Just Back from DxDP trip

[mcgraws]

We just returned from a 8 night stay on the Dxdp and here is what our overall thoughts were:

- we used all meal credits and all snack credits (2 snacks left over so we bought 2 bags of chips for the airport)

- meals overall were not as good as we remembered from 2006. I think that with the popularity of the dining plan now restaurants have slightly lower their standards.

- most meals had portions that were too large

- we were much happier having ts meals than cs meals and this was a major factor to our decision that dxdp was for us.

- we did all ts meals, not even one cs meal

- Main Street Bakery was our favorite snack place

- California Grill was our biggest disappointment. It was VERY loud and the food was not that great and the view of the fireworks was disappointing as well.

- Artist Point and Yachtsman's Steakhouse were the best meals.

- Le Cellier is still consistent and about the best 1 ts meal.

- Waits were not long for most locations, longest wait was 15 minutes at Chefs de Frances

- Tips were around $450-500 for the whole stay

- character interaction was great at all character meals although at Akershus the princesses were pretty quick with my DD's, I guess that's because they are teenagers and the CM's figured that they wouldn't mind.

- did character meals at Libery Tree, CRT, Chef Mickey's, Akershus, Tusker House, 1900 Park Fare, and saw Remy at Chefs de Frances

- overall we felt we more than got our money's worth out of the Dxdp by over $700 even considering we probably paid about $250 more in tips and we didn't eat a burger all week, although we did leave food on our plates most times.

 

[2Tiggies]

I am just so impressed that you managed to use all your credits. You did even better than some of us on the QSDP in that respect

Would you do Deluxe again? And how did you find doing the 3TS per day?

 

[mcgraws]

I definitely would use dxdp again, I think it works the best for our family. We never pressured ourselves to eat everything that was served but we certainly were never hungry either. For the most part we ate 2 full meals a day and filled in with snacks. My kids are older teens so we generally ate later in the evening after park closings and maybe a late breakfast that day as well. We only ate 3 meals in a day 2x. We had lots of great snacks from Main Street Bakery and other places to fill in the gaps. The only thing we probably didn't get our money's worth out of was the refillable mugs since we didn't like the coffee and we're all coffee drinkers, although we had a few teas and soft drinks a few times as well.

The last time we visited we had the regular dining plan (back when it included apps and tips) and we felt that we ate much healthier this time without the cs meals and choosing the sorbets, etc for desserts. I'm sure we weren't really ahead of the game having all that food but it was fun!

 

[2Tiggies]

The only thing we probably didn't get our money's worth out of was the refillable mugs since we didn't like the coffee

Oh that stuff? That watery icky stuff? That's not coffee. Sorry that no-one told you!

I'm sure we weren't really ahead of the game having all that food but it was fun!

See, now THAT is what vacation is all about. Good for you!

 

[hstrickland]

We love the Dxdp as well!!! We always use our TS without any problems....do a couple of signature meals and shows, so that uses up the credits. Like pp said, we never eat a burger on our trips....I'm a planner, so having everything laid out before we get there is a huge plus for our family. Another big perk is that the meals are already paid for...don't have to worry about paying there. Yes....like mcgraws said, you pay a little more for tips, but we still come out way ahead. I even priced out everything separately to see if it was worth it for our family....most definitely!!!

 

[thegib95]

Do you really have to order 4 appetizers and 4 deserts if there are 4 of you when you go to dinner?

 

[mcgraws]

you don't have to order everything, of course the waiters want you to so it pads their tip but one lunch both my DD's decided not to order dessert and one night they shared a cheese plate for an app.

 

[danielle.st]

Do you really have to order 4 appetizers and 4 deserts if there are 4 of you when you go to dinner?

Definitely not. When we went last time, my dh only ordered dessert once. I think he ordered an app twice. It was never an issue. After one meal (Mama Melrose) we were all too stuffed to even think about dessert and the waitress didn't bat an eye, she said hardly anyone can eat all of the food.

 

[vettegirl]

The only scaring my about the deluxe plans are the tips! I hope I can afford it

 

[bitohoney]

Yay I'm doing the dxdp for the 1st time because I love TS so much. It's a good rest to cool off. I have 3 ADRs everyday except for arrival day (only 1). We will do our 1 and only QS for lunch that day.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Thanks for the feedback, looking forward to our first DXDP meals next trip. The tips are a huge amount but at least we know other than water there shoud be no oop expenses.

 

[MrsLS]

I'm hoping there was more than 2 of you, those tips sound like a lot, I think ours were around $250-80 or so & we give 20% and don't use every credit but still save A LOT of $ since we like to do 1 TS for lunch & mostly signatures for dinner, some 1 TS for dinner.