Is Deluxe dining plan worth it ?

[lovemickeyshouse]

What do you folks think I am thinking I could use the leftover credits on the my checkout day for dinner cause not leaving just doing 2 ressies . Thanks in advance

 

[It'sWDW4me]

What do you folks think I am thinking I could use the leftover credits on the my checkout day for dinner cause not leaving just doing 2 ressies . Thanks in advance

Dining credits don't expire until midnight of your checkout day. Yes, you can certainly use them for dinner that night. Enjoy!

 

[Leshaface]

This past trip was our first time using the Deluxe plan, and we are huge foodies!...

There was way too much food! It was also very tiring making a schedule around our ressies because everyday we would have 2 sit down meals scheduled.

By the 6th day of our trip (out of 9), we ended up canceling two or three meals and ended up using all of those credits towards counter service restaurants and food for the plane ride home on our last day..

I would recommend everyone to try the Deluxe Dining plan once in their life to check it out.

Good luck in your food endeavour!

 

[disneynutz]

I guess it depends on you eating habits/style. We think that the regular dining plan isn't worth it.

For our family we wouldn't normally eat so much food and when on the plan, we feel like all we are doing is eating. We can eat at home and we would rather spend our time at Disney doing Disney things.

Bill

 

[lovemickeyshouse]

I really enjoy Disney resturants so yes I love the regular plan but never done the Deluxe and it would let me try new places with 2 or 3 sitdowns a day. Thanks again folks

 

[goodferry]

We enjoyed the Deluxe plan, it allowed us to do A LOT of signature dinners which we had never done before. DH is a prepaid kind of guy, can't stand to pay menu prices, wants it paid for ahead of time, so that's how we roll

 

[BobbleClank]

We are excited as we are doing the DXDP come March.... Actually sheding a few extra pounds now in preparation for it. Hopefully we are able to walk it off while enjoying the parks. As our ressie go now we if we hit them all we would have 16 ts left over.

We are eating at

Breakfast

Crystal Palace
Boma
Chef Micks
Ohana
Cape May
Kona

Lunch

Teppan Edo... Sushi

Dinner

Luau
Narcousses
Hoop De
Les Chefs
Cali Grill Ressie to watch wishes and to munch Surf and Turf
Brown Derby for the Fantasmic package
Boma
Le Cellier

We are thinking about adding some lunches in there but havent decide yet possibly on our AK days at Yak and Yeti. I guess it depends how we feel

We have 64 snacks so if you want a snack and you are at the world when I am come see me.

 

[jeepsrj]

oh man let me tell you..we did the deluxe last september, and I will say, the experience of getting to try a lot of different places we would not have tried otherwise was amazing. BUT....and this is a big BUTT..lol pardon the pun...it was way to much food...by the time we got to the end of our stay we were so tired of food...but felt that since we paid for the deluxe we felt we need to keep all ressies...but WAY WAY to much food...we vowed to always ever only do the regular dining plan from now on...lol

 

[BobbleClank]

oh man let me tell you..we did the deluxe last september, and I will say, the experience of getting to try a lot of different places we would not have tried otherwise was amazing. BUT....and this is a big BUTT..lol pardon the pun...it was way to much food...by the time we got to the end of our stay we were so tired of food...but felt that since we paid for the deluxe we felt we need to keep all ressies...but WAY WAY to much food...we vowed to always ever only do the regular dining plan from now on...lol

Well my game plan is moderation. Just because its there on the plate does not mean it needs to reach your mouth... Of course I am not talking about my signature dinners but more or less the breakfast ressies.

I think Disney to make the DXDP really worth while needs to add alcohol to the things available for the snack credit. Looking forward to Epcot this time around with again moderation.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

On my wish list is a trip where I do DxDDP for 5 days, then 2 nights of room only, give myself a couple of days digesting time. Seriously, after 6 days of eating so much, the last day and a half I probably can live on snacks I got on the last day, maybe a cs with no dessert.

 

[honeydiane1953]

I wouldn't want it because you spend MOST of your time eating. Time is of the essence there. To me full is full even if I have to eat a hotdog on the run.

 

[topmonkeygirl]

I've done the DDP, and plan on doing it again our next trip. I have crunched some number, o.k. alot of numbers and came to the conclusion it would be cheaper if we did the DDP vs. regular DP. Depending on where you go, and what you get will depend on how much you save. Check out the menus on allears and get some prices of meals and figure that against what the plan will cost.

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

We are going for 14 days this June and doing splits days. We are doing Deluxe DP for the first 4 days, then none while we are in a 1 bedroom at BLT, and finally we are doing the regular DP for the last 4 days.

We booked several of the 2 TS credits while under the deluxe DP.

We did the deluxe DP before for a 2 night stay and loved it.

 

[mikeandkarla]

I think split stays are the best way to try the DXDP. Maybe 4/3 or a 5/2 using the DXDP on the shorter stay.

 

[MNGaspar]

Hi there-

My wife and I went to WDW in December and will be returning in July '10. Both times we chose the Deluxe Dining. We have a 2-year old daughter who loves character meals. With that in mind, we try to schedule character breakfasts and dinners to give us two planned meals each day (with the little one having that firm schedule gives us two points in the day to sit down and see the characters.

The benefit of the Deluxe Dining, in my opinion, is that since you are allowed 3 "meals" each day, we would save a lunch credit or two (share or pay oop) and usethat extra credit to book a signature meal. This time we will be having dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table and we're considering a dinner show also.

We pay a little bit extra, but we really appreciate the flexibility.

 

[B-Ride]

I don't think the best way to look at "worth it" is whether you are saving money. If you do that you tend to focus too much on quantity and avoid signature restaurants.

What I mean by this is doing 2 TS dinners instead of a signature dinner because the total cost for 2 TS is higher. Also forcing yourself to have both an appetizer and a desset even if you aren't hungry or pigging out at that buffet to get "your money's worth".

To me the DxDP can make sense if you want to try lots of places you wouldn't normally try.

If we ever did the DxDP I would focus on signature meals for dinners and have breakfast at a character buffet and snack during the day, followed by a signature meal for dinner. Alternatively use snacks for breakfast (lots of places you can grab a pastry) and have a TS for lunch and signature for dinner.

Having said that, I don't think we would ever try it since we get more than enough food on the DDP.

 

[Jozymouse]

Hi!
My friend and I are planning to do deluxe if free dining is offered and we can upgrade for around $40per person/per day. We will book a 10 day trip and are planning to try all the signature restaurants (except for Cinderella Castle) for late dinners (8-9pm) and do a TS in the parks for lunch(12pm). We will probably end up with many many extra snack credits (but we'll take snacks to go on our last day) but I am really planning to use up all my 'meal' credits. Of course, thats only a plan, I dont know how it will turn out in reality!!!!

 

[psac]

If we ever did the DxDP I would focus on signature meals for dinners and have breakfast at a character buffet and snack during the day, followed by a signature meal for dinner. Alternatively use snacks for breakfast (lots of places you can grab a pastry) and have a TS for lunch and signature for dinner.

The second part of that is exactly what we did last year, and what we'll be doing again. To me, it's only worth it if you're staying at a Deluxe (MK or Epcot) resort, where you'll have the easy access to all of the signiature restaurants. We did two meals each day, plus snack for the off meal, never stepped into a buffet, and we really enjoyed it. We (royal "we", as in my wife really) calculated an estimate from the all ears menus, and figured we'd save a lot of money. In reality, we ordered exactly what we wanted (not just the most expensive items), and definitely saved a FEW hundred dollars. WELL worth it.

If you do a buffet for one meal, plus two other sit down meals, yes, you'll end up like this because you won't be able to stand. Of course there are some people who do need to fuel up and will want to do that, but you can go in with a sensible plan and save a good amount of dough.

 

[Leshaface]

I think split stays are the best way to try the DXDP. Maybe 4/3 or a 5/2 using the DXDP on the shorter stay.

Such a great idea! Never thought of that! Thanks for the info!

 

[Jozymouse]

If we ever did the DxDP I would focus on signature meals for dinners and have breakfast at a character buffet and snack during the day, followed by a signature meal for dinner. Alternatively use snacks for breakfast (lots of places you can grab a pastry) and have a TS for lunch and signature for dinner.

The second part of that is exactly what we did last year, and what we'll be doing again. To me, it's only worth it if you're staying at a Deluxe (MK or Epcot) resort, where you'll have the easy access to all of the signiature restaurants. We did two meals each day, plus snack for the off meal, never stepped into a buffet, and we really enjoyed it. We (royal "we", as in my wife really) calculated an estimate from the all ears menus, and figured we'd save a lot of money. In reality, we ordered exactly what we wanted (not just the most expensive items), and definitely saved a FEW hundred dollars. WELL worth it.

If you do a buffet for one meal, plus two other sit down meals, yes, you'll end up like this because you won't be able to stand. Of course there are some people who do need to fuel up and will want to do that, but you can go in with a sensible plan and save a good amount of dough.

Thats basically what we will be doing except that staying at a deluxe resort is not part of our plan. So we will be staying at the POP but we'll be renting a car. Since we plan to eat at the signature restaurants at around 8pm, well, we will go back to the POP to shower and change and grab the car to go eat at the various resorts. I think that it should work fine...i hope so anyway!!!!