Deluxe Dining Plan?

[hannahdrewmom]

[/B]

wow, that seems like a lot OOP for having the dining plan. Can I ask how much you ordered off the dining plan to end up paying so much?? We are going in 2 weeks and doing the regular DDP. It was $1300 for us (3 adults, 2 kids) - I looked into the Deluxe because I would have liked to maybe do 2-3 more TS meals then I get with the DDP - but it would have been $950 more. Not worth it for our park style - cheaper to pay for 1-2 meals OOP for me.

I am thinking gratuities and "extras" will be less than $500 for us - we have one OOP meal planned for $80, gratuities should run us about $200 and then I figure about $200 more for misc. foods not on the DDP. Just curious how you spent $800-1000 for one less person and if I should plan more.

I would assume based on the comment that they like 2TS credit meals that they probably did a few of those. In a week it easily can add up quickly. For our family last year with 2 adults, 2 kids we payed about $300 for tips on regular dining plan. We payed oop for CRT @ about $200 and oop for CG @ $160. So right there we were oop $660. If we had added in a couple drinks and a couple apps and you can easily hit $800. (Those adult beverages can be really expensive)

 

[Colleen27]

We love the deluxe plan and to tell the truth I'm a bit lost on planning a trip without it. We've used it for the last 3 trips but I don't think we will for the next one because both of our girls aged up a level (one from child to adult, one from infant to child).

We don't really use it as more food than the basic plan covers, but rather a different type of food. Most days we have a 1 credit lunch and a signature dinner. We always order appetizers but often skip or share desserts. And best of all, we almost never bother with in-park counter service any more.

 

[Colleen27]

did anyone save their receipts, how much would you have actually spent if disney didnt "force" you to eat because they provide so much food under the dining plan

I look over the menus and do the math every time, and for the past three trips it has come out the same - we'd spend about as much as the DxDDP costs if we were paying entirely OOP, but we'd be getting less food. However, it is hard for me to do a true apple-to-apples comparison because when I'm doing it in theory for my spreadsheet the menu prices aren't as much of a factor as they are when I actually have the menu in hand. That's a non-monetary aspect of the dining plan that I really enjoy - if the $16 crab cake appetizer sounds good I'll order it, rather than letting the price convince me to settle for something less expensive or skipping the starter altogether.

 

[luckypup]

If you think you'll plan to spend at least 2/3 of your credits at TS locations, and you'll be using the majority of the entitlements (app, entree, dessert) at the meals, then you'll probably save some money on DxDDP. (The 2/3 thing is because, on average, DxDDP will break even at this point)

A good way to utilize DxDDP is to split the day up into two meals, this keeps you from stuffing yourself too much and limits the time spent in restaurants. Typically, what I like to do is have an early lunch (11:30-12pm reservation) followed by a later signature dinner (7-8pm). This can be shifted a bit earlier, 8-9am breakfast, 5:30-6pm dinner, just fine as well. The key is to keep the meals spread out and balanced so the meals aren't running the show, if doing 3 meals (which is fine if that's what you like) make sure to spread them out and possibly throw a lighter lunch in there (ex. 8am Crystal Palace, 1pm Plaza, 8pm 'Ohana)

Thanks for that! I have really never figured out if we were saving or losing with DxDDP- I just get it because of the convenience of prepaying, and the freedom to order without looking at the prices and feeling sick about them, thus ruining my meal or affecting my choices!
But you have made me feel even better with your explanation b/c we us ALL of our credits for TS, 2 meals a day (b'fast and dinner), and use our snack credits to get us through lunches (for the most part).
Guess we are getting our money's worth after all!

Luckypup
GF 1989
YC 2009
BWI in 16 Days!

 

[luckypup]

That's a non-monetary aspect of the dining plan that I really enjoy - if the $16 crab cake appetizer sounds good I'll order it, rather than letting the price convince me to settle for something less expensive or skipping the starter altogether.

 

[carrie6466]

Because we fly in early and leave as late as possible, we sometimes need meals on those days. On our last trip we had planned on paying CRT out of pocket and then decided we wanted to do HDDR, as we had never seen it. When I figured out what the two 'travel' day meals would cost, CRT and HDDR, it was more than it would cost to add the deluxe. So we did. We did all that, plus mostly did breakfast between 8 and 10 and then dinner between 5-7, using the snacks if necessary in between for popcorn, etc.

I think there was one day that we had three meals planned, but we did use one as CS, because we were at MVMCP. Other than that, we did all TS. We are 2 adults and one child and we definitely got our money's worth!

Our biggest problem was snacks. In the summer, we would have used more for drinks. It was very cold when we were there, so that didn't really happen. We went to the confectionary in MK with 17 snack credits left and got stuff that we could take home, that would travel well.

 

[smillerguy]

We just returned from our trip. We have done regular dining and Deluxe. We enjoy sit down meals. We really enjoyed Deluxe. This time I went without a dining plan and saved all receipts. I will post our total; cost soon. We did about 2 sit down meals a day. Some of those were signatures. We ate less food. Did not all order apps and dessert at each meal. I will post my finding as soon as I get everything totalled. I think we will come out even but we did not get the mugs which are very cute and I wanted them but did not want to pay for them.