Upgrade Dining Plan

[kbgusto]

I was wondering what you seasoned Dining plan users think.
Our first trip was 2 adults and our DD3. We we went for 5 days 4 nights on a small budget and got the Disney dining plan. We brought cereal and ate breakfast in our room everyday. One night we did CRT, paid for one diner out of pocket and had other meals at times between regular meal times to make the other credits work. This time we are going for 7 days 6 nights and now will be 2 adults, DD5 and DD2. We would like to do CRT again and hope to pay for as little out of pocket as possible while we are there. DD will be one month shy of turning 2 so she isn't included in the dining plan and has to share off our plates. I am wondering if it is worth upgrading to the deluxe dining plan this time. It seems like alot more food, and less restricting on restaurant choices. BUT it is quite a bit more expensive.

 

[buckeev]

My .02...
Dlx DP is a TON of food. I felt like I "wasted" a lot of food/money.
We rarely do Sig restaurants though, and I imagine that's where the value exists.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I like the deluxe plan but almost never do 3 meals a day. It's just too much going from meal to meal. I like it better for shorter trips (I'm doing deluxe for 4 nights in December). I do like being able to eat at the 2 TS places though. It's especially worth it for kids since the Dx plan is about $30/day so huge savings for them at a lot of places.

 

[GillianP1301]

It really depends on how you want to eat. If you want multiple TS meals a day w/character meals and signatures, then you can probably make it work out financially in your favour. And sometimes it's not just the $ but the convenience of having it prepaid that's the big draw, every is different in that regard.

I'm doing the DxDP for the first time this upcoming trip (have done regular DDP in the past) and doing so because I like knowing I have planned breaks throughout my day for our meals and really looking forward to trying a lot of different dining options.

The only way to really know how it will work out for you financially is to look at menus and start calculating it out and comparing to the cost of the plan.

 

[sharonabe]

Your total cost for the upgrade is around $870. IF you can do a character breakfast/early lunch every day and then do Signatures every night or you have time to do a TS on your arrival and departure days to use up some credits, it would probably be worth it. You would have the two adult apps/entrees/desserts to share with the 2 yr old. You would also have 36 snacks to use for the breakfast or lunch meal you don't do a TS. That would eliminate the need for cereal or other things in your room for breakfast.

The question for me would be is this the trip I want to do all the extra meals or will we be going again in 2-3 yrs when both girls would enjoy and remember the trip more and therefore do the extra then? OR could we do it more than once?

 

[margaret07013]

I know some will talk about $$$, some will talk about 'too much food' --- but I will say based on my experience of deluxe dinning plan with 2 small kids - simply too much time for little kids sitting in one place.

I know each family is different and your kids may very well sit 60-90 min by the table and be OK - mine were not. we were simply tired by 30 min of trying to entertain them and avoid meltdowns. at that time - dinning experience wasn't a dinning experience.

Even if you space out the meals and you do 2 credits dinners - just try to occupy your kid 60-90 min in a chair without getting into a "situation".

We did deluxe plan but would not do that again with little kids. I would still book some restaurants or do regular dinning plan, but if needed pay out of pocket for cheaper options.

also depending when you going to WDW - if its summer - lunch break is "needed" simply to get away from the heat.

. I am wondering if it is worth upgrading to the deluxe dining plan this time. It seems like alot more food, and less restricting on restaurant choices. BUT it is quite a bit more expensive.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

We are going in September and we were originally on the standard dining plan plus an OOP CRT for 2 adults and one child. I also wanted to try California Grill one night - but was limiting myself to just drinks and apps. I toyed with the idea of paying OOP for a less expensive TS too. When free dining was announced and we switched our reservation, I decided to upgrade to the deluxe plan. I was already coming OOP about $300 and that was the difference for our short trip. Originally I struggled with my ADRs and was limiting myself with what I really wanted to do. The upgrade allows me to do everything and I am only coming OOP for alcohol. If I was going for a really long trip or had lots of older children, it may not be finally worth it. However, I think it was the right decision for us. Our three 2 credit meals are CRT, Cali Grill, and Jiko on AK day. The rest are character meals and some highly recommended breakfasts, etc.

 

[kbgusto]

Thanks so much for all of your input. I am hoping to do 1-2 character meals a day so I am thinking maybe the deluxe plan is the way to go. We still have sometime to decide before we book our trip for January seeings the pricing hasn't been released yet