DELUXE DINING

[goofynut41]

Whats your views on Deluxe Dining? All the places we want to eat require lots of dining credits so I have booked the deluxe dining. Is this too much food? Without it we would be paying a lot out of pocket...

 

[Hopefully]

This question is more appropriate to the Restaurants forum not here on the Resorts. It is discussed frequently there.

 

[Lynne M]

Moving this to the Dining Plans board.

 

[Capang]

The best advice is to do the math. Read the menus and price out the meals. If you plan on doing mostly signature dining maybe it will be worth it. It really depends on how you plan to vacation and how much time and money you want to spend on table service.

 

[senadler]

You really have to put your dining plans together and check the numbers. There are very specific people that this plan makes sense for, it does not for the majority of travelers. That said, we used the deluxe plan in October with a large group that was in two rooms. We were able to put the deluxe plan on one room and share credits. This saved us a significant amount of money.

I will also be using the deluxe plan on trip in the spring with just myself and DS5. We are doing a number of 2TS credit meals and many family style and character meals. We will save money over OOP in this case as well. The dining plan is easier to save money on when children are on the plan.

In my opinion if you are doing mostly regular TS, even signature meals, and you need to be ordering an app, entree, and desert at every meal for the plan to pay for itself, it is too much food.

 

[rwdavis2]

IMHO it's too much food. Even the regular plan for us was too much food. With all the table service meals you will be spending large amounts of time in restuarants. Have you priced out the cost if you pay out of pocket? Except under specific circumstances none of the dining plans are designed to save you money.

 

[sharonabe]

Whats your views on Deluxe Dining? All the places we want to eat require lots of dining credits so I have booked the deluxe dining. Is this too much food? Without it we would be paying a lot out of pocket...

Just because they require more credits doesn't necessarily mean the DxDDP is the right way to go. How many are in your party? How many are Disney kids (9 and under)? Do you want apps, entree, dessert at EVERY a la carte meal?

It may seem like you're paying a lot OOP, but you're also paying a lot for the DxDDP. Are you going to spend $110 per adult per night on your food choices? You've got to do the math.

If you can give us your party make up and your restaurant choices, we can help you a little more.

 

[goofynut41]

Its just me and my Husband...

 

[goofynut41]

WE want to eat at Cinderella Castle, Be Our Guest, Yak & Yeti, Boathouse, Le Cellier, Aloha Dinner Show, Ohana, Kona Café, Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace.
Ands that's not counting Captain Cooks for Breakfast most mornings. 7 days and 6 nights...

 

[strat68]

WE want to eat at Cinderella Castle, Be Our Guest, Yak & Yeti, Boathouse, Le Cellier, Aloha Dinner Show, Ohana, Kona Café, Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace.
Ands that's not counting Captain Cooks for Breakfast most mornings. 7 days and 6 nights...

You need to go look at some menus (allears.net) and see what the meals might cost out of pocket. Adding tips and taxes (which you have to do on the dining plan as well.) Again, the dining plans are not set up to save you money. I don't think they add any convenience either since you still have to mess with tax and tips.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

You will need to do the math. You have a lot of restaurants and a lot of 2 credit restaurants but breakfast at a counter service or a la carte restaurant is one of the least valuable ways to use a deluxe dining credit, because you get neither the appetizer nor the dessert allotment.

Dining plan credits include tax on the meals, but not tips. You do not have to add tax but you will need to allocate for tips at table service.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We always get the Deluxe, but we eat 3 meals a day. Is it a lot of food? Yes! IMHO is it worth it? Yes! LoL. We like having that break from the park and also like having everything paid for already before we get there and like the freedom to choose what we want to eat when we want to eat it. If we didn't have the dining plan most of us would probably get the cheapest thing on the menu, instead of getting what we really want, lol. Therefore the Deluxe plan works for us.

 

[sharonabe]

WE want to eat at Cinderella Castle, Be Our Guest, Yak & Yeti, Boathouse, Le Cellier, Aloha Dinner Show, Ohana, Kona Café, Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace.
Ands that's not counting Captain Cooks for Breakfast most mornings. 7 days and 6 nights...

Okay, next step, how are you fitting all of those meals into your 7 days/6 nights? Which of the meals are breakfast or lunch and which are dinner? The Aloha Dinner show...are you okay with Cat 2 or 3 or would you prefer Cat 1 (which you can't get on the plan)?

For the a la carte places do you WANT (and it's okay if you do) two apps, two entrees, two desserts or would you be just as happy sharing an app and/or dessert with your own entrees?

 

[babesboo99]

This planner helped us to decide with the DxDDP. We are my husband, myself and 9 year old twins and we plan on eating at a few of the restaurants the require 2 credits so we thought we would go with this plan and see how it does. it says it would save us over $ 700 so i guess we will see. We don't go till the fall but i will post what we use and don't use to see if we actually save money. I am hoping this tool is correct .. http://www.distripplanner.com/

 

[goofynut41]

This planner helped us to decide with the DxDDP. We are my husband, myself and 9 year old twins and we plan on eating at a few of the restaurants the require 2 credits so we thought we would go with this plan and see how it does. it says it would save us over $ 700 so i guess we will see. We don't go till the fall but i will post what we use and don't use to see if we actually save money. I am hoping this tool is correct .. http://www.distripplanner.com/

I USED THIS.. It was about even either way .. With and without dining plans... But I know if I didn't have the dining plan I would cut corners like not get what I really want , split meals and no dessert or appetizers... so I'm gonna enjoy ourselves and go whole HOG.. LOL

 

[senadler]

I think it is really hard to make the deluxe plan worth it with two adults, especially if you are adding in some counter service. Check the numbers, but you are probably better with OOP.

 

[jillt2ph]

I USED THIS.. It was about even either way .. With and without dining plans... But I know if I didn't have the dining plan I would cut corners like not get what I really want , split meals and no dessert or appetizers... so I'm gonna enjoy ourselves and go whole HOG.. LOL

You sound like me! I just can't not think about what I am spending when it is OOP. I add up what I expect to spend, and if it is within a few dollars I go with the dining plan. You can always use your snack credits to get treats you can bring home

 

[Lisa F]

there is always the option of booking regular dining and then paying OOP for a meal or two at a TS. I am planning to do this - don't want to burn 2TS on CP so will pay for that OOP.

 

[babesboo99]

I USED THIS.. It was about even either way .. With and without dining plans... But I know if I didn't have the dining plan I would cut corners like not get what I really want , split meals and no dessert or appetizers... so I'm gonna enjoy ourselves and go whole HOG.. LOL

I agree we used the plan for the first time last year and we wont go with out it now. We like the ease of not having to worry how much everything will be just order and relax.

 

[SnackCredit]

We book one 1-credit and one signature for each night we're staying. We do come out ahead on the deluxe plan and now won't do it any other way!