Going From Deluxe to Regular Dining Plan

[have2getaway]

On our last trip, we were on the Deluxe Dining Plan and, while it was way too much food, it was easier because we knew we could get most of what we ate on the plan. This trip, we are going on the regular dining plan. The Deluxe for 5(2 adults and 3 kids) would be $640 more for 5 nights and I don’t see how we would come out ahead doing it. That said, I’m struggling with planning meals. We tend to eat a big breakfast and reasonable dinner, but generally are snackers for lunch. We have very little familiarity with the counter service restaurants, because we did mostly sit down meals last time. Can anyone recommend some quality counter services places to eat in the parks? We will be going mid-January. Also, how do most use the snack items? We are thinking we could just pay oop for some meals and still be better off on the regular dining plan. Does this seem logical?

 

[sharonabe]

One thing to remember with the regular dining plan. At TS meals, kids must order off the kid's menu, so sharing will be difficult. At QS meals, kids can order from either menu, so depending on how much everyone eats, you can spread out the QS credits to get a few more meals.

You can use some of the snack credits to supplement those shared QS meals. For example, at Flame Tree in AK get 2 or 3 of the large sampler platters and use 2 snack credits to get a couple fries. This works well if some of you prefer water to drink, but if everyone wants their own drink, I'd pay OOP for those or you'll soon be out of snacks.

Go to http://allears.net/dining/menu or https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm to check some of the QS menus to see what your family will likely eat. Some other places where we have shared in the past are: Tangeriene Cafe, Katsura Grill, and Sunshine Seasons in EP. Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bill in MK. ABC Commissary in HS now has some larger plates at dinner, but we haven't tried them. Restaurantasaurus in AK has a toppings bar that MIGHT help stretch the meal, but they don't really have shareable plates.

For OOP, TS meals, Via Napoli is a GREAT place to share a pizza and an app/dessert for not much money. 50s Prime Time has some shareable selections. The Plaza and Sci-Fi are inexpensive. Paying OOP for one or two TS meals will also make your QS credits go farther.

 

[Pumbaa_]

When you say big breakfasts are you thinking food court bfast or sit down ts breakfast?

You may want to do the math in your trip. If you are used to dxdp, which is a lot of food, will you be satisfied w the regular ddp, no included apps, one qs per day. Will you be paying for a 2nd qs per day? An additional 60+ dollars a day. Will you order apps out of pocket?

 

[have2getaway]

One thing to remember with the regular dining plan. At TS meals, kids must order off the kid's menu, so sharing will be difficult. At QS meals, kids can order from either menu, so depending on how much everyone eats, you can spread out the QS credits to get a few more meals.

You can use some of the snack credits to supplement those shared QS meals. For example, at Flame Tree in AK get 2 or 3 of the large sampler platters and use 2 snack credits to get a couple fries. This works well if some of you prefer water to drink, but if everyone wants their own drink, I'd pay OOP for those or you'll soon be out of snacks.

Go to http://allears.net/dining/menu or https://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm to check some of the QS menus to see what your family will likely eat. Some other places where we have shared in the past are: Tangeriene Cafe, Katsura Grill, and Sunshine Seasons in EP. Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bill in MK. ABC Commissary in HS now has some larger plates at dinner, but we haven't tried them. Restaurantasaurus in AK has a toppings bar that MIGHT help stretch the meal, but they don't really have shareable plates.

For OOP, TS meals, Via Napoli is a GREAT place to share a pizza and an app/dessert for not much money. 50s Prime Time has some shareable selections. The Plaza and Sci-Fi are inexpensive. Paying OOP for one or two TS meals will also make your QS credits go farther.

Thank you! So, I guess I don’t remember, but we must have used snack credits for drinks on our last trip? Is water free? I’m not sure how many snack credits you receive on the deluxe, but we had 72 remaining at the end of the week.

The fact that we can share more with QS is a good point and something I don’t think we thought much about. Thanks for the tip.

We were planning to pay oop for Via Napoli because we heard that you are not permitted to share off the DDP here. Is that correct? We had also considered Sci Fi as well.

 

[have2getaway]

When you say big breakfasts are you thinking food court bfast or sit down ts breakfast?

You may want to do the math in your trip. If you are used to dxdp, which is a lot of food, will you be satisfied w the regular ddp, no included apps, one qs per day. Will you be paying for a 2nd qs per day? An additional 60+ dollars a day. Will you order apps out of pocket?

We ate a lot of character breakfasts and buffets and we ate at 4 signature restaurants, including: California Grille, Artist Point, CRT, and HBD. Our boys did pretty well for 7, but the deluxe was just honestly too much food and made for very long meals. We rarely eat lunch except for snacks.

 

[sharonabe]

Thank you! So, I guess I don’t remember, but we must have used snack credits for drinks on our last trip? Is water free? I’m not sure how many snack credits you receive on the deluxe, but we had 72 remaining at the end of the week.

The fact that we can share more with QS is a good point and something I don’t think we thought much about. Thanks for the tip.

We were planning to pay oop for Via Napoli because we heard that you are not permitted to share off the DDP here. Is that correct? We had also considered Sci Fi as well.

Cups of ice water are free at all QS (and TS). The reason you probably had so many snack credits remaining on the DxDDP is that you probably weren't hungry for snacks with all the buffets and other meals. With the regular DDP, it's easier to use them for true snacks and/or to supplement other meals.

Via Napoli will not let you use 1 credit to feed 2 people. They don't care if you share as long as everyone orders something. It's still a great place to pay OOP, though.

 

[have2getaway]

Cups of ice water are free at all QS (and TS). The reason you probably had so many snack credits remaining on the DxDDP is that you probably weren't hungry for snacks with all the buffets and other meals. With the regular DDP, it's easier to use them for true snacks and/or to supplement other meals.

Via Napoli will not let you use 1 credit to feed 2 people. They don't care if you share as long as everyone orders something. It's still a great place to pay OOP, though.

I think that was exactly what happened. We ate 2 decent meals a day and didn’t need very much for snacks during the day.

 

[senadler]

I would suggest planning out what you want to do for meals and then see what plan, if any, makes sense for you. If your kids are still disney kids for the dining plan, and you prefer TS meals, then either the deluxe plan or no plan may be a better option for you.

That is what has worked for us. We really do not do many QS meals, so if we are not planning many signature meals, or don't have others we are sharing credits with, not using a plan at all makes more sense.

 

[have2getaway]

I would suggest planning out what you want to do for meals and then see what plan, if any, makes sense for you. If your kids are still disney kids for the dining plan, and you prefer TS meals, then either the deluxe plan or no plan may be a better option for you.

That is what has worked for us. We really do not do many QS meals, so if we are not planning many signature meals, or don't have others we are sharing credits with, not using a plan at all makes more sense.

I never even considered this, but I guess it’s something to consider. I have already paid for the dining plan as part of a package with a TA. Do you think it’s possible we won’t Make out on the regular plan?

Cost of the different plans for our package:

Disney Dining = $1174.75
Deluxe Dining = $1814.85

We will be there for 6 full days—5 nights.

DH didn’t want us to have so many fancy sit down meals this trip. On our last trip, the kids missed out on pool time and other fun activities because we had to get dressed up for California Grill and artist point. We don’t eat a lot of QS meals, though, but do enjoy sit down buffets and other fairly quick ‘casual’ TS meals. My ideal would be able to book things like the wave breakfast and Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner. We are going to have to eat, but just want it to be more casual.

 

[sharonabe]

Cost of the different plans for our package:

Disney Dining = $1174.75
Deluxe Dining = $1814.85

Where did those numbers come from? They are both higher than they should be. The total for 2 adults, 3 kids for 5 nights on DDP should be $1141.25 and the total for DxDDP is $1762.50

Anyways, with 3 kids, as long as you eat all your meals, you should save quite a bit using the plan. I would try to plan any OOP TS meals for the end of the week to be sure you use all your credits. You can always cancel if you don't need it.

 

[have2getaway]

Where did those numbers come from? They are both higher than they should be. The total for 2 adults, 3 kids for 5 nights on DDP should be $1141.25 and the total for DxDDP is $1762.50

Anyways, with 3 kids, as long as you eat all your meals, you should save quite a bit using the plan. I would try to plan any OOP TS meals for the end of the week to be sure you use all your credits. You can always cancel if you don't need it.

Thank you! What you suggested makes sense, so we will definitely try to do that. As far as the dining plan costs, we received a substantial discount on our room at the Polynesian, which was part of a package. It’s possible that our dining was adjusted slightly as a result.

 

[sharonabe]

Thank you! What you suggested makes sense, so we will definitely try to do that. As far as the dining plan costs, we received a substantial discount on our room at the Polynesian, which was part of a package. It’s possible that our dining was adjusted slightly as a result.

Shouldn't have been. The dining plan is a fixed cost or it is a discounted cost (free or Stay, Play Dine). There's no reason for that cost to be higher.

 

[have2getaway]

Shouldn't have been. The dining plan is a fixed cost or it is a discounted cost (free or Stay, Play Dine). There's no reason for that cost to be higher.

Thank you. I’ll have to ask our travel agent. Could it be a higher rate for 2019?

 

[sharonabe]

Thank you. I’ll have to ask our travel agent. Could it be a higher rate for 2019?

No. DDP prices have not gone up yet. I just did a "trial" reservation to make sure, and prices are still set at 2018 prices.

 

[have2getaway]

No. DDP prices have not gone up yet. I just did a "trial" reservation to make sure, and prices are still set at 2018 prices.

Thank you! I’m glad I posted the costs I was quoted.

 

[sharonabe]

Thank you! I’m glad I posted the costs I was quoted.

Just in case the TA pushes back, the costs are $75.49 per adult per night and $25.75 per child. Those have been the prices since the beginning of 2018, and if you book on Disney's site, they are still the prices today.

 

[Rick195275]

Thank you. I’ll have to ask our travel agent. Could it be a higher rate for 2019?

Just in case the TA pushes back, the costs are $75.49 per adult per night and $25.75 per child. Those have been the prices since the beginning of 2018, and if you book on Disney's site, they are still the prices today.

2019 prices are different. I have an April 2019 reservation in place. It’s 27.99 a night per child and 75.51 for an adult per night. I didn’t do the math on the difference but might account for it.

 

[sharonabe]

2019 prices are different. I have an April 2019 reservation in place. It’s 27.99 a night per child and 75.51 for an adult per night. I didn’t do the math on the difference but might account for it.

OHHH...so the child price has gone up! I confess I did not price out the child price. They've never increased one without increasing the other, so just assumed they were the same. I'll have to go do the math. That $2.25 per child per night accounts for the difference in the regular DDP for the OP.

 

[Rick195275]

OHHH...so the child price has gone up! I confess I did not price out the child price. They've never increased one without increasing the other, so just assumed they were the same. I'll have to go do the math. That $2.25 per child per night accounts for the difference in the regular DDP for the OP.

Increases everywhere! I guess we should be thankful it’s just on the kids price lol. I paid for ours already before they change their mind!

 

[have2getaway]

OHHH...so the child price has gone up! I confess I did not price out the child price. They've never increased one without increasing the other, so just assumed they were the same. I'll have to go do the math. That $2.25 per child per night accounts for the difference in the regular DDP for the OP.

Thank you for clarifying. I won’t bother asking our TA now. I have been flip flopping all over the place regarding wherever we should do Deluxe or stick with the regular plan. we do like TS meals better, but still questioning if we would make out doing deluxe if we just do 2 sit down meals a day?