with the free dining plan by about $180.

We have a grand gathering planned for next year - the first few days at AKL, we're getting the dining plan. The rest of the trip, however, we probably won't get it because we're staying club level and our kids probably won't want to go to as many of the character meals, so OOP will be cheaper. But we'll see what happens - if the DDP is offered for free and it's better than the room only rate I have (currently just the AAA discount), I'll think about changing things around.

[Golf4food]

We just did a trip on DxDP because of the free dining (so we upgraded just to do it at least once) and used it for three meals per day, all but one of them TS (with one 2 cred at Jiko because we didn't arrive until after breakfast on day one).

That said using dining credits on 2 TS credit locations is not the most economical use (ie: the cost is not twice as high but they take twice as many credits) so from a purely economical standpoint you are better off paying OOP for 2 credit locations or shows, especially if you think you'll be skipping some apps or desserts anyway.

However, if not having to think and knowing everything is paid for and not having to worry about it beyond that is important then it is great. We didn't pay anything OOP our entire trip except for tips.

We also didn't try to eat everything on our plates each meal, either - portion sizes are way too big to be healthy in most restaurants in the US, and WDW is no exception in most places. If you eat proper portion sizes then the deluxe plan is NOT too much food - it is only too much because they give you too much and too many people try to "clean their plates". That isn't healthy. We wonder why America has an obesity problem. There's a big part of your answer!

If you intend to skip appys or desserts or not use up all of the snack credits, I would seriously recommend you look at the menus, add things up, and think about just paying OOP vs using any dining plan at all.

[KandD]

OK I have not done deluxe but after this past trip on the regular dining plan, DBF and I have seriously discussed doing deluxe for the next trip ONLY if we have a rental car. Just with the regular DP we felt like the bus trips were just too much. The main reason why we want to try deluxe is because we ate at one signature restaurant and it was wonderful, we want to try more!

Just remember, there will be a lot of OOP tipping.

[RACHELSMOM1]

We are a family of 5, DD6, DD5, and DD1. We are going to Disney in November for 7 nights. With the older DD's ages, we are thinking of doing Deluxe plan to have a character breakfast every AM. For dinner we are thinking the dinner shows, Hoop, BBQ, and the Castle. The other 4 nights, doing Coral Reef, Teppan Edo, 1900 Park Fare and Narcoossee. That leaves 3 extra and we will use them "on the fly.' We did this more for entertainment. It will probably be years before we come back and we wanted the DD's to experience the magic to it's fullest. So now the question...for those of you who have done dining plans, with the above schedule will be be dreading the next meal?
Thanks

Great plan we do this same sort of thing!! Love Deluxe, no other way to go for us, a family of five with DD10, DD9, DD5, plus mom and dad (us)!!

[DisneyFamily123]

We are doing the deluxe plan for 9 days, 8 nights. Seems better for us this time with a lot of character meals and signature dining.

The regular DDP with 1 CS, 1TS, and 1 snack would probably be fine for us -- last year we usually used CS for breakfast to bring back to the room, snacked mid-day, then had TS dinner at night.

We like to order appetizers. If we did CS this year and paid for appetizers and some of the character breakfasts, it would cost a little more than just doing the deluxe. So we are doing deluxe this time and hopefully I don't eat too much.... Here's our plan = total 24 meal credits. We are also paying out of pocket for another show - spirit of aloha because we wanted category 1 seating.

By doing some 2 credit dinners and the show, we will not be eating 3 meals every day, and we get to enjoy appetizers. The dining plan will save us some money.... and it makes it a little easier because I won't have to fret about ordering a $59 lobster.

5 character breakfasts
8 TS lunches
1 show - hoop de doo (2 credits)
3 TS dinners
3 signature dinners (2 credits each)

I still need to fast a bit during this next month!!!!

[PrincessTrisha]

I did the deluxe plan this past June/June for an 8 night stay. It was great. The appetizers were some of the best items.

1 credit meal / 2 credit meal combo for the day worked well.

[Dis_Yoda]

I say go for it!

My husband and I are trying the DxDP this trip. When I worked it out - we broke even. Plus we realized we were more likely to order appetizers or desserts that we wouldn't have otherwise because we wouldn't be confident in enjoying it. This way we have a little less guilt if we do that.

[Tam1067]

We (DH and I plus kids ages 12, 9, and 7) did the deluxe this August. We enjoyed it, but I still do not think I'd do it again. Here's my rundown both positives and negatives--

1. We got to try three signature places which we probably would not have done if we had been in the standard DDP. That's good!

2. We "saved" about $400 over what we would have paid if we'd just done the standard DPP and then paid OOP for the other meals. That's good, right? Ah, here's the other side--

3. After a few days of appetizers, entrees, and desserts twice a day, we were really tired of them. On our last meal (lunch at Kona), we skipped the apps and desserts because we were sick of eating.

4. DD got sick and therefore missed an entire day in the parks. This messed up a few of our planned meals--two days actually--and we ended up eating CS because I could not get replacement ADRs. If we'd just been paying as we went along, I wouldn't have felt so bad about missing those meals.

5. As great as it sounds to plan all the early breakfasts before the park opens, we ended up cancelling two of them because we were too tired.

6. Travel time just for meals takes a long time. We spent a few too many evenings trekking through Futureworld to get to World Showcase for dinner.

7. We spent a lot of time in restaurants. Too much time.

So we're going in December, a split reservation (same resort though). One half we have the standard DDP. I am also buying the TIW card to use for the meals not covered on that, and for the second half of the trip.

I'm thinking this will allow us to eat as much (or little) as we want, to not feel like we're losing out if we decide no dessert or appetizers on a meal, and cancel reservations if we decide a bit beforehand that we're not going to make it to a particular park or resort for a meal.

[gigi1313]

one other thing to keep in mind... gratuities!!! i knew they would add up, but did not realize just how much they would add up... so when you are doing your math, include the cost of the add'l tips so as to really compare "apples to apples!"
ENJOY! :flower:

[DisneyFamily123]

Here's our plan on using the deluxe plan. Criticism/comments are welcome!

It looks like a LOT of eating... and it is. If we were not on the deluxe dining plan, we would not eat this many meals... so in that respect, NOT being on the dining plan would be cheaper. BUT, as much as we enjoy the parks, we are considering this trip a dining adventure too -- so we don't view being in the restaurants as a waste of time.

We are using our dining plan credits for a lot of character breakfasts. We are going for that reason.. otherwise, coffee/pastry for us parents and cereal/fruit for the 4 yr old would be enough. Other restaurants have some kind of entertainment (Biergarten, Ohanas, Marrakesh, hoop-de-doo). We wanted to try some of the signature dining restaurants or the places are just convenient (animal kingdom and hollywood studios places) for what we are doing that day.

Still thinking about doing another signature dining (and skip a breakfast) instead of Tusker House in the evening on Friday but not sure where we can get to easily from Animal Kingdom. Maybe Jiko to give us a chance to check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Though...Tusker House would be more convenient and is very delicious - we ate there last year.

Oct. 24-Nov. 1

Saturday
Snacks for lunch (arriving at 1pm)
Spirit of Aloha 5:15 (Not using the dining plan cause we wanted category 1 seating)

Sunday
1900 Park Fare Supercalifragistic Breakfast 8:30
Crystal Palace Character Lunch 12:40
Citrocos 5:35 (2 credits)

Monday
Ohana’s Character Breakfast 8:10
Restaurant Marrakesh 12:15
Hoop-De-Doo 5:00 (2 credits)

Tuesday
Captain Cooks Counter Service- breakfast (not dining plan)
Liberty Tree Tavern 11:45
Ohana’s 5:00

Wednesday
Ohana’s Character Breakfast 9:30
Biergarten 1:10 (shows at 1:15 and 2:15)
California Grill 5:55 (2 credits)

Thursday
Skip breakfast or Captain Cooks Counter Service- breakfast (not dining plan)
Hollywood and Vine Disney Playhouse Lunch 11:30
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package 3:45
(this is our all day at Hollywood Studios)

Friday
Tusker House Donald’s Safari Breakfast 8:15
Yak and Yeti 12:30
Tusker House 6:15 (evening magic hours this night)
(this is our all day at Animal Kingdom)

Saturday
Chef Mickey’s Character Breakfast 8:30
Kona Café 12:40
Narcoosees 5:45 (2 credits)

Sunday
Ohana Character Breakfast 8:10 (not using the dining plan)
Crystal Palace Character Lunch 11:55

[mom of 3G's]

I'm not the OP but I found this thread to be very helpful as I had been thinking maybe upgrading to deluxe. Now I see that it is probably going to be too much food. Unless free dining is offered to me, then I would pay to upgrade, but if not I'll stick with the basic.

[gigi1313]

Oct. 24-Nov. 1

Saturday
Snacks for lunch (arriving at 1pm)
Spirit of Aloha 5:15 (Not using the dining plan cause we wanted category 1 seating)

Sunday
1900 Park Fare Supercalifragistic Breakfast 8:30
Crystal Palace Character Lunch 12:40
Citrocos 5:35 (2 credits)

Monday
Ohana’s Character Breakfast 8:10
Restaurant Marrakesh 12:15
Hoop-De-Doo 5:00 (2 credits)

Tuesday
Captain Cooks Counter Service- breakfast (not dining plan)
Liberty Tree Tavern 11:45
Ohana’s 5:00

Wednesday
Ohana’s Character Breakfast 9:30
Biergarten 1:10 (shows at 1:15 and 2:15)
California Grill 5:55 (2 credits)

Thursday
Skip breakfast or Captain Cooks Counter Service- breakfast (not dining plan)
Hollywood and Vine Disney Playhouse Lunch 11:30
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package 3:45
(this is our all day at Hollywood Studios)

Friday
Tusker House Donald’s Safari Breakfast 8:15
Yak and Yeti 12:30
Tusker House 6:15 (evening magic hours this night)
(this is our all day at Animal Kingdom)

Saturday
Chef Mickey’s Character Breakfast 8:30
Kona Café 12:40
Narcoosees 5:45 (2 credits)

Sunday
Ohana Character Breakfast 8:10 (not using the dining plan)
Crystal Palace Character Lunch 11:55


WOW! that is a LOT of eating!! and all your meals so close together... do you normally eat a full big meal every three to four hours 'cause that's what you will be doing...

i realize you said this is an eating adventure trip but between allowing for travel time and bag checks getting into parks and arriving for your adr 15 mins prior and whatnot plus early park closing hours (due to the time of year), you will spend *very* little time doing park touring stuff! be sure to just get fastpasses as often as you can 'cause you will need them or you will get very few rides in at all!

if it's not too late, you may want to consider later dinner adrs... i know i would!

[DisneyFamily123]

I've thought about that too. I still wonder how best to balance time between the resort, the parks, and dining. Being on the monorail will cut down on some travel time but it is a lot of time in restaurants. For us, later ADRs are sometimes difficult with a 4 year old but making some of our dinners a little later will be better.

Last year, we spent all our time in the parks. It worked well to get counter service (CS) breakfast and bring it back to the room, snack mid-day, then have a table service (TS) in the evening. The regular dining plan worked well for that. I'd do that again if maximizing park time was important.

Now, you got me thinking again, so I added it up.... If we get the regular dining plan, we will spend $503 additional for our "must do" meals below, some extra snacks/drinks, and the refillable mugs. But it only costs $520 to upgrade to the deluxe plan. With the deluxe, we get more options to do table service, more snacks/drinks. So even if we cancel a table service and just do counter service, it's still about the same price. And sometimes, table service is faster. I waited in line forever for some counter services last year, but was seated immediately for our table services and with a buffet, we can eat right away and leave when we want. It doesn't have to be a long meal.

So, for us...comparing costs...going deluxe costs about the same, so I might as well do deluxe and pick some signature (2 credit) meals. We thought about switching Mama Melrose to Brown Derby for that reason. But Mama Melrose seems to get better or just as good reviews. And maybe Jiko at Animal Kingdom instead of Tusker House. That will cut down on our eating 3 meals a day.

Still, I'm fasting now.... and bringing my jogging shoes to Disney to burn off these calories. At home, I almost never eat dessert. We also thought about taking some dinner desserts back to our room for a late night snack.


Here's the details.

For 9 days and 8 nights and 9 days, for 3 people (2 adults, 1 child) the regular dining plan includes 24 TS and 24 CS credits. We are not using the dining plan for our 1 meal on our 1st day (Spirit of Aloha). Our "must do" restaurants on the other 8 days are 39 TS credits: 3 character breakfasts, 1 character lunch, hoop-dee-doo show (2 credits), 2 signature dinners (2 credits each), and 3 other dinners...multiply 13 x 3 people = 39. We would use 10 of the CS for breakfasts to provide a total of 2 meals a day -- breakfast and dinner usually, except we would just eat CS at Hollywood Studios (HS) for dinner, and our last day would be breakfast and lunch. Our 4 year old usually eats cereal and fruit, so I eat his CS breakfast. That leaves about 14 CS credits to use up -- probably 3 for dinner at HS and the other 11 we would share some lunch counter services.

So, here's our additional costs for 2 adults and 1 child
$243 Paying cash for 3 breakfasts not covered by dining plan.
$58 Paying cash for 1 character lunch not covered by dining plan.
$78 Paying cash for 1 dinner not covered by dining plan.
$60 Appetizers - 2 at each of the 2 signature restaurants.
$40 Extra snacks or drinks
$36 for Refillable mugs (3)
$503 Total

$520 Cost to Upgrade to Deluxe -- covers all meals, includes appetizers at lunch and dinner, more snacks/drinks than we will ever use, and includes the refillable mugs.

WOW! that is a LOT of eating!! and all your meals so close together... do you normally eat a full big meal every three to four hours 'cause that's what you will be doing...

i realize you said this is an eating adventure trip but between allowing for travel time and bag checks getting into parks and arriving for your adr 15 mins prior and whatnot plus early park closing hours (due to the time of year), you will spend *very* little time doing park touring stuff! be sure to just get fastpasses as often as you can 'cause you will need them or you will get very few rides in at all!

if it's not too late, you may want to consider later dinner adrs... i know i would!