Should we upgrade our dining plan!

cowanfamily

Well-Known Member
With less than one month before our trip, my DW and I are debating wether or not we should upgrade our free QS dining plan to the deluxe. We have always used the deluxe and had planned to do this again. Reservations are already made and can be cancelled so thats not a big deal. We have just been talking lately and I am leaning towards scrapping it and not being tied down to res. times. We both are torn both ways. We thought about tossing a coin. Then we thought it would be better to get the opinions of those on the message boards.
 

durangojim

Well-Known Member
To me, it seems that it completely matters if you plan on eating at a table service restaurant each day. We're going in August for 4 days and have reservations at a sit down restaurant each day. We're staying at Pop, so we had to pay something like 80$ extra to upgrade, but for us it definately makes sense. This is our first time using DDP as we're AP holders and usually use TiW but we'll see how it goes this time since we're staying at Pop and free dining made more sense than a 20% room discount.
 
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I've dined several different ways, and I can say from experience that being married to your ADRs sometimes dictates your park activities. It's hard to go ride Test Track at 5:30pm, and run back over to Le Cellier for 6:15pm dinner reservations. You end up walking around France, UK, etc until it's time to eat. Take advantage of your FPs, and this becomes less of an issue.

That being said, I paid for the upgrade, and I enjoy the ability to have at least one decent meal (whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner) per day, instead of normal QS Disney fair.
 
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mickeysshoes

Well-Known Member
.

That being said, I paid for the upgrade, and I enjoy the ability to have at least one decent meal (whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner) per day, instead of normal QS Disney fair.[/QUOTE]

We agree!! We like the knowing that our meals are paid in advance (except for the tips) and that we can look forward to one good sit down meal. August is when we are going and we know that with each ADR we have it is a good time to get out of heat and relax. Either way you go its DINSEY and it will all be a grand time!!!
 
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goofykt

Member
My husband and I don't like being tied down by ADR's and we used to skip them altogether, but with Free Dining being offered in Sept the past couple years, we've found ways to make it work. We were actually really sad when we thought they might not offer Free Dining this year. It's nice to have daily sit-down meals. It's like a week full of "date nights" where we can talk and relax (and not have to worry about a huge bill lurking in the shadows).

I know our habits and where we like to start & end our days, and start & end our trip as a whole - so I try to make reservations around that. For instance, our first day we almost always go to EPCOT in the morning and MK in the evening, so I book ADRs around that. We also park hop like crazy, so a lot of the time it doesn't matter when/where our ADR is because we're not tied to that park all day. One thing that helps is having one or two "free" days with no ADRs. I always leave the last day of our trip completely open so we can have a "greatest hits" day and do all our favs before we leave. And I usually have a free day in the middle of the week to give us a break.

Hope that helps!
 
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Mouse Man

New Member
The DWF and I have again taken the DDP and just love it. Part of being on vacation in WDW is enjoying the parks and all the fun they have to offer, laughing at each other being silly and sitting down together to a really nice meal. It's our alone time where we get to enjoy each others company with out the every day hassle of go do this or can you watch the grandson because I am working late tonight or forgot charcoal for the grill and then of course cook and clean up. The DDP has saved us money and yes it really feels good to just show up and eat and not worry about the cost of meals for the day. All I need to make sure of is tipping. Now I have done in the past the Platinum package and have also enjoyed Boatwrights where they would offer a special surf and Turf that was not on the menue. By the time we would leave that resteraunt we would spend about $175 for dinner alone. Then couple in that we ate at Chef Mickeys for $60 dollars that same morning. To us we enjoy the alone cozy we time and also enjoy the no worry about price time either. The DDP is exactly what you make of it and I never feel tied down to resie's. To each his own and do what you feel is right for you and your family
 
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ml123_9

Active Member
Since it sounds like you really can't make up your mind, why not just upgrade to the regular dining plan instead of the deluxe? That way you'll save some money on your upgrade and your ADR's will be covered.
 
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