If you had to choose....

[uagirl]

Deluxe dining or club level, which would you choose and why? We can't afford to do both, but are having trouble deciding which one to pick. We've narrowed the resort choices down to the Poly or WL.

 

[mickeynut1]

That's a tough choice as we've stayed CL at various resorts as well as had the DlxDDP and we love both. We've yet to try Poly CL, but we thought WL CL was great . With that said, if I had to choose between them, I think I'd go CL. It's great having the lounge for snacks and drinks, as well as just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere .

 

[vettegirl]

I would go with club level, that deluxe dining to us is way too much food.

 

[gogo]

I have done both deluxe dining, club level several times, (the last club level stay Jan. 11 at the Poly), and regular dining. If I had to choose, I would choose deluxe dining. While club level is always a great way to stay, IMO, it does not substitute for a dining plan. To me, it is an added bonus. There are a lot of great restaurants to try and with deluxe you can have a signature every day if you wanted plus another sit down meal. Also, you can enjoy appetizers and dessert!

If club level was in the budget, I would do both but if not, just stock some snacks/drinks in your room and go with deluxe.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Club level hands down. any form of the DP is not worth it to us due to our eating habits( we always split appies and desserts).

but CL you can get a decent start to the day brekkie wise, snacks in the afternoon and evening and of course a drink or two.. all included in the price.

basically meaning you really only have to worry about 2 meals a day and maybe one or two nibblies for the parks

we tend to do one CS meal( and split that by adding an extra side dish) at the parks and one TS meal a day

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

We would choose deluxe dining, because it works best for the way we like to vacation. We have looked into club level extensively and found that it wasn't worth it to us-we don't drink much and spend a lot of time in the parks, so wouldn't be getting value from the club level food and alcohol offerings. Deluxe dining is good for us; we eat 2 meals a day and do character buffets, dinner shows, and signature restaurants for each meal. We are not anti-quick service type restaurants; we eat fast food at home some times, but we actually choose not to do so on vacation. So because we want to do lots of sit-downs and dining "experiences" deluxe dining is good value and enjoyment for our money. Club level isn't, in our situation. I think maybe for a different family with a different vacationing style, it might be worth the money.

 

[autismgoesdisney]

I'd go with deluxe dining over CL. For me, I would LOVE to do some signature dining!!!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would go with Club Level because without having the Deluxe Dining Plan you don't need to worry about going from one ADR to another and when staying Club Level you will know what floor or building you will be in.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Thats hard to say because we have never done the dining plan but we are not the kind of vacationers that would want to be tied down to dining...we like to wing it, cancel reservations, try to walk in at a moments notice, we share snacks and CS stuff. I guess I would go with the Poly CL but to be honest I would rather stay TPV non CL room at the Poly

 

[chrisw127]

In almost all cases I would pick deluxe dining, but I see that you have a small child. In that case, go with club level. You'll probably be back at the room at night and it will be nice to have that option.

 

[summersalt]

I think I would pick Club level. We've never stayed club level but we have done the deluxe dining. We found we wasted too much time running from restaurant to restaurant and eating. It was way too much food and we were totally burned out by the third day. Club level would be a dream!

 

[egdanger1]

Even if you did not have the Dining Plan, you could still be tied down to ADR's. You don't have to have the dining plan to make reservations and you are not barred from having ADR's if you don't have the dining plan. I just don't understand this argument.

I say this to say that just because you have the Dining Plan does not mean that you have to be tied down. We did the dining plan and walked up to many restaurants. We only made ressies for the ones that we knew where hard to get into. Even then we often got there significantly early and were seated immediately.

As far as the deluxe being too much food, that is up to the individual family. We did the deluxe and used every bit of it and we are not big eaters (family of 3). The best thing for us were all of the left over snack credits. We loaded up on souvenirs. That alone was a HUGE savings.

On the other hand, we stayed Club level and thought that it was so so. I don't think that we will do that again, but we will most assuredly not go to Disney without any dining plan.

 

[exit30]

We stayed CL at the Poly once just to finally try it, we were on the basic dining plan not the deluxe. We won't spend the money on CL again, not that it was a bad experience, it just wasn't that special to us, in fact we missed the evening food offerings because we were always out having dinner on the plan. We've stayed GV at the Poly and love it and save a whole bunch of money. Just an opinion.

 

[bowbat]

We'd choose CL for sure. Deluxe Dining Plan is waaaaaaay too much food for us, plus we don't really like to schedule so much of our day around meals. With CL, we can grab a quick breakfast before heading out to the parks, then we have a nice, big lunch at the parks, come back to the resort & enjoy the appetizers & desserts in the lounge. Works well for us.

If you generally spend all day in the parks, though, it might be better to have a dining plan.

 

[cjsmom5]

I think it depends on where you will spend your time and how much you enjoy the "eating" part of it. If you are not going to be in the hotel much then you wouldn't get to take advantage of the club "food" benefits much. While we are able to grab the continental breakfast -- seldom were we back to the hotel to take advantage of snacks, dinner offerings and desserts.

The deluxe dining is ALOT of food, too, but gives you flexibility in schedulng signature restaurants. Depending on when you go, you will definitely need to make your ADRs. Also keep in mind that Disney has changed dining and on certain restaurants if you make a ADR and don't cancel there is a $10 per person charge.

I would first determine how much time you think you spend at the resort and if you might be there at the times of the "offerings." If not, then I would probably opt for the dining plan. If you will be there to take advantage of the services, then you have determine the value of those food offerings -- and how much you will be spending on food -- or in other words -- how much the food offerings in club will save you vs. if you ate without the club benefits.

The club service is definitely a plus in pre planning etc -- but if you use many Disney agents -- they will take care of that for you. Room size is the same . The location may or may not be a plus (at Poly -- a certain building ... at WL -- a certain floor). Check in is much more personal -- but is that important to you? Club delivers your packages to your room - otherwise you pick them up at the gift shop.

I think for each person it is different. You may find that you could go club and get the least expensive dining plan to compliment the club for about the same price of regular room plus the food you would eat.

We really enjoy club level. The dining plan is nice, too. Good Luck

 

[Marthasor]

With a one-year old, I would choose CL over a dining plan for the reasons most PP have mentioned - it's really hard to predict how your child is going to react in that new environment and you will be tied down to reservations you may not be able to keep. That being said, we have stayed CL twice - once at Poly, which I loved because our room was in the same building as the lounge and once at GF where we were in a suite in an outer building and had to walk to Sugar Loaf to access the lounge (we never went!) - and honestly, when we added it up, it based on how we used the lounge, it would have been cheaper to just order room service for breakfast and walk over to Capt. Cook's or Gasparilla's to get a quick something in the evening.

So if you really want one or the other, I vote CL and then wing your dining. If it were me, I would do neither!

 

[emmysmommy]

Personally, I would choose CL. I've done both (for the same trip) and prefer the access to the lounge and cocktails in the eve over an abundance of food. You can pace yourself more with CL and not have to rush to ADRs if you choose to have some down time at the hotel.

 

[padawans]

For our family deluxe dining is a much better value. 100 dollars a night for club level. You get some snacks and alcohol. 200 dollars we get signature dinners lunches, and more snacks than a person could possible eat. I have never traveled to Disney with a 1 year old, but I don't think I would do either. I would probably get a 1 bdr villa since your child will probably be asleep way before you are.

 

[Kim1964]

For us, deluxe dining is too many ADRs to keep. We're also not huge Disney food fans, and go offsite for a lot of our meals. I would book CL because we enjoy that experience, but there is no question that deluxe dining offers more food than CL.

 

[nklooz]

I would do deluxe dining, do a character brunch or lunch for your little one each day and then signature dining for dinner each night. I think Disney has so many cool dining options, and I think w/a little one, the mid day ADRs will be a nice sit down and relax and the dinner ones will be good end of the day enjoyment because the little one won't be able to do late night park touring.

Personally, I feel like CL doesn't offer much, but I've never stayed there so can't say for sure. Just don't really get what makes it worth it.

To me, it is much more Disney to try the cool character and signature dining than to sit in a Concierge lounge.