Planning your eating around DxDDP

[Wendy5055]

We are probably one of the few on the delux that actually plans on 3 TS a day. We have a 2 yr old who has a hearty appetite and she couldnt get a meal plan because of her age. She is also used to a regular routine of 3 meals and 2 snacks a day and she always eats what we eat (not the typical kids meals).

I must also add that we are staying club level as well (so 3 days we have signature dining and will eat in the lounge for breakfast or pay OOP for a breakfast).

For us, we would prefer to have that hour in the AC to relax or go back to the resort for a nap. We also love good food and don't expect to eat everything we order. But between 3 of us we should make a good dent in it. We chose deluxe so that we could eat out at places we normally wouldnt at home, be able to order whatever we want and not have to worry about costs and be able to try new things. If you are the type of person who cannot stand to waste food though, this plan would not be for you.

We do the 3 meals per day too. My dd9 would not make it through the day otherwise. We eat the same way at home so we are used to it. We also enjoy the AC break from the heat.

 

[tzeitel]

I think I have been tipping for avreage service

A few years ago I found a small (wallet size) tipping chart that has saved my sanity - my math is horrible bordering on non existent . I did find this one that you can print and take with you

http://www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com/tipping-chart.html

Your ADRs look awesome! I am a huge soda drinker myself so I know what you mean about not expecting to have problems with leftover snacks - but last time we went to WDW we did the regular plan and I still had extra snack tickets. We got some snacks for DDs friends

 

[JacksMama]

There are some recommendations from around the boards that we not plan our days around eating, that's what we do at home so we'll be doing it on vacation, too.

We love food and we also are looking forward to sitting down and relaxing after all of that walking. Same as others mentioned in this thread, DS eats three squares a day and snacks so sitting down to eat is a necessity.

Right now we are eating three TS on three of our seven days. It seems to be a decent balance. Once we get there we'll see if we're in over our heads.

 

[tzeitel]

There are some recommendations from around the boards that we not plan our days around eating, that's what we do at home so we'll be doing it on vacation, too.

We love food and we also are looking forward to sitting down and relaxing after all of that walking. Same as others mentioned in this thread, DS eats three squares a day and snacks so sitting down to eat is a necessity.

Right now we are eating three TS on three of our seven days. It seems to be a decent balance. Once we get there we'll see if we're in over our heads.

I see how you don't want to plan your trip around meals but some really great restaurants get booked 6 months in advance with no chance of walk-ins. I see you will be staying at the Poly - did you book Ohana? That is a very popular place for breakfast and books very fast - it would just stink to stay at the Poly and not be able to get in their most popular restaurant

 

[JacksMama]

I see how you don't want to plan your trip around meals but some really great restaurants get booked 6 months in advance with no chance of walk-ins. I see you will be staying at the Poly - did you book Ohana? That is a very popular place for breakfast and books very fast - it would just stink to stay at the Poly and not be able to get in their most popular restaurant

Sorry I wasn't clear, I meant to say we plan our days around our meals at home, so we'll be doing it on vacation, too!

Here are our ADRs. Four out of 8 park days we have three TS. It seems like an okay ratio and of course after the 1st or 2nd day it seems to much, we can cancel the ressies we think we may not need.

Arrival Day: Artist Point @8:30PM
MK Day 1: CRT @8:10AM, LTT @1:00PM, HDDR @7:30PM
AK Day: Tusker House @8:10AM, Yak & Yeti @12:30PM, Jiko @7:10PM
Departure for cruise day: Whispering Canyon @8:10AM
Return from cruise
Epcot Day 1: Bkfst in Club lounge, Biergarten @12:45PM, Cali Grill @7:25PM
MK Day 2: Crystal Palace @8:10AM, 'Ohana @5:00 PM, MVMCP
DHS Day: Bkfst in Club lounge, 50's Prime Time 11:45AM, Brown Derby 5:00PM
Epcot Day 2: 'Ohana 8:10AM, Rose & Crown 1:00PM, Flying Fish 8:00PM
Epcot or MK last Day: Boma 8:10AM, Teppan Edo if Epcot @12:45PM, V&As Parent's night out

 

[forbinsgirl]

I love this thread. My family is making its first trip to WDW in November and we are doing DxDP where we essentilly have 4 out of 8 days with 3 TS planned. We have noticed a lot of advice about 3 TS in a day being too much food, taking too much time etc. So for the experienced DxDP, how long do you think most TS's take? We love to eat good food and we basically have early morning buffets scheduled most days to get us into the park early.

 

[seadd67]

Speaking of trying to booking adrs in advance,!. We are book for the 20th of Sept to the 27th, As of now its alomost all book for our trip,regarding trying to make adrs for our trip. I went and try to chnage some times,nope no can do's!. I am desspertly trying to book a ADR's for Donalds breakfast at the AK, after canceling our orignial ADR!. The whole seven days for all the Morining times of our trip.!. I can not belive how fast they fill, thank goodness i made the ADR's when I did. I think its almost a must, if you plan on doing ts with your family, to make adrs!. I know i always read reports about how they can just walk up to a TS and get seated, but I know for our Family, if we had our harts set on something it, and would not be able to get seated it would bum us out if we did not get In.

 

[tzeitel]

Sorry I wasn't clear, I meant to say we plan our days around our meals at home, so we'll be doing it on vacation, too!

Oops! sorry I misunderstood Booking ADRs is a pain but fun at the same time I can look at the menus and photos of food everyday!

 

[havoc315]

I love this thread. My family is making its first trip to WDW in November and we are doing DxDP where we essentilly have 4 out of 8 days with 3 TS planned. We have noticed a lot of advice about 3 TS in a day being too much food, taking too much time etc. So for the experienced DxDP, how long do you think most TS's take? We love to eat good food and we basically have early morning buffets scheduled most days to get us into the park early.

Buffets can be pretty quick, if you are willing to skip some of the character meetings. If you need to wait for every character, you are looking at a 1 hour minimum. Plus, it could take 10-20 minutes to get seated.

For regular TS, same 10-20 minutes to get seated. Followed by 60-90 minutes for the meal.

On days we did 3 meals, the first was a quick cs breakast at the resort. (20 minutes).

 

[AndreaDM]

We are excited to try deluxe for the first time in August, staying at AKL. Here's what our line up looks like for 2 adults and DD8:

Sunday (check in day)
Lunch - CS - 3 credits
Dinner - Boma - 3 credits

Monday (DHS)
Lunch - Sci-Fi - 3 credits
Dinner - Flying Fish - 6 credits

Tuesday (Epcot)
Lunch - Le Cellier - 3 credits
Dinner - San Angel - 3 credits

Wed. (AK)
Lunch - Yak & Yeti - 3 credits
Dinner - Jiko (just DH & I, DD will go to Simba's Cubhouse) 4 credits

Thur. (MK)
Lunch CRT - 6 credits
Dinner HDDR - 6 credits

Friday (check out day, flight at 5:45 pm)
Late Breakfast - 1900 Park Fare - 3 credits

This leaves us with 2 credits to split, probably CS breakfast one day and the 30 snacks should fill in anything else! We are not huge fans of buffets so we have only 2, DH especially likes to sit down and not have to get up again until we are finished. DD is a pretty adventurous eater so I thought we have quite a variety of cuisine. I think I'm as excited about our dining as going to the parks if not more!

 

[bricorssk]

Just DH and I are going to celerate his 40th! We are staying at AKL. and we will be there for food and wine, so I tried to space our meals pretty far apart, I cannot wait! Here are our DXD ADR


Arrival day (we arrive at 1:40)
shared lunch at Mara around 3:30ish (CS OOP)
California Grill 9:10

Day 2 (AK Day)
Yak and Yeti 12pm (I am iffy on this one, the CS last trip was horrible, hoping the restaurant is better or should I do Tusker House)
Narcoosee's 7:10 (MK fireworks are at 8, think we can see them?)

Day 3 (MK am, epcot pm)
Kona Cafe 8:15 am (OOP)
food and wine for snacks 3ish
Le Cellier 8:20

Day 4 (DHS)
Brown Derby 12:00
Sanaa 7:50 (love love loved Sanaa last time)

Day 5 (DH's Bday) (epcot and whatever we want)
Tepan Edo 12:00
food and wine for snacks
Jiko 8:00 (really enjoyed this last time)

Day 6 (epcot)
VIa Napoli 11:30
food and wine for snacks
Citricos 7:15

Departure day (plane at 6pm)
Boma 8:00am
Kona 1:00pm

 

[seadd67]

Buffets can be pretty quick, if you are willing to skip some of the character meetings. If you need to wait for every character, you are looking at a 1 hour minimum. Plus, it could take 10-20 minutes to get seated.

For regular TS, same 10-20 minutes to get seated. Followed by 60-90 minutes for the meal.

On days we did 3 meals, the first was a quick cs breakast at the resort. (20 minutes).

Wow was this your personal wait times?, if it was thats aufull. We have never waited more then 10 mins to be seated,and that was only at O'hanns. 60 to 90min to eat,I am so sorry you had to ever wait that long i would of got up and left,i might of eatten the pepper at starveing. Usually our typcial time to eat is 45 to hour at max. My DS could not wait through 90 min for a meal

 

[HoltDisney07]

We are also doing DXDP in August. There were just too many good restaurants that we wanted to try, so we booked more ADR's than we have credits for. We are planning on sharing most lunches to help compensate, not to mention 3 TS meals a day, would probably be a bit much.

My kids are used to eating late dinners and we will probably end up with afternoon breaks, so I am hoping our timing with our ADR's work. If not and we find that we can't keep up we will just cancel a few.


Day 1
O’hana 5:15pm

Day 2
Tusker’s 8:30am
Yak & Yeti 1:00pm
Sanaa 6:30pm

Day 3
Crystal Palace 8:20am
CRT 5:25pm
Wishes Dessert 9:00pm

Day 4
Hollywood & Vine 8:20am
Sci-Fi 12:40pm
Jiko 7:15pm

Day 5
Boma 8:15am
Teppan Edo 12:30pm
Biergarten 7:00pm

Day 6
1900 Park Fair 9:00am
T-Rex 1:30pm
Hoop Dee Doo 7:15 pm

Day 7
Chef Mickey’s 8:35am
50’s Prime Time 11:30pm
Hollywood & Vine & Fantasmic Dinner Show 4:55pm

Day 8
WCC 8:25am
Liberty Tree Tavern 1:35pm
Narcoossee’s 7:20pm

Day 9
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall 8:15am
San Angel Inn 12:50pm
Coral Reef 6:50pm

Day 10
Crystal Palace 8:10am
The Plaza 1:10pm
California Grill 7:30pm

Day 11
O’hana 8:30am

 

[seadd67]

We are also doing DXDP in August. There were just too many good restaurants that we wanted to try, so we booked more ADR's than we have credits for. We are planning on sharing most lunches to help compensate, not to mention 3 TS meals a day, would probably be a bit much.

My kids are used to eating late dinners and we will probably end up with afternoon breaks, so I am hoping our timing with our ADR's work. If not and we find that we can't keep up we will just cancel a few.


Day 1
O’hana 5:15pm

Day 2
Tusker’s 8:30am
Yak & Yeti 1:00pm
Sanaa 6:30pm

Day 3
Crystal Palace 8:20am
CRT 5:25pm
Wishes Dessert 9:00pm

Day 4
Hollywood & Vine 8:20am
Sci-Fi 12:40pm
Jiko 7:15pm

Day 5
Boma 8:15am
Teppan Edo 12:30pm
Biergarten 7:00pm

Day 6
1900 Park Fair 9:00am
T-Rex 1:30pm
Hoop Dee Doo 7:15 pm

Day 7
Chef Mickey’s 8:35am
50’s Prime Time 11:30pm
Hollywood & Vine & Fantasmic Dinner Show 4:55pm

Day 8
WCC 8:25am
Liberty Tree Tavern 1:35pm
Narcoossee’s 7:20pm

Day 9
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall 8:15am
San Angel Inn 12:50pm
Coral Reef 6:50pm

Day 10
Crystal Palace 8:10am
The Plaza 1:10pm
California Grill 7:30pm

Day 11
O’hana 8:30am

I love that I am not the only one planning three meals,this is such a reassureing site. T rex you paying OOP right?

 

[vllygrrl]

Here's our August plan. We're a group of 6, ranging in age from 65 to 7. We decided to do an even mix of fun meals for my son and nicer meals for the adults.

Arrival Day - Hoop Dee Doo 7:15pm

Saturday - Cinderella's Royal Table 8:10am
California Grill 5:50pm

Sunday - Sci Fi Dine In Theater 11:05am
Citricos 6:05pm

Monday - Biergarten 12:50pm
Flying Fish Cafe 7:30pm

Tuesday - Yak & Yeti 11:30am
Artist Point 6:15pm

Wednesday - 1900 Park Fare 8:10am
Narcoossee's 5:35pm

We use snack credits for breakfasts, and the occasional day when we have a long gap between meals.

 

[JenKatt]

Adding my two cents... we're frequent WDW'ers but usually do everything OOP, but our trip in October we are doing DxDDP because of a couple of things: 1. before we even decided to do the plan, I had booked mostly signature meals 2. I'll be 32 weeks pregnant. I don't want to eat alot of fast food, plus I'll love the air conditioning....
Having said that, I'm on the boat of not doing 3 TS meals a day. Been there, done that, and it lasted about 2 days before I literally made myself sick from all the food. We booked mostly early breakfasts and later dinners. In between will be snacks, QS or back to the villa...

Anyway here is our breakdown:
DAY 1: Dinner at California Grill with early lunch when we arrive at QS
DAY 2: Breakfast at Kona (lunch and dinner will only be 3 out of the 5 of us, my mom has to go back to Tampa for a work function) Dinner is a Tusker house for the 3 of us staying
DAY 3: Chef Mickey's for breakfast and Artist Point for dinner
DAY 4: Wave for breakfast and Citricos for dinner. There's a 12 hour gao between these two meals, so we'll be hitting QS for lunch.
DAY 5: we'll be leaving early afternoon to pick up the dogs before heading home, so a last meal at the Plaza Restaurant before heading out.

Right now we get 12 credits/pp and we're using 10 or 11/pp (DAY 2 break). I know for DH and my mom's boyfriend, the DxDDP is the way to go, they love appetizers and desert. We also have Tables in Wonderland to help with the alcohol bit (bummer, I won't be drinking!!!!)... and I doubt I have to worry about snack credits with F&W going on!

 

[HoltDisney07]

Yes we are paying oop for T-Rex. My boys are in that LOVE dinosaur phase so it was a must do.

I'm not so worried about all the food with 3TS a day, as we plan on sharing most lunches. I am just concerned with all the time it takes to do them. This is our second August trip so I know the breaks in the AC will really help, so I am hoping this makes the time worth it.

Last time we were only there 6 days and still spent about $600 oop for breakfasts and a dinner since we went to CRT for dinner one night. This time we have two additional kids now and we are going for 11 days. It was only about $900 to upgrade to DXDP from QSDP with free dinning, so this was a no brainer for us. Even with tips and alcohol I know we will come out ahead.

I love that I am not the only one planning three meals,this is such a reassureing site. T rex you paying OOP right?

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We are also on Deluxe dining for first time, are adrs are -
arrival dinner Artist Point

day2 breakfast Kouzzina
dinner California Grill

day3 breakfast Grand Floridian Cafe
dinner Narcoossee

day4 lunch Via Napoli
dinner Brown Derby

day5 breakfast Rainforest Animal Kingdom
dinner Citricos

day6 breakfast Boma
dinner Flying Fish Cafe

day7 departure Wolfgang Puck Cafe late lunch

we have never been to any of there restaruants and are sooo looking forwards to trying them, Deluxe dining gave us a good excuse!!

You do know that Rainforest Cafe is not on the dining plan, right? With your plan, you will have 1 credit leftover per person.

 

[Colleen27]

I think I've got our Nov plan pretty well set, finally! We're going to have one or two nights room-only before checking into our DxDDP package, depending on the dates of the Thanksgiving week blackout for any discounts, but based on last year's general public offer and the PIN that is circulating for this year it looks like it'll be just one.

Friday (OOP @ the Beach Club) -
Beaches & Cream lunch
Kimonos dinner

Saturday (I'll check in DxDDP while DH & the kids swim, not sure of second resort yet) -
ESPN Club or Hurricane Hanna's lunch
Captain's Grill dinner

Sunday -
12:10 50s Prime Time lunch
5:55 Flying Fish dinner

Monday -
11:45 Crystal Palace lunch
5:35 California Grill dinner

Tuesday -
11:45 Raglan Road lunch
5:35 Artist Point dinner

Wednesday -
12:30 Teppan Edo (going to try to get Le Cellier CP lunch when they're released)
7:45 La Hacienda

Thursday -
12:00 Yak & Yeti
5:40 Narcoosees

Friday -
11:40 Tony's
7:15 Citricos

Saturday -
Free day, no plans, ME pickup for flight home around 5. Kids pick the park, we'll see what's available last-minute for TS or just have CS.

That's 20 of 21 credits per person planned, with the last one most likely being used for sandwiches to take to the airport for dinner.

 

[disneybex]

We are on the DxDDP for 21 days - it is going to be tough!

Day 1
D: Turf Club

Day 2
B: Chef Mickey's
D: Narcoosee's

Day 3
L: Olivia's Cafe
D: Crystal Palace
MNSSHP

Day 4
D: Jiko

Day 5
Our Wedding!
L: Grand Floridian Cafe
D: Yachtsman's Steakhouse

Day 6
B: Cape May Cafe
L: Le Cellier
D: San Angel Inn

Day 7
B: Boma
L: Yak & Yeti
D: Kona Cafe

Day 8
B: The Wave
D: Flying Fish Cafe

Day 9
B: Crystal palace
L: Tony's Town Square
D: California Grill

Day 10
L: Brown Derby FANTASMIC
D: Ohana

Day 11
B: 1900 Park Fare
D: Sci-Fi Dine-in

Day 12
B: Tusker House
L: Whispering Canyon Cafe
D: Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show

Day 13
B: Akershus
L: Chef De France
D: Nine Dragons

Day 14
B: Ohana
D: Artist Point

Day 15
L: Mama Melrose
D: Garden Grill

Day 16
B: Cinderella's Royal Table
L: Liberty Tree Tavern
D: Cape May Cafe

Day 17
B: Chef Mickey's
L: Teppan Edo
D: La Hacienda de San Angel

Day 18
B: Tusker House
L: The Wave
D: Hoop Dee Do Dinner show

Day 19
L: Beaches & Cream
D: Cinderella's Royal Table
MVMCP

Day 20
B: Boma
L: Planet Hollywood
D: Citricos

Day 21
B: Cape May Cafe
L: Biergarten
D: Tutto Italia

Day 22
B: Crystal Palace
L: The Plaza