Regular or Deluxe DDP?

[itutorfortravel]

DH and I are going to the food and wine festival in October. We are looking forward to a WDW trip without the kiddo because we can enjoy some of the nicer restaurants I've looked at the menus for some of the restaurants we would like to visit and it appears that if we paid out of pocket we'd be spending at least $150 per meal. (these restaurants require 2 dining credits each).

Would it be more economical to get the deluxe dining plan even if we don't use all the credits? I figure with a 4 day trip we may use 7 credits each on dinners (3 require 2 credits and 1 requires 1) which would leave us each with 5 credits each to use for our lunch and dinner.

If I've calculated correctly, it seems cheaper to pay for the deluxe ddp than it is to pay out of pocket for some meals and only get the regular ddp.

Am I figuring this right?

 

[Reddy]

I would write out what you would order then add it up
remember the dinning plans are based on how many nights you stay at the hotel & not days. that messes up alot of people
it would be fun to plan out the meals - I would leave off anything you really don't want (like dessert with counter service since you wouldn't get them - most likely won't anyways)
please post what you came up with - I would love to see
austic boys so planned dinning isn't something I'll get to do until boys are in group home (4 years at least)

 

[squirrel]

Also on the DxDP you will get appetizers.

Have you been on the DDP before? If so how did you find it?-Enough food or still had a lot of oop expenses.

Figure out approxamately what you would order at each restaurant. Then add it up and see what the cost is.

Is your plan then to eat a TS breakfast and a 2TS credit dinner most nights and then use a few CS and mostly snacks for lunch?


I find the DDP is plenty. I do really like the TS meals but 2 per day would be a lot.

 

[Faldred]

Four day or four night trip? Dining plan credits are based on nights of your resort reservation.

For 4 days/3 nights with you already at 7 TS credits (out of 9) used each, DxDP is pretty much a no-brainer. Especially having 6 snack credits each for the F&WF.

For a 4-night stay (12 credits each on DxDP), you're on the break-even cusp, given the normal rule of thumb of 2/3 DxDP credits used on TS. From your math, you appear to be planning to order from the high end and using your appetizer and dessert entitlements, so even being a little below 2/3 might save you money, especially if you use the remaining meal credits for CS meals, rather than leaving them unused.

On the whole, it doesn't sound like basic DDP is a good fit for you -- it's generally not all that cost-efficient for signature meals, which makes up the bulk of your TS dining, plus it's not going to come close to covering all of your TS needs. I think the real choice would be DxDP vs. OOP, and from the brief information I've seen, DxDP looks like it will work well for you.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Thank you everyone!

We will be going on a 4 night trip so I calculated that to be 12 TS credits each on the DxDDP. With the ADR's I currently have for dinners we will use 7 credits each. That leaves us with 5 to cover our lunches and breakfasts. I'm not sure if we'd use those for TS or CS meals, but I figure those plus using some of our snack credits for a light breakfast might work?

Also, can you use the credits on the day you check out? For instance, if we won't fly home until late on check-out day, will our credits be available all day at the parks?

We've been to WDW many times with DD but this is the first "couples only" trip and our first time staying on site...very exciting!

 

[Faldred]

Your credits are still valid until the midnight that follows your check-out morning. So yes, you may use them on departure day.

 

[mickeynut1]

DH and I are going to the food and wine festival in October. We are looking forward to a WDW trip without the kiddo because we can enjoy some of the nicer restaurants I've looked at the menus for some of the restaurants we would like to visit and it appears that if we paid out of pocket we'd be spending at least $150 per meal. (these restaurants require 2 dining credits each).

Would it be more economical to get the deluxe dining plan even if we don't use all the credits? I figure with a 4 day trip we may use 7 credits each on dinners (3 require 2 credits and 1 requires 1) which would leave us each with 5 credits each to use for our lunch and dinner.

If I've calculated correctly, it seems cheaper to pay for the deluxe ddp than it is to pay out of pocket for some meals and only get the regular ddp.

Am I figuring this right?

The DlxDDP would cost you $160/night. So if you are looking at spending at least $150 on 1 meal, the DlxDDP would be the most economical . You would be spending the same amount for the deluxe plan that you would spend on just 1 meal, but you would be getting 3 meal credits & 2 snack credits per night, plus the refillable mug .

 

[GC&S]

Remember to factor in gratutity when on the Deluxe plan. When we did deluxe we did a lot of signature and TS. We spent a lot more in tips than we had planned.