Is this completely crazy?

[MagicalMawMaw]

We do the deluxe plan yearly. We do an early lunch & a later supper.
Only one day do we do 3 TS in a day. A very early lunch at 8 & we eat light, 12:30 lunch & a later like 7:30/8 for supper.
Your plan has some meals too close together. By time you are seated & eat you will have very little time till your next meal & you won't be hungry. Deluxe is great & we love it but you do need time between the meals for it to work.
I would with move the times farther apart or pick up a few signatures on some days.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I don't think the DxDP is good for kids, unless you don't care about getting your money's worth and are ok with using some of the credits on QS. We did it for our honeymoon and said never again. We lost so much time at TS meals and were stressed out trying to actually fit in rides between mealtimes and travel times to those meals. Your kids are going to get frustrated that their ride time is limited because they have to go sit in another restaurant again.

 

[Pumbaa_]

With the 2000you can save plus reduced tips if you add a signature out of pocket you are still way ahead.

 

[Cinderella94]

I would definitely do the POR option. We always end up being more than full every day with the regular dining plan.

 

[have2getaway]

I completely agree with what everyone is saying, and honestly am ok without deluxe. My biggest concern with downgrading is losing room space. Is 5 in a POR room really manageable?

 

[ChasingLeslie]

Definitely eliminate the lunches that force you to park hop!

I don't think there's anything wrong with two TS per day (sometimes we do PPO breakfast + a late lunch/early dinner), but IMO three ADRs - especially when it's killing your park time - is not very fun.

And yes, I would go the POR route and save the money!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

POR is absolutely manageable.

POR is a lovely resort with a good food court, good access to Disney Springs, multiple nice pools and a good bar.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We love, love, love the DxDDP...and we usually end up with 3 meals a day, sometimes 2.

We appreciate eating three good meals a day because we don't eat that way at home and it makes it a complete vacation for us.

Usually I try for an early breakfast, mid afternoon lunch and a late dinner.

We find most meals usually take us around an hour, give or take 15 minutes or so, unless we want them to me more leisurely. We've even had signatures not take much more than an hour.

It looks like you are eating dinner really early. I assume that is because your family calls it a night early? If not...

Using your chosen venues, I would probably plan like this...

Sat:
Narcoosees dinner 5 pm (this would be fine depending on what time you arrive and what plans for the day were...we love Narcoossees!)

Sun:
Crystal Palace breakfast 8:30 (earliest sitting)
Artist Point dinner 5:30 (assuming you're staying at MK all day, this would be fine but I might move it a little later unless you are planning to be back in MK for Wishes...then it's perfect!)

Mon:
CRT breakfast 8:55 (I wouldn't do Cindy's for breakfast but if I were going to, it would be the first sitting)
San Angel Inn lunch 12:30 (I would make this BOG at around between 2pm and 3pm, I'm also not a fan for lunch)
Chefs du France 5:30 (I would make this The Wave for around between 7pm and 8pm...we've never done the Wave for dinner)

Tues:
Akershus breakfast 8:15 (earliest sitting)
BoG lunch 11:15 (I would make this San Angel Inn around between 2pm - 3pm)
The Wave dinner 5:15 (I would make this Chefs de France around 7pm...which would put you out in enough time for Illuminations)

Weds:
Tusker House breakfast 8:20 (Earliest sitting)
Via Napoli's dinner 6:15 (I would move this a bit later because AK has a lot of small bite kinda things that can be purchased using your smack credits that are really good!)

Thurs:
O'Hana breakfast 8:30 (earliest sitting)
Garden Grille lunch 12:25 (I would move this one to around 2pm)
Coral Reef dinner 5:30 (I would move this one later around 7pm or 8pm)

Fri:
The Wave breakfast 8:00 (this seems perfect)
California Grille dinner 5:20 (compared to your breakfast time, this is fine depending on what your plans are for the day)

Sat:
Cape May Minnie's buffet breakfast 8:30 (this is perfect depending on your plans for the day or what time you leave)


We have done the DxDDP many times and love it. It's a lot of food and it's a lot of dining but we find we like it. It's settle down and regroup time. We did our first OOP trip in July (Report on the way) and found lines and ordering and finding clean tables etc...were all time consuming also. SO I really don't think we felt any more tied to time while eating. Our last DxDDP trip was two weeks over Christmas and New Years and I have finished most of my dining review with ADR times, arrival times, sitting times, and length of meal times for most of the venues. I have two adults a 17 year old boy and a 12 year old girl but we have been doing the DxDDP since they were both considered children (they are Disney Adults now). I will tell you that our July experimental OOP trip has led us to believe we'd rather DXDDP it in the future!

 

[Hikergirl]

Yes, its completely crazy LOL. I think the days you have 3 meals you aren't giving yourself enough time between them to be hungry for the next.

I can't speak for Poly because I don't really know how much space there is, but the 5 of us stay at BC and it is a bit cramped. 2 of my kids are adult sized though so that makes a difference. When they were younger we fit fine in a room at POR.

 

[Hopefully]

I too think it is crazy. I think with 7 yo triplets you will be fine at POR. We enjoy the basic DDP and recommend that.

 

[kittyab]

We just got back from our 3rd trip. We did mostly quick serve's. We don't regret it at all.

 

[FairyGodmotherPlanning]

Having done the Deluxe Dining Plan many times, you definitely spend a lot of time eating, but that is why we like it I'm also an appetizer person, so to the Deluxe works great for us.

We usually budget an hour of time for a table service restaurant and 90 minutes for signature restaurants. We've only gone over that a few times.

I think the biggest problem with your reservations is they are not all grouped by park/area and you will spend more time in transit to your ADRs than you will eating. Personally, we like to pick a park for the day and stay there or within the resorts in the immediate area to reduce time in transit.

How close are you to your trip? Do you have time to re-work a few things?

If you're concerned about being too full or spending too much time, you might try to do a Signature dinner and a table service breakfast or lunch. Use your snack credits for the other meal to lighten things up and save on time.

 

[Mousetopia]

I looked into downgrading and there is no price difference staying at our current resort, which is the Polynesian, but...if we moved to POR, the cost is $2,000 less, and we pick up 2 additional days to the park. We would then have regular dining plan. We would have to give up some signature restaraunts and the huge convenience of the monorail so on the fence with what to do. I know what DH would want me to do.

We had a similar schedule of eating last trip and it sounded awesome and was wayyyyy too much food...and we are big eaters! By end of trip we were cancelling reservations and feeling stuffed. I missed one I really wanted to do because we couldn't roll ourselves in for it. I would certainly not book all you can eat or buffet options twice in one day. Too much. ! With a bit of research you can find many fab counter service choices. I would suggest one table service per day and counter for the rest unless you have a special breakfast maybe a day or two. A mid day table service is a GREAT break from the parks. Most benefit from one.. have your lighter eating at dinner..

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

We are big eaters, but after our first DxDDP trip, we recognized that if we did DxDDP again, we would need to approach it differently. We eat 3 meals a day at home all the time, but not with two of those meals having an appetizer and dessert per person (we would order one appetizer and/or one dessert to all share). Our strategy after the first time was to do a breakfast or early lunch each day along with a late dinner. If we get hungry in the afternoon, we find a great snack. This means you need to take advantage of more 2 credit meals to get the most our of your credits.

We also plan around the park of the day - so, if we are in MK, our restaurant choices would be our resort, MK, or the monorail loop. DHS would be DHS or the Epcot resorts. Epcot would be Epcot, Epcot resorts, or monorail loop. AK is pretty much just the park. We don't mind leaving the park, but we don't want to go too far. If you are changing parks for the evening, that opens up more options.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer - we love doing the DxDDP, but we learned the hard way that it is a different kind of planning. Also, for the record, we love staying on the monorail loop, even if the monorails aren't always running. The travel between locations is just easier based on proximity, and it is such fun to stand around at your hotel and see the Magic Kingdom. You won't regret POR either though - we stayed there on one of my favorite trips. Our goal is to have a different experience each trip, and we've had a great time in all tier hotels.

 

[rg35]

We always have a sit down lunch and dinner at the parks. We find it to be a nice break in the day. We also visit each year, so our park touring isn't frenzied in a way that someone's might be if they need to see as much as they can because it's their only visit. We also stopped doing park hoppers two trips ago, so our lunch and dinner is in the same park.

We are DVC members so we eat breakfast in the room (cereal, frozen waffles, toast), except for our non park days where we usually go to a breakfast buffet (Boma, Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park Fare). We stay in a 1BR, but even with a studio, you don't really need a full kitchen for breakfast unless your family needs to eat eggs or pancakes every day.

 

[Barbruka]

You have a lot of signature restaurants. I would think twice about them with 7 year old triplets! I think they might enjoy character meals and themed restaurants more.

 

[Lisa F]

I am doing DxDDP in December but I am doing it as part of a split stay so I am using 4 nights worth of credits over 5 full days.

The DxDDP is a GREAT deal for kiddos and you're doing a bunch of character meals. I think the biggest issues are on your 3 meal days. perhaps swap out the wave for HDDR - its a great show, good food and your kids would love it... and if you MUST see BoG for lunch use snack credits to order some soups and cupcakes but not a full meal.

but honestly it seems like you are trying too hard to fit it all in. I think you need to start with the list of where you'd like to eat and see which plan fits it the best. JMHO.

 

[have2getaway]

We did just discover that we can downgrade to the regular dining plan, which we may do and add park tickets for 2 days instead. With our current park tickets we weren't going to go to the park the first day we arrive, but we're arriving quite early and I don't see the boys not wanting to go to the park on the day we arrive, especially since were staying at the Poly. We also weren't originally going to go to the park on the day we leave, and we leave late in the day. But...if we downgrade, we would have to cancel some of our signature meals which one(s) of the following should we eliminate:

Cali Grille
Artist Point
Narcoosees
CRT (our boys love the princesses)

What should we do--keep deluxe or downgrade? Or, downgrade and have kids go to Disney club one or 2 nights? We honestly don't see them wanting to sit through this many meals, and I'm trying to be realistic. I appreciate everyone's honesty. I was really trying to cram every dining experience into this trip, and it's just not possible. That said, will we regret not having the deluxe plan for signatures?

 

[North of Mouse]

I started out making reservations in an effort to save time, but now I'm worried our whole day will be spent eating, but I know you often have to wait for QS anyway. I also forgot to factor in tipping and realized that we could be spending as much as $500 in tips. We aren't crazy about QS, although our kids are, but it almost feels like with what we are spending on food and tips, we could have just rented a studio and ate in, but...this would have meant more work. We are staying at the Poly, and are on DXDDP with a huge discount so I think the cost, even with tips, outweighs the cost of a studio or villa. Does anyone else second guess themselves like this? Should I schedule earlier breakfasts or less lunches? Our boys eat frequently during the day so I don't think we can skip meals. Here are my current reservations for a Jan. trip, which have changed numerous times. It will be me, DH, and our 3 youngest boys--triplets age 7:

Sat:
Narcoosees dinner 5 pm

Sun:
Crystal Palace breakfast 8:30
Artist Point dinner 5:30

Mon:
CRT breakfast 8:55
San Angel Inn lunch 12:30
Chefs du France 5:30

Tues:
Akershus breakfast 8:15
BoG lunch 11:15
The Wave dinner 5:15

Weds:
Tusker House breakfast 8:20
Via Napoli's dinner 6:15

Thurs:
O'Hana breakfast 8:30
Garden Grille lunch 12:25
Coral Reef dinner 5:30

Fri:
The Wave breakfast 8:00
California Grille dinner 5:20

Sat:
Cape May Minnie's buffet breakfast 8:30

Leave Disney

I was also considering Sanaa, but feel like I can't squeeze in anymore. Just wondering if I have the right combination of buffets, meals, types, times, etc? What would you change if you were me?

Yes, IMO, that is just what you will be doing! Not to mention, if you actually 'eat' all that food! We could never schedule that many ressies, eat that much, then have the time and effort to enjoy the parks too. JMO

 

[ElsasFan]

I would switch to POR in a heartbeat, if it meant saving $2000 AND adding on park days.

We have taken two family trips to WDW. The first time we had the regular dining plan. The second time we decided to make a few ADRs and do quick service for the rest. We enjoyed the flexibility of not having to stop whatever we were doing to make a reservation, plus we were able to eat some snacks that we just weren't hungry for on our first trip.

I can only speak for my family, but if we had a schedule like the one you described, my kids would be complaining that they want to ride rides, and that "we always have to go somewhere to eat." I think there would be a lot of stress because of all of the reservations.

Btw, I would love to stay at the Poly someday, but my kids do love POR. They think the Murphy bed is really cool, and we had a great time at the pool, too. And I find the beds very comfy.

Good luck with whatever you decide.