Is the deluxe plan totally crazy

[Tiffylv]

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[Sharon526]

I think the one table service and one quick service would probably be sufficient. I was considering the three meals of your choice plan because we like the character meals. The sit down meals take a lot of time, so that's a lot of time wasted.

Question for others, I'm traveling with my 7 year old song and 2 1/2 year old daughter. She will be turning three during our trip. How does that work? Will she have to be added to the plan on the last two days of our trip?

Thanks!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Not if you plan it well. I do not think it is valuable for a small eater, unless the big eater is going to eat everything that the small eater is entitled to order, but wouldn't eat. As you noted, if your son will eat everything that you don't finish, then it might work, especially since he will be ordering children's menu meals which are small (kids under 10 on DDP must order from the children's menu). How do you feel about going to two or three restaurants per day instead of just one?

If a child turns three DURING the trip, they are considered 2 for the entire trip, so no DDP credits for the child and 2 year old rules apply.

 

[sharonabe]

MakiraMarlena makes a good point. Your son will have to order off the kid's menu. Have you looked at the kid's menus to see if that is the food he will enjoy? On the flip side, you could eat his kid's meals and he could eat your adult meals. Wouldn't that be fun?!

If you decide to do the DxDDP, I think I would stick with what many say is the best way to do it, and that is, plan a character breakfast or early lunch, then do signatures for dinner in the evening. You still get full value from the plan, but you don't eat quite as much. You will each have 2 snacks/per night to use if you get a little hungry between meals.

 

[mommyboys3]

The only reason I would do the deluxe plan if I were in your shoes would be if you knew you wanted to dine at several signatures. Otherwise I think you will end up spending a lot of money for deluxe & will waste a lot of food. The regular plan (1TS, 1QS & 1 snack per night) should be more than enough. I find most meals (both TS & QS) at Disney to be quite big (this is coming from a pretty big eater). If the kids meal is not enough for your son you will have plenty left from your meal to share with him. Now if money is no object, you don't mind wasting food, and you really want to be able to try many TS restaurants then go for it & enjoy. Also take into account that TS meals take time & your son may grow annoyed that much of his day is spent in restaurants rather than in the parks.

 

[Tiffylv]

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[MamaCrystal]

Since you're a small eater it won't be as much of a value to you as it is to others. That said, we LOVED having the deluxe plan on our trip. We felt like it encouraged us to eat at nicer and more diverse restaurants than we would have without it. We really enjoyed checking out many of the most desired restaurants both in the parks and resorts. Many of the sit-down restaurants are an enjoyable experience all their own, and a welcome break from park walking. Between 3 meals and 2 snacks, you definitely feel well-fed

 

[GillianP1301]

My son is the same age and we did our first trip with just him and I last summer and I did the deluxe dining and loved it. For me, the biggest incentive was knowing that I could have all our meals pre-booked and settled. My son is very routine driven and really has to stick to a 3 meals a day type scenario. Skipping meals leads to major mood changes, and not for the better. My experience with him, and I think this is common for most kids, is they don't overeat and stuff themselves at every meal, like adults tend to do, so it's not like he'd eat enough at breakfast to just last him all day, he still needed a lunch. We aren't clean your plate type people though, we eat until we're full and then that's it. So there were certainly many meals with food left on our plates.

I will definitely do it again for our upcoming trip and I will again have most meals with an ADR (tossing in a few QS this time around as well) and feel relaxed knowing I have a place to eat at the time I want and have the freedom to try a lot of different foods, including many appetizer, that I wouldn't necessarily do if I weren't on the plan. Added perk, we travel in August and having that ADR in a nice cooly air conditioned restaurant was a great way to build in breaks to our touring plan, so we killed two birds with one stone. Resting and eating.

 

[nkereina]

We're two adults with fairly large appetities, and we did not like the DxDP.

First, think of how you eat in "real life". There's no one I know in the real world that would go out to dinner with their child or spouse or whomever and EACH order an app, entree AND dessert. It's a very large amount of food and you DO pay for all of it. The dining plan isn't meant to be a discount (it can be depending on what you order, but thats a different discussion)... it's priced out to cover what you are receiving in credits, and if you're a small eater, you'll be paying for food that you won't be consuming. A real waste.

Aside from the amount of food, we did feel like we were constantly clock watching and running from one ADR to the next. Not accounting for the amount of food, we also scheduled our ADRs too close together. For instance, we had an 11:30 lunch ADR and a 6:30 dinner ADR. Sounds reasonable, about what times we'd eat at home. We ended up cancelling that 6:30 dinner ADR because we weren't hungry, and we didn't become hungry until closer to 9pm. Not something I could have anticipated when making the ADRs. And this was before the ADR cancellation policy was in effect, so we had this option to cancel same day. Now, we would have had to forfeit $10 each or force ourselves to go to an ADR and waste the credits picking at food.

I do the the DxDP is worth it in one situation - TS breakfast and a 2 TS signature dinner or dinner show each day.

 

[MomBird]

Something to consider is that NOT having the Deluxe Dining Plan doesn't prevent you from trying lots of foods. It's just a way of ensuring you don't feel guilty about doing so and have it pre-paid.

One thing to consider if you and your son both like lots of variety, I find some the of the most interesting things to be on the Appetizer menus! When my son was 7, he loved adult food too so I totally get where you're coming from with wanting to try lots of different places/lots of variety. I was so glad when he could finally order the adult dining plan because for him, it really was worth it! Since you're a light eater, though, it just might be that no dining plan at all would give you the flexibility you want. You could order 1 adult meal and 1 app plus one dessert for instance...

The Deluxe Dining Plan is not crazy, but it IS a lot of time spent in the restaurants and it does (in my experience) limit the # of apps you will order (bc they are not covered), and increases the # of desserts.

Happy vacationing!

EDIT: I didn't realize the deluxe dining plan covered apps. Hm'mmm. That makes me lean toward the DxDP! Thanks, OP, now I want to change my own dining plan lol!!

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Something to consider is that NOT having the Deluxe Dining Plan doesn't prevent you from trying lots of foods. It's just a way of ensuring you don't feel guilty about doing so and have it pre-paid.

One thing to consider if you and your son both like lots of variety, I find some the of the most interesting things to be on the Appetizer menus! When my son was 7, he loved adult food too so I totally get where you're coming from with wanting to try lots of different places/lots of variety. I was so glad when he could finally order the adult dining plan because for him, it really was worth it! Since you're a light eater, though, it just might be that no dining plan at all would give you the flexibility you want. You could order 1 adult meal and 1 app plus one dessert for instance...

The Deluxe Dining Plan is not crazy, but it IS a lot of time spent in the restaurants and it does (in my experience) limit the # of apps you will order (bc they are not covered), and increases the # of desserts.

Happy vacationing!

Exacta-mondo!

We did DxDDP when the kids were 12 and 15. They have always been bigger eaters (not gorging, but able to finish the full rack of ribs)...DxDDP was a lot of food. We boxed out many meals to our rooms. Took left over credits as sandwich meals on our drive home.

To this day, they say the best part was being able to choose what they wanted and always knowing there were credits.

Apps and desserts were what really grabbed our attention when we booked. We read through all the menus and chose sample meals. But, after a while, there were only so many cheesecake variations. The descriptions of some appetizers left us salivating, but the taste buds never recovered from the real thing.

All of my kids are experimental eaters. So, the kids' menu is a bust. Even the youngest one who loves his nuggets and fries..gets tired and wants to try other foods.

In order to satisfy both you and your son, I recommend the Gift Card way of dining. Put the amount you would pay for the DxDDP (and estimated gratuity) on a few Disney Gift Cards...then you are paid in full as if you had bought the plan. When you have completed your trip, you will more than likely have funds left over-use them on souvenirs. If you don't want to be tied down to all Disney Gift Cards, you can use the Visa prepays. I don't like them much because of the activation fees.

The other good thing about the Gift Card route is you can buy the specialty drinks (child or adult).

 

[Tiffylv]

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[sharonabe]

This way is my little man still tied it the kids menu? Or can he order whatever? This is something to think about. Thanks!

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions!

Without the dining plan, your little man can order whatever his little heart desires. He is NOT tied to the kid's meals.

 

[ibela]

I've run #s so many ways and basically, for ddp you're better off when doing fixed price meals and kids under 10. For deluxe it's a character breakfast and signature dining experience. There's a great spreadsheet which runs the numbers: www.distripplanner.com

If you think he'd love the dining experience and that's what he took away from the cruise, why not do it? We're dvc but have gone on some trips where we spent 1 day at parks and the rest by the pool, downtown disney, boardwalk in evening, mini golf etc. but still had dining plan with all our character meals, etc. Plan whichever trip works best for you guys. Enjoy!

 

[nco91590]

Planning on DxDDP for our 10year anniversary. DH and I consider ourselves more on the foodie side, so the signature restaurants really appeal to us. Our plan is to have a nice breakfast/brunch before the parks and a small snack in the afternoon, dinner at 7:30 at a signature.

It's not something we would do for every trip...but we're kinda treating ourselves

 

[Tiffylv]

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[lovewdwdvc]

Be sure to think about the time that it takes for all of those TS experiences. Is that how you wan t to spend your time?

 

[aaarcher86]

Be sure to think about the time that it takes for all of those TS experiences. Is that how you wan t to spend your time?

People say this all the time, and I don't get it. How long is is taking you to eat? Are you losing half a day eating or something?

 

[leebee]

People say this all the time, and I don't get it. How long is is taking you to eat? Are you losing half a day eating or something?

Well… we aren't "lingerers" but I bet we spend at least an hour at a TS meal at WDW, and that's without having to wait for a table to be available/ready. Character meal buffets take 60-90 minutes, and we've NEVER spent less than 2 to 2½ hours at a signature meal, so, breakfast at CM, lunch at LTT, dinner at Jiko could take 5 or 6 hours. Of course, there's no way we'd be able to eat that much food, so maybe it would take less time as we wouldn't actually have to eat!

OP, considering that you are a small eater and a dining plan will limit your son to the children's menus, I'd skip the dining plan altogether. It's not like the DDP is a discount plan (unless you plan carefully in advance), so it doesn't really save you money. If you are not tied to the dining plan structure, you'll be abel to order what you like, and only what you'll eat. You can even choose an appetizer for your entree, if that's what your appetite level calls for! If you like the "pre-paid" aspect, look at some menus for an idea of what you'd spend in each location and put that money on a Disney gift card. Make your ADRs, charge meals to your room, and pay it off each night. Heck, you could do that in cash, courtesy of the ATM machines in each resort (my bank doesn't charge an atm fee, so no worries there).

Given the eating habits you've described, and your son's love of meals and restaurants, I don't know that the DxDP will benefit your family at all.

 

[aaarcher86]

Well… we aren't "lingerers" but I bet we spend at least an hour at a TS meal at WDW, and that's without having to wait for a table to be available/ready. Character meal buffets take 60-90 minutes, and we've NEVER spent less than 2 to 2½ hours at a signature meal, so, breakfast at CM, lunch at LTT, dinner at Jiko could take 5 or 6 hours. Of course, there's no way we'd be able to eat that much food, so maybe it would take less time as we wouldn't actually have to eat! OP, considering that you are a small eater and a dining plan will limit your son to the children's menus, I'd skip the dining plan altogether. It's not like the DDP is a discount plan (unless you plan carefully in advance), so it doesn't really save you money. If you are not tied to the dining plan structure, you'll be abel to order what you like, and only what you'll eat. You can even choose an appetizer for your entree, if that's what your appetite level calls for! If you like the "pre-paid" aspect, look at some menus for an idea of what you'd spend in each location and put that money on a Disney gift card. Make your ADRs, charge meals to your room, and pay it off each night. Heck, you could do that in cash, courtesy of the ATM machines in each resort (my bank doesn't charge an atm fee, so no worries there). Given the eating habits you've described, and your son's love of meals and restaurants, I don't know that the DxDP will benefit your family at all.

I guess that's true. I haven't seen many people say they plan on eating 3 TS a day. Is dinner at Jiko regularly 5 hours?! I've never seen that reported, and it definitely wasn't our experience.

We definitely don't spend any more time eating and meeting characters than we would just waiting in individual lines to meet the same people. So it all balances out for is. Plus half of our breakfast is before the park opens most of the time and dinner is when we are done for the day so it's a nice relaxing finisher before we head back to the resort.