Deluxe Dining Plan opinions?

[crashbb]

The DxDDP, even for next year when the price goes up, is priced in a way that allows more flexibility with "value" than the basic plan.

What you're saying is absolutely true of the basic plan. With the removal of the appetizer there's no way to make signature dining make sense on the plan. California Grill with an average entree-dessert-drink cost around $26 per credit is as just not as good a use of TS credits as Kona, with an average entree-dessert-drink cost of $31 or Chef Mickey's at $32.

On the basic plan, the per credit breakdown I work from looks something like this (2011 non-peak pricing): 45.99 - 1 snack at 2.50 = 43.49 - 1 counter service at 13.00 (average) = 30.49 per table service credit. Both 1 credit uses are just barely a "good value" on the plan, but the signature dinner doesn't even reach the break-even point. You really can't mess around with lower value restaurants, whether signatures or inexpensive venues like The Plaza or non-character breakfasts, and still get your money's worth from the plan.

But look at those same numbers for the deluxe plan, and you get a different picture. Adding the appetizer back in brings the value at California Grill to $35 (again, per credit - $70 average 3 course meal cost), Kona to $39, and leaves Chef Mickey unchanged at $32.

Without accounting for the mugs, the per-credit breakdown of the deluxe plan ends up looking something like this (2011 pricing): 78.99 - 2 snacks @ 2.50 (average) = 73.99 divided by 3 meals = $24.66 per meal credit. All three of the above are a "good value" on the plan. There is a lot more flexibility to choose less expensive restaurants and still get your money's worth out of the deluxe plan, because of that difference in per-credit value.

And now that I have once again exposed my borderline-obsessive Disney dining dorkiness to the world, I'll share the numbers from my spreadsheet for our May trip. I'm still working on the exact plan because my ADR date is this coming Saturday but with my "must dos" - which use 8 of 12 credits per person and include 2 signature dinners on a 4 night trip - we're right at the breakeven point for the plan. Whatever we do with the rest of those credits - most likely another TS lunch, maybe a character breakfast, and some counter service to fill in the gaps - is all savings.

Join the dork club.

I have my ADRs and have a spreadsheet with the cost of what I'd like to order at each meal. I choose what I'd actually like, not what would maximize the plan (some meals I skipped dessert, others I skipped an appetizer; I generally planned to drink water; we have some counter service). I think I used $3/snack credit though. I definitely come out ahead - most of our dinners are signature dinners with an early lunch.

I didn't factor in the mug since it isn't something I would have gotten if it didn't come with the plan, and I'm not sure how much use I'll get from it - it will probably save the me the cost of a few drinks, but I figured that that would just be extra savings.

 

[Colleen27]

Join the dork club.

I have my ADRs and have a spreadsheet with the cost of what I'd like to order at each meal. I choose what I'd actually like, not what would maximize the plan (some meals I skipped dessert, others I skipped an appetizer; I generally planned to drink water; we have some counter service). I think I used $3/snack credit though. I definitely come out ahead - most of our dinners are signature dinners with an early lunch.

I didn't factor in the mug since it isn't something I would have gotten if it didn't come with the plan, and I'm not sure how much use I'll get from it - it will probably save the me the cost of a few drinks, but I figured that that would just be extra savings.

Mine is pretty much the same. I skip deserts on a semi-regular basis because I'm just not a sweets person, and my planning sheet reflects that. We never skip the appetizers, though, which was one of the big things that convinced me to try the deluxe plan in the first place.

We've always gotten at least 3 mugs for our family of 5 - one for DH's coffee, one for my iced tea, and one for something the kids can share - so that's what I inputted into my sheet as that value - the price of the 3 mugs we would buy rather than the 4 that we get (our youngest isn't 3 yet so she's not on the plan). And I should probably adjust my snack credit estimate upwards; those save us a fair bit of money because while we'd never eat quite as many snacks as the plan offers, we always bring home a little something from our travels for our kids to share with their friends and from Disney that's usually the Mickey rice crispy treats or lollypops or some other small sweet.

 

[Dean]

The DxDDP, even for next year when the price goes up, is priced in a way that allows more flexibility with "value" than the basic plan.

What you're saying is absolutely true of the basic plan. With the removal of the appetizer there's no way to make signature dining make sense on the plan. California Grill with an average entree-dessert-drink cost around $26 per credit is as just not as good a use of TS credits as Kona, with an average entree-dessert-drink cost of $31 or Chef Mickey's at $32.

On the basic plan, the per credit breakdown I work from looks something like this (2011 non-peak pricing): 45.99 - 1 snack at 2.50 = 43.49 - 1 counter service at 13.00 (average) = 30.49 per table service credit. Both 1 credit uses are just barely a "good value" on the plan, but the signature dinner doesn't even reach the break-even point. You really can't mess around with lower value restaurants, whether signatures or inexpensive venues like The Plaza or non-character breakfasts, and still get your money's worth from the plan.

But look at those same numbers for the deluxe plan, and you get a different picture. Adding the appetizer back in brings the value at California Grill to $35 (again, per credit - $70 average 3 course meal cost), Kona to $39, and leaves Chef Mickey unchanged at $32.

Without accounting for the mugs, the per-credit breakdown of the deluxe plan ends up looking something like this (2011 pricing): 78.99 - 2 snacks @ 2.50 (average) = 73.99 divided by 3 meals = $24.66 per meal credit. All three of the above are a "good value" on the plan. There is a lot more flexibility to choose less expensive restaurants and still get your money's worth out of the deluxe plan, because of that difference in per-credit value.

And now that I have once again exposed my borderline-obsessive Disney dining dorkiness to the world, I'll share the numbers from my spreadsheet for our May trip. I'm still working on the exact plan because my ADR date is this coming Saturday but with my "must dos" - which use 8 of 12 credits per person and include 2 signature dinners on a 4 night trip - we're right at the breakeven point for the plan. Whatever we do with the rest of those credits - most likely another TS lunch, maybe a character breakfast, and some counter service to fill in the gaps - is all savings.

Obviously the devil is in the details and specific situations will vary, but I made the same statements about the basic plan when it included the appy and tip. There are few choices that truly make sense for signatures on their own merit with any plan. One can generate a "value" out of it certainly but that's not the same as saving money and I think it's difficult to eat out 3 TS meals at day at WDW. Obviously one needs to look at the overall package and a limited number of choices that reduce value don't matter too much if the overall value works.

 

[dansyr2514]

I have to disagree. Our bill at San Angel is last yr was approximately $115.00 for 2 for lunch. So about 57.50 a person. Deluxe dining plan is around $72 per day per person. In one meal we almost broke even.


If you are people that do not like to take breaks and do table service meals or are light eaters....then it will not benefit you. However, especially for couples or adults...I think the deluxe plan is a pretty good deal.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Obviously the devil is in the details and specific situations will vary, but I made the same statements about the basic plan when it included the appy and tip. There are few choices that truly make sense for signatures on their own merit with any plan. One can generate a "value" out of it certainly but that's not the same as saving money and I think it's difficult to eat out 3 TS meals at day at WDW. Obviously one needs to look at the overall package and a limited number of choices that reduce value don't matter too much if the overall value works.

To what above post says in highlighted part, I found it very difficult to eat at 3 TS meals per day except the one day where we had a very late lunch and very late (for us, 8pm) dinner, but I would not have wanted to do that everyday.

It would definitley be a better deal if it was just me and DH and I would probably get a much bigger benefit but with two small children, they did not want to do 2 let alone 3 sit downs per day lol

 

[MotherofLandon]

We never ever had a waiter standing behind us with a gun forcing to clean our plates.

You've obviously never eaten at 50s Prime Time cafe!!

 

[Dean]

I have to disagree. Our bill at San Angel is last yr was approximately $115.00 for 2 for lunch. So about 57.50 a person. Deluxe dining plan is around $72 per day per person. In one meal we almost broke even.


If you are people that do not like to take breaks and do table service meals or are light eaters....then it will not benefit you. However, especially for couples or adults...I think the deluxe plan is a pretty good deal.

First, my comments were about signatures. Unlikely to be the norm for every meal and unlikely to be the way most people will eat for most meals. I also wonder if your meal included alcohol. You'd also have to back out the tip and any non convered or additional items. My opinion is that the DDP is a specialty item that works for some and not for others. Also, IMO, there are those that chose to use it but it doesn't save money, their choice of course but a poor way to approach it if prepayment is the only real benefit.