Question for the regulars @ Disney

[scrappingizlife]

We are a family of 5. We are staying on site for the first time with free dining. I was thinking of possibly upgrading to the deluxe dining plan. I called today and was told that it would be an additional $763. We wouldn't pay for our daughter because she's only 2. I"m thinking that it would be a good thing to add so that we can do all table service meals and the kids get to see all of their favorite characters. I also think this would eliminate some line time waiting for autographs. I'm also really health conscience right now, and I'm thinking table service will give me healthier options than quick service meals. My question is, is the money worth it? Would we be spending more by paying for that extra meal a day with the regular dining plan that we have now?

 

[kmedina]

As long as you will use all or the majority of your credits on table service meals, deluxe dining should do everything you anticipate. It currently costs $78.99 per adult (age 10 and over) and $21.99 per child (3-9). Even if you only have to pay the difference between the basic plan and the deluxe plan, I would still make sure you are at least averaging this amount to make it worthwhile. If you did three character meals per day for instance, you will have a hard time reaching $78.99 per adult but should still meet $21.99 per kid. The hardest part of the deluxe plan when eating three sit down meals a day is timing. Even if you schedule early breakfasts and late dinners, you will not always be hungry and/or ready for the next meal. Not to mention the fact, that really early mornings plus late nights make for a tired family. My three year old frequently slept through lunch on three sit down meal days. It is a lot of food, so I suggest as many two credit meals as possible (CRT, HDD, Brown Derby, Citricos, California Grill, etc). If you are not big eaters or interested in dining at a lot of two credit meals (which need much bigger tips, that are not included with most meals, except CRT, HDD and room service along with a couple others), keep the standard program. You can find healthy options at counter service locations. Disney makes healthy choices a priority. If you do go deluxe, do not forget to cash in unused snack credits (you will have a lot), to take goodies home.

 

[kmedina]

As long as you will use all or the majority of your credits on table service meals, deluxe dining should do everything you anticipate. It currently costs $78.99 per adult (age 10 and over) and $21.99 per child (3-9). Even if you only have to pay the difference between the basic plan and the deluxe plan, I would still make sure you are at least averaging this amount to make it worthwhile. If you did three character meals per day for instance, you will have a hard time reaching $78.99 per adult but should still meet $21.99 per kid. The hardest part of the deluxe plan when eating three sit down meals a day is timing. Even if you schedule early breakfasts and late dinners, you will not always be hungry and/or ready for the next meal. Not to mention the fact, that really early mornings plus late nights make for a tired family. My three year old frequently slept through lunch on three sit down meal days. It is a lot of food, so I suggest as many two credit meals as possible (CRT, HDD, Brown Derby, Citricos, California Grill, etc). If you are not big eaters or interested in dining at a lot of two credit meals (which need much bigger tips, that are not included with most meals, except CRT, HDD and room service and a couple others), keep the standard program. You can find healthy options at counter service locations. Disney makes healthy choices a priority. If you do go deluxe, do not forget to cash in unused snack credits (you will have a lot), to take goodies home.

 

[juliebean]

We have similar thoughts. For us, I went through and roughly added a couple of special meals to the regular plan and realized it was roughly the same as the upgrade cost...

Couple of ways I'm justifying it - you get appetizers or soup or salad for the adults - my husband will order them anyway & this will help make it more enjoyable for my 8 year old, I'm afraid she might not get enough or good enough quality from the kids meal. We also went at spring break and had a hard time finding clean/empty tables at counter service - don't feel like doing it again! We also needed an "extra" meal for the day we arrive. Not sure if we'll use the refillable mugs, but you might, they are included with the deluxe - but not with the regular. And we have two little girls and wanted to do Cinderella's table, so that was an extra credit.

We have a family of five and it pretty much is $100 for a sit down dinner whenever we eat out - darn teenager! It ended up just making sense for us to do the deluxe and we get to do a lot of fun things that we'd probably have skipped otherwise - Cinderella's table, Asherkus Princess Breakfast, Boma, Le Cellier...

Couple of caveats - if you are going soon, make sure there are reservations available and don't forget to add the costs of additional tips and ask yourself if you are really okay with the extra expense.

Have a good vacation!

 

[juliebug1997]

We don't have kids so I can't really comment on that part of it but we did the DxDP last summer mainly because I had just been in the hospital with pancreatitis and didn't think that multiple "quick service meals" were a good idea. It worked just fine for us although we did use a few of our credits for quick service meals. We were able to have some terrific food and were able to eat salads and salmon on many of the buffets. If you can swing it, then I say do it. It was also a nice part of the day where we could sit and just rest and absorb and have a little bit of peace.