Deluxe, regular or no dining plan

[BelleandMeridaoftheball]

Hi all. I'm going on a trip with 23 of my friends in July of next year. I took the planning under my hand. We plan on doing 12 nights at a value . We all eat a lot and we want to do character meals. Basically for some of them this is a once in a lifetime trip. We'd have two meals a day together ( all 24 of us) I want other people's views on the dining plan.

 

[Lisa F]

Hi all. I'm going on a trip with 23 of my friends in July of next year. I took the planning under my hand. We plan on doing 12 nights at a value . We all eat a lot and we want to do character meals. Basically for some of them this is a once in a lifetime trip. We'd have two meals a day together ( all 24 of us) I want other people's views on the dining plan.

that is a huge group to coordinate meals for together. YIKES. ADRs might be difficult and you might have to split into several groups.

I think getting some but not all of the rooms on the DxDDP and using it for your TS meals would be the best value, if you can coordinate that among all of you. Say you want to do 1 sit down meal a day on average, you will need 288 dining credits to pay for all of that (good god!) so you'd need DxDDP on the equivalent of 8 people's rooms to pool the credits all together. You'd need to figure out the snack situation if you do it that way but since the value of even an adult DxDDP credit is about $33 and you get appetizers or a full character buffet, you will come out ahead. I'm not sure that makes any sense at all. if you want to do 2 meals a day at a TS then you'd need the room equivalent of 16 people to pay for it all. If you do any QS I'd just pay for that OOP and have people pay as they go.

The regular DDP does not really make a whole lot of sense for disney adults and you're better off just paying everything OOP.

 

[Shanti]

Hi all. I'm going on a trip with 23 of my friends in July of next year. I took the planning under my hand. We plan on doing 12 nights at a value . We all eat a lot and we want to do character meals. Basically for some of them this is a once in a lifetime trip. We'd have two meals a day together ( all 24 of us) I want other people's views on the dining plan.

I recommend paying out of pocket. The dining plan usually costs more than out-of-pocket.

 

[sharonabe]

Have you looked at menus or restaurants to see where you may want to go? If you follow Lisa F's plan for the 2TS each/day (which is a good one), you'll each need about $870 to cover the dining plan. I think you might want to do a little more planning/research into where/what you want to eat.

 

[BelleandMeridaoftheball]

We're covering all of the character meals and breakfast will be on their own except for the 1900 park fare breakfast and Ohana.( on which days lunch will be on their own. ) Basically we all want to go for the golden spoon . Basically what I'm doing is putting all of the ts places in a poll and we're going with the one's that get the most votes. Plan goes like this 10 park days Three days in MK, Three days in EP , 1 to 2 days in HS and 2 days in AK.

 

[sharonabe]

When you start doing your budget, don't forget the automatic 18% gratuity for the 24 of you. If you go with the DxDDP, that number will go up since every meal comes with app and dessert along with your entree and drink.

You could also do fewer people on the plan if some of you will share at the a la carte places. I'm just trying to envision 24 apps, 24 entrees, and 24 desserts. That's just crazy!

If you're all set on doing 2 TS/day, you will need to do the DxDDP and share the credits or just pay OOP. The regular plan will not give you the number of meals you want/need.

 

[Nancyg56]

I recommend paying out of pocket. The dining plan usually costs more than out-of-pocket.

When you have a bunch this size, and you have a lot of meals together, and someone is willing to coordinate the group, adding the DxDDP to some rooms may be a great value. You are allowed 3 meal credits per day, an appetizer at TS meals and two snacks. If, for talking sake, two rooms tag together, add DxDDP to one room.....split the cost and split the credits you can make it work for you.