I highly doubt you will be hungry but if you are, just pay OOP. It'll be cheaper than upgrading.
Not true. We (dh, myself and ds) just returned from
free dining in September and we did the upgrade to Deluxe. We loved having all three meals planned, reserved and before us before we even left on our trip. After adding up the costs, upgrading really is the best way to get the most for your money. We simply paid the difference between the reg. and dlx plan (around $30.00 per person per night of stay, $10 for kiddos) and got a TON TON TON of food.
An example (I'm using estimations so don't quote me on exact prices here): B'fast at CP- $60.00
Lunch at Teppan Edo- $100.00
Dinner at Coral Reef- $100.00
TOTAL- 260.00 but we paid 90.00 for the deluxe upgrade for the day...savings of over $150.00 PER DAY!!!
Now, that being said, here are some things to consider when you are thinking of upgrading:
1. How soon is your trip? Can you make ressies at the restaurants you want in this time frame? If all the good ressies are gone and you will wind up doing CS for more of the meals than TS then it's not a good deal to upgrade.
2. How long is your trip? If you are only going for a few short days (we were there 10 days) then you may find you are missing alot of park time at the restaurants. We were there in Sept. We had short waits on rides and lots of time since we stayed 10 days. So, the time we spent in the restaurants was nice and we didn't feel like we were missing out on the fun of the park. You have to consider how you want to spend your time.
3. How do you like being on a schedule? We found by the end of our trip that we were tired of always having to check out clocks for the next ressie time and the last day or so, we cancel some ressies and did CS. Honestly, it was more relaxing than having to worry about making it to the next TS. Still, we really enjoyed the plan the majority of the trip.
4. Don't forget that w/ the Deluxe you get an appetizer, meal, drink and dessert w/ each meal, 3 times per day plus 2 snacks! ALOT of food! If you are a light eater than don't go this route! By the way...the Cinnamon buns at the MK bakery on Main Street are TO DIE FOR!!! YUMMMY!! AND HUGE!! Oh yeah...you may want to trade some of the TS in for a couple of the shows like Hoop De Doo (loved it!) or the BIG meals like Cindy's Table at the Castle.
5. Finally, consider tip money...we spent ALOT of cash in tips...I had mine all organized in tip envelopes w/ labels before we left on our trip and I just pulled the ones out of the safe that I needed for that day. Still, we spent around $250.00 for tips for the week. Divide that by 9 nights and we spent around $27.00 in tips per day. Some spend more...but we used our credits for a couple of the big meals that included tips so that helped too...
Well...that's my spill on the upgrade. We loved it...it was one of those things that I am glad we did once and may do again when we are older and not so active in the parks. Next time, however, we are doing the reg. plan or maybe even the Quick Service plan...just so we can be free to play more. We have a 4 year old and that just fits better for now! If you do the deluxe, enjoy it!! You will be full full full!! Good luck in whatever decision you make!
