Deluxe Dining Plan-Anyone else intrigued?

[magicmouse2]

My daughters couldnt eat $70 of food every day - at 10 and 11 they are classed as adults and we get the adult plan currently. Hmm if each TS meal takes 1-2 rs thats half of your day spent in restaurants. Excellent ! hope its a success more people in restaurants = less ride waits for us

 

[Lewisc]

On the premium now room service is only 1ts credit and the fees are covered. If room service was not included I dont think I would go with it.

Sarah

but room service counts as 2 credits under the DDP. I don't think the current premium plan charges 2credits for any meals. The current dining plans include gratuities but gratuities aren't being included in 2008. I wonder how many of the room service service fees will be consider automatic gratuities and not covered.

One credit, but paying service fees, might be tolerable but making room service two credits and charging service fees wouldn't be fair.

 

[Muushka]

We would consider this plan under certain conditions:

We would only get it for 1 day and be able to consume the 3 sit-downs in 2 days and it would have to be in Dec and use it for the Candlelight processional. Then it would be a good deal.

PS I understand how the DD works with having to get it for the entire stay. We can re-arrange things pretty easily.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I realize that this plan may not work for every family, but for ours it is perfect. We intend to have a character breakfat every day. Will we graze all morning on the buffet to make sure we have "gotten our money's worth?" Certainly not! We are there for the characters not for enormous amounts of food. Plus, we will certainly take advantage of more signature dinners and now some simple lunches as well (TS of course).

For those of you who continue to refer to it as the Jabba plan, yes perhaps for some who will try to maximize every dollar and scrape their plates clean, but it's not that way for everyone. I am a 5'9" female weighing 130 pounds- certainly not Jabba sized and I love the idea of this plan. We will eat breakfast early, have a midday lunch and a late dinner. We do not like CS meals and never have. And since next year will be our 4th trip in 4 years we don't feel compelled to commando style tour anymore- we don't need to do every single ride every single trip anymore.

 

[caroline1851]

where did everyone find out the price and choices, etc??

 

[shaycamp21]

I wonder if the deluxe plan will add on to the current selection of signature restaurants. It would be amazing if Victoria and Alberts was included. If so I may have to just book that romantic weekend alone with DH.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I don't think we could ever eat 3 TS meals/day, but I could see us using 2 of the credits for signature restaurants each day.

For us, we might use a snack credit for a baked item as a light breakfast, then a TS lunch and a signature meal for dinner. (Unless, of course, they start limiting the snacks to popcorn/drink/ice cream bar as was rumored. DW probably won't be so excited about having popcorn for breakfast. )

Still probably ends up being more food then we'd eat otherwise, but it fits better than the changes which will stiff us on the appetizer and stick us with the tip. Maybe that's what they're counting on--getting people out of the current version of the DDP and get them to move up to the Deluxe version which maybe they project as being more profitable.

For our next trip we'll run the numbers for 4 different scenarios: (1) staying onsite and getting the deluxe package; (2) staying onsite with an AP discount and using DDE to eat meals onsite; (3) staying offsite and using an AP/DDE to eat meals onsite; (4) staying offsite and eating our TS meals offsite. I'm guessing option 4 will end up working best for us if the new changes come to pass, but we'll compare and see.

 

[KJET54]

My husband and I are doing a week in January, no children. I would love the deluxe plan, every evening we could eat at a different Signature restaurant and either have an early lunch or late breakfast. Who said Disney could not be a romantic destination.
Does anyone know if it will be offered to DVC members?
AKL villas here we come

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

I would love to do the Deluxe plan so that we could try more of the 2TS meals. BUT, I don't know that I would spring for that amount of money since I am trying to loose weight...not gain it. Maybe for a very short trip (3 days) I would try it out. I sure do wish they weren't removing the gratuities from the original plan. The appitizer I can live without or pay for oop and split with my dh, but I'm afraid the CM's will get shorted on tips when people have to pull cash out of their pockets for a dinner they have already paid for in advance. I won't do that, but a lot of people will.

 

[mom2alix]

where did everyone find out the price and choices, etc??

Caroline,

This is what has everyone buzzing:

http://www.allearsnet.com/blogs/debwills/

 

[honeymo78]

Cinderumbrella - I completely agree. I love having a character breakfast everyday - not just for the food but for the character interaction. I hate waiting in line in the parks to see characters.

I also think its insulting to call this the jabba the hut plan - obviously plat and prem must be that too. Do you people eat 3 times a day at home? What is so wrong about eating 3 meals - you don't have to lick your plate. And I'm not sharing my vacation meal with DH and end up ordering something I don't like just so we can share and clean our plates. I also get a heck of a lot more exercise in every day at disney than I do at home.

Just because you don't want to eat like that on vacation doesn't mean that you need to insult families that are welcoming this change. Not everyone wants to take time to eat 2 or 3 sit down meals but there are plenty of us that don't want to go commando in the parks and enjoy getting up early for a character breakfast, welcome an hour break in the afternoon where someone waits on us for lunch, and nice quiet dinner in the evening.

 

[Connor' Dad]

My husband and I are doing a week in January, no children. I would love the deluxe plan, every evening we could eat at a different Signature restaurant and either have an early lunch or late breakfast. Who said Disney could not be a romantic destination.
Does anyone know if it will be offered to DVC members?
AKL villas here we come

MS indicated that information will be on the member site Monday.

My wife and I usually do a solo trip once a year and the ability to have breakfast and a signature restaurant dinner everyday would be right up our alley.

 

[clownfish1452]

but room service counts as 2 credits under the DDP. I don't think the current premium plan charges 2credits for any meals. The current dining plans include gratuities but gratuities aren't being included in 2008. I wonder how many of the room service service fees will be consider automatic gratuities and not covered.

One credit, but paying service fees, might be tolerable but making room service two credits and charging service fees wouldn't be fair.

I agree.

Sarah

 

[Colleen27]

I am completely sold on this plan! This is the plan I have told Disney in surveys, emails, etc. that I want for the last 3 years. I hated the CS aspect of the current DDP. A 3 meal a day plan without all the water rentals, Cirque tickets, childcare centers. A plan with just the food, priced right. 69.99 a day is freaking awesome! Plus, they threw in 2 snacks and a refillable mug!

Same here! We've looked at the premium plan and always decide against it because it is priced to include all that stuff we have no interest in. We'll see Cirque in Vegas without the kids, thankyouverymuch, and if we want to cruise around a lake, we'll do it here at home in one of the many Great and lesser lakes that we can take our boat to. When we go to Disney, we want to do Disney - rides, characters, shows, parks from morning to night - and eat well while we do it. The deluxe plan is perfect for doing just that.

 

[Colleen27]

My daughters couldnt eat $70 of food every day - at 10 and 11 they are classed as adults and we get the adult plan currently. Hmm if each TS meal takes 1-2 rs thats half of your day spent in restaurants.

Part of the reason that having a 10 yo adult doesn't bother me is that he's a big, adventurous eater. I'm sure that I'll be passing on whatever dining plan exists when DD is turning 10, because I don't think it could possibly be a good enough value for the rest of us to make up for the fact that a meal to her is 3 bites of salad, one chicken strip, and a cup of applesauce. On the other hand, when she's 10, the bottomless pit will be 14 and probably wouldn't mind eating his little sister's leftovers as well as his own meal!

As far as the time that TS meals take, that's only a problem if you're fitting all your meals into park time. I've been playing with a hypothetical January deluxe plan, to crunch the numbers and the scheduling and see if it is as good for us as it appears at first glance, and I'm finding it very easy to schedule meals for before and after park hours with a shorter meal or just a snack during the actual touring. A character breakfast and a signature dinner won't come close to taking up half our day.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I wonder how the approved snack list will change with this new plan. I'm dying to find out. I wish they'd just come out with it for crying out loud! Don't they know how many obsessive planners there are here, and that we are being tortured by all this speculation?????

 

[caroline1851]

Caroline,

This is what has everyone buzzing:

http://www.allearsnet.com/blogs/debwills/

Thank you!!

 

[lindamomof3]

Can someone explain one thing to me? Could you one day eat CRT and a signature dinner for 4 credits then the next day only have 2 credits? Or is it just three per day?

linda

 

[cdotla]

I agree entirely. I don't consider the time I spend at character meals, nice restaurants and dinner shows a waste of time - I actually consider them some of the best family bonding experiences in the Parks.

You know the old saying - the family that breaks bread together....

After being in the Parks and the heat all day, it is so nice to get away from the "Rat Race" CS options and sit back in a nice TS restaurant.

I am in on this plan all the way!!!

QUOTE=Cinderumbrella;20052806]I realize that this plan may not work for every family, but for ours it is perfect. We intend to have a character breakfat every day. Will we graze all morning on the buffet to make sure we have "gotten our money's worth?" Certainly not! We are there for the characters not for enormous amounts of food. Plus, we will certainly take advantage of more signature dinners and now some simple lunches as well (TS of course).

For those of you who continue to refer to it as the Jabba plan, yes perhaps for some who will try to maximize every dollar and scrape their plates clean, but it's not that way for everyone. I am a 5'9" female weighing 130 pounds- certainly not Jabba sized and I love the idea of this plan. We will eat breakfast early, have a midday lunch and a late dinner. We do not like CS meals and never have. And since next year will be our 4th trip in 4 years we don't feel compelled to commando style tour anymore- we don't need to do every single ride every single trip anymore.[/QUOTE]

 

[timandlesley]

I'm going to seriously consider this plan, it would be great to be able to do some of the 2 counterservice meals and more breakfasts out. The only thing is I would want to stay at a Deluxe so I was closer to the great restaraunts and close to the monorail for easy access to them since I would be eating at them more, which the extra added cost for food plus added cost for room would be hard to do. Can't wait for the rates to come out so I can start crunching numbers for our June trip, I think this sounds great though, it would eliminate bringing any money at all for food so that is great in my book. Is it 3 credits per day then and it can be TS or CS? I sure hope the kids get better options than they do now, kids meals stink and for 19.99 a day I would expect more options, any word on this?
Lesley