DDp vs DlxDP too much??

[nosy parker]

Couple of questions, if anyone can offer advice it would be very appreciated!

I have booked the Deluxe Dining Plan for my trip. That is me, DH and 2 DSs (6 & 7). The reason I selected this is because I am hoping to get as much "entertainment" value out of our meals as possible. First, I feel that a sit down dinner at night is a must. An oppportunity to gather, relax and absorb the day. So, since this is important, I will definitely be using a TS meal each day. Now, for the other meals I really want to maximize character meals and specialty dinners like "shows" and upscale restaurants. Since, some of those need to have 2 TS meals traded in, I thought this would be the most economical way to do it. If I use the regular DDP, I will either not have the flexibility, or run out of meals because the CS meals are not useable to trade for those.

But part of me feels like its overkill, and we will be either wasting food or wasting money. Will it be way too much food? I hear the portions are huge. I won't be doing any sit down lunches, so it's mostly breakfast and dinner that concern me. I may end up doing later breakfasts (my kids are not early risers traditionally, but really who knows with the Disney excitement, they might) and then snacks may carry us through to an early dinner. And, of course if necessary I can always trade a TS for a CS lunch if I want. If we had a full breakfast in the morning, couldn't we just share 2 x CS meals for a smaller lunch? That along with the 2 snacks should definitely take us to dinner, right? Because then we would have appetizer, main course and dessert for dinner!

I'm so confused!!

What do you think?

 

[Melissa_E]

n out of meals because the CS meals are not useable to trade for those.

But part of me feels like its overkill, and we will be either wasting food or wasting money. Will it be way too much food? I hear the portions are huge. I won't be doing any sit down lunches, so it's mostly breakfast and dinner that concern me. I may end up doing later breakfasts (my kids are not early risers traditionally, but really who knows with the Disney excitement, they might) and then snacks may carry us through to an early dinner. And, of course if necessary I can always trade a TS for a CS lunch if I want. If we had a full breakfast in the morning, couldn't we just share 2 x CS meals for a smaller lunch? That along with the 2 snacks should definitely take us to dinner, right? Because then we would have appetizer, main course and dessert for dinner!


What do you think?

This is exactly what we did and I figured out that we received over $330 in value than what we paid for the plan. We are early risers (DH is in the Army), and ate a TS breakfast, usually a character meal. Then if we needed it we would share a CS lunch or just have a snack. Then our dinners would be TS as well.

Considering your children are 6 and 7, they may want more of the adult foods and will probably help with your appetizers and entrees. My four year old has adult tendencies and chowed down on our appetizers and helped with desserts too. We would usually get her fruit cup dessert to go because she would get hungry at 7 or so (we usually ate dinner around 5 or 5:30).

 

[frannn]

We have done the reg DP for the past two years, and usually end up buying breakfast (CS) in addition to the lunch (CS) and dinner (TS) that comes with the reg plan. So, having 3 TS credits to burn each day would be fine for us. In the handful of times we've been to WDW, we have never been to any of the dinner shows or signature places (except CRT, pre-DP). This year, we are planning to do CRT, HDD, Mickey's BBQ, Narcooses, BD. DH promises to use snack credits to hold him over on the days where we have no breakfast or lunch ADRs, but that remains to be seen. Sometimes the appetizers are better than the entree, so I am looking forward to those more than desert (which we'll mostly take to go). Our strategy is going to be early breakfast character meals for DD5, so we can get the pics, etc before the "heat crankies" set in (and to get everyone up and out early). Then an in park TS lunch, or snacks followed by the 2 credit dinner/show. I say go for it!

 

[septbaby]

Do morning character meals and either a show, character meal or Signature dining for dinner. Use the snacks in the day if you need more food. Also you will probably find that splitting a CS meal or two works well for your group. I do suggest Coral Reef for one of your meals. It isn't character, but is unique and your boys will probably really enjoy the aquarium.

My nephew was 5/6 during our trip and if he could have had pizza or an Uncrustable PBJ for most any meal he would have been happy. He had pizza at Coral Reef...lol.

 

[nosy parker]

Thanks so much for your replies! I was feeling a bit foolish for my thinking, as my friend thinks I'm nuts and completely wasting money for the Dlx. I know it's quite indulgent, but it's our first trip and I REALLY want to get as much of the "experience" as possible. If I'm there I want to Disney it up! Character meals galore and fancy shmancy dinners as well!

 

[frannn]

I may change my advice, LOL. Any DP will take time out of your park touring. If your expectations are to go for a week during a very busy time (like Spring/Easter break) do the DXDP, and get all the rides and shows done in every park between 10-3, you will be disappointed. If you are looking to take it easy, have some great meals, and are ok with the probability that you will not have time to experience some of the shows/rides, and won't get frustrated with waiting on lines, you may be satisfied with your trip. If you decide to keep the deluxe plan, I would definetly take advantage of the extra magic hours, signature meals, and research the rides before your trip to determine what is a must-do, and what is secondary. We found that even with the reg plan, we were only able to do a few rides between meals. Although, DH likes to stop and "drink it all in", so that may have something to do with it....

 

[Melissa_E]

Thanks so much for your replies! I was feeling a bit foolish for my thinking, as my friend thinks I'm nuts and completely wasting money for the Dlx. I know it's quite indulgent, but it's our first trip and I REALLY want to get as much of the "experience" as possible. If I'm there I want to Disney it up! Character meals galore and fancy shmancy dinners as well!

With the same plan you are using, we saved over $330 for our 8day/7night trip. We did 3 signature meals, 8 1TS meals and used 20 credits for CS meals. We also used up all of our snacks, mainly to bring home.

But, we also made plans to eat before park opening getting us in the gate before rope drop or able to wait at the rope for rope drop.