Would you upgrade the dining plan?

[TARAMEOW]

We are just two adults going in September we are staying at a value for 12 nights. If we get free dining we can upgrade to the regular DDP for 432$. So far we have ADRs

dinner TRex
dinner Chef mickeys
Lunch Sanaa
Lunch 50s
Dinner Sci fi
Dinner Akershus

And we can still make 6 more ADRs if we upgrade. Can you help me make sense of the numbers? Not sure what's best to do.

 

[Minniesgal]

Personally I think 6 days of 2 TS per day might put me off food for life!

i wouldn't upgrade for the meals you were planning the regular dining plan is fine for those. For me the only reason to upgrade would be to eat at signatures.

 

[navywifetill2002]

We are just two adults going in September we are staying at a value for 12 nights. If we get free dining we can upgrade to the regular DDP for 432$. So far we have ADRs

dinner TRex
dinner Chef mickeys
Lunch Sanaa
Lunch 50s
Dinner Sci fi
Dinner Akershus

And we can still make 6 more ADRs if we upgrade. Can you help me make sense of the numbers? Not sure what's best to do.

Akershus will cost you about $90, and Chef Mickey's about $70 so you're fast approaching the upgrade cost with just 2 of your 6 meals and adding 6 more would just increase your value. What will you eat at the other places? Will you want a meal, drink, dessert each place or would you be happy with just an appetizer? Usually it seems the upgrade is worth it if you're going to eat big or just don't want to worry about what the cost is at each meal.

We upgraded last year and did character meals for all our TS so we really got our $$$ worth on the upgrade. This year if I can talk some friends into a girls trip we'll stick with the QS and maybe just do 1 TS out of pocket, that way we'd still have our 2 QS each day.

 

[navywifetill2002]

Personally I think 6 days of 2 TS per day might put me off food for life!

i wouldn't upgrade for the meals you were planning the regular dining plan is fine for those. For me the only reason to upgrade would be to eat at signatures.

The upgrade would only be to DDP which is 1 TS and 1 QS each day. The Free Dining for the Values is just QSDP and it's $18 per night to upgrade to the standard plan.

 

[3PrinceMom]

The upgrade would only be to DDP which is 1 TS and 1 QS each day. The Free Dining for the Values is just QSDP and it's $18 per night to upgrade to the standard plan.

Totally worth it to me. I have always upgraded from QSDP to DDP (not deluxe) when at a value resort. I can only do quick service so much! Any trip over 4 days...table service is a must! IMO, it's worth it! Although, it's a tactic to suck you in more, lol. I'm now AP holder....and prefer the TIW discount and room discount over free dining.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Yes, I would upgrade. I'm not a big fan of the dining plan, since it's too much food for us personally. However you're there for 12 days and 2 meals already is going to set you back more than 1/3 of your DDP.

 

[Hopefully]

The method to assess the dollar value is to look at the menus for the restaurants you will make ADR's for and look at the prices for the things you would order. Add up those costs and compare it to the cost of upgrading to the DDP. The menus are available here on the DIS and also at allearsnet.com
Personally I would upgrade.
Have Fun

 

[minnierocks]

For us...absolutely! We look forward to having a sit down meal every evening. It is our time to decompress and enjoy dinner. We love the dining plan and miss it when we don't have it. Others do not like the schedule of having to sit down to dinner every night, so this is going to depend on your touring style. I do agree that it is a lot of food! We generally do not eat all the lunch desserts and we always find that we are using snack credits at the end of the week for snacks to take on the way home. But we love the convenience of how it works and the fact that we don't need to "eat cheap". We can make reservations for wherever we want and never look at menu prices.
I have considered going with the QSDP, but I like eating better food for dinner and being served. I think by the end of the week, I would be tired of only eating quick service.

 

[Jonathan Swift]

We are just two adults going in September we are staying at a value for 12 nights. If we get free dining we can upgrade to the regular DDP for 432$.

Just curious, if you DON'T take advantage of the free dining, can you get your rooms for cheaper? Are you working with a travel agent or doing this on your own?

 

[faindrops27]

The places you have listed will set you back the price of upgrade so yes! We always get the regular dining plan.

 

[faindrops27]

Yes, I would upgrade. I'm not a big fan of the dining plan, since it's too much food for us personally. However you're there for 12 days and 2 meals already is going to set you back more than 1/3 of your DDP.

I never understood this, to much food statement. I am curious what exactly makes it to much food? At home, we eat 3 meals per day with a snack in between. Is it the dessert at lunch? I usually skip the dessert all together or get a fruit cup if a sweet snack is needed. We always for the most part sans a dole whip or two. Accumulate our snack credits to take home..

We usually eat a cereal bar (from home) while getting dressed 7 a.m.
A counter service lunch w/out dessert. 10:30 a.m. (to beat lunch crowds.)
A sit down dinner at 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.

 

[poohbear13]

if it was me, yes, i would upgrade. you can find lots of good QS meals, but we like to have at least one table service meal each day of our trip.

 

[belle912]

For the upgrade price it will be well worth it! The places you have listed already will pretty much take care of the upgrade. When you add in QS breakfasts and the added lunch/dinner reservations for TS you will be ahead in the end and still have some wonderful meals. I think the excellent TS is part of the overall Disney experience. It wouldn't be the same for me if we weren't eating some great meals!! You can always add the snack credits up and used them before you leave and take them as gifts or just to brighten up your day with disney munchies for the ride home!

 

[Nohal]

We are going in September staying in a value and booked bounceback last year so we already have the QSDP for free. We will definately upgrade as soon as they announce free dining. I have called twice to upgrade my plan but both times the CM's were quoting me the entire price for the DDP instead of the upgrade. Seems they couldn't find a free dining code to apply it to. So I figured I would wait until free dining is announced and then call. To me it is worth the $18 a day for a sit down dinner. I look at it this way, first it would cost me more than $18 for a full day of food and second I am on vacation so I plan on enjoying myself.

 

[cwt580]

We are just two adults going in September we are staying at a value for 12 nights. If we get free dining we can upgrade to the regular DDP for 432$. So far we have ADRs

dinner TRex
dinner Chef mickeys
Lunch Sanaa
Lunch 50s
Dinner Sci fi
Dinner Akershus

And we can still make 6 more ADRs if we upgrade. Can you help me make sense of the numbers? Not sure what's best to do.

not totally sure if OP realizes value free plan is QXDP NO TS included. definitely upgrade to at least reg DDP. those meals you have picked are not on the QXDP that comes free if free dining is offered. WE do the DXDP cause we want whatever we want........

 

[faindrops27]

not totally sure if OP realizes value free plan is QXDP NO TS included. definitely upgrade to at least reg DDP. those meals you have picked are not on the QXDP that comes free if free dining is offered. WE do the DXDP cause we want whatever we want........[/QUOTE

Cool, we have thought about doing deluxe. To be able to take advantage of signature meals..So, with deluxe I was thinking we would have to eat a breakfast TS, skip lunch and have a signature dinner..But what always deters me from upgrading is, I'm not really a breakfast lover, I would rather have lunch..Can you share how you work out the deluxe plan..

 

[TARAMEOW]

Thank you all for your input. I think we will go ahead and upgrade to the regular dining plan. And make 6 more ADRs. I think a full week of QSD would drive me nuts

 

[ArmyVet80]

We always get the DXDP. The way we plan it out is to have earlier lunches during the days and signature dinners or dinner shows. Get a lunch around 11 am and then a dinner around 7 pm if available and you are set. You have 2 snacks per person per day so if you feel the need to grab something quick you can. We usually pick up some fruit and/or water. Our last trips dining looked a little like this:

Day 1: Lunch at 11:30 am at Sci-Fi
Dinner at 7:30 pm at Hollywood Brown Derby

Day 2: Lunch at 11 am at Rose & Crown. First ones through the doors.
Dinner at 6:55 at Biergarten

Day 3: Lunch at 11 am at Yak & Yeti
Dinner at 8 or close to 8 at Spirit of Aloha

Day 4: Lunch at 11 am at Tony's
Dinner at 7 pm at Liberty Tree

Day 5: Lunch at 11:30 am Via Napoli
Dinner at 7 pm at Morocco

Day 6: Lunch at 12:20 pm at Le Cellier (1 TS at the time)
Dinner at 8 pm at Hoop Dee Doo Revue

Day 7: Lunch at 1 pm at the Biergarten
Dinner after we arrived back home.

Gives you plenty of time to ride some rides before lunch and then gives you ample time to ride more rides before dinner. We make a spread sheet on Excel and tape it to our resort room door so we can see it every day before we head to the parks. It has all of our dining info (including reservation #'s) along with EMH and all the other fun stuff.

This was not our exact eating schedule as it only has 30 of the 36 total meals. I know we used all 36 meals (3 x 6 days= 18 x 2 people= 36). My wife hit up the candy store at DTD to finish off our snacks too. She had a huge bag full of goodies she wanted like a chocolate covered Mickey brownie and about 12 chocolate covered strawberries. lol

 

[faindrops27]

Thank you ArmyVet for sharing this, this schedule sounds perfect!!