Dining Plan Newbie in need of some advice

[godders]

Hi everyone,

So I've booked for Nov/Dec 2017 (woo hoo to being from the UK) and staying at CBR I currently get free Quick-Service Dining plan, however because of my dietary requirements I often can't find something I am able to eat at QS-counters so I've always normally eaten 1 (lunch) or 2 (breakfast & dinner) table service meals in a day with maybe the odd ice cream or snack thrown in.

I tallied up how much I spent on food on my last trip including my daily Starbucks and it works out to be a little more than the upgrade cost to the Deluxe Dining Plan so I'm considering doing that instead because it feels like it will be more worth it to me.

However, having never done the dining plan I wasn't sure what it entails - I mean I know it's 3 x meals a day, 2 snacks and the refillable mug but with the meals is it appetizer, entree, dessert? Are alcohol beverages included?

Also does anyone have a list of which TS restaurants count as 1 credit vs 2/3?

I did try looking for an FAQ type thread and the Disney websites but couldn't find what I was looking for.

TIA!

 

[BDL]

First of all, good for you for doing the math and then putting the results side by side. That is the 1st thing I recommend to people when it comes to deciding if to get a meal plan and which meal plan works best.

Secondly, and I fell into this trap the 1st time we did the deluxe dining plan (DxDP). It is not 3 meals a day. It is 3 meals per night of your stay. So if you are staying 7 days, you are not getting 21 meals, you are getting 18. So, that alleviated the stress we faced about possibly wasting meals. Regrettably, alcohol is not included in the meal plans, with the 1 exception being the beers you can get at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue.

And that brings me to another aspect of the dining plan. The dining combos/signatures. Since you get so many meals, you can be more free with your dining combos/signature meals. The signature restaurants are usually regarded as the more high end restaurants. The dining combos involves getting a certain type of meal, AND guaranteed seating for a show. Year round, this can include Fantasmic!. And during your trip, it could also include the Candlelight Processional (a favorite of mine). Plus there is already speculation that they may be adding a dining combo for the upcoming river show at Animal Kingdom.

As for your credit use count (1 vs. 2), when you are booking your meals on the Disney site or DME, it will tell you how many credits are used.

Finally, since you already have most of your snack credits dedicated to you S-Bucks fix (I use them for bottled soda) here's what we discovered our last trip. We realized that we didn't use our snack credits as much as we thought and had quite a few left. I came up with a pretty good idea. The day we checked out, we went into the resort gift shop and bought a whole bunch of the pre-packaged Goofy Candy Co. bags to bring back with us and use them for stocking stuffers.

 

[sharonabe]

The dining plan pdf from the wdw site has the best information in a compact form. Just be sure to read all the fine print.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/m...altDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2016DeluxeDining.pdf

Most people using the DxDDP find that it makes more sense both time wise and belly wise to do a breakfast or early lunch then do a signature meal at night. Three full meals in one day just take up too much time and you're too full to really enjoy them.

 

[Lisa F]

you're talking about upgrading from QS to DxDDP but have you looked into regular DDP as a middle ground?

 

[godders]

First of all, good for you for doing the math and then putting the results side by side. That is the 1st thing I recommend to people when it comes to deciding if to get a meal plan and which meal plan works best.

Secondly, and I fell into this trap the 1st time we did the deluxe dining plan (DxDP). It is not 3 meals a day. It is 3 meals per night of your stay. So if you are staying 7 days, you are not getting 21 meals, you are getting 18. So, that alleviated the stress we faced about possibly wasting meals. Regrettably, alcohol is not included in the meal plans, with the 1 exception being the beers you can get at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue.

And that brings me to another aspect of the dining plan. The dining combos/signatures. Since you get so many meals, you can be more free with your dining combos/signature meals. The signature restaurants are usually regarded as the more high end restaurants. The dining combos involves getting a certain type of meal, AND guaranteed seating for a show. Year round, this can include Fantasmic!. And during your trip, it could also include the Candlelight Processional (a favorite of mine). Plus there is already speculation that they may be adding a dining combo for the upcoming river show at Animal Kingdom.

As for your credit use count (1 vs. 2), when you are booking your meals on the Disney site or DME, it will tell you how many credits are used.

Finally, since you already have most of your snack credits dedicated to you S-Bucks fix (I use them for bottled soda) here's what we discovered our last trip. We realized that we didn't use our snack credits as much as we thought and had quite a few left. I came up with a pretty good idea. The day we checked out, we went into the resort gift shop and bought a whole bunch of the pre-packaged Goofy Candy Co. bags to bring back with us and use them for stocking stuffers.

Thank you so much!! That has really made things a lot clearer! The tip about the Disney site is a great one for keeping a tally as I'm booking up. Thanks again!

The dining plan pdf from the wdw site has the best information in a compact form. Just be sure to read all the fine print.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/m...altDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2016DeluxeDining.pdf

Most people using the DxDDP find that it makes more sense both time wise and belly wise to do a breakfast or early lunch then do a signature meal at night. Three full meals in one day just take up too much time and you're too full to really enjoy them.

Brilliant! Thank you. Yes there is no way I could do 3 full meals a day! Plus that would be too much missed park time haha!

you're talking about upgrading from QS to DxDDP but have you looked into regular DDP as a middle ground?

The problem is I literally don't eat quick service ever. Because of my dietary restrictions I find the food they offer very hard to digest so I can't really eat them so I think that would be a complete waste of credits (which is a shame because it's 1/3 of the price to upgrade to that)