Deluxe dining or standard dining plan?

[Antonio]

I am confused on how things work. I am currently going for a standard dining plan for 6 nights that I am going to Disney. It's costing me $276 pp before taxes. I was looking into doing 4 days of the deluxe dining plan which would cost me $316 pp before taxes. Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this a smarter option? I get my 12 meals which can all be used for TS meals as oppose to 6 TS and 6 CS. I get 8 snacks as oppose to 6 and I get appetizers on top of it plus a refillable mug. It's only $40 more. Am I allowed to do the deluxe dining plan for 4 days and spread it over the 6 that I'm staying? Am I missing something here? Any info would be great.

 

[kylieh]

The dining plan has to be for the whole stay for everyone in the room (unless DVC I believe there are different arrangements.) So you would need to buy the plan for the 6 nights you're on site at $78.99 night.

 

[bookwormde]

DxDP is a much better value than DDP especailly since it includes appetizers. The problem is that it is way to much food and "drives" vacation planning since you have so may reservations.

As a DVC member or guest staying on points I can do it every other day so that makes all the difference. You can "break up" a CRO reservation, but you have to buy at least a 1 day park ticket for each segment, unless you have an AP.

bookwormde

 

[chinarider]

DxDP sounds great to me however, I think it is too much food and really winds up dictating your trip. We are going end of May for 10 days and are on the DDP and my daughter already tells me "I need a Disney Intervention" and to step away from the computer. I think we want some flexibility and if we had to make additional resies for other meals during the day it would really complicate our trip. It's been 3-4 years since we've been and I think previously the DDP had additional snack and perhaps app. but, I dont think personally for the two of us, it would be worth the additional money. I think if you want a lot of signature restaurants (2TS) then , that might work well but, my daughter is a plain eater so, that really doesn't work for us. We're actually stepping outside the box and doing 4 meals in Epcot.

 

[3pletprincesses]

We are doing Deluxe and although I know it will be too much food, I like the option of still being able to eat 3 meals with my DDs and not have to worry about spending too much $$ on meals since it will already be paid. Yes I might not get the best out of it but to me the peace of mind is better. We are planning early lunch and late dinner everyday with dinner being signature alot of days and doing CS from time to time. Plus I know it would be hard to use up the snacks with 3 kids LOL

 

[traceym]

We are going deluxe this time. We have had the regular dining plan our last 3 visits and always ended up paying for a cs breakfast every morning. So this time we have a TS breakfast every morning and a TS every night. With the deluxe we could book a TS for lunch as well, but we are not doing that. We are going to just "wing it" with lunch. When we get hungry, we will probably eat cs to prevent being overly stuffed with food that week. But if we do decide we want a TS for lunch, we can try to get into one, if not we will go to a cs.

 

[tink305]

We did the Deluxe last yr. It was defintely a lot of food but worth it. The year before we did the regular dining. It was ok. I defintely prefer the deluxe. I have my reservations for this summer with the deluxe again.But this time i booked both the Hoop De Do & Spirit of Aloha,Cinderellas Castle & California Grill which are all 2 table service credits. So it works great for us. I defintely recommend it.

 

[katiekoester]

We are doing DxDP in May because it is our first trip and our daughters want to do every character meal under the sun, plus they are HUGE breakfast eaters and DH and I are semi-foodies who want to do signature dining. It also helps that we are paying for 5 days of DxDP, but can use them over 6 days because you can use your credits until midnight the day you check out. We are driving in early and eating day 1 and driving out late and eating on day 6. It all depends on what you like and what you are looking for. I also like having meals paid for before I get there and not worrying about DH's face when I order a $45 steak!

 

[mickeynut1]

We always did the basic DDP, which was always plenty for our family . Then for our last trip this past December we decided to try the DlxDDP and that worked out even better than the regular DDP . I thought it would be way too much food, but we did a couple of signature restaurants and a few more sit down breakfasts than we normally do.....and with 2 teenage sons, we definitely didn't leave any credits behind . We did have to stock up on snacks the day before we left, but we just picked pre-packaged snacks to take home . After trying the basic DDP, we were never able to go without that.....now we can't go without having the DlxDDP .

 

[Colleen27]

We do the deluxe plan every trip now, not for *more* food than the basic plan but for *better* food - we do a lot of signature dinners, and instead of CS we have sit down lunches. It much better suits our vacation dining habits because when we travel I don't want to deal with quick service/fast food type restaurants. I want to sit somewhere air conditioned with a waitress refilling my iced tea while I wait for my meal.

 

[lilandvisma]

We have done the regular dining plan but still ended up paying OOP for some meals and snacks. This time around we are doing deluxe. A lot of the reason is for better food as Colleen has mentioned as well as having the chance to experience several of the signature options. My girls love character breakfasts and princess meals and I love not having to stand in line at CS, fight for a table, grab chairs, etc... etc...I'd rather sit in a nice environment and be waited on while the kids can relax and wind down as well. I know that we aren't going to eat everything we will be served and that's fine with me. I don't plan on engorging myself with the DxDP, I plan on having a great time and getting to try many different types of food that I cannot try here back at home. I do think that once we go deluxe we will probably never go back to the regular DDP though GL with your decision!

 

[Wendy31]

We do the DxDP because when we did the basic DP, we always ended up paying for some meals OOP.

Additionally, I like the 2 snacks/day & the refillable mug. When we stayed at the cabins at FW, the mugs weren't really needed & neither really was 3 meals/day since we had a kitchen. However, at a regular resort, it's nice to have the refillable mug & 3 meals/day.

I know many people will make ADRs for a breakfast or a lunch & then do a signature dinner. However, w/ kids, we like to stay w/ 3 meals/day - perhaps, we could get more "value" out of the plan by doing a signature each night, but I'm not sure it would work for our family.

DH, especially, likes having everything paid upfront, & then our dining sort of just becomes part of our entire resort "experience", if that makes sense - sort of like a cruise, I guess.

The last time we did the DxDP, it was not too much food - but our kids were under 9. For our upcoming trip, our two oldest children will be 9 & 11 - Disney "adults". I'm not quite sure what we're going to do w/ 4 appetizers , 4 entrees, & 4 desserts! Some places, I'm planning that the 2 older ones will share an adult meal, & we will use the other credit to purchase a child's entree for our younger DS, if we're allowed. We are also doing more buffets this trip than we typically do.

We don't feel like we're rushing from one meal to another because I plan the meals for when we would normally eat & plan the restaurants around the places/parks at which we'll be.

Again, we like the flexibility of the deluxe plan. For our upcoming 9 night trip, we have 16 table service planned (either 1 or 2 signatures - haven't decided yet) & 10 counter-service planned. Some of the counter-service breakfasts will be shared. And I'm still debating on whether or not to pay OOP for a DTD restaurant or go to 1 that's on the DP.

 

[MHSweb79]

Just to be completely clear: You cannot purchase the Deluxe dining plan for 4 days and use the credits over 6 days. In order to do less than your 6 days on either dining plan, you'd need two separate reservations - one for 4 days and another for 2 days. Dining plan credits expire at midnight on the day you check out so you can't save credits for later.

Now, whether to do the Deluxe or regular dining plan is a different question. You'll find devoted fans of both plans, and devoted fans of no plan at all.

 

[Antonio]

Thanks for the feed back. I tell you as nice as Disney is the rules for their packages are so strict. I wish they made things a little easier on their customers. Im staying at the Polynesian for almost the same price I could have stayed at Hawaii for. They should realize we are paying a lot of money and ease up a little.