Disney Dining Plan vs Deluxe Dining Plan

[Disneymom20]

Hi!
We have booked a package for 9 nights over Christmas this year with our family - there are 6 of us; our children will be 16, 14, 13, and 12. The last couple of trips we haven't done the dining plan but are looking at it again with alot of the 2 table service dining options and that it will be over Christmas.

My question is ... what are the thoughts around the Disney regular plan and the deluxe? I saw that the Deluxe includes appetizers, meal and dessert. Have people found it too much food?

Thanks!

 

[MichaelWill&Megan'sMom]

My husband and I tried the deluxe dining plan for our kid free anniversary trip to food and wine. We did several 2 credit meals and ended up with 7 or 8 meals at the end (with kids, that would have been 35 or 40)!

Not only do you get three credits a day - a sit down meal includes appetizers in addition to dessert. We were so stuffed at 2 credit meals that we didn't eat the rest of the day!

To maximize the cost of the plan, you will literally be eating all day, or be so full you feel like you will explode.

I would not do the deluxe again. Regular dining is perfect, you can always pay the difference at a 2 credit meal for the people not covered by remaining credits.

 

[Faldred]

A lot of people find the basic DDP to be "too much food". It's really a personal preference, though almost everyone seems to agree that doing 3 TS meals a day is an awful lot, especially over multiple days.

What I will say about DxDP is that you do need to go into it realizing you're committing to dining being a significant part of your overall vacation experience. Table service meals, especially with an extra course, take more time than counter service, and you do have to be at specific places at specific times.

Now, if you do go DxDP, there are three basic ways to play it to avoid the traps (and you can mix-and-match these day by day) and only do two sit-down meals a day:

1) Breakfast or lunch plus a signature dinner (or dinner show) - unlike basic DDP, signatures aren't a bad use of DxDP credits, and you should easily find yourself ahead of the ~$30 (pre-tax) per credit you'd need to break even. With two big, but spaced-out, meals, you can fill in the time between with snacks.

2) TS (buffet) Breakfast plus CS lunch plus TS dinner. CS is generally a poor use of a Deluxe credit, but if you're averaging well enough elsewhere, it's ok to be sub-optimal once in a while.

3) Remember that you have 9 nights worth of credits, but 10 days in which to use them. This can help spread out credits and reduce the need to spend 3 credits every single day.

Always keep in mind that $30/credit target. At most 1 TS locations, you could forgo an appetizer or a dessert and still meet or beat that number. So don't compel yourself to use every part of every entitlement.

 

[GillianP1301]

The only way to really see if it's worth it, is to calculate out what you would typically order at each restaurant you plan to visit. For us (myself and 9yo son), we do the deluxe and love it. We definitely benefit from him being a Disney kid and ordering off of the adult menu (which can be done at most restaurants - the exceptions seem to be the non Disney owned locations). We even do a few QS meals and don't always order an appetizer or dessert with every meal and we still come out ahead by about $100 - $200. This is totally going to change once he hits 10 years old and at that point, I'm fully expecting OOP will likely be our best option, but will cross that bridge when we get to it.

All that to say is that it really makes a difference the ages of your party, how you eat and what you plan to eat. But don't assume you have to eat 3 courses at every meal and that every meal has to be TS to get value, because that is not necessarily the case.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We have never used the regular dining plan...it just doesn't seem to fit our vacationing style.

We love, love, love the deluxe dining.

We are 2 real adults and 2 Disney adults (18 and almost 13...well I guess that now makes us 3 real adults and 1 Disney adult...still getting used to that!) and have done the DxDDP at least 7 times since they were both kids on the plan.

We have done 2 meal days and 3 meal days.

The almost 13 year old does a lot of ordering kids meals or sharing (although she does do some adult meals too) so we use her extra credits for MORE meals.

We totally don't understand where people say you will spend too much time eating if you do the deluxe dining. We usually eat a 45-60 minute meal, including character meals and signatures. Unless we want it to be longer. And we're not feeling rushed to do it either. Unless you are not planning to eat 2-3 times a day, we have found that we don't think it takes much more time generally, especially at a busy vacation time.

If we do three meal days it is usually a very early breakfast (pre-park opening or there abouts) so around 7am or 8am, lunch around 1pm or 2pm, and dinner around 8pm or 9pm. But we don't do all of them three meals a day.

We like the appetizers. We like the option of desserts at every meal. Do we eat like this all the time? No way, but it's vacation so we do. And you don't have to eat everything on your plate. My somewhat picky kids have tried a variety of things (usually appetizers) on the plan that they didn't know they would like...and I don't have to worry about the cost I am paying if they don't eat it. My 18 year old wants a steak for every meal...on the deluxe dining plan, he can have that. And most of the time, we come out ahead (yes, I keep track) even when we have paid full price for the plan.

I know a lot of people say save the money you would have paid for the plan and call that your "dining plan" but (1) I am NOT a saver! (2) even if I know I have $3000 for a food budget I would still be watching prices.

We did Christmas/New Years in 2015 for 14 nights/15 days. We were on an upgraded deluxe dining plan. We ate a lot (over 48 ADRs I believe because we have the credits that Skye did not use either sharing or doing a kid's meal). And we loved every minute of it! And I think at Christmas time, especially, because while we were watching lines out of the CS venues, we were able to walk in, be seated almost immediately (everywhere except Ohana) and be served. I venture a guess people eating at CS places were taking al long from the time they walked in to walking out as we did being waited on. I really think that helped us appreciate Christmas time in The World rather than think it was a mad house (we actually were pleasantly surprised and didn't feel the crowd). And we were constantly checking cost and sharing things (which we don't like to do that much) and not getting things we really wanted for the sale of the budget.

After that trip we did a no dining plan trip (I am still in the process of reporting on that) for the same of experimentation since it had been about 10 years since we had gone without a dining plan and our family dynamics had changed quite a bit. Well, I don't have an ending result yet but I do know we were missing out on TS dining (and we even did a couple) and were in sticker shock at the price of a freaking HOT DOG! Needless to say, we bought the deluxe dining plan for our upcoming trip in 97 days.

I am a planner so I love making mock orders for my family. If you're questioning the worth monetarily, list all the places you want to eat. Then for each family member list each thing you think they would want to eat. I usually do a "without dining plan" and a "with DxDDP" version. The without plan is so hard for me to make the choices because I try to let us enjoy the meal but usually cost gets in the way. Then get the cost of what you will be paying for the plan. I get the food total (with tax), the tip total (OOP), and the cost of anything we buy OOP. I do include the mugs because we would buy them anyway so they do have value on the plan to me. And I use a $5.00 price per snack. When I put all that in order I then know where I stand. And while yes, I would NEVER SPEND THAT MUCH MONEY ON FOOD IN THE REAL WORLD, I'm not in the real world.

So, that's a lot of words to say I think the deluxe dining plan really worked in our favor at Christmas time. We have been able to try a lot of restaurants and foods that we would not have if it weren't for the plan. I am a huge advocate of the plan. If the only way I could get the The World was OOP, I'd do it but as long as I can swing the DxDDP, I am going to!

 

[sharonabe]

We have booked a package for 9 nights over Christmas this year with our family - there are 6 of us; our children will be 16, 14, 13, and 12.

Close your eyes and imagine the table at each restaurant. SIX full apps on the table. SIX full entrees on the table. SIX full desserts on the table. That's a lot of food.

 

[TinkerTerry]

Are you getting two rooms? Is yes then get the deluxe plan for just one room and share it.

 

[kevingg]

Are you getting two rooms? Is yes then get the deluxe plan for just one room and share it.

 

[kevingg]

If you go the Delixe Dining plan route, are you able to redeem credits for people not on your reservation? My parents are coming over to join us for a day and I want to pay for their meals. Can I just use my credits to pay for their food?

 

[2forMe]

For me dxdp is simply too much food, too much time eating and too expensive

 

[Traver Freeman]

If you go the Delixe Dining plan route, are you able to redeem credits for people not on your reservation? My parents are coming over to join us for a day and I want to pay for their meals. Can I just use my credits to pay for their food?

I'm pretty sure you can unless it's changed. I mean worst case scenario you buy it as your meal, even if you buy "two meals" at once. But I'm pretty sure they'll let you pay for whoever you want using your credits.

 

[TinkerTerry]

You can now use your credits for anyone you wish. Just tell your server how many credits you want to use. It is a good way to use the deluxe plan because as others have stated it is a lot of food.

 

[rwdavis2]

Yep, Deluxe is just too much food and too much time in restuarants. Even the regular plan we did once was too much.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We've done it once. And we loved it.

Yes, it is a lot of food. But since I eat 3 meals a day at home, it wasn't difficult to do so on vacation.

Our only problem was that we didn't use all of our snack credits. But that allowed us to purchase a few extra on the last day and use them as meals for our trip home.

We didn't go into it thinking we were going to save money. In fact, we didn't even think about it. The entire trip was a gift. But when we calculated it out at the end, we saved a bunch. (The trip was in 2012, I am not going back and listing where we ate and what we spent.)

It isn't something we would do again, unless we were celebrating something or we weren't planning on a lot of park time. Dining like that does take up a lot of park time.

 

[SgtTibbs]

I opted for the Deluxe. I'm on a solo trip, but I have friends in Florida so it's an easy way to treat them to a meal. No way I could eat three table meals, but a snack for breakfast, lunch, dinner with a +1, and a late night snack, that works for me.

 

[Annick]

I decided on Deluxe for my mom, my daughter and myself. We're going for 4 nights, but we arrive early (landing at 10:40am on July 24th) and leave late (ME at 4:40pm on July 28th). I'm spreading my credits so that we never eat 3 meals a day.

I made all the ADRs I really wanted (first time at Disney!!), then I realized that with DDP, I was 4 credits short (and I was using too many table credits for what I had). With Deluxe, I leave even. I know it will probably cost more than if I had paid OOP, but the way I see it, is that I'm buying peace of mind. PLUS, I love me some appetizers and desserts!

July 24th
lunch (1 credit)
dinner @ Boathouse (2 credits)

July 25th
early lunch @ Yak & Yeti (1 credit)
late dinner @ Rainforest Cafe (1 credit)

July 26th
late breakfast @ BOG (1 credit)
dinner @ CRT (2 credits)

July 27th
late breakfast @ Bon Voyage Breakfast (1 credit)
dinner @ Ohana (1 credit)

July 28th
breakfast (1 credit)
late lunch (1 credit)

Total : 4 nights x 3 meal credits = 12 credits spread on 5 days!

 

[HeidiGW]

oops

 

[vllygrrl]

We LOVE the DxDP! To me, it's the best of all worlds. We get the fun of being in Disney coupled with fine dining each night. We are not the type that has to be in the parks every minute of every day so I don't feel like we're losing time. Is it a lot of food? Absolutely. We generally bring home a huge bag full of snacks, but the ability to get drinks at Starbucks may change that some. However, the portions at the Signature restaurants tend to be smaller, as is par for finer restaurants to it is a bit more reasonable. Even my son, who did this plan for the first time when he was five, enjoys the Signature dining. In fact, he has requested that we go back to Artist Point this trip. We have upgraded our bounceback free dining to DxDP again this year and are totally looking forward to it!

 

[Lesverts]

I am doing the Deluxe on my upcoming trip for a few reasons:

1) It allows me to try a lot of different restaurants that I would not have normally tried
2) Having gone before and paid OOP for a QS at least once everyday that rounds out to around 20 dollars per, I'd rather pay the extra 13 dollars and have full access
3) I eat two meals a day normally; so one breakfast/early lunch plus one signature is perfect for me
4) I will just take the dessert to go if it is too much.
5) I'm going solo and every solo trip I go on I forget to eat. A lot. So having planned meals means that I won't have that issue. Especially with the Florida heat
6) It is a better value than the DDP for me since I prefer TS and since I am at the tail end of my annual pass it is also a better value than TiW.

I calculated cost without including the snack credits and still come out ahead. So I can 'waste' those on water and stuff and not feel guilty.