Deluxe Dining Newbies - what do I need to know?

[leeserw]

We are going this summer with the Deluxe Dining Plan. This is not something we usually ever splurge on. We had a snafu with our TA and ended up being able to get it because of the reservation mix up. Anyway, we have all our reservations done. What I need to know is are there certain things on the menu that aren't part of the dining plan? Some of the entrees are so costly I can't imagine them being on the plan ($72 lobster at Narcoosse's). Is there a list of what is included other than 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 drink, and 1 dessert? There has to be a post on this but I searched the board and can't find it. Thanks for your help!

 

[atisikitabasket]

My mom got the lobster at Narcoosse's and I got the surf and Turf when we went deluxe just remember it is 2 TS credits. I will warn you it is a lot of food and we did much better doing a breakfast and a 2 TS credit dinner than trying to do 3 sit down meals. We felt we were either waiting to eat or eating the entire trip. I do know at Yachtsman they have a steak that is for 2 which in that instance it would be for 2 people to eat and would take 4 TS. I am not aware of any entrée restrictions. have a great trip!!!

 

[Shellyb84]

The deluxe plan is a ton of food, we spent way too much time in restaurants! A lot of the time we weren't even hungry by the time our dinner ADR rolled around. We did several 2 credit meals instead of breakfasts. Plan to spend a lot of money on tips! We were a little shocked when we got our final bill at check out.

The only menu items that are excluded are ones that are specifically for more than one person.

 

[Lisa F]

The rules are the same as for the regular DDP with the exception of Deluxe including an appetizer and all meals being able to be used for either TS or QS (though obviously QS is not a great use of credits). Any entree is included, even the $72 lobster, but "enhancements" are not included. Anything that is 2TS on regular DDP is 2TS on DxDDP. Any beverages that are included on regular DDP are included on DxDDP.

I am doing DxDDP for the first part of my split stay and doing two meals a day - breakfast and dinner most days (some days early... like 11am lunch and dinner). Between being able to use 4 nights of credits over nearly 5 days and a few 2TS meals in there, I am having no trouble using them up without eating 3 meals a day. I love breakfast and kiddo loves character meals so it's a great way for us to splurge.

 

[leeserw]

We planned several 2 credit dinners because we knew we would never have the Deluxe again. And we've been to Disney many times so this trip is about the Water Parks and the dining. We're eating places we would never pay out of pocket for and trying new things. I cannot wait!! We went through and figured out what our tip would be at Narcoossee's (just guessing on what we might order) and we were shocked! I plan on having that money set aside before we go. Thanks for the quick replies. We have reservations at Narcoossee's, Sci Fi (lunch), Yachtsman, California Grill, O'hana, Chefs de France (lunch), Le Cellier, Coral Reef (lunch), Brown Derby, Be Our Guest (lunch), Whispering Canyon, and Teppan Edo (lunch). Do those sound okay? We've eaten at O'hana, The Brown Derby, and Be Our Guest but none of the others.

 

[Shellyb84]

I would also recommend considering SOA or HDDR dinner shows. They're really fun and a good use of 2 credits, since tip and alcohol are included.

 

[leeserw]

Another question - can we substitute a side dish, soup, or salad instead of a dessert? For example, can I get the cheddar soup at LeCellier instead of a dessert?

 

[Shellyb84]

Sometimes they may let you sub for a soup or salad, but it depends on the restaurant.

 

[BusyP76]

Another question - can we substitute a side dish, soup, or salad instead of a dessert? For example, can I get the cheddar soup at LeCellier instead of a dessert?

If you are on the deluxe plan, you should be able to get the soup as your appetizer, the entree of your choice and a dessert.

 

[purple figment]

What I need to know is are there certain things on the menu that aren't part of the dining plan? Some of the entrees are so costly I can't imagine them being on the plan ($72 lobster at Narcoosse's). Is there a list of what is included other than 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 drink, and 1 dessert? There has to be a post on this but I searched the board and can't find it. Thanks for your help!

I cannot think of any entree that is excluded. The lobster at Narcoosee's is an expensive entree, but it is included. Many of the restaurants will have a separate section of the menu, usually following the entree section, entitled "Side Dishes" or "Enhancements" or "Accompaniments" and these are not included in the dining plan.

If something is described as "For Two" it is included in the dining plan, but will require 2 adults' credits. An example is the Porterhouse for two at Yachtsman or the Dessert Sampler at the Grand Floridian Cafe.

Another thing to keep in mind is for breakfast, there is no appetizer or dessert entitlement - just an entree and standard fountain beverage.

Another question - can we substitute a side dish, soup, or salad instead of a dessert? For example, can I get the cheddar soup at LeCellier instead of a dessert?

The DxDDP includes an appetizer for each person so you would be able to get the Chedddar Cheese Soup without giving up your dessert. If you don't want dessert some TS restaurants have been allowing a substitution, but it will be something pre-selected by the restaurant, possibly a small cup of soup, a side salad or a veggie dish. It is usually something not on the menu. You could share some desserts and choose others to take back to your room for a late night snack or breakfast the next morning.

 

[myhoney]

DH will only go if we get DxDDP! It is a lot of food. We never felt stuffed, but we also had a lot of 2 credit meals. We enjoyed the "forced" break time to sit and regroup. When we went last time, our girls were 4 and 6. We did Cali Grill, CRT, HDDR, and SOA because we upgraded to the deluxe plan for what was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip...

Now we are going back five years later, with our 4 kids (11, 9, 4, and 3!), and still going for DxDDP. We have CRT and HDDR planned. I am trying to think of one other 2TS meal. We are rope drop people, so an early breakfast, a 12:30/1pm lunch, and a 5:30/6 dinner spreads it out enough that we can handle all the food. What we had a lot of last time was snacks! We were fine with the meals, but then we weren't hungry for snacks during the day, and came home with a ton of treats.

 

[Lisa F]

the other thing you need to know? bring elastic waisted pants.

 

[GillianP1301]

We love the DxDP, so much fun and adds a whole other element to our vacation being able to experience so many great dining options. I have not come across any exclusions, although I'm sure the odd one does exist - if the description states "for 2" (I've seen that the odd time on menus), then I would assume it's excluded. I've eaten at a lot of TS over the last 3 vacations (we do 2 - 3 a day on a 10 day vacation) and have never come across an exclusion.

Our approach is generally 3 TS a day (sometimes we'll throw in a QS). My rationale there is that my personal key to success on a WDW vacation with a young child is to keep eat/sleep patterns as close to home as possible. He eats 3 meals a day at home, that doesn't change on vacation. Not only that, children tend not to stuff themselves with food (like an adult tends to do more so), so you can't assume that just because you're doing a buffet at breakfast that it will tie them through the full day because they will pretty much just eat what they would normally eat. I find I need to be aware of my food intake to align more with how my son eats, so I don't go for food quantity, I go for quality. So one or two normal size plates at a buffet and I'm good, I don't need 3 piled high plates. With that strategy, I am able to enjoy 3 TS a day without feeling like I'm going to explode all the time (although on occasion that still happens because, well let's be honest... my will power can sometimes suck. )

We take advantage of lots of character dining (most bang for you buck if you have a child(ren) under 10). We stay 9 nights, so 27 credits and about a 1/3 of those we use on character meals.

I also try to do 2 or 3 signature meals and/or dinner shows each trip. We have one offsite day usually, so I use those credits to apply to signature meals. I particularly like to bookt hose meals on a day where I don't have a late park night planned, so a more relaxing day touring or by the pool followed by a nice signature meal.

The rest I fill in with 1 credit meals and I try my best to split those between our favourites and new places.

The only real issue I usually end up with is not able to use up all my snack credits but I spend those up on take home treats (packaged candies, for example). I absolutely love going into the cupboard and pulling out some Goofy candy when I'm battling the Disney blues.

 

[GillianP1301]

DH will only go if we get DxDDP! It is a lot of food. We never felt stuffed, but we also had a lot of 2 credit meals. We enjoyed the "forced" break time to sit and regroup. When we went last time, our girls were 4 and 6. We did Cali Grill, CRT, HDDR, and SOA because we upgraded to the deluxe plan for what was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip...

Now we are going back five years later, with our 4 kids (11, 9, 4, and 3!), and still going for DxDDP. We have CRT and HDDR planned. I am trying to think of one other 2TS meal. We are rope drop people, so an early breakfast, a 12:30/1pm lunch, and a 5:30/6 dinner spreads it out enough that we can handle all the food. What we had a lot of last time was snacks! We were fine with the meals, but then we weren't hungry for snacks during the day, and came home with a ton of treats.

That's a really key advantage to us as well, especially travelling in late August. Those built in cool down/rests are amazing. We have to eat anyway, so it's really killing two birds with one stone. Gives us a chance to talk about our day, what we've done, what we still want to do, etc...

 

[myhoney]

@GillianP1301 I had to look twice to make sure your post wasn't MY post! I have said almost the exact same thing on other threads! We believe we totally avoided meltdowns on the last trip because we kept to their schedule. And by talking about the morning's activities at lunch, and what we were doing in the afternoon, it broke it up, so it wasn't so overwhelming to them to be experiencing things non-stop all day long. We don't do anything at home with any resemblance to a Disney trip, so it's a lot for them to take it all in. In fact, our kids didn't even know what a gift shop was! I'll never forget riding POTC and exiting right into the gift shop. The girls were fascinated with all the cool pirate stuff, but had no idea it was for sale. We gave them a few minutes, and then asked about another ride. They calmly put the toy swords back in the barrel and walked out without a second glance. I hope to be so lucky with the little ones on this trip!

My biggest concern is that DS3 won't do well with all the meals. I mean, he's an eater, but he likes to be on the move, too.

 

[Lisa F]

I think 3 sit down meals a day is a lot personally. I'm planning to do breakfast and dinner with a snack at lunchtime. My son kind of grazes throughout the day even at school with morning snack, lunch, snack when he gets to his after school program etc. We will be eating a bigger breakfast than he has at home and a slightly earlier dinner (in the 4:30ish range, his preference is more like 5ish but it is often more like 6ish at home due to schedules). I think the two a day plus snacking will work out well for us. I am doing a split stay with dxddp first 4 nights, which amounts to nearly 5 full days with an early morning flight the first day and with a few 2TS options, I am able to use the credits without doing more than 2 "meals" a day (we are doing Flame Tree BBQ and WPE as meals). There are still 2 snacks a day to burn too!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We ALWAYS get the deluxe plan. We like to sit down and eat 3 meals a day...yes its a lot of food but we don't go into it thinking we need to clean our plates, LOL...we love the theming of the restaurants as much as we like the parks, lol...plus we use the sit down meals as a break in the parks...we usually order the apps but they split them with everyone so we all have variety and we do the same with the deserts...I remember last time by our 2nd or 3rd day I had to stop ordering a chocolate desert bc both my kids would be jumping all over it, LOL...it was still a ton of fun though

 

[leeserw]

I hadn't even considered how nice it's going to be to have that sit down time to talk about our day! What a bonus! We are rope droppers so we'll eat something small in the room before we head out. I can't wait!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Hello all,
I'm looking for opinions on my DxDDP strategy.

I recently booked 9days/8nights for Me,DW and DD(8). Splurged on the DxDDP (something we never thought we would do) because we really appreciate a good meal (quality not quantity). We are going to try for ADR's at as many signature TS as possible. Obviously not V&A due to the age restrictions. I have been reading that there is no distinction between adult credits and child credits when using the DxDDP however children are "supposed" to order from children's menu and that is up to your server to enforce this but since adult meals cost considerably more than children meals this is rarely enforced because server wants best tip possible. Is this correct?

So I'm thinking of ways to get the most out of this plan. I'm thinking when we eat at a signature TS that it would be a poor use of credits for DD(8) to order a $10-$15 children's meal and get charged 2 credits for that. So I'm hoping I can just pay out of pocket for any/all children's meals she orders at signature TS and save the credits she would have used for our next Signature TS meal. Has anyone ever done this or something similar? Is any/all of my understanding of the DxDDP incorrect? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

BTW I'm hoping this doesn't spark a debate on the ethics of this. Just wondering if it makes sense to do this and if it would be allowed. TIA

 

[DG25]

Just out of curiosity do most people do it just to get the best bang for the buck??? I am going for 15 days, and doing the dxddp, but getting the biggest bang for the buck or the most food never crossed my mind. Never thought, wow that's a lot of food. I'm on a diet, and just like at home, I need to eat every 4 hours, and if I need to eat every 4 hours, I would rather a ts than QS, especially for my diet. And yes, I will probably way overpay for what I eat, but, wouldn't I anyway. My lo will be 10 on our last day so I was able to get her as a kid, and she will eat adult and kids meals. I did CRT, HDDR, MBYBBQ, and SOA. The rest are a lot of buffets, and charactor meals and a lot of ts. Yes, I will just like at home eat, Greek yogurt and fruit for breakfast, or oatmeal and fruit. At lunch I'll eat a salad. At dinner I'll eat steak and veggies. I will only drink water. I may take a bite of my desert but that's all "it is vacation after all". But we will have lots of time to sit and visit, lots of time to rest between rides and activities we are doing horseback riding, archery, and horse drawn carriage rides. We will see Mickey no princesses without lines. When I add all that in, to me it is worth it, even if we waste a lot of food. Am I the only one who feels this way?