Deluxe Dining Newbies - what do I need to know?

[BusyP76]

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?

No you aren't alone! I like to have a Disney "bubble" around us when we go. We don't go every year or even every other year and we budget ahead of time to be able to go and not feel like we have to track our money so closely while we are there. Part of that "bubble" feeling comes from eating whatever we want wherever we happen to be that day. Most of what we like is at our favorite TS places and the deluxe dining plan works out well for us. We also like to bring home Disney treats so all those snack credits that don't get used are great for that. Some of our best Disney family memories are from just sitting around the table throughout our day and talking about how much fun we've had and what our next plan is. And you're right that having character interactions without standing in lines is totally worth it to us as well. We went once when it was pretty hot and the other time when it was oddly cold enough to warrant gloves and hats. Those meals were welcome breaks from the elements and allowed us to recharge so we could keep going. I think it's great to save money where you can and I love a discount as much as the next person but I also don't see anything wrong with setting aside money so that you can afford to not only go to WDW but to go the way you personally want to travel. There are a lot of people that like to express the sentiment that the dining plans are too much food and wasteful. Or even that staying in a deluxe or mod resort is a waste of money if you plan to be in the parks a lot. But everyone should have the freedom to set their own vacation priorities without being judged for them. It should be just as OK to splurge as it is to save (I like to do both) but somehow that is rarely expressed.

 

[Lisa F]

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

your understanding is correct. I am still back and forth on my plans but there are times I may pay for kids meals OOP to save the credits for better things (I am doing a couple of QS that we wanted to do as well and if I'm going to do that, I don't mind using it to split a $30 meal at the flame tree bbq but less eager to use it for a $5.99 hot dog at the same place).

 

[Lisa F]

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?

I don't eat at places JUST to get a good bang for the buck but I did sit down and look at what I wanted to do anyway and how to get the best bang for the buck given that. If anything needs to be paid for oop it iwll be a kids meal at a QS place (I am planning a couple of QS meals). I'm not going to pick something I don't want to eat. I would not pay for a whole breakfast buffet if i wanted greek yogurt and fruit though, unless it was a character breakfast and I was taking my kiddo, then I might.

 

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

No you aren't alone! I like to have a Disney "bubble" around us when we go. We don't go every year or even every other year and we budget ahead of time to be able to go and not feel like we have to track our money so closely while we are there. Part of that "bubble" feeling comes from eating whatever we want wherever we happen to be that day. Most of what we like is at our favorite TS places and the deluxe dining plan works out well for us. We also like to bring home Disney treats so all those snack credits that don't get used are great for that. Some of our best Disney family memories are from just sitting around the table throughout our day and talking about how much fun we've had and what our next plan is. And you're right that having character interactions without standing in lines is totally worth it to us as well. We went once when it was pretty hot and the other time when it was oddly cold enough to warrant gloves and hats. Those meals were welcome breaks from the elements and allowed us to recharge so we could keep going. I think it's great to save money where you can and I love a discount as much as the next person but I also don't see anything wrong with setting aside money so that you can afford to not only go to WDW but to go the way you personally want to travel. There are a lot of people that like to express the sentiment that the dining plans are too much food and wasteful. Or even that staying in a deluxe or mod resort is a waste of money if you plan to be in the parks a lot. But everyone should have the freedom to set their own vacation priorities without being judged for them. It should be just as OK to splurge as it is to save (I like to do both) but somehow that is rarely expressed.

Well said.
I agree with all your points.
About us: Financially speaking, we are not in a position to go to WDW every year. (Well maybe we could but it would have to be only 4-5days perhaps and most certainly in a Value resort.) Our vacation budget is the least important of our monthly expenses. It always gets paid last. If any unexpected expenses arise that is where the $ comes from.

Our last trip 2years ago we were on the regular DDP and stayed at a Mod. (POFQ) and it was great. We usually paid OOP for a light breakfast, QS lunch and TS dinner. We did not do any signatures last time because we felt they were a waste of TS credits.

For our upcoming trip we decided to take a little more time to save more $ and splurge on things we normally wouldn't even consider. We opted for a longer trip(9days), still at a MOD. (CSR) a deluxe would be nice but not in the cards at this time, and opted for DxDDp because we would like to have more dining options and the ability to go to as many signature meals as possible.

 

[kpro33]

This is our 17th visit. Most have neen with the dining plan, about half of those the deluxe. We usually get to a breakfast as early as they open, use a snack for lunch and have a two service restaurant for dinner. Big breakfast. There is a lot of food and if you get up late, it does seem all you do is eat. Make sure you have extra for tipping. It is not uncommon to have. 300 dinner bill. That is a 60 dollar tip which is not included on your plan. Plan ahead, check out the restaurants on line one make your reservation early. Eat, savor the food and enjoy the mouse. We have my son, me and my wife.

 

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

This is our 17th visit. Most have neen with the dining plan, about half of those the deluxe. We usually get to a breakfast as early as they open, use a snack for lunch and have a two service restaurant for dinner. Big breakfast. There is a lot of food and if you get up late, it does seem all you do is eat. Make sure you have extra for tipping. It is not uncommon to have. 300 dinner bill. That is a 60 dollar tip which is not included on your plan. Plan ahead, check out the restaurants on line one make your reservation early. Eat, savor the food and enjoy the mouse. We have my son, me and my wife.

We are basically taking the same approach as you this time. This will be our first time in the DxDDP and we're all about the signatures for dinner this time around. Also I'm starting to do rough estimates for my tips this trip and you are right. Looks like I'm gonna be peeling off quite a few $50's this trip!