DDP Downgrade ?

[MSLRAC]

We are going to WDW April 3-10, 2010 for spring break. My DH is all for the dinning plan and thinks we should get the deluxe plan (he's a foodie to say the least). I am worried that it will end up being too much food, ADR's will be impossible to get for that many meals (he's not real big on CS meals) and that we'll be spending too much time eating.

I'll be booking our vacation package at the end of this week and I guess I am going with the deluxe plan but I am worried. So, once our ADR booking window opens, can we downgrade to the regular dining plan if we can't get all the ADR's we want? Or if I do mange to get them all and he realizes that it's just too much food/time?

 

[JoJo1980]

I'd be interested in knowing this too. We've booked the deluxe plan for december and it's turning out to be a total pain for us trying to make time for 3 big meals a day and figure out ADR's so we're considering downgrading if its an option

 

[MoonFaerie]

As long as your outside the 45 days or whatever it is, it should be fine.

We were originally booked with the DxDP, but when we added a person we downgraded. Now that she can't come, we're probably going to re-upgrade.

 

[Hootch]

since your husband is a foodie, would you consider doing a number of signature restaurants? To me the way to do the deluxe dining plan is a signature and non signature each day. Three TS meals a day is too much in my opinion.

You could throw in HDDR as an alternative one night. Simple food but a good time.

 

[TDC Nala]

If you are paying for the dining plan and you are on a regular package reservation, you can downgrade it anytime up to 72 hours before arrival, but if you do it less than 45 days before arrival you will pay a $50 change fee for downgrading your reservation.

If you're on free dining and you upgraded the regular plan to deluxe, you can downgrade it back to regular. You can't further downgrade it to quick service though.

If you're on a DVC reservation you have until 48 hours before arrival to change your dining plan.

 

[2manypets]

You can always book more Signature dining and then either a breakfast or lunch. We're on DxDP and there's no way we would be able to eat three huge meals a day. Nor would we want to spend that much time eating. We'll use the snack credits for a small breakfast, then TS early lunch, then signature dinner. DH doesn't care for CS dining.

 

[MSLRAC]

since your husband is a foodie, would you consider doing a number of signature restaurants? To me the way to do the deluxe dining plan is a signature and non signature each day. Three TS meals a day is too much in my opinion.

You could throw in HDDR as an alternative one night. Simple food but a good time.

I did convince him to add Narcoosee and have been working on him to add a couple more signature meals. Right now, he's talking TS (lots of character)meals for every single meal that we are there. If it were just him and I then I would be all for it but with kids in tow, I think we are asking for it big time. Our kids love a good meal too but I think the excitement of Disney is going to throw eating right out the window for them.

But, I honestly don't think we will be able to get all of the ADR's he's wanting so that might just seal the non deluxe deal for us.

 

[Stellapedia]

You're not going at a super popular time, you should be able to get most of the ones you want.
I'd book a regular dining plan for now and then make your ADRs. Then leave it like that. You can always spend MORE money without penalty, at any time. You just can't spend LESS money. So within 72 hours of arrival, you can still upgrade with no penalty, but you can't downgrade without penalty within the 45 day window.
I always normally to Dx at the very last minute. Heck, I upgrade to DP period at the last minute (like this weekend... we arrive on Saturday, I added DP today after I knew I had enough ADRs. I only booked a week in advance this time around, and just made Saturday-Monday ADRs yesterday, and was only interested in five restaurants- got three. One i wanted and didn't get was Chef Mickey, so I can't complain about that one).

 

[marciedoo]

We're food snobs too, but the regular dining plan keeps us more than happy. We are big eaters too (for reference, my 2 year old just packed away 3.5 slices of pizza at lunch yesterday and is still nearly underweight!). However, the regular dining plan keeps us full and happy. We get TS enough to make the food snobs in us happy and CS enough to keep the Disney lovers in us happy. Everyone wins!

 

[MSLRAC]

You're not going at a super popular time, you should be able to get most of the ones you want.
I'd book a regular dining plan for now and then make your ADRs. Then leave it like that. You can always spend MORE money without penalty, at any time. You just can't spend LESS money. So within 72 hours of arrival, you can still upgrade with no penalty, but you can't downgrade without penalty within the 45 day window.
I always normally to Dx at the very last minute. Heck, I upgrade to DP period at the last minute (like this weekend... we arrive on Saturday, I added DP today after I knew I had enough ADRs. I only booked a week in advance this time around, and just made Saturday-Monday ADRs yesterday, and was only interested in five restaurants- got three. One i wanted and didn't get was Chef Mickey, so I can't complain about that one).

That is a good suggestion about upgrading instead of downgrading. That will give me a chance to work on securing any ADR's that I don't initially get. The main one I am worried about is Chef Mickey's. DH told me to take anything we could get for that and Akershus and then to work whatever else I could in.

We are actually going to be there for Easter and from what I have been reading, the MK actually reached a level 4 capacity closure a couple of times last year durig the week of Easter. So I'm preparing myself to have a hard time getting the ADR's that we want but we'll see.

 

[MSLRAC]

We're food snobs too, but the regular dining plan keeps us more than happy. We are big eaters too (for reference, my 2 year old just packed away 3.5 slices of pizza at lunch yesterday and is still nearly underweight!). However, the regular dining plan keeps us full and happy. We get TS enough to make the food snobs in us happy and CS enough to keep the Disney lovers in us happy. Everyone wins!

DH is just worried that we'll end up buying at least one meal a day and snacks OOP if we get the regular dinning plan. He's not real big on CS (even for breakfast) because it doesn't fill us up for long. So his line of thinking is that if we are going to be paying OOP for snacks and a TS meal a day that we should get the deluxe plan because in the long run it will save us money.

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

We used the basic dining plan on our last trip on '05 and really enjoyed it, but could not take advantage of any of the signature dining experiences.
We felt that with the 1 counter service, 1 table service(back then you got apps, dessert AND gratuity included!), and a snack, it took us a while to learn to manage it. We stuffed for breakfast, starved for lunch, stuffed for dinner. It's actually a really good recipe for digestive discomfort, no matter how we enjoyed getting there! We learned to split a counter service breakfast, split a lunch, enjoy our snacks and live it up at dinner

Now that we are going back, just DH and I, (in 19 days) we have the deluxe dining package and are going to squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of it that we possibly can!
Buffet Breakfasts (with lots of choices including fresh fruits, etc) and snacks during the day and then signature dining in the evening.
We are doing that 4 of our 8 days.
We live in a rural area with few exceptional restaurants, and we really enjoy all the food at epcot- most of the international cuisine is very authentic, so the other 4 days we will simply not eat everything in sight at each meal, but enjoy all 3 meals for the experience that they are.

Wish us luck!
Hope you will enjoy all your magical dining experiences!

 

[MSLRAC]

We used the basic dining plan on our last trip on '05 and really enjoyed it, but could not take advantage of any of the signature dining experiences.
We felt that with the 1 counter service, 1 table service(back then you got apps, dessert AND gratuity included!), and a snack, it took us a while to learn to manage it. We stuffed for breakfast, starved for lunch, stuffed for dinner. It's actually a really good recipe for digestive discomfort, no matter how we enjoyed getting there! We learned to split a counter service breakfast, split a lunch, enjoy our snacks and live it up at dinner

Now that we are going back, just DH and I, (in 19 days) we have the deluxe dining package and are going to squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of it that we possibly can!
Buffet Breakfasts (with lots of choices including fresh fruits, etc) and snacks during the day and then signature dining in the evening.
We are doing that 4 of our 8 days.
We live in a rural area with few exceptional restaurants, and we really enjoy all the food at epcot- most of the international cuisine is very authentic, so the other 4 days we will simply not eat everything in sight at each meal, but enjoy all 3 meals for the experience that they are.

Wish us luck!
Hope you will enjoy all your magical dining experiences!

Good luck and have a wonderful trip!!

There are very few exceptional restaurants here as well. We have many chain restaurants but nothing remotely like the places in WDW. Even TS meals that most seem to hate, we loved because it was just so different than what we can get here. We too are excited to venture into Epcot and try tasty treats and meals from all over the world that otherwise we would never be exposed to.

But what you described from your previous trip is what I think DH is affraid will happen to us and that makes for crumpy parents and kids that meltdown more than they should.

 

[Sandysbuddy]

How do you calculate the difference between the regular dinning plan and upgrading to the deluxe dinning plan? It is for two adults. We have free dinning for our trip so do they just charge the difference in price between the two plans? TIA

 

[TDC Nala]

How do you calculate the difference between the regular dinning plan and upgrading to the deluxe dinning plan? It is for two adults. We have free dinning for our trip so do they just charge the difference in price between the two plans? TIA

Yes, they'll charge you the difference between the two plans. The cost in 2009 will be $32 per night per adult and $10 per night per child.

 

[Sandysbuddy]

Thanks, TDC Nala. All of this is still new to me!