We are a family of 5, DH, DD (7), DD (4) and DS (20months) traveling this Fall - Sept 26-Oct 3rd. This is our second trip (first in 2007 and off site) and our first with the DDP. I've read a TON and done alot of research but I'm torn between just getting the DDP (free) or paying the difference for the DxDP. It basically comes to a difference of $588 or $73.50 a day. We LOVE character meals and plan on doing CRT, and several others. We aren't into really into signature dining and buffets work really well for us. My girls LOVE to snack (which can be a bad thing ) especially at Disney. We are pretty lax with the snacking rules on vacation. Does the 2nd snack, refillable mug and 3rd TS/CS make the DxDP worth it?? Has anyone with a family like ours tried both?? Any advice would be SO appreciated!!
Don't forget to add the extra in tips with more TS meals. I found the DP was enough food for my niece and myself last year. I think the only OOP thing I purchased was some special popcorn that she could eat at MK that was lactose free, that they wouldn't let me use the DDP snack credit for.
The general rule of thumb is that if you want to do at least 2 "sit down" meals a day, then upgrading from basic to deluxe is probably a good idea. You can also "chew" up extra credits with non-signature 2 credit meals, such as CRT, the dinner shows, or even room service (deluxe resorts) or pizza delivery; all of which have the added benefit of included gratuities. At $32/night extra for an adult, you have to try and get an extra $32 of value out of the plan, of course. Assuming $3/night for the extra snack and roughly $2/night (prorated for a 6-7 night stay) for the mug, if your extra TS meal is valued at $27 (after taxes), then it's a good deal, financially. For a child, I believe it's $10/night extra, which is a better deal, most likely, as a child non-buffet TS is typically $8 after taxes, and you still have the $3 snack and $2 mug. Tossing in a buffet just makes it a better deal. Plus, of course, you get appetizers with all of your TS lunches and dinners. If that fits your style of eating, then I'd say go for the upgrade!
The regular DP is so much food - I can't imagine with kids those ages that the Deluxe would be worth it. I know it wouldn't be for us (dh and I plus ds6 and dd5). We are going in early Sept for 8 nights...I have 7 meals planned. 3 character meals, 1 two-credit show (Luau), 1 other non-character buffet and 2 sit-downs. I haven't decided for sure but we MIGHT change that to 4 character meals and nix one of the regular sit-downs. My kids don't want to sit at restuarants for over an hour (after waiting for your table, waiting in line for a picture, getting food, seeing all the characters - it usually ends up well over an hour). And if we do - no way would we want to do it more than once a day.
We love the deluxe plan! It gives us the freedom to do character meals without giving up having a relaxing dinner, snack without thinking about prices, order room service if we feel like it, and basically not worry about the costs of food for our entire trip. Generally speaking, you'll come out ahead on the deluxe plan if you're using 2/3 or more of your credits for table service meals. That could mean breakfast and dinner character meals with a counter service lunch, or a counter service breakfast and a two credit dinner, Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast and then snacks/counter service for the rest of the day, etc. Whether it will work for you depends upon your style of eating and vacationing. We like it because we find table service meals to be less hassle than counter service. Too often on the basic dining plan, my kids got hungry at a normal lunch time, which meant packed counter service restaurants, long lines to order, difficulty finding an open table, etc. It wasn't any faster than having a noon ADR for a sit down meal, and it was a lot less relaxing!
I'm struggling with that same decision for our Sept trip. We were just on the DxDP in March and it was a lot of food but it really didn't take up too much of our time. We booked alot of early breakfasts so we still made it to RD and we scheduled dinners early (5:00). We were planning for this trip to just stick with the basic plan and I had picked out all of our restaurants but now DH and the kids are insisting on adding in a few extras that we would pay out of pocket. I went to All Ears to price out the extras and the cost of the extras is just under $100 less than upgrading. So I'm torn. I think for now I'm going to stay with the basic but if anyone insists on any other restaurants then I'm definitely going to upgrade.
