WWYD? Deluxe or Regular

[aljack33]

I cannot decide between the regular dp or the deluxe dp. The way I figured it out, there would be a $500 savings if we just did the regular. Now, if we did just the regular, we wouldn't eat at Narcosse's or LeCellier or Polynesian in room dining. Those would be crossed off our list.

I included $150 in extra snacks on my regular figure. Tips, I figured out. And there is a difference of $517. So, i guess my question is - is $500 savings worth the convenience of having everything paid for beforehand. Plus, I would get to keep LeCellier, Narcosse's, and room service. Not to mention a few appetizers. Although, most of our TS now are buffets, so the appetizer is not a huge deal.

Thoughts? Help? So, I can finally stop thinking about it!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

There are some things you should consider when trying to decide which meal plan you should go with.

1) If this is your first trip, I would go with regular DP. You will spend a little more time than usual eating so you won't see the parks as much. If this isn't your first trip, it should be fine.

2) How will you be traveling? If you have your own car, its a big plus because it will be much easier to get to the resorts if your on the deluxe plan. It's very hard to get from resort to resort on disney transportation.

3) Picky eaters. Both plans come with a ton of food and if you think most of it won't be eaten, then you should go with the regular so you won't be throwing out the money you spent on the plan.

4) For the most value on the deluxe, you'll need to eat at mostly all TS meals. If you want to save time by eating at counter service, it's not worth the extra $$$.

5)If you have very young children who can't stay up too late, the regular will be best because on the deluxe, you'll have to seperate your meals or you'll always be full. If you do this, your last meal will have to be late such as 8pm or later and small kids will have a hard time staying up that late after a long day at the parks.

Consider all this before deciding and pick what you think will work out the best for your family.

 

[Wendybird55]

Hi,

In the good ol' days when Disney first started dining plans it was 3 meals - sit down - everything included - all restaurants - I went to Albert & Victorias on 1 DP point!!

Anyway, the deluxe plan is ALOT of food and alot of time eating. By the end of our stay we were sick of all the food and when we had it it didn't include snacks (we didn't want any!). The Deluxe plan is good if you are going when the parks are open late most days - or you like to go to Pleasure Island and Downtown Disney at night - this way you can spread your meals out more.

Because you're on the plan and you know you're paying for it you tend to order more food than you usually do (at least I did). By getting free appetizers and desserts you tend to order both to try them and because everything looks so good. Also since tip is included, the wait staff of course wants you to order everything and the most expensive to help increase their tip (a % of the bill). I found it hard to resist ordering all the goodies and not making reservations at the better restaurants - again I figured I'm paying for it and I want to get my money's worth and this is a great way to try all the different restaruants at Disney.

It's a great plan, but again you find you spend more time than usual dining and after a few days it gets to be too much.

If I were you, I would make a meal itinerary of all the places you and your family would like to go for the various meals. If you only want counter service or a snack for lunch include it in your itinerary. Then you can go to allearsnet.com and check out the menus and prices of the restaurants and this may help you figure out if the deluxe plan is a savings or not. You may pleasantly find out that if you go to just one nice restaurant a day for dinner and maybe do some character breakfasts and CS lunches you will still save money on the Deluxe plan. Maybe knowing ahead of time you're still getting your money's worth even if you don't order everything offered on the plan you may not overindulge.

Also - odn't forget those snacks! But if you're going during a hot time you will probably easily use them for drinks.
Wendybird

 

[MouseFan71]

Has Le Cellier changed from 1 credit to 2 credits? I guess I'm not undertanding why you would cross that off, when we went in Dec it was one credit.

 

[fall08CP]

We did the regular and were beyond stuffed.

 

[rentayenta]

The regualr DDP is a ton of food. I can't even imagine doing the deluxe and not being too stuffed to move. I think you should consider how much time you want to spend dining because that is a lot of sit down meals on the deluxe.

 

[aljack33]

1. This is not our first trip. It's actually our third. Second with kids.

2. We are staying at the Poly and will not have a car. But my choices of meals do not require much travel at all.

3. Picky eaters. Me and DH are not. My DD13 is most of the time. DD5 is not and will be on the kids plan. DD13 is another story. She loves salads and dessert. She will most like pick at the TS credits, is my bet. Buffets she will have fun with and eat a lot.

4. I do have all TS on my plan with a few Room Service in there two, which are 2 credits.

5. My youngest is 5. I have it set now where we are mostly doing character breakfasts anywhere between 9 and 10 and then a sit down TS around 6 or 6:30. Some signature and one at CRT.

 

[aljack33]

Le Cellier is still only 1 credit, but of all the places we are choosing to eat it, that would be the first off of our list. I do not think my DD13 would enjoy it. Me and DH would love to try it, but it is not crucial that we do. So, I would take that one off the list first.

 

[aljack33]

I thank you all for the replies, so much. Your opinions are very helpful. It might be more helpful if I told you our plans:
Day 1 - CS lunch upon arrival; LLT for Dinner
Day 2 - CS breakfast; CRT LUNCH, Chef Mickey's Dinner
Day 3 - Hollywood and Vine late breakfast; Ohana Dinner
Day 4 - Character Breakfast at AK; LeCellier Dinner
Day 5 - Askerhouse Breakfast; Narcosses Dinner
Day 6 - Beaches and cream early lunch; Teppan Edo for dinner
Day 7 - Crystal Palace; Breakfast; Kona Lunch; PP Party Room service after
Day 8 - O'Hana Breakfast; Coral Reef Dinner
Day 9 - LLT Lunch; Garden Grill Dinner
Day 10 - ESPN Lunch; 1900 Park Fair Dinner
Day 11 O'hana Breakfast; Capt' Jacks early dinner

Hope this helps better. I still have a few credits, but those would be used for a few CS here and there to split when we get hungry in between.

 

[aljack33]

Also, our touring plans are pretty tight. I do not deviate much! We do EMH in the mornings at a certain park. Afternoons are always free for us to do what we want, swim, see a parade, hang by the pool, jump from park to park to do something. Evening is dinner and then hang at a park to watch fireworks.

We are there 11 days, so I know we can do what we want. Although, last year, being there 10 days, we weren't able to

My DD5 will eat her weight in Mickey bars so I don't think the snacks are going to be a problem. Plus, I would like to take something back for her class like a mickey rice krispie treat or something. I think the snack credits will be used.

I just keep going back and forth. $512 vs. convenience. Convenience vs. lost times in parks. Although, last year our CS almost took as long as our TS timewise.

 

[irene_dsc]

Without counting, it looks like you'd have to lose a lot of TS meals to get that schedule to work with the regular DDP. I guess the question is, do you want to pay $500 more to eat all those TS meals?

 

[Terk-1]

I used the regular dining plan on my last trip. Although it was great to have meals prepaid, I did not get to do alot of signature restaurants. I also did alot more CS meals then I wanted.

I priced my upcoming trip between the regular & deluxe dining plans and it ends up costing me about $200 more for the deluxe for 10 days. The deluxe offers 3 meals a day, so it's giving me the chance to dine at the California Grill, Flying Fish, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Cindy's, Hoop, Brown Derby and a few others, as well as at my favorites, such as Le Cellier, 50's Primetime & the Crystal Palace. I decided it was worth the extra $200, since a meal at one of these signature places can easily run anywhere from $55-$85 or more for just that meal. It also offers 2 snacks a day & the free refill mug. It's alot of food, but I have it planned out where I do a TS for breakfast on most days (couple of lunches on other days) and a really nice TS for dinner each night. I also factor in AM EMH & evening EMH, so I don't feel like I'm wasting alot of time eating. Also, not that I am a fast eater, but my meals hardly ever take more than an hour from start to finish.

 

[LSchrow]

from what you have listed, it looks like the DxDP was made for your family DxDP really is a great deal if it fits a family's style of eating.
you would have to cross off at least 10 choices to do the DDP (which i doubt you would have included if you didn't want them, & will prob wind up paying OOP for once you're there ).
a big question though: have you done the DDP in the past? if yes, you know the amount of food & time it takes, & i would definaely say do the DxDp ~ no question

 

[aljack33]

Again, thank you for the replies! We did do the dp last April. We loved it. We used all our TS and actually I paid OOP for one TS. We went way over on snacks - my children are snackers - and we probably paid an exta $50 for snacks. Then we had a few CS left over. I think maybe at the most 1 or 2. I don't think we ever felt rushed while eating.

When I figured the $512 difference between DP and DDP, we would only be giving up Narcosse's, LeCellier, O'hana breakfast and Kona Dinner by doing the DP. It actually is $1,020 to upgrade to the Deluxe, but with my figuring in what I would pay OOP for the ones I know we would still do, there is a balance of $512. I didn't include the free mugs. We bought 2 last year and would do the say same this year if only doing DP.

 

[aljack33]

When we did the DP last year, we never had any trouble with timing. I am hearing a lot of timing issues from people this year. We never waited more than 10 minutes to get into our ADR and after that, we never were in the restaurant for longer than an hour. Were we spoiled that way last year?

When we ate at Cosmic Ray's, we were there for an hour, I know. And actually one time at a CS in MGM, we were there close to an hour. Other than that, I think we ate most of our CS at the poly. And that was DH going to get the food and brining it do us in the room.

Thank you all for your replies. You are giving me a lot to think about. I still haven't made up my mind tho!