Deluxe dining plan

[jenperich]

Does anyone have any feedback on the deluxe dining plan? The past two trips we've taken, we've been on the regular dining plan. We are never hungry, but the Deluxe plan always intrigues me. It will cost us an additional $600 for 10 nights, however, we love TS restaurants. My other concern is that we'll end up wasting credits due to us going during Food and Wine Festival. So, what do you think?

[wdw_bound]

We did the DxDDP during our October trip in 08. It was a special treat, as we had been doing the regular plan. Our typical day was a character breakfast early, and a signature restaurant or show for dinner. The Dx plan also enabled us to stretch out our credits to have TS on arrival and departure days as well. We enjoyed it, although it is not something we'd do every trip. We were able to try places I had always wanted to go to but didn't have enough TS credits on the regular plan.

For us, it was also a last DDP hurrah, as we are not doing a DDP at all for our next trip as DD is considered an adult now and does eat very much, which changes the value equation for us considerably.

This was also during F&W; we used a fair number of snack credits and enjoyed what we tried. We didn't do a ton of sampling as we were eating very well otherwise, but we were ok with that. However, I would like to go back one day and be able to graze the festival, LOL.

It was nice having the refillable mug, but honestly the two snack credits per person per day was too much. We usually have credits left over on the regular plan as well. We ended up buying Mickey Rice Krispie treats for DS to take to his preschool class.

[fielin]

We did the Deluxe Dinaing plan two years ago, and I'm still on the fence about it.

I loved the convenience of doing all the breakfasts, and all the signature dining we wanted. We have tried the Flying fish, Jiko, California Grill, Artist Point, and soooo many more.

You also get the appetizers included, two snacks a day, and the refillable mug.

I loved the fact that we could eat whatever we wanted without giving it a thought !

But... to be honest, it was just too much. If you want to take advantage of it, you really have to eat all the time. Our vacations sometimes felt rushed, just because we had to go from restaurant to restaurant, and we felt so full we did not enjoy many snacks.

It really was a special treat, something we really loved, but we will not do everytime. For my next trip (five weeks from now, yay !) we have decided to go back to the regular dining plan.

[JenniferS.]

We did the deluxe plan also one year. We had free regular dining and we upgraded and paid the difference!! It did feel like all we did was eat in restaurants and the kids were not feeling that at all. My husband likes it and wants it again on our next trip, but I'd rather stick to the reg. dining plan. I guess you could do less TS and more signature dining that take up more credits. Dh said we spent more money doing breakfast w/ the reg. plan because you can only get one TS a day. I think the reg. plan is just enough.:thumbsup:

[SBETigg]

If you love Signature dining, it's a good way to go because you get the appetizers, entree, dessert and can really enjoy the signature offerings- plus it takes two credits, so you're taking less time out of your day for table service meals. Except, it's still too much food. You also get two snack credits per person per day, which is great for the F & W fest. But not so great if you're too full to enjoy the snacks.

If you end up doing deluxe dining, I think you have to be willing to accept that you're probably spending more than what you get out of it and you need to be willing to know you might be not using all your credits or willing to waste some food. It's a lot of dining, big meals. A lot of time away from parks. If the food is your focus, then great. I would not do it during F & W Festival. I probably wouldn't do it again. We loved trying more of the Signature restaurants, but we had too many big rich meals and we were so full much of the time. Maybe if you're a big eater(if it takes a lot to fill you up) or you want to try more signature dining, but otherwise, I would stick to the regular plan and maybe add some OOP dining as needed/desired (and probably still spend less than the per day charge for Deluxe).

[PlutoPlanet]

Great comments all.

We're doing the DxDDP next week.

I'll plan on visiting the Fitness room.

[fielin]

Great comments all.

We're doing the DxDDP next week.

I'll plan on visiting the Fitness room.

Enjoy ! :thumbsup:

[SBETigg]

Great comments all.

We're doing the DxDDP next week.

I'll plan on visiting the Fitness room.

You won't have time. You'll be stuck at a table somewhere with piles of food in front of you. :funny:

No, seriously, that's a good plan. It's a lot of sitting and a lot of food. Worth it sometimes. Especially with the Signature dining. Enjoy!

[prttynpnk]

We use the deluxe for longer trips and if it's during F&W we do only 2TS restaurants and CS breakfasts- all the extra snacks are great for F&W- we love it!

[finaldynasty]

This will be our second year with the Deluxe plan. We did one year with the regular plan. We had extra snacks, but we had snacks for our ride back to GA. Also we stayed in the parks longer on our last day because we had a few meal credits left. The last thing I will tell you if you get it make sure you always mention to your server that you have the deluxe plan. A CM mentioned it to my DW.

[queenmom9497]

I would agree with fielin.

The one time we did the Deluxe ... it was great to have the flexibility and not have to worry about where/when to eat.

However, it was too much. Had to take snacks home (that was fine to extend the magic to home), but left meals on the card because we could not eat that much each day. Appetizers, entrees, and desserts with each meal made for overindulging and gorging.

[jenperich]

Would they let you take the desserts out if you couldn't eat it there?

[Robbieligh]

We absolutely love the deluxe dining plan. We love to dine at the signature restaurants, so we usually have breakfast and then dinner. It is difficult to use the snacks but if we have any left over, we go to Goofey's candy company and they will box your snacks up for you. If you go during the food and wine festival, you can use your snacks for the different food samples around world showcase. You will really enjoy this! Enjoy!!!!

[TheDuckRocks]

We have used the Deluxe DDP twice now. The first time was on a 5 night stay and we used it for signature dining every night and it worked out well. The second time, this past Dec., we were there for 10 nights and only did signature dining 3 times. It was way, way, way too much food and it seemed like we were always eating. Also the snack credits became an issue as we only split one Mickey ice cream once. On our last day I found myself at the Confectioners on Main Street getting 39 rice krispy treats to take home. I was leaving them along with the tips at restaurants on our drive home. Thank goodness it was right before Christmas and I used the rest of them as stocking stuffers and with the ribbons on packages. On a short trip I would do the D-DDP again but never for a long one.