Dining Plan vs. Deluxe Dining Plan

[The_Smiths]

So we got a pin for room only giving us the ability to stay at the Poly for our August trip...thank you oh pin gods!

Our debate is now a dining plan - math wise, we think either is going to be better than OOP. But DW and I are trying to decide for our first trip with DD3, which ONE is best for us. We are going to be doing some TS2 while we are there (CRT, HDDR, and a birthday dinner for DW), and we like to eat . So that would mean some meals OOP on the DP. Plus some character dining, and we start to wonder if the DxDP is better for us, or is it serious overkill? We have never DONE a DP before with Disney, so we are out of our league here.

Is the DP enough? Snacks for lunches and things? Is the DxDP serious overkill if we MAY do TS twice in a day (character breakfast and a dinner for example?)?

We are almost set to book!!!! . Any help is appreciated!

 

[Faldred]

If you plan on doing at least 2 table service meals a day, especially with some of them being 2-credit meals, then DxDP is probably the way to go.

 

[figment_jii]

Depending on when you're going in August, the DDP is either $45.99 (regular) or $47.99 (peak). The DxDP is $78.99, regardless of the time of year. So you'd be paying an additional $33 or $31 for the DxDP (per day per adult).

The DDP gives you one TS, on QS, and one snack credit per day. The DxDP gives you three TS/QS (you can use these credits for either) and two snack credits per day. On the DxDP you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert at each TS, unlike the DDP (no appetizer). The DxDP also comes with a refillable mug, but that can only be used at your resort, so I don't really use that in figuring out the plans.

The DxDP is a lot of food. Essentially, you need to decide if you're going to eat more than $78.99 in food (plus tax) per person per day.

I did some number crunching (because we were wondering the same thing) and it essentially comes out that you need to do at least two TS (one needs to be dinner or a very expensive lunch) per day. It works best if you do a lot of 2 credit meals (especially Signatures), but my guess is the the dinner shows would also be okay (financially). Having fixed cost meals (like character buffets and dinner shows) makes figuring out how much your spending a lot easier.

 

[Cafeen]

DxDDP is a much easier to plan to come out ahead (financially), but you'll have to realize that you're going to have to stick with the plan much more rigidly than otherwise. Your day could very well end up being dictated by your dining arrangements and spontaneity can go out the window. If you are comfortable with that, that's fine . There's also the additional cost of tips, which if you normally don't eat 3 course meals, may be a bit higher than desireable. Of course, if you normally do, or at least normally do at Disney (we all do things different there ), then that works out well.

Mathematically, as long as your taking advantage of each portion of a meal entitlement (so App + Entree + Dessert), you should end up breaking even around 2/3 of your credits spent at TS locations. Essentially (though it may be a bit more difficult now), you could roughly break even if you simply did a CS lunch and a Signature dinner every day. But what fun is that?

From a planning point, this is where it gets tricky and fitting all those credits into a trip is not an easy task. Ideally, you're going to want a pretty good spread between meals and you may find that 3 TS a day gets filling and time consuming. At this point, it's pretty much a puzzle to fit them all in.

Some tips that I've discovered for completing the puzzle are:

• Space out meals a bit more than you normally would. Early Lunches with later dinners or breakfasts with early dinners work best.
• Realize that each meal will take roughly an hour from sit down to leave. Plan this accordingly.
• If hopping, use one of your meals as a "Hub" of sorts. Start at a park, travel to the meal, then hop to the other park. It makes the hopping slightly easier and reduces transportation concerns associated with some resort dining. (Not required by any means, I like to do it as it makes that individual hop a bit more relaxed).
• The biggest, don't feel that you have to use ALL of the credits (or all of the credits at TS). Sure, you get the most bang for your buck that way, but so long as you're hitting that 2/3 mark (though I aim for about 80%) at TS locations, you're going to be coming out ahead anyway.

As far as your individual situation, it's tough to say. I would sit down and list out all the restaurants you are interested in and see what you come up with. Try to fit them in a general outline of the trip (doesn't have to be exact or anything) and see how you like it, especially keeping both travel time and dining time in mind.

And lastly, you can book now if you so desire (or to take advantage of the discount) and then decide on a dining plan later and add it. The deadline for altering dining plans on the package is 72 hours before date of check-in... so that should give you some time to delve deeper, though you'll want to be ready before your 180 day mark so you can start booking dining reservations.

 

[figment_jii]

DxDDP is a much easier to plan to come out ahead (financially), but you'll have to realize that you're going to have to stick with the plan much more rigidly than otherwise.

That's interesting, because I was inclined to say the opposite. That it's easier to make up the cost of the DDP. Frequently, one dinner is nearly enough to get there, then add in the QS and usually we're over the $46. I felt that it was harder to make the cost of the DxDP up unless you did lots of Signatures or ate at least 2 TS, one of which needed to be on the expensive (i.e., dinner) side.

[*]Realize that each meal will take roughly an hour from sit down to leave. Plan this accordingly.

This might be true for breakfast, but I've found that most TS meals take 90 or so minutes for lunch and dinner. If you're eating at Signatures, then plan on about two hours. We didn't do very many character buffets, so perhaps those go much faster than non-character non-buffet meals.

 

[The_Smiths]

Oh wow...what great responses! Thanks so much!

I think if this was just DW and myself, it would be a no-brainer since we are foodie/winos . But, add in DD3 and as was pointed out, you do things a little differently...

I think we get concerned about how much you really end up paying out of pocket with the DP when we started to try and figure out a mock itinerary last night for meals and suddenly 8 TS meals per person didn't seem like a lot with signature stuff (sigh). A meal plan that was kind of in between the DP and DxDP would be nice

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

That's interesting, because I was inclined to say the opposite. That it's easier to make up the cost of the DDP. Frequently, one dinner is nearly enough to get there, then add in the QS and usually we're over the $46. I felt that it was harder to make the cost of the DxDP up unless you did lots of Signatures or ate at least 2 TS, one of which needed to be on the expensive (i.e., dinner) side.

But this is the typical recommendation for the Deluxe plan (2/3 credits used for TS). And one of those meals is most likely dinner (I haven't heard too many choose TS for breakfast and lunch in one day and opt for a CS dinner on Deluxe). I think the PPs point was that if you stick to the 2/3 rule you don't have to order the most expensive entrees or stick with the higher priced dinner buffets to come out ahead.

 

[Diegosmom]

Totally agree that there should be something in between the 2 plans...

We have never done the dining plan (actually I havent only been to disney once 20 years ago).

We are having a hard time deciding actually between the 3.

We have a 3 year old too but he will be 4. We think that 3 TS a day is way to much sit down meals. DS does ok going out to dinner but 3 a day is just asking way too much. Plus I dont think I could eat 3 sit downs. So yeah we could do few 2 credits but then I would love to do some CS just for convenience. So price wise we were thinking the regular dining would be better for us but then if you do a coupon 2 credit meals seems like you would run out of meals and end up having to pay OP. And the regular dining only gives you 1 snack a day, just doesnt seem like enough especially if you want to use a snack for breakfast. And no refillable mug. So then we considered Quick service and paying out of pocket for a couple table meals. But those TS meals really add up.

So I would love to see
2 TS
1 QS
2 snacks
refillable mug

Ok disney? thats the plan I want

 

[Faldred]

So I would love to see
2 TS
1 QS
2 snacks
refillable mug

Ok disney? thats the plan I want

Umm... that's the DxDP. Just with the freedom to use the CS for TS.

 

[3pletprincesses]

We have 4 yo triplets and we went ahead with booking Deluxe. We want to keep schedule as closely as possible to home to avoid temtrum and over tired kiddos. Plus the 2 snacks a day is nevertoo much when you ahve young kids who are always hungry or thirsty. We will be doing light b-fast in the morning as the girls wake up at 6 am regarless if they are at Disney or not like a yogurt or soemthing like that , lunch really early like 11:30 or so and then mostly signature dinners around 6pm. I'm sure the girls will find something to do with all the snacks including my dhs and mine LOL

 

[hannahdrewmom]

Another benift of the deluxe is room service credits. We have found with a 1 and 3 year old that some nights as nice as it would be to go out to eat... it would be nicer to not! There are just some times that it would be nice to not have them have to "be proper". We enjoy the option of room service on those nights and no that we aren't missing out on great food options but we are still giving our children time to be kids!

Poly has great room service too!

 

[Maus]

We have 4 yo triplets and we went ahead with booking Deluxe. We want to keep schedule as closely as possible to home to avoid temtrum and over tired kiddos. Plus the 2 snacks a day is nevertoo much when you ahve young kids who are always hungry or thirsty. We will be doing light b-fast in the morning as the girls wake up at 6 am regarless if they are at Disney or not like a yogurt or soemthing like that , lunch really early like 11:30 or so and then mostly signature dinners around 6pm. I'm sure the girls will find something to do with all the snacks including my dhs and mine LOL

That is how we do it, late character breakfast and signature dinner. Snack credits can be used for lunch!

 

[Cafeen]

But this is the typical recommendation for the Deluxe plan (2/3 credits used for TS). And one of those meals is most likely dinner (I haven't heard too many choose TS for breakfast and lunch in one day and opt for a CS dinner on Deluxe). I think the PPs point was that if you stick to the 2/3 rule you don't have to order the most expensive entrees or stick with the higher priced dinner buffets to come out ahead.

Pretty much .

(and now for more detail)

A single credit on DxDDP "costs" roughly $24.33 (after estimating 2 x $3 snacks and not figuring in the mug (since the mug's nightly "cost" changes based on length of say)). Finding a $24 meal, especially with apps and dessert is easier than finding a ~$32 meal with just dessert ($47 - $12 - $3). The raw amount of credits also helps to balance this over time, so that even if you would have paid $15 OOP for a single meal, you have many more chances to make that extra $9 up elsewhere. DDP suffers from both a higher per meal "cost" and less opportunity to make that cost up on a different location.

Of course, these are just numbers and your experience should outweigh this. Just because DxDDP is a better value, does not mean it's better overall. It IS more expensive on a whole, plus it's much more time consuming.

Totally agree that there should be something in between the 2 plans...
[...]

So I would love to see
2 TS
1 QS
2 snacks
refillable mug

Ok disney? thats the plan I want

As Fladred mentioned, that is the Deluxe plan. Assuming dinners are TS and you have a mix of QS and TS for lunches and breakfast, you will come out ahead on DxDDP, even without much trying (the feeling of needing to order the priciest option on the menu for example). Even if a CS meal doesn't reach that ~$24 mark I outlined above (which a CS meal would rarely do), you have ~2 meals per CS meal to make up that extra and then some. Considerably easy to do with 3 courses . Of course, I'd assume that you'd want the above plan for slightly less than $79/night per person otherwise what's the point . And heck, 2 TS/1CS per day, I could get on board for that as an additional lower priced option for sure! I think you'd agree that it's very unlikely, but dreams are what Disney is about, so it's perfectly OK to dream it!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

If you eat a lot and plan to do a lot of 2 TS, I would recommend DxDDP. We did it in August. I wouldn't do it every trip, just because my day revolved around ADR's to make sure I didn't LOSE money on the DxDDP by eating CS, so that was the part I didn't like. If I felt like eating CS all day, I felt like I was wasting the $900+ I paid for DxDDP.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Did deluxe DDP last 2 trips. If planning on 2 credit meals (shows, CRT, signatures), I suggest looking into the deluxe plan. Since the OP will be at the Poly, there's fast access to lots of character meals and nice restaurants at the monorail resorts.

For us, going deluxe wasn't much more money... and we love having appetizers. We also do all table service but it doesn't end up being 3 meals every day because we arrive in time for lunch and dinner on our arrival day, and leave late enough to have lunch on our departure day.

My Dining Plan Analysis - Includes Comparison of Deluxe to the regular DDP