To deluxe or not to deluxe

[eeyorelvr09]

DBF and I are contemplating on going to WDW in late September or early October. We were discussing if we did go if we would do plus or deluxe dining. We are planning on going to one breakfast and at least two dinners. We know that F&WF is going on at that time we were thinking deluxe. What do you think? And what are some suggestions for breakfast and dinner? We have done the staples and are looking for something different.

OT- We stay on property and thinking of one of the Pop Century resorts since it's a short stay and wouldn't want to spend a lot of money bc we rarely stay at the resorts except to sleep.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[dmccarty]

We are in DVC so when we got to WDW we would have to buy a dining plan outside of a room. Looking at the prices of a dining plan and what we eat at WDW none of the dining plans has ever made money sense for us.

We eat breakfast in the room and catch lunch at the parks or the resort. The kids go to a clubhouse a few times while we have a very nice dinner at one of the very good restaurants. Crunching the numbers for us the dining plan would cost us money.

Lunches cost the four of us, two adults and two kids, about $20. Which is surprisingly the same what we pay outside the world. Dinner can be anywhere from $50 to $150 for two or all of us depending on the restaurant.

Figure out how if you will eat in your room with food you bring and where you will eat at WDW. Compare the costs and see if it makes sense.

Later,
Dan

 

[eeyorelvr09]

Thanks Dan. We have done plus ad deluxe before and it made sense for the deluxe because we were ther for food and wine. And if we got during the time that we are thinking it would be food and wine again. I am curious as to what others think.

 

[2Tiggies]

I could never manage Deluxe. The regular plan is too much as it is for me.

However, to respond to your question I acknowledge that it would be different for you as it appears there are 2 adults and no kids, which changes things quite a bit.

I think with the F&W on and since you are planning to go especially for that, you would do well with the extra snack credits. Your only options for 2 snack credits per day are QSDP (no good for you if you want TS) and Deluxe. If you are asking what makes sense from convenience point of view, it's a no brainer: go with DxDDP. If it is from an economic standpoint, you would do well to work out whether, if you took the regular DDP, you would actually spend the additional price per person per day (the difference between the DDP and the DxDDP). If not, the you may still be better off with the regular plan and paying OOP for the extra snacks. Some of the F&W samples are under $4 and you could pay for the cheaper ones and use credits for the more expensive ones. There is only so much sampling you can do in a day.

Sorry if I missed it, but how long are you going for?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We don't do any kind of dining plan. I'd rather get what I want whenever I want it and not wonder about is it on the plan or not.

Plus we don't eat the way the dining plans are set up. Sometimes we want appetizers and dessert!

Will you be able to eat all the food on the deluxe dining plan? Would you have alot of OOP expenses without it? You mentioned going during F&WF so maybe you would eat up the extra snack credits easily.
In that case, the deluxe plan would work for you.

As for new places to eat, I have no clue. We always try new places each time we go but that's something I couldn't help with. I'm always struggling for us since I've got a couple of picky eaters.

 

[Splat25]

My family loves the deluxe dining plan...but we really like to eat table service most often. We are big planners, I have my spreadsheet done for our Oct. trip and am just waiting for our 180 day window to open up .

Breakfast ideas . . . have you tried Tusker House for breakfast? We really like our breakfast there last time. We got an early ADR and actually got into the park before opening for it. By the time we finished, the park had just opened, so we were first into the park at opening as well.

I am planning to try Kona at the Poly this time. I have been researching the menu and some of the breakfast items really caught my eye, especially since we went to Maui in Dec. and are missing the wonderful food from there.
Dinner ideas . . . One of our favorites on our last trip was Narcoossee's. We also did a late dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table - 8:15 or so. So we were in the castle having desert when the fireworks started. That was a very interesting experience. We all enjoyed it as a different way to experience the fireworks.

 

[kaligal]

When did you luxe? You didn't say. If you did luxe, you should de-luxe immediately. And apologize to the injured party.



I don't know anything about dining plans. Sorry.

 

[eeyorelvr09]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. To answer a few questions... We plan on staying for 5 days/4 nights. We were in WDW this past November with friends and we did the DxDDP. We like table service and rarely pay OOP. We have done crystal palace, chef mickeys, ohana for breakfast; lunch at Cinderella castle and various QS around parks; dinners we have done are Narcoosees, citricos, Cali grill, Poly luau, yachtsmen, Boma, coral reef. As you can see we are big dinner lovers.

We have done plus dining on our first trip in Sept 07. We were new to the scene so we really didn't have the dining knowledge that we have now.

Thanks again. I am open to any more suggestions and questions.

 

[eeyorelvr09]

So Jason(DBF) and I were talking and researching about an upcoming trip in late September early October. It looks like we are going, but instead of 5 days Jason wants to make it 7 days. I cannot tell you how excited I am!

We are contemplating on the resort now. We had stayed at Port Orleans: French Quarter and loved that there is a specific bus for that resort compared to our recent stay at Carribean Beach which the majority of our time was spent on the bus. We were thinking of staying at All Star Movies or Sports, but he really likes French Quarter and I do too.

Being that we are mostly looking at early October we are going to go with the deluxe dining plan since that is the first week of F&WF and we would like to eat well 5 of the 6 nights.

So all we are waiting for is the hours to come out in the next few weeks and we will possibly be booking. Eek!

 

[eeyorelvr09]

So here is the update. We are going Oct. 4-10. We are getting the deluxe dinig plan and staying at French Quarter.

We are going to try to get ADR's for Le Cellier, California Grill, Boma and Brown Derby for the Fantasmic dinner.THe new dining for us out of those would be Le Cellier and Brown Derby.

We would probably do a few breakfasts and it would have to include Crystal Palace.

We are trying to keep it relaxed since, being the planner, I always jam pack the stay. So, I'm gonna try my hardest to keep it relaxed.