Dining plan ideas

[Mark7616]

We have currently booked for a 3 week trip to disney next year but were just deciding on what to do because we are staying in saratoga springs we have the DDP for free as standard but for £1000 we can upgrade to the delux now I thought this seemed like a hell of alot of money untill I looked at the resort menus and saw the prices lol. Now I dont plan on keep driving out of the resort to eat off site every night. What we have planned is for the days that we do outside trips / universal I wont need to use a meal for lunch for one of these days we have also said that for our trip to seaworld and 1 trip to universal we will have dinner off site as we will stay late to do everything so we will stop on the way home for dinner. Now we have been through the restaraunts, character meals and shows that we would like to visit now some of these require 2 table service meals. What we have is as follows 19 quick service meals and 39 table service meals. Now if I stuck to the DDP I could drop 2 TS meals and add 2 CS meals I would then need to pay for 17 TS meals. This is where we are deciding if its worth coughing up the extra £1000 up front this would give us 21 extra snacks and we can re-giggle the food plan to make sure I use the 5 left over meals" if I was to stick to the dining plan would 21 snacks and 17 TS meals cost more than £1000? Sorry for it being long winded but im sure you get the jist lol.

 

[irongirlof12]

the 2 times we have done the DDP it was a whole lot of food. personally if I was going for a long time I think I would get fed up with eating just disney food and would like to try elsewhere. i.e. sweet tomatoes. The deluxe plan is way more food. some folks feel very restricted with the ddp. as it is necessary to make resservations for some restaurants i.e. cindy's royal table, le cellier.

Personally I wouldn't upgrade as there are lots of lovely places to eat as a one TS i.e. tuttlo italia, coral reef, mama melrose and you can double up some for dinner show i.e. hoop de doo or california grill.

have you checked out the menus etc on www.allears.net ? there is a lot of info as well.

 

[Mark7616]

Yeah thats where I got the info from it just seemed to me quiet expensive. I thought it would be cheaper than paying for food once out there maybe im wrong.

 

[dixonsontour]

We did the regular DDP last December for 14 nights and it is alot of food. Lets just say myself and my husband are not skinny minnies!

I expected to pay for alot more food out of pocket.

We did eat a few meals (2 or 3) offsite on our seaworld/shopping days, which meant somedays we had 2 TS meals eg a breakfast and a sit down tea.

We didn't do any 2 TS meals though so if you are doing alot of those I could see deluxe may be worth it.

By the end of our trip we were getting a bit jaded hence for our upcoming trip i've used more credits at the beginning.

I don't know your party size but sharing of CS is very doable with younger children. eg we would get 2 CS lunch and all 3 share.

We tended to do a TS character breakfast, snack then a CS tea or snack breakfast, CS lunch and TS tea.

We went December when it was cooler but I know we eat less when it is hot.

Also remember to factor in tips if you are upgrading -they would really add up over 21 days.

 

[catherine]

Have you had the DDP, or eaten at WDW?

We have used the DDP several times before and it is a heck of a lot of food. In Dec were going to pay OOP for a couple of TS meals, just because we wanted to eat at the particular restaurants and didn't have enough credits left, we ended up cancelling the reservations because there was no way that we were hungry enough to eat any more food. If it was me I would stick with the DDP because I think that once you get out there you'll find that you don't want to be tied down to lots of ADRs and you'll get fed up with eating so much food.

 

[wayneg]

We have free DDP for 2nd time this August for 21 days. Planned our meals incl some signature & dinner shows using 2 credits. Also taking into account some days at Busch & Seaworld. I am expecting the credits to be spot on, just as they were last August. We all like our food but no way could we(3 of us) eat another £1,000 of food ontop of DDP.
Last year we ate very well, the only possible way we would have done it different would have been the last 2 evenings, we used up our CS credits as we had no TS credits left. If I wasn't a tight Yorkshireman I would have not used them and paid for a couple of meals offsite.

 

[darthtatty]

Im not sure id upgrade either.
The plan is meant to change next year, im not sure who you booked with but the rumours are that no meal will come with dessert. if your family are dessert eaters youll also have to factor into your budget the cost of these. by the time youve added them plus the upgrade and the extra cost in tips youll probably not get the full value of the deluxe dining plan.

what type of tickets do you have? i notice you are going for 3 weeks.
I didnt know if youd brought an annual pass? Im not an expert but know if you have an annual pass you can but a discount card for the restaurants.
Im sure others will know more.

we're on the DDp next year and im struggling to fit in all the meals.
by the time weve taken off Seaworld and the 2 Universal days.

good luck with whatever you decide to do. when are you going?
hope you have a great time.

 

[Mark7616]

We are going in August, we were not told anything about the DDP changing to not include desserts. We have never been before thats why we were unsure what to do. I think ill then stick to the DDP and use the credits to include all character meals, shows and 2 credit dinners. That way if we run out I dont have to pay OOP for the more expensive meals.

 

[wayneg]

We are going in August, we were not told anything about the DDP changing to not include desserts. We have never been before thats why we were unsure what to do. I think ill then stick to the DDP and use the credits to include all character meals, shows and 2 credit dinners. That way if we run out I dont have to pay OOP for the more expensive meals.

Just to confuse you even more, the 2 credit meals are a bad use of credits usually. The meals we had at Le Cellier, Tutto Itallia etc had a value of around $130 for 3 of us for 1 credit, meals at Cali Grill & Hoop Dee Doo Review had a value of approx $165 each. OK your dinner show includes alcohol and gratuity but the signature meals don't.
Most character meals are 1 credit. Breakfasts are a bad use also, did Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace value around $60-70, only about half an evening meal.

There have been rumours no desserts are included but still waiting for official announcement, I believe both Virgin and Complete Orlando are saying no desserts but Disney will not say. If no desserts I am almost certain we are going back to offsite next August.

 

[Mark7616]

I see. I can see where your coming from there Wayne its meant to be a holiday there was less precision in the army lol. When you stay off site do you still need to pre book all your outside restaraunts or is it a case of turn up and they can get you a table, is it only disney restraunts that get booked up quickly?

 

[catherine]

Just to confuse you even more, the 2 credit meals are a bad use of credits usually. The meals we had at Le Cellier, Tutto Itallia etc had a value of around $130 for 3 of us for 1 credit, meals at Cali Grill & Hoop Dee Doo Review had a value of approx $165 each. OK your dinner show includes alcohol and gratuity but the signature meals don't.
Most character meals are 1 credit. Breakfasts are a bad use also, did Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace value around $60-70, only about half an evening meal.

There have been rumours no desserts are included but still waiting for official announcement, I believe both Virgin and Complete Orlando are saying no desserts but Disney will not say. If no desserts I am almost certain we are going back to offsite next August.

On the Rumours and News Forum one of the Canadian CM's mums is saying that Le Cellier is going to go through some changes and will become a signature restaurant

 

[wayneg]

I see. I can see where your coming from there Wayne its meant to be a holiday there was less precision in the army lol. When you stay off site do you still need to pre book all your outside restaraunts or is it a case of turn up and they can get you a table, is it only disney restraunts that get booked up quickly?

Never prebook meals offsite. Only time we have to wait is Xmas or Easter. This Easter was the worst upto 1 hour wait but most seated us in within 15 mins. Away from holiday times usually no wait or very little wait. Some places you can call ahead, give them a ring as you set off from your hotel and they will add you to the waiting list before you arrive.

On the Rumours and News Forum one of the Canadian CM's mums is saying that Le Cellier is going to go through some changes and will become a signature restaurant

Wouldn't suprise me, was our nicest meal last year. No way would I use 2 credits for Cali grill when I can get Le Cellier for 1. Food and atmosphere was far better but I know others prefer Cali Grill.

 

[Mark7616]

So if an average meal in 1 ts restaraunt in disney is $130 how much would it be in a similar restaraunt off site.

 

[wayneg]

Very difficult to compare but to give you an idea the most expensive offsite meal we eat last month was Cheesecake Factory, seriously large portions, way bigger than anything in Disney, $78.38, include 3x entrees, 3 sodas, bread(free) & 1 portion of cheesecake(could easily have done without)
Places like Mimis cafe, Chilis, Bubbalous all work out around $60 for the 3 of us. Sweet Tomatos with voucher costs us around $30.

 

[2Tiggies]

I see. I can see where your coming from there Wayne its meant to be a holiday there was less precision in the army lol.

Hi Mark

Forgive me if I am confusing you with someone else, but were you not planning on spending a fair amount of time offsite, as in Universal, Seaworld, etc?

I think even those who never leave Disney property find the DxDDP a challenge to plough through, given all the credits to use and the fact that you also have an appetizer included. You will also spend a considerable amount of additional money on tips. Personally I wouldn't. Perhaps if you are real restaurant lovers and plan to spend at least 90% of your time onsite, then fair enough, but honestly, even then......

 

[mossyflossy]

Hi Mark,

having done 6 nights of the dlxddp last year and planning on 5 nights of the dlxDDP this year, I can say whilst we loved it last year and are looking forward to it this year, there is no way on earth we could have done it for 21 days. And if the rumours are true, and dessert is taken away, I doubt that we'd do it at all next year, free or not.

It's not so much the amount of food (let's face it, you don't have to order it all, much less eat it) it's the planning of so many ADRs (dining reservations). And, as others have said, the tips would be very high over 21 days (18% per meal).

I would stick with the regular DDP, and maybe do one or two 2TS meals or shows to give yourselves maximium flexibility. Your £1K will go along way in paying for the odd additional lunch onsite or the extra dessert or appetiser. That way you can spend your cash on what you want, when you want it.

 

[2Tiggies]

Hi Mark,

having done 6 nights of the dlxddp last year and planning on 5 nights of the dlxDDP this year, I can say whilst we loved it last year and are looking forward to it this year, there is no way on earth we could have done it for 21 days. And if the rumours are true, and dessert is taken away, I doubt that we'd do it at all next year, free or not.

It's not so much the amount of food (let's face it, you don't have to order it all, much less eat it) it's the planning of so many ADRs (dining reservations). And, as others have said, the tips would be very high over 21 days (18% per meal).

I would stick with the regular DDP, and maybe do one or two 2TS meals or shows to give yourselves maximium flexibility. Your £1K will go along way in paying for the odd additional lunch onsite or the extra dessert or appetiser. That way you can spend your cash on what you want, when you want it.

This looks like pretty sound advice to me!