Rethinking Deluxe Dining plan... About This Page:

[ravensgirl76]

We have the deluxe dining plan for our upcoming trip, we will be in Disney for 10 days I planned out our ADR's and still have 8 TS credits left over and i think i've pretty much covered our meals. I've posted other posts but just in case you didn't read them, a bit of background lol ...we're going the first half of december, celebrating DD's 5th bday (so we def want to do Chef Mickey's and 1900 park faire that day), want to do the candlelight processional and Cinderella's royal table, and the spirit of aloha show also. We have 9 day park hopper's and since we're driving won't be there our "10th" day if that makes sense.

Should we keep the deluxe plan or go to the basic and save the money? If we downgrade will we have enough to eat? Knowing we will use 2 TS credits for some of the things we want to do, should we just keep the deluxe? We're also trying to pay for as much as possible in advance and don't want to pay OOP for food if possible. TIA for your help and advice!!!!!!

[kurtholley]

we always run out credits if we get the basic plan.

last few times have had the deluxe and it has been perfect. by the time we used 2 points for shows. usually have some snack points left ,but just grab some snacks for the trip home

[Wolfhunt]

You could add a few more signature meals in place of what you have (don't know what all you have planned besides what you listed above). Also keep in mind that the DxDP is alot of food since each meal includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. I like to eat but by mid-trip I felt I had enough food for a month. We were ok with the regular DDP on the trip we just returned from but we did not do any signature dining and did T-Rex which is not on the DDP.

[HeatherD]

I'm not a fan of doing the dining plans just to avoid paying OOP, especially if it ends up costing more in the end. With 8 TS left, I can't help but think that it is too much for what your family needs and you should probably revisit the math. You'll want to look at how you could arrange your TS credits on the regular plan, to cover the more expensive meals - but don't be fooled by some of the 2 credit meals. Some save you money, but others don't cost twice the amount of a 1 credit place, but that's what you're doing by using 2 credits.

It all comes back to "doing the math." Take a careful look at what it would cost you to eat at the restaurants you'd like and figure it from there. If it would cost more than the cost of the DxDP, then even if you're not using all the credits, then it is still probably worth it (and you can use TS credits at CS, too, right?). However, if you're spending a lot more than what you're consuming, IMO you'd be better off going OOP for some things and saving TS credits on the DDP (regular plan) for the restaurants that are "worth" the credits.

Prepaying the DDP or saving the money and setting it aside (maybe onto Disney gift cards?) is the same thing. I'd rather be able to get a few more souvies than pay extra for the perceived convenience, especially since there are still costs associated with meals (tips, drinks, appetizers, etc). You're not going to be able to dine money-free, so why not consider the gift cards (you could even mark them with Sharpies what they're for)?

[mpwife153]

When we use the BasicDP there are a few times we need to pay OOP for a meal or two,but only when we want to eat a signature meal. We have been tossing around the idea of doing Deluxe, but againonlyif we are planning on a lot of signature meals. My advice would be to look at AllEars & check out the menus where you willbe eating & see which plan would be best cost wise. If you have that many TS credits leftover after you already have your meals planned out I might go with the basic. GoodLuck!

[dwonderz]

If you have that many table credits left over I would go with basic. You could figure out your meals and see how many you would have to pay for OOP if you went basic, then go to All Ears (like MPWife said) and see how much the meals would cost OOP.

If you want to get everything "paid" ahead, how about getting some Disney Gift Cards. Figure out how much your meals will cost, put it on a gift card now and use that. I think you can use gift cards for food - but I would ask an expert !

[ravensgirl76]

great advice guys! Thanks so much

That leads me to another question...are we able to use giftcards for food??

[mpwife153]

I used Disney Gift Cards for some of my food when I was there in April.

[ravensgirl76]

i've made my decision! We're going to downgrade to the regular dining plan, rework the restaurants and with the money we're saving by doing that i'm going to switch our reservation to POR now i just need for disney's reservations line computers to come back up lol.

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice!!!

[MelissaSue]

if you won't use all the credits, you should downgrade.

if you're really against paying oop for food, take the money you get back from the downgrade and put it onto Disney gift cards. then you have the money to spend on food or souvies or use it to settle your bill at the end of the trip.

you can use the gift cards for nearly anything on property (not cabs and some of the kiosks don't take any kind of card, but most anything).

[taylan1]

We used the DlxDP on our last trip and we were there for 10days, but 10 full days, and we used our credits for some CS places as well. We did not just restrict ourselves to TS since the credits can be used for either. We still saved $$ even with the CS places. It is something to think about as well. But if downgrading and staying at a MOD works then go for it.

[chezp]

To be honest, if you have eight table service credits left over and you've already got in everything you want, then I'd look at going back down to the regular Dining Plan. If there are meals that you're happy to change out for signature experiences, then it may be worth sticking with the Deluxe Plan. Whenever we do the Deluxe Plan, we only have two meals a day and tend to have a signature meal as one of the two.

[Sue M.]

For us the Dx DDP is too much food. I don't want to do more then 1 TS meal a day.
If we add in a 2TS meal, one day we'll just eat CS for a dinner, and pay oop, saving the credit for our 2TS meal. If you want 2 sig dining, just eat CS twice, paying oop and save the credits for your 2 TS meals.
If you're staying at POR, you will have a fridge in your room to store breakfast things.
I pack bagels in our suitcase, for breakfast, and use the food court toasters. We also sometimes use our snack credits for breakfast. You can get bagels, muffins, pastry, milk & cereal, sides of eggs, bacon, or sausage.
I'll add a side of eggs or sausage with my snack credit to go with my bagel I bring from home. And use my resort mug for drinks.

[ilovedisney247]

We love the DxDP but when we use it we do a TS for late breakfast or early lunch and then a signature meal for dinner--if that doesn't sound like your plans that the DxDP likely isn't for you--if you are looking at CS meals or only 1 TS meal per day then I would switch my dining plans!

[Pax]

Originally Posted by ravensgirl76

We have the deluxe dining plan for our upcoming trip, we will be in Disney for 10 days I planned out our ADR's and still have 8 TS credits left over [...]

How many people in your group?

And, is that 8TS total, or 8 TS each ...?

If you're a family of 4, and have 8TS left total between all of you ... that's not too bad. Maybe you could sneak in ONE more 2TS meal for the family, sometime during your stay ...