**Please help- Trying to decide between DDP and Deluxe DDP

[Shannone1]

We are a family of 5 (kids will be 14,12 and 7). The two older girls each like adults. We normally eat 3 meals a day, although breakfast is usually something light.

We are camping at Fort Wilderness and spending most days at parks or out having fun. We don't want to go all the way back to the motorhome to make meals.

Last spring we were there and did the DDP and it worked out well. We had breakfast in the motorhome, did CS for lunch and had ADR's for TS for dinner. We only did one signature meal as we are not fancy eaters. For my gang, buffet's or classic American meals are the best choices. We don't like most of the CS choices...not into burgers and fries and we didn't like having to wait in long lines to order food and then try to find a table to sit at. And then rush through the meal because I was feeling guilty about all the other people looking for seats !!

Now I am trying to decide which plan to choose for our next trip. 12 days over the Christmas holiday. I know we will need ADR's for our TS meals...even if we were to pay OOP. We could go with the basic plan again, but I hate the thought of 12 days of crowded counter service meals. I love the idea of having a table waiting for me and being able to take a break from the crowds for a little while. And it would be nice to enjoy breakfast at the Trail's End onsite sometimes.

Deluxe IS a lot of food, but it's not like we have to eat an appt and dessert with every meal. We would probably choose our daily snacks (we would have 10 snacks per day for our family) that we could bring back to the motorhome and have on the way back home to Michigan. I almost fainted though when I added up just how much the deluxe would cost my family of 4 adults-1 child for 12 nights.

We only get to WDW every 2-3 years and we want it to be the best trip possible. Any feedback, opinions, or thoughts would be appreciated !!

 

[Superspectral]

I have booked the deluxe dining plan for a trip in late February. At first I had booked the regular dining plan, but switched when I started booking ADR's and I thought about exactly how many meals my family would eat over my length of stay. I planned 9 days and 8 nights. The way my flights are booked I figured I'd have 24 meals at Disney over those days in Disney (this is what my family would eat regardless whether I payed out of pocket or bot the plan). I estimated that my total food expense (whether I chose the deluxe w/minimal out of pocket or standard plan + more out of pocket) would be close with either plan. It occured to me then that the deluxe plan offered some real flexibility because of the subtle differences. I could buy the deluxe plan for the same money as I planned for the dining plan + out of pocked, + get some real benefits.

1) All meals are meal credits (MCs) - there is no seperate TS and CS pool to get out of synch. You can get a lot more flexibility at the parks this way to change your plans. You can change your plans (say you miss your TS ADR) and eat CS with no extra out of pocket expense - and not risk having extra TS credits left over.

2) The breakeven point that I estimated (vs regular DP) is that about half of your MCs should be used for TS, or 2 credit signature dining, dinner shows, or pizza. Unlike the regular dining plan you don't really loose any value for 2 credit choices - because it is highly unlikely you'd actually want to spend _every_ MC on TS. Why not use a few on 2 credit choices? You don't actually have to eat more than one TS meal every day of your trip that way, and you'd still get value on the deluxe plan.

3) Again flexibility - you can book more than the breakeven number of MC's on TS, or 2 credit signature dining and dinner shows by ADR, and then change your plans at the park to CS a few times without worrying that you are losing value.

4) The 3 arrival night MCs are more easily spread to departure day TS or CS, or they can be used before departure day on 2 credit alternatives.

5) I like to drink a soda with my popcorn, and would tend to use 2 snack credits a day anyway. I also could use the snack credits to pay for snacks for my 2 year old. On the deluxe plan, there is no need to worry about which snacks to pay out of pocket, and which to buy (and then accidentlly end up with extra snack credits because you paid or too many early) -- just use them as soon as you want.

6)I've always bought the resort mugs anyway - you get them free with the deluxe plan. They can give you a drink in the AM, if you actually plan to pay for a few breakfasts out of pocket (you still might, if you do 2 credit meals - which are better value than a CS breakfast).

7) Each park has one character meal that accepts ADR's about an _hour before park opening_. You can be launched into the thick of things right at park open (if you don't want to bother with the characters) or shortly thereafter. You can do this every day on the deluxe plan.

8) If you do plan to do TS at least once per day, then both plans will save more money for a 3-9 year old than it will for an adult - so the more 3-9 year olds an character meals you have per adult - the better the value. The deluxe plan is an even better value for 3-9 year olds than the regular plan. A family of 6, with 4 3-9 year olds, or a single parentwith 3 3-9 year olds, could save quite a bit on character meals.

9) Reasons 1-8 become even more valuable on shorter trips proportionally speaking(making the deluxe plan an even more attractive option). This doesn’t mean that the deluxe plan won’t be a good value for longer trips.

10) While we are not going at such a time, Disney has been adding “holiday surcharges” to most buffet meals at certain times of the year. Both Dining plans avoid the surchages. If you plan at eating at more than one TS a day, including a buffet, the Deluxe plan will avoid the extra out of pocket expense at the buffet (using a meal credit at a buffet is often less a value than a non-buffet, but with the Deluxe plan this doesn’t matter since you have many more credits).

 

[Tricia1972]

One thing to consider when changing your usual CS meals to TS meals is that you are adding on a lot of additional time. For every CS meal that takes half an hour to 45 minutes, you are looking at 1-2 hours for a TS (plus add transportation time to the restaurant and waiting for your name to be called once you get there.)

I think that for you, DxDDP may work. One thing to be mindful of would be knowing which park you'll be in which day prior to making your ADR's and I'd suggest trying to get your breakfast and lunch ADR's in that park (cutting down on travel time for you, leaving you with just the time it will take to eat the meal)

Good luck deciding!

 

[blondinkaya]

I started my ressies with the DDP but upgraded to the DxPP. We're normally 3 meal/day eaters, and I didn't want to have to deal w/paying oop for meals (why have a meal plan if it doesn't cover all of the meals?).

My family consists of myself, dh, ds (he'll be 13 at the time of the trip), and second ds (who will be 5). I have no qualms about my oldest being on the dining plan. He outeats both dh and I and is not a picky eater (typical teen, right?). My youngest polishes off his dinner plates as well. I honestly don't know where those calories go on my boys--they're both tall but thin.

To me, it's as much a convenience thing as having the opportunity of doing Hoop de Doo (we'd never go if we had to pay oop right then and there) or some of the nicer restaurants. Like I said, I compared the regular and deluxe plans, and it looks like the DxDP will suit us better. Those mugs won't hurt to have, either!

 

[Shannone1]

One thing to consider when changing your usual CS meals to TS meals is that you are adding on a lot of additional time. For every CS meal that takes half an hour to 45 minutes, you are looking at 1-2 hours for a TS (plus add transportation time to the restaurant and waiting for your name to be called once you get there.)

That was one of my concerns...how much time will we be spending eating. We probably won't do any signature meals (other than maybe the HDDR at FW on one of our non park days). We did a lot of buffets last time and it didn't seem like it took THAT long. I am planning to spend 6-7 days at the parks and the other days hanging out at Fort Wilderness and checking out the decorations at some of the other resorts and we can plan meals around those. I am waiting for the EMH for December/January to be released so I can make my ADR's and figure out what days to do which parks. Ideally I'd space the parks out every other day.

We are traveling with 2 dogs so our plan is to hit the parks in the AM and grab our fast passes for later afternoon/evening for the big attactions. We will hang out at the park and do some attractions and have our lunch. Then head back to the campground for a couple of hours to take the dogs out and hang out a little. Then we will go back to the park for the attractions we have FP's for, dinner and probably close out the park.

MK is the easiest park for us because it is just a boat ride from the campground. We will probably do 2 days at MK, 2 days at Epcot and 1 day at AK and HS.

1) All meals are meal credits (MCs) - there is no seperate TS and CS pool to get out of synch. You can get a lot more flexibility at the parks this way to change your plans. You can change your plans (say you miss your TS ADR) and eat CS with no extra out of pocket expense - and not risk having extra TS credits left over.

10) While we are not going at such a time, Disney has been adding “holiday surcharges” to most buffet meals at certain times of the year. Both Dining plans avoid the surchages. If you plan at eating at more than one TS a day, including a buffet, the Deluxe plan will avoid the extra out of pocket expense at the buffet (using a meal credit at a buffet is often less a value than a non-buffet, but with the Deluxe plan this doesn’t matter since you have many more credits).

Thank you so much for the detailed post. You brought up some points, #1 and #10 that I hadn't even thought of.

I was planning on doing a couple of CS meals on park days just for the flexibility, but I really don't like the idea of waiting in those lines for so-so food. At least at a buffet my kids can find something they like...and a fruit or vegetable too.

I am leaning towards the Deluxe...it just seems like a crazy amount of money to spend on food. Sigh. DH is leaving it to me. He says he doesn't mind paying more for meals if the food is good and he doesn't have to wait in more lines (he is not a crowd person, lol )

 

[Superspectral]

That was one of my concerns...how much time will we be spending eating.

I have done the regular dining plan before, and payed as I went, and in either case I agree that TS restaurants can warehouse you for a while.

I thought that the deluxe dining plan actually was allowing me to create a dining itinerary that tried to minimize this with scheduling TS to "bookend" the day.

In the morning, I'm going to try booking in the park character meals for first seating (usually about an hour before park opens). This avoids any lengthy wait to be seated. I've done this before, and it took about 90 minutes for us, with full interaction with characters a couple of rounds with both of my sons. Thus I was in the middle of the park only 1/2 hour after opening. With the deluxe plan, I'm figuring why not do this more often? Furthermore, who says you have to wait for the characters 2-3 times (or at all) - one can just leave when the park opens.

I'm booking a few TS lunches, but these are the worst offenders for warehousing.

On the other hand, booking a dinner for a time where one is happy to call it a day allows one to go at your own pace.

Futhermore, the deluxe plan is easier to justify 2 credit dinner shows, signature dining, and in room pizza. While these may or may not take up more time than 1 credit TS, they do remove the need to use another TS, and one can substitute a (presumably faster CS).

I've also had some brutally long line waits for CS on high crowd days (notably Pecos Bill's and Pizzafari)--TS can actually get you away from the crowd for a while.

Of course, all of this requires making ADRs early enough (otherwise no choice in times). On the other hand, I've had no trouble getting exactly the ADR times I wanted (did it about 90 days in advance) -- maybe the Basic Dining Plan is not as appealing anymore and there won't be so much TS competition.