differences in the 2008 dining plans

[jenjen212]

Sorry if i am a bit behind on this. but, i have some questions about the new disney dining plans. i was trying to use Small world vacations to get a quote. on their quote submissions form, they have listed 3 different versions of the 2008 dining plan:

2008 Disney Dining Plan

2008 Disney Premium Dining Plan

2005 Disney Deluxe Dining Plan

2008 Disney Platinum Dining Plan

The first one seems to be the original dining plan. The premium and the deluxe look the same to me. it says a "Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner" meal. Does that mean that any of those meals can be used at either a counter service or a table service. So, essentially, we could do 3 table services in one day; i.e. Boatwright's in POR for Breakfast, Tony's in MK for Lunch, and then Ohana's in Poly for Dinner. Does that sound right? I know that there are the certain places or services that require 2 credits though.

It says that the Platinum plan can only be purchased if you are staying at a deluxe resort. But, what is the difference between the premium and deluxe? It looks like you have the same benefits, and the same amount of credits.

Thanks for your help.

 

[mbanks21]

Premium includes deluxe dining and also adds unlimited tours and recreation, 2TS meals only cost 1TS, you also get tickets to Cirque, VIP fireworks viewing and a couple other things

 

[jenjen212]

thanks!

i actually just found out what each of them include, after some more digging on disney's site, and doing more research. I was a little confused by the documents that i was directed to earlier. If you click on the links that i posted in my original post, those are the links that i was given. So, i was trying to determine the difference just by reading those.

There are only 2 dining plans. The others are Magic Your Way Packages with dining.

so, in case anyone else wonders, i'll put it here:

Dining plan:

• 1 CS, 1TS, and 1Snack per person per day.

Deluxe Dining Plan:

• 3 Meals (can be used at either a CS or a TS), and 2 Snacks per person per day.
• Admission to select Grand Gathering Experiences (for parties of 8 or more)

Premium Plan:

• Deluxe Dining features, plus:
• Unlimited Recreation activities: including Disney's golf (no tee time restrictions), miniature golf, personal watercraft, guided fishing excursions, parasailing, horseback riding and more.
• Admission to the Cirque du Soleil® show, La Nouba. One admission, per person
• Enjoy preferred fireworks viewing for Wishes™ at Magic Kingdom® Park and IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Epcot®. Subject to availability and block-out dates; One viewing per Theme Park. Advance reservations and voucher required.
• Unlimited admissions to select Theme Park tours: Magic Kingdom® Park: Disney's Family Magic Tour, Disney's The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains, Disney's Keys to the Kingdom, Mickey's Magical Milestones. Epcot®: Behind the Seeds, The UnDISCOVERed Future World, Around the World at Epcot® Segway® Tour, Simply Segway® Experience at Epcot®. Disney's Animal Kingdom® Park: Backstage Safari, Wild By Design. (Restrictions apply to selected tours. Subject to availability and schedule.)
• Unlimited admissions to Disney's Children's Activity Centers
• Admission to select Grand Gathering Experiences (for parties of 8 or more)
• One Resort-refillable drink mug per person

Platinum Plan:

• Everything in the Premium Plan, Plus:
• Personalized pre-arrival itinerary planning, A Disney Itinerary Planner will contact you up to 180 days prior to arrival to help arrange your Platinum Plan vacation itinerary.
• Dazzling fireworks cruise (one cruise per party); Set out on a spectacular fireworks cruise to view Wishes™ at Magic Kingdom® Park or Illuminations at Epcot®.
• One select Spa Treatment per adult, Choose one of the following: 50 minute Swedish Massage, 50 minute Radiance Facial or Spa Manicure and Pedicure.
• Reserved seating for Fantasmic!
• Private in-room child care and nightly turndown service; Child care service provides one-on-one child care right in the comfort of your Disney Resort room. (Four hour minimum and six hour maximum. Reservations are required, are subject to availability and should be made at least 24 hours in advance. Cancellations require 24 hour advance notice.)
• Disney PhotoPass photo CD

 

[EvanMaddieMouse]

I just asked about this on the budget board, has anyone actually used and have input about these? Specifically moving up from the Disney Dining basic to deluxe? For our family, it would mean an extra $636, but the Deluxe plan states that

With this new plan, each guest receives 3 meals and 2 snacks per night. You can choose from table service or counter service for each meal (so if you can eat that much food, you might as well eat all table service meals). The table service meals include appetizer, entrée, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage. "Signature Restaurants" still count as 2 table service meals with this plan.You also receive a refillable mug per person, to be used at your resort.

And since the mugs would be $48 right there, and we have two 2-credit meals booked (CRT and Cali Grill) and we could pay the $20-30 for counter service for a few meals (or less, those CS meals are HUGE!), I'm wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade.

Any input?