Deluxe dining: Is 3 TS meals a day really that crazy?

[dawnhaze]

I know all the threads about deluxe dining say that having 3 TS meals a day is too much food and too much time spent eating. But there are just so many places I want to eat!

If I'm planning to have the earliest breakfasts and latest dinners I can get ADRs for, is it really that crazy? I think it'd be rather nice to have a sit down lunch to rest in mid-day without having to go back to the resort.

I'm going for 7 or 8 nights (haven't finalized my plans yet) and I'll have hopper tickets.

 

[smiths02]

It isn't just too much food and too much time spent eating, but also a lot of travel time and a lot of time being scheduled.


I like to rest mid-day as well...but being scheduled can be hard. On our Epcot Day...DS and I had FPs for Soarin' with plenty of time to do the ride before our Chefs de France lunch. Well, it didn't work out that way...we got almost to the front and DS had to pee. The CMs were lovely and let us get back in the FP line, but that wasted A LOT of time. Then I was running in July heat to Chefs to make our ADR (was a few minutes late and a hot mess...but they were accomodating).


ETA: It also depends how you eat and your self-restraint. We did a Tusker House later breakfast one day and ate A LOT. We didn't have lunch-just a frozen lemonade. We were still just getting hungry by when our Ohana dinner came around. So it might be okay if you skip some of your entitlements, avoid buffets, or have way more self-control than I do.

 

[Disneylvr4]

I think it's more a schedule thing and having to be somewhere at a certain time. It is a lot of food, but if you think you would enjoy it try it! Just be prepared to spend at least a few hours a day dining!

 

[IhrkeFamily]

YES!!! Figure at least 2 hours for each meal plus travel time and that's a lot of time for dining. Taking into account how much you paid for your ticket for the park (assuming they are park meals) that doesn't seem a good use of money. And with that much food you may feel sluggish. And this limits you for what you can do. Can't take a FP because you have ADR, can't see a show because of an ADR, it really traps you to enjoy the other great things. Disney has great dining, but spread them out. Enjoy

 

[jcieutat]

Your vacation will absolutely revolve around dining reservations. For me that would be awesome!!!! I live low car except at Disney where I eat everything I can get my hands on!!!!

 

[figment_jii]

Three full meals a day is a lot of food. My family did Deluxe dining last time and the days with three meals just seemed to be to much food, even with the meals spaced out. It worked best when we did a late breakfast/lunch and then a late dinner. Most of our dinners were Signature or 2 credit meals, so we still used three credits, but didn't have three meals.

If you do opt for three sit downs a day, it does take a while. I'd allot about 1 hour for breakfast, and 1.5 hours for lunch and dinner. That doesn't include travel time, but hopefully you can plan your meals to be close by!

 

[kerriemiller]

When we go without kids we love to enjoy 3 TS meals a day. Thats my idea of vacation

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We could never eat that much food, without being miserable after a couple days. We usually go for long weekends. Our normal routine is to book a breakfast or early lunch ADR (mostly breakfast), then dinner. For dinner, we usually order 2 appetizers, 1 or 2 entrees & 2 desserts between the 2 of us. We never finish all of it. I'm usually full on bread, before the meal arrives. We rarely have room for snacks. By the time we've been there 3 or 4 nights, we're sick of food & glad to be going home to eat normally. I honestly don't see how anyone could eat 3 big meals a day, but that's me. If you think you can do it, go for it. I'm always wishing I could fit in more restaurants too.

 

[Masonmj84]

For me, 3 TS meals a day would be too much food (and I like to eat well on vacation).

Let me give you a couple of scenarios from our most recent DxDP trip:

On our first full day at WDW (at MK), we had breakfast (8:15 ADR) at CRT (I cleaned my plate but didn't go for seconds). Later that morning (at around 11 am), I used a snack credit for a funnel cake at Sleepy Hollow. Then, around 2 pm, I used another snack credit for a Dole Whip at Aloha Isle. We had dinner that night at Artist Point. I was able to eat all my dinner entitlements (bread, appetizer, entree, dessert) but only because the meal was really good. If I'd eaten lunch that day (regardless of how early the ADR), there's no way I'd have been hungry enough for the whole dinner.

On our next day (at HS), I used a snack credit in the morning (at our resort) for a yogurt parfait. For lunch, we had the earliest possible ADR (11:30) at 50's PT. I ordered the crabcake appetizer (small), fried chicken (asked for only breast pieces, which means they give you less), and used my dessert credit for a PB&J milkshake. Later, at around 2 pm, I used a snack credit for a Mickey Bar. We had dinner that night at Citricos. I was again able to eat all my entitlements, but started feeling really full about halfway through the entree and really struggled to finish the dessert. If I'd had breakfast (instead of just the yogurt parfait) there's no way I'd have finished dinner.

After that, I realized that I needed to be more disciplined in my dining (and this was eating just 2 meals a day). On subsequent days, we had breakfasts at Tusker House, Crystal Palace, and Cape May and I was careful to only take one pass at each buffet (even though I really wanted to go back for seconds). I also started having somewhat less caloric snacks (often just having bottled water for the afternoon snack). This enabled me to enjoy the dinners much more (was still very full at the end). But if I'd have thrown a lunch into the middle of those days, even with the earliest ADR, there's no way I'd have made it through the dinners.

Anyway, that was my experience.

 

[triciari]

I've done deluxe twice, and it really works well for our family because we have 3 Disney kids - so one buffet a day, and they're pretty much free after that. That being said, we do try to do some 2 credit meals like HDDR, California grill, CRT, so we're not totally stuffed all the time. Enjoy yourself!

 

[dawnhaze]

Thanks for all the input

I'll definitely think harder about it.

 

[tzeitel]

We went DxDP this past April and booked mostly dinner shows and 2 credit meals for dinner with a breakfast or early lunch. Even with that most ppl in our party (family reunion) did not like spending so much time in restaurants - though they only wanted to go to the parks for a couple of hours and then go back to the resort to use the pool.
I had made all the ADRs and had some pretty cool restaurants lined up - half of which I ended up cancelling

I was fine and so was DH & DD but everyone else just wanted to do CS - not sure why they even booked DxDP, it was out of my hands (and pocketbook) what was booked - even though I did try to get them to go to DDP instead of deluxe

It really depends on your party - DH & I were both CMs for many years and go to WDW with a more relaxed attitude. We are both very into the parks and like to go early-ish and stay late-ish so having a nice sitdown meal at 11am and another at 7:30pm with a snack in-between is perfect for us. That being said 3 TS a day would have been too much for us.

Next trip we are doing DDP since we are paying for that one

 

[MisWal]

It isn't just too much food and too much time spent eating, but also a lot of travel time and a lot of time being scheduled.

I agree with all of this, although I do think too much food is the biggest factor, especially if you are going when it is hot.

We just returned and had the regular dining plan and that was almost too much food. I cannot imagine sitting down to 3 TS meals a day plus two snacks.

 

[Mikey'swife]

We are early up and go all day and we like DXDP.

Character meal in park before park opens-done at RD. No park time lost.

Lunch at park TS where you are. Takes 1-1.5hours gives a nice break to cool off with free refills-very relaxing.

Dinner- We will skip breakfast or share cs lunches some days so we can try sigs,do shows or eat at home resort.

Recommendations- Do not try to do meals at resorts far from home resort- don't plan to park hop to eat much- those are the time killers that can make overwhelming.

Use snacks on water and plan to candy home- We cannot use 2 per day per person with all the meals.

 

[lizzytizzy]

Or how about a 2 TS dinner every day?

 

[JeanetteK]

DH and I had the Deluxe plan when we went in April. We never had 3 TS meals in one day. We usually had breakfast and dinner. One day we had an early lunch and then a later dinner. We had several reservations that required 2 credits each for the meal (Fulton's twice, Hoop Dee Doo Revue). My husband says we will do Deluxe again when we go next year.

 

[jedi jen]

My family loves DxDP. It is part of the vacation for us. Usually we do a lunch and dinner and eat at a lot of 2 TS places. We also love doing character breakfasts in the park before RD. DxDP allows a combination. We usually have extra snack credits which the kids love to use to take stuff home (me too). It works for us and it is a lot of fun. TS gives us time to rest, sit down together and discuss our trip. We find it to be good quality family time. I do get too full sometimes. I just have to remember not to clean my plate. Just because the food is there does not mean I have to eat more than I should. The DxDP works for us. FYI - I have three males that love to eat and eat well (want signature dining). I also have DD who still likes the characters and princesses.....I do too. DxDP allows everyone to get what they want.

One more thing, we did the regular DP when it came out. We go in summer when CS lines can be long. TS means less waiting in line for food, better quality food, and no waiting in lines for characters.

It depends on your vacation style. DxDP works well for us.

 

[WillAustin]

If I'm planning to have the earliest breakfasts and latest dinners I can get ADRs for, is it really that crazy?

We are doing deluxe this year, and I'd worry that 3 TS meals would take too much time out of the rest of a park day. Most days we have a breakfast or early lunch coupled with a signature dinner.

I really couldn't care less about leaving food on the table and not getting every penny of value out of the plan, so that part of it doesn't come into play for us. On the deluxe plan, it is easier to come out ahead even if you don't micromanage your credits and eat the most expensive things.

 

[smiths02]

I know all the threads about deluxe dining say that having 3 TS meals a day is too much food and too much time spent eating. But there are just so many places I want to eat!

If I'm planning to have the earliest breakfasts and latest dinners I can get ADRs for, is it really that crazy? I think it'd be rather nice to have a sit down lunch to rest in mid-day without having to go back to the resort.

I'm going for 7 or 8 nights (haven't finalized my plans yet) and I'll have hopper tickets.

One way to eat more places WITHOUT doing 3 meals a day is to maximize your time there. Arrive early to your hotel and leave late in the day on the day you leave. Then you can fit in 2 places on your arrival day and 2 places on your departure day

 

[weHEARTmickey]

We are dining deluxe in December, and we will probably never eat 3 meals a day. We will eat breakfast in the am, then eat signature/dinner shows at night. That equals 3TS per day. True, our breakfasts will probably be larger at WDW than at home, but only having a snack for lunch & a nice dinner will not equal any more food than usual. We are SO excited!