doing the math

[EvilQueen-T]

history: i've only used the deluxe dining plan 4 or 5 times and always when i traveled with adults only who look at dining as just as much a part of the vacation as seeing a show or riding a ride. on these trips we only booked signature venue dinners and used whatever was left of our credits for a few table service lunches. this summer my sister, her husband, and her very "busy" 6 year old daughter are joining my granddaughter and i for a 7-10 day trip at disney. my granddaughter and i are disney vets and both love doing a nice dinner (she wants to be a chef) but my niece is not the best behaved kid so we'll be lucky to survive getting through one sit down meal a day and probably nothing in the signature category. when we did the dining plan in the past it was so everyone could have their vacation price up front and budget accordingly so we were paid off before we went (these were always girls only type vaca's so it was always everyone needs to put aside x dollars to cover room, meals etc...).

problem: right now my sister and her husband are stuck on deciding to upgrade from a value resort using a deluxe dining plan versus a stay by us at por and use the regular dining plan. i've never done the regular dining plan and never done a dining plan with a kid along. i know i'm missing the big picture lol but quite frankly i'm not sure how to do the math on this one to figure out which way they'll save more money especially when factoring in a child on the dining plan.

 

[stevehousse]

If I was a kid I think I would rather spend 5 or 6 hours at wdw going on rides than sitting in a restaurant for that amount of time!

 

[Figgy1]

If I was a kid I think I would rather spend 5 or 6 hours at wdw going on rides than sitting in a restaurant for that amount of time!

No way you're going to get a kid to do 2 or 3 ts a day!!!!!! Gee I can bearly get my little commmandos to do one and not even every day and they love to eat (1 teen male)Touring, touring, and touring a grabbing cs or a snack along the way make happy little campers. My multiple sit down days will have to wait until they get older but that's just us. Good luck

 

[zurgandfriend]

No way you're going to get a kid to do 2 or 3 ts a day!!!!!! Gee I can bearly get my little commmandos to do one and not even every day and they love to eat (1 teen male)Touring, touring, and touring a grabbing cs or a snack along the way make happy little campers. My multiple sit down days will have to wait until they get older but that's just us. Good luck

I agree I can only get my dear wife to do 1 sitdown meal a day when we are there.

 

[copcarguyp71]

No way you're going to get a kid to do 2 or 3 ts a day!!!!!! Gee I can bearly get my little commmandos to do one and not even every day and they love to eat (1 teen male)Touring, touring, and touring a grabbing cs or a snack along the way make happy little campers. My multiple sit down days will have to wait until they get older but that's just us. Good luck

Totally agree...you may have to throw your usual method of attacking disney out the window and start with a new plan. We have never done the deluxe dining plan so I cannot speak from experience on that but the standard dining plan has always worked great for us and DD has been going since she was three (3,5,7,9). As far as advice, plan on some character dining and make sure the kiddo has an autograph book....keeps them occupied so you can actually chew before swallowing!

As far as the math goes...it makes my head pound every time I try to do this! Simply put, we do the DDP so that we have a known budget for our vacation and do not find ourselves eating snacks on the last day to stay within budget. I do not know if there is really any sure fire (at least I have not been able to do it) way to do the math for sure and certain. Basically either it makes sense and feels right or it doesn't.

 

[bmarkelon]

I agree with above advice. I have experienced Deluxe dining twice and both were with our kiddos, though we ate the most fabulous meals these trips we were losing patience at tables towards the end and the kids just couldn't behave anymore. My kids have always been well-behaved. So we decided to ditch the deluxe for now until they are older, they were around the 2-5 range for these trips. I find the basic dining to be perfect for us for this stage in our lives. We actually even through in a dinner at Flying Fish last trip for a treat; it's the signature I feel most comfortable in with the little ones. We paid out of pocket for a couple breakfasts to use 2 table points there.
Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Jessica Meier]

history: i've only used the deluxe dining plan 4 or 5 times and always when i traveled with adults only who look at dining as just as much a part of the vacation as seeing a show or riding a ride. on these trips we only booked signature venue dinners and used whatever was left of our credits for a few table service lunches. this summer my sister, her husband, and her very "busy" 6 year old daughter are joining my granddaughter and i for a 7-10 day trip at disney. my granddaughter and i are disney vets and both love doing a nice dinner (she wants to be a chef) but my niece is not the best behaved kid so we'll be lucky to survive getting through one sit down meal a day and probably nothing in the signature category. when we did the dining plan in the past it was so everyone could have their vacation price up front and budget accordingly so we were paid off before we went (these were always girls only type vaca's so it was always everyone needs to put aside x dollars to cover room, meals etc...).

problem: right now my sister and her husband are stuck on deciding to upgrade from a value resort using a deluxe dining plan versus a stay by us at por and use the regular dining plan. i've never done the regular dining plan and never done a dining plan with a kid along. i know i'm missing the big picture lol but quite frankly i'm not sure how to do the math on this one to figure out which way they'll save more money especially when factoring in a child on the dining plan.

We did the Plus Dining Plan and loved it with our then 3 year old. We are seriously considering doing the Deluxe Meal plan so we can enjoy more sit downs and character meals. Our daughter always does well in restaurants, mainly b/c we keep her busy and entertained. Sometimes it just takes making simple things into fun games that don't distract others while eating. They can always ask for the break down on how much they will spend per day per guest when they book. I booked a 5 day and we are paying $58 per adult and $20 for every child under 10 to eat on the Dining Plus (1 sit down, cs, and snack per person per day). More than enough.

 

[sgtmgd]

I use the Deluxe Dining plan..but ALWAYS double up meals for signature venues, kids by and large get over tired at WDW..nature of the beast...I try to have one nice sit down a day, usually late afternnon to have that nice break before spending the evening and night in a park. Breakfast buffets take no time you eat and leave..even a character breakfast isnt a time consuming event..lunch is whatever we decide....I think you have more flexibility with it than without.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

If I was a kid I think I would rather spend 5 or 6 hours at wdw going on rides than sitting in a restaurant for that amount of time!

i agree...that's why when i go with my granddaughter (age 8) i don't bother doing a dining plan, we often book a sit down dinner but that's it. i only do a deluxe dining plan with adults and it's still soooo much food even with booking all 2 credit dinners for each day not just each night of stay booked. it's my sister's family whose the issue. it's only their second trip as a family and they're wanting to do better meals but like to pay for everything up front so are considering the deluxe plan.

 

[Figgy1]

i agree...that's why when i go with my granddaughter (age 8) i don't bother doing a dining plan, we often book a sit down dinner but that's it. i only do a deluxe dining plan with adults and it's still soooo much food even with booking all 2 credit dinners for each day not just each night of stay booked. it's my sister's family whose the issue. it's only their second trip as a family and they're wanting to do better meals but like to pay for everything up front so are considering the deluxe plan.

good luck!

 

[EvilQueen-T]

good luck!

thanks! . at this point i just want them to make a decision so i can make adr's. we're already past the 180 day mark and i'm a planner so it's about to give me hives and an ulcer with the waiting lol.

 

[Figgy1]

thanks! . at this point i just want them to make a decision so i can make adr's. we're already past the 180 day mark and i'm a planner so it's about to give me hives and an ulcer with the waiting lol.

extra good luck, Hope you get your restaurant choices!

 

[luv]

Tell them to do their own math, lol. If they can't be bothered to figure it out, why should you?!

 

[EvilQueen-T]

Tell them to do their own math, lol. If they can't be bothered to figure it out, why should you?!

all i can say is that if you knew them you'd understand lol...but basically they'll keep putting off making the decision and we're already past the 180 day mark to make adrs and that fact alone is giving me an ulcer.

 

[copcarguyp71]

Hahaha...NEWBIES! They have no clue of the snowballing consequences. At some point family or not I would go ahead and make my own ressies and let them fend for themselves. Maybe it is cold of me to think that way but I take one vacation a year and with the cost of Disney I would not let those unwilling to heed my advice who will be travelling with me impact my own well informed good time...selfish maybe but there you have it

 

[EvilQueen-T]

Hahaha...NEWBIES! They have no clue of the snowballing consequences. At some point family or not I would go ahead and make my own ressies and let them fend for themselves. Maybe it is cold of me to think that way but I take one vacation a year and with the cost of Disney I would not let those unwilling to heed my advice who will be travelling with me impact my own well informed good time...selfish maybe but there you have it

i'm cracking up cuz that's EXACTLY what i did to them last year! We're at 159 days out right now and i'm getting an ulcer but i think i've bullied them into making a decision. the last thing they asked for to help them was what would doing either the regular dp vs the ddp look like in terms of dining...easy peasy for me. i always have plan a and b ready to go on what my family calls "the grid". i plan out what days we'll be in what parks, how many dp credits i'd have to spend, and where i'd like to eat to use them up so that should do it. i've actually gone ahead and made two adr's for the entire group (pushy but...oh well lol) that would each be one credit if they decide to do a dining plan but one's you just can't wait on like be our guest and ohana's.

 

[ladydi]

If you're worried about the six year old in dining situations, I'd hesitate to bring her to a lot of signature restaurants. My three were 8,10 and 10 last trip. They've always been well behaved at restaurants so we tried California Grill. It wasn't a horrible experience but also not the best. There are no chicken fingers on the menu (gasp!) so my daughter was rather put out. They also weren't happy with the length of time that a signature dinner takes.

 

[Master Yoda]

The answer to which will be better will be based on where you plan on eating. If you are still planing on doing TS breakfasts, signature dinners, etc then the deluxe plan is they way to go. If you have decided to forgo that dining pattern and just do 1 TS and 1 CS per day due to the kids the the regular plan will be fine.

 

[JCtheparrothead]

We were at Beach Club for 8 days and had the DeluxeDP this past December. There were 5 of us under the plan me, wife, father in law, son 3.5 and son 1.5 and it was too much. with exception of 1 day we only had breakfast and a early signature dinner. My boys are good but 2 hours was a lot to sit for the Sig restaurants, thank god for iPhones. The adults love the restaurants but with snack credits it just seemed to be too much in the food category. Plus remember that you still have to pay the tip and most of the time ours was $55+ per sig meal. We all decided unless it is free we will never do it again.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

If you're worried about the six year old in dining situations, I'd hesitate to bring her to a lot of signature restaurants. My three were 8,10 and 10 last trip. They've always been well behaved at restaurants so we tried California Grill. It wasn't a horrible experience but also not the best. There are no chicken fingers on the menu (gasp!) so my daughter was rather put out. They also weren't happy with the length of time that a signature dinner takes.

I'm just uncertain about my niece, not certain how she'll behave in a longer dining situation and not sure what her eating habits are but I know they eat out several times a week at home. I've been lucky with my granddaughter (turning 9 this month). She's been able to do places like California Grill since she was 3 but she's an adventurous eater and thinks she wants to be a chef so for her the dining is part of a great vacation (I tried the mainly quick serve route with her one trip and still haven't heard the end of it lol).