Deluxe Dining Plan

Suz36 · #1 05-25-2011, 09:08 PM

To anyone who has used the deluxe dining plan, what were your opinions and experiences? Was it way too much food? Did you have credits left over at the end of your trip? We're going for my 40th next year (woohoo!) and I've got lots of my favorite restaurants planned. As I'm looking at the list growing, I'm starting to think Deluxe might be the way to go. Especially since it will be during Spring Break, and I'm thinking my family would much prefer sit-downs over counter service to escape the mayhem temporarily. I still have to crunch the numbers, but would appreciate any opinions and advice. Thanks in advance!

DisneyMom12 · #2 05-25-2011, 09:19 PM

I'm doing the Deluxe Dining Plan for the first time this Aug. We got in on free dining, so we only had to pay the difference to upgrade. It made sense for us since the out of pocket expense to add all the palces we wanted to eat was pretty close. We are doing 2 TS a day, some that require 2, and will use anything left over for Earl Of Sandwich for the ride home.

DisneyaHolic · #3 05-25-2011, 09:46 PM

We used the deluxe dining plan on our last trip, and loved it. Generally, we would have a late breakfast somewhere, and then dine at a Signature Dining place for dinner, using two credits. We like enjoying a nice sit-down meal, so this worked well for us.

We did have a credit each left at the end, so we bought meals to-go at our last restaurant and took food to the airport to extend our vacation just a little longer...

paulsheri · #4 05-25-2011, 10:03 PM

We have Done both, And we like the CS Plan, there was too much Planning for the TS. We tried the CS this last time , and we really could fit it in " OUR" schedule..good Luck on your Choice, and Have a good time

SBETigg · #5 05-25-2011, 10:24 PM

It's worth it if you tend to eat three meals a day at WDW, and especially if you like Signature restaurants. Too much food? Yes. But we did use all of our credits. Some of the snack credits went to things like bottles of water, though, which is definitely not the best use of snack credits-- but when you have all that food and credits to spare, it becomes an option. Try not to book meals too close together and keep in mind that you will be trading park time for eating time (which is fine for people who have been to WDW more than a few times, usually).

We decided we wouldn't use the Deluxe Plan again- it was too much food for us. We tried to cut down on three meals a day (which just wasn't doable, too much time lost) by booking lots of Signatures and keeping to two meals most days. But that ended up to be night after night of big, rich meals, which was too much when we just wanted to run around and enjoy the parks. It slowed us down quite a bit.

ibelieveindisneymagic · #6 05-25-2011, 10:37 PM

We did the deluxe dining plan a couple of trips ago, and although we ate a lot of neat places that we wouldn't have otherwise tried, it was way too much food, and more importantly (to us), too much time spent eating.

It seemed like all we did was rush from one ADR to the next.

We've settled on the regular DDP, much more our style.

phlo8810 · #7 05-25-2011, 10:57 PM

We ALWAYS go with the deluxe plan. Yes it is way too much food, but we goto signature restaurants almost every night. We do either a late breakfast and then dinner, or a lunch and dinner. Never all three. We always have credits left over at the end, but we keep all receipts and always end up on top. It basically comes down to the cost of the plan equals our dinners and all other meals push us over the top. We also like that appetizers are included as well. Our last trip was for 13 days, the first seven of which were during food and wine fest. we had 6 of us and had something like 160 snacks. We literlally ate everything at F&W.

brivers222 · #8 05-27-2011, 10:43 AM

we are getting the DlxDP this year... Idk, i always base my disney trips around their awesome restuarant experiences. (looks down a gut... no wonder i can never stop following you around!)

I love the flexibility of trying lots of new places (and several old favorites) and not have to worry about the $$'s on the menu at the time of purchase.

mickey_M_lvr · #9 05-27-2011, 03:32 PM

I guess the biggest thing I love about the DDxDP is all i have to worry about is a tip if required. LOVE IT!! We have tried lots of different places and look forward to trying new ones on our trip in Sept.

Yes..It's a lot of food..but no one said you have to clean your plate every meal.

renecat · #10 05-31-2011, 10:59 AM

We have had Deluxe the last two years 2009 and 2010. We are only doing regular dinning this coming Nov. Want to have more time. Seems like everytime we turned around we havd an ADR to get to. We still plan two signatures that we will just pay out of pocket for. We will see how we feel after our trip. The one thing we do know is you spend more on tips with getting an app. ent. and dessert for each person. Since you still tip on what the bill would have been. There are seven women going this year so we will probably order a few apps. and just pay out of pocket for them. Part of our experiance is the food and we do enjoy our meals.