Yeah, I have considered the different dining options because I do hate to waste money, but at the same time, I don't want to spend my time worrying over the meal budget and/or planning meals (tallying credits). I've ready so many different opinions...some people say deluxe is way too much food while other people say the plan just below that wasn't enough. I'd rather have too much than not enough. If I didn't do the deluxe dining then I'd still have to "budget" the meal credits when doing signature meals or ordering pizza...and I don't want to do that. If the kids want a popsicle or a drink (as much as I'll try to avoid buying drinks) then I just want to be able to say "YES!" without even thinking about it. I've had to say NO for a long time!
I think with deluxe dining we will try restaurants that I would never consider otherwise, and I can also say YES to appetizers and even DESSERTS! In "real life" I never, ever buy dessert when we go out to eat and we don't even go out to eat often! They're just way too expensive. I'm like, "I'm not paying $5 for an ice cream when we can buy a half gallon for that price at the store!"
I think it'll just add one more special touch to the trip when I can let them pick ANYWHERE they want to go and get EVERYTHING they want! I assume we will have some extra credits, but will figure out a way to put them to use either by ordering pizza or doing signature meals....and we can always bring snacks home.
I've even had to talk myself into the plan! I hesitated about even staying at a hotel on site because I like to save money so much, but then I had to tell myself, "This is the special trip we've been waiting for. Don't nickel and dime for once!" I'm the kind of person who buys glow sticks at the dollar tree before we go to fireworks to save money, I shop at thrift stores, and clip coupons...so it's hard to just hand over the cash for a "Magic your way" package knowing I could save money staying off site, buying only the tickets we'll use, and packing food from home....but I'm forcing myself to splurge just this once. I have plenty of time to budget for the trip and I've already started tracking my spending so I'll have a surplus large enough not to fret over "losing" a few hundred dollars that could've been saved.
Thanks for the adive all the same! It is a good idea to plan wisely and save, but I spend so much of my time doing that...I'm ready for a vacation from MYSELF...for everyone's sanity.