Just returned from a stay at WDW 9/29-10/5. We are a family of 2 adults, a 7 year old and a 1 year old. Followed our normal routine of staying at POP! & upgrading free dining to Deluxe Dining. Other info: we LOVE character dining before rope drop & include one each morning; our 7 year old is an adventurous (and ravenous) eater who usually shares portions of our meals; we love 3 TS meals/day as downtime, breaks & a unique experience.
We've never done an in-depth track of DxDP versus OOP. So this trip we decided to track whether being on the dining plan effected our selections at a meal and actual costs. We determined that we would have ordered the same entree's whether paying OOP or on the dining plan (we don't always order the most expensive entree, appetizer or dessert). Final result: we would have ordered 3 less desserts and 1 less appetizer if paying OOP. The cost of those 4 items came to $38.97.
Upgrade from free dining to deluxe cost us $112.86/day, equaling $677.16 for the trip.
Our grand total for meals and snacks was $1443.51 for the week. So if we subtract the unwanted items we wouldn't have ordered OOP, $38.97, and the cost for the upgrade, $677.16, we get a savings of $727.38.
Our OOP drinks and tips would have been the same regardless of Plan or OOP so I just left them out of the equation for ease of numbers. Also, I did not count the value of the resort mugs as we only used the mugs twice in the week. If paying OOP, I wouldn't have paid for the mugs.
So for our family, this trip, the upgrade of Free to Deluxe certainly was economically sound compared to paying OOP.
Special note on snack credits: we never use all of our credits and always cash them out for loads of goodies at Goofy's Candy Company on the way home. I added up that amount and reached $118.60. If paying OOP we would not have bought all of that - maybe $30 max. So if we delete that amount from our total we get a new sum of $606.78. Still a great savings over OOP for this trip!
Now, it made sense financially but in some other areas it did not work as well for us this time as in past trips. In order to get ADRs at particular restaurants, we had a few meals that were too close together and this meant a lack of appetite. Also, touring with 2 kids versus 1 really changed our plans. Our daughter still nurses so visiting baby care centers and TS meals really took a chunk of time from our park days. The rain was insane during our visit, too. All of this led to some craziness near the end of our trip. We actually cancelled our breakfast at Cape May one morning (we just used those credits at Earl of Sandwich for take out meals to eat on ride home) because we were so worn out and needed to sleep in.
We try new places/meals each trip and part of the appeal of Deluxe dining to us is that if we don't like a meal, it's okay because between snack credits and 3 TS meals a day, we aren't going to go hungry if we don't like a certain cuisine or dish. We ate lunch at Sanaa one day and I was anticipating not liking it at all. We actually had an ADR for Liberty Tree 3 hours later (to be early for MNSSHP). Boy was I wrong! Sanaa was delicious and we have added it to our faves! We cancelled the LTT ADR as there was no way we could eat a heavy meal so soon. Of course due to ADR/MNSSHP the LTT had no openings later that night. So we ate dinner later at Cosmic Ray's (our the first time). I was very disappointed in bland, dry but greasy burgers and stale buns. The fries were fine but the mango sorbet was very artificial tasting. It was no better than mall food court fare. When I compared the price of the meal at that CS to a TS, I was sadly disappointed as a TS is so much better and for not much more money. Only silver lining was that we weren't paying OOP.
Lastly, we were excited to go to our first F&W Festival. Thought those snack credits would be a great way to try some yummy foods. Of course, we had no appetite for any of the booths. Not that our children would have been patient standing in line at booth after booth either. We decided that a future trip to F&W would be a Daddy/Mommy only trip and we'd buy a gift card - no Deluxe Dining.
For the record, I am still a fan of dining plans but I also will now state that they do not work for every trip. I wish Disney would add a 2 TS meal dining plan. I would go with the standard dining plan but we really would hate to miss out on TS for CS.
We've never done an in-depth track of DxDP versus OOP. So this trip we decided to track whether being on the dining plan effected our selections at a meal and actual costs. We determined that we would have ordered the same entree's whether paying OOP or on the dining plan (we don't always order the most expensive entree, appetizer or dessert). Final result: we would have ordered 3 less desserts and 1 less appetizer if paying OOP. The cost of those 4 items came to $38.97.
Upgrade from free dining to deluxe cost us $112.86/day, equaling $677.16 for the trip.
Our grand total for meals and snacks was $1443.51 for the week. So if we subtract the unwanted items we wouldn't have ordered OOP, $38.97, and the cost for the upgrade, $677.16, we get a savings of $727.38.
Our OOP drinks and tips would have been the same regardless of Plan or OOP so I just left them out of the equation for ease of numbers. Also, I did not count the value of the resort mugs as we only used the mugs twice in the week. If paying OOP, I wouldn't have paid for the mugs.
So for our family, this trip, the upgrade of Free to Deluxe certainly was economically sound compared to paying OOP.
Special note on snack credits: we never use all of our credits and always cash them out for loads of goodies at Goofy's Candy Company on the way home. I added up that amount and reached $118.60. If paying OOP we would not have bought all of that - maybe $30 max. So if we delete that amount from our total we get a new sum of $606.78. Still a great savings over OOP for this trip!
Now, it made sense financially but in some other areas it did not work as well for us this time as in past trips. In order to get ADRs at particular restaurants, we had a few meals that were too close together and this meant a lack of appetite. Also, touring with 2 kids versus 1 really changed our plans. Our daughter still nurses so visiting baby care centers and TS meals really took a chunk of time from our park days. The rain was insane during our visit, too. All of this led to some craziness near the end of our trip. We actually cancelled our breakfast at Cape May one morning (we just used those credits at Earl of Sandwich for take out meals to eat on ride home) because we were so worn out and needed to sleep in.
We try new places/meals each trip and part of the appeal of Deluxe dining to us is that if we don't like a meal, it's okay because between snack credits and 3 TS meals a day, we aren't going to go hungry if we don't like a certain cuisine or dish. We ate lunch at Sanaa one day and I was anticipating not liking it at all. We actually had an ADR for Liberty Tree 3 hours later (to be early for MNSSHP). Boy was I wrong! Sanaa was delicious and we have added it to our faves! We cancelled the LTT ADR as there was no way we could eat a heavy meal so soon. Of course due to ADR/MNSSHP the LTT had no openings later that night. So we ate dinner later at Cosmic Ray's (our the first time). I was very disappointed in bland, dry but greasy burgers and stale buns. The fries were fine but the mango sorbet was very artificial tasting. It was no better than mall food court fare. When I compared the price of the meal at that CS to a TS, I was sadly disappointed as a TS is so much better and for not much more money. Only silver lining was that we weren't paying OOP.
Lastly, we were excited to go to our first F&W Festival. Thought those snack credits would be a great way to try some yummy foods. Of course, we had no appetite for any of the booths. Not that our children would have been patient standing in line at booth after booth either. We decided that a future trip to F&W would be a Daddy/Mommy only trip and we'd buy a gift card - no Deluxe Dining.
For the record, I am still a fan of dining plans but I also will now state that they do not work for every trip. I wish Disney would add a 2 TS meal dining plan. I would go with the standard dining plan but we really would hate to miss out on TS for CS.
