For those fans of the Dining Plans?

[disneygirl76]

Hey All!

So the DH and I were looking and we'll be at GF for 8 nights in June. And we have always done the Basic Dining Plan. But usually have one out of pocket TS as well. We were thinking of maybe upgrading to Deluxe this time. What are your thoughts on Deluxe vs. Basic?? Any info would be great!!! It would be about a $57/day increase to our current package.

Thanks! :wave:

 

[Monty]

Much depends on how much you can/will eat. My DS and I could never eat the quantity of TS meals allowed on the other Dining plans, the basic one suits us [when it's free :king:]. We also usually have at least one TS OOP in a trip. Doubling the TS credits would be way too much for us. :shrug:

 

[Disneybird]

Using more than 1 TS plan per day really cuts back on your touring time. Besides that, the 1 that you would pay out of pocket for would be much less expensive than adding the deluxe plan. I would stick with the basic plan if it were me.
Happy Eating!

 

[betteratmk]

:shrug: A lot of people love the deluxe plan but it is just too much food for my family. Even with the regular plan by the end of the week I'm longing for simpler meals.But for many people it is perfect. if you are larger eaters or don't mind not cleaning your plate :slurp: and just want the opportunity to try new places, it may work out great

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

Ugh...the thought of that much food on the DDP makes me feel ill. The Basic works for us because we're not breakfast people. We like a light lunch and bigger dinner. We usually use our snacks to buy cold beverages. I'm not sure if hubby and I could really eat enough (meaning 3 times a day with at least 2 TS a day) to justify that expense. You might want to consider 1) how much you eat on a normal day, 2) how many times a day you are willing to sit down and eat, and 3) what places you like to eat.

 

[disneygirl76]

I was looking at more from a $$ then quantity of food thing. I did some math - broke down each day and how much we pay out of pocket on top of what we have already spent for the dining plan. I figured 2 coffees and 2 breakfast sandwichs/bagels/muffins - would be about $15/day. Then I figured adding appetizers or desserts to a TS, that would be about another $20/day. And the DH usually likes 2 snacks a day so I figured for 2 more snacks, that would be $10 a day. So right there that is $45 a day OOP on top of the regular dining plan. Not including the OOP TS we add which is about $40. To add Deluxe would be about $57/day.

I just don't know if it would be economically worth it??? We would still use CS options during the day for lunch, even though TS would be an opition.

 

[pinkcroc]

We do deluxe because we have at least two meals that require 2 dining credits (this year citricos and CRT). We usually do a sit down breakfast, a snack for lunch and a sit down dinner. The deluxe is good if you want to use credit for a show (hoop do doo, spirit of aloha, etc) because I think some of those take 2 credits too).

 

[Rob562]

Last year when my friends and I were visiting on the Free Dining promotion (you can upgrade to Deluxe Dining by paying the price difference), I did some theoretical calculations based on how my friends and I would use it.

*If* we skipped breakfast every day (or used Snack credits for breakfast) and then used those breakfast credits to double-up on dinner and eat at a Signature restaurant every night, we broke even.
Meaning, the value of the extra food we got in our meal credits by upgrading was almost exactly the same as the money we paid to upgrade the plan. As we were fine with the food we got on the regular Dining Plan, we didn't upgrade. (We still ate at one Signature restaurant, though)

-Rob

 

[GoofyMom2]

Last Sept, DH and I upgraded to the Deluxe dining plan. We ate at 3 Signature restaurants during our 5 night stay. We still had way too much food........ We also felt that we spent too much time eating and lost park time.

We are good eaters, but with all those appetizers, full meals, desserts....ugh! Just too much. I was sick of food by the end :ROFLOL:

Next trip we are sticking to the basic plan.

 

[The "Pro"]

You definitely end up spending way to much time in tableservice restaurants with the deluxe dining plan, leaving less time for touring.

 

[disneygirl76]

Hi All!

We decided to bump it up to Deluxe! Thanks for all the advice! We are going to try Cali Grill, CRT, and Yachtsmen. As long as I get the ADR's of course! Just 9 more days until my 90 day mark! Woo Hoo!

 

[Rob562]

You could also look into doing one of the Dinner Shows with doubled-up credits...

-Rob

 

[lbrad]

Hi All!

We decided to bump it up to Deluxe! Thanks for all the advice! We are going to try Cali Grill, CRT, and Yachtsmen. As long as I get the ADR's of course! Just 9 more days until my 90 day mark! Woo Hoo!

Bon Apetite:king:

 

[disneygirl76]

Thanks! I'm excited to go all out for the dining. Try some new places! :slurp:

 

[DisneyJunkie]

My first thought would be: "how much food am I really going to eat?"

I say that because some of the time with just the Basic Plan, we end up with unused meal credits (usually when we go and have the DDP thrown in free as part of a deal) by the time we leave.

I believe the deluxe plan allows for 3 meals a day. Now neither my wife or myself are big breakfast eaters, so generally our meals on the plan are lunch or dinner (with maybe ONE breakfast). We're just not big eaters, and so the deluxe plan wouldn't really fit for us.