Is this completely crazy?

[ElsasFan]

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?

I replied down thread but just saw your question. Yes, 5 is manageable in POR. The only tea problem is the lack of storage space. There are three drawers under the Murphy, so I use one for each kid. I take one of those hanging sweater organizers for the closet and put my and DHs clothes in it. I think there are some great threads on the POR board with tips.

 

[have2getaway]

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!

Thanks so much for all your suggestions! I found this very helpful in adjusting my schedule.

 

[have2getaway]

Thank you all for the helpful feedback! We did decide to stay at Poly and with the Deluxe Dining Plan! But...We are canceling MANY reservations and limiting them as much as possible to one big meal a day (dinner). We are doing several signature restaurants, but again plan to try to limit these and pair them with QS meals or a very early buffet. In the end, we really wanted to be able to enjoy one nice meal a day, and still take the kids to some character meals. We may end up with leftover credits, but we decided we prefer that to having to pay out of pocket. We are also considering taking the kids to the Disney Club for one night to enjoy a meal out (at a signature restaurant) by ourselves. It is a big cost difference. We are almost always practical people, but, we had the extra money this year and wanted to do something special. We also really want the trip to be as convenient as possible.

Here's the revised schedule. My only concern is the Via Napoli's because of time, and HBD, but we are eating here the day we are at DHS and none of the other restaurants appealed to us. I have done Sci Fi and Hollywood Vine before and didn't care for either.

Sat: Narcoosees - 5:00 dinner
Sun: Crystal Palace - 8:00 breakfast
Artist Point - 5:30 dinner
Mon: CRT - 8:55 breakfast (only date and time available)
Via Napolis Pizza (6:40) May do order in pizza
Tues: BoG 11:10 (may just get a snack--only rez available)
Wave 5:00 dinner
Weds: HBD dinner 5:35
Thurs: O'hana 8:30 breakfast
Coral Reef Dinner 5:30
Fri: Wave Breakfast 8:00 am (may cancel/0
Cali Grille dinner 5:30
Sat: Cape May Cafe 8:00 breakfast

Is this better? Any other suggestions?

 

[JustMeFran]

We really like the Regular dining plan, and now with the changes for 2017 we will like it more!
1 table service, 1 quick service and TWO snacks.
We will do either a breakfast buffet or a sit down supper and then use the QS for breakfast or supper somewhere and use the TWO snack during the day to eat on the run. Even with that, we will still have days where we are in a food coma when our next meal comes along.
I cannot imagine eating a Table service 3x a day there!

 

[nursejackie]

My goodness that is a lot of food! Personally we couldn't eat 3 TS in one day, even on holiday. We have had a character breakfast and dinner in the same day but lunch would just be a healthy snack. Better bring trousers with an elasticated waist

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Even with your revised schedule it looks like you will be leaving some TS credits behind??? I know you can get QS meals but won't you be "losing" the value of the plan?

If I ever did the DXDP I would only do early breakfasts and signature dinners. I don't think it would work for us because I would miss out on some great 1TS restaurants and so many QS places I love.

 

[have2getaway]

Even with your revised schedule it looks like you will be leaving some TS credits behind??? I know you can get QS meals but won't you be "losing" the value of the plan?

If I ever did the DXDP I would only do early breakfasts and signature dinners. I don't think it would work for us because I would miss out on some great 1TS restaurants and so many QS places I love.

You are right, which is why I'm so torn. DH really wants Artist Point and I really want Cali Grille. We both wanted to take the kids to CRT, which didn't leave many credits left for dinner. By the time we added up paying for dinner for 5, we would be short 3 meals/dinners. It's possible we wouldn't spend $789 on 3 dinners, but we didn't want to chance it later.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So, since I am a HUGE supporter of the deluxe dining plan, I have taken the liberty of using your chosen venues and made a loose guestimate based upon two adults and three children each ordering their own meals at all meals. Not all the most expensive items (as we are inclined to do) since I do not know how you guys eat.

I am coming up with these numbers...

You have 7 nights.
You would then each have 21 meal "credits" to use.
You are accounting for 18 of those credits.
So you will each have 3 credits (15 total) left over or to share at counter service meals over the 8days that you could use to
hold you all over between meals or later night since you are eating early dinners.
I am estimating cost of DxDDP at about $2247.98.
I am guestimating your meals planned to come to an approximate total of $2090.00.
And your 5 refillable mugs at about $85.00.
And your 70 smacks at approximately $5.00 each = $350.00.
For a total spent (without the extra 15 credits) of approximately $2520.00.

Now if it were us, that total would be higher because for us, we would choose usually the most expensive items on the list (not intentionally just that when were are out at Disney, we order what we want and mom doesn't watch the price like I do when we are out at home).

I know it sounds like a lot of food. And it is compared to what most of us eat on a regular basis but a lot of the nicer meals are not huge portions. And no one said you have to eat it all.

Once you add in the extra 15 credits, you'll be well above what you paid for the DxDDP. Now, your TS (except Cinderella's) require a tip but I never count that in my "value"...but sometimes you can even break even.

Hope this helps!

 

[have2getaway]

So, since I am a HUGE supporter of the deluxe dining plan, I have taken the liberty of using your chosen venues and made a loose guestimate based upon two adults and three children each ordering their own meals at all meals. Not all the most expensive items (as we are inclined to do) since I do not know how you guys eat.

I am coming up with these numbers...

You have 7 nights.
You would then each have 21 meal "credits" to use.
You are accounting for 18 of those credits.
So you will each have 3 credits (15 total) left over or to share at counter service meals over the 8days that you could use to
hold you all over between meals or later night since you are eating early dinners.
I am estimating cost of DxDDP at about $2247.98.
I am guestimating your meals planned to come to an approximate total of $2090.00.
And your 5 refillable mugs at about $85.00.
And your 70 smacks at approximately $5.00 each = $350.00.
For a total spent (without the extra 15 credits) of approximately $2520.00.

Now if it were us, that total would be higher because for us, we would choose usually the most expensive items on the list (not intentionally just that when were are out at Disney, we order what we want and mom doesn't watch the price like I do when we are out at home).

I know it sounds like a lot of food. And it is compared to what most of us eat on a regular basis but a lot of the nicer meals are not huge portions. And no one said you have to eat it all.

Once you add in the extra 15 credits, you'll be well above what you paid for the DxDDP. Now, your TS (except Cinderella's) require a tip but I never count that in my "value"...but sometimes you can even break even.

Hope this helps!

Wow! It's clear you put a lot of time into providing this feedback so thank you very much. We kept trying to do the math in our heads and we're trying to weigh the pros and cons of the two plans and it just didn't seem for where we wanted to eat that we would come out ahead on the regular dining plan. Like you, we would probably order the more expensive items on the menu, especially if we knew it was paid for in advance. Thanks so much for the reassurance!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Nope...I've become quite a pro at maximizing the DxDDP! And sadly, I don't have anything of my own to plan right now, so it was nothing to do!

Glad to help!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

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.

Huge convenience of that monorail? Really? Have you seen how often it's either not working or out of commission.

The monorail is pretty unreliable. It's actually a liability IMHO as Disney will shove you on buses shared with 2 other resorts.

 

[ashers1119]

We use the regular DDP when we travel, eat breakfast in the room, and still feel like it's too much food! I didn't know until I read this thread that in 2017 we'll have 2 snack credits a day! I see use heading to Erin McKenna's to load up on GF treats.

 

[CraigInPA]

IMO, the only "winning" strategies for DxDDP are to eat a TS lunch and then a late signature dinner, or to load up on character meals. For DxDDP, you're looking at around $35 per table service credit per adult. It's not hard to spend that on lunch, a bit more difficult to spend it on signatures ($70 per person due to the signature being 2 credits), and virtually impossible to do for breakfast (unless it's a character breakfast, and then only just barely). You'll also need to use up all those snack credits (2 per day per person), which shouldn't be hard with 3 young boys. You'll also want to take the app, entree, and dessert at every table service meal. If you can't follow this plan, you are likely over-paying for meals. You'd save money by paying out of pocket.

 

[coup2516]

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.

Why not rent a car with some of the extra $2000? We usually rent a car when we're down there, and it makes park hopping so easy. Plus you can leave things in your car (mugs, sweatshirts, etc), so that you don't have to return to your hotel room.

Also, not sure how long the refurbishment is going on for, but I just read about the reduced monorail operating hours...getting around on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays now sounds particularly awful:

• Epcot Beam Overnight Closure: 11:00 PM Sundays - 9:00 AM Mondays,
  11:00 PM Mondays - 9:00 AM Tuesdays
  
  
• Express Beam Overnight Closures: 11:30 PM Sundays - 9:30 AM Mondays, 11:30 PM Mondays - 9:30 AM Tuesdays

• Monorail Shutdown: 11:30 AM - 6:00 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Starting 4/12/2016 on Thursdays

• Resort Beam Overnight Closures: 12:00 AM - 8:30 AM Mondays, 12:00 AM - 8:30 AM Tuesdays