Deluxe Dining Planners

[Colleen27]

I know there are quite a few posters excited about the new DxDDP for 2008. For those of you who are within your ADR window or hammering out your plans, share how you are using the plan! It is a lot of food and a million different options, so I thought it would be nice to have a thread for discussing the different ways of taking advantage of this new plan (preferably without too many comments from the plan's critics about it being too much food! ).

I think I've got most of my ADRs straightened out, with only a couple more potential changes depending upon the final list of participating restaurants for 2008. We aren't morning people, so I've only planned a few breakfasts. Most days we'll sleep until we want to get up, then get going (touring plan blasphemy, I know! ) This is what our plans look like so far:

Jan 16: plane lands at MCO at 10AM, Magic Kingdom evening.
2:00 lunch @ Plaza
8:30 dinner @ Chef Mickey's
I'm thinking we'll also grab a couple pastries from Main Street Bakery to take back to the room for breakfast for the kids, since DH & I are happy with just coffee/tea.

Jan 17: Epcot all day
1:30 lunch @ Coral Reef
7:45 dinner @ Tutto Italia (this is one that could change, because as of right now they aren't on the 2008 list)

Jan 18: Animal Kingdom day, Epcot evening EMH
11:30 lunch @ Tusker House
6:30 dinner @ Yachtsman Steakhouse, just DH & I while the kids are at the Sandcastle Club
Late night shared CS, cheese plate & pastry from Boulangerie Patisserie

Jan 19: DS's birthday, the park plans will be up to him
9:00 breakfast @ Concourse
6:00 dinner @ Kona

Jan 20: Magic Kingdom all day and evening EMH
12:05 lunch @ Cinderella's Royal Table, for DD to show off her BBB makeover
8:00 dinner @ California Grill for 9:00 Wishes

Jan 21: MGM all day
12:10 lunch @ Sci-Fi
8:30 dinner @ Flying Fish

Jan 22: Unplanned, waterpark or Disney Quest depending on weather
10:30 breakfast @ Ohana
8:00 dinner @ Artist Point

Jan 23: Animal Kingdom afternoon and EMH if we want to go back, otherwise resort/relax day
12:00 lunch @ Whispering Canyon Cafe
8:30 dinner @ Ohana

Jan 24: Epcot
12:00 lunch @ Teppan Edo (another one that might change if it isn't added to the DxDDP list)
8:00 dinner @ Le Cellier

Jan 25: MGM morning, Epcot evening
Lunch @ ESPN Club
Ice Cream OOP @ Beaches & Cream, because we want to try the Kitchen Sink
8:00 dinner @ Akershus

Jan 26: Magic Kingdom, hopefully Pirate & Princess Party
11:50 lunch @ Crystal Palace
7:30 dinner @ Narcoosees (I'll make this one earlier if the P&PP is going to be that night)

Jan 27: Downtown Disney, flight home leaves at 7PM
Lunch plans to be determined when the final list comes out. Probably either Planet Hollywood for DS if it participates or Olivias at OKW if there is nothing added at DTD
Use up any leftover snack credits at Goofy's, assuming they're back on the plan

 

[workervr]

that is a great plan.. We just got back in Sept. do go to Tutto it was great. I thought .. We did the bounce back for Sept and got free dining but I upgraded it to the DDP as i want to try all these places

 

[WETWHISTLE]

Right now we are only signed up for the DDP, but I keep going back and forth about upgrading to the Deluxe DDP. I've made most of our TS ADRs. I just hate to have to plan at least 2 for every day. If we could wing it and walk up to a TS, I'd jump at the prospect of upgrading...but having to plan out every single meal, I'm hesitant.

 

[Tiger926]

This looks good, but I count 11 nights x 3 TS credits = 33 TS credits per person, and so far, you only have used approx. 27 with a potential 1 or 2 more on your last day. I quickly counted your double credit dinners, so maybe I counted wrong?

Also, I saw you list Concourse Steakhouse (we like this restaurant too), but I thought it was going to be closed in 2008?

We are excited to do the Deluxe plan as well as we normally eat this way at both home and at WDW. Happy eating, Tiger

 

[disneysuncat]

I have made all of mine for my February trip, on the deluxe dining plan.

Feb 6th, arrival day, getting to WDW about 5 PM:
Jiko 8 PM (2 credits)

Feb 7th:
Akershus Princess Storybook Lunch 11:55 AM
Narcoossee's 7:50 PM (2 credits)

Feb 8th:
Teppan Edo 12:00 PM (they told me it would be on the plan, but the details hadn't been worked out. Hope I don't have to change it!)
Yachtsman's Steakhouse 8:00 PM (2 credits)

Feb 9th:
This day is a bit strange, as I suspect (HOPE!) that there is a Princess & Pirate party evening. So I haven't scheduled any dinner, but will grab something or other as time permits:
Brown Derby 12:00 PM (2 credits)

Feb 10th
Le Cellier 12:00 PM
Citricos 8:00 PM (2 credits)

Feb 11th
Crystal Palace 11:30 AM
California Grill 7:40 PM (2 credits)

Feb 12th
Coral Reef 12:00 PM
Narcoossee's 7:50 PM (2 credits)

Feb 13th
Brown Derby 12:00 PM (2 credits)
Yachtman's Steakhouse 8:00 PM (2 credits)

Feb 14th
Cinderella's Royal Table 2:25 PM (2 credits)
Le Cellier 8:20 PM
(wish I had a little more time in between these two, but I am just happy to have them, especially on Valentine's day.)

Feb 15th departing early

I think I still have an extra TS credit, which I will most likely use the day of the (hopeful!) Pirate & Princess party one way or the other. We'll be doing a lot of park hopping, but I think it'll be okay. Oh, we're staying in a one-bedroom villa at BWV, and will be having breakfast there.

 

[Simbee3]

I am glad to see people are planning their usage of the deluxe DDP. We aren't going back until next summer. But, being as anal as a am about Disney I am already planning, and I really like the way you guys are using the credits.
You have to tell me how everything works out when you return from your trips.
I too am hoping for a PPP, we absolutly loved the one we attended in August. And would definately do 1 or 2 more if given the chance.

 

[disneyjunkie]

This looks good, but I count 11 nights x 3 TS credits = 33 TS credits per person, and so far, you only have used approx. 27 with a potential 1 or 2 more on your last day. I quickly counted your double credit dinners, so maybe I counted wrong?

Also, I saw you list Concourse Steakhouse (we like this restaurant too), but I thought it was going to be closed in 2008?

We are excited to do the Deluxe plan as well as we normally eat this way at both home and at WDW. Happy eating, Tiger

Maybe she'll use some of the credits for CS meals.

That's what I'm planning to do. I booked our ADRs (11 night Easter trip) a few weeks ago. We'll have a total of 33 credits each. I think we're only using 25-28 for TS. The rest will cover a few food court breakfast and a few counter service lunches and dinners.

I'll post our list later today.

 

[Tiger926]

Maybe she'll use some of the credits for CS meals.

That's what I'm planning to do. I booked our ADRs (11 night Easter trip) a few weeks ago. We'll have a total of 33 credits each. I think we're only using 25-28 for TS. The rest will cover a few food court breakfast and a few counter service lunches and dinners.

I'll post our list later today.

That's what I was wondering as well. I thought I'd mention it thought just in case she miscalculcated as sometimes happens when using 2 credits.

Happy eating, Tiger

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Day 1 (Saturday)
Arrive at Pop 9:30am, check in. Go to MGM.
lunch at Sci Fi (11:30)
dinner at flying fish (8pm)
Hang out at boardwalk

Day 2: (Sunday)
Epcot day
Snack for breakfast
lunch at Marrakesh (11:30)
dinner at Cape May cafe (8pm)

Day 3: (Monday)
MK day
Breakfast at Crystal Palace (8am)
2 snacks for lunch
dinner at Narcoossee's (5pm)
hang out at downtown disney

Day 4: (Tuesday)
Breakfast at Chef Mickeys (9:30)
Wonderland tea party (1:30)
Dinner at Ohana's (5:30)
mvmcp

Day 5: (Wednesday)
Mgm
snack for breakfast
lunch at Prime time cafe (11am)
dinner at Jiko (9:15pm)

Day 6: (Thursday)
Epcot 1/2 day
breakfast at Akershus (8:30)
Kringla snack for lunch
dinner: California Grill (5pm) w/ Wishes at 6pm

Day 7: (Friday)
AK
breakfast at Tusker House (8am)
lunch at flame tree bbq (2pm)
Rest at pop
dinner at HDDR (9pm)

Day 8 (Saturday)
epcot
snack for breakfast
lunch at tutto italia (1:30)
dinner at Le Cellier (7:30)

Day 8 (Sunday)
MK final day
Breakfast at Boma
snacks for lunch
dinner at Whispering Canyon cafe (7:30)
drive home (2 hour drive back)

I may make some changes. I'm reconsidering WCC now and I may want to put in a few more counter services.

I'm worried about Day 5. We hope to catch fantasmic that night (starts 7:30), but will I get to Jiko on time? I know my way to the AKL. Will we be rushed since Jiko closes at 10pm?

 

[Colleen27]

This looks good, but I count 11 nights x 3 TS credits = 33 TS credits per person, and so far, you only have used approx. 27 with a potential 1 or 2 more on your last day. I quickly counted your double credit dinners, so maybe I counted wrong?

Also, I saw you list Concourse Steakhouse (we like this restaurant too), but I thought it was going to be closed in 2008?

We are excited to do the Deluxe plan as well as we normally eat this way at both home and at WDW. Happy eating, Tiger

I don't have all of our meals planned, so your count is right. To be specific, I have 57 of 66 adult credits and 54 of 66 child's credits accounted for with our ADRs (the uneven numbers are due to meals we won't all be together for - Yachtsman Steakhouse is our kid-free night, and Ohana breakfast is while DH golfs). I left the rest unplanned to use as counter service for between ADR meals or for late nights.

As far as the Concourse Steakhouse goes, according to the good folks on the Contemporary FAQ thread it isn't scheduled to close until the replacement TS location opens. That's currently expected to be in April 08. But that ADR is going to have to change anyway, because I booked the steam trains tour for DS & I that morning. Right now, I'm thinking we'll just grab something from the Main Street Bakery (our favorite WDW CS) after the tour to take back to DD & DH, who are sleeping in while we do the tour, but then I have to figure out another day to fit in a TS breakfast because I promised DH at least one eggs benedict breakfast on the trip. So now I'm looking at how to fit in breakfast at Kona as a replacement.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm worried about Day 5. We hope to catch fantasmic that night (starts 7:30), but will I get to Jiko on time? I know my way to the AKL. Will we be rushed since Jiko closes at 10pm?

I don't know about the travel time, since we've never driven at Disney, but it seems that the restaurant hours are really the time periods for which they accept ADRs, rather than absolute opening/closing times. The restaurant doesn't really close until those late ADRs have completed their meals. We've never felt rushed with close-to-closing ADRs in the past, and I think it is because Disney plans for the restaurant to remain open for a period after the published "closing", based on average table turn-over time.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I know there are quite a few posters excited about the new DxDDP for 2008. For those of you who are within your ADR window or hammering out your plans, share how you are using the plan! It is a lot of food and a million different options, so I thought it would be nice to have a thread for discussing the different ways of taking advantage of this new plan (preferably without too many comments from the plan's critics about it being too much food! ).

They just can't seem to help themselves, can they?

I know you were looking for info from people who are already booked, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in anyway. We're still undecided about what we're going to do. We'll either stay in a WDW resort & book the Deluxe Plan or stay at the Dolphin & book non-DDP restaurants. I keep going back & forth, looking at menus multiple times, but still can't decide. I really want to try Bistro de Paris. That's the one thing making the decision difficult for me.

Anyway, if we go with the DDDP, we'll do what many of you seem to be doing. We'll have a late breakfast/ early lunch & dinner at a Signature Restaurant. The one difference is that we won't use any credits at CS locations. We're not big fans of CS restarants. I doubt we'd use all the snack credits either. We usually don't eat many snacks. It would be nice to have the available, if we want one though.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'm worried about Day 5. We hope to catch fantasmic that night (starts 7:30), but will I get to Jiko on time? I know my way to the AKL. Will we be rushed since Jiko closes at 10pm?

We never eat before 8pm. Most days it's later & we've never been rushed. It can be nice having the restaurant almost to yourself.

 

[Colleen27]

They just can't seem to help themselves, can they?

I know you were looking for info from people who are already booked, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in anyway. We're still undecided about what we're going to do. We'll either stay in a WDW resort & book the Deluxe Plan or stay at the Dolphin & book non-DDP restaurants. I keep going back & forth, looking at menus multiple times, but still can't decide. I really want to try Bistro de Paris. That's the one thing making the decision difficult for me.

Anyway, if we go with the DDDP, we'll do what many of you seem to be doing. We'll have a late breakfast/ early lunch & dinner at a Signature Restaurant. The one difference is that we won't use any credits at CS locations. We're not big fans of CS restarants. I doubt we'd use all the snack credits either. We usually don't eat many snacks. It would be nice to have the available, if we want one though.

Welcome. I started this thread mainly to be a helpful and friendly conversation for those who are planning for or thinking about deluxe dining trips, since the big threads about the 2008 plans have become a bit much to wade through!

The S/D and non-DDP restaurants was actually our dilemma too - until the DxDDP was announced, we were planning on staying at the Dolphin and trying Kimonos for sushi. But in the end we decided to go with a Disney resort and the dining plan, and get our sushi fix at California Grill.

We aren't big CS people either, with the exception of a couple stand-out locations. That might be the best part of the DxDDP for us - no CS credits! We'll probably stop at Main Street Bakery, Boulangerie Patisserie, and maybe Sunshine Seasons, and that will be all the CS we eat.

I do like having the snack credits available, because I'm one of those who things the Orlando city water tastes a little odd and we go through quite a bit of bottled water when we're there. A typical snack for us is one Dole Whip for the 4 of us to share, and 4 bottles of water to go with it. I don't mind having snack credits left, because they're easy enough to burn up on check out day - on our first DDP trip, we came home with enough Mickey rice krispy treats for the whole neighborhood!

 

[luckytobeme88]

Hey Colleen,
It's nice to hear that you'll do the D-DDP next year. We will be going Deluxe next July too. But this is how we do it, we hope to make the most out of the DDP.

We will do a 5-nights DDDP @ AKL plus one extra night room only.

day 1:
Lunch @ Yak and Yeti(1) ~ 1:30pm
Dinner @ Boma (1) ~ 8:00pm

day 2:
lunch @ Tokyo Dining (1) ~ 1:00pm
dinner @ Coral Reef (1) ~ 7:30pm

day 3:
lunch @ San Angel Inn/Garden Grill (1) ~12:30pm
dinner @ Le Cellier (1) ~ 8:00pm

day 4:
lunch @ Tuttoo Italia (1) ~ 12:30pm
dinner @ Flying Fish (2) ~ 8:00pm

day 5:
lunch @ Chef de France (1) ~ 1:00pm
dinner @ Narcoossee's (2) ~ 8:30pm

day 6 (credits left from the package are still good until 12 midnight of your check out day....)
lunch @ Teppen Edo (1) ~12:30pm
dinner @ California Grill (2) ~ 8:30pm

There's a fairly good chance that we might squeeze in a few more nights if we decide not to combine a 7-nights cruise with this trip. To tell you honestly, I would rather stay longer in Disney.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

We never eat before 8pm. Most days it's later & we've never been rushed. It can be nice having the restaurant almost to yourself.

That's exactly why I like late dinners and my DD is used to late dinners at home anyway so it works out.

Either way, I don't think I'd be able to eat earlier with most days having bfst and lunch too. I'd be way too stuffed from lunch to eat a early dinner!