Are signatuare dining places worth 2 meals on deluxe dining?

Happy Artist

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 31, 2015
It's been over 15 yrs since we have done a dining plan, and it seems so different. So if wanted, can you eat at three table service meals if you want each day? Do you get dessert and app too?

Thanks for any help.
 
Right now in 2017 the Deluxe plan costs $106 per night and includes 3 TS & 2 Snacks so each credit is about $30. A good steak is $54 at a signature so it would be a wash there but you may find somewhere where the math goes in favor of paying cash.
 
It's been over 15 yrs since we have done a dining plan, and it seems so different. So if wanted, can you eat at three table service meals if you want each day? Do you get dessert and app too?

Thanks for any help.

Yes, with the 2017 DELUXE plan you get 3 TS per night of stay and each meal comes with app, entrée, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink. With this plan, the 2TS restaurants are usually a pretty good value. As PP said, each TS credit is "worth" about $33, and it's pretty easy to spend $66 when getting all the entitlements.
 
Thanks everyone! We have free quick service dining and we are thinking up grading our meal plan. My husband and I plus our two adults young adults are coming, so it is a deal. We are the stage where we don't have to do everything in the parks to have fun and going over Christmas, the crowds will be nuts, so sitting down for a nice meal is all part of the fun!
 


While technically, 2 credits at a signature is less efficient than two 1-credit meals elsewhere, it's still pretty easy to get your DxDP credits value worth at signatures. In fact, many DxDP users recommend one signature and one single TS meal per day, rather than deal with the amount of food (and time!) three sit-down meals would entail.

As noted above, for 2017, the break-even price per credit on DxDP is around $32 or so, it goes up to $33-$34 in 2018. Given that appetizer and dessert are included (and even an alcoholic drink in lieu of a regular drink in 2018), you'd almost have to be trying to be unoptimal in order to not break even or better most of the time.
 
It really depends on what you plan on doing with the other credits. If you have more credits than your plan covers (not usually the case with deluxe dining), it is worth checking ahead on pricing because the signature could end up being the better option to pay OOP. For example, if you have a lot of character meals and they are costing ~$50 each, you may not end up with a $100 meal at a signature.
 
The break even is subjective. How much is each snack worth? How much is the refillable much worth, amortized over the duration of your stay? Most of the time, snacks are worth $4 and the mug is worthless to me, so my break-even on the deluxe plan is $33/credit in 2017 and $36 in 2018. That can be difficult to attain at a signature unless you're purposely ordering the most expensive meal. Which kind of defeats the idea that the plan allows you to choose whatever you want.
 


I find it hard to believe that beverage, appetizer, entree, and dessert at a signature does not exceed $66pp (pre-tax) on average, even choosing from the "middle" of the menu.
 
I have done my ADR chart. We are on the DXDP. I will let you know when we get back if we manage to make it work (we only have SOME two credit meals - the kids are after eating with the characters) but, we are big fans of the dining plan. Never come out worse off yet.
 
I find it hard to believe that beverage, appetizer, entree, and dessert at a signature does not exceed $66pp (pre-tax) on average, even choosing from the "middle" of the menu.
At a place like Artist Point, you could get $95 worth of value if you ordered the most expensive items. But if you want the chicken or the pasta, and their signature mushroom bisque, you're closer to $57-$62.

That said, the question was, are signatures worth two credits. Obviously, they can be. It all depends what you'd order and what you're comparing it against. Credits can more easily achieve a higher value at non-signature restaurants. Signatures do not tend to be twice the price as character buffets.
 
To be fair, the bisque is the cheapest appetizer and the chicken and the pasta are the two cheapest entrees on the menu there. If you're going to order exclusively from the low end of the menu, using dining credits doesn't make financial sense at any WDW restaurant.

Middle of the menu would be more like: the farm egg pappardelle ($16), the bass or paella ($40-41), any dessert ($10-13), so that's $66-$70 without even a beverage included. And if you're breaking even at your signatures, you're saving money at your 1TS restaurants, unless you're leaving entitlements unused.
 
Alright - Fat kid question...

My wife and I have the Deluxe Dining Plan and are going to eat at Flying Fish. In order to try even more amazing food on the menu can we utilize 3 credits (essentially 6 credits total) and purchase another drink, app, entree, and desert?

OM NOM NOM!
 
Thanks everyone! We have free quick service dining and we are thinking up grading our meal plan. My husband and I plus our two adults young adults are coming, so it is a deal. We are the stage where we don't have to do everything in the parks to have fun and going over Christmas, the crowds will be nuts, so sitting down for a nice meal is all part of the fun!

We are doing the exact same thing. Free QS and upgraded to Deluxe. Myself, husband, and three kiddos age 19,17,13. We are excited. Will be there 7 nights and spread the meals over 8 days. I paid $2047 for the upgrade. Yes i know its a lot but to feed our bunch for 8 days and and snacks too plus no restrictions on what we let them order??? Totally worth it. I have added up an approximate amount of value that we will get and we will come out waaaayyyyy ahead in the value we get verses what we paid.
 
Alright - Fat kid question...

My wife and I have the Deluxe Dining Plan and are going to eat at Flying Fish. In order to try even more amazing food on the menu can we utilize 3 credits (essentially 6 credits total) and purchase another drink, app, entree, and desert?

OM NOM NOM!

Yes, I suppose you could do that... I mean, that's a lot of food, but if you're up to the challenge...

From a cost perspective, you may do better just paying for the least expensive items OOP, especially if you don't want the third beverage.
 
Alright - Fat kid question...

My wife and I have the Deluxe Dining Plan and are going to eat at Flying Fish. In order to try even more amazing food on the menu can we utilize 3 credits (essentially 6 credits total) and purchase another drink, app, entree, and desert?

OM NOM NOM!
:rotfl2:

LOVE this! FAT kids! Our friends have a group chat named fat kids. Main topics of conversations are of course food!
 
we also got free dining and upgraded. since we are going with first timers and young kids, we decided on the regular plan. didn't want to do too much sitting down.
 
If you are doing the dxdp I would recommend signatures otherwise it is just too much food!
 
We are on the Deluxe plan and are a family of five. We got free dining and upgraded. My question is if we go to a table service or signature and just wanted to use three or four credits and split the food between the five of us is that allowed? I know it wouldn't be on a buffet of course but in a situation where we sit down and order?
 
We are on the Deluxe plan and are a family of five. We got free dining and upgraded. My question is if we go to a table service or signature and just wanted to use three or four credits and split the food between the five of us is that allowed? I know it wouldn't be on a buffet of course but in a situation where we sit down and order?
Yes, that is totally fine.
 
We are on the Deluxe plan and are a family of five. We got free dining and upgraded. My question is if we go to a table service or signature and just wanted to use three or four credits and split the food between the five of us is that allowed? I know it wouldn't be on a buffet of course but in a situation where we sit down and order?
Yes, but then you will likely have meals left over.
 

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