Deluxe Dining Plan Worked Well For Us

[WillAustin]

Just got back from our 10 night trip with the DxDP for the first time. I was curious how well the DxDP would work for us compared to what we would have spent OOP.

I was a bit surprised by how much we came out ahead.

Our family is 2 adults and 3 kids (9, 7, and 7).

Here are the ADRs we had:

The Wave
Cinderella's Royal Table
California Grill
Yak and Yeti
Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
Sci-Fi Dine In
Spirit of Aloha Show
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Le Cellier
Chef Mickey's
Fulton's Crab House
Coral Reef
Teppan Edo
Tusker House
'Ohana
Crystal Palace
Narcoossee's
1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickey's again

We also had a room service meal each and a few CS meals along the way.

Without factoring in any snacks at all, the OOP meal cost (without tips and alcohol) for the entire trip would have been $3,442.75. The DxDP cost was $2,564.10 so we have a difference of $878.65. Coming out ahead on the meals meant that we basically got all 100 snacks for free.

I think we had 2 TS credits left and we used all the snack credits. Almost every day we had 2 TS meals, and several were character meals, signatures or dinner shows. We would all normally order appetizers and desserts, especially when on vacation, even if we don't always eat every bit of food in front of us.

So, I think the DxDP fit our family really well, and none of us are overweight or overeat. I just wanted to let others know our experience, although we may have to re-think this next year when our oldest son turns 10.

 

[3pletprincesses]

We love the deluxe too. Last year in May we saved over $400 even after paying for our tips for our family of 5 and the girls and I saved alot too. We don't do Disney without the Deluxe. It's nice to have 2 TS a day and not have to worry about price and still come out ahead.

 

[mommycal]

ok, how the heck did you get ALL those meals on the deluxe plan? Please share for specifics. We too got that and here is what our vacation will look like

Narcoossee's (2 dining credits)
hollywood & vine
VIP Fantasmic (Mama Melrose)
Cinderella's Royal Table (2 dining credits)
Hoop Dee Doo dinner show (2 dining credits)
Arkershsus Royal Banquet
La Cellier (2 dining credits)
Tusker House
TBD either Yak & Yeti or Rainforest cafe
1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palce
Ohana
Cape May

that would be our total of 18 points for the 6 nights we're there


someone please explain how the deluxe works. So the appetizer for adults isn't included nor tip right? are you allowed to order anything on the menu at places such as La Cellier & Narcoossee's and it's just worth 2 dining credits?

 

[WillAustin]

ok, how the heck did you get ALL those meals on the deluxe plan?

Here are the ADRs we had:

The Wave - 1
Cinderella's Royal Table - 2
California Grill - 2
Yak and Yeti - 1
Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue - 2
Sci-Fi Dine In - 1
Spirit of Aloha Show - 2
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - 1
Le Cellier - 2
Chef Mickey's - 1
Fulton's Crab House - 2
Coral Reef - 1
Teppan Edo - 1
Tusker House - 1
'Ohana - 1
Crystal Palace - 1
Narcoossee's - 2
1900 Park Fare - 1
Chef Mickey's again - 1

26 meal credits for those meals. With 10 nights we had 30 credits each. Room service and CS used up the rest.

Appetizer and dessert are included in the Deluxe plan. Tips and alcohol are not.

We didn't run into any menu items that weren't allowed, but I know some specific items at certain restaurants aren't. Not many though.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I would LOVE to do Deluxe, but we will typically stay DVC and having food (especially breakfast) in the room is entirely too convenient. Though it did take A LOT of time in our morning to not only get up and ready, but have 4 kids eat a bowl of cereal before leaving the room. I can see if we did Deluxe we would eat a cereal bar and fruit on the go, have a late breakfast around 10/10:30, and dinner. We really loved CRT breakfast and HDDR, and wanted to try some Signature meals.

 

[jagafen]

Thanks for posting!!

We're doing the delux for the first tiem this summer (while DS is still a disney kid!!!). It's nice to see it working out for a family with kiddos about DS's age.

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

thanks for posting,

we are going in the fall on the deluxe (2 adults 2 kids 5, & 8) I have read so many mixed reviews.

How did you like CRT? What meal did you do? We are doing lunch and I am worried my DH will not like the food

 

[WillAustin]

How did you like CRT? What meal did you do? We are doing lunch and I am worried my DH will not like the food

We enjoyed our CRT lunch. Our daughter loved the whole experience, and this was our third time eating there. I had the fried chicken, and thought it was really good.

 

[Pinkgirl]

Pleased that it worked well for you we have deluxe for our trip this August and I am so well planned

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

We enjoyed our CRT lunch. Our daughter loved the whole experience, and this was our third time eating there. I had the fried chicken, and thought it was really good.

thanks!

 

[SpectroMan71]

Thanks SO much for posting your review! I don't think I realized that this was how Deluxe worked. I think I thought you'd get 2 TS and 1 CS per day, but it appears that you can do 3 TS if you spend your points wisely.

And appetizers included? Really? That's great!

 

[navywifetill2002]

We upgraded from free QS to the DDP but I so wanted the DxDP (not in the budget)! I would have loved to eat our way through the world! Glad to hear you had a wonderful experience on the DxDP

 

[delmar411]

Thanks SO much for posting your review! I don't think I realized that this was how Deluxe worked. I think I thought you'd get 2 TS and 1 CS per day, but it appears that you can do 3 TS if you spend your points wisely.

And appetizers included? Really? That's great!

There aren't any specific credits. It's 3 meals per day. You choose how you want them to be. You could do all QS or all TS.

Also with deluxe you get apps and desserts at TS.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

the question that I always have when someone posts about how much they saved on the dining plan is.....IF you were not on the plan would you have still eaten at all of those restaurants? Were they all a 'must do' or was it because you paid for the plan and wanted to take full advantage of it?

 

[jagafen]

the question that I always have when someone posts about how much they saved on the dining plan is.....IF you were not on the plan would you have still eaten at all of those restaurants? Were they all a 'must do' or was it because you paid for the plan and wanted to take full advantage of it?

Well, you have to eat, don't you? We always do one of the DDPs when we go to disney. Typically, it's just the DDP. But there were a bunch of signatures that we hadn't gotten to (and while we "waste" 2TS on the DDP at a signature each trip, we still feel it's "worth" it) so for this trip, we decided to do the DxDP, so that we could work all those signatures in. For our family, yes, all of the restaurants are "must dos". We're just skipping the CS locations this time around (finding them a necessary evil on the DDP...in spite of the intermittent variety, the menues are a bit redudant). But in general, as a family, we go out to eat quite frequently, so TS are just part of our lifestyle. When we're on vacation, we like to "live it up" so to say, and do things a little nicer than our regular lives...afterall, it is vacation, no?

We went to Baltimore last summer for a week and stayed on the Inner Harbor. We also ate 2 meals each day (lunch and dinner) in restaurants. So it's not like it's a foreign vacationing concept to eat out for the majority of your meals.

Not to hijack the thread, but I find it funny when people don't do the dining plan, and pay for everything OOP, but then say that they "saved so much $$" over the cost of the DDP by skipping desserts, sharing meals, or forgoing TS restaurants and/or skipping meals altogether because they weren't hungry. I just don't think it's fair to compare apples to oranges. The majority of the time, those folks spent less money because they chose to eat less food than what they would have been entitled to on one of the plans. I don't understand their logic in drawing a comparison between the two...they didn't "save" any money, they just spent less than the cost of the DDP.

It's been said that the QS/DDP/DxDP/++plans aren't for everyone. And "they" are right. No one forces you to buy it, or make the ADRs. It's a personal decision based upon familial preferences, budgets, and vacationing style. The implication that indulging while on vacation is somehow wrong/gluttonous/a backwards variation of squeezing blood from a stone (e.g. those that "maximize the value") I find to be ludicrious, and intrusive, considering we're all bascially a bunch of strangers. It may not be for you(general you) and that's fine. You don't see a bunch of posters asking why you're paying OOP, or asking you to justify the choices you've made. Getting the DxDp is like being pregnant, as soon as you start to show, people think it's ok to get up in your business...it gets tiring, and redudant. People shouldn't have to justify their decisions to skeptics or strangers....(even though I just have) I'm not saying that YOU are judgemental, but there is that general tone on the boards coming from the dissenting side. Even if you didn't intend it, your post can be interpreted that way.

 

[WillAustin]

the question that I always have when someone posts about how much they saved on the dining plan is.....IF you were not on the plan would you have still eaten at all of those restaurants? Were they all a 'must do' or was it because you paid for the plan and wanted to take full advantage of it?

Every restaurant on our list would definitely have been done anyway. Our kids love different TS meals every day, especially in nicer restaurants, and we all order desserts and appetizers when on vacation.

We generally can't stand to eat CS unless we are grabbing the food on the way back to our room.

That's why I was pleasantly surprised at our level of savings. I wasn't worried at all about anyone possibly wasting food or maximizing the plan. Nothing was forced in the pursuit of fitting into the DxDP. Two TS meals a day is normal for us.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Every restaurant on our list would definitely have been done anyway. Our kids love different TS meals every day, especially in nicer restaurants, and we all order desserts and appetizers when on vacation.

We generally can't stand to eat CS unless we are grabbing the food on the way back to our room.

That's why I was pleasantly surprised at our level of savings. I wasn't worried at all about anyone possibly wasting food or maximizing the plan. Nothing was forced in the pursuit of fitting into the DxDP. Two TS meals a day is normal for us.

I have to agree with you. We too do all the restaurants we do because that's what we want. I really hate CS and my daughters get tired of the same old real fast. When we go on vacation, we go all out as it's the only time we don't worry about budget. The only area where we might have spent a bit less would be that DH and I would probably share an app instead of each having one.

 

[jcondrad]

Totally have to agree that it works for us too. We don't do CS and prefer to eat 2-3 TS meals per day. We aren't die hard park people and just enjoy a relaxing meal among all the craziness of Disney.

I did an estimate of our ADRs for December and picked out the meal I was most likely to order at each restaurant. So far I am estimated to save 220compared to paying OOP for the same items. I did the same for my DD who is 3 and estimate a savings of 131.

It all depends on your vacation style and eating habits

 

[prekteacher]

Thank you for the info . We are going in 2014 with three adults and one child. My oldest will be 18 when we go. We were talking about doing this plan, now we know you can save with it we are going to choose that one.

 

[patsal]

Glad it worked for you. If the kids were over 10 would it have worked out as well for you? I know that when kids are under 10 and character meals are included there seems to be a big advantage to using the DDP.