Is deluxe worth it?

[Meg1884]

For our next trip we will be traveling with 6 possibly 7 adults to celebrate my DH's 30th birthday. 3 of these adults haven't been to the World in at least 12 years. All of us are eager to try as many restaurants as possible and with 7 different opinions it is hard to get a list together under the normal dining plan that has something on it for everyone. I've been tossing around the idea of the deluxe plan because then we could try more table service restaurants. For those who have not gotten the dining plan for free....what did you think of the deluxe plan? Was it worth the cost?

 

[hacknsuit]

The deluxe plan is definitely worth it if you like to eat!

3 meals/day + 2 snacks/day. You have plenty of points to use. The bonus is you can skip some meals and use the "saved" points for the some of the two point signature restaurants. Honestly, my wife and I found it to be too much, be we enjoyed the freedom of going to where we wanted and not worrying about the cost. That's probably the biggest issue: price Its not cheap, but if you upgrade from free dining to it...its more tolerable!

The biggest key, in our opinion, is getting the ADRs. If you are going to get the best use out of the plan, you'll have to make as many reservations as you can. So you lose some of the freedom of just to being hungry and walking up to a place and eating. You'll have to plan more!. That's good and bad

But, I think if you do it, you guys will enjoy the deluxe plan! Check out too, the lists of restaurants that you get to choose from. Not all places are included on deluxe....

have fun!

 

[bouncycat]

We used the deluxe dining last month for my friend's graduation trip, and it was totally worth it. Lots of food, but it was really good. We are breakfast people, and dinner people, and that was the perfect mix, plus i was able to get lots of character breakfasts in there for everyone to enjoy a good mix of characters. I'm using it again in october for a quick trip, and will again in May next year when we take other family who have never been before. I did do one lunch TS, and that I didn't like. I like breakfasts, and dinners, and cs lunch. TS lunch just takes too much out of the middle of the day.

 

[soozaay]

My DH & I had the Deluxe Dining Plan for our anniversary trip to WDW. I think for the group you're going to have that it's definitely worth it. DH & I wanted to eat at all of the signature restaurants (2 meal service "points") and this way were able to do it and it came out ALOT less than if we paid out of pocket. You WILL get a ton of food...and definitely make a lot of ADR's....just to be sure you're using your points. The last thing you want to do is to not use all of your dining credits...even snacks. I might be cheap, but if I'm paying that much for the dining plan, I'm making sure the Mouse gets the raw end of the deal (so to speak).

We're going in November and will probably just use the regular Dining Plan, if anything...we have a large group, but most are kids, and we really don't want to be on any sort of schedule.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We have 4 kids and the Deluxe plan is a big waste of time and money for us.

If you are just going with adults and are planning on doing a lot of 2 credit meals, you can make it worth your while.

 

[mep319]

I just recently priced it out and I cannot see how it is worth it. My husband is a chef and we LOVE to eat. So unless you plan on spending all your time running around and eating...it's just not worth the $$. If you want convinence...maybe...but to get you $$ value out of it, I can't see how. By may calculations it's better to do the regular plan and pay out of pocket for the extras. IMHO they really need a plan in between Regular and the Deluxe... like Regular +

 

[sunshineNJ]

We have done the basic dining plan and still had lots of snack credits left at the end of our stay. Deluxe would be way too much food for us. If you plan to do signature dining every day and like big breakfasts deluxe might work well for you. It's very expensive and takes up alot of time though. Good luck!

 

[cranleys]

My family and I are going to WDW for the third year in a row using the DxDDP. The easiest way to calculate wether the plan will work for you is to look at the menus of some of the restaurants you want to go to and add up the cost of a non-alcoholic drink, appetizer, entree and desert. The DxDDP is roughly $70 per day per adult. We usually have spent atleast that by lunch, so diner and snacks are free. The DxDDP also comes with the refillable mug, which is fantastic if you plan on spending any time around the pool, or are a morning coffee drinker.

I totally agree with another poster who suggested "saving" credits and doing signature meals. Our plan is usually to go to a buffet breakfast and then to a signature diner. By the time you are full from the buffet, you can use your snack credits for lunch and then an awesome diner.

Good luck with your decision

 

[sohappy]

We use DxDDP because we have kids who love character breakfasts. We do one almost every day. Also, it is nice to have a mid-day break and sit down in a nice cool restaurant.

On our last trip, it was last minute and we didn't really have ADRs. We decided not to do the dining plan. I won't ever do that again. We grabbed a quick breakfast in the room and ended up needed a snack before lunch. Without the mid-day sit down lunch/break, we were always tired and had to go back to the room early.

I am not sure if it is worth it $$wise, but it is a matter of convenience and not having to worry about anything while we are there. I like having everything already paid for before we leave.

 

[topdog]

Am I the only one who ran out of credits on DxDP?

DxDP require some strategic planning from ADR to which park you plan to visit. If you can plan accordingly, that eliminate a lot of running around.

On our last trip, not only we ran out of credit and we have to paid one breakfast OOP. We also used up all the snack credits as well. Next trip, we will be doing 11 days DxDP and we already have 26 ADRs. Credit is already running low. We might have to pay one meal OOP again.

 

[gtlemming]

I think the Deluxe would make the most sense on a trip with just adults.

 

[Reedi]

We have purchased the DDP for all of our trips and I have always known that we have saved money, but just last night actually calculated how much. First let me start off by saying that we thoroughly enjoy dining at Disney. We typically go during the "off-season" and look forward to relaxing at meals from all of our running around, so we do not view it as a waste of time. We actually plan which restaurants to book then work them into the park schedule.

On our trip in Feb, I decided to track all of our meal purchases on my iphone to see just how much of a difference it would make. This actually helped me to justify the continued purchase of the meal plans as well as to help plan out future dining plans to get even more bang for our buck. Even though we are DVC and are not restricted to the number of nights = number of DDP days to purchase rule, we still purchased 9 days worth. We really should have only purchased 8 because we arrived in the middle of the night and departed right after breakfast, but we were Disney food greedy.

All in all, we spent approximately $1,150.00 for the 4 of us for 9 days, tips included. Crazy, I know, but to us, that's what vacation is all about. However, if we were to pay OOP, the total bill would have been over $1,600.00. For a savings of over $450!

Yes, that is a budget buster for most people, and without the DDP, we would not have gone to as many TS meals, but then we would not have enjoyed our trip as much. To each his own. We are from New Orleans, so food is life, love and happiness for us.

Each person has to judge for themselves whether the plan is of value to them, but I can almost guarantee that it is a cost savings over OOP. We will definitely continue to buy the plan.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Here's a link to my "dining plan analysis" for our upcoming trip. Since we do a lot of table service dining, it is definitely worth it for us. And we found there's not much difference in cost between the Plus Dining Plan and the Deluxe Plan, so why not go deluxe?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2504955&highlight=analysis

 

[Cafeen]

I just recently priced it out and I cannot see how it is worth it. My husband is a chef and we LOVE to eat. So unless you plan on spending all your time running around and eating...it's just not worth the $$. If you want convinence...maybe...but to get you $$ value out of it, I can't see how. By may calculations it's better to do the regular plan and pay out of pocket for the extras. IMHO they really need a plan in between Regular and the Deluxe... like Regular +

In the end, it all comes down to how you dine. It's a strong value, but only if you allow it to be. If you aren't planning (or willing) to work the plan as intended, then it's not the best choice as you have discovered .

The key is to use the plan as designed and, in the case of DxDDP, plan to spend at least 2/3 of the credits at TS locations. Now, if the plan doesn't fit you, I wholeheartedly agree not to spend the extra money and/or time. As my mantra has been, "Pick a plan to fit your dining, don't fit your dining for a plan".

For myself, I plotted out where I want to go and what I wanted to eat (roughly, being super picky makes this easy for me though ). I recognized the time investment in each location, and decided that Deluxe for this trip would be best (after much much math and creating an "uber" spreadsheet to handle it all).. Of course, I'm going solo (well, half solo, half the trip my mom will be around), so that makes some considerations much easier. I'll be spending around $740 on the meals (including tip, snacks, and any planned OOP expenses), if I went with this plan, paying OOP I'd be spending just over $908. Of course, if I were paying OOP, I'd likely adjust what I ordered and where I went. That plan was down at $485 (cut out several TS restaurants, cut out apps and/or desserts at several places, picked cheaper restaurants and/or menu options, etc). I did figure that the extra $255 was worth it for the experiences though. (As I wanted to eat at those locations, not I picked the locations because I had the plan )

The DDP and DxDDP (along with QSDP) cover the bases pretty well. I'm guessing that Disney makes a little extra with the.. um, extras? for DDP people and isn't likely going to give that up. (Of course, who knows really ) There's a bit of wiggle room too with DxDDP where it sometimes is advantageous to use that even with planning on several left over credits.

To make a long post short (too late!), you can easily come out ahead on the DxDDP (even easier than on the DDP). But it does require a larger time, money, and pre-planning investment and is only sensible if you're planning to dine in that way in the first place.

Am I the only one who ran out of credits on DxDP?

DxDP require some strategic planning from ADR to which park you plan to visit. If you can plan accordingly, that eliminate a lot of running around.

On our last trip, not only we ran out of credit and we have to paid one breakfast OOP. We also used up all the snack credits as well. Next trip, we will be doing 11 days DxDP and we already have 26 ADRs. Credit is already running low. We might have to pay one meal OOP again.

I'm close as it is . Including a few CS meals, I'm pushing 22 credits used, on an 8 night trip (24 credits given). Of course, some of those CS are "if I'm hungry between the early breakfast and later dinner" types, and may not get spent.

 

[mep319]

Cafeen... I guess I didn't articulate my response very well. I can 'see' how it could be worth it but IMHO too much time would be spent running around and eating! lol! As I said, DH is a chef, we love to eat and are very adventurous eaters but we are on a WDW vacation. Once upon a time when disney started offering packages (2001ish I think) we did do a dining plan. At time there were not limitations on where to eat and apps & tips were included. I think the only thing excluded was V&As...we spent sooo much time running around eating it really took away from our vacation. So for our family who will probably buy an app at every dinner, will eat TS at every dinner, will probably buy an extra snack or two and probably a CS breakfast or 2...it isn't worth it.

 

[robinb]

I usually advise against the DxDDP because I feel it takes too much time out of touring and I would end up racing from one ADR to another. It's bad enough for me having one ADR per day, 2-3 would drive me crazy. But, given your parameters of all adults who want to try as many restaurants as possible I would say that the DxDDP is perfect for you .

 

[Coconuts]

If your party is all adults and no kids, and you love to eat (i.e. dining will be a big part of your touring), then a big yes to DxDP!

I'm jealous; I would love to try and sit at all the great WDW restaurants, but my kids wouldn't, so we just to the basic DDP.

 

[crissy1974]

We have done the DxDDP on all of our trips (with DD4). We make ADR's for breakfast and dinner and find a counter service for lunch when we are hungry. We usually save some credits to do 2 signature meals (this year CRT and Spirt of Aloha). My boyfriend loves to eat (one of the reasons why he loves going to Disney) and our DD4 loves character meals. It was a no brainer for us. Plus, it gives us a little R&R from the huslte and bustle of the parks.

We do end up having snack credits left over, but that is totally my fault. I try to save them in the beginning in fear that we will use them all up before the end of the trip. I have done that 2 years in a row. I will say........it is nice going to the airport with drinks and snacks. Plus, we usually bring home some rice krispie treats w/ left over snack credits. Last year we have 13 left and the year before we had 11. This year my goal is 5 or less. I need those treats on the bus ride to the airport!

Good luck! I think no matter which way you go it will be good.........you'll be at Disney!!!

 

[KathyK]

We just got home from 2 weeks of DxDDP, and I still have to put the numbers in from our last day's meals, but for our family, we saved about 41%. We normally eat at a lot of signature rest., and we like to take breaks from the park at TS restaurants ("Why yes, if you could refill my diet coke for me, that would be lovely."), so for our family, it is a good bargain.

 

[focusondisney]

Another "worth it" vote from me. DH & I have used Deluxe dining several times & really enjoy it. We are not big breakfast eaters, so using a snack credit for a pastry is enough for us in the morning.

We have a casual sit down lunch around noon. This is usually something like Sci Fi, Liberty Tree Tavern or Grand Floridian Cafe. We have found this doesn't take that much more time than waiting in a counter service line & then hunting for condiments & a place to sit. And get better variety with somebody waiting on us.


After lunch we swim &/ or nap, shower & go for a nice dinner at a signature restaurant. We enjoy appitizers more than dessert ,so that is a plus on the deluxe plan. We don't drink, so we don't have that added expense. We are able to have a few bites of dessert if we want without feeling like we are paying extra for it.

We are not park commandos, we go every year & it's just the 2 of us. Like others have said, dining & relaxing are a big part of our vacation. If we wanted to be on rides most of the day, this might not work. But for us right now, we enjoy it!

edit to add: I don't have the numbers right now, but I know we always come out ahead money wise on the deluxe dining plan.