Upgrade Dining Plan

[wenpop]

I was able to get free dining and then upgraded my dining plan, but I think I need to upgrade to the deluxe dining plan now, Not sure if I can do that.... or if I should.... we are staying 7 nights....
My plann right now is...

Sat- WCC dinner
Sun- CRT
Quick
Liberty Tree
Mon- Norway
Quick
Garden Grill dinner
Tue- Tusker House breakfast
Quick
Rainforest Cafe
Wed Quick
Sci Fi
Hollywood and Vine
Thur Garden Grill Breakfast
Italy Pizza
Ohana
Friday Quick or snack
BOG breakfast at 10:20
BOG at 5:30

So out of pocket it is another 900++ including tips... is the deluxe dining plan a good idea or not??
Please help!!!!

 

[wenpop]

Ok, looks like, $1960 for dining plan, minus free quick service plan...= $611
or $2996 for deluxe minus free quick service... =1646.68
so..... does that mean no matter what I will be paying $1000 more either with dining plan or without?? I keep thinking I am over thinking things....

 

[sharonabe]

I think you're planning on overeating. With all those buffets, you won't need the quick service meals you have in your plan. You're going to end up with QS credits left over. If you upgrade to the DxDDP, you're still going to leave credits on the table.

If you did the math right, then, yes it looks like it's the same cost either way, but if you do the upgrade, you're locked in to your plan or lose money. If you leave it the way it is and pay OOP for those extra meals, you have the flexibility to drop some meals if you choose to and not lose any money.

 

[Colleen27]

You're planning a LOT of eating. That plan for Thurs in particular is going to have you seriously over stuffed. It honestly doesn't look like a good plan for the deluxe plan because you're probably not going to want most of those quick meals and that would leave a lot of credits on the table. The deluxe plan really works best with more two-credit meals because most people find three meals per day at WDW to be too much.

I would suggest pruning your list a bit and sticking with the regular DDP. It is hard when you want to try so many places but you also want some time to enjoy the parks without being uncomfortably stuffed!

 

[pjhootch]

That is a lot of food every day, and a lot of time sitting down in restaurants too. Table service meals tend to take an hour out of your time, and sometimes an hour and a half is a better estimate. That can chew up a lot of park time if you enjoy doing rides or shows.

 

[Pumbaa_]

$3000 is a lot of money to spend on food, imho

Also, that is a lot of time spent in restaurants

For each ts, esp if you upgrade, time is 90-120 minutes per ts meal

If you have to travel to get to dining, add in another 90 minutes

So do you want to spend 4 hours a day or more eating at the cost of $3k?

 

[wenpop]

Ok, ok, that does seem to be a lot of food... Monday is CRT at 8:00 am, a quick service around lunch, and the Liberty Tree around 5:30 before the Halloween Party,
To me, it seems we have to eat, and what a way to start off our trip with Breakfast in the castle, and then for dinner we are going to be hungry before we stay till midnight.... so I think that day is doable....

thursday is an early breakfast and 3 oclock pizza.... and a late night at O'hana around 8:30..... probably won't get to eat until 9 if they are late as usual....

we have free dining so, we are only paying for like $1500 worth of food for the week.....

 

[sharonabe]

Ok, ok, that does seem to be a lot of food... Monday is CRT at 8:00 am, a quick service around lunch, and the Liberty Tree around 5:30 before the Halloween Party,
To me, it seems we have to eat, and what a way to start off our trip with Breakfast in the castle, and then for dinner we are going to be hungry before we stay till midnight.... so I think that day is doable....

thursday is an early breakfast and 3 oclock pizza.... and a late night at O'hana around 8:30..... probably won't get to eat until 9 if they are late as usual....

we have free dining so, we are only paying for like $1500 worth of food for the week.....

Thanks for reminding us that we're all different. I know my family could not do all of those buffets, but if yours can, you need to do what is right for you.

I still think I would stick with the regular plan and pay OOP. You may find that a QS meal is all you want and/or at your a la carte meals, all you want is an app or you don't want dessert.

So, if you're interested, here are the meals I'd pay OOP:

Rainforest Café, Sci-Fi, Via Napoli (easier to share a pizza), and BoG DINNER for sure. CRT breakfast for adults will seem expensive, but your TS credit is "worth" about $38, so using two there isn't a good value (even though you've upgraded from free QSDP) and if you divide the cost of the meal, it's around $30 per credit. I don't think any of your other buffets are less than $30. So that's 6 of your extra credits. I didn't check, but I think GG breakfast will be you cheapest meal of the ones left. That at least puts several of the later meals at OOP, so you won't lose any money.

Edited to add: If you have kids in this mix, you DO want to use their credits at CRT. Still pay OOP at ALL the a la carte for them, and then go check which of the other buffets are cheapest.

 

[wenpop]

DP
WCC
Liberty Tree
Akers Norway
Garden Grill Dinner
Donald's Breakfast
Hollywood and Vine
Ohana

OOP
CRT
Rainforest Cafe
Sci Fi
Garden Grill Breakfast
Pizza in Italy
BOG Dinner

Quick service BOG

 

[sharonabe]

OOP
CRT
Rainforest Cafe
Sci Fi
Garden Grill Breakfast
Pizza in Italy

You forgot your BoG dinner!

 

[wenpop]

Oh yeah, BOG breakfast Quick Service, and BOG Dinner OOP

 

[sharonabe]

Oh yeah, BOG breakfast Quick Service, and BOG Dinner OOP

If you do end up eating more QS than you have in your plan, make sure you save credits for that BoG breakfast if you're planning on eating meals. If you're just getting cupcakes, then you won't need credits, but you could use snack credits.

 

[wenpop]

Ok, should I trade Rainforest Cafe for Flame Tree BBQ? It will save around $100 or more....

 

[sharonabe]

Ok, should I trade Rainforest Cafe for Flame Tree BBQ? It will save around $100 or more....

We really like Flame Tree and usually eat there every trip. That said, it is outdoor seating and has a more limited menu than Rainforest. As long as there are things on the menu your family will eat, I would swap it. There are Rainforest Cafes all over America.

 

[squirrel]

It also depends on when you are going. In the summer with the heat I don't eat as much so I wouldn't want to have so many large meals.

 

[Aurora2017]

Also, if you eat a la carte at Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch), it could be cheaper to pay that out of pocket than the Garden Grill Breakfast. So you could switch those two and save money.