Deluxe Dining Plan for 1 night only

[Firepath]

Has anyone done this recently? What was your experience and pros and cons of using the plan for just one night but over a two day period? We currently have a trip planned with one night at the new VWL and the remaining nights at the old VWL (I refuse to call it that silly new name) and was planning to try the Deluxe Dining plan. I have read about some issues possibly with trying to use the plan on the second day after already checking out of one resort and into the second resort. Any recommendations? Is it worth any hassles that might occur?

 

[marsh0013]

I think the issues occur if you also have a dining plan at your second resort. A 1-night stay at the beginning of a trip is the perfect time to take advantage of the deluxe plan, IMHO. You can get a great value.

 

[amccu18007]

I have done it and have had no problems. We will do it this Saturday too but sadly it is for the last night of our trip and not the first.

 

[Matty B13]

You have to make sure you use all the meal credits, mug credits, and snack credits from your first meal plan before your next meal plan kicks in. We found this out during a split stay.

 

[tgropp]

I am getting the DDP for two for our one night stay and then using the six dining plan credits the next day when our children arrive

 

[disneynutz]

We are staying at the same resorts and getting the deluxe plan for our two night stay at CCV. If there are any issues, the front desk will fix them.

Bill

 

[lisaviolet]

I have done it numerous times. Never had an issue. Just did it in May. The bills covered were about a hundred dollars over the cost. And that was not including the mugs in the price.

 

[imaginiff]

Has anyone done this recently? What was your experience and pros and cons of using the plan for just one night but over a two day period? We currently have a trip planned with one night at the new VWL and the remaining nights at the old VWL (I refuse to call it that silly new name) and was planning to try the Deluxe Dining plan. I have read about some issues possibly with trying to use the plan on the second day after already checking out of one resort and into the second resort. Any recommendations? Is it worth any hassles that might occur?

Best deal ever!!! We get our mugs for our entire stay. We always book Narcooses for dinner and another great place for lunch to get the best bang for our buck. Grand Floridian Cafe, the Wave, a character buffet, Coral Reef, Captains Grill. And make sure you get the best snack credits....don't waste it on a bottle of water. We have never had an issue doing this for one night and then switching to our next room for the rest of the week. BUT...we always make sure when we check in for our "next" phase that they check and make sure all is at it should be on our magic bands.

 

[Mpadovani2]

We do this all the time. 2 nights in first resort with deluxe plan. Then over to VGF for last 5 or 6 nights. Never had an issue after checkout. I think it is a little more cumbersome if you have the dining plan for the second reservation as well. It is of great value and works well for our family.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Sorry to hijack- it sounds like if you do the DDP for first night (assuming a split stay), the mugs last the entire length of trip (first and second part of split), is that correct?

Also- do you have to be booked with points or through DVC on cash? Can we book through the mydisney site and still take advantage of adding the dining plan for the first night? Rest of the stay is at AKV on points.

 

[imaginiff]

Sorry to hijack- it sounds like if you do the DDP for first night (assuming a split stay), the mugs last the entire length of trip (first and second part of split), is that correct?

Also- do you have to be booked with points or through DVC on cash? Can we book through the mydisney site and still take advantage of adding the dining plan for the first night? Rest of the stay is at AKV on points.

Not sure about that....you would have to ask the regular Disney people. I am pretty sure there is different pricing for DVC members staying on points for the dining plans. And yes, the mugs are now "length of stay" or something like that. We always stay in a studio the first night and then move to a one bedroom.

 

[Dean]

Not sure about that....you would have to ask the regular Disney people. I am pretty sure there is different pricing for DVC members staying on points for the dining plans. And yes, the mugs are now "length of stay" or something like that. We always stay in a studio the first night and then move to a one bedroom.

The DP prices are the same, the only difference is that if there is a midyear increase, DVC members may not be subject to the increase. While the mugs are LOS, they tend to last for a couple of weeks on the RFID. Booking direct with Disney and getting the DP requires more of a package deal.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sorry to hijack- it sounds like if you do the DDP for first night (assuming a split stay), the mugs last the entire length of trip (first and second part of split), is that correct?

Also- do you have to be booked with points or through DVC on cash? Can we book through the mydisney site and still take advantage of adding the dining plan for the first night? Rest of the stay is at AKV on points.

Mugs have been good for 14 days for awhile now. People can even get them extended for free if their stays are longer than that (check out the sticky mug thread on the Resorts board).

To put dining onto a cash stay you have to call them and make it a ticketless package.

 

[Sleepy425]

This is what we are doing our next trip. We have one night booked with the Deluxe plan prior to switching resorts. We will do 1900 Park Fair and HDDR with our credits, which will end up saving us a lot of money over paying cash (even with any discounts we may qualify for). Then add in the snacks we get and having the mugs for our next 7 nights at AKV and it is even a better deal.

 

[quandrea]

I just did this last week but we had the deluxe plan for two nights of a three night trip. I didn't pay anything out of pocket for food because I was very strategic in planning my meals. We saved several hundred dollars compared with what we would have ACTUALLY ORDERED OOP. I assigned no value to the mugs or the snacks. There were two of us.

We ate brunch at California Grill. Split meals at Kona Cafe and Yak and Yeti to stretch the plan. Packed up fruit ad desserts for breakfasts in the room. Even brought home two character cookies for souvenirs for my twins using snack credits.

I'd never want the plan for a whole trip, but it was great for a couple of days. Having it expire at midnight on check out day really helps you stretch those credits.

We also ate at the Plaza, Tony's, Via Napoli.

Used snack credits for fancy drinks--it was hot!

 

[alisonslp]

Can someone explain this further? I am having a hard time understanding why doing it for one day is such a better deal than for the whole stay (aside from having free mugs the whole trip - that's a nice plus). We have done ddp only a couple times b/c we just don't eat enough (2 adults 3 teens) to justify it. When we did it, we felt like our trip revolved around trying to use all the credits.

So, does having it just for one night give you more than you would get on average for a whole stay? We have a 1 night at CC cabins at the end of our stay in Sept. It's our first time staying here and we planned on enjoying the resort for those 2 days, with dinner and then breakfast at whispering canyon. Now wondering if it might be worth it to buy the ddp for just that one night. Does it work after check-out?

 

[Dean]

Can someone explain this further? I am having a hard time understanding why doing it for one day is such a better deal than for the whole stay (aside from having free mugs the whole trip - that's a nice plus). We have done ddp only a couple times b/c we just don't eat enough (2 adults 3 teens) to justify it. When we did it, we felt like our trip revolved around trying to use all the credits.

So, does having it just for one night give you more than you would get on average for a whole stay? We have a 1 night at CC cabins at the end of our stay in Sept. It's our first time staying here and we planned on enjoying the resort for those 2 days, with dinner and then breakfast at whispering canyon. Now wondering if it might be worth it to buy the ddp for just that one night. Does it work after check-out?

It does but only in certain situations. First you get the mugs as noted. But more you can target what you use it for and thus use it for the items that give the most value or use it where the DP doesn't give a value looked at globally. The fact it's good for almost 2 full days is helpful both from the idea of targeting the options that provide more value but also allowing one to get the deluxe plan and use all of the credits since the deluxe plan is the one with the most potential savings. Remember that the day of arrival and the day of departure tend to be shorter days with lost potential. Back in the day with similar programs that preceded the DDP they would often allow you to drop the first and/or last day of the plan.