Deluxe Dining Plan - Thumbs up!

[Wendy5055]

I'm a total lover of the DlxDP!

I have tried the Basic DP and even paying OOP...For me, nothing beats the knowledge that you can eat what you want and my DD13 can get whatever snacks she wants and I don't worry about prices and if I had budgeted enough (which happened on the OOP trip). It's never too much food and we do space our meals out and incorporate a Dinner Show as well as Signature Dining. I can't imagine being able to pay $100 per day per person OOP and still get 3 meals each day (we also eat 3 meals a day at home)...I definitely couldn't make it happen with my DD13 and Mother with me and not at the restaurants we eat at. I also can't imagine not giving my DD13 any lunch from the time of breakfast until an evening dinner (even if it was a late breakfast...low blood sugar and girls do NOT mix! lol). As mentioned by OP, we also enjoy the break of sitting in air conditioning and I will add...I like to have table service and find it doesn't cut back on our park time.

On the OOP trip we did budget money for food and I found that it was not enough. Even though we reviewed menus and pricing and planned out what we (myself and my mother) would eat and projected the most expensive (figuring it would give a cushion) meal for my DD13 (11) at the time would eat. It was stressful.

For me, there is more to it than just loving the DlxDP...
I also found when I did the OOP trip that I tend to skimp on my own meals to allow my DD13 to order what she wants or try to persuade my DD13 to order a lower priced meal option (sneaky thrifty mom tactic). As a single mom (on a budget), I really want my DD13 to be able to not have to worry about what she is costing me when eating out. While we are always on a budget in my home (due to one income), while on vacation I want DD13 to be worry free and to enjoy her vacation just like everyone else. Not to worry about what ordering a meal will cost Mom and then feel guilty.

All that aside...I'm excited to see how many steps my fitness band will track while in WDW!!!

 

[doubleosix]

I just tried out the planner, and then decided to do a bit switching around. Hit F5 and oops, lost everything!

That is one of the minor faults of that site, it does not allow you to save anything. I usually take a screenshot when I'm done.

 

[doubleosix]

I'm a total lover of the DlxDP!

I have tried the Basic DP and even paying OOP...For me, nothing beats the knowledge that you can eat what you want and my DD13 can get whatever snacks she wants and I don't worry about prices and if I had budgeted enough (which happened on the OOP trip). It's never too much food and we do space our meals out and incorporate a Dinner Show as well as Signature Dining. I can't imagine being able to pay $100 per day per person OOP and still get 3 meals each day (we also eat 3 meals a day at home)...I definitely couldn't make it happen with my DD13 and Mother with me and not at the restaurants we eat at. I also can't imagine not giving my DD13 any lunch from the time of breakfast until an evening dinner (even if it was a late breakfast...low blood sugar and girls do NOT mix! lol). As mentioned by OP, we also enjoy the break of sitting in air conditioning and I will add...I like to have table service and find it doesn't cut back on our park time.

On the OOP trip we did budget money for food and I found that it was not enough. Even though we reviewed menus and pricing and planned out what we (myself and my mother) would eat and projected the most expensive (figuring it would give a cushion) meal for my DD13 (11) at the time would eat. It was stressful.

For me, there is more to it than just loving the DlxDP...
I also found when I did the OOP trip that I tend to skimp on my own meals to allow my DD13 to order what she wants or try to persuade my DD13 to order a lower priced meal option (sneaky thrifty mom tactic). As a single mom (on a budget), I really want my DD13 to be able to not have to worry about what she is costing me when eating out. While we are always on a budget in my home (due to one income), while on vacation I want DD13 to be worry free and to enjoy her vacation just like everyone else. Not to worry about what ordering a meal will cost Mom and then feel guilty.

All that aside...I'm excited to see how many steps my fitness band will track while in WDW!!!

Very well stated. I couldn't agree more.

 

[peace_all]

We were debating between the DDP and the DlxDP, after reading the posts and the the calcs., we are going to go with the DlxDP next trip. I am concerned about the appetizers being too much, however the cost of my 12yo. son and his steak and cheesecake goal (the kids is a stick so not concerned), and the kids wanting snacks, not to mention my love for signature dining. We are taking the plunge!

 

[lauradis]

We were debating between the DDP and the DlxDP, after reading the posts and the the calcs., we are going to go with the DlxDP next trip. I am concerned about the appetizers being too much, however the cost of my 12yo. son and his steak and cheesecake goal (the kids is a stick so not concerned), and the kids wanting snacks, not to mention my love for signature dining. We are taking the plunge!

We love, love, love it too.

Here is my advice, if you do it.

order everything the plan includes every meal, think more family style, we can never eat all the food they bring, but it a fun experience trying 3-4 appeitzers, 3-4 entrees and 3-4 desserts.

Yes the tip will be higher, your going to waste food , but its the best way to experience signature without the crazy bills at the end.

Plus in my book its an oxymoron to say I saved money on vacation. What you meant to say was you didnt want to spend the money for the experience.

 

[cjsquared]

We love the DxDP too but with my children being so young its jut not economical now. It was great before DD turned 3 and she could either share with DS or eat off of our plates. In the past we'd do a character meal in the morning and a signature meal for dinner. And we usually go during F&W so we used our snack credits on that. It was great! I can't wait until they get a little older (and actually eat) so that we can start back doing it again.

 

[mac3mpc]

DH and I love the DxDP. We've used it the last couple of trips and have it set for our next. We enjoy having the extra snack credits during F&W, but it also allows us to enjoy some very nice signature meals that we may not have if we didn't have the extra meal credits. Last trip we figured out that we saved about $75, but even if we had only broken even the convenience was well worth it.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

I probably won't get it when we have all three kids with us, but I'm not even sweating the "too much food" thing. We're eating late almost every night we're there and setting up an earlier lunch; those snacks are going to be a lifesaver right around 4 or 5 o'clock.

 

[SouthJersey]

DH and I love the DxDP. We've used it the last couple of trips and have it set for our next. We enjoy having the extra snack credits during F&W, but it also allows us to enjoy some very nice signature meals that we may not have if we didn't have the extra meal credits. Last trip we figured out that we saved about $75, but even if we had only broken even the convenience was well worth it.

Yup! For us it came to:

$155 Average for 3-courses @ a Signature Location. (7:45PM)
$75 Average for 3-courses @ a 1TS lunch location. (12:00PM)
$20 Average daily in snacks in the parks.
$10 equivalent in resort soft-drinks
$260 Daily Average OOP

The only thing we would do different without the dining plan is splitting an appetizer.
So to upgrade from plus dining to deluxe dining, it saves us over $100 per day.