Help! Wondering if i should get the dexlue plan

[Patrickprincess]

I will be going to wdw in june and i'm trying to figuar out i the the dexlue dinning would work for me. I will going alone. As it stands now i will arrive in orlando around five thirty in the eveing. I would like do do the cinderella' meal at the grand floridain on that evening. Then do at least two mabey three charater meals. I have now the magic your way with dinning plan. I'm not used to eatting three meals a day so mabey the dexlue would be a waste,but if i eat at the two table service resturants then it wouldn't be such a waste. any thoughts?

 

[Roxychica7]

You have to remember too that deluxe also comes with appetizers. So you would be eating VERY large meals twice a day. I find that by mixing up a counter service with a character buffet meal we are set.

For example: Big Breakfast Buffet, Snack for lunch, Counter Service Dinner
Snack Breakfast, Counter Service Lunch, Big Dinner Buffet

Good luck!

 

[Cafeen]

When solo, DxDDP is a bit easier to handle than with others. Since your meals will likely be a touch quicker, bar seating at some restaurants is usually a quicker option, and you'll be able to tour through the parks a bit easier than with a group.

However, DxDDP is a lot of food (I just finished a 10 day DxDDP trip, my 3rd). 3 courses at each meal adds up, though having 2 sit downs per day is very nice (especially when solo, so you're not fighting for CS seating). Basically, you'll need to determine if the DxDDP structure and guidelines are how you want to spend your time eating on your trip.

• Do you want at least 2 TS meals per night, several (half to most) of those being Signature/other 2-credit meals?
• Do you want to order 3 courses with every non-buffet/family style meal?
• Are you planning to properly space your meals out by around 6+ hours each? Since the TS meals are 3 courses (except breakfast) or buffets, you're not going to necessarily be hungry at the same times you would at home when you eat something like a sandwich for lunch.
• Are you able to "control" yourself and not eat everything on the plate if you're not that hungry? (Yes, I advocate "wasting" food. Disney portions are considerably large much of the time, in fact, I'm thinking that if they cut the portions on the majority of the items by about 1/3, and reduced the prices by about 1/4, they'd do much better)
• Remeber, there's no one to share with, so are you going to be able to finish most of what's offered on the plan by yourself? (While I do advocate wasting food as seen above, to get your money's worth, you should eat as much as you're able to without stuffing yourself silly)
• Are you ok with dining in TS environments alone? Do you do it often? Do you have a book (though e-readers are far lighter )?

The second bit concerns the financial aspect of it. I won't go into much detail here, but with the prices for the 2013 DxDDP right under $100 (literally right under, it's ~$99.97 per night or so), this makes it far from a "given" to come out ahead. Check the math with what you'd prefer to order (pretending there are no menu prices, and leave out stuff you'd order just to order it) and see where it leads. It's still easier even at the higher price point to come out ahead, but it's far from the sure bet that it was in the past.