I agree about the deluxe dining plan being too much work.

[willis37862]

I agree with Kevin and John about how much planning it takes to make the deluxe dining plan worth it. We have it right now but I am going to drop it for the regular dining. It is just too much work trying to make sure that we get the most for our credits...it means spending too much time jumping around to get the more expensive meals and leaves out some of the less expensive places we like to eat.

I am hoping for the free dining since we will be there in September. I was told my two different cm's that if you had the deluxe dining plan and they offer the free basic dining they will credit you the amount of the free basic dining and you would just play the difference between it and the deluxe dining to get the deluxe dining . Now I take all this with a HUGE grain of salt as I have been told so much erroneous info it isn't even funny. But I did want to ask if anyone else had heard this or did I just find two more wrong than usual cm's

 

[Applemomma]

We found the regular dining plan work too and we got that one free last September!

DH and I agreed that the next time we went we wouldn't purchase it. We just found the stress from making sure that we left in time to make our ADR's just cut too much into our enjoyment of the parks. I was NOT happy having to walk by things that I really wanted to explore in order to get to dinner. We will just book one or two meals next time and eat counter service the rest of the time ..... can't beat Figaro Fries or cheese burgers from Cosmic Rays! Plus the next time we go it will most likely be with my parents so we'll be going off property a bit more ....all you can eat at Chi Chi's!

 

[Melissa_E]

I agree with Kevin and John about how much planning it takes to make the deluxe dining plan worth it. We have it right now but I am going to drop it for the regular dining. It is just too much work trying to make sure that we get the most for our credits...it means spending too much time jumping around to get the more expensive meals and leaves out some of the less expensive places we like to eat.

I had the deluxe plan from February 5th to the 12th. It is as much work as you want it to be. You don't have to maximize your credits to make the plan "worth it." I refuse to vacation like that. Before I made ADRs I asked DH and DD where they would like to eat, we all picked the restaurants, again we didn't have maximizing the dollar in mind when we planned the restaurants. We planned to eat in the park that we were visiting that day and then to the resort restaurants that we wanted to go to. It worked really well for us.

We stayed 8 days/7 nights. We had TS breakfasts planned for 5 days, most of these breakfasts got us to the gate right at rope drop or into the park before rope drop. We had TS dinners most nights, usually in the park that we were touring and a couple nearby. We also use 20 of our 63 credits for CS meals.

With all of this in mind we still received $330+ in value over what we paid for the plan. Again, we never walked into a restaurant thinking, "How am I going to maximize our dollar?" We ordered what we felt like having even if it wasn't close to being the most expensive thing on the menu.

For us the deluxe plan was no work at all, it made sense, it was easy and we really enjoyed it.

 

[Minniemouse07]

We took a family vacation in December (me, dh, dd-6yo and ds-2yo) and used the DDP. Dd and I are returning in July for a girls only trip to celebrate her 7th bday and I've opted for the Deluxe DDP.

I have to admit...I love the planning! In fact I think it is part of the vacation experience and makes it all that much more fun!

I get a general idea of "must do" restaurants as well as about how much time we want to spend in each park. Figure out any major activities/events that we have to work around and then just wait for the park time schedule to be released!

Sometimes I purposefully utilize EMH and other times I purposefully avoid it!

After I come up with a loose park schedule (I say loose because it isn't a ride by ride list of things to do, more of a day 1- park all day, day 2 parkam/park pm, etc.), I sit down and start plugging in meals.

Then I look at where else we would like to eat and what times would be good... balancing out our days so we aren't sitting down to TS meals too closely together. Do some research on TS meals that we would like in the area we are in...and make some more decisions.

For our family trip in December the DDP worked out perfectly for us. We actually ended up w/ NO extra credits and paid OOP for two meals(one TS and one CS) and a few snacks. We did have ds with us that turned 2yo during our trip and out eats his older sister by about half again! We used a lot of snack credits for him and sometimes split dd's cs meals w/ him as well.

For dd's birthday trip we knew we wanted to do at least one "signature" meal at CRT. I crunched a lot of numbers w/ an elaborate spreadsheet and figured out it was worth it to just upgrade to the Deluxe DDP. This allows us to splurge and dine at Hollywood Brown Derby one evening before Fantasmic and do CRT and Tony's on dd's birthday.

For our four night trip (12 meal credits) I have scheduled nine TS meals. That leaves three open for us to use as CS or pick up a last minute ADR somewhere if we are really tired/hungry. Here's the schedule...

Day 1 (arrival day - plane lands MCO first thing in the morning)
AM: Check in, travel to Blizzard Beach
Lunch: CS @ Blizzard Beach
PM: Travel back to Pop, change/relax
Dinner: Chef Mickey's - later evening
Evening: Pop

Day 2
Breakfast: CS or Snack @ Pop
AM: Pirate Cruise at GF
Lunch: CS or Snack @ MK
Afternoon: MK
Dinner: 1900 Park Fare - later evening
Evening: MK (Evening EMH) or Pop

Day 3
Breakfast: Donald's Safari @ Tusker House - early
AM: AK
Lunch: CS or Snack at AK or DHS
Afternoon: DHS
Dinner: Hollywood Brown Derby - early evening
Evening: DHS / Fantasmic

Day 4 - Dd's 7th Birthday
Breakfast: CRT - early
AM: MK
Lunch: CS or Snack @ MK
Afternoon: MK
Dinner: Tony's Town Square - early evening
Evening: MK

Day 5 - Depart MCO late evening
Breakfast: CS or Snack @ Pop or Epcot
AM: Epcot
Lunch: Akershus - Noon
Afternoon: Epcot, Return to Pop, Leave for Airport

I was able to plan out our schedule about a week before our 180 day mark and sent it over to our DU TA with approximate times. She was able to get everything within 10min of our targets...except one that was 20min later!

To be honest... even if the DDP wasn't making TS meals so popular, I probably would go through the same process at 180 days out...just because I love doing it so much!

And yes I realize I'm a freak!

I have to add though... the schedule above is as far as I go w/ it. I know what park we will be in and when our TS meals are... the rest we take as it comes. I mean I know that there are certain things we want to do in each park but I don't have a step by step plan, and won't make one. We would miss too much magic that way!

I guess my long post basically says this... I really enjoy the planning and figuring everything out. In fact after all my ADRs are made at 180 days out and my confirmation numbers are all copied into my Passporter... I have nothing to do for another 170 days until I have to start packing!

 

[DisneyDame27]

I also take time to plan the meals and days for our many trips. My plan is similar to MinnieMouse07. We have tried the "fly by the seat of our pants" trips and it was a disaster! We are Disney Veterans and we know where we want to go and plan accordingly.

We leave room for flexibility also......we are not so structured that we can't change plans. We don't usually rearrange things though. I recommend making a flexable schedule/itinerary.

 

[DebºoºS]

We are Disney Veterans and we know where we want to go and plan accordingly.
We leave room for flexibility also......we are not so structured that we can't change plans. We don't usually rearrange things though. I recommend making a flexable schedule/itinerary.

I agree. We've never done any of the dining plans. I keep working the numbers but it never seems to come out to our benefit. Each trip is different though. This trip is DS and myself. It's a very flexible itinerary. We would rather have 1 TS meal in the evening and kind of work around those. I like our trips to be an adventure ....not too prepackaged.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

For our family trips the regular dining plan works great. I don't want to many TS meals with 4 kids, too much sitting around. But for our Mommy and Daddy get away in Sept. we are going to do the deluxe. We love TS when its just the two of us. We are going to try so many of the 2 credit places I wouldn't do with 4 kids and use up the credits. Here is our plan:

Arrival Day: Very Late no ADRS

Day 2: Breakfast: Tusker House
Lunch: Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner:Yachtsman Steakhouse

Day 3: Breakfast: Kona Cafe
Lunch: Rose and Crown
Dinner:Chef's de France

Day 4: Breakfast: Spoodles
Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner:California Grill

Day 5: Departure Day: Breakfast: In Bed Dining

 

[willis37862]

We found the regular dining plan work too and we got that one free last September!

DH and I agreed that the next time we went we wouldn't purchase it. We just found the stress from making sure that we left in time to make our ADR's just cut too much into our enjoyment of the parks. I was NOT happy having to walk by things that I really wanted to explore in order to get to dinner. We will just book one or two meals next time and eat counter service the rest of the time ..... can't beat Figaro Fries or cheese burgers from Cosmic Rays! Plus the next time we go it will most likely be with my parents so we'll be going off property a bit more ....all you can eat at Chi Chi's!

I know what you mean. Especially if you are walking by attractions you want to see and the wait times are low, that hurts even more.

 

[willis37862]

I had the deluxe plan from February 5th to the 12th. It is as much work as you want it to be. You don't have to maximize your credits to make the plan "worth it." I refuse to vacation like that. Before I made ADRs I asked DH and DD where they would like to eat, we all picked the restaurants, again we didn't have maximizing the dollar in mind when we planned the restaurants. We planned to eat in the park that we were visiting that day and then to the resort restaurants that we wanted to go to. It worked really well for us.

We stayed 8 days/7 nights. We had TS breakfasts planned for 5 days, most of these breakfasts got us to the gate right at rope drop or into the park before rope drop. We had TS dinners most nights, usually in the park that we were touring and a couple nearby. We also use 20 of our 63 credits for CS meals.

With all of this in mind we still received $330+ in value over what we paid for the plan. Again, we never walked into a restaurant thinking, "How am I going to maximize our dollar?" We ordered what we felt like having even if it wasn't close to being the most expensive thing on the menu.

I have to ask how you came out ahead on the deluxe dining plan using your credits for counter service? It's not that I doubt you but I would like to know because we like some counter services but it doesn't seem like a good way to use the credits.

About the maximizing the credits to make it worth it.....I just want to make sure that I come out ahead and don't just break even is what I mean. I'm not giving Disney my money all up front if I can pay as I go and spend the same.

I agree. We've never done any of the dining plans. I keep working the numbers but it never seems to come out to our benefit. Each trip is different though. This trip is DS and myself. It's a very flexible itinerary. We would rather have 1 TS meal in the evening and kind of work around those. I like our trips to be an adventure ....not too prepackaged.

Flexible is good it is suppose to be a vacation right. I wish it was 60 or even 30 days out instead of 180 , I would have a better idea of how I want to schedule everything.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I've always thought the Dining Plan seemed like too much work from the beginning, Deluxe or not.

I've never gotten the dining plan. I hate taking up park time with something so silly like eating...let alone worrying about things like points and credits.

We aren't fancy eaters, so most mornings it's breakfast in the room, with usually one character breakfast per trip and then most other meals are counter service and occasionally a nice sit down dinner wherever we can manage to get in. We go during slower times and tend to eat "off" hours so I can only think of one time we couldn't get into a restaurant we decided to try.

Now, if they had a Shopping Plan, THAT I would give that a try!

 

[Melissa_E]

I have to ask how you came out ahead on the deluxe dining plan using your credits for counter service? It's not that I doubt you but I would like to know because we like some counter services but it doesn't seem like a good way to use the credits.

About the maximizing the credits to make it worth it.....I just want to make sure that I come out ahead and don't just break even is what I mean. I'm not giving Disney my money all up front if I can pay as I go and spend the same.

Read my dining report (the link is in my signature). I have reviews of all the restaurants we went to, what credits we used when and how much the receipt said was "owed." I would compile it right now, but I have to go to the "pumpkin" store with DD.

We didn't use all of our credits at counter service, we used 20 out of 63 credits at CS. 7nights x 3 people x 3 meals=63 credits. The rest we used at TS locations. We did 3 signature meals that took up 18 credits (3 people x 3 TS x 2 credits=18). The rest were 1TS meals. We had 1 credit left over. Then we had 60 snacks total and we used them all. You also have to add in the nearly $40 for the mugs and that we didn't have to pay tax on any of our meals.

I had figured out our savings before we even left with just 12 meals preplanned for our 8day trip. At that point we were going to receive $8 in value over what we paid for the dining plan and that was figuring what I would eat and not "maximizing the plan."

 

[chirurgeon]

I am an obsessive planner. My next trip (God Willing) is 10 days in December starting the 6th. I have already planned out my park days using last year's calender and the traditional days for Mousefest. And using my traditional favorites for dining and some of Kevin's favorable reviews I have set a schedule for dining. If you want to have a nice dining experience anymore you have to plan, even if you don't have the dining plan. I plan on using the DDE. I used a spreadsheet and entered the dining costs I had an idea I would spend using the menus on the DIS and then figured the various costs. The DDE is cheaper for me than the DDP because I'm treating myself to 3 signature dinings at this point. This is a solo trip for me, unless a girlfriend is able to join me. I haven't calculated using the delux dining plan, but I don't think it will be cheaper than using the DDE because I don't eat that much. Also, since I normally tip at least 20%, the automatic tip doesn't play into the equation. Even though I'm not happy it is automatic, but that is just my non conformist side coming out.

Kim

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

We were able to take advantage of free DDP in '06 & '07. Although it was nice to be able to try so many different restaurants, I found that none of them really "wow'd" me and towards the end of our stay everything pretty much started looking and tasting the same.

During our recent long weekend in WDW, we just did counter-service and it was so nice to eat when and where we were hungry without having to plan how long it would take to get there and how many different modes of transportation we'd have to use. I felt like we were truly free to enjoy our time in the parks.

If I was having that much anxiety over using the standard DDP...I can just imagine what it would be like with the deluxe! I'm the type that would definitely try to get the biggest bang for the buck regardless of the time/inconvenience involved (sadly I was like this even when the plan was free! ). So, just for the pure sanity of my family...I think it would be best if I just stayed away from any and all forms of the DDP!

 

[Melissa_E]

If I was having that much anxiety over using the standard DDP...I can just imagine what it would be like with the deluxe! I'm the type that would definitely try to get the biggest bang for the buck regardless of the time/inconvenience involved (sadly I was like this even when the plan was free! ). So, just for the pure sanity of my family...I think it would be best if I just stayed away from any and all forms of the DDP!

I am the complete opposite, I wouldn't have a good time or as good of a time if I continually looked at how much I was paying for each meal. $60 for a breakfast buffet for 2A/1C? I would have probably had us eating CS all the time, or doing the buy a double cheeseburger and get an extra bun thing. I don't want to vacation like that. Let me write one check, get it over with and then see the menu for what I want to eat, not what I want to spend.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I am the complete opposite, I wouldn't have a good time or as good of a time if I continually looked at how much I was paying for each meal. $60 for a breakfast buffet for 2A/1C? I would have probably had us eating CS all the time, or doing the buy a double cheeseburger and get an extra bun thing. I don't want to vacation like that. Let me write one check, get it over with and then see the menu for what I want to eat, not what I want to spend.

My reasoning for feeling that the DDP is not worth the time and aggravation is that the majority of questions we get are about how to get the very most out of the plan.

We see far more of the "I want to wring every dime out of this" idea and far less of what you have described.

If you feel that you are getting a value out of the plan, thats absolutely terrific. It sounds like it might work for you

If you feel that planning every meal and every location ahead of time is not your idea of vacation and you dont want to spend that much time getting to the restaurant , than I would avoid using it.

As I explained....our server at Boatwrights started telling how to get the MOST out of our dining plan until she realized that we were not participants.

I get the feeling that the majority of people using the plan are worrying about getting the most value for their money. The experience with the server and the number of questions we get each week points me toward that conclusion.

I stand by my opinion of the DDP. For most people, it's not worth it, for several reasons.

 

[willis37862]

Read my dining report (the link is in my signature). I have reviews of all the restaurants we went to, what credits we used when and how much the receipt said was "owed." I would compile it right now, but I have to go to the "pumpkin" store with DD.

I didn't see the link, I will definitely check it out. Thanks

We were able to take advantage of free DDP in '06 & '07. Although it was nice to be able to try so many different restaurants, I found that none of them really "wow'd" me and towards the end of our stay everything pretty much started looking and tasting the same.

During our recent long weekend in WDW, we just did counter-service and it was so nice to eat when and where we were hungry without having to plan how long it would take to get there and how many different modes of transportation we'd have to use. I felt like we were truly free to enjoy our time in the parks.

If I was having that much anxiety over using the standard DDP...I can just imagine what it would be like with the deluxe! I'm the type that would definitely try to get the biggest bang for the buck regardless of the time/inconvenience involved (sadly I was like this even when the plan was free! ). So, just for the pure sanity of my family...I think it would be best if I just stayed away from any and all forms of the DDP!

That's me too.

 

[wdwscout]

I am the complete opposite, I wouldn't have a good time or as good of a time if I continually looked at how much I was paying for each meal. $60 for a breakfast buffet for 2A/1C? I would have probably had us eating CS all the time, or doing the buy a double cheeseburger and get an extra bun thing. I don't want to vacation like that. Let me write one check, get it over with and then see the menu for what I want to eat, not what I want to spend.

This is us to a "T"!
We love the DDP, and will be doing the Deluxe DDP on our next 2 trips.
For the past 15+ trips, I have always polled our family for where they wanted to eat- new places, old favorites, etc. We like variety.
Then I plug those ideas into a schedule that matches getting us into each park a couple of times during our stay. We enjoy resort meals too.

I do not like thinking about how much the total bill is. Just that I got to make some choices for foods I wanted to eat. I do not look at the prices and pick the most expensive. I pick whatever sounds good to me that day.

For our fall trip, I did try to work out the numbers to see if the DxDDP is more of a benefit or not. I can easily come out even or ahead- even with some CS meals in the mix (which we do enjoy).

Perhaps we are in the minority- I am not trying to "get a bargain"- just trying to eat well at fun places and enjoy my vacation!

 

[vellamint]

This is my opinion based on receiving free basic dining for my family back in 2006 and purchasing the Deluxe dining last week on my girls trip.

I find it too much work and too constricting.

I really loved not worrying about how much everything cost and actually tried a few new things that I would not have if I were "buying" it.....even though we DID buy it last week...it did not seem like we were paying .. you know what I mean.

Arrival day we ate at Boma (17.99) and O'Hana (27.99?) with 1 snack - this definitely did not add up to 68.99.

Tried three (3) signature meals that I would NEVER have done with my family of six so I am happy to have crossed them off my list (this would be my list of every single restaurant on property lol)

I added everything up and the Deluxe Plan cost me $420 and I ate (including Tips) $600 worth of food.......I "made out" BUT I this was only because I ordered appetizers/desserts that I normally would not have because I COULD NOT FIT THE FOOD IN MY STOMACH....yes you heard that right.....I was STUFFED the entire time we were there!!! If I had just paid OOP I am sure my bill would not have come to $600 for 5 nights/6 days. When I have a minute I am going to figure out what it would have cost if I used the DDE.

Many pros and cons but.... see the plans are work even after you are done with them lol....

(oh - and I gained 10 pounds in 6 days......some was water weight but not all!!)

 

[DisnyMama]

We found the regular dining plan work too and we got that one free last September!

DH and I agreed that the next time we went we wouldn't purchase it. We just found the stress from making sure that we left in time to make our ADR's just cut too much into our enjoyment of the parks. I was NOT happy having to walk by things that I really wanted to explore in order to get to dinner. We will just book one or two meals next time and eat counter service the rest of the time ..... can't beat Figaro Fries or cheese burgers from Cosmic Rays! Plus the next time we go it will most likely be with my parents so we'll be going off property a bit more ....all you can eat at Chi Chi's!

Yeah...us too!! We got free dining when we went for MNSSHP in 10/06 and we were really excited about it. While it was great getting to finally try Le Cellier and Coral Reef we did have ADR's at two others but chose to use CS instead because we were on limited time. I would definately never pay for it. It's just not a convenience that works for us.

 

[wishspirit]

my mom on her 'alone' trip 2 years ago in september had free dining (i can tell you i was green with envy!) She really enjoyed it, but felt so gross the whole time she was there, she wouldnt do it again (unless it was free).

We are small eaters, when we come to American we can not handle your size portions at all! A salad could pretty much feed both me and my sister! We are constantly comming back with those bag things (which is a good thing cause im a little and oftern person) so i can't see how the dinning plan would work for us. I also dont eat breakfast before going to the parks, i just have a cereal bar or a piece of bread and that will keep me going till at least 11. I don't understand how people can do rides when they are full!

I can understand why it might work for some people, but definatly not us!