I'm comparing the basic dining plan with what looks like a new dining plan. At least it's new to me. Good grief-- if you go basic, (1 counter meal + drink and dessert, 1 snack, and 1 table service, including entree, dessert and drink) then that sounds adequate, although it kind of stinks that they removed the tip and appetizer... but oh, well.

But then, there's this deluxe plan: Three full meals per day for $70.00 per day (per person). You can do table service for all 3 (which means you have to add tips for all 3 meals into your budget), but you get the appetizer, entree, dessert and drink for each meal (except breakfast-- no dessert or appetizer), plus 2 snacks, plus a refillable mug at your resort.

Has anyone out there done this? I did some quick math, and if dining out at the signature Dis restaurants is a priority, then you could save $20-40 per day here, but geez.... That seems like a massive amount of time spent in dining. I am just curious to know if anyone out there has done the deluxe dining thing. Was it worth it?

More importantly, I know that Disney says you can't share your meal plan (any meal plan at all) with anyone who is not on the same plan, but I wonder if this rule is really something that they are able to enforce. When you present your dining plan card at a table service place, is there something encoded on it that shows how many people the plan is for? My brother might be coming with my son and myself in August, and he will have his own room. If I were able to have my brother use a third of the dining credits for my son and myself, then this plan would be a good deal for us. Otherwise... not so much.

Your room keys are marked with the number of adults and children that are on the plan. It will say something like "Disney Dining A03C01" which in this example denotes 3 adults and 1 child that are a part of that plan.

In essence, they will have a way to enforce their rules regarding sharing of points. However, in your brothers case, he can still join you for meals, but he would have to just pay out of pocket.

I can't imagine doing the deluxe plan. I enjoy a fine sitdown meal for dinner, but I really don't want to spend that much time for lunch and breakfast, nor do I want to eat nearly that much! I'm happy with a granola bar for breakfast, a tasty fast food lunch, and a fine dinner.

I did the basic plan once, back when it included the appetizer and the tip. I wasn't that wild about the plan even then, as I don't like being even more scheduled and regimented into using all my points before I leave. But with the recent changes it now has even less value for me.

We did the Deluxe Dining Plan in January and found it to be a pain for us. They had just changed over to the new plan and many were not familiar with how it worked. We had my family of 4 in two different rooms. My niece and nephew were in another room and my step-daughter and her family were in another room. Everyone's meal plan was loaded onto their particular room card. We paid for the rooms and we bought the dining plan. We always dined together. We wanted to put the gratuity on our card because they were our guests. Wow, was this a problem. It was rarely done correctly. It always took a very long time for the checks to be processed and ended up being time consuming and annoying. Maybe what we were asking was difficult to do but I would think that we were not the only people in this situation. But the point I was going to make was it was way too much food. I felt like all we did was eat. We are not big breakfast people so we usually used a snack credit to buy some kind of pastry and drink. Even those were not always charged correctly. My niece was not allowed to use her snack credit sometimes when I could buy the same thing and use mine. Our plan included the free resort mug and we never got it until the day before we checked out. We stayed at the Yacht Club and the girl in the breakfast area in the lobby was rude when we tried to explain that on our plan the mug was free. Many times they told us our card didn't have the plan on it. We were eating at the Flame Tree Barbecue in Animal Kingdom and the girl pretty much told us we had to go back to our resort to get it straightened out. Now, who in their right mind is going to leave the park and go back to their resort to fix the problem so they can then go back to the park and eat. Thankfully, there was a manager who fixed the problem. You just had to enter the deluxe plan instead of regular dining plan. Sorry, I am off on a tangent again. We dined at several signature restaurants which count for 2 table service credits. If we had not done this, we would have had way too many credits left unused. Even doing that, we planned it out to use all of our counter service and table services but every time we turned around, we had to go eat because we had a reservation. We felt like we had to order the appetizer, entree and dessert every time because we paid for it, but again, way too much food. If you are big eaters, then maybe the deluxe is the plan for you, but we are going next week and we are only getting the basic plan to try one more time to see if it is still a pain or they have worked out all the problems.

Thanks for all the info. Wow-- the deluxe dining plan sounds like it was a real nightmare for you guys. The regimentation is kind of a turn-off for me. I do like to have a nice sit-down meal at lunch time, and get out of the heat for a while to relax. We usually take a midday theme park break, so for dinner, a counter service meal works best for us so that we don't have to stress out about being back in the parks at a certain time just to eat. I'm now looking to see if the basic dining plan would be a good value for my son and myself, considering that we will make lunch our big meal of the day. According to what I can see of the restaurant menus on allearsnet.com, it looks like we will be better off just paying as we go. I really hate it that they eliminated the appetizer and left the dessert. If they were going to eliminate something, it would be nice to have a choice between appetizer or dessert. Maybe Disney will tweak the plan again next year. :)

I agree with the other posters, I think this would be an enormous amount of food. I never liked the idea of the dining plan. I am sure it really works for some but I don't think it would be good for us. We usually grab a quick breakfast, eat a late lunch as our big sit down meal then snack or counter service for dinner.

If you're a "planner"-like I am-the dining plans could work for you. We found the basic dining plan to be a real hit with teen ds's and myself. But this was last year when the starter and tip were included. I found it to be a real value. What worked for us-when I didn't want the whole enchilada, I'd ordered my entree(usually a salad) and my drink(usually alcohol which I'd have to pay for anyway) and the boys could order and eat(and yes, they did!) what they wanted. So, your brother could order what he wants and could pay OOP. Also, several counter service locations have portions big enough to share-Cosmic Ray's; Wolfgang Puck Express-so your brother wouldn't have to pay. But-yes, it takes planning which isn't everyone's cuppa tea.

That said-this year-not as much value-and I especially dislike having to carry cash anyway so as to tip. You could put it on your room card or credit card, but with a son in the food serving business, I know that he prefers cash for his tips.

What I like about the deluxe plan-mugs included which we paid for and used several times a day; 2 snacks a day-in my experience those snack credits go fast. The DIS has a list of what one can use a snack credit for-very helpful. Starter included in this one-as mentioned above-that's a good thing.

One way to not feel as if one is running to a ADR everytime you turn around is...all ts meals-so therefore one is getting that "benefit" over the regular dining plan-but only 2 meals a day by including signature restaurants.

But...one thing I find off-putting is the amount of tipping that I(we) could be doing at those signature places for 7 days straight-to say nothing of the additional 1ts credit places that we'd like to try

So, yeah, as you can tell I've given the deluxe plan some thought for that dh and I only trip I'm thinking about....Worth it? Not sure yet. But I definitely CAN tell you that if you can add it during the "free" dining promo-like Disney as already done with the bounceback promotion for later in the year, then for $32 a day per person-it would a great value IMO even with the added tipping taken into consideration.

I don't know about rule enforcement but every time I read about this I think the same thing; how could anyone ever eat the amount of food offered in the deluxe DDP? I'm no skinny minny, (sadly).. but even in my greediest moments this seems an obscene amount of food. If eating is this big a deal on your hols, why go to Disney? There is much better food elsewhere if eating is your bag. I know it will make me unpopular posting this but I have to finally say it - why would anyone, ever, consider the deluxe plan??

I've read all the replies here and realize most are a year old or older. But I'd like to know what you think of this scenario:
We have two rooms at POR. Our three teens (18, 16, 13) in one and hubby and I in the other. We have already paid for the trip and have BASIC dining for everyone. I do not want to pay for deluxe for five people. Here is what I am considering:
Since we are in separate rooms, he and I could upgrade to Deluxe. Since technically all diners are adults and no kids - wouldn't that give us more credits to share so we could dine at TS more than CS or switch to some 2 credit meals at signature restaurants.
Is this feasable?? How would it work when paying with our card(s)?
Thanks for any input!

Are the two rooms on one reservation, msladybugzz? If so, I don't think you could be on two different types of plans.

First, a non-food bit of information (from direct personal experience). If you have one reservation for 2 rooms, all room keys will work in both doors. This might be especially handy if you guys are going back and forth between the two rooms and just have adjoining and not connecting rooms. Adjoining means share a wall, but you have to go outside to get between the two rooms. However, if you have 2 reservations, even if they are 'linked' in Disney's system, each set of keys will only open the door for the room you are in. Not an issue if you did luck out and get connecting, but could be an issue if you have adjoining and split up during the day.

For the food part: Card A is a deluxe DDP for 2 adults, Card B is a standard DDP for 3 adults. At a regular TS location, you will (should) never be able to use more than 2 credits off of Card A or 3 off of Card B. So you just present a Card A and a Card B at each location. But, when you run out of credits on Card B, you can't use Card A for 5 people at one location, because it says 2Adults right on it, which is basically the question of the OP.

You might be able to get creative with the CS and getting an extra meal or two, but I don't think it would be worth the cost.



And scoobydooby - did you notice the ages of msladybugzz's 3 kids. Imagine if they were all boys. NOW can you see the deluxe plan being worthwhile?!

We used the Basic Dining Plan in December (when gratuity was included) and loved it. It was nice to not have to pay for any of our meals and we had a few sit downs left on our last day and were able to have our counter servcie breakfast come off. All in all it worked well for us - we usually only planned one sit down a day. We are going to use the plan again in May but this time will have to have cash for gratuities, but at least it's not as much as having to pay for meals! We shall see...

If eating is this big a deal on your hols, why go to Disney?

While I agree with your thoughts about the deluxe dining plan, I take exception to the above. I really enjoy fine dining, although I rarely do it around home. Eating is one of the things I totally love about a Disney vacation, either in Orlando or in Anaheim. Even the fast food that I've settled on (Cosmic Ray's, Flame Tree) are a cut above the average Wendy's/Taco Bell/Burger King. And the sitdown restaurants that I frequent (California Grill/Coral Reef/'Ohana) are some danged fine restaurants!

And scoobydooby - did you notice the ages of msladybugzz's 3 kids. Imagine if they were all boys. NOW can you see the deluxe plan being worthwhile?!

Fair enough - I've never fed a teenager! Have been on 'all inclusive' holidays though and couldn't face all the food.

While I agree with your thoughts about the deluxe dining plan, I take exception to the above. I really enjoy fine dining, although I rarely do it around home. Eating is one of the things I totally love about a Disney vacation, either in Orlando or in Anaheim. Even the fast food that I've settled on (Cosmic Ray's, Flame Tree) are a cut above the average Wendy's/Taco Bell/Burger King. And the sitdown restaurants that I frequent (California Grill/Coral Reef/'Ohana) are some danged fine restaurants!

Also fair enough but Disney is not about food to me. As I like to stay on property and can't afford a villa type place we can't self cater, but if we could we would. You frequent posher places than us! My children like the character buffets...

Thank you for your repy Drince. I originally made our reservation through WDW, but found out AAA would save us about $400, so I transferred the reservations to them. (It was a bit of a headache because the trip was mostly paid for and funds had to be transferred, but it all worked out - and at savings of $400 it was worth it!) Anyway, the AAA agent said we can upgrade just two of us as long as she books those two people in one room and the other three in the other room (since our oldest is 18 that is ok). I don't know if there is one res or two - but we were told we'd get connecting rooms guaranteed.

You said: "Card A is a deluxe DDP for 2 adults, Card B is a standard DDP for 3 adults."
Just to clarify - If two of us upgrade and if we all have our own cards, 1 & 2 would both say 2 adults deluxe dining; and cards 3, 4, 5 would say 3 adults basic dining - right?
So (theoretically) using a DD card any two adults could dine for any given TS meal, right (no names are checked)? When all 5 of us dine together, we could provide one of each kind of card to have the points deducted properly.
If it is CS, whoever gets in line could buy 2 or 3 meals (depending on which card they provide).

I'm not trying to cheat the system or anything, I'm just trying to pay for as much of the trip ahead of time so it doesn't affect our experience in the moment (example: If we were paying OOP and hubs walked up to Narccoossee's and saw the prices, he would change his mind about dining there; whereas if we buy the plan, he would not worry about the price tag.) I don't want to upgrade for five people though - that is TOO much $ and food! I just thought the extra credits in a DD plan for just two of us would be worth the extra $30 per day.

Thanks again for the reply and the tips!
:) MsLadybugzz

You said: "Card A is a deluxe DDP for 2 adults, Card B is a standard DDP for 3 adults."
Just to clarify - If two of us upgrade and if we all have our own cards, 1 & 2 would both say 2 adults deluxe dining; and cards 3, 4, 5 would say 3 adults basic dining - right?
Yes. The way I wrote it makes it sound like a totally separate thing for the dining plan, which is not the case.

I figured you'd all 5 be together for most everything, so if you are splitting up a decent amount of the time, then it could work for you.

I'm surprised your agent said connecting rooms were guaranteed. But if she said they were, I guess they are (I'm not a travel agent)

just a comment about the amount of food ... we decided not to use the dining plan for our trip this past summer (ok, your winter). we (two adults) ordered breakfast foods, water and some snacks from garden grocer, and then ate two meals at the parks each day - a table service meal on average every other day, and counter service meals the rest of the time. including the garden grocer order and tips for our 5 table service meals, we spent $35 per person a day. while this did not represent a huge saving in terms of money, the thing we were really struck by was the huge amount of food that the dining plan appears to represent. we are both healthy eaters and have never thought of ourselves as particularly restrained, but the portion sizes at WDW were simply enormous. in ten days, we were never able to fit in dessert (we had ice cream as snacks a couple of times, hours after our meal) and only once did we (share) an appetiser. one night we ate at the whispering canyon and had vege enchiladas - one portion would have been more than enough for the two of us - as I recall, I got about 3/4 of the way through one wrap (two were provided, smothered in sauce), and DH finished one of his - it seemed such a waste of such yummy food. the only meal I can recall actually finishing was at Chefs de France, where I had soup and a salad - and absolutely no room for dessert (and I needed a 30 minute snooze afterwards!). As I understand the basic dining plan, at both CS and TS you get dessert as well as a main course - I don't know how anyone really copes with this without needing to spend large parts of the day sleeping it off. I simply can not comprehend the deluxe plan!!!

I don't know about rule enforcement but every time I read about this I think the same thing; how could anyone ever eat the amount of food offered in the deluxe DDP? I'm no skinny minny, (sadly).. but even in my greediest moments this seems an obscene amount of food. If eating is this big a deal on your hols, why go to Disney? There is much better food elsewhere if eating is your bag. I know it will make me unpopular posting this but I have to finally say it - why would anyone, ever, consider the deluxe plan??

Eating isn't our 'bag' LOL, but when we go to WDW, we do like to eat. My husband works a lot, and we have gone to WDW numerous times -- so when we go, it's to relax, do things we normally wouldn't. Eating out is a perk for DH and there is no place he likes eating better than WDW -- it's away from the "real world" and he just really likes it -- no, eating isn't his "bag" either, but he does enjoy the restaurants at WDW. We go because for us, it's the best place to relax -- we don't go with hitting the parks as our numero uno goal -- we lounge about, eat at different places, soak up the ambiance, visit the parks here and there (and not with rides galore as our focus).

If you go with the goal of hitting the parks full force, or hitting as much as you can in one trip, then eating a lot won't make sense. For us, it's part of the experience. There have been trips when we (at most) went on 4 or 5 rides the whole trip.

Being such, we have been considering the deluxe plan. I love pre-paying for as much of a vacation as I can, and I love that we can go to places we normally wouldn't -- even at other vacation destinations.

So, while I don't go to Disney to eat til I explode, I do like eating at Disney.

I guess we just vacation differently :)