Reviews of Disney’s DELUXE Dining Plan
Reviewed by cjwsrt6 Review Date: 04/14/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
The decision to upgrade to the deluxe dining plan was one of the best decisions of the trip. Let's be honest without the deluxe plan I wouldn't of tried some of the more "expensive" restaurants. With this we were able to try the Royal Castle as well as the steakhouse. The plan is very much worth it, you get tons of food at every meal. The best thing is the price, the plan cost us $800 extra for 2 people, 6 days, from no plan to deluxe $800, seems like a lot but we kept up with how much it would've cost which ended up to be $1500 worth of food, this to me is well worth it. Because of that, and let's be honest, without that, most people wouldn't spend that much at Disney. You would eat out of the parks and miss some great food and a great experience!
Pros:
Definetly worth the buyCons:
noneReviewed by 1283alex Review Date: 05/29/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
If you have the money and want to indulge in a little food luxury, this is your best plan. Does provide you with a lot of food. Felt like we wasted a lot of food (especially desserts -were just too full). Liked having appetizers. Cost effective - we would have spent way more money eating like this if paying cash.
Pros:
a nice luxury - money saverCons:
too much food -Reviewed by onejasper Review Date: 07/28/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Cannot say enough good things about the Deluxe Plan.
Last year we had some credits left over with no possible room in our tummies to indulge so this year we planned to double up some of the credits and spent them at places like Cinderella's Royal Table, Crystal Palace etc...places we would not have normally eaten and certainly would have racked up serious dollars had we paid out of pocket.
I LOVE the Deluxe plan and would not choose any other plan as although we ate a lot of food, you're a) doing a lot of walking so you're working off the extra food b) you're inclined to try things you would not normally try and that gives a very interesting experience c) we went in July so in between the rain it is very humid so again...the weight is not going to go on. I actually lost 6lbs at Disney in 7 days and we all ate a TON of food.
Highly recommend the Deluxe plan so that you can add variety AND save money.
On the last day, we had 8 credits left for snacks and had learned that we could use them on the fresh baked goodies including fudge from our hotel's bakery counter. How delicious to be able to enjoy another Disney memory...at home...:)
Pros:
Freedom to try new places and new foodCons:
—Reviewed by BermudaJen Review Date: 09/01/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
The deluxe dining plan is great if your family members are big eaters. The great thing is that you pre-pay and don't feel like you are shelling out money every 5 minutes for drinks and snacks. Unfortunately, we are not huge eaters so we wasted credits because we just couldn't eat 3 meals and 2 snacks every day. I used snack credits at the end of trip to purchase cookies,etc. to bring home as souvenirs.
If you can eat 3 large meals and 2 snacks every day, the deluxe meal plan is a great value and very convenient. For us, I think we will go with the regular meal plan and if we go over by a meal or snack or two, we will pay out of pocket.
Pros:
ConvenientCons:
Too much foodReviewed by jim61vik Review Date: 11/22/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
My family and I stayed at the Polynesian resort 11/13-1/18 for 5 nights. We had the free dining plan upgraded to Deluxe.
My family consists of my 2 daughters (10,17) wife and myself. The 10 yr old likes steak and good size meals and is often not enamored of the "childrens menu" so we though it would be interesting to see how she did with nearly all grown up meals.
First off we were happy with the cost since we just did the upgrade on free dining at a deluxe resort we ended up getting more than our moneys worth assuming we would have made the same dining choices paying direct out of pocket (which we probably would not have had quit as many very large meals).
We tried a bunch of character meals:
Ohana - Breakfast
Chef Mickey - Breakfast
Park Fare (at GF) - Breakfast
Crystal Palace - Breakfast
They were all decent Chef Mickey probably had the best food and variety of the bunch. They are all fairly similar. Photos are very nice we had Photo Pass Plus.
We also tried the Arkeshus lunch which the whole family thought was awesome! The princesses there were unbelievably friendly best character experience I've ever had at Disney.
We ate at Artist Point which some of us loved and some of us didn't I'll try and write reviews of all the restaurants we tried.
We also tried Tuto Italia, Kona Cafe, Liberty Tree Tavern, 50's Primetime as well as a couple quick dining options.
One thing to keep in mind is that the tips on these meals can be substantial our tip alone was over $50 at Artist Point so make sure you keep those in mind if you are watching your budget. We did not drink any alcoholic beverages on this visit but those are also not included.
The amount of food is really staggering and I think you need to realize you aren't going to be able to eat it all at every meal. My youngest couldn't eat half of most of her meals. We did later on skip a couple appetizers or deserts just because we were full.
The biggest complaint I have is how long it takes, the servers in general are very cordial and attentive but some locations just don't seem to have enough servers or they have too many tables for the servers this seems especially so on the breakfast buffets. It takes forever to get your check, wait to process the tip, get your pin number, wait for the desert menus, etc. It was almost an 1.5 - 2 hours for each meal. Do the math... if you have 3 sit down meals you're talking about 5-6 hours of your day. And some restaurants are very busy and even if you are on time for your reservation you may wait 15-30 minutes. I don't have the answer to this problem, but Disney really needs to look at it and try to streamline it. It's to their benefit to get you back into the park and spend more money. I never felt rushed at any meal even though I had read that some people have experienced that. For us it was the opposite we were all sitting at our tables repeatedly waiting for something.
Another negative is the ADR, if you have to change a reservation it is nearly impossible to do so. So if you are running late you end up canceling and with the new rules on canceling a day ahead this will cost you if you just don't go.
Not sure how we'll do this next time. I like the food but it was too much. I wish they had another category with maybe 2 sit down meals a day and 1 quick serve.
This is definitely a good way to try some very nice restaurants if you can manage the schedules.
Pros:
Lots of good food choicesCons:
Takes too much timeReviewed by Imjustababyduck Review Date: 11/25/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We love this plan and always get it when we go to Disney. It is great to have the meals paid for in advance (and just have to worry about the tip). We often will use 2 dining credits at the more deluxe places so it is not so much food in one day. We do always have snack credits left at the end of the trip, and come home with tons of stuff from Goofy's Candy Store in Downtown Disney. I know this last trip I bought over $123.00 in snacks with credits before we left to fly home. I think this plan is better value for the money than the regular dining plan. The only disadvantage I see is that sitting down to eat 3 times a day takes a lot of time.
Pros:
EasyCons:
NoneReviewed by rebelbuddhist Review Date: 01/05/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We have found that the DDP meets our modus operandi perfectly. We are a mature couple who enjoy meals at WDW as much as attractions at the parks. We don't think it is any loss of valuable time to spend a couple of hours at a quality Meal. We would rather spend the time at a meal than in line for a thrill ride. We use one credit for a late morning breakfast buffet after a few hours in the parks. Then we hit the parks again and eat a later dinner usually at a signature restaurant. That uses the 3 meal entitlements and we use the 2 snacks if we need something in the afternoon. We also tend to eat steak or seafood so we are often ordering the more expensive entrees. Since we eat late dinners, we often take desserts with us back to the room for a late snack or early morning treat! We paid out of pocket in July and tracked that we spent a lot more each day than the Deluxe plan fists. That's especially true if we can score a free dining plan and then upgrade to the Deluxe. Do you math well because if you don't use all your credits; have picky eaters who don't want what's on the menu; tend to want smaller meals without an appetizer and dessert or just want/prefer counter service the DDP may not be best for you. Using all 3 entitlements for table service seems to be the best way to be sure to save on the Deluxe Plan.
Pros:
Ease of use: opportunity to eat wellCons:
—Reviewed by ibwalrash Review Date: 02/10/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
This was our second time using the deluxe dining plan, and we had the same feelings as our first time, lots of fun to eat out all the time, but too much food! We appreciate getting the added bonus of appetizers when compared to the regular dining plan. But it can feel like a full time job to get your money's worth.
Is it worth it? If you and your family like to enjoy taking a break and sitting down at a table service restaurant at different times throughout the day, then yes. If you want to sample different restaurants throughout the world that offer foods that you would never get at a counter service restaurant, than yes.
Some drawbacks. In order to maximize the delux dining plan, you must eat 3 table service meals a day. This means making reservations well in advance for the popular restaurant and being flexible with all other plans to be able to accommodate your dining plans.
If you want to eat your way through Disney, then the Deluxe is a great way to experience some really good restaurants in the World. Otherwise, consider a regular dining plan and pay out of pocket for appetizers and extra meals.
Pros:
Adds an "all-inclusive" aspectCons:
so much foodReviewed by mawdryn Review Date: 03/22/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
My family always uses either the regular dining plan or deluxe dining when we visit WDW, because we find it saves us money each time we visit.
This last visit was just my husband and I, so we splurged and used the deluxe dining plan. We dined at the following restaurants: Captain's Grill, California Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern, Be Our Guest, Sci Fi Diner, Brown Derby, Olivia's, Narcoossees, Yak and Yeti's, Artist Point, San Angel Inn, Via Napoli and Le Cellier. We had so many leftover snack credits, that we used them on candy to bring home for the kids.
It was so nice to go on vacation and only have to worry about tip money and alcohol. Everything else had been pre paid. 🙂
Pros:
Abundance of FoodCons:
NONEReviewed by Ladies4Disney Review Date: 04/17/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
We have used the Deluxe Dining Plan in the past and decided to use it again this trip. It is a lot of food, but we were able to eat at many of the Signature restaurants for dinner. We used one table service credit for an early lunch and scheduled a later dinner at the restaurants that required two table credits. We saved money on this plan and would use it again. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't use it for all table service meals. You would probably lose money on this plan.
