to do or not to do the deluxe dining plan

[faberj]

My DH and I are going to the world next december (08). I have been ready the boards on the new plans but just can not decide what to do.
We generally do a char breakfast, snack or cs for lunch and a ts dinner. For dinner we either share an appi or get our own salad or soup, entree and very rarely get dessert and if we do we share otherwise we sometimes get a snack later in the night. It is a lot of food if we were to order everything, but we would not do that. We would really like to try some sig. dining like cali grill, narcoosees, artist point. I know we most likely will not save a lot of money with the plan but would hope we would break even.

Having paid for ahead of time is nice and we would order what we wanted and not worry about the price. I think if we paid OOP, we would really watch what we were ordering and maybe go for cheaper item. I do not know if it our mind set or what, but when we have been on trips where we pre paid our meals we tended to enjoy it more then when we were paying at each meal.

Please let me know your thoughts and what you all are doing.

Thanks!!

[k_reile]

Personally I would say no. Dh and I thought the basic plan was way too much food. We were always miserable. The only nice thing about the premium would be that you don't necessarily have to do counter service, would you? That was one thing we did not like. The counter service restuarnats are pretty much the same mass produced food. But we found the ts resturants fine just more food than we would normally order.

[faberj]

if we did the deluxe plan the only cs places I think we would do are cosmic rays at MK and sunshine seasons at EPCOT. Otherwise no, we like to try to eat on the healthier side for our meals and stay away from the bugers and fires.

[SBETigg]

If you really want to go all out and enjoy your signature dining, yes maybe worth it. But only if you plan to eat, not split meals, and make it worth it. Considering your typical eating pattern, I would say it might be too much food.

But you could do a character breakfast every day, some really good signature dining for dinner, and you have options for lunch that may go unused but still be worth it for the ability to prepay and indulge in the signature dining. I would look over the menus, think what you might order, and do the math because you're on the border between making it worth it or paying too much for too much food.

[Tygger7]

Another factor, besides cost, that influences our decision to do the dining plan is not having to worry with paying for meals once we are at WDW. Like you said, it's a huge convenience factor, and one less thing to worry about. For us, it's a cost savings as well because we will each be ordering a meal & dessert. Then, we all sample each others meals, so we get to try more things. :) I know this may sound funny, but for me at least, eating at all of the different restaurants is part of our WDW experience. Years ago, before any of the dining plans (I know, I'm old), I remember always being starved at the parks because my parents were watching every penny we spent on meals...which were always counter service. I've made it a point to never be hungry at WDW again..:party:

[luvdiznee]

Quick Question: Does the DDP include the TIP on the TS meals? :mickey:And I think if doing Sig's may be worth it but may still be too much food for some. :confused:

[Figgyluv03]

The 2008 DDP doesn't include tip. DBf and I looked at the Deluxe, but it's just way too much food and to even break even, we would ahve to TS for B, L & D and since it's DBf's first time, it would take away from the parks so we decided with just the basic. We're not big on breakfast, so a quick bagel is fine with me. I'd rather be at the parks for rope drop then still sitting in a restruant.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We've decided to go with the Deluxe for our May 2008 trip. It was a hard decision, but in the end we decided that it will give us the chance to try some 2TS places that we would have otherwised not tried, and allows us to enjoy the trip, without worrying about the $$'s all of the time.

We figure we'll do 2TS a day, which will let us try tons of new places...we're actually really looking forward to it.

For us, DD was a factor, she'll turn 10 during our trip, and since she'll have to order kids stuff, the appetizer and dessert ensures we'll all have lots to share with her.

This is a harder decision then the old plan, isn't it! :confused:

[Itchy]

Last May we had the basic dining plan and even with all of the food I did not gain a pound:thumbsup:. I would credit that to all of the walking that you do in the parks.

I am considering the delux plan for the next trip just so I can go to more signature resturants:chef:

Enjoy....

[RaRaRoundTheWorld]

I don't know if you have small children. But if you do, they might not want to sit down at restaurants for so many meals.

[disneymomw_3boys]

Having done all the plans throughout the year, I would have to say that if you do the Deluxe plan to eat..... alot. Each meal has an appetizer, salad, main course and desert. Its a lot of food.

We did the Grand Plan on a 8 day trip a few years back and by the last day we were tired of nice sit down meals, mind you this is comming from someone who likes nice sit down meals.

What we have since done is used the basic plan but on one night we will spend two meals to eat at someplace like California Grill or Flying Fish and then the next day purchase a hamburg at the park or the like.

It seems to work well for us, and we usually will have about 4 nice sit down meals on each trip.

[spoiledraf]

I assume we are talking about the premium plan here. We have used it the last four trips. Keep in mind that you do not have to do the sit down meals. Counter service is also paid for. I can't think of any place to eat that is not included. You also have use of all recreational opportunities. Water skiing, parasailing, all boat rentals and bikes, my personal favorite, Bass fishing, at which I spent 10 hours on the water last trip at $100 an hour That alone was worth triple what I paid extra for the premium plan. Most tours are included, Keys to the Kingdom is great, and you get free tickets to Circe de Sole as well. (Last trip, a month ago, it was closed for the week so they gave us 3 $81 gift cards instead) With tip, our signature dining dinners were about $80 (3 people-no alchohol-$240) per person per dinner. If you are going to eat at those types of restaurants every evening, factor that in. And a little clue. As near as I can tell, although it says one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner per night of your stay, you get 3 points for food per day. If you want to eat three signature dinners a day, you can. A breakfast point has the same value as a dinner point. That also means if you skip a breakfast or lunch one day, you can eat a signature dinner your last day at Disney.

My advice is, get the appitizers and desserts, but don't eat every bite. Enjoy the great food in moderation. Other wise you will be a bit uncomfortable, and gain a few pounds! I gaind 9 pound in 4 days. ( But it's all gone already)

[sagessa]

I assume we are talking about the premium plan here.

Actually, the plan that the OP is asking about the the Deluxe Dining Plan add-on for the Magic Your Way packages. Unlike the premium plan, this one is dining only. You receive 3 meal entitlements per night, per person. It's an additional $69.99 per person, per night (for adults), and doesn't inclued the recreation like the Premium Plan.

To answer the OP's question... Jym and I are definitely doing the Deluxe Dining next year. We eat at a lot of signature restaurants for dinner, and usually do table service for lunch (with most of our counter services meals either going to waste or being used for "snacks" that we split). We've been paying out of pocket for most of those lunches and with the deluxe, those will all be covered.

Rachel R.