Uprgrading to deluxeDDP... how much per person is this?

[LovinPooh]

I am already paying OOP for 4 TS on the regular DDP. We are there for 8 days. Would it be worth it just to bump to deluxe? And how late can you do this? We are under 45 days.

 

[laurainsem]

I would go ahead and bump if your looking to pay that much out of pocket. I don't think 45 days is too late.

I will tell you it was so much FUN! We were able to experience so many different restaurants and found many new favorites, including Yachtsman. If you are a foody and want to try new places this is the way to go. I will warn you, it is A LOT of food and requires extra planning so you can make all your ADR's. If you are a good planner and don't mind a trip revolving around food than I recommend going for it. We don't regret it at all. While we won't do this everytime and would never do it without FD, the occasional trip with lots of food is a blast.

 

[WizardLarz]

Currently the DxDDP is $79. That is alot of food from what I hear. To get your moneys worth you need to schedule 2 Table Service meals each day! Even at $46 per day the DDP has almost reached the "not worth the value" ,IMO. But If you are a Foodie give it a shot.

 

[juliebean]

I think there are a lot of variables you have to consider besides the extra cost...

-If you are bringing children, it is not nearly such a large cost increase, but I think the quality & ease improves a lot. However, at the same time - are they good with sitting down 2 or 3 times a day for a meal? If they are very little, I think there is also some value in not having to wrangle high chairs & extra things yourself...

-Do you like having appetizers? My family does and will order them anyway...

-Are you going at a busy time of year? Or a super hot time? We had a hard time finding a table at the quick service restaurants in April - forget about clean..we paid a lot for bad or so/so food and had to clean them with wetwipes.

-We are doing Cinderella and an extra dinner the night we arrive - so I'm considering those in the decision.

-I think the more days you are going the harder it is to justify, but for us it is worth it if it's within $200-$300 of what we would have spent anyway to not have to worry about. For some, no extra amount would be worthwhile, other are probably okay with more.

I believe it was around $80 more a day for us (2 adults and 2 kids), and I figure one sit down meal is probably at a minimum that much for us, so it becamea question of wanting one or two table service a day...

You could always run through the numbers on the website and then compare it to what the menu prices are to figure out which way is best...Have a good vacation!

 

[Wendy31]

I struggle with this each time as well - basic DP or DxDP? Do I eat $80 worth of food/day? Probably not. But...

I've done spreadsheets which compare what we would pay on the DP + OOP costs as compared to what we would pay on the DxDP, & it basically comes down to pretty much breaking even. I look at this way --

1. I normally book more ADRs than I have credits for on the basic DP.

2. Some of those ADRs are normally at 2 TS credit locations (CRT for example).

3. W/ the basic dining plan, I'm getting a quick service meal & a TS meal/day. So, I'm still having to do something for breakfast or lunch OOP - whether I'm packing Pop Tarts to eat in the room or not, it's still OOP costs. W/ the deluxe, you get 3 meals/day - which is how my family normally eats.

4. W/ the basic dining plan, I'm only getting 1 snack/day. Usually, you're going to eat/drink at least 2 snacks per day - even if 1 of those snacks is a just a drink. W/ the deluxe, you get 2 snacks/day, so less OOP costs for snacks.

5. Additionally, w/ the deluxe, you get the refillable mugs to use at your resort.

6. Plus, DH likes having everything prepaid. In the end, we sort of look it as part of our overall "resort everything inclusive" experience instead of what we're paying to eat each day. We're Disney's favorite kind of consumers that way!

I dislike making 3 ADRs/day - just too much running from 1 restaurant to another for us & takes up too much park time. So, I probably don't get the most "value" out of the DxDP. For example, on some days for our future trip, I have 2 quick service meals planned & only 1 sit down meal planned. However, there are other days, where I have 2 sit down meals planned. On one day, I think I actually have 3 ADRs planned. However, if I had the basic DP, I would not have as many ADRs - we'll be there 8 nights, so, I think, when I was considering just getting the basic DP, I had 11 ADRs planned - 3 extra. But, DH said to go ahead & book it w/ DxDP, so I've made some extra ADRs - just because I could.

So, again, for us, after I calculated the cost of the DP/day + OOP costs, it makes more sense for us to get the DxDP.

This year, my problem is our two older children will be 11 & 10, "adults" in Disney's eyes. And I'm having a very hard time paying $80/day for them.

One thing that does need to be considered when upgrading to the DxDP - one naturally books more TS meals w/ the DxDP, &, w/ each TS meal, you get appetizers, so your OOP tip expense increases - due to both more TS meals & higher meal overall costs.

We really enjoyed the DxDP. However, like I said, I'm having a harder time this year w/ my 2 "adult" children.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

And another thing to consider, is how many (2) TS credits you'll be using. We always have to do at least one meal at the Castle, and our grandchildren are big red meat eaters, so we usually also have a meal at Narcoossee's, the Yachtsman, and my granddaughter adores LC. They absolutely love those places. We also always do HDDR. So we would be way over our allowance on the reg DDP.
For our family (2 Adults and 2 Children) the difference in cost between the 2 plans is about $80/day ($116/day for DDP and $202/day for DxDDP) and it IS a savings for us.
In addition to the above noted 2 TS Restaurants, the grandchildren also enjoy the Character Breakfasts including the TH, CM, and Cape May. They also love 50's PT and GG.
You bet it's alot of food! And, no - we probably wouldn't order all of it if paying OOP. I rarely make dessert or appetizers at home unless it's a special occasion. And we certainly don't eat like that the other 50 or 51 weeks of the year!
WDW is a Very Special Occasion for us and the meals - especially the Character Meals and Steak House meals are a huge part of that. The children are never exposed to fine dining establisments except at WDW - and they're developing a broader palate and learning some manners because of it.
And just one last thing - I really don't care for most of the CS food at WDW - and I don't know how anyone could eat one of those turkey legs!
To each his own, tho. That's why I love the Dis - there are so many views to consider.

 

[Huff]

We have 3 in our party. To upgrade from DDP to DxDDP would be a whopping $34 X 3 X 10 nights = $1020!!

For breakfasts we bring several boxes of cereal and buy some milk, juice and maybe muffins at our resort. That may cost $5/pp/day at the most. One more OOP snack per day would cost $4pp/day. Mugs cost $14.

So figure $5 x 3 x 10 + $4 x 3 x 10 + 3 X $14 = $312 OOP on DDP.

Going with DxDDP instead of DDP would cost us an addition $708. Yes, we'd get signature 2 TS dining/shows and appetizers as well as nice breakfasts but I just can't justify the extra $708 expense.

 

[nushiekitty]

For us our kids love the interaction with the characters and we go at a hot time of the year so the sit down meals are a nice break.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

You have a valid point, Huff!
But it's not just the bkfst for us. I's mostly the (2 TS Credit) Character Meals and Signature Dining that would be OOP for us, so we wouldn't reap those savings.
You are definitely saving for your family on the DDP alone, tho.