First Time DDP - Is it for us?

[aml3679]

My husband and I are staying at The Wilderness Lodge this coming December for 11 nights. We booked with the regular dining plan and then changed to the deluxe dining plan. I tried to go back to the regular plan but my travel agent discouraged me from doing it saying that a discount might come out by then.

The idea of the DDP sounds good to me for the following reasons:

1) Not having to worry about what we are spending (except for tax, tips and not included items - alcohol - we like to have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner).

2) Being able to sit down and relax and get waited on.

3) Being able to try all of the different restaurants and food that we would have not dined at or ordered if we were paying out of pocket.

Some concerns:

1) We are both diabetic and do not need dessert with every meal

2) It seems like a lot of food

3) We want to have fun and relax at the same time. Will having the dining plan be a huge burden or can we work it into a plan?

Please...opinions...suggestions. Thanks in advance for any advice that would be helpful.

[TDC Nala]

You can ask for fruit or no-sugar-added desserts. But you are entitled to a dessert with every meal (except breakfast).You don't have to get the dessert at all - but you have already paid for it. Personally I wouldn't be paying for the deluxe plan unless I were going to maximize the credits, but I am not someone who found the dining plan to be all that convenient.

I have no idea what difference a discount would make. Unless "free dining" or "stay play and dine" are offered as a package discount, you won't get any discounts on the plan itself.

Some say the best way to use the deluxe plan is to have a table service breakfast or lunch, then a 2 credit signature dinner each day. Yes, you'll still have to pay for tips and wine, and if you want to skip a day you may end up taking dining options that won't impart as much value to the plan.

[sharonabe]

Why not go over to allearsnet.com and do a virtual dining experience? Don't look at the prices and choose ALL the restaurants you'd like to visit. Then choose exactly what you WANT to eat, again with no regard to price, but you'll need to put down the cost. Add it all up with 6.5% tax and see what you have. Compare that to the $100 per person per night cost of the DxDDP. Don't include any alcohol as that would be extra, but do include all apps and desserts you want. That should give you an idea of whether any dining plan is a good fit for you.

[bdklein]

Originally Posted by aml3679

My husband and I are staying at The Wilderness Lodge this coming December for 11 nights. We booked with the regular dining plan and then changed to the deluxe dining plan. I tried to go back to the regular plan but my travel agent discouraged me from doing it saying that a discount might come out by then.

The idea of the DDP sounds good to me for the following reasons:

1) Not having to worry about what we are spending (except for tax, tips and not included items - alcohol - we like to have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner).

2) Being able to sit down and relax and get waited on.

3) Being able to try all of the different restaurants and food that we would have not dined at or ordered if we were paying out of pocket.

Some concerns:

1) We are both diabetic and do not need dessert with every meal

2) It seems like a lot of food

3) We want to have fun and relax at the same time. Will having the dining plan be a huge burden or can we work it into a plan?

Please...opinions...suggestions. Thanks in advance for any advice that would be helpful.

Either way you are paying a lot of money. And if on the plan you have to pay ahead of time-I'd rather pay for my food after I eat it. And Deluxe plan is a lot of food. Why not just eat what you want and not be locked into Disney forcing you where and how to eat/order? What if one of you gets sick while there-money down the drain. I'd say go out of pocket.

[aml3679]

Thanks. All good advice. I will go to all ears and add up what we are going to eat -- this will take time but worth it. Then I will figure it out. First we have to plan on what we want to do each day and work our meals towards that. Have 2 months to make up our minds.

[GaBelle]

Another thing to consider is your eating habits. Do you eat 2-3 full meals per day? If so, then lean hard towards the DxDP. It is definitely convenient, which is why we have it every trip to Disney!

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I was going to try the deluxe dining plan when my husband and I go back in November but I checked the prices on allears for the items we would probably eat and came to the conclusion that we can eat paying out of pocket for half the price of what the deluxe dining plan would cost us. Instead of paying $100 per person per day it will only cost us around $110 a day for BITH OF US to eat. And that is eating a TS BREAKFAST every day at Olivia's. They have really good prices. Eating a CS lunch and then having a TS dinner at a different place each night. No signatures. We don't like any of the signatures so we aren't missing out by not eating at them. We will also come out a little bit cheaper on the tips because we will only be tipping on 2 meals a day instead of 3. Unless you want to eat signatures every night or go to some of the higher priced buffets you can usually always come out cheaper out of pocket. In our case much more cheaply. We will save about a hundred per day. Now if they were to come out with a free dining promo for your dates then all you would have to pay is the difference between the DDP and the DlxDp. I also would have told that travel agent to make my requested change without argument. She is just trying to pad her commission and not have to go through the trouble of changing your reservation.

[akaler2010]

My husband said he would never go to disney WITHOUT the deluxe dining plan.

We both love food and enjoying taking time out of sit, relax and eat. The plan worked out very well for us. We were able to order whatever we wanted and not look at prices, which is different for us as I am very cost conscious.

If you want to eat at signature restaurants, the deluxe plan is totally worth it.

[bdklein]

Originally Posted by akaler2010

We were able to order whatever we wanted and not look at prices, which is different for us as I am very cost conscious.

.

You are cost conscious but get the Deluxe Plan?

[akaler2010]

Originally Posted by bdklein

You are cost conscious but get the Deluxe Plan?

I don't see how those are mutually exclusive.

[rlduvall]

Originally Posted by akaler2010

I don't see how those are mutually exclusive.

I agree. Actually, the Deluxe Dining Plan can be a huge savings if you maximize the value. BUT, I could never do it for multiple nights - especially 11 whole nights. For me personally, it's too much food and too much time spent in a restaurant. I certainly see how it could be a value for some, though.

[GrandCalifornian]

We enjoy the Regular Dining plan and the freedom it gives us. We usually only book one ADR a day, and the rest of the schedule is free for whatever we want. We find it to be a good amount of food only having one TS a day. We don't tend to do the two dining credit meals, but there are some very nice single TS credit meals. We mainly enjoy the freedom from the sting of paying out of pocket to eat exclusively onsite for 10 days, we'd rather have it taken care of ahead of time, and according to the calculators we do save a little bit. The dining is a major fun part of the trip to Disney for us.

I am diabetic as well (Type 1) and the plan still works for me. I choose which desserts are worth it, and often we will share them among our immediate family. I don't feel bad only having a little dessert if I didn't pay full price OOP for it. Enjoy your trip, especially WL and the great food!