Is it worth upgrading to DxDP?

[Masonmj84]

Here is my current list of planned ADRs for our upcoming trip mid-December (8 nights):

Arrival day: 'Ohana (dinner)
Day 1: Chef Mickey's (breakfast); HBD (Fantasmic Dinner Package)
Day 2: 50's Prime Time (lunch); Yachtsman (dinner)
Day 3: CRT (breakfast); Artist Point (dinner)
Day 4: Tusker House (breakfast); Jiko (dinner)
Day 5: Le Cellier (lunch); Flying Fish (dinner)
Day 6: Crystal Palace (breakfast); Citricos (dinner)
Day 7: Cape May (breakfast); Cali Grill (dinner)
Departure day: Boma (breakfast)

Assuming I can get all my ADRs (I plan to be online at 6 am on my 180 day mark), paying $34/day per adult and $10/day per child to upgrade to DxDP from free dining (fingers crossed) is money well spent.

 

[nadira36]

Here is my current list of planned ADRs for our upcoming trip mid-December (8 nights):

Arrival day: 'Ohana (dinner)
Day 1: Chef Mickey's (breakfast); HBD (Fantasmic Dinner Package)
Day 2: 50's Prime Time (lunch); Yachtsman (dinner)
Day 3: CRT (breakfast); Artist Point (dinner)
Day 4: Tusker House (breakfast); Jiko (dinner)
Day 5: Le Cellier (lunch); Flying Fish (dinner)
Day 6: Crystal Palace (breakfast); Citricos (dinner)
Day 7: Cape May (breakfast); Cali Grill (dinner)
Departure day: Boma (breakfast)

Assuming I can get all my ADRs (I plan to be online at 6 am on my 180 day mark), paying $34/day per adult and $10/day per child to upgrade to DxDP from free dining (fingers crossed) is money well spent.

The specific restaurants are slightly different, but our meals look very similar to yours. Totally worth it!

 

[pmb0417]

We are staying onsite and decided to do the deluxe dining plan. After looking at all the menus, we decided it would be worth paying for the deluxe plan. Four years ago, when we last went, we stayed off site. We only ate about 3 or 4 meals at the park because we decided to save more money and eat off site and back at our condo. This time we decided to do the meal plan for several reasons, (1) we prepay for all our meals, (2) not worry about having to leave park to eat or worrying about the costs of food. We aren't ones to eat 3 meals a day, but we are also able to do 2 shows and 2 other signature meals and have meals every day we are at Disney at the parks.

 

[KimberlyE]

I can't speak for dining plans that are full price during the high season - I suspect that those conditions may alter my decision. We almost always go during the autumn and when FD is offered. We always upgrade to DxDP and it works for us both in trip satisfaction and financially. I won't bore you with our exact numbers but we review the menus for what we'd like and then add that cost up - compare that to our upgrade costs and it has never not been more savvy for us to go DxDP.

Some of the things that make it work for us are:
1. I don't generally like CS meals - I feel that they are too much like fast food and the cost for that fare gives me sticker shock. On vacation, I prefer to dine with a table service experience and I'm okay with paying more for it.

2. We don't lose any park/ride time but we go during the off season so I suspect that makes a huge difference for us. In fact, we love being able to take a break and enjoy a leisurely, relaxed meal. We find lingering over a meal inside actually recharges us for more park time! Never had an issue with losing out on a ride or a show. Again, I suspect that the time of year is a huge factor here. We also plan as many of our ADR's to coincide with the park that we are touring that day. We rarely have to leave the park and if we do, it's almost always for dinner after a full park day.

3. We really love character dining and plan one every single morning - always getting ADR's for BRD. We really like getting into the parks early and eating so very early means that we are ready for a meal at lunch.

4. Don't quite get the too much food issue. We super space out our meals - breakfast at 8 AM, lunch at 1 PM and dinner at the latest ADR available. We don't overload at character breakfast buffets because we know we have other meals later. We are starving by lunch from all that exertion! We also have a son who is a foodie at an early age and turns his nose up at the kiddie menu. We order him the most palatable item from the kiddie menu and then share bits of our meals with him. We each order a different appetizer and dessert and everyone takes bites of each others. It's a great way to try new foods without worry - if you don't like what you ordered, you aren't going to go hungry. Some trips we don't use all of our snack credits and cash them out at the end. Some trips the weather is so hot that we use the credits for drinks mostly.

One small note about a non-budegt difference between DDP and DxDP: I prefer DxDP because I enjoy the flexibility of choosing TS/CS, signature or not, appetizer and/or dessert selection and 2 snack credits. I don't always use them the same way but it's much more fun to make dining part of your park experience when you have DxDP; there's simply more unrestricted credits to play around with!

You have to plan what works for you and for that particular trip. I think factors are how hard you play during the day, amount of time spent between meals, time of year you visit and eating habits of your family all come to play.

One thing not mentioned enough is how your family views dining as part of your vacation. We enjoy eating out and feel it is part of the whole experience so we don't mind planning for it much as you plan to see a parade, show or special ride. It's part of the fun of Disney to us so we savor a leisurely meal in a unique environment. I know that not everyone feels that way - to some, dining on vacation is just fueling themselves for more Disney fun! They want a good quality meal that doesn't cost a fortune and gets them back in the park quickly. Nothing wrong with either approach - but it's something to consider when deciding on a DDP or a DxDP.

 

[smiths02]

I think it would be hard for the $34/night to not be worth it?

On your regular plan you were going to eat 1 CS and 1 TS per night anyway, right?

Well, couldn't you spend $34 just in converting that 1 CS to a TS AND the appetizers.

The break even for DxDP is more easily done than for DDP anyhow...you really don't have to eat 3 meals a day or even use all your credits to "break even" on DxDP...add that you are getting a huge discount on it and I wouldn't worry about "too much food." Just don't eat all the food offered Consider it as flexibility. You can share an app and share a dessert (that will help with making your tips less). You can try some 2 credit signature, CRT, dinner shows that are not a good value on DDP. You will have plenty if you arrive early on arrival day or depart late on departure day.

You have all those snack credits so you don't have to lug anything with you...get a bottle of water when you feel like it, etc.

 

[DIS Lifer]

We love the Dxdp. But it depends on your style of dining as to whether it would be worth it.

We like signature dining, so we usually use a snack credit for breakfast, do a sit down lunch and then a signature dinner each night which makes the dxdp perfect for us.

 

[EmALee]

We're actually paying for the DxDDP as FD hasn't been released for our dates. We did it a few months ago and barely made it worth the money. This next trip is our Disneymoon however so I'm actually doing 3 signature restaurants as these generally come out to $100 or more for my DH2B and I. We use our snack credits for breakfast sometimes, especially if we have an early lunch or feel like sleeping in. I think the DxDDP gives the option of eating pretty much wherever you want and whatever you want. If you have free dining and you're upgrading for $33/person/day...I think that's worth it. I mean, are 3 meals going to be less than $33/person? I also think it depends on if you booked your trip planning to pay for dining in the first place or only booked it based on the free dining. If you planned on paying for it anyway and now you have the base dining free...the $33/day will be a great price to eat at great restaurants. I'm wishing on a star for free dining during my trip That would be AWESOME!

Good luck on your decision!

 

[PaulaSB12]

I got free ddp and upgraded it to deluxe dining plan. For 14 nights so 42 meal credits and 28 snack credits disney food here I come.

 

[NHKristy76]

We were all excited about upgrading to the deluxe dining plan during our trip last fall. We made use of all of our credits and bought some snacks to pass on to others in an effort to spread some pixie dust.

With that said, we swore that we would NEVER do the deluxe dining plan again. We felt like we were always either running to the next restaurant or eating. I felt over-full at every turn and we were honestly just slowed down by the whole thing.

So, although we got out money's worth, I decided to put the money on a gift card for our next trip. We'll go with free dining, if it's offered, and use the extra on the gift card (what would equal the cost of upgrading to deluxe) and see how that works!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I think it would be hard for the $34/night to not be worth it?

On your regular plan you were going to eat 1 CS and 1 TS per night anyway, right?

Well, couldn't you spend $34 just in converting that 1 CS to a TS AND the appetizers.

The break even for DxDP is more easily done than for DDP anyhow...you really don't have to eat 3 meals a day or even use all your credits to "break even" on DxDP...add that you are getting a huge discount on it and I wouldn't worry about "too much food." Just don't eat all the food offered Consider it as flexibility. You can share an app and share a dessert (that will help with making your tips less). You can try some 2 credit signature, CRT, dinner shows that are not a good value on DDP. You will have plenty if you arrive early on arrival day or depart late on departure day.

You have all those snack credits so you don't have to lug anything with you...get a bottle of water when you feel like it, etc.

I'm sure most people consider this, but with that extra TS comes a tip. It's not merely paying $34 per day more. You have to pay a lot more in tips, unless you eat 1 TS & 2 CS meals a day. I doubt most people do that. Even if you eat a 1 TS lunch & a @ 2 TS dinner, your tips will add up quickly. We almost always eat at a non-signature restaurant for breakfast or lunch & a signature restaurant for dinner. Our tip total at the end of the trip is always a substantial sum of money.

 

[artemis908]

We are not going during free dining but after my husband and I talked it over, we are going with the deluxe plan. Reasons being...

1. The restaurants are my favorite part of the trip. I remember during my last trip I was with my mom, we were sitting at the Coral Reef and I was just SO excited. I was 23 years old and just so excited to be eating at Disney World!

2. I like to sample and I like appetizers. I miss that part of the old regular dining plan.

3. I haven't been to sit down restaurants like Sci-fi and Prime Time since the dining plan started because it's not worth what you pay for the plan. I feel like this way I can go to those restaurants and feel I am not wasting the money spent on the dining plan.

4. I don't particularly like the counter services, I get tired of french fries.

5. I've never been to a signature restaurant before. We are going to Disney for 9 days in February and my plan is to go to 5 signature restaurants along with our last day trying the room service.

 

[cuddleworthy]

It's been a while since I've been on but I just wanted to say thank you so much for everyone's input! You've all convinced me to go for it