May 2009 Deluxe Dining, COMPLETE with cost breakdowns

[heatherlynn444]

Thanks for the Y&Y review. We are planning to stop there for lunch one day on our trip later this month and I've been eyeballing the ahi tuna for an appetizer - it looks really good, as do the potstickers (and I don't even like potstickers!).

good luck, make sure you bring a jacket haha!

 

[freesone]

Hi Heatherlynn,

Excellent dining reviews as always!!!

Thanks to you we tried the WCC this past August with our niece and nephew and they had a blast!!! "Heada Lettuce" was our waitress and she kept the kids on their toes, asking why was there food left on the plates but they needed soda refills, and how could there food on their plates that they didn't order. My nephew started looking around to make sure she didn't see him take more cornbread(which was awesome by the way,as was the Skillet).

We also took them to Narcoossee's after going there last year on the advice of your reviews. Now it's there favorite also!!!

You are right, Disers should always say hello if they recognize you.

Keep up the great reviews

 

[KateB]

Love the review! We are going in December for our honeymoon and you went to many of the restaraunts that we are planning on eating at. Can't wait to read more!

 

[heatherlynn444]

Hi Heatherlynn,

Excellent dining reviews as always!!!

Thanks to you we tried the WCC this past August with our niece and nephew and they had a blast!!! "Heada Lettuce" was our waitress and she kept the kids on their toes, asking why was there food left on the plates but they needed soda refills, and how could there food on their plates that they didn't order. My nephew started looking around to make sure she didn't see him take more cornbread(which was awesome by the way,as was the Skillet).

We also took them to Narcoossee's after going there last year on the advice of your reviews. Now it's there favorite also!!!

You are right, Disers should always say hello if they recognize you.

Keep up the great reviews

so glad yall enjoyed WCC! hedda lettuce was great when we had her in January! and yay for recruiting more narcoossees fans! thanks for reading!

Love the review! We are going in December for our honeymoon and you went to many of the restaraunts that we are planning on eating at. Can't wait to read more!

congrats first of all!
hope you have a great time in disney, thanks for reading! i have other dining reviews if you look in my siggy!

 

[heatherlynn444]

June 1
Narcoossees dinner (again)

we were supposed to eat at yachtsman steakhouse, but we had been riding disney busses all day (DTD, etc.) and were so tired and didn't feel like going back that way and trying to get to the yacht club so we walked up to Narcoossees (they were full, couldnt get a reservation) and we got in.

we were so pathetic, almost falling asleep at the table and barely talking to eat other!

we ordered:
shrimp and crab cakes again for appetizers
steak for me lobster for bobby for entrees again
2 almond crusted cheesecakes for dessert
sprite and coke

grand total was $158.58
since we already ahd pics of all this food, this is the only one we took

our server was nice, we did not have a window seat which was a bummer but we were so tired we didnt feel like asking!
we ate and then left, nothing exciting. the food was excellent as always, service wasn't "disney" service but it wasn't bad. she did her job but wasn't personable, which we didn't mind that night haha!

still our favorite!
smiley men

 

[natalielongstaff]

Shame you were so tired

 

[heatherlynn444]

Shame you were so tired

i know! good trip but tiring!

 

[heatherlynn444]

June 2
1900 Park Fare breakfast

we wanted to do a fun character breakfast as a farewell, and since we were staying at the GF we wanted to go here so we wouldn't have to travel anywhere.

I was getting very sad at this point, so I was a little blah. DH was happy, since he loves buffets, and breakfast. Since I don't eat a lot of breakfast this meal was definately for him.

my plate

DH's plate (one of many)

food was ok, regular disney buffet food. DH stuffed himself, since it was his last disney meal until January, he was making it worthwhile!

we took some character pictures, sat for awhile (we had time till ME came) people watched, got some more food, etc. it was relaxing, but also sad. I couldn't help but think about people who just got to disneyt hat morning, or the night before, just starting their trip, and here I was leaving. boo!

buffet price: $20.99 x's 2 =$53.23 total.

a waste of money for me, i probably ate 4 dollars worth of food. But I think DH got his money's worth!
this place gets smiley men. I like dinner here better. We will probably go back next time we stay at the GF for convenience, but won't make a special trip for it.

 

[heatherlynn444]

WRAP UP AND COST BREAKDOWN

ok, so I took what we would have paid OOP for all meals and added them up (remember, we had 3 entitlements a day for 7 nights) this was the total:

$1533.91

the deluxe plan was $72 per day per person, so thats 144 a day for both of us, or $1008 total that was ACTUALLY PAID for food.

so, we already saved $525.91 and we havem't even added in snack credit totals! AND one of my TS meaks was a cheap CS meal, so we could have saved another 45 bucks or so if we wouldn't have missed our TS time due to a flight delay.

we had 2 snacks a day per person, times 7 nights so thats 28 total snacks
I did not save all my reciepts for this...let's just say approximately we spent 3 dollars per snack

thats $84 dollars in snacks (we used them all.)

so if we add that to the total it brings it to $1617.91

qw also got 2 refillable mugs with our plan that cost I THINK approx. 12 dollars? so thats another 24...so thats 1641.91 total for 3 TS meals a day, 2 snacks, and 2 mugs, for a total savings of $633.91

I don't know about you but thats a lot of money! so tack on the other 40-45 we would have spent at the TS place instead of CS thats close to 675 dollars saved!!!

did we order appetizers, entrees, and desserts everywhere, and a non alcoholic drink? yes. we got FULL use of this plan, and think we have it figured out pretty well...

eat either a late breakast or early lunch, snack in the afternoon and then dinner. we ate at 3 2 TS credit dinners and really enjoyed getting to eat at some nicer places.

now, notice i did not add tip in anywhere. we chosoe to tip a different percentage each time according to service, so I cannot give you an exact tip amount. if you want a rough estimate, take whatever % you tip and add it to the total. we like to take an envelope of cash and tip from there instead of adding it to our bill.

any questions? We really enjoyed eating in disney, as usual, and love the flexibility of the dining plan! I love not having to look at prices on my vacation!

thank you all for reading!!!

 

[cdotla]

Just realized I never read your final post and summary. Great job!

We are doing the DXDP in May and I have already calculated that we will save at least $600 for 2 Adults and 2 kids. And that is based on what we *would* have ordered if we were paying OOP and not on the dining plan. (For instance, we likely would not order appetizers and desserts at each and every meal).

Like you, we like to dine mostly at the 2 credit restaurants for dinner. While many people say it is not worth it to use 2 credits for a meal, I have done the math and it most certainly is! I actually just don't get it at all when people say it is not worth it. Maybe if you are looking to get the most possible meals from the plan, then yes it isn't worth it. But on a purely cost basis, 2 credits for many of the signature dining restaurants does in fact still save you money.

I also don't know why people think the DXDP is too much food. If you do any amount of signature dining, if anything you have to be frugile with your credits, and possibly even pay out of pocket unless you want to skip breakfast on those days. How is that too much food?

Admittedly we might not eat an appetizer and dessert with every meal, but when calculating the cost/benefit of the DXDP, I only calculated it based on buying appetizers and dessert for about 20% of our meals. And the dining plan is still cheaper than paying out of pocket!

I can't wait to see what we actually end up saving on the plan for our trip. I plan on keeping all the receipts as you have and will definitely report on it!

Have fun during the final countdown to your trip in January! You must also be looking forward to the upcoming school break. Every Summer and Christmas break I think about how nice it must be to work as a teacher! Unfortunately, I am in your husband's profession...we never slow down!

Looking forward to hearing about your January trip! Hopefully you will do another trip (and food) report!