Who is with me - I LIKE the DELUXE DINING PLAN!!!!

[tiredsigh]

1. Restaurants are very accomodating for DS who has egg and peanut food allergies. I don't have to ask a million questions about ingredients. At each restaurant, the chef meets us first and usually asks what DS likes and fixes him whatever he wants. (Bonus, we get to meet some great chefs!)
   

That is so important to me. I feel so comfortable eating at TS in WDW. This is something that is really hard to understand if you don't deal with food allergies. It is a major perk of WDW for me.

 

[jewelryladyct]

We visited Disney 3 years ago and did not purchase a dining plan. By the end of the week, I was completely fed up with the quick service meals offered at the park. We spent a lot of extra money on snacks too. Sorry to say, but having an nice ice cream treat on a warm day on vacation should not stress you out because of the cost.

We are going again in March and decided to go with the deluxe dining plan. We are staying at BLT and decided to use a dining plan. Originally, I bought the reg. dining plan, but after crunching the numbers, I upgraded to the deluxe plan. This is the way I look at it:
1. We like breakfast. It is a necessary part of our day and feel that it
is necessary when you have big plans for the day.
2. We will not be bringing in snacks or lunch to the parks since we are
not renting a car. I am not dragging tons of extra snacks down in
a suitcase on the plane when I have a 5yr old and 2 yr old that
need toys, etc.
3. This is vacation and want to feel like it. If I am eating quick service
meals that are not satisfying to save some money, it is not worth it
in my opinion.
4. We enjoy the character meals. Considering the inflated expense of
those meals, it actually was cheaper to upgrade the meal plan.

Another thing I did was go online and look at the actual prices for different restaurants and see what an average meal would cost. Here is what I estimated as OOP expenses, according to what we would need for additional meals after the scheduled character meals we want to attend, if I used the reg. dining plan:
*Snacks for 4 days: $60
*Two dinners: ~$140
*Two Breakfasts: ~90
Grand Total: ~$290

So then I looked at what it would actually cost to upgrade to the deluxe plan. The cost for 4 days was an extra $232. So now, I realized that if I spend the money I will save money OOP, and not have to worry about what every little extra snack, drink, or meal will cost. Lastly, I have 4 character meals reserved and a variety of lunches/dinners ranging from American, Mexican, Japanese, Seafood, and Steak.

I am expecting that we will have the "too much food" issue. But I think that most people don't realize how much the extras cost in the park and when all is said and done, it is cheaper to pre pay and have options, instead of partially pre-paying and having a surprise at the extra expenses at the end of your vacation.

 

[Princess654]

We visited Disney 3 years ago and did not purchase a dining plan. By the end of the week, I was completely fed up with the quick service meals offered at the park. We spent a lot of extra money on snacks too. Sorry to say, but having an nice ice cream treat on a warm day on vacation should not stress you out because of the cost.

We are going again in March and decided to go with the deluxe dining plan. We are staying at BLT and decided to use a dining plan. Originally, I bought the reg. dining plan, but after crunching the numbers, I upgraded to the deluxe plan. This is the way I look at it:
1. We like breakfast. It is a necessary part of our day and feel that it
is necessary when you have big plans for the day.
2. We will not be bringing in snacks or lunch to the parks since we are
not renting a car. I am not dragging tons of extra snacks down in
a suitcase on the plane when I have a 5yr old and 2 yr old that
need toys, etc.
3. This is vacation and want to feel like it. If I am eating quick service
meals that are not satisfying to save some money, it is not worth it
in my opinion.
4. We enjoy the character meals. Considering the inflated expense of
those meals, it actually was cheaper to upgrade the meal plan.

Another thing I did was go online and look at the actual prices for different restaurants and see what an average meal would cost. Here is what I estimated as OOP expenses, according to what we would need for additional meals after the scheduled character meals we want to attend, if I used the reg. dining plan:
*Snacks for 4 days: $60
*Two dinners: ~$140
*Two Breakfasts: ~90
Grand Total: ~$290

So then I looked at what it would actually cost to upgrade to the deluxe plan. The cost for 4 days was an extra $232. So now, I realized that if I spend the money I will save money OOP, and not have to worry about what every little extra snack, drink, or meal will cost. Lastly, I have 4 character meals reserved and a variety of lunches/dinners ranging from American, Mexican, Japanese, Seafood, and Steak.

I am expecting that we will have the "too much food" issue. But I think that most people don't realize how much the extras cost in the park and when all is said and done, it is cheaper to pre pay and have options, instead of partially pre-paying and having a surprise at the extra expenses at the end of your vacation.

Very well said!! I did the same thing about pricing out what it would cost us to eat without the plan and then the extras and decided that dxddp was definately the way to go for us that way. It would have cost us a small fortune OOP for the extras and the worry is NOT worth it. Most people forget that this is VACATION it is a time to relax not worry about pennies.

 

[TJA]

.....and we can't wait! We are doing a lot of 2-credit meals and shows. All new things for us.

 

[seadd67]

I am so excited ,we will be able to eat with out the worrying of how much where spending and just makes the meal that more enjoyable. where planing three meals a day for up comeing 10 day trip. Something we could never afford to do before.Some the days we are actually eating more then three,just to use up the unused credits. Ya Its alot of food but so many opportunitys to try so many diffrent places. Pace Is going to be our guide lines,kind of like when we where at the Food and wine fest!!. We goto WDW every yea,so where not going at a break neck pace this time.Since we are going In the summer(like our experince from last Oct,wow was It hot) we know Its going to be really hot and humid so the sit down meal breaks will be nice break.

 

[caz1712]

Oh my goodness! I'm so glad I found this thread!

We are booked up to stay at the Beach Club with Deluxe Dining in October ( upgraded from Free Dining) and I have been having doubts about whether its a good idea or not from reading posts about it being too much food/ taking too much time out of the parks.

DH is determined that it great as its all paid up front ( except the tips) and we can try soo many restaurants. Which he is totally right. I suppose the way people talk about getting value for money from your TS credits I don't think will be the case for us due to having three children on the Autisitc Spectrum they can be quite fussy. So for us it will mainly be Character dining, with a few EPCOT restaraunts, HDDR, and CRT a few times ( mainly for me!LOL). We will do the Yachtsman one evening on our own as well ( put the kids into the Sandcastle club).

I think for the most part we will be doing Breakfast and Dinner and most likely Counter Service lunches ( maybe the odd TS). But I will plan round which Parks we will be in so that we can cut down the travelling time.

And as other posters have said you don't have to eat everything on your plate do you?LOL

I think this will give the kids a bigger variety to hopefully choose new things to try ( which I doubt will happen) but at least I know that the option is there for them.

Ok Im glad i found this thread as I was really considering dropping down to the free DDP and then paying OOP for the other Character meals we wanted to do. This has made me realise that it can be done and not have to be difficult.

Thanks guys!

Carreen
xxx

 

[thej]

Oh, we love it and saved a bunch when using it, but have decided to go another route of late. I'm sure we will go back to it on one of our next few trips as the flexibility and choices were great Besides I like good food... maybe a bit too much

I do agree however that is not for everyone, and not even for every trip.

 

[seadd67]

Oh my goodness! I'm so glad I found this thread!

We are booked up to stay at the Beach Club with Deluxe Dining in October ( upgraded from Free Dining) and I have been having doubts about whether its a good idea or not from reading posts about it being too much food/ taking too much time out of the parks.

DH is determined that it great as its all paid up front ( except the tips) and we can try soo many restaurants. Which he is totally right. I suppose the way people talk about getting value for money from your TS credits I don't think will be the case for us due to having three children on the Autisitc Spectrum they can be quite fussy. So for us it will mainly be Character dining, with a few EPCOT restaraunts, HDDR, and CRT a few times ( mainly for me!LOL). We will do the Yachtsman one evening on our own as well ( put the kids into the Sandcastle club).

I think for the most part we will be doing Breakfast and Dinner and most likely Counter Service lunches ( maybe the odd TS). But I will plan round which Parks we will be in so that we can cut down the travelling time.

And as other posters have said you don't have to eat everything on your plate do you?LOL

Ya dont worry about trying to max out the value of the DxDDP use what you want,how you want. It Is amazing how great you feel walking Into a meal and knowning Its paid for. The kids might suprise you,they might like the TS meals?,and the abilty to get out of the crowd. Have a great time.

I think this will give the kids a bigger variety to hopefully choose new things to try ( which I doubt will happen) but at least I know that the option is there for them.

Ok Im glad i found this thread as I was really considering dropping down to the free DDP and then paying OOP for the other Character meals we wanted to do. This has made me realise that it can be done and not have to be difficult.

Thanks guys!

Carreen
xxx

I almost did the same thing going back to the DDP,I am so glad I did not. You have to look at the mental comfort knowing that the meal Is already paid for before even sitting down,and pick what ever you want. Right there!!, could be worth the cost of the DxDDP all by It self. The kids might suprise you,they might like the TS meals,the break from running around might be a pleasent wecome break.

 

[EclecticWAHM]

We're planning our first trip and are excited about the Deluxe plan. We're big breakfast eaters, so it made a lot of sense for us. I just couldn't make it through the day running around just having had a danish or some cereal. Being that active, I gotta have my eggs & bacon and stuff. The QS stuff looked ok, but in looking at all the TS restaurants I knew we wouldn't be satisfied with just QS. From the plans we've made and looking at menus, it looks like we'll save a couple hundred $$ compared to paying OOP and I LOVE that it's all prepaid except for the tips. It will make our vacation so much more relaxed and fun!

 

[sammysmom]

WE LOVE THE DELUXE PLAN!!! We have done the deluxe plan the past 2 years and plan on it again this year. Love the ability to eat at places we normally wouldn't--signature restaurants

 

[mommylovesdisney]

I posted on here before but I have a question for all you DxDP pros:
This is our first time with the DxDP, we did the ddp last trip and felt we spent too much oop.

so, my first ? is: we can upgrade to dx if we get free dining this fall, right? (Our TA booked our trip with DXDP and said she'll rebook if/when they release it to the Dis.Visa holders and she thinks we can pay the difference) Can anyone confirm if this is right?

Also, if anyone has ever gotten the bounceback free dining can you upgrade that to DXDP as well?

thanks so much! This thread has made me SO excited! I get to make my ADR's monday morning

 

[sherabby]

We just upgraded our bounce back dining to DxDP. I cannot wait for all of those ADR's! We are doing all our of credits as TS this trip! Some are 2 credits though so it won't always feel like all we are doing is eating!

 

[SnowWhite33]

Glad to have found this thread!

We are planning a trip with our son,15 and 2 of our dgk, 6 and 8-first trip for them. We always use the regular dining plan and do ok with it, but always end up with 3 OOP meals and always purchase at least 2 mugs.

This trip after making our ADRs I realized that again we were going to be OOP at least $300 for the meals and another $65+tax for the mugs. I looked at our plans and figured out that we would not be doing any park hopping. So when I add back in the park hopping fee for 5 tickets, mugs, and the OOP meals we would be able to go with the DxDP and have the opportunity to take in a show and a couple of 2TS meals, and add some other meals that DH would enjoy much more than the QS meals. And we can all have our favorite restaurants and can still try some new places

 

[JJsmama]

Others may argue that it takes too much time away from the parks, but one of my favorite things about the Deluxe plan was getting to take a break from walking/riding/hot or cold weather and sitting down to relax and enjoy some great food. The girls got a nice break and got their rest when they needed it. Since they napped through some of their meals, we didn't need to take all the time to go back to the hotel, rest/nap, and head back to the park.

I hope to do the deluxe plan for every trip we take in the future.

This is what I am thinking about too. I am wondering whether to upgrade from Dining to Deluxe Dining or save the $500. We will be there in July and plan to be at every rope drop, run run run then slow down for the whole middle afternoon. My mom will be with us and she is a very fit 65 yr old. Also three boys 11,9 and 2. Mom likes nice meals and I am wondering if we would like to have long peaceful lunches ay TS after the crowds start rolling in. Or, will we just not have time for all these meals? Most likely we will go to Epcot every night to dine in WS since that is grandma's favorite. Help?

 

[katieam1]

I read more "bashings" about the deluxe plan, too much food, leftovers, etc., but we really, really like it! For us, there is me (41), DH (47) and DD (9). My DH is diabetic and needs to eat three meals a day. With this plan, I know we are eating well with lots of variety, I know we will be eating at set times and we are not forced to eat all our food. Plus the added benefit is that it is paid for so I don't have to feel like I have to order salad and water.

My husband will easily eat the big steak at the Yachtsman with all the fixings and so will I. Are we fat? No, but we choose to not eat all of it, but enjoy what we do have.

I know there are others out there like me who enjoy it or Disney wouldn't even offer it, so speak out and say why you like it.

Thanks - Diane

I agree with you! We LOVE the DXDDP! DH (31), Me (26), DD (3) and DD (2) we thought it worked out wonderful for us twice in 2009 and again we booked it for our 2010 trip. We like having a character meal each morning for the kids (and me ), we like trying the different restaurants. My kids like to eat little meals more frequently through out the day. We found that they would eat at all three locations, not over eat but eat get full and then be ready for the next one when it was time. When we went in 2009 we all shared. It worked out GREAT! We ate at some great places and the kids got to experience great places that if we were just doing the regular dining would not get to go to because we would not have as many credits. I say for those who thought it was too much food fine but for us it works well. I guess each person is different but we LOVE it!!!