Disney Dining Deluxe 2008

[suffolkprincess]

We ran the numbers and used some really helpful spreadsheets from DIS sponsor/ member Robin, and this is what we came up with: (we have three people, two adults and one child, so 36 adult credits and 18 child ones, plus the snacks and mugs)

Arrival Day, Sunday:
Lunch-- might be airport might be on site, snack credits or OOP.
Dinner-- Kona Cafe (using 3 credits)
Day One, Monday, MK day:
Breakfast-- snack credits at Kona Coffee or on Main St at bakery
Lunch-- CRT (4 adult and 2 child used)
Dinner-- 1900 Park Fare (2 adult and 1 child used)
***this day we get full value, might not save
Day Two, Tuesday, AK day:
Breakfast-- Donald's (2 adult and 1 child used)
Lunch-- no ADR, will have counter service ( 2 adult and 1 child used)
Dinner-- Ohana (2 adult and 1 child used)
***this day we consider we are getting full value but might not save
Day Three, Wednesday, EPCOT day:
Breakfast-- Chef Mickey (2 adult and 1 child used)
Lunch-- counter service or snacks (credits will vary)
Dinner-- Narcoossee's (4 adult and 2 child used)
***this day we will probably save and definitely get full value
Day Four, Thursday, Studios Day:
Breakfast-- counter or snacks (credits will vary)
Lunch-- Sci-Fi Dine In (2 adult and 1 child used)
Dinner-- Spirit of Aloha (4 adult and 2 child used)
***definitely full value today maybe saving
Day Five, Friday, "Open" Day with likely MK evening:
Breakfast-- possible Kona Cafe or counter service (2 adult and 1
child used)
Lunch-- counter service/ snacks (credits used will vary)
Dinner-- Liberty Tree Tavern (2 adults and 1 child used)
***most likely will get reasonably good value today
Day Six, Saturday-- travel home day
If we have meals left, we'll eat a nice breakfast at Kona or Grand
Floridian cafe. If we just have snacks, we'll use them up and fill in
the gaps with OOP before ME-ing to the airport.
*** we consider any plan use today a bonus

We go to early breakfasts and hit parks at open, then go back to the hotel for long breaks. Our dinners are "events" in our day and we do not necessarily go back to parks at night unless it is for fireworks. (Which we do twice usually.) So, we will leave with full mugs every am and use them a lot in the afternoons. Given our "bar tab" last trip, this is a big benefit for us. Last time I used snack credits a lot for coffee in the am and this trip I don't think I'll need to do that as much with the mugs, leaving more snacks available for bagels, fruit, etc. in the mornings. Based on the plans we have above, we will probably be able to have that last morning really nice breakfast with meal credits. We LOVE the convenience of this plan and not really having to worry about "maxing things" and which places to use credits vs OOP. In the past we have brought or bought fruit and other non-perishable snack items. This time I will probably limit that to one box of granola bars/ bites and some cases of water (delivered by Staples, natch.) On a regular day at home breakfast for us is a piece of fruit, a cheese stick and maybe a piece of wholegrain toast-- so we can cobble that together with snack credits I think, leaving LOTS of space for 2-credit dining experiences.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

We're doing the Deluxe DDP for Christmas '08 for a few reasons:

1. It fits our dining style. We've done Disney so many times that the restaurants are as much of an attraction for us as the parks. We like to recharge with TS meals and we only do CS meals at our hotel. Last time we did the regular DDP (for free this past summer), I still had to pay out of pocket to cover the extra meals. Granted I had the DDE card but it was pretty inconvenient.

2. It's all paid for up front. I don't like having to worry about paying for meals. It's all taken care of and the snacks really come in handy after running around ToonTown and not having to fish for cash to pay for a snack. Just use the KTTW card for that and you're all set! Granted tip isn't included for table service meals(except for Cindy's Royal Table, dinner shows and room service), I like being able to determine the tip amount myself.

3. It hedges against the Christmas meal price increases. My DDE card isn't valid for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day so the DDP in general helps us here.

Is it a lot of food? That's relative. We packaged our desserts and took them to the room for later. And we've maxed out our snack credits between Dole Whips and Mickey bars. LOL! Since I have a child the DDP (especially Deluxe) is wonderful! However, if I were just a single traveller I probably wouldn't purchase it.

 

[libinatorsmom]

WE choose the Dulx Dining plan and are super super excited - when it was released we were able to know get every signature and ts meal we wanted and still have some left over for cs meals... and I am sure we have plenty of food... PLUS 2 snacks... cant beat it...

 

[letthewookiewin]

We are doing the Deluxe Dining for our trip the week of Christmas 2008. Even though it is over a year away until we get to WDW, I have our ADR's picked (not specific times though). We are planning on eating at CRT twice, and then the Luau at the Poly. The only way our plans will change is if Yak & Yeti and Teppan Edo do not become apart of Dining Plan. I called Disney Dining this morning and they said they have not decided if they will become apart of the plan for 2008 or not. Also they couldn't tell me when the decision would be made. I have until June to make the ADR's so if they don't become a part of the plan, I have a little time to pick other places.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Even though I have the deluxe plan, and twelve-nights, I'm still having trouble deciding where I want to eat.

I know I definatly want to eat at CRT, CP, Boma, Kona, Brown Derby, Le Cellier, and all of the signature restaurants, so there's most of the credits right there. I also want to try all the new restaurants, including Wave, Yak and Yeti, and Donald's Safari Breakfast.

 

[hddanis]

Hey, I just thought I'd share with you the cards I came up with to keep track of our credits. All the ones I've seen are for the original dining plan...

Hope you like!

 

[hddanis]

We are doing the Deluxe Dining for our trip the week of Christmas 2008. Even though it is over a year away until we get to WDW, I have our ADR's picked (not specific times though). We are planning on eating at CRT twice, and then the Luau at the Poly. The only way our plans will change is if Yak & Yeti and Teppan Edo do not become apart of Dining Plan. I called Disney Dining this morning and they said they have not decided if they will become apart of the plan for 2008 or not. Also they couldn't tell me when the decision would be made. I have until June to make the ADR's so if they don't become a part of the plan, I have a little time to pick other places.

Yak and Yeti is on the Dining plan. It's just not on the DDE yet.

Not sure about Teppan Edo..Wasn't interested in that one.

 

[jjnv]

We are going to do it for our three night trip in January. I asked my 9 year old to help me pick up a place in Magic Kingdom. I showed him the page with all the participating restaurant on wdwinfo.com. You should see his jar drop when I told him he needs to go down to see the kids' menu. He quickly discarded everything with menu choices and picked the Crystal Palace. I am not sure if he paid any attention to the characters.

I thought over my options overnight and decided that I will let him pick something from adults menu from time to time. He probably would never pick anything over $20 any ways. The other option is to change him to 10 year old. We are DVC members. So I don't have to buy adult tickets for him. But I really don't think we will need that much food. All he needs is that one entry from the regular menu. He can share our appetizer and desert. We can save his TS credit for some CS food as snack in between meals.

 

[jjnv]

duplicate

 

[hematite153]

We are going to do it...my 9 year old... quickly discarded everything with menu choices and picked the Crystal Palace. ...
I thought over my options overnight and decided that I will let him pick something from adults menu from time to time.

As I analyze the amount of food we are going to have, I am convinced that it is too much. (I mean, we have trouble using up all of our credits with the regular dining plan and don't spend OOP for anything during that time either.) But, we decided to do it for the sake of visiting a lot of signatures.

What this means for you, is that I suspect you could let your DS9 choose an appetizer or entree from the adult menu of one of your adult credits at most meals and then share his child's meal around the table and everyone would have plenty of food. I.e. turn the regular plated meals into semi-family style meals.

 

[lisaross]

I just read here about the Deluxe Dining Plan?

I went to disney in 06 and had the free dining plan which i loved!

We're going back again to Disney - not till August 09 but i like to plan, so can you tell me the difference in price/plans etc?

thank you

lisa

 

[hematite153]

We're going back again to Disney - not till August 09 but i like to plan, so can you tell me the difference in price/plans etc?

I wouldn't count on anything to necessarily stay the same for 2009, but you can find a description of all the 2008 options at: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneypackages.htm