How I used our Deluxe DDP

[Trina7020]

We were in WDW on DxDDP from May 31-June 6.

We are a family of 4... DH, I, and a 3 (nearly 4) year old and a 2 1/2 year old.

We had 54 meal credits and 36 snack credits. We used all of them except one lonely meal credit.

FYI: All 54 credits were pooled with no distinction between child and adult.

We didn't stuff ourselves at the buffets. I ate until I was satisfied though since that is how I normally eat.

We didn't really use our mugs much. Definitely not $13 worth. But we are mostly water drinkers. We didn't spend much time at the resort and the meals we did eat there of course came with drinks.

The only thing we spent out of pocket food wise was some Chili Cheese Fries at Pop Century that I thought I could use a snack credit for and 4 drinks out of a machine at the Stunt Show in DHS because there was no vendors close by and we were all dying! Total was about $11.00 OOP

Tipwise we spent about $170. We generally left 18% at buffets and 20% at true TS.

Most days I did not eat lunch which is why only 2 credits were used. But DH and the kids were hungry. I generally used a snack credit for some fruit or something.


Here was our breakdown:

Day One:
Lunch when arriving: Pop Century (3 credits)
Chef Mickey's Dinner (3 Credits)

Day 2
Crystal Palace Breakfast 8am (3 credits)
Lunch @ Pop Century (2 credits)
Dinner@ Tony's 5pm (3 credits)

Day 3
Breakfast @ Tusker House 9am (3 credits)
Lunch @ Pop Century (2 credits)
Dinner@ WCC 6:30 (3 credits)

Day 4
Breakfast at Ohana's 830am (3 credits)
Dinner @ LeCellier 430pm (3 credits)
Late night Snack for DH & I (1 credit shared)

Day 5
H&V Breakfast @ 9am (3 credits)
Hoop Dee Doo @ 500 (6 credits)

Day 6
Breakfast Pop Century (3 adult credits by accident.. DH didn't understand and they didn't question him.. I was very sick this morning and we cancelled our Kona ADR)
Dinner @ 4:00 Liberty Tree Tavern (3 credits)
Pop Pizza Delivery 10pm (2 credits)

Day 7
Cape May Breakfast (3 credits)
ABC Commissary (4 credits) Bought each of the boys a kids meal and they didn't question us


53 total credits, 1 unused

I could never remember what we spent all those snack credits on, but we used some for drinks... may 6 or 8 of them and then the rest were on true snacks. We typically also bought 4 at a time because you can't really tell and 2 1/2 year he has to share ice cream or something lol. We didn't have any left over to "blow" at the end of the trip.

Deluxe worked well for us. We really wouldn't have changed anything about the trip dining wise. My ADRs were well planned and we never felt rushed anywhere. In fact I was usually early and was still seated promptly.

DH did gain 10 pounds lol literally.. but it is gone now. I think is was water retention. I didn't gain anything FYI! lol

 

[Trina7020]

I forgot to mention that we saved about $300 over paying OOP. The cost would have been nearly equal using regular DDP and paying OOP for the extra meals, but this was way easier.

 

[Tam1067]

Thanks for the info! I am debating about upgrading from the DDP to the deluxe for our upcoming trip. We have reservations very similar to yours, with about two TS meals a day (one always being dinner). DH thinks it'll be too many meals in TS places, but the kids want their nice breakfasts!

 

[bumbershoot]

Interesting.

My question is...if you had NO dining plan, would you have had those exact same meals?

 

[Trina7020]

I say it would be pretty close.

I probably would NOT have done HDDR... I added that after I upgrade from DDP to Deluxe.

I probably would not have ordered Pizza by delivery either.

Other that that... it probably would have been close. The character meals were very important to me this time because my kids love the characters and were so young. We don't plan on returning until the kids are 6-7ish... at that time I don't imagine we will do as many character meals and will really look at our options then.

That being said.. we ate 1 counter service meal in the parks and HATED IT!!! The food was nasty. The crowds were awful. We waited in line a good 20-30 minutes. It was our last meal of the trip and DH even said he was so glad we didn't mess with CS all week.

 

[Trina7020]

THe more I think about it if I had NO DIning plan and needed to budget I would do it differently... breakfasts in the room, sandwiches for lunch, etc. But that is not how i wanted to vacation if that makes sense.. So for us... it worked

 

[bumbershoot]

Makes sense. Thanks!

 

[iluvpluto27]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Nee Nee and Biddy]

I'm glad you posted this...I want to use the DxDDP the next time we go and my kids will be the same age as yours then. I think the DxDDP would work great, esp. when one child can't be on the plan. Thanks!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I'm so happy it worked out for your family.

Just curious, did you feel full all the time?
Did anyplace have any problems with you using 4 snack credits at once?
Did you feel like you spent enough time in the parks?

We're doing deluxe in Dec. and I was worried about not being hungry enough for the next meal.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I'm so happy it worked out for your family.

Just curious, did you feel full all the time?
Did anyplace have any problems with you using 4 snack credits at once?Did you feel like you spent enough time in the parks?

We're doing deluxe in Dec. and I was worried about not being hungry enough for the next meal.

I can answer this one (bolded). We have used DDP 3 times now (DxDPP in four day) and we have never ever had a problem useing 4 snack credits at once. On our last day I used about 10 of them at once. No problem whatsoever.

 

[Trina7020]

I'm so happy it worked out for your family.

Just curious, did you feel full all the time?
Did anyplace have any problems with you using 4 snack credits at once?
Did you feel like you spent enough time in the parks?

We're doing deluxe in Dec. and I was worried about not being hungry enough for the next meal.

No I personally did not feel full all the time. I really choose not to overeat at the buffets. I ate until I was full but not stuff. I probably did not eat my money's worth. (I never feel I do even at home when we go to buffets) But like I said, we really enjoyed the character meals. DH definitely ate his money's worth!

We choose to only have 2TS a day. I generally only ate those two meals, plus maybe a snack or two. The kids still needed 3 meals a day as they don't eat much in one sitting.


I never had an issue using 4 snack credits. In fact one time we used like 6 or something ordering several drinks and several food items.


This is will probably get me in trouble... so shhhh...

We never had an issue using 4 CS at once. We only did it once and it was at CS. (I don't think you could get away with it at TS.. but we didn't try) We did it the last day and we had extra credits to use and I wanted to boys to eat well before we headed to the airport.

We also once bought 3 adult CS breakfasts. It truly was an accident because DH didn't understand what I asked him to order. We paid separately though... I bought 1 adult meal and DH bought 2 adult meals.

For us... yes we had enough time in the parks. But my kids are little and couldn't take the parks for long anyway.

We spent 1 hour on breakfast and 1 hour on dinner on average. We kinda paced our days 2 different ways. I think meals were a nice break and all of the ones were did were fun and part of our WDW experience.

Some days we took a 3-4 hour break in the afternoon for resting and naps in the hotel room. Other days we went all day in the parks but called it quits after dinner usually between 6 or 7.

Truly though... even if my kids were older I still think there would have been plenty of time in the parks with 2 TS meals because they would stay out later. I might not do breakfast every morning... or at least not at 8am. I would instead do a really late breakfast or early lunch so they could sleep in.

 

[Turtle31]

Trina ~
Thanks so much for posting this... it was really nice to read someone NOT saying they came home with 8 meal credits Are you planning on doing a dining review ? We are going Deluxe for 12 days in August- and I would like to know what you thought about some of these resturants. My kids are DS (9) and DD (4) and they also see meeting the characters (and giving hugs) as very important. How was Liberty Tree ? I am most worried about this one- turkey and gravy in August just doesn't seem great to me. But I have it on my list- I keep thinking of changing it out for Crystal Palace?
This will be the only time I felt we could do Deluxe since DS is 9 and I would not pay 70.00 a day for him to eat mac and cheese !!
Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Liberty Tree Tavern ?
Le Cellier ?
Cape May Buffet?

 

[aubriee]

I used the DxDDP May 3rd-10th, used all my credits, but did it a little different. I was traveling solo, so didn't want any big breakfasts or character meals. I did however want to try alot of Signature dining.

I got the earliest lunch ADR (as soon as the restaurant opened) for brunch, then did a 2 credit Signature meal every night around 7:00-7:30pm. I ate lunches at: Tutto Italia, Raglan Road, Whispering Canyon, Tony's, San Angel Inn, Yak & Yeti, and Le Cellier. I did a two credit restaurant every night for dinner and ate at: Flying Fish, Yachtsman, Citricos, California Grill, Jiko, Artist Point, and Naroosee's.

For snacks I ran by the French bakery my first night and grabbed a Raspberry Schuss, Napoleon, and Pithivier to put in the fridge for breakfast/snacks the next few days, got 6 beignets at POFQ one morning, grabbed an apple Charlotte and a piece of carrot cake at Main Street bakery one morning, and got a Strawberry shortcake at Sunshine Seasons one morning. I still had snack credits left over so had to make a run to Goofy's at DTD where I grabbed a milk chocolate-mint smoothie, a carrot cookie, a German chocolate cookie, and four pieces of fudge to take home. and no nothing was said when I used three snack credits at one time at the French bakery or seven snack credits at once at Goofy's.

I am using the DxDDP again in Sept, but am taking my husband, who loves to eat, and my mom who is a diabetic and MUST eat three meals a day so we are using the plan more like the OP did and eating three meals/day (most TS).

 

[dgagnon519]

We are doing the deluxe on our upcoming plan. We save $581 on the plan vs oop. Someone asked would we have ate at the same places or same dinners. We would have ate at many of the same places. Would we have ordered the same food probably not but when I figured it out that way they were pretty much even so might as well do the plan and splurge.

 

[FigmentFinder]

Can I ask what you get at POP for the pizza delivery for 2 credits?

 

[JLKennedy]

FYI: All 54 credits were pooled with no distinction between child and adult.

Very interesting....I was under the impression that there would be separate credits for the "children's" portion. I know 2 years ago when we went, there was no distinction, we were able to order our almost 8 year old something from the adult menu so she didn't have to eat mickeyroni every meal....

 

[SunnieRN]

Thanks for posting! My daughter and son in law have decided to go to WDW for Christmas. They will be bringing my 2, almost 3 y.o. grandson and the baby will be 10 mos old.
They decided they are going DxDDP because they want everything paid for, they want to have plenty to share with my grandson and my son in law wants 3 breaks a day to sit and relax. They are eating a few character buffet meals, and staying at Coronado springs are planning on eating at pepper market once and Maya once. Other than that it will be casually paced ts meals.

 

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I ate lunches at: Tutto Italia, Raglan Road, Whispering Canyon, Tony's, San Angel Inn, Yak & Yeti, and Le Cellier. I did a two credit restaurant every night for dinner and ate at: Flying Fish, Yachtsman, Citricos, California Grill, Jiko, Artist Point, and Naroosee's.

My husband and I will be trying the Deluxe DDP this Oct. We really wanted to try some of the signature restaurants so this plan was perfect for that. We are trying a lot of new restaurants. Many which you ate at on your trip - Tutto Italia, Yak & Yeti, Le Cellier, Flying Fish, California Grill and Narcoossee's. What did you think of these and is there anything you'd recommend?

 

[aubriee]

My husband and I will be trying the Deluxe DDP this Oct. We really wanted to try some of the signature restaurants so this plan was perfect for that. We are trying a lot of new restaurants. Many which you ate at on your trip - Tutto Italia, Yak & Yeti, Le Cellier, Flying Fish, California Grill and Narcoossee's. What did you think of these and is there anything you'd recommend?

I had dinner at Tutto Italia this past Dec and had a lemon salmon appetizer, fish with clams, and zabaglione sundae. Service was wonderful and food was amazing. However, when I ate lunch there this past May, I was not so pleased. The ham with melon slices was very fatty and had no flavor and the pasta with crab meat also had no flavor. It tasted like they had opened a can of plain crab meat and just dumped it on top of some noodles, with no seasonings. However, the ricotta cake was out of this world delicious . I already have an ADR for our Sept trip and can't wait to try it for dinner again.

Yak & Yeti is another one I was not impressed with. The food was good, but I had a very ditzy waitress, who brought my entree out with my appetizer. I had her take it back, then had to flag her down to get it back. She then brought my duck out completely cold and couldn't understand why I didn't want it. The fried green bean appetizer and pineapple cream cheese wonton dessert were very good though. A lady across from got the seared tuna appetizer and said it was delicious and it sure look like it was. There was a young couple with a crying toddler sitting just behind me. That kid screamed in my ear for their entire meal and the parents just ignored him, so Yak & Yeti was not a pleasant experience. However, I'm giving them another chance this Sept also.

I had lunch at Le Cellier on my last day. I don't see it on the Allears menu, but they had a spicy cold watermelon soup that was very tasty. I always get the filet with mushroom risotto for dinner there, so was very pleased to find it is now on lunch menu too. The portion is a little smaller, but still plenty. Their maple cream brulee is wonderful, but I've also had sorbet, chocolate whiskey cake, and an apple cobbler there and all have been good. I've also had their chocolate moose and it is sooo cute.

At the Flying Fish you can get a virgin daiquiri for a beverage. The mussels are wonderful and you get a huge bowl of them. I had the scallops with pea risotto. I normally love risotto, but did not care for theirs at all. However, the scallops were great. I was too full for dessert so got a cheese plate to go. I ate it very early (around 4:00am ) the next morning and it was wonderful.

California Grill was very nice. I asked for and received a table right by the window with a great view of the castle. Be sure to ask for Walter for your waiter. He's great and very knowledgeable. I again had a virgin strawberry daiquiri for my beverage. The two most expensive sushi items are not allowed as an appetizer on the DxDDP, but the rest are. The Kazan Fiery Rolls are very good. The filet was also very good. For dessert I had the Strawberry Vacherin, which is pistachio cake with cream between three thin layers of cake and buttermilk ice cream, strawberry sorbet, and crispy meringe tongues on top. It was OK. Oh yeah, my ADR was for when they first opened and while we waited in the bar area for our table to be ready they had a "Magic Moment", where the waiters passed out flatbread samples of triple cheese, (Pecorino, Asiago, Provolone) with sundried tomatoes and basil pesto. It was wonderful!

Narcoosee was my favorite meal of the entire trip. It is the only Signature restaurant I am repeating for our upcoming Sept trip. The calamari with pepperocini was just OK. I've had calamari at several other places in WDW that I liked better. However, the steak and lobster were perfect. That steak was better than the ones I had at Yatchsman, Le Cellier, San Angel Inn, or California Grill. In fact I think it's probably the best steak I've very had in my life and since I'm from Texas and eat good steaks on a regular basis that's saying something. But the steak was nothing compared to their almond cheesecake with cherries. It's worth a trip over there, just to get that cheesecake. It has to be the very best dessert on property. When we eat there in Sept I already have plans to order an extra cheesecake to take back to our room for later. It's the best thing I have ever put into my mouth!