To upgrade or not to upgrade? HELP!

[immachesnut]

I really hope that some of you will chime in & help me with this tough decision. We are going to Disney in a month - it will be my hubby, myself and our almost 4 year old twins. Currently we are on the Basic Dining Plan. I do admit I have a character meal booked everyday - I know it seems like overkill but I'm not sure how long it will be before we go back with the state of the economy (hubby is in auto industry) plus I really want my kids to enjoy it while they're still at the age of adoring the characters.

Okay that said - I don't really want to change or cut any of our reservations at this point. I totally realize I may regret it & I'm okay with that. To put it simply to upgrade to the Deluxe Plan, it would be an additional $588. I just crunched some numbers & our OOP expenses after our TS credits run out will be $519. If the DDP does indeed include resort refillable mugs (which are a must for us) that would take it up to $575.66 so basically for $10 more we could go Deluxe.

Obviously I could change things around a little bit so that maybe we are not paying as much OOP but to be honest, I really do not want to spend a vacation adding up numbers & worrying about having enough $ for this or that. I don't really want to fool with dragging sandwiches and drinks in to the parks everyday. To me that just takes half the fun out of a vacation & I haven't had a vacation since about six months before my twins were born - so yeah four years, LOL! I've been warned it will take away park time - seriously though my kids are young, there isn't much they can ride and lets face it - Epcot isn't gonna do much for them. Granted they will like the other stuff but with 7 days I'm thinking eating a couple of sit down meals a day isn't going to really hurt much? I'm not going to fret if credits go to waste. I'd rather just not have to keep track of the darn things. LOL!

So any advice? Should I just take the plunge and upgrade? I think I know the answer, I guess I just want to be validated. We are kind of picky eaters but there are several places I'm sure that we would enjoy eating at more than once. My only concern I suppose is with it being 30 days out if we'd be able to actually secure any reservations of the non-character variety. We'd be more likely to stick to places like ESPN Club & the like than the fancier meals if that helps.

Sorry this is so long, I rambled on way longer than I intended to. I really would appreciate any advice, opinions, criticism, etc. I will post my current ressies if that helps:

Day 1 - Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
Day 2 - Breakfast at Cape May Cafe, Lunch at Hollywood & Vine
Day 3 - Breakfast at Tusker House
Day 4 - Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, Dinner at Crystal Palace
Day 5 - Breakfast at Ohana, Dinner Show at Mickey's Backyard BBQ
Day 6 - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, Lunch at Sci Fi
Day 7 - Breakfast at Akershus
Day 8 - Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (early before check-out) - now that I think about it, not sure this is allowed?

If you've made it this far - thank you for reading!

 

[NMW]

I would SOOO upgrade to the deluxe. The year before the deluxe plan came out we did the basic. We used it for dinner and a CS lunch. We paid OOP cash every day for our breakfasts (either character or resort table service). We bought bottles of soda and water every day. We also paid cash OOP for a couple Table service lunches.

First of all, we got very sick of CS for lunch mostly every day. I read all the time people on this board saying that the dining plan would slow down their touring because they don't want to stop for a table service lunch. Well, I found that waiting in long CS lines in the heat with 3 kids and then trying to take those kids and their food to fix-ins bars, trying to find a table where we would all fit (5 of us) was a huge time consumer. IN contrast, the 2 table serive lunches we paid for took almost the same amount of time, except we were sitting in A/C relaxing and being waited on. A very nice break for our kids. Even one of my kids was asking by day 5 "Can't we just eat lunch in a restaurant today instead of standing in line for a burger?"

If we had had the deluxe plan on that trip we would have saved money big time. We have always eaten the same way every Disney trip no matter what (if any) dining plan we have been on. I can tell you that we used the deluxe dining plan last May and we saved money AND had a relaxing trip. We did 4 signatures, breakfast every day and a couple lunches.

We would never go again with out the deluxe plan. If the tip was included it would be completely perfect! We just brought cash in an envelope for tips every day, so no biggie.

I wouldn't cahnge any of the ADR's you have. We love character breakfasts. I would just add the deluxe plan.

 

[vedlin71]

my hubby will not go if we dont do dxdp . it is me him and 4 teenagers .we do ts b and ts dinner and a cs lunch . and it works out great. my kids are teenagers but love to eat with all the characters. and we take most of the snacks for the trip home it is a 14 hour drive.

 

[Justsyd2]

Yes, do the upgrade, and then you won't have to worry about what you're spending at each meal!

 

[an_evans]

You will also get an extra snack and appetizer. Do DxDDP!

 

[Myhappythought5]

I would upgrade!! We are actually considering this also.

Also You said you weren't sure if the breakfast was allowed the day you check out. Yes it is allowed. You are allowed to use your meal credit until the end of the day you check out so you are fine with that one.

 

[ofhs93]

If money is not an issue (which certainly seems to be the case with the way you re talking) then you might as well do the deluxe. If money IS a concern then you better make sure you are putting all of the tips into your equations as well. Personally...I think you are going to be surprised by how much time it takes out of your schedule though. *My* 4 year old was able to ride on a VAST majority of the rides in the parks. (This is not Universal Studios...it's Disney...they know their demographic)

Doing so many breakfast ADRs and then dinner ADRs is going to test the stamina of the little ones after a couple days of going non stop (do you have any afternoon breaks scheduled?)...trust me. If those breakfast ADRs are scheduled to get you into the park right at rope drop then your REALLY going to be running the little guys out of steam within a few days. If they are scheduled for later than that then your going to be getting out of breakfast and walking right into a crowded park with lines on every ride.

For those saying it takes as long to eat a CS lunch as a TS lunch: It is a matter of timing...I won't say any more than that. When *we* would order lunch there were no lines...but there certainly were when we were leaving the CS location.

 

[DaParkers]

Do it! I think dining can be such a big part of the WDW experience! The Dining plan has added another dimension to our vacation memories. I never knew that it would have such an impact. We are booked in Sept. for free dining and have decided to upgrade to the deluxe plan. For us, it'll only be $32 a day per person. We too, will be booking a character meal (probably breakfast) for everyday that we are there. It will also allow us to have a couple of signature dining experiences without having to worry about the cost.

 

[immachesnut]

Thanks everyone! I went ahead & did the upgrade and I'm already feeling a ton of relief! I don't feel as though I have to use every single credit because I did the math & I know that even if I only booked two more TS meals I'm still saving money in the long run. We are staying at the Nick Hotel after checking out of Disney for a few days so it will be nice to have the extra snacks to take with us. My kids are very, very energetic - they amaze me at how they can go and go. Breakfasts are a key meal for us, it is one meal that the whole family really enjoys. Most breakfasts are scheduled later to allow for some rides beforehand. The kids are perfectly content to nap in their stroller if they're sleepy & generally a short powernap & they're raring to go. While it's a huge deal for my kids, it's also our Wedding Anniversary so I think it's important to mix in some fun things for us if that makes sense.

I appreciate everyones advice! I'm much more excited about the trip now, less stress equals a happier Mommy!

 

[An_Island_Girl]

You made a great choice!

We just returned from Disney, and choose the Deluxe plan too. It was wonderful knowing that everything was paid for upfront (execpt tips which ran us about $400 for 3 of us for 8 days ... I knew this going in though), and the rest was actually a great thing when you have little ones that don't nap, but need an excuse to get off their feet. We did a character meal every day also, and we saved so much time by doing so, because we didn't have to stand in line for any of the charachters in the parks.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[billfatora]

You may have "rambled on", but you certainly did your "homework", and provided complete information to make an informed and logical decision. That dicision is very simple... UPGRADE !

 

[kristindavis]

I agree with the consensus here. Upgrade- especially because the cost is minimal. Dining is a big part of the experience and can really add to the value of the time your having. I did the deluxe on my last trip and it was worth every penny. However, I was a bit shocked at the amount of money I ended up spending on tips.

 

[jennynoel]

I am clearly in the minority here but I would not to DxDDP.

We usually get the standard DDP and have to reschedule at lease one meal per trip because our plans change. Having multiple TS meals a day to get to would be too much for me to worry about. And I make a detailed plan for every day!

I would stick to the standard and pay out of pocket for a meal or two here and there.

Of course - we eat most of our breakfasts in the room or while waiting for the buses, so we can be sure to get the parks at or before opening.

Just another perspective - whatever you choose to do I'm sure your trip will be fabulous!

 

[Colleen27]

I see you've already made your choice, but I just wanted to second all the praise for the deluxe plan. I wouldn't want to go without it with my family!

It is so nice having all the meals included, and the snack sticky here on the DIS makes it super-simple to find creative ways to use up all those snack credits. We're planning our second deluxe dining trip (88 days and counting!!) and we didn't even think twice about adding it. We did have more snacks than we needed on the last trip, but we had no problem using the meal credits and snacks are easy to take home.

 

[2BoysMom]

I, too, am a mother of 4 y.o. twins. My DH and I are going from March 7-14, and I have had Dis friends try to help me decide whether or not to the DDP (or DlxDDP) and I just can't decide...

I think I must be doing something different than y'all when figuring out my numbers. When I do it, I can't seem to get close to breaking even....

Also, my twins are fussy eaters. I take it your twins are not? That's a blessing if that's correct. It might be the fussy-eater-factor that might be throwing off my numbers.

My intention is not to hijack, and I have a PTR if anyone wants to jump on with advice for me, but I would like to hear from the twins Mom if she is worried about what her twins will or won't eat...

thanks, Donna

 

[noahdove]

Personally, I can't justify the ddp for my trips. I still have a ressie for each day for our character meal and a ts for choice of the other youth I take.. I feel that there is just too much food on the ddp...even tho the other trip I took 2 heavy eaters it was all they could do to finish their meals...good luck with whatever you choose..for me I am doing just the basic plan...

 

[Colleen27]

I, too, am a mother of 4 y.o. twins. My DH and I are going from March 7-14, and I have had Dis friends try to help me decide whether or not to the DDP (or DlxDDP) and I just can't decide...

I think I must be doing something different than y'all when figuring out my numbers. When I do it, I can't seem to get close to breaking even....

Also, my twins are fussy eaters. I take it your twins are not? That's a blessing if that's correct. It might be the fussy-eater-factor that might be throwing off my numbers.

I don't think the kids' eating habits matter all that much, because at most of the TS restaurants the kids meals are the same $7.49 whether they order fish or mac & cheese or pizza. It is the adults' eating habits that make-pr-break the value of the plan.

If you want to try running the numbers in detail, I uploaded the spreadsheet I created to evaluate & plan the DxDDP to my website. I haven't updated it for 2009, but nothing really changed from 2008. The link is in my siggie.

 

[2BoysMom]

Thank you Colleen, I'm going to give it a look....