Deluxe Dining Suggestions?

[crimowls]

Hello Everyone!

My wife and I have planned a trip to Disney in a couple weeks to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We are super excited! We are staying on property June 14th and 15th and have the Deluxe Dining Plan for those days. We are definitely not newbies when it comes to making Disney plans (we have annual passes and were married in Epcot) so we have reservations already but we have never tried the Deluxe Dining Plan.

Here are the restaurants that we have booked.

June 14 lunch: Sci Fi
June 14 dinner: Kouzinna
June 15 lunch: Coral Reef
June 15 dinner: Cali Grill (2 meal credits)
June 16 Breakfast: 1900 Park Fair

Anyone have any thoughts about this or tips related to the Deluxe Dining Plan that we may not have thought of? Snack suggestions? Vegetarian Snack Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hello Everyone!

My wife and I have planned a trip to Disney in a couple weeks to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We are super excited! We are staying on property June 14th and 15th and have the Deluxe Dining Plan for those days. We are definitely not newbies when it comes to making Disney plans (we have annual passes and were married in Epcot) so we have reservations already but we have never tried the Deluxe Dining Plan.

Here are the restaurants that we have booked.

June 14 lunch: Sci Fi
June 14 dinner: Kouzinna
June 15 lunch: Coral Reef
June 15 dinner: Cali Grill (2 meal credits)
June 16 Breakfast: 1900 Park Fair

Anyone have any thoughts about this or tips related to the Deluxe Dining Plan that we may not have thought of? Snack suggestions? Vegetarian Snack Suggestions?

Thanks!

Everything looks good as far as use of your meal credits! As far as vegetarian snacks, I don't think we had any snacks that had meat in them. Do you need vegan or just vegetarian? For our snack credits, we had Dole Whip, cinnamon roll from Main St. Bakery at MK, school bread in Norway at Epcot, chocolate mousse in France, Mickey rice krispie treats, fruit, Mickey ice cream bars and Mickey ice cream sandwiches. People also rave about the giant cupcakes at Starring Rolls at DHS, and Boardwalk Bakery has some nice things as well. Since you are going to Kouzzina for dinner one night and don't have a breakfast planned the following morning, you can stop into the Boardwalk Bakery after dinner and pick up a couple of pastries for the following morning breakfast, using snack credits. You could also use snack credits for packaged cookies, to take home with you if you want.

 

[crimowls]

Thanks! The bakery is a great idea!

 

[crimowls]

Just an update about the Deluxe Dining Plan.

We just returned from Disney yesterday. We only did two days of the deluxe dining plan and I must say it was far too much food my me. We had the reservations I listed above with the exception of changing the Sci-Fi to Le Cellier. We ate and ate and ate. I felt stuffed half of the time we were there. Don't get my wrong, the food was all good, I'm just not sure what the benefit of doing the DELUXE plan is? I love food. I love to eat and have different dining experiences but it seemed like too much to enjoy. I can't imagine doing it for a whole week.

Does anyone else feel this way? Feel like it is too much food? Is there a trick to not eating so much with it? Do I just not eat as much as most people?

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Happy Anninversary and many more. Have a Magical Trip

 

[TxRabbit]

Does anyone else feel this way? Feel like it is too much food? Is there a trick to not eating so much with it? Do I just not eat as much as most people?

It can be too much food. I do think there is a trick to not eating as much. We had a little bit of an easier time of it because DH and I had DS8 at the time. Being an older child, and a growing boy with a healthy appetite for steak, salmon, chicken, etc etc., it was very helpful to have that third person along for sharing the food.

We might order the two appetizers we were entitled to, and share them between 3 people, not just two. If DS actually liked his choice for an appie (chicken soup being the only one), then DH and I would sometimes just order a dinner salad for an appie.

You have to be aware of your mix of food also. Your entitlements entitle you to an enormous number of calories to be consumed in one sitting. We are big fish eaters, so we would often eat a salmon main entree. Beware the carbs on the plate and generally don't eat the entire servings of especially heavy carbs like mashed potatoes which are loaded with fat and calories. If possible, substitute more veggies for some of those starchy sides.

For dessert, mix it up and don't always get a full on major dessert. Sometimes get a fruit plate or something else that isn't so heavy. And remember that you can share the desserts, so you can get one fruit plate and one cheesecake or whatever.

And always remember that you don't have to clean your plate to get your money's worth. Eating to a point of satisfaction (which could be termed being satisfied enough with that particular taste, especially in buffet land) is getting your money's worth.

We did the DxDDP for one week. It wasn't too much food. It was too much scheduling.

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

I think the key to doing the Deluxe is to do at least a few 2 credit meals and maybe a dinner show. I can't imagine having 3 sit down meals a day! That being said have you ever done the Hoop Dee Doo or The Spirit of Aloha show? They're both good and have great food!

 

[crimowls]

Thanks for the replies. We did one 2 credit meal which helped and spread our dining out. If we do it again we will def try more 2 credits!

 

[scanne]

I think the key to doing the Deluxe is to do at least a few 2 credit meals and maybe a dinner show. I can't imagine having 3 sit down meals a day! That being said have you ever done the Hoop Dee Doo or The Spirit of Aloha show? They're both good and have great food!

Yes, I agree! We are DxDPers and have 8 nights. 5 of the 8 nights are 2 credit places, plus we have lunch scheduled at the Brown Derby as well. This uses up quite a few credits. And we are only "scheduled" for three meals in one day ONE time during the trip.

Plus we will be using our snack credits for water/powerade/smart water and fresh fruit. Not a lot of sugary snacks because we will be getting dessert a lot! I think it's all about good planning and strategy when booking the DxDP.

 

[mfortis]

We just got back ourselves and only got the 'standard' dining plan for four nights. Since we were getting there late on the first night we started out trip with a counter service. That left us with an extra table service for dinner. We tend to use our TS for dinners and not lunch. So we decided to go to the yachtsman steak house on our last night. the first night was Tutto Italia, followed by the Crystal Palace the second night. And just counter services for lunch for the three full days we were there. For breakfast we ate either a snack or a real light breakfast.
The reason for the light breakfast is because we were stuffed from the night before. Having a CS and TS in one day is a lot of eating. So I can imagine the appetite one would need to accommodate two TS in one day.
I probably not upgrade to the next higher level DDP. First of all because its to much food. Also because I did not think using two TS at the Yachtsman Steak House was worth it. Dont get me wrong, we had a great meal and the service was excellent. But I did not see that much more value in it than when we dined in tutto italia.

 

[Pumbaa_]

We are doing it for 2 nights in Oct. We will be doing a boma bfast, Jiko (or room service, haven't decided), tutto and flying fish

The signatures is what makes it worthwhile for us. I have done it once befire, for 2 nights before we moved to our 1 br DVC. SHort is good for us

 

[Tara]

Thanks for the replies. We did one 2 credit meal which helped and spread our dining out. If we do it again we will def try more 2 credits!

I'm doing the DxDP for the first time next week for 6 days - just DS8 and me. I have breakfast buffets planned each day (most late in the morning) and a 2TS meal each evening. That way I can be sure to get enough protein in DS in the mornings, then we can graze a little during our afternoon break (PB sandwich, fruit, cheese) and have a nice dinner. IME the servings at 2TS restaurants are much more appropriately sized, too. I have no qualms about leaving food on my plate when I'm full, but I will say it's nicer to not leave so much (as I've often found myself doing in 1TS restaurants).

We'll see how it goes - we usually do TIW but in this case it looks about even in terms of cost OOP, so I'm willing to give it a try.

 

[mmouse50]

I agree with all the other posters - it can be a lot of food especially if you are doing 3 meals a day. With the DxDP I always do the 2TS dinners, cs lunch and a snack credit for breakfast.

 

[jlhill4444]

I agree with PP. The best use of Dxddp is to use at lease one 2ts credit meal a day. We usually eat breakfast and a 2ts dinner. We like the dinner shows, so it works out for us nicely. I would think eating 3 ts meals a day would be exhausting!