Deluxe Dining Plan help

[andy773]

I found this web site has a lot of good information and reccomendations for getting the most out of any of the plans.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/disney-dining-plans/

 

[slappy magoo]

I get thirsty walking around a theme park all day, then I'll want something to munch on with the drink. So there goes my 2 credits, then knowing I have 2 extra that I didn't use the first day, I'll have to get a drink again. Lol!!!!

At the risk of sounding like a complete glutton...a helpful glutton, but a glutton nonetheless...

When you consider how hot Florida gets, you'll want to drink water more than anything else, most drinks will have something in it that will only make you thirstier. So unless you're buying some kind of specialty drink you can't get anywhere else, something that really is something like a snack in itself (or unless you're addicted to Starbucks and will be getting some ginormous coffee concoction), try not to waste snack credits on a soda or a bottle of water you can drink anytime. Buy one of those Brita bottles with a filter attachment, you can fill them up at any water fountain for free, you'll stay hydrated and have extra snack credits for stuff you can't get anywhere else...

Also, many snacks can easily be shared, some of them are really huge. Plus, if you're on the Deluxe Plan, you'll be getting a dessert with each lunch and dinner anyway. Some snacks aren't as easy to share because they're messier (any ice cream sandwich or bar that you're eating quickly before it melts and falls apart, mostly). But other desserts (even ice cream sundaes or floats, things that are self-contained so they won't break, to say nothing of cakes or cupcakes or things you can easily cut in half, or popcorn or pretzels and on and on) are easier to share. So you can easily find yourself sharing a box of popcorn with your kid or a pretzel with your S.O. or anyone else because a giant dinner is coming and you don't want to be too full for it. Then when check out day arrives, you have a crapload of extra snack credits. At which point, you can look for snacks that will travel better (or that they'll be willing to pack for traveling) and for a few days after you get home, your Disney withdrawal will be slightly tempered by cookies or rice krispie treats or other snacks you brought back with you.

 

[Cesar R M]

If you get the deluxe dinning.. stay away from the dinner shows lol, I ended with 18 unused sit down table points in my deluxe (between me and my mother)

It didn't hurt me much because I had huge discount ( I work for a consolidator travel company). But it is a huge sum if you pay normal rate.

Also, as for drinks.. you can always use the snack points to get bottled water.. they are everywhere(since Im not fan of popcorn, I used it for water, lemonade, icecream..etc..).
And also use your refillable mug too.

Also I agree with everything @slappy magoo said (except the avoiding bottled water thing lol).

You're basically allotted AN AVERAGE OF 2 snacks a day for each NIGHT of your reservation. If your trip is 8 days and 7 nights you get 14 snacks and 21 meal credits that you use or lose by the end of your checkout day but when you use those credits is up to you. You can avoid snacks till the last day and then make a hog of yourself if you want. Also, the credits are pooled amongst the whole party so you can steal all of them if you want and if you don't mind making family members cry.

I also agree.. they could also use the accumulated points for those premier dinning places; Like California Grill, which require 2 dinning points per person.
Or for the kids; the character buffets.

 

[WonderlandAlice]

We (2 adults, 2 kids) did the deluxe plan over 12 days and we were so full from our meals we didn't even consider snacks; I think we'd used maybe 7 or 8. We let the girls go nuts on the last day buying up candy, fudge, cookies etc to give to their friends and teachers and saved some money on souvenirs.

 

[Daxiegirl]

If you get the deluxe dinning.. stay away from the dinner shows lol, I ended with 18 unused sit down table points in my deluxe (between me and my mother)
.

I'm confused. The dinner shows, at least Hoop-Dee-Doo and Spirit of Aloha, are 2 credits per meal. I want to know how you got so lucky to have them count as 1 so I can try my luck too! Ah, the possibilities could be endless if that dream were to come true...

(Or was I reading that incorrectly?)

 

[Daxiegirl]

Or did you just end up cancelling the dinner shows because you were too full and that's how you ended up with extras?

 

[Cesar R M]

I'm confused. The dinner shows, at least Hoop-Dee-Doo and Spirit of Aloha, are 2 credits per meal. I want to know how you got so lucky to have them count as 1 so I can try my luck too! Ah, the possibilities could be endless if that dream were to come true...

(Or was I reading that incorrectly?)

No
The dinner shows were paid separately (not included in my dinning plan).
so I ended with the points of the day stored in my plan's account.

 

[Daxiegirl]

Oh rats...I was clearly hoping . Too much food to sample, too little time.

 

[slappy magoo]

Also I agree with everything @slappy magoo said (except the avoiding bottled water thing lol).

Well, I'm certainly not saying "don't drink water." But since bottled water in the parks is, I think $2.50, and most items under $5 are considered a "Snack item," then using a snack credit to get a bottle of water isn't the best use of your credits. This is especially true if you want to go hog wild with the sheer volume of snacks available to you, many of them you won't find locally or you'll abstain from eating when you're not on vacation because you don't want to die of a heart attack. I find the filtered water bottles (most can be found for 5-10 dollars plus possibly an additional filter which should be 4-7 dollars) to be a very good investment for a Disney trip, just fill them up at any fountain and not worry about the stink of water fountain water. If you have to buy a bottle of water in the parks, I'd suggest not using a credit to do it.

 

[Cesar R M]

Well, I'm certainly not saying "don't drink water." But since bottled water in the parks is, I think $2.50, and most items under $5 are considered a "Snack item," then using a snack credit to get a bottle of water isn't the best use of your credits. This is especially true if you want to go hog wild with the sheer volume of snacks available to you, many of them you won't find locally or you'll abstain from eating when you're not on vacation because you don't want to die of a heart attack. I find the filtered water bottles (most can be found for 5-10 dollars plus possibly an additional filter which should be 4-7 dollars) to be a very good investment for a Disney trip, just fill them up at any fountain and not worry about the stink of water fountain water. If you have to buy a bottle of water in the parks, I'd suggest not using a credit to do it.

I agree, just saying that in my case.. it was not needed.. 2 snack points per day were enough for me, plus the fact that I had points accumulated for not using them in non-park days...
Also like I said before, I was not a fan of buying things like popcorn.
The only snack I had was icecream and a icebar.

 

[slappy magoo]

I agree, just saying that in my case.. it was not needed.. 2 snack points per day were enough for me, plus the fact that I had points accumulated for not using them in non-park days...
Also like I said before, I was not a fan of buying things like popcorn.
The only snack I had was icecream and a icebar.

Yeah, but were I in your shoes, I'd still not use the snack credits for bottled water. I would have bought less-perishable snacks to bring home, whether to give them to friends as an edible souvenir (as others have suggested) or to use them as a WDW withdrawal method "man it stinks to be home but here, have some chip 'n dale cookies." If we're on the Deluxe plan I'm not sure how many snacks we'll have because we have one kid under 3, meaning she won't be on the dining plan, sneaking most meals off our plates, but she'll want treats, so it'll be 6 snacks a night amongst 4 people. But if we drive, we'll probably have a cooler with us anyway for snacks on the long drive to and from, so we can keep baked goods or fudge on-ice during the drive home, and if we don't eat it by the time we get home, it'll be nice to have afterwards.

But that's me, I'm a glutton Even if I didn't have a filtered water bottle, I'd hit a market right off-property, or the Hess convenience stores on-property, and for probably less than 1 bottle of water for each of us in the parks for one day, buy enough bottled water to make it through a whole trip for all 4 of us.

 

[mweier]

We had Standard Dining last time and could barely use our credits, though a second snack credit would have come in handy (non-room "real coffee" in resort in morning & mid-afternoon snack in park). But I can't imagine being able to use that many credits unless you are hitting some signature 2-credit restaurants (especially if you're handling breakfast the way you are, which works great for us too).

If you guys have already paid for it and just want to enjoy yourself, I'm sure you will, with little fuss. But if you're looking to save money, it's unlikely to happen unless you are really focusing on a lot of character meals or expensive signature entrees.

 

[slappy magoo]

We had Standard Dining last time and could barely use our credits, though a second snack credit would have come in handy (non-room "real coffee" in resort in morning & mid-afternoon snack in park). But I can't imagine being able to use that many credits unless you are hitting some signature 2-credit restaurants (especially if you're handling breakfast the way you are, which works great for us too).

If you guys have already paid for it and just want to enjoy yourself, I'm sure you will, with little fuss. But if you're looking to save money, it's unlikely to happen unless you are really focusing on a lot of character meals or expensive signature entrees.

Well, the other thing to consider is exactly when you arrive and when you depart. One of the reasons any of the dining plans is based on each night of your stay, versus each day of your stay, is that most people (not "all," "most," anyone's mileage may vary) tend to arrive on property late morning or in the afternoon at the earliest, perhaps later in the day, and then on check out day they tend to have to leave around lunch time or mid afternoon to catch their flight back.

But if you were able to arrive on property very very early, do an early check in (even if your room's not ready they can activate your bands to your tickets and any extra benefits like the dining plans), and then on check-out day catch an extremely late flight home, to the point that you could even have dinner at the resort...well then, now if you're enjoying a 7 night stay, you could conceivably eat all meals on site for 8 days.

I know for my family, our next check in is on a Sunday, but we're leaving our home in Jersey on a Friday afternoon. If driving is a pain in the neck, we intend to get to Jacksonville on Saturday night, sleep over and be on property by noon on Sunday. But if we make really good time, we're switching to arriving on site on Saturday, getting a room wherever we can, hitting the hay early, and checking in at BLT early Sunday morning. Our reservation is split up between 6 nights DVC points and 1 night cash, so we can only get a dining plan for the 6 night stay. So 18 credits for 7 full days on property. Even with only 2 meals booked per day, that's 16 credits right there, all at table service meals, mostly character meals. I'm trying to balance things out by either having a late breakfast or an early dinner each day, so lunch can be covered either by snacks or by sharing a meal at a counter service place. But that still only leaves 2 credits for each person.

 

[LWB]

The deluxe plan is a LOT of food! I agree with the others that it's likely you'll have snack credits remaining at the end of the trip - stock up on candy on the day you leave. Great souvenirs to bring back to friends!

 

[harryk]

Yes - deluxe is a lot of food - however it permits you to try anything you want and any of the restaurants you choose to dine in. When we are on vacation we like to be served - not to be the server. How you divide up your meal points is up to you -- signature dining, sit-down dining or table service. There are enough points to meet your needs if you stop and figure them out before entering your first meal point. So you may have some snack credits left over..... did you use some for breakfast or a sit down breakfast? This is the beginning of planning out what you want to do when it comes to eating. -- also consider if you may be leaving the park to visit another outside of WDW, ie Sea World, Universal Studios -- this may cause you to have extra points when you get toward the end of your WDW visit........
As much as some guests like to be off the cuff with a visit to a theme park -- a little planning is necessary to max out your points.