To deluxe or not

[paw1968]

We are 3 adults going in September FINALLY. We had to reschedule our trip due to Irma . But got some pixie dust sprinkled our way. We were allowed ro book a bounce back offer with free dining! Any way my dilemma is to upgrade to deluxe dining or not. We can upgrade for about 275 a person for our 7 night stay. We all enjoy good food and are borderline foodies but the deluxe seems excessive. The thought of throwing in a few more signatures and a couple character meals seems worth it for the money, rather exxiting and a little decadent. Our trip is already mosrly paid for since we just rolled last years into this trip. Has anyone ever upgraded free dining to deluxe? Did you feel it was worth it?

 

[Colleen27]

We've done it several times, and we love it. We still use the plan for two meals a day, so it doesn't end up being an overwhelmingly larger quantity of food, but instead of the QS and TS of the basic plan we go with a TS and a signature most days. I really don't like the QS experience - waiting in line to order, standing around waiting for food, getting our own condiments/silverware, and hunting for a table - so for me, the plan is worth it on the upgraded experience alone. But we're also borderline foodies, two of my three kids have very expensive tastes (lots of steak & seafood), and we prefer appetizers over desserts, so the plan suits the way we like to eat and usually works out to be a good value even at full price.

I'm a crazy planner, so I keep a spreadsheet of our dining plans, probable menu choices and cost, and the overall plan costs for the sake of comparison (and for budgeting for tips). For our March trip, with four signature meals over five nights and one credit per person still unplanned, I'm projecting an 18% savings. That's based on full price for the plan because I account for any discount on the room component for the sake of easier comparison between offers.

 

[Pumbaa_]

$825 is as lot of money.

This is really a math exercise. I don't think deluxe is the best option unless you are doing deluxe and character meals

Food at Disney is expensive. Get a spread sheet, pull up the dis menus, and figure out where you want to eat, what would you order and how much

Factor in tips too. More expensive meals means more out of pocket in tips figure that 825 increase alone will add close to 160 in tips, very rough math

 

[paw1968]

Yes it is a lot of money but I think what I am trying to figure out is should I seize this opportunity to go deluxe and do more signatures. Yes, we will be amply feed on the regular free dining nobody will go hungry. If we upgrade to deluxe we will be able to do more signature dining etc. We tend to run hard up until mid afternoon and take the evenings a little slower so the extra time is not a factor. The other thing that has come to mind is we will be there during FW and the possibility of using extra dining credits there. It breaks down to around 40 a night per person.

This will be my DS and my first trip in 10 years and my BFF first trip ever. And we are both celebrating turning 50.

I have crunched the numbers and it does allow us to eat more signatures and character dining and we do come out ahead but as I said before we will not go hungry on the other plan either.

 

[Colleen27]

Yes it is a lot of money but I think what I am trying to figure out is should I seize this opportunity to go deluxe and do more signatures. Yes, we will be amply feed on the regular free dining nobody will go hungry. If we upgrade to deluxe we will be able to do more signature dining etc. We tend to run hard up until mid afternoon and take the evenings a little slower so the extra time is not a factor. The other thing that has come to mind is we will be there during FW and the possibility of using extra dining credits there. It breaks down to around 40 a night per person.

This will be my DS and my first trip in 10 years and my BFF first trip ever. And we are both celebrating turning 50.

I have crunched the numbers and it does allow us to eat more signatures and character dining and we do come out ahead but as I said before we will not go hungry on the other plan either.

Food & Wine might actually be a reason NOT to do the plan, especially if you're planning on spending a lot of your time at the festival, because it might mean eating fewer actual meals in favor of F&W booths and seminars. You can use snack credits at the booths, but the plan doesn't cover the special festival dining experiences. During the festival, I'd consider sticking with the free plan and using the cash you'd spend on the DxDDP upgrade to book a Food & Wine event or two. If you use the DDP to cover meals on non-Epcot days, trade QS down for snacks if you run low on credits to use at the booths, and add one of the "culinary adventure" dinners, a food & wine pairing experience, and/or Party for the Senses to supplement the standard dining plan experience, you'd be spending around the same as upgrading but with some more unique/memorable events.

 

[frannn]

We're about to do the same analysis. Last trip we did deluxe and although I didnt crunch the final #'s, it was a win for me and a loss for DD15. We have APs so we're going to see if we buy TIW and use it over 2 trips if that will save more than DXDP. DH made his wish list and there are a bunch of 2 credit places, so I need to find out what the breakeven "cost" per credit with the DX plan is this year.

 

[hllb]

Doing more TS meals, including signature and character meals will take more time. If food is more of a focus, do deluxe. If park time is more the focus, do regular as you’ll be taking up more park time with the deluxe plan.

 

[grossmansr]

I love food and I would soooo do this. I would character and signature dine my way through the world! Ahhhh, sounds like heaven.

 

[danielocha30]

$825 is as lot of money.

This is really a math exercise. I don't think deluxe is the best option unless you are doing deluxe and character meals

Food at Disney is expensive. Get a spread sheet, pull up the dis menus, and figure out where you want to eat, what would you order and how much

Factor in tips too. More expensive meals means more out of pocket in tips figure that 825 increase alone will add close to 160 in tips, very rough math

PLUS TIP! is not included and correct me if i’m wrong, the tip is calculated on the actual amount of the bill, so that expense add to the $825

 

[Pumbaa_]

Isn't that the last line of my post you quoted?

 

[Janet McDonald]

We did the upgrade in December and yes it was super fun but the days we did three meals we about died. We did great as far a coming out ahead, did tons of character meals and signatures which was a blast too. I would do it again only would not eat more than two meals a day. I would for sure do one signature per day to accomplish this. Loved being able to order what we wanted and try new things.

 

[2forMe]

Remeber it is not just the cost difference between regular and deluxe, include the additional tips you will pay for all the sit down meals.
I would not do deluxe... Too much time, food etc.

 

[Nancyg56]

Yes it is a lot of money but I think what I am trying to figure out is should I seize this opportunity to go deluxe and do more signatures. Yes, we will be amply feed on the regular free dining nobody will go hungry. If we upgrade to deluxe we will be able to do more signature dining etc. We tend to run hard up until mid afternoon and take the evenings a little slower so the extra time is not a factor. The other thing that has come to mind is we will be there during FW and the possibility of using extra dining credits there. It breaks down to around 40 a night per person.

This will be my DS and my first trip in 10 years and my BFF first trip ever. And we are both celebrating turning 50.

I have crunched the numbers and it does allow us to eat more signatures and character dining and we do come out ahead but as I said before we will not go hungry on the other plan either.

It really is an exercise in math, and it includes more than adding the tip. The Dining plans include tax. That means that none of the food you order on the plan needs to have tax added onto the bill. In Florida this is a substantial savings iMO. So for me, the additional tips on food that I order is a wash.

I always book my ADR's before I decide if I want to upgrade to DxDDP. My family uses dining time as a part of our vacation, so we do not begrudge the time in restaurants, but we do factor in time of year. Summertime for us is HOT, so I like to have a scheduled break in some of the parks for lunch, Epcot in particular. The DxDDP comes in handy because I can book a TS lunch and a signature dinner after 7 PM.

If my DH joins us I need Dxddp because that man does want his appetizers, and he loves snacks throughout the day, and goodness if we do not have plenty of meals planned!

Look at your meals, add in the fact that you now can have an alcoholic beverage if you choose, and then really do your math. DO not speculate on what you will not eat, or minimize of maximize what you order. Be honest with yourself.

Remeber it is not just the cost difference between regular and deluxe, include the additional tips you will pay for all the sit down meals.
I would not do deluxe... Too much time, food etc.

True, but why do people choose to disregard that there is no tax on the DDP meals?

 

[Colleen27]

True, but why do people choose to disregard that there is no tax on the DDP meals?

Do they not charge tax on the plan at the time of purchase? I've never done the math to figure it out, and I'm not sure you even could because Disney doesn't officially publish per-person, per-night prices, but I've always treated it as a tax-inclusive purchase - paying it at the time of booking rather than at each meal. My spreadsheet and most of the calculators I've seen do add tax to the meal price for the sake of a plan vs. oop comparison, but I've never thought of it as a savings so much as a difference in when/how the tax is paid.

 

[sanapp]

I think upgrading when you have free dining is the best time to try deluxe. I did it a few years ago and my daughter and I really enjoyed it. Yes it is a lot of food, but focus on the character meals (fun even as adults) and signature dinners. I don't believe we ever had 3 meals in one day. Remember you could always do Hoop dee doo or the Luau as well. I really enjoy the signatures over regular TS as well because the food seems like such healthier options!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Since I will pay tax and tip no matter how I choose to pay I don't factor those costs into making a decision for buying a dining plan or not.
I choose a deluxe dining plan based on how we eat and like to eat. Unlike some I don't find QS conducive to family and friends get togethers. Still too invested in another time's thoughts, I guess. For us, a TS works nicely to review the day's going-ons and plan/dream for the future and a nice relaxing meal helps to make it all that much easier.
We didn't feel we had too much food to eat throughout the day since we eat light for breakfast and lunch and pile on the calories for dinner which tended to be a signature restaurant. In fact we used up the vast majority of our snack credits for breakfasts and lunchtime munchies. Dinners were mostly 2 credits per person with 30 of them used for 2 signature celebratory meals with extended family who had no dining credits; we started with 99 dining credits for 3 spread over 12 days. We left with 5 dining credits left and no snack credits remaining. I'll prolly retool our next trip's dining credits so that if anything is less it'll be snack credits.

 

[GillianP1301]

This is a question that does not have an easy answer. I have done deluxe dining the past 3 trips and loved it, but it's a personal preference. First thing I would ask yourself is how do you want dining to fit into your overall vacation. If it's a priority and if you are someone who finds eating at a unique or fun restaurant as important as riding an attraction, then deluxe dining may be for you. There are so many fantastic and unique restaurants at WDW, that I can't imagine every having a complete vacation without experiencing them. That being said, if you are a die hard ride/attraction person who likes to squeeze every minute out of your plan, then taking time to have 2 or even 3 TS meals a day may not be for you.

Here's my personal view on pros/cons of deluxe dining:

Pros:
Dining locations at WDW are like attractions in themselves. Deluxe dining gives you lots of chance to experience this.
Built in rest/cool down time - we travel in late August so this is a big pro for us
No messing about with QS lines and the every awful free table hunt (this one is a bigger deal if you have small kids, especially if you are one parent with little kids)
All food is pre-paid, no worrying about what to order or watching prices on the menu or worrying about the credit card bill at the end of your trip

Cons:
TS dining takes up time and if food is not a priority, then the sacrifice or park time is not worth it
Food waste - deluxe dining is a lot of food and the only way I get through it is not cleaning my plate at every meal. Doesn't bother me, but it is a deterrent for some.
Snack credits often go unused because you are eating 2 or 3 large meals a day, you aren't hungry for the snacks. This is actually the biggest con for me and I feel like I have missed out on some great snack options and this is the main reason why I'm going regular plan with some OOP on my next trip.

 

[Nancyg56]

Snack credits often go unused because you are eating 2 or 3 large meals a day, you aren't hungry for the snacks. This is actually the biggest con for me and I feel like I have missed out on some great snack options and this is the main reason why I'm going regular plan with some OOP on my next trip.

Those darn snacks! LOL!!! We travel as extended family, and my son and his wife hope that we do not use them all...he likes the goofy candy bags! WE tell him he is welcome to them If there are leftover credits, and there usually are leftover snacks, but he has to wait until we are almost ready to head out.

 

[mamamelody2]

I would definitely not do it. BUT, we are not foodies, either.
Sit down meals just take so much time!! Plus with all those ADRs you have to plan where you're going to be so far in advance, then keep to that schedule when you're there.
But, you say you are foodies, and a group of only adults, so if it sounds good to you, go for it! Do some signatures, so it's not 3 sit down meals every day, and enjoy!

 

[Lexx1214]

DH and I are not what we would call foodies...but we do love good food and love trying new things (that being said, we also love dives and little hole in the wall type places). We went with the deluxe and are there next September as well. Since we are doing two days at Epcot and will maximize our credits at the booths and since we’re planning four signature meals we are getting a lot of bang for our buck.