Deluxe Dining-how do you do it?

[Nimbusteach]

Wondering how people do the deluxe dining. Do you do 1 regular ts and a 2 credit ts, or plan all three meals, or a combo of both, or something else?

What times do you try to make ADR's for (I'm sure this depends of number of meals)?

Some info about our trip-2 adults, going August 19-26, with park hoppers. Although August hours have not been released I am trying to look at the options and what ADR's to make.

Ideas,thoughts, tips, and suggestions welcome!

 

[ancestry]

Somedays we eat three meals a day - around 7:00 or 7:30, 1:00 PM, and 7:00 PM. Someday we only have two meals - 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM and supplement with snacks so we can eat at 2 point places.

We are two adults and two children. The kids are used to three meals a day with snacks in between so while DH and I don't normally need to eat that frequently the kids do. They eat less at each meal but need to eat more frequently.

One thing that I found is to alternate days - i.e. one day have three meals and the next day have two meals. The night before a two meal day I try to pick up some snack type of items on our way out of the park and use those for breakfast the next morning. So one day we eat at 7 - 1 - 7 and the next day 11 and 5 and then repeat.

 

[Mommyto2boys]

We schedule a late breakfast, around 10 or 10:30.

We usually do a 2 ts credit meal around 6 or 6:30.

We save a couple credits just in case we get really hungry and want a cs meal or we might be lucky enough to get a ts meal w/o ADR.

Then we get 2 snacks a day....

 

[Colleen27]

We do 2 meals a day most days. Sometimes that means a character breakfast and an signature dinner. Sometimes it is lunch and a signature dinner. One day we even have 2 signature meals (Brown Derby lunch and Flying Fish dinner). We don't plan all of our meals either, so we have some credits to use if we feel like grabbing a bite between ADRs or in the morning before we get moving.

We just changed our plans from May to Sept today so I'm still working on a rough outline, but it looks like I'll have 22 out of 27 meal credits planned and of those, 7 are two-credit restaurants/shows. The unplanned credits will be used for on the fly ADRs or for CS on the days when we don't have either breakfast or lunch planned (like our waterpark days; we'll almost certainly grab something quick while we're there because we like to get there early and stay all day).

 

[iluvpluto27]

We did two meals most days, an early lunch (around 11:30ish), and a signature dinner around 7:30, and a snack credit for breakfast.

We found this gave us enough time between meals. On our 14 night trip with dxddp, we only did three TS meals a day twice, and that was probably enough for us.

 

[househunter]

We are doing it for the first time at the end of the month! We either have a late breakfast or an early lunch planned and a signature dinner booked between 7-9 depending on our schedule for the day. We sleep in on vacation, have been many times before so are in no rush to get to the parks plus it is just myself and my DH for 10 nights.

I have 6 credits left after making all my ADRs so if we need something in between, we can use those credits and may change our Chef's dinner to Spoodles if we still have any credits toward the end of the trip. We do not eat 3 big meals at home so I think this will be perfect for us.

 

[bleeps]

We do eat at a lot of 2 credit, signature restaurants. Otherwise, we alternate days with the TS breakfast, light lunch, and TS dinner, with days when we go light at breakfast, have an early TS lunch, and later-ish dinner.

 

[Melody L]

I choose the deluxe dining because I want to try all those yummy appetizers. I will probably end up skipping dessert alot, but that's okay. We are doing a bunch of 2 TS meals - Aloha dinner show, Narcoossee's, CA Grill and Flying Fish. We only have about 4 or 5 breakfasts planned and will use our snack credits instead. Also, we fly in early and leave late so will need to use two credits the first day and two the last day. I really don't like counter service so the deluxe is perfect for us. It will give us a nice break in the middle of the day to get off our feet, relax, and have a nice meal without standing in line.

 

[cmesq61]

When we have the kids (teens who like to eat) we do 3 sit down meals, breakfast at 7 AM, lunch at noon, supper 6-7 PM. We adults sometimes ate lightly at lunch. When it is just we adults, we do sit down breakfast 7-8 AM (we are early risers), snack during the day, and signature 2 TS dinners around 7 PM. We love the DxDP.

 

[Tam1067]

We'll be there early August, and we'll be doing about two TS meals a day. Some mornings, we have a character breakfast, CS lunch, then TS dinner. Some days we'll have snacks for breakfast, TS lunch, and TS dinner. We have a few signatures for dinner, and I've got all the credits figured out so we'll use them, but we will use a few meal credits for CS lunches because I think three TS meals a day is a lot.

 

[luckytobeme88]

Here's our 7 night DlxDDP, plus one extra night room only added. We have no young children, but energetic teens who would rather sleep in and stay up until there's absolutely nothing available
6/28-early arrival-Lunch @Tokyo Dining(1TS)@noon
Dinner @Chef Mickey(1TS)@8pm
6/29-Lunch @50's Primetime(1TS)11:45am
Dinner @Jiko(2TS)8pm
6/30-Lunch @Yak & Yeti(1TS)@11am
Dinner @Chef de France(1TS)@8:20pm
7/1 -Lunch @Teppan Edo(1TS)@noon
Dinner @Flying Fish(2TS)@8pm
7/2 - Lunch @Kona Cafe(1TS)@12:30pm
Dinner @Le Cellier(1TS)@8pm
7/3 - Lunch @Tutto Italia(1TS)@noon
Dinner @Yachtsmen Steakhouse(2TS)@8pm
7/4 - Lunch @Coral Reef(1TS)@12:30pm
Dinner @Narcoosee's(2TS)@9pm
7/5 - Lunch @Sci-fi(1TS)@1pm
Dinner @California Grill(2TS)@9pm

 

[hill6]

We have a few 2TS meals planned. We have lunch for most days. We still have credits left over that will be used for breakfast and possibly room service.

May use a few snack credits for breakfast on 1-2 days.

 

[Nimbusteach]

Thank you for the replies!

Any more suggestions or advice?

 

[RahRah573]

Last year we booked reservations for TS restaurants way too close together for time, and too often in different parks or resort areas....basically tried to do 3-meals a day, which given the amount of food, is pretty hard to do day-in day-out for 10-days! Forget the snacks - we had 42 snack credits left the day we were leaving....but we weren't savvy enough about what constituted a snack, so this year we're hoping we're planning a bit better to be able to use all the credits and not feel like we're compelled to eat so much, so often, every day!

Right now our 10-night stay will include (if I can get all the ADR's I want when I want):

Arrival Day, Offical Check-in, no park
Narcossee's Dinner 7:30 (2TS)

Day 1 - Studios
Starring Roll light breakfast (cappuccino + croissant) (2S) when we arrive at park
Play & Dine at Hollywood & Vine Lunch (1TS) 12:30-1:00
Brown Derby Dinner 7:30 (2TS)

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace Breakfast (latest seating time) 11:30 (1TS)
Light "lunch" at Pinocchio Village Haus (side salad + cannoli + bottle vitamin water) (3S)
Fly Fishing Dinner 7:00 (2TS)

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom
Tusker House Donald Breakfast (latest seating) 11:00 (1TS)
Light "lunch" at Anadapudur (egg roll + frozen lemonade) (2S)
Yachtsman Steakhouse Dinner (2TS)

Day 4 - Epcot/Magic Kingdom
Akershus Breakfast 8:30 (1TS)
Coral Reef Lunch 1:00 (1TS)
Liberty Taven Dinner 8:00 (1TS)
Halloween Party
Main Street Bakery Treats (2S) [breakfast tomorrow morning]

Day 5 - Epcot
Light breakfast in room with pastries from bakery last night, brew own coffee in room
Tutto Italia Lunch 12:30 (1TS)
France Bakery pastries for breakfast (2S)
Le Cellier Dinner 7:30 (1TS)

Day 6 - Studios/Epcot
Light breakfast in room with pastries from bakery last night, brew own coffee in room
50's Primetime Lunch (1TS)
Rose & Crown Dinner 8:00 seating for fireworks (1TS)

Day 7 - Epcot
Crepes de France "breakfast" (crepe + latte) 11:00 (2S)
Beirgarten Lunch 2:00 (1TS)
Artist Point Dinner 8:30 (2TS)

Day 8 - Epcot
Light Breakfast at Sunshine Seasons (pastry + latte) (2S)
Le Chefs Lunch 12:30 (1TS)
Citricos Dinner 7:00 (2TS)

Day 9 - Magic Kingdom
O'Hana Breakfast 11:15 (1TS)
Royal Table Dinner 6:30 (2TS)

Day 10 - Official Check-out Day
Mama Melrose Lunch (1TS)
California Grill Dinner (8:30 seating for fireworks) (2TS)

That uses up 30/30 TS and 17/20 Snacks....so we'll each have 3-snacks available to use whenever, or more if we opt to actually make breakfast in the room one or two days!

 

[chinchiller]

We're going in May. This is our current lineup:

Arrival day - Magic Kingdom for EMH:
Dinner at Narcoosee's (2TS)

Day 2 - Epcot World Showcase:
Breakfast at Akershus
Lunch at Teppan Edo
Dinner at Biergarten

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom + Water park + Downtown Disney:
Lunch at Yak&Yeti
Dinner at Raglan Road

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios:
Lunch at Prime Time
Dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse (2TS)

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom:
Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern (considering swapping this for something else)
Dinner at Aloha Luau thing (2TS)

Day 6 - Epcot Future side with EMH at World Showcase:
Lunch at Coral Reef
Dinner at California Grill (timed to see fireworks) (2TS)

Departure day - Epcot:
Lunch at Le Cellier (thinking about swapping it out; it's cutting it close with the time we'll be leaving)

We'll have one extra credit when all is said and done. We decided to keep it in case we just got hungry at some point (likely during a night of extra magic hours).

We aren't big breakfast people and we really didn't want to waste a bunch of credits on breakfasts. Instead, we'll probably use our snack credits to grab a bagel or something. Our lunches mostly hover around noon and most of our dinners hover around 6:00.

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Are you limited on how many credits you can use per day. Can we go to Cindy's for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we wanted using 6 credits per person as an example. Does it matter the order you use the credits for. Are the alloted per day or for the whole trip.

I thought I read somewhere they were done per trip not per day. That you are alloted so many credits per stay not day? Are these credits pooled? No debate but I want to make a spreadsheet if we use this plan we have 7 of us.

 

[Colleen27]

Are you limited on how many credits you can use per day. Can we go to Cindy's for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we wanted using 6 credits per person as an example. Does it matter the order you use the credits for. Are the alloted per day or for the whole trip.

I thought I read somewhere they were done per trip not per day. That you are alloted so many credits per stay not day? Are these credits pooled? No debate but I want to make a spreadsheet if we use this plan we have 7 of us.

You receive all your credits linked to your room key at check in, and they can be used in any configuration you like over the course of your stay up until midnight on the day you check out.

 

[planitdad]

We did deluxe plan last Aug. for our 3rd free dining trip as an upgrade. We loved it. We did 3 TS meals every day. A word of caution though, if your one who likes to park hop or go back to hotel for a swim it may be too much to fit in 3 TS.

After several trips, I made it work for us but would hesitate to suggest the heavy planning to anyone who doesn't really know from experience what they're getting into.

A couple of tips
Be the early bird making ressies to get the times you want
Plan your meals where you'll be, avoiding too much travel time
Tips can add up, be sure to budget accordingly

 

[Gina35]

Good tips, Planitdad. For anyone who's done both the regular ddp and the dxddp, do you think it's worth it? Sometimes I feel like we'd never be able to plan all of that eating and actually get it done. Then again, there are many times when I've felt like we could've used a TS in the middle of the day (usually do the regular ddp & use the TS credits for dinner). Just wondering if you can tell me that you've been converted to a dxddp person....or if it just didn't work for you. Thanks a lot!

 

[disneydiva0729]

I am self proclaimed ultimate Disney diner
I will use my upcoming trip as an example... first of all, I start by making a really basic chart on excel to store all of my info. We are planning a late arrival/early departure, so automatically we have 6 extra points as we will not be eatting Disney those days. I am also there 2 days of food and wine fest., which you can use snack points to buy food (saves us 2 days of lunch points)... now we are talking 8 extra points each
So we are eatting three meals a day, and 8 of those meals will be signature or shows
We def. get our money out of the deluxe... last year when we went, for 2 adults, our bfast bill was apx $50 every day, lunch $80-100, and dinner $100-150...so apx. $275 a day on food... def. more then you pay for the plan... especially during free dining time

Oh and if any one thinks they would benefit from having a copy of my last year dining plan spreadsheet, just message me and I'd be more then happy to email it to you!