Deluxe vs. Regular DDP 2008

[aljack33]

I really can't decide between trying the deluxe ddp in 2008 or sticking with the regular. Do you think it really takes a big part of your day to sit down twice for meals?

Right now, I have set up where we do early morning magic hours at the park, a late breakfast buffet at the same park and then a sit down supper at either a resort or epcot.

My kids will be 5 and 13. We are staying at the Poly for easy transportation. I keep reading that people don't want to do the deluxe because of the time constraints. We love the rides, but we are more about the experience, the atmosphere of disney, seeing the characters and just enjoying being there. The rides, we can do early mornings.

I guess I am looking for someone to confirm that the deluxe plan may not be a bad way for us to go.

 

[lovingmy2boys]

Dh and I were kicking ourselves that we did not get the DDP on our stay in Feb. We sat and had 2 table service meals a day. Usually breakfast and dinner. It gives you that relax time. When we go back in 2009 we will be getting the DDP.

 

[Colleen27]

It really depends on what sort of pace you're used to on Disney trips, and what sort of pace you're happy with. I don't think 2TS per day takes too much time away from the parks, but we are far from commandos and we are vacation foodies - good restuarants on vacation are a big part of the experience, since they're in short supply here at home. And since my daughter is an autograph collector, character meals are time well spent in restaurants to avoid time spent in line for in-park character spots!

 

[aljack33]

And that is why I am thinking of doing the Deluxe. We want to hit every character meal for my daughters and then some nice TS meals for me and DH. I think by getting a lot of the rides out of the way first thing in the morning, we could do a character buffet late morning, hit a parade in the afternoon, nice TS for dinner and then the Festivities at night.

My DD's just love the characters and getting autographs and pictures. They are more into that then walking around the park all day waiting in lines. Plus, they really like their ice cream snacks so the 2 snacks a day will be great. Last time when we were on the dining plan, we went over on our snacks.

 

[NMW]

We always do 2 TS meals a day and I have not found that it takes away too much ride time. It is very much a big part of the experience for us. We love doing a very early character meal and a later TS dinner (7:30-8:30). We even like some TS lunches mixed in!

I think it all depends on how you do Disney. We have ZERO interest in coming back to the hotel in the afternoon to swim or nap-none, nada, zilch. However, a lot of people like to do this. Some people *horrors* even eat lunch in their room. We would never leave the parks to do this, but that's just us. So, I'd say no, that TS meals don't take park time away from us. Leaving the park would take park time away from us!

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

Really do the math...for us its cheaper to pay OOP for the character buffets than upgrade to the deluxe plan. We paid for 5 breakfasts OOP, and came out ahead than if we have done the deluxe....the cost for 3 adults and one child with the grat included (since we were a GG) was about 84 bucks at the "average" breakfast buffets...not worth the upgrade...

 

[Colleen27]

I think it all depends on how you do Disney. We have ZERO interest in coming back to the hotel in the afternoon to swim or nap-none, nada, zilch. However, a lot of people like to do this. Some people *horrors* even eat lunch in their room. We would never leave the parks to do this, but that's just us. So, I'd say no, that TS meals don't take park time away from us. Leaving the park would take park time away from us!

That's another reason 2TS per day works for us. We tried breaks on our first trip, because we thought DD(then)4 would need them. What we found was that the kids got upset about leaving the park to go back to the resort, didn't want to rest, and then got upset about leaving the resort to go back to the parks because they wanted to stay and swim. It just wasn't worth the hassle. TS meals in/near the park make for a better break for us, and take less time heading all the way back to our resort.

 

[Microcell]

We got it at a discount because we booked bouncback, (we were at WDW last week and that was the only way to book it) and it came out that we would have a year to pay for it, and for the price itand the fact that all our meals would be paid for made it a great deal for us.

My DH was also worried about time constraints, until we figured out the best approach with dining in general is to do early breakfasts or late dinners to cut down on lost ride time and the time having to go from a park to a resort or vice versa. We don't break in the middle either.

Good luck!

 

[aljack33]

See, we don't do the early morning breakfasts. Except for one. We do a park with EMH, then arrive at 7:00 do the rides and everything, then by 9:30/10:00 we are done for awhile, then will head over for a character breakfast.

I think doing really early morning character breakfasts will cut down on our riding. EMH - are just walking onto rides. By 9:00 when you get out of your 7:30 or 8:00 breakfasts, the parks are filling up and more waiting in rides.

I think i will just sit down and figure it all out dollar for dollar. It is awfully convenient to do the Deluxe, plus we get that appetizer and the two snacks and the refillable mugs..... I think I am talking myself into it!

 

[aljack33]

Ok. I just did the math. With the Regular dining plan, we would be saving $170.83, by paying OPP for our character breakfasts and Cindy Lunch. That is with a 6% tax? Is that correct for Disney? That is what I used.

And we wouldn't be able to do 2 of our signature dining places - Narcosses and Yachtsmans.

With Deluxe, we would also be getting an extra snack and the appetizer and would be able to do the two signatures.

I think it would be worth it for us to do the Deluxe now actually after figuring it all out.

 

[Colleen27]

I think i will just sit down and figure it all out dollar for dollar. It is awfully convenient to do the Deluxe, plus we get that appetizer and the two snacks and the refillable mugs..... I think I am talking myself into it!

I have a spreadsheet in the last link in my sig that I used to do that dollar-by-dollar evaluation. Feel free to download it if you want a base to start from in your own analysis.

 

[itchin2go]

This past January, we did the regular meal plan, and still ended up paying for a lot of dining out of pocket. We didn't eat like crazy either - but we did go to 4, yep, count em, 4 signature dining restaurants (2 TS each) - in 5 days, no less. We had a great time, but ended up with loads of CS credits leftover, and a big bill to pay at the end. I kept eyeing the premium plan for this very reason, but it didn't seem to fit us because we wouldn't be using the tours/recreation etc. Then, voila - they come out with this Deluxe Plan. It is utterly perfect for us.

I see all these posts on this board about how the dining plan was just too much food, and they planned their whole schedule around dining. That was not our experience. We only had two table service breakfasts during the whole trip (one was CRT). We never ate a table service lunch. And we had 5 fantastic table service dinners. Too much food? Nope. Not our experience. Less time in the parks because of the dining? Nope. Not our experience.

We're also not the kind of people who scrutinize whether we broke even, or made out like bandits on the dining plan (not that there's anything wrong with that). We're happy knowing it's paid for up front, and the convenience and peace of mind that comes from that is really valuable to us.

Different people look for different things in a vacation - even a Disney vacation. There won't be one plan that's perfect for everyone. If a plan fits your vision, then go for it.