Thinking of upgrading to Deluxe Dining

[tlap04]

We are currently booked for the regular dining plan for our upcoming trip in August. I've been debating upgrading to deluxe. I have a TS adr booked for every day, some days I have 2 booked. We are planning to pay OOP for 2 character bf's and Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We will also be in WDW until after dinner hours on our last day due to a late flight. So I will most likely have 2 OOP meals that day also. DH very much prefers an appy to dessert (sometimes he orders both ), so having the appy included is a huge plus! We have 2 DD's, both enjoy the character meals and Mom & Dad like a nice sit down meal. DH didn't care for the QS meals last year. Plus, I will be 6 months pregnant during our trip...so sitting down in an air conditioned restaurant is a very welcoming thought! With all that said it appears like the Deluxe Plan would work well for us. My only hesitation is the cost. Even with the OOP meals Deluxe is a bit more. DH basically said to do what makes me happy...lol So, those that have done DxDP...did you think it was worth it?

 

[katydyd]

For my DS (17) and I, the DxDP is worth it.

We're not breakfast people, but we like a lot of the signature restaurants. We also like to have a sit-down meal at lunch. So, we easily use 3 TS credits in a day. And while having an appetizer, entree and dessert is a lot for some people....I'm feeding a teenaged boy....not a bite of food goes to waste. The same theory applies to the 2 snack credits/person as well.

He eats A LOT!

When I added up the cost of what we would be paying OOP, knowing what both of us would be likely to order off of the restaurants' menus, we made out going with the plan.

Plus, for me, there's the added bonus of having our food budget already figured out and paid for. I like that.

 

[Colleen27]

For us it is absolutely worth it. We plan two TS meals a day, enjoy several signature dinners, and have a whole vacation without hassling with a single in-park counter service experience. We do character breakfasts without fretting about the fact that none of us eat "our money's worth" at breakfast or worrying about it being our only sit-down experience for the day, and we never look at menu prices. November will be our 4th trip with the DxDDP and at this point I'm so spoiled that I have a hard time imagining a trip without it.

 

[OliviasMommy10]

I'm considering the same thing... Interested to hear what others think...

 

[AggieTexan]

My DH and I plan to use the Deluxe plan for TS lunches and Signature dinners, and we'll use snack credits for breakfast items.

 

[mb_uh]

This is my achilles heel, I would like to only pay for ddp but dxdp is so much better. The extra snacks, the mugs and apps. Plus you can use 2 credits for CRT or a show which includes tip for those meals and the shows include beer wine. While obviously you can eat for less at Disney you can not eat for less and have the options you have with dxdp. Plus ts lunches in the summer are really nice because you do not have to fight for a table or eat in the heat- someone will bring you unlimited refills of water or softdrinks which is really nice when it is 90 degrees.

 

[tlap04]

Thanks for your input everyone. I'm about 95% sure I'm going to upgrade. So far I'm only planning the 2 character bf's and the rest lunches. I've got a few credits to figure out, but I'm sure I can do it! lol We are really looking forward to sitting down and relaxing at lunch. My least fav part of our trip is going through the chaos of QS dining with 2 preschoolers.

And having everything paid for in advance is a huge plus!...I don't have to give DH the hairy eyeball when he uses snack credits or orders appetizers!

 

[carrie6466]

We've done the deluxe plan twice. We talked about doing it this trip, because we are a few meals over on our ADR's and we really liked doing a dinner show and CRT on our last trip. That was in December and it was cooooold.

This time we're going in July and it's going to be hot. We decided we might not want to eat as much in the heat as we did in the winter. So we are just going to just pay oop for the few extra meals and forgo the dinner shows this time.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

We love Dxdp with preschoolers! It gives you ultimate flexibility to do QS if you need to or room service. We Room service for breakfast in the mornings. You can order the night before and the portions are huge and splitable.

One note though is it's REALLY expensive tip wise. It doesn't keep us from doing it but make sure you are figuring in that cost. It averaged about $45 a day extra for us with 2 adults and 2 kids.

 

[one2admire]

We did the DxDDP for our trip in October and loved it. The biggest advantage for us was the flexibility....with a 3 y.o. and me being in the first trimester of pregnancy (major morning sickness) that made it worth the price for us. IA with PP, the tips did start to add up, but we also did a few signature restaurants too. I'm planning a land/sea trip next year and we'll be doing the DxDDP then too.

 

[vllygrrl]

Another fan of DxDDP here! DH and I took our first trip on the deluxe plan in November, sans DS7. We liked it so much, we upgraded to DxDDP for our upcoming August trip with him! I don't think we'd use it for 3 TS reservations per day. We book either a character breakfast or an early lunch, followed by a dinner show or signature restaurant for dinner. That give us a nice blend of kid-friendly meals and wonderful dinners. Here's our schedule for our upcoming trip to give you some idea:

Arrival day - Hoop de Doo Revue 7:15pm
Sat - Cinderella's Royal Table 8:10am
California Grill 5:45pm
Sun - Biergarten 12:40pm
Flying Fish Cafe 7:40pm
Mon - Sci Fi Dine In - 11:45am
Artist Point - 6:35pm
Tue - Yak and Yeti - 11:35am
Citricos - 6:45pm
Wed - 1900 Park Fare - 8:05am
Narcoosee's - 5:35pm

We use our snack credits to fill in breakfasts and such, but we still end up with snack credits to spend on take home goodies! DH is a little nutty, but he goes through all the menus in advance and makes tip envelopes for each restaurant based on the most expensive options on each menu, plus some extra in case we decide to have an alcoholic beverage. Our envelopes for August are already done, so everything we put aside between now and then goes directly to spending money!

 

[mickeynut1]

For us, it is worth it. We tried the DlxDDP this past December after always getting the basic DDP and we loved it . I thought it would be too much food, but it worked out great . We did a few signature restaurants and a few more breakfasts than what we've done in the past......and since we always get the refillable mugs, it was an extra perk that they come with the deluxe plan .

 

[MylilTink]

We upgraded to Deluxe on our very first trip last September and I can't imagine not going deluxe for any future trips.

For me, it was easier to plan our days around our meals since we didn't upgrade our tickets to park hoppers. Also, like everyone mentioned, it was nice to sit down and relax in air conditioning.

 

[carrie6466]

Another fan of DxDDP here! DH and I took our first trip on the deluxe plan in November, sans DS7. We liked it so much, we upgraded to DxDDP for our upcoming August trip with him! I don't think we'd use it for 3 TS reservations per day. We book either a character breakfast or an early lunch, followed by a dinner show or signature restaurant for dinner. That give us a nice blend of kid-friendly meals and wonderful dinners. Here's our schedule for our upcoming trip to give you some idea:

Arrival day - Hoop de Doo Revue 7:15pm
Sat - Cinderella's Royal Table 8:10am
California Grill 5:45pm
Sun - Biergarten 12:40pm
Flying Fish Cafe 7:40pm
Mon - Sci Fi Dine In - 11:45am
Artist Point - 6:35pm
Tue - Yak and Yeti - 11:35am
Citricos - 6:45pm
Wed - 1900 Park Fare - 8:05am
Narcoosee's - 5:35pm

We use our snack credits to fill in breakfasts and such, but we still end up with snack credits to spend on take home goodies! DH is a little nutty, but he goes through all the menus in advance and makes tip envelopes for each restaurant based on the most expensive options on each menu, plus some extra in case we decide to have an alcoholic beverage. Our envelopes for August are already done, so everything we put aside between now and then goes directly to spending money!

I love the setting up of the tip envelopes ahead of time, that's great!

 

[ljcrochet]

We did the deluxe dining when my girls were 4. I think i still have the link to my DH's dining reviews in my sig. If your dh is going to order appetizers I would go for it.

 

[DisneyDivaN]

My DH and I plan to use the Deluxe plan for TS lunches and Signature dinners, and we'll use snack credits for breakfast items.

Totally agree, this is what we do, or sometimes a big breakfast, snacks for lunch and a late signature dinner. We upgraded for our honeymoon but were not to savvy to how it worked but now that we are pro's this is how we do it. Between the mugs, the apps and the idea of nice sit down meals for breaks in the day is great..

 

[AWish]

We do something similar- depending on if you are bringing children- and had no problem blowing through the deluxe dining plan.
Character breakfast daily- late and in the park we plan on spending the day in.
Dinner- at a signature restaurant every night.
Used our snack credits for lunch items (ie. eggrolls in A.K.)
If I were traveling without children, I would plan for a late sit down breakfast or early TS lunch daily and a sig dinner.
BTW- didn't feel like I wasted time in restaurants.

 

[tlap04]

We did the deluxe dining when my girls were 4. I think i still have the link to my DH's dining reviews in my sig. If your dh is going to order appetizers I would go for it.

He definitely is...lol

I wish I had thought of this earlier. I'm having a hard time getting some of the ADR's I'd like. I'll keep checking though....you never know what will open up!

 

[nrpofp]

Yes I would do it. The signature restaurants are awesome. Don't worry about taking young kids. They will fit right in. A must do is yak and yeti at ak. This was for sure the best 1 ts we ate at. If you do charachter meals do it for the characters. The food is not so good.

 

[JenSop]

OP - in your case it really sounds like the Deluxe DDP is the way to go.

We've done the DxDDP on the shorter portions of some of our split stays and really enjoyed doing the signature dinners and TS lunches.

Next year, we're doing a Grand Gathering trip and will be on the Deluxe because we want to do several 2 credit options.