First Time Using Disney Dining Plan! Tips Please?

[mrsstarr]

Planning my next trip for Sept 24- Oct 2 and have never used the Dining Plan I opted for the Deluxe dining plan. Any tips? Helpful information? I have been feverishly making dining reservations already!

[faline]

Typically, you will get more value from your plan if you are choosing higher priced entree items from the menu.

Enjoy all the food!!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

The Deluxe Dining Plan was a challenge for my family.

Like Faline said, the way to get "value" from the plan is to choose the more expensive place to eat, and the more expensive dishes on the menu. However, this means that you will spend A LOT of timing eating, and for us, we hated feeling like all we were doing all trip was running from ADR to ADR.

I know that many people use the Deluxe plan to try out the signature restaurants, since they are two "credits". This can be a great idea, especially if you haven't eaten at many of them before.

Otherwise, the best "tip" is that since you have the plan, you can order exactly what you want. It has been paid for, so go ahead and enjoy! Don't forget about the tips though, they aren't included, and do add up quickly!

[TheDuckRocks]

Make sure to use all of your credits! You are throwing money away if you don't. Last time we used the Deluxe DDP I did not eat lunch one day because of the heat I had a headache. The last night before we left I was picking up breakfast rolls in France and turned to the young man behind me in line and used my last credit for him. It was fun seeing how excited he was that someone did something like that and I was happy I did not leave with an unused credit.

[mrsstarr]

Thanks for the great tips! I opted for the Deluxe dining because my husband is a bit frugal and will not enjoy his vacation as much if he is looking at all the prices! This way we can order what we want and eat where we want without all the totals! I have reserved a few of the signature dining and dinner show which require 2 credits. Keep the tips coming!

[mydisneygirls]

My tip - don't eat for a couple weeks before you go!!! That's a lot of food. We usually get the regular dining plan and always have credits left over. But the kids like to use all the snack credits that have added up to get bags of candy and items from the bakery to take on the plane home!! Enjoy.

[cer]

Thanks for the great tips! I opted for the Deluxe dining because my husband is a bit frugal and will not enjoy his vacation as much if he is looking at all the prices! This way we can order what we want and eat where we want without all the totals! I have reserved a few of the signature dining and dinner show which require 2 credits. Keep the tips coming!

I recommend doing just that. Use 1 TS credit for a late breakfast or early lunch and use 2 on signature dinners. We did Deluxe Dining once and I wish we did more of this scenario. I would have gotten to enjoy more signature meals that way. If you do end up doing 3 separate TS meals/day you will get to try more restaurants, but you will lose a lot of time on travel and sitting around a table which is fine if you are not planning on doing much in the parks.

[mechanic]

Don't fall into the trap of ordering the most expensive items on the menu, just to feel like you are getting value. Order what you feel like eating. With so much credit, the signature choices will make a nice experience too.

[Celakip]

We have used the Disney Dining Plan many times and love it. Here's how we do it: first we make our dining reservations, then we use those to determine which park we will be at and then make our FastPass reservations. We like to eat, so this works really well for us.

[titleistboy]

I agree with everything said here...we've used the DDP several times, and will be again in just a couple months...

Definitely you really only need two meals/day - since it's just adults, a late-ish lunch and a later dinner, or the opposite.

Remember that you only get credits for each night of your stay - I made the mistake the first time of thinking we got credits for each day...

Do a bit of research into what you can get for snacks...a lot of people will say to get waters, etc. with snacks - we actually usually use the snacks for something for breakfast at the resort, as pastries, etc. are usually covered.

Currently, as far as bang for your buck is concerned, for a 1 TS meal, the buffets are definitely the best value across the board - it's definitely nice to go to a Signature meal and not have to worry about the bill at the end, but we do enjoy a handful of the buffets as they're fast, you can always find something to eat, and the quality of the food is, frankly, pretty good.

[mrsstarr]

Thanks everyone for your helpful hints!