Regular or Deluxe Dining Plan

[charlielinda]

We are going in September and for the first time staying on proprety and getting the free dining. Is it worth the extra $$ to get the Deluxe Plan. Does anyone know where I can go to see what the real differences are? Help. Thanks

 

[tink20]

If you do the DDP you will be spending alot of time sitting down and eating. So it just depends on what is important to you. If you want to see alot of the attractions then you might be better off w/ the regular DP. Also you could get the DDP if you go to restaurants and shows that require 2 TS. On the Disney website they have the DP brochure.

 

[ChelleinNC]

It could be worth it, especially since you would get it for such a good price. Things to consider will be, how many people are in your party, what type of food/dining they enjoy, ages of children......

Deluxe DDP will give you 3 meals per night that can be used for TS or CS, 2 snacks (per day)& refillable resort mug for length of stay.

Regular DDP is 2 meals per night, 1 TS & 1 CS, 1 snack.

Check out the 2008 DDP FAQ stickie http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1545287
you'll find the links to the official brochures in there as well

 

[singingpixie]

I would be hesitant to book the DxDP during free dining, only because I think that with the increased crowds in restaurants, I wouldn't want to invest the time in more than one sit-down per day. One exception would be if I wanted to try a bunch of signature restaurants- still only one reservation to get to per day, but still using the credits.

 

[ChefColette]

Depends. Do you want to eat at a lot of TS meals? Would you order an appetizer OOP if you had the basic DDP? Do you eat at the signature restaurants? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then the deluxe DDP may be for you. (God, I sound like an info-mercial.)

The deluxe DDP at $30 a night is a great deal, and if you do all TS, should be at least around $100 worth of food a day. Even if you were to get it at that price, and only use it on CS, you'd still probably break even.

 

[Dawn68PA]

I wouldn't do it just because you'll be spending a minimum of 3 hours per day sitting in a restaurant.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I always tell people that it depends on several things:

1) If this is your first trip or not. If it is, you won't be spending as much time in the parks with deluxe dining. If you've done all the parks before at least once, It would be okay.

2) If you have your own car. If you get deluxe dining, you probably will be dining at quite a few resort restaurants. It's much harder getting to and from the resorts from your resort with disney transportation than if you could drive yourself.

3) Picky eaters. If you have people in your party that don't eat much or are very picky, I would do the regular dining plan so that you wouldn't be wasting your hard earned dollars on food that will be thrown away.

4) Whether or not you eat at TS locations. If you eat mostly fast food or counter service or only order 1 appetizer, share an entree, etc. your not going to get your value.

5) Small children. If you get the deluxe, you'll have to eat at least a few very late dinners. If you eat earlier, you'll probably be still full from lunch so if you have small children who normally go to bed early, this probably won't work. The only thing you can do is eat a breakfast, then skip lunch and do a signature meal for dinner around 6 or 7pm which is still a decent time for toddlers to be eating. You could do snacks for lunch if anyone is hungry.

After considering all this, you can decide whether or not you want to upgrade to deluxe.

 

[3"Mouse"keteers]

I wouldn't do it just because you'll be spending a minimum of 3 hours per day sitting in a restaurant.

Not if you do some signature restaurants.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

We're doing the deluxe dining plan because we LOVE sit down meals! Disney has got some fantastic restaurants and for us, that's part of our vacation! We also do quite a few character meals with our girls and 2 TS restaurants too. For us, it makes sense financially to do the deluxe one. We made the mistake of eating at all table service meals without the dining plan and well, I won't tell you the amount of $ we spent on food! So, if eating is part of Disney vacation experience, I'd do the deluxe. I know lots of people will disagree with me and say it's too much food.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I wouldn't do it just because you'll be spending a minimum of 3 hours per day sitting in a restaurant.

Yes, if you do 3 meals per day, you probably will be spending at least 3 hours per day in a restaurant, but if you do a signature meal or do counter service, this isn't true.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

As far as eating for 3 hours...most people do breakfast before the parks open anyway so really you're only eating lunch and dinner during park time. We did all TS meals and still did a lot at each of the 4 parks with an 8 year old, 7 year old and 4 year old. Just my 2 cents worth!