Deluxe dining?

[pepe of ohio]

We've done the math...doesn't save us nothing plus Disney to us isn't about the food....medicore at best for most of the TS restaurants.....

We've found that after all the 44 trips we've made, eating in Florida's hot weather is different than what we're used to.....Being full in Florida is tiring....we do the pay out of pocket and what we really don't like about the dining plans, is scheduling....never want to have a spreadsheet with dining reservations rule our vacations...when we're hungry we eat, easy to do anywhere on property.....we're quite satisfied with CS for breakfast...wife and I usually split their big brekfast......lunch for us is always a pool picnic with groceries we bought in route (sandwiches, lunch meats, cheeses and drinks ) and we always break from the parks each day to avoid the heat and crowds and to enjoy the resort and pool....dinners can come from alot of different resort food courts where we know what they serve and like....big 2 or 3 course meals are not to our liking and we rather share something than have 2 big meals in front of us and leave more than we eat.

Our trips are usually 9-12 nights and for those trips we might have 2 ADR's, like the Yachtsman Steakhouse and Hoop Dee Do...that's it...no regrets either on food...we rather have that time for relaxing, using the pool, spend time in a park than sitting in a restaurant waiting for a mediocre meal, especially with young children who rather be playing in the pool.......just our way of doing Disney...

 

[RN2B12]

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I'm thinking that it may be best to drop down to the regular dining plan, do CS breakfast in at the hotel in the morning, and then use my TS to do the character meals. I had tips factored into the cost, I allotted $75 per day for gratuities. We are on a budget, so if I drop the meal plan down to the regular we will be able to afford to stay a couple of days longer and do the park hopper. We've never done a character meal before, and I had this vision in my head of a great experience where the characters treat each kid like they are the only ones there, KWIM? We are going in October, so I don't expect the parks to be too crowded during the week. We are also doing the BBB and MNSSHP, so I feel like that-along with the 3 TS meals-is going to take most of our full day at the MK...that's what got me wondering if the deluxe plan was really our best choice. Thank you so much everyone, your advice is appreciated

 

[juliebug1997]

We loved the DxDP. Yes, it's a lot of food but it was nice to have lunch inside and not have to fight people for places to sit. Plus, it was a quiet respite during a long hot day. The meal that we did CS more often than not was breakfast.

I haven't been to the Spirit of Aloha since 1977 so I can't help you there. However, even my husband and my brother loved CRT. Especially Ariel.

 

[AndreaDM]

We have always done the DDP & this year I decided to upgrade to the DELUXE... We are doing an early lunch & a late (730 ish) signature dinner. I can't imagine 3 full meals a day esp with the FL heat.......

This is exactly what we're going to do too in August! Doing HDDR and going to CRT both for the first time and at least tip is included with those 2 meals.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I'm thinking that it may be best to drop down to the regular dining plan, do CS breakfast in at the hotel in the morning, and then use my TS to do the character meals. I had tips factored into the cost, I allotted $75 per day for gratuities. We are on a budget, so if I drop the meal plan down to the regular we will be able to afford to stay a couple of days longer and do the park hopper. We've never done a character meal before, and I had this vision in my head of a great experience where the characters treat each kid like they are the only ones there, KWIM? We are going in October, so I don't expect the parks to be too crowded during the week. We are also doing the BBB and MNSSHP, so I feel like that-along with the 3 TS meals-is going to take most of our full day at the MK...that's what got me wondering if the deluxe plan was really our best choice. Thank you so much everyone, your advice is appreciated

Good choice, OP, you won't be disappointed. Plus being able to add more days and het the hopper, that's just icing on the cake. Have a magical vacation!

 

[disneysplash]

Yes, too much time and way too much food.

I agree. We tried it and felt like all our time was spent running from meal to meal.

 

[goofy4tink]

I guess it all depends. I've used the regular dining plan before. But not anymore. We tend to prefer appetizers to most desserts. So, I've been using TiW card. But, we're going in Oct, with another couple...just the four adults, no kids. The guys love to eat. The ladies love the attractions. If we use the deluxe dining plan, it will cost us about $537 per person (there are two oop meal in there for the last two days without any ddp) compared to the exact same ADRs but using TiW, costing about $521. I figure that with it being FandW time, the two snacks will come in handy.
We are also doing a fair number of 2 credit meals. So, there are actually 4 days that we don't have a lunch planned, just a late breakfast. Only 2 days have us eating lunch, and those days we have early breakfast and late dinner planned.

It all depends on what you want. Just because the food is there doesn't mean you have to eat it all!! But, we are going to need to eat, and to be honest, I really don't feel like doing many counter service meals in the parks on this trip. It takes about 30 mins out of the day for those, yet only another 30 mins for a TS meal. Since it's an adult trip, we are going to slow the pace, and enjoy ourselves.

 

[angierae]

When we had DxDP we did lunch and then a 2TS dinner for most days. It worked out well. There's no way I could have eaten enough food to do three sit down meals per day.

(I also didn't care about the "time" taken out to eat - eating and being with my family is part of the vacation. to me.)

 

[nkereina]

My BF and I are doing Deluxe dining in September but doing 2 TS meals per day (some are 2TS credits) and then occasional QS meals. We have not tried to determine if we are getting our money's worth and frankly we don't care. To not have to carry money (except for tips) and not worry about pricing out menu options when we go eat is important to us, so we pay for the convience rather than the actual cost/value of the food. 3 TS meals per day is time consuming and since we are going in September, we plan to take breaks so we don't want to have to worry about running from ADR to ADR.

 

[minandmick]

OP RN, You won't be disappointed. Have a blast!

 

[Colleen27]

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I'm thinking that it may be best to drop down to the regular dining plan, do CS breakfast in at the hotel in the morning, and then use my TS to do the character meals. I had tips factored into the cost, I allotted $75 per day for gratuities. We are on a budget, so if I drop the meal plan down to the regular we will be able to afford to stay a couple of days longer and do the park hopper. We've never done a character meal before, and I had this vision in my head of a great experience where the characters treat each kid like they are the only ones there, KWIM? We are going in October, so I don't expect the parks to be too crowded during the week. We are also doing the BBB and MNSSHP, so I feel like that-along with the 3 TS meals-is going to take most of our full day at the MK...that's what got me wondering if the deluxe plan was really our best choice. Thank you so much everyone, your advice is appreciated

I'm a huge fan of the deluxe plan but in your case it sounds like a no-brainer - a longer trip with more park days is going to add a LOT more enjoyment to your trip than more character or sitdown meals! I really think the deluxe plan works best for frequent or semi-frequent visitors and those on longer trips, where maximizing park time isn't as much of an issue.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Dining Plan board.