Staying at GF Concierge- DxDDP or Standard?

[mommy22pumpkins]

We are taking a once in a lifetime trip with our two kids age 7 and 9 and my Dad (aka Pop-pop). Right now we have the Dx DDP booked and we have done this before and enjoyed having all TS leisurely meals at alot of signature restaurants. I have our trip planned including all meals using all the DxDDP credits. I know it's waaaaayyyy to much food for any human being to eat. But I think it will be nice for my Dad to enjoy the restaurants and treat him to eating like a king for a week

But then we've never stayed Concierge level- or even at the GF before. We are planning to take advantage of the continental breakfast almost every morning. But I don't want to count on it for a meal if the kids don't like what is served- neither one of them really enjoy *grown up food*.

Should we re-think doing the DxDDP if staying at GF CL main building? And any ideas on how to make the most of the standard dining plan when staying CL?

 

[Pakey]

We stayed GF RPC for a week using the Deluxe plan, signatures booked every night plus a TS lunch, breakfast in the club lounge.

Way too much food. We started cancelling ADRs left and right because we were actually physically uncomfortable from the food. Also, we were spending so much time at meals that it was leaving us no time to really enjoy the RPC lounge which is the best WDW has to offer in a club level.

 

[padawans]

I would never do the ddp. It's either dxdp or oop. So far we have only done deluxe, but I am considering oop with next trip because the cost of the dining plan has increased. The best restaurants at wdw are signatures. We rarely eat at a non signature restaurant for dinner. Thats why I would suggest deluxe. If you plan on eating cs or 1 ts then go with the ddp. I assume your not booking Cl for the food since that would be a lot of food combined with the dxdp.

 

[lin7]

I think it's different for every family. It depends on whether or not you like having apps with ur meals, for us we get the deluxe plan cause we like having the apps included in our meals. We also like sit down meals, but it's a lot of food if you're also CL. Question is how big of an eater are you? We are, that's why we gain 10 pounds at the very least by the time we get back to Canada lol

They need a plan that is in btween the two plans. Something like the deluxe plan, minus one table service.

 

[lemondog]

We always do the DxDDP, but personally if we were staying concierge I would do the regular plan, especially considering you can get breakfast and snacks in the lounge.

 

[mommy22pumpkins]

They need a plan that is in btween the two plans. Something like the deluxe plan, minus one table service

Yes this would be perfect. The 6TS is not enough but the 18 is way too many. I wish they would offer something in between but I guess that's how them make their money.

Last time we did Dx DDP we paid around $700 in drinks/gratuities for the five of us. (That's one glass of wine for me at each meal). Those meals are so pricey that even the tips add up after a while.

I agree about the standard DDP too. They don't give you nearly enough TS and the appetizers aren't even included- that makes it not worth it to me right there. They certainly aren't encouraging healthy eating with this plan- skip the salad but don't miss the free dessert No wonder I was so sick of food the last time we did this. I didn't even really enjoy my meals because I just wasn't hungry enough from being so over fed

 

[ElizabethB]

We just came back from GF RPC (not our first time, we also stayed there three years ago before we starting staying at BC due to the pool). We did not have DDP. We had lunch and dinner reservations every day. We used TiW. We were glad we had the lunch and dinner reservations.

As it turned out, we did not make it to the lounge every night for the evening canapes and wines. When we did, it was pleasant, enough, but nothing to make a meal out of. The whole thing is carefully staged to try to prevent people taking much food, too. One night there were shrimp. One shrimp per white plate, with the idea being I suppose that you take one shrimp on one plate and carry it to your table. Of course, they have taken away the trays they used to offer, so it's all very impractical for real enjoyment.

They also watch the time and the food like hawks. They start clearing things up 20 minutes ahead of time so, when the time period ends, everything (and I mean everything) is gone. The overall feeling is that Disney is trying its very best to do club level on the cheap -- not really the feeling I want when paying $700 per night.

There is no bottled water -- at all. The wines were okay. The champagne was terrific. Desserts later in the evening were fine, but nothing to write home about.

Breakfast was fine. I don't know what kids would want that isn't available (unless they want pancakes, french toast or eggs). There are several cereal choices, including Fruit Loops, plus bagels, muffins, various other pastries, bread for toast, oatmeal and various fruit (but alas no berries whatsoever unless you're fast enough to pick off the few that come as garnishes on the cheese plates). Yes, they offer some cheeses and meats for breakfast as well. We had breakfast every morning in the lounge and enjoyed it (though it would not kill them to put out some strawberries). They have a cappuccino machine -- but they have replaced the lovely big cappaccino cups and saucers with mugs (less dish-washing I guess, but not as nice).

Evening offerings were never sufficient to make a dinner from. By contrast, the evening offerings at Portofino Bay Hotel were delicious and more than enough for dinner if you want to make them dinner.

So, I would plan on having lunches and dinners while staying GF RPC. Personally, I would not book DDP or deluxe DDP, however, because sometimes I like two appetizers for dinner (rather than an entree) plus a couple of glasses of wine and a dessert. The DDP or deluxe DDP does not offer that kind of flexibility.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I don't think I would do deluxe when on concierge since the breakfast options are pretty good. We like deluxe dining and we only plan 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner) when we do it. Having said that, the regular dining plan is what we did when at AKV concierge and it was a nice balance I think since we ate breakfast at the hotel, got CS lunch and a TS dinner. I don't like the regular DP usually because we have to eat 3 meals a day and one CS and TS doesn't cut it, but with concierge its perfect.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I would definitely do the regular DDP and make sure to use the CL lounge for breakfast, and even breaks. We did CL with DxDDP for 3 days and thought we were going out of our minds.

If you find that something is "missing" when you go down to the DDP, you could always use the money you are saving to do what you are missing. I DO NOT think you will feel like you are missing anything. Just gaining the extra money you will be saving.

Have a great trip!!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Since you've already booked all of your ADRs including enough to fully use your DxDDP credits, it sounds like it makes sense to stick with the DxDDP but I would reconsider whether or not CL makes sense. How much time will you spend at your resort and of that time, how much will you spend using the CL amenities? If you won't use the CL amenities then why pay the extra for CL?

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

We've done CL and DxDDP and were fine. We ate a lot of signatures. We even did a few different breakfasts since CL offerings were boring after a few days in a row. Here's what we liked about it:

*I was sick and it was nice to have a drink down the hall, or a little bite to eat if I was in the room. He liked to have a couple beers at night.

*Even if we went to breakfast, I could still walk 15 feet to the lounge and get coffee/hot tea while getting ready. On rope drop days, I would eat and get ready at the same time--which saved us an extra 30-45 minutes of sleep!

*Besides gratuity--I was prepaid--this is major for us.

*We don't look at a dining plan as... you have to order everything your entitled to and you have to finish it. We like that it was prepaid.

*We take afternoon breaks at the resort and normally eat dinner around 8:30 or 9... so we did nip at the CL appetizer offerings as a snack.

*We used an extra credit during late Magic Kingdom EMH. It was 1:00am and we ate dinner at 7... we stopped in Casey's and got a bite to eat--didn't have to pay OOP.

It's not the plan for everyone... but it works for us. If it's your "once in a lifetime" trip... I'd go for it.

 

[vettegirl]

I would do standard. I could not imagine all that food

 

[lin7]

They need a plan that is in btween the two plans. Something like the deluxe plan, minus one table service

Yes this would be perfect. The 6TS is not enough but the 18 is way too many. I wish they would offer something in between but I guess that's how them make their money.

Last time we did Dx DDP we paid around $700 in drinks/gratuities for the five of us. (That's one glass of wine for me at each meal). Those meals are so pricey that even the tips add up after a while.

I agree about the standard DDP too. They don't give you nearly enough TS and the appetizers aren't even included- that makes it not worth it to me right there. They certainly aren't encouraging healthy eating with this plan- skip the salad but don't miss the free dessert No wonder I was so sick of food the last time we did this. I didn't even really enjoy my meals because I just wasn't hungry enough from being so over fed

There's so many things in your post we can relate to being sick of food and all after a trip to Disney

We are practically in the same boat. We love Deluxe plan for what it includes. But if we're staying concierge some of the peeps in our party would eat breakfast in the lounge and it just makes lunch less enjoyable when half your party is already full from breakfast. We usually skip breakfast nways even on the plan cause eating 3 restaurant a day is too much food, and it takes away from even be able to sleep in. But regardless of whether or not we stay concierge we always get the deluxe plan cause it still works better for us than the standard plan. Unless we plan on eating buffets the standard dining plan doesnt work for us.

We paid out of pocket about 700 on tips too, we just put money on a giftcard a the beginning of the trip and have the server deduct their tip from it. That way we dont have to carry cash.