Disney Deluxe Dining Plan

[bernnn4589]

Hi All,

I'm new to this Disney Planning business. We are two adults (late 20's) going and planning on celebrating a Birthday while we are there. All our restaurants/meals that we want are booked, and I think I have everything down. A lot of people have been suggesting to me to use the DDP, but we're definitely going to be doing a decent amount of TS meals and Signature Dining, so I think the best option for us would be the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan.

Is anyone fond of the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan? Is it worth the money? I know a lot of people say it's too much food, but as of right now we're planning on going to:

San Angel Inn
The Boathouse
Chef Mickey's (Breakfast)
O'Hana
Rainforest Cafe (Lame, but I haven't been since I was a kid and I need to try it)
Sci-Fi Dine In
Le Cellier
Be Our Guest
Morimoto
Jiko

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[sharonabe]

A lot of people have been suggesting to me to use the DDP, but we're definitely going to be doing a decent amount of TS meals and Signature Dining, so I think the best option for us would be the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan.

How many nights are you staying?

 

[bernnn4589]

5 nights. We land early AM on May 18, leave late night May 23

 

[supersnoop]

A good starting point is www.distripplanner.com. See what it says.

 

[cdh]

I would recommend either the deluxe plan or no plan at all. If you had the regular dining plan then you wouldn't have enough table service credits to eat at all of the restaurants that you have mentioned. With the regular plan you would have 5 table service meals, 5 counter service meals, and 10 snacks per person for the trip. The restaurants that you listed are all table service and Le Cellier takes two credits. With the regular plan you would be 6 table service credits short. With the deluxe plan you would have 15 table or counter service meals and 10 snacks per person. So, you could eat at all of the places that you have mentioned and still have 4 table or counter service meals remaining.

You could always pay OOP but we tend to avoid trying appetizers and desserts when we are paying OOP. When we have the deluxe plan we always order desserts and appetizers. For example, at Yak and Yeti, when I have the plan I order egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken, and fried wontons. If we were paying out of pocket I would just order the chicken because I only take a couple of bites of the other items. So, it really depends on whether or not you want to think about the expense of your dinner when you are ordering. If you want to eat whatever you want, whenever you want it then I would suggest going with the deluxe plan.

 

[Faldred]

By my count, that's 14 credits accounted for out of the 15 the DxDP would allot to you. If your eating style includes appetizer, entree, and dessert most of the time (though you can drop the occasional appetizer or dessert), you'd be hard pressed to not save money using DxDP.

Personally, you're fitting my ideal DxDP profile - adults wanting to do a lot of TS dining. As long as the per-meal entitlements match up with your desired ordering style, you pretty much are in the sweet spot for DxDP.

On the other hand, if you're not wanting to fit that appetizer + entree + dessert mold quite that often, it just may be more hassle (and cost) than it's worth.

With the basic DDP, I strongly recommend doing the math to see if it makes financial sense. With DxDP, as long as your ordering style largely aligns with the plan entitlements, it's nearly impossible not to save money, unless you're not using credits or burning a lot of them on counter service.

Personally, my next trip is (hopefully) and adults-only trip with a heavy emphasis on dining. I'm not even considering not doing DxDP for that trip.

 

[loves to dive]

Look at the menus for those places and pick what you think you are going to eat, be honest and don't just pick the most expensive thing on the menu unless you think you really are going to want that, don't pick appetizers unless you think you want them, if you are going to share one appetizer just use that number, etc. Add it up, not including tip or adult beverages. Compare that to the cost of the Deluxe Dining plan. Go with the dining plan if you come out even or less. You may find with that many TS meals that you start skipping appetizers or desserts at some point during the trip, that is a lot of food plus you still have the snacks you need to use. Remember, you still need to factor in your are going to pay out of pocket for the tip (I'm not sure if taxes are covered or not, we haven't used the dining plan in over 15 years).

 

[Faldred]

(I'm not sure if taxes are covered or not, we haven't used the dining plan in over 15 years).

Tax is included in the dining plan price; you do not pay tax individually at meals. But yes, be sure to budget for tips.

 

[Dakota731]

Even for someone with a character meal breakfast and a sit down dinner would more than get their money's worth out of the deluxe plan.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that if you choose appetizers and desserts on the restaurants you listed, you wil do well with the DxDDP.

May I make a few suggestions? WHen I look at your list I dont see anything in DAK, unless you visit the RC there. Are you plannign to visit that park> I would plan a meal at Tiffins. It was easily our favorite meal of the last trip and one of my all time favorites. It is 2 TS and one that I woudlwould never skip an appetizer or dessert. The Pressed pot of coffee is a delicious addition to your dessert.

 

[bernnn4589]

I think that if you choose appetizers and desserts on the restaurants you listed, you wil do well with the DxDDP.

May I make a few suggestions? WHen I look at your list I dont see anything in DAK, unless you visit the RC there. Are you plannign to visit that park> I would plan a meal at Tiffins. It was easily our favorite meal of the last trip and one of my all time favorites. It is 2 TS and one that I woudlwould never skip an appetizer or dessert. The Pressed pot of coffee is a delicious addition to your dessert.

That sounds awesome! We were actually trying to think if we'd be dining in AK, but I will definitely look into Tiffins. Thanks!

 

[bernnn4589]

Personally, my next trip is (hopefully) and adults-only trip with a heavy emphasis on dining. I'm not even considering not doing DxDP for that trip.

Thanks for all the help! We're definitely going to do it. I think even if it winds up being too much food, it's something we've decided we have to try at least once... part of the fun is eating at some restaurants along the way. And it'll be ease of mind to know it's already paid for and we don't have to crunch numbers while we're enjoying our meal. Will definitely factor in money for tips. Going to make sure we have extra cash on us for that!

 

[MamaDeeJazz]

I took my son in 2011 he was 4. We had the deluxe but I felt it was enough food for the two of us. We are going in May with 5 people total and I feel like it might be too much food. My son is now considered an adult. I am really considering sharing some meals with either my son or boyfriend but then we will end up with a ton of extra points outside our reservations.