Is the deluxe plan totally crazy

[leebee]

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.

We were at dinner at Jiko for over 2 hours, and that was after a 45 minute wait for our ADR when the restaurant wasn't particularly full (there was an issue with the person doing the seatings… manager came out to take over, it's not normally that way, we were told).

My point was only that with the DxDP you can do 3 sit-down meals, so that's where the complaint about "too much time" comes from. To me that's too much time for us to spend in restaurants, to say nothing about being too much food! Regarding the character meals, I think we save time doing a character meal over waiting in the individual character lines. We have to eat anyhow, so it's like doing double duty, time wise, and I KNOW that my feet and body are happier sitting down in the a/c during this time than standing out in the summer heat!

Usually we (DD21 and I) either eat in the room while dressing to go to the parks (bagels, yogurt, fruit, cereal, coffee- depends on location) or share a QS breakfast (BIG platters) if we are having a more casual morning. We will either share a QS lunch in the parks or graze, depending on dinner plans. We do like to have a TS meal daily. We need/like the hour or so of sitting down in the a/c, relaxing, to recharge our batteries and head back out into the park. IF we are doing a signature meal, we usually plan that for later in the evening, after the parks (or park of the day, as we don't hop) have closed, so we can linger and enjoy. At that point, time doesn't matter!

 

[smiths02]

You can put the money on a Disney gift card and have it paid for ahead of time. I can't see anyway that someone who eats so little would see value from DxDP (unless it is discounted).
You don't need a dining plan to make ADRs and order what you want.

 

[aaarcher86]

We were at dinner at Jiko for over 2 hours, and that was after a 45 minute wait for our ADR when the restaurant wasn't particularly full (there was an issue with the person doing the seatings… manager came out to take over, it's not normally that way, we were told). My point was only that with the DxDP you can do 3 sit-down meals, so that's where the complaint about "too much time" comes from. To me that's too much time for us to spend in restaurants, to say nothing about being too much food! Regarding the character meals, I think we save time doing a character meal over waiting in the individual character lines. We have to eat anyhow, so it's like doing double duty, time wise, and I KNOW that my feet and body are happier sitting down in the a/c during this time than standing out in the summer heat! Usually we (DD21 and I) either eat in the room while dressing to go to the parks (bagels, yogurt, fruit, cereal, coffee- depends on location) or share a QS breakfast (BIG platters) if we are having a more casual morning. We will either share a QS lunch in the parks or graze, depending on dinner plans. We do like to have a TS meal daily. We need/like the hour or so of sitting down in the a/c, relaxing, to recharge our batteries and head back out into the park. IF we are doing a signature meal, we usually plan that for later in the evening, after the parks (or park of the day, as we don't hop) have closed, so we can linger and enjoy. At that point, time doesn't matter!

No, I know you CAN, but if that's not what people DO then it doesn't matter as much. Just from to forums, I think most people do 2 meals a day. Like I said, we eat 3x a day with the DXDP and don't waste a bunch of park time doing it. Where did the 5-6 hours for Jiko come in if your reservation took 3? Stuff like "too. I h time" and "too much food" feel more like blanket statements too me unless it's applied to a personal situation. Could it be too much time? Sure. Will it? Depends on the people.

Not saying it's the set choice for the OP by any means, or obviously any particular group.

 

[leebee]

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.

No, I know you CAN, but if that's not what people DO then it doesn't matter as much. Just from to forums, I think most people do 2 meals a day. Like I said, we eat 3x a day with the DXDP and don't waste a bunch of park time doing it. Where did the 5-6 hours for Jiko come in if your reservation took 3?

Not saying it's the set choice for the OP by any means, or obviously any particular group.

I quoted myself here in answer. NOW I see what you were asking. I didn't mean dinner at Jiko took 5 hours, I meant if you added up the time for three table service meals, it could easily take 5 hours out of your day.

Somewhat We have friends who do 3 sit-down meals on the DxDP, by the way. Breakfast is usually table service at a resort, lunch is sit-down in a park, dinner is also TS, either at Epcot or a resort. They LOVE to eat and spend a LOT of their Disney time doing so. Our (mutual) neighbors took their advice, booked DxDP, planned ADRs for every meal. I got a message from the mom after two days, saying they were spending all their time eating- or not eating- and missing out on park time. She didn't know what to do, thought she was locked into the ADRs, etc. I suggested she change their ADRs to a buffet/character meal for breakfast and then signature for dinner, if possible (it was late Jan/early Feb so I thought they might be able to do this). That way they at least got some value out of the DxDP without feeling like they were doing nothing but eating! I don't remember how they actually changed things but I know she made adjustments to the eating schedule and was MUCH happier!

 

[davedmaine]

You're pretty much a slave to your reservations on that plan. If you're not in a restaurant, you're traveling to your next. Fine if you don't have kids, I guess, and don't mind not being in the parks much.

 

[aaarcher86]

I quoted myself here in answer. NOW I see what you were asking. I didn't mean dinner at Jiko took 5 hours, I meant if you added up the time for three table service meals, it could easily take 5 hours out of your day. Somewhat We have friends who do 3 sit-down meals on the DxDP, by the way. Breakfast is usually table service at a resort, lunch is sit-down in a park, dinner is also TS, either at Epcot or a resort. They LOVE to eat and spend a LOT of their Disney time doing so. Our (mutual) neighbors took their advice, booked DxDP, planned ADRs for every meal. I got a message from the mom after two days, saying they were spending all their time eating- or not eating- and missing out on park time. She didn't know what to do, thought she was locked into the ADRs, etc. I suggested she change their ADRs to a buffet/character meal for breakfast and then signature for dinner, if possible (it was late Jan/early Feb so I thought they might be able to do this). That way they at least got some value out of the DxDP without feeling like they were doing nothing but eating! I don't remember how they actually changed things but I know she made adjustments to the eating schedule and was MUCH happier!

That makes more sense lmao. I was like, who the heck would eat there if it took that long?!

 

[aaarcher86]

You're pretty much a slave to your reservations on that plan. If you're not in a restaurant, you're traveling to your next. Fine if you don't have kids, I guess, and don't mind not being in the parks much.

Hardly