The DxDP Take #3: You don’t have to max it out to save a bundle (with spreadsheets & mini reviews!)

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Intro:

We are West Coast Disneylandphiles who have branched out to WDW in the past year, mostly due to RunDisney. My friend @Calfan “discovered” the half-marathons a couple years ago. I thought she was nuts, but I eventually decided to try out the Star Wars Light Side with her at DLR in January 2017. I just completed my 6th RunDisney half since then! I guess you could say I’m hooked, LOL. We’ve been DVC owners of VGC for almost a decade, but we just added on at BLT so we have some place to stay at WDW going forward for the races.

We are a family of four: me, DH, DS21 (special needs) and DD18. This was my fourth trip to WDW in the past year, but it was the first time all four of us had been to WDW together since Christmas about ten years ago. I went to Dark Side last April with @Calfan for a last minute girls’ race trip, the kids flew out to join me after a conference in the summer (DH had to work), and our daughter missed the last trip in February for Princess as she was at University. Fortunately, the Dark Side fell over her long Easter Break so she was able to join us.

Our first family trip to WDW ten years ago was a bit of a disappointment. Compared to Disneyland where you can walk back and forth between the parks easily and ride tons of rides each day, the buses and spread out nature of WDW was hard to adjust to. We’d tried out a few of the restaurants, but we didn’t really “get” the whole going to Disney to eat thing as at Disneyland it isn't a big deal.

That changed last summer. The kids and I tried out the DxDP when they flew out to join me after I had a conference in July, and I think it really helped us differentiate DLR and WDW in a positive way. We stopped trying to fit WDW in the DLR box and ended up enjoying the experience much more. At Disneyland we were ride commandos, but that really didn’t work well at WDW. Sitting down for a nice meal and spreading out the day with dining reservations helped to combat the frustration of not being able to do as many rides. We also decided to UBER/LYFT everywhere rather than rely on buses. That was a huge lift in the frustration level. I haven’t added it up, but I think we were around $200 in UBER/LYFT rides, which was easily the best $200 we spent on the trip. So. Worth. It.

Relying on buses would have made my ADRs (see chart below), which were all over the place, much more time consuming. For example, I was able to secure a couple FOP FP+ times, but—of course—they butted up against ADRs. One night we had a 5:50 FOP and 7:20 Dinner reservation at Jiko, and another night we had a 5:05 FOP and a dining reservation at Akershus for 6:55. If you’ve been on FOP, you know that it an take a long time (40-60 minutes) even in the FP line. For both reservations we were booking it across the parks, but thanks to UBER we made them. We wouldn’t have been able to do this on the buses as we would have needed a lot more time.

Back to the dining plan … we enjoyed the DxDP so much on our trip last summer, that DH, DS, and I did it again for the Princess in February. In those first two trips, we ended up coming out about $400 ahead with three people. This time, because there were four of us, that number improved. You'll see how much in the last spreadsheet.

I posted the results of our first two trips in the Dining Reviews forum [https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...anning-mini-reviews-thoughts-updated.3624113/]. As that post turned out to be more about the numbers/spreadsheets than the dining reviews, however, I probably should have posted over here. This time around, I also decided to add an additional spreadsheet for what we actually ordered so that skeptics can see that we definitely don’t max out the plan allotments or pick the most expensive item. We just ordered what we wanted as we normally would have done. Sadly, for our family of four, $200ish is pretty much par for the course in dining out at Disney Restaurants.

Here is the chart of our tentative plans:



A couple of notes. We arrived really late Wednesday night (2:30 am) and stayed in a one-bedroom standard at Kidani. We switched over to a Savanna one-bedroom for the rest of the stay so we had 4 nights on the DxDP. We pretty much held to the itinerary with the exception of a few fast passes. I cancelled the FOP on Monday due to our flight time and hopefully made someone happy

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[CaliforniaGirl09]

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Restaurants:

In our short history of WDW we have already developed a list of must do’s:
Boma brunch
Sanaa lunch
California Grill brunch
Teppan Edo (total suckers for hibachi restaurants)

There were a couple of restaurants from our previous trips that I wanted to go back to, but I forced myself to try out some new ones:
Morimoto
Yak & Yeti
Raglan Road
Rose & Crown
Jiko
Akershus (DS and I had been there once before)

We had two signatures (CA Grill and Jiko) and only one character buffet, which for us is unusual. DS21 is special needs and he loves characters. We usually have 2 or 3 character meals a trip, but I really wanted to try out some different places. He adjusted … reluctantly. I might not get away with only one again, LOL.

What we ordered:
I was going to put this at the end, but I thought it would be helpful to see what we ordered before reading the mini-reviews.



Mini reviews and (some) pictures
[Aside: as will be obvious, I am not a photographer and I often forgot to take pics!]

Teppan Edo:
This is a family favorite, and a fun chef coupled with being seated with a friendly family made it a really great way to start off the trip. I know it isn’t the best hibachi offering out there, but we’ve found it consistently good, and this time around was no exception. I love the noodles with vegetables, and the filet was really good. DD tried the julienne steak, which I wouldn’t recommend. It was much tougher than my steak or the boys round steaks. The boys ordered very cheap appetizers, and DH was the only one to order a real dessert. The rest of us got the green tea, which is always great for digestion. We only had 2 (of our allotted 4) alcoholic/specialty drinks here. Sorry, I totally spaced on pics here!

Yak & Yeti:
This is a restaurant I’ve been curious about as it seems to end up on a lot of favorites lists around here. We really enjoyed it. Indian and Asian food in general are family favorites while traveling as they tend to not be so heavy. We all love “a curry,” and the Chicken Tikka was really good. The kids ordered this monstrous waffle and chicken thing that they both seemed to enjoy. We shared the appetizers family style. The pot stickers were fine, but the green beans were a disappointment. Both DH and I were expecting something more like dry cooked green beans, not coated fried green beans. Our fault for not reading the menu closely, but we aren’t big on fried food in general and both orders went mostly uneaten. This was one meal where DH ordered a drink for me so I had two.


(The green beans and pot stickers that we shared)


Chicken Tikka with rice and Naan--yum!!!


The waffle and Korean BBQ Chicken that the kids ordered. DH ended up taking some of the waffle home to have as a pre-race snack for the 5k

Boma:
The boys did the 5k race and this was the celebration for them as it is DS’s favorite. I think he goes just for the Krispy Kreme’s It’s consistently a good breakfast buffet, and no issues this time around. DD isn’t big on it, but as she doesn’t really like heavy breakfast food that’s not a surprise. DS and I had celebratory pogmosas As we’ve been staying at Kidani, Boma has been a breakfast mainstay, but I’m not sure whether it will stay in the rotation as much with us moving across town to BLT.


DS representing with his 5k shirt, hat, and medal. The afore mentioned pogmosa and Krispy Kremes.

Morimoto:
I’m in love. I’d heard great things about this place, and it absolutely did not disappoint. I believe it’s a signature for dinner—which give our bill would have been a horrible deal—but for lunch it was a “solid” dining plan meal (roughly $200 for 4 of us). This will be an every trip pilgrimage for us going forward, assuming that it stays on the DP list. I had the Tonkotsu ramen, and it was one of the best restaurant ramens I’ve ever had—and I love ramen! Also, unlike many restaurants that have sushi on the menu, the rolls and dumplings were part of the appetizer list (I’m looking at you Tokyo Dining). As you can see by the orders, we were all craving rolls. We all loved our lunches and DD thought her melon float was awesome—I had order envy. I’m not a dessert eater typically, but I love floats and the presentation was very cool. DH was still full from his 5k celebrating buffet at Boma, so he only ordered an appetizer and a house salad for lunch. DS and I had a drink—the weekly alcoholic punch was delicious and one of my favorite non-cider drinks of the trip.


DHs House Salad entree. He was thrilled with the watermelon radishes, which are a favorite of his


My ramen, which was probably my favorite item of the trip. Absolutely delicious!


DS was happy with his orange chicken (aka fried chicken and syrup, LOL). We were all thrilled with the bok choy!


The very popular and delicious CA rolls


DD's very cool melon float. I was jealous.

I was a little worried about the Disney Springs reservations, but I'm so glad I didn't change them. We’d been to Downtown Disney (aka Disney Springs) ten years ago when it was under construction and we weren’t that impressed. Part of that might have had to do with the two hour bus ride from hell from the Grand Floridian, which is probably enough said. But this time, we loved it. We ended up having two meals in Disney Springs that day and after seeing Splitsville at lunch, we decided to come back early and bowl before dinner. It was a blast, and I have a feeling we’ll be repeating this frequently when we make ADRs at Disney Springs. I wanted to do the hot balloon ride but the rest of the family were all chicken. DH said he would do it, and DD was ready to cash her inheritance check

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[CaliforniaGirl09]

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Raglan Road:
I’d never heard of this place before a couple months ago, but it also pops up on a lot of favorite lists. As DD is a former prelim champion Irish Dancer, I knew we had to check it out. This was the only restaurant where we had to wait past our dinner time—I think about 15 minutes. But it was totally worth it, as we had a great table in the “Bono” alcove right next to the stage. The food was a surprise in a good way. We loved our tomato salads, and the entrees were all solid if not spectacular. The atmosphere and Baileys shake (OMG!!!!) more than made up for the difference. RR is another restaurant we will be returning to in future trips. Probably a one off choice (i.e. every other trip). We were half-joking that DD should brush up on her dancing (she stopped a couple years ago) and try to get a summer job DH ordered a cider for me here. Ciders have been my thing for the past 5 years or so and Magners is one of my favorites.

The incredible Bailey's Shake.


We loved his simple tomato salad. So good!!

Rose and Crown:
Yet another place that shows up on lots of favorite lists. We had a seat on the water that was in the sun for half the table so I was glad it wasn’t super hot. I can see why people make dinner reservations here for the show—what a terrific vantage. DH and I shared the cheese plate and salad, and were happy with both. We both love cheese plates, but they can fill me up before a meal so this was a great way to do it. The boys ordered the Shepherds Pie and enjoyed it, but I think they had a little order envy of the girls’ curry. The Chicken Masala was yummy, and I suspect I won’t be ordering anything going forward. As you can see from the spreadsheet I tend to drink my dessert calories, LOL. But I make exceptions for scones! There was good news and bad news about the scone dessert: it wasn’t great, but that’s fine since I won’t be wasting calories on dessert and can have another snake bite! I *love* strongbow in England, but strongbow in America is much sweeter, which I don’t like. A snake bit, which is cider and lager, was a great way to cut the sweetness. That was the only alcoholic drink of the meal.


My snake bite!


Shepherd's Pie


Chicken Masala (loved this)


Nougat Bar (loved the cute flag)


Sticky Toffee Pudding. DH loved


My scone. It looked good, but it just wasn't there for me.


Jiko:
I’ve heard a lot about this restaurant, and surprisingly over my 4 stays at Animal Kingdom Lodge, I hadn’t tried it. I figured we better try it this trip as we’ll probably be at BLT going forward, but after really enjoying Tiffins last time, I was tempted to change the reservation given our FOP FP+ time. I wish I had. We all were *really* disappointed. The bad juju started at check-in with a humorless and unfriendly check-in lady. We had a very nice server, but I’m not sure what happened as our meal was extremely—extremely—slow. We didn’t receive our appetizers until 40 minutes after sitting down and dinner was at least another 30 minutes. asked the server if they’d had to kill the cow, but she didn’t get it. Tables around us who were seated well after us were finished before we had our dinner. The food was also meh. My ribs were over half fat and the sauce was thick and overly sweet. I had one bite of the pureed mashed potato (or some kind of root vegetable) and that was enough. The steaks were fine, and DD liked her elk. The bread service was disappointing compared to Sanaa and the dumplings were like a not great ravioli. The best thing on the table was definitely the friandise. Even DH’s salad wasn’t great. I did love my South African cider though. I’d had the same one at Tiffins, and it was the meal highlight for me.

DD and I had the half marathon the next morning so the plan had been to eat somewhere close to get back to the room and go to bed. That plan was foiled by the long, needlessly drawn out meal. Even with none of us ordering desserts, it was still over two hours. Getting the check was even painful as our server disappeared for a while. A really frustrating meal at a bad time with meh food at high prices means I doubt we’ll ever go back. In three trips this was our first bad meal, which I guess I should feel fortunate. I just wish it hadn’t been a signature.

I was too irritated to take pictures


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[CaliforniaGirl09]

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CA Grill brunch:
Probably my favorite meal at WDW. This was my third visit, and it didn’t disappoint. I love it for a post race celebration, and since we’ll be staying so close in the future, I suspect it will stay on the must do list. I’m actually hoping to try dinner there as well next trip. I could pretty much be done with the cheese and salumi, the sushi, the cheddar rolls, and the champagne with blueberry pop thingies. I made a really poor showing on my hanger steak even though it was good because I was so full. The guys ordered pancakes and devoured them. We were all so stuffed we skipped the dessert tray and DS just asked for the truffles.

My bad! I totally spaced on picture of my favorite part of the meal (the buffet of appetizers).


DD and I ordered the hanger steak and it was good, but huge


DH's blueberry pancakes


I love these berry mimosas. I have no idea what those things are but they pop and I loved them


Even on a cloudy day it's still a great view. We had a nice table by the window


Restaurant was packed with racers

Akershus:
DS and I had eaten here once before, and I remembered it as pretty good. We were all pleasantly surprised by the food as it was on the list mostly because of the princesses. We’d been to Cinderella’s Castle the two trips before, so we were looking to change it up a little. The buffet for the appetizers was great—I really liked the cucumber salad and it was nice to have fresh vegetables to choose from. For our entrees, three of us had the meatballs, and DS had the stuffed pasta. We all enjoyed our meals and thought it was good, especially for a character meal. The overall meal experience was excellent. We had an awesome waiter, and the princesses were all very sweet to DS. Given that the average age of the “kids” in there is probably seven, they weren’t sure what to do when they approached the table and all of them went to DD18. It was pretty funny. I can always see the click when DS21 says something and they get it DH was nice enough to order me a second Pear Cider, which was sweet but surprisingly refreshing. They bring out a dessert tray for everyone to share, and the apple cake was a hit with the dessert eaters.


It's all about Princesses for DH21 special needs! DD18 is a great sport about it


This picture cracked me up as my kids dwarfed Snow White!


The meatballs, mashed potatoes, jelly and green beans


DS turned 21 in January and after carding him the waiter brought him a three month late birthday cupcake!! How awesome is that?

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[CaliforniaGirl09]

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Sanaa:
We saved one of the best for last. Sanaa has somehow ended up our farewell lunch the past few trips. It has been convenient to check out of the room, and have an early lunch before heading to the airport. It’s actually a great flying meal. I’m stuffed but it’s a good kind of stuffed that lasts me most of the way home. I then have a late dinner on the west coast, and I’m back on a regular eating schedule. It’s going to be much harder to do this from BLT going forward so not sure how we’ll work it in. But it’s in the must do rotation. I’m not sure what to say about the bread service except that it is delicious. The naan is so good, and we love all the different dipping sauces. We forced ourselves not to over order appetizers this time, and only did the two bread services for the four of us for appetizers. We were tempted to try the soup, but exercised a little self-control On the DxDP, you can order three of the slow cook options versus two, but I knew from experience that I wouldn’t get close to finishing that so I just went with the butter chicken and aloo (potatoes). DH and DD went for a third. I was the only one who got a cocktail, but I couldn’t resist the uber yummy chocolate martini that I’d had before.


Not quite as good as the Bailey's shake from RR but still very good!


The dips for the bread service


The incredible naan!!


My lunch of butter chicken and potatoes (aloo)


Snacks and Mugs:
We love the snack credits for a light breakfast of oatmeal and the mugs for coffee in the morning and the occasional soda. 4 out of 5 breakfasts were oatmeal. We typically get fruit salad to go with it as well (also a snack credit), but DH said it didn’t look very good. We also had a lot more Starbucks park visits in previous trips that ate up snack credits, but only had one this trip. That left us with lots of snack credits. The good/bad thing about all the table serve restaurants is that you are pretty full and have no interest in many of the tempting sweets you pass in the parks. I think this is actually a good thing, as we were filling up on better food than the high calorie/fat snacks. I mentioned before that the kids usually get bags of candy when we are leaving, but this trip they had a windfall with all those extra snack credits. They were happy. Frankly, I knew we were so far out ahead of what we’d paid for the plan, I didn’t care. I’d figure about 10 of those credits wouldn’t have been used. My new caveat about the mugs after a horrible room at Kidani last time is that I would buy them if we are close to the fill station. This time we had a great room and used them enough to make them well worth it.

The Numbers:

So I kind of buried the lead, but I wanted to present a pretty detailed account of how we eat so that anyone thinking about doing the plan can see how it works in the wild. We were all very cognizant of not over-ordering, and I don’t think there was much DP mentality going on this trip with the exception maybe of a couple desserts. DH typically clears the plate, but the rest of us don’t and that is true whether on the DP or not. In other words, we tend not to stuff ourselves silly We were also aware of the tip part of the equation—i.e., you order it you pay tip on it so don’t order just because it’s “included.” I think our prior experiences of coming out ahead with the DxDP has helped with our ordering. In other words, we know we don’t have to overeat to make it work so no one is thinking about it. We had DxDP confidence

So here it is: We came out $667 ahead!



“Is the dining plan worth it?” is a frequently asked question on this board. It’s pretty much an impossible question to answer as it really depends on restaurant choices, dining preferences, and family makeup. But I can say—and I think the spreadsheet shows—that the DxDP is definitely worth it if:

1. You like to eat at nice/signature sit down restaurants or character buffets
2. You typically order appetizers
3. Someone in your party drinks and/or likes dessert.
4. Your travel schedule doesn’t have you arriving late and leaving early (we had a full day one and breakfast and lunch on the departure day, giving us time to stretch out the meals).

If this sounds like your family, I think it’s a no brainer. For four days of the DxDP, you could subtract all the “snacks” off the plan & the mugs ($227.93), and still come out way ahead (by $439.76) even without maxing out what you can get with the plan. Put another way, even if you didn’t use any of the snacks or the mugs, you could eat at two of my non-signature restaurants like Teppan Edo and Morimoto for “free” (or have all of your tips for ten restaurants covered by your savings). Personally, I think #1 and #2 are the biggest part of the equation. If you do those, I think it would be hard to not come out way ahead.

Typical arguments against the DxDP is that it takes too much time and includes too much food and/or to have value you need to max out the menu and order app, entree, drink, and dessert for every meal. As you can see from the spreadsheets, we absolutely did not do this. There were definitely meals where we skipped things (I only ordered dessert once), and we certainly didn’t pick the most expensive items. Far from it actually. For one “entree” my husband had a house salad We had miso, edamame, hot tea, and plenty of other “cheap” items.

YMMV with time for eating, but we only had one excessively long meal (Jiko). For the most part we were in and out in an hour or less. That isn’t much longer than quick serve where you have to find your own table and figure out where everyone wants to eat. CA grill was more like 1.5 hours but that was because we were celebrating the race and wanted to hang out and enjoy the view. We also had little to no wait times. Three sit down meals in one day was okay, but we had to be more strategic about where we were eating in relation to FP+ times. The ideal for us is the occasional three meal day (one being a buffet breakfast) and the rest two meal days with one of those a signature.

The addition of alcoholic drinks in the DxDP for 2018 is probably a wash for our family. Three of us are 21, but DH doesn’t drink and DS only has one a day max. I typically don’t drink with every meal either but having the alcohol on the plan is a little bit like having an open bar for me. It’s hard to refuse If I wanted two at any meal, DH would order it and we’d pay out of pocket for his ice tea. So the DxDP worked for our party of 4 even with only 1-3 alcoholic or specialty drinks per meal (not 4).

I think we left about 18 alcoholic drinks on the table. We also left 3 appetizers and 12 desserts (15 if you don’t count our green teas). So you can see that you definitely don’t need to max out the plan and still come out way ahead. We came out over $650 ahead this trip so you can see how there is *plenty* of room to leave even more on the table and still make it a good deal. I really think it comes down to appetizers and restaurant choices. If you have a few expensive restaurants in there and everyone likes appetizers, the DxDP is a total win.

I hope those of you considering the DxDP for your family find this helpful. It is definitely expensive (about $570 pp for a four night stay w/tips), but for us we eat much better quality food, have a chance to relax (and sometimes see characters) while eating, and feel much much better after a trip to the parks. That is probably the best part for me. It’s nice to come home from a Disney vacation and not feel gross

Happy eating!

 

[DISbot]

Great summary! I have drawn similar conclusions...unfortunately the only way to be sure if there is value is to know your parties habits and to do the math. The deluxe is also a different beast than the normal dining plan, and is easier to break even with two meals (TS) a day.

 

[susieq76]

Love your reviews as we have such similar eating habits in our family of 5. Your Jiko review is making me reconsider my June ressie... I switched from Narcoossee's which we love and I may have to just switch back!

 

[ScubaCat]

We also decided to UBER/LYFT everywhere rather than rely on buses. That was a huge lift in the frustration level.

Or you could say it was an "Uber lyft" in the frustration level. I kid, I kid.

Thanks for sharing your experience. We went the other way... DW and I had been to WDW all those years until I ended up in So Cal for business in 2010 and took an impromptu solo trip to DL for a day. It was always a one shot bucket list item, but I realized there was a lot more to offer than just a similar experience on the opposite coast. I remember arriving around 10:30am and left after 1am (shopped on main Street after the rides closed.)

Now we go to both locations every year! I will say, overall, dining is far superior at DL. There are good places in WDW, too, but it can be hit or miss at times. I miss WDW having places like the Plaza inn at DL where you just pay for what you want. They were all switched to overpriced buffets years ago. It is what is is.

I still find DxDP to be massive overkill, but that's probably due to my glutenous mentality. Best for people like me to pay as I go!

 

[Pumbaa_]

Any way you slice it your dining cost was $2600 for 5 days. About $500 per day

Am I the only one that thinks paying 3 months of mortgage payments on 5 days of dining insane?

I am glad you found joy and value in the experience, but that cost is not in many people's budget

Sounds like a great time was had, and a 1 br villa w savannah view is awesome

 

[gillep]

Any way you slice it your dining cost was $2600 for 5 days. About $500 per day

Am I the only one that thinks paying 3 months of mortgage payments on 5 days of dining insane?

I am glad you found joy and value in the experience, but that cost is not in many people's budget

Sounds like a great time was had, and a 1 br villa w savannah view is awesome

I wish that was anywhere approaching 3 months of my mortgage payments!!!!!

Growing up even one WDW vacation wasn't in my parents' budget and that is just the reality of any luxury purchase. We have no issues swinging a couple WDW vacations a year, but some of the trips my boss takes are so far out of our budget it isn't even a consideration.

We just did 1 night of the DxDP and it reminded me why we stopped doing the dining plan after our first visit, for us, it is just way too much food. We did Sanaa dinner, Artist Point dinner and spent our snack credits on F&G items, we came out way ahead doing the plan, but we were full by the time we finished our Sanaa apps .

 

[justlook3]

This was really interesting, thanks for sharing your experiences. We're doing the DXDP for the second half of our split stay (regular for the first) and I'm interested in comparing the two for future trips. There's only two of us and while I am all about the sweet things, DH is not and I'm sure he'd prefer the app instead of dessert idea, so it's something to think about.

 

[justlook3]

I wish that was anywhere approaching 3 months of my mortgage payments!!!!!

Wow, yeah, I pay more a month in rent . . . (My place is huge, we're moving to a smaller place that will be less than that next month LOL)

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Great summary! I have drawn similar conclusions...unfortunately the only way to be sure if there is value is to know your parties habits and to do the math. The deluxe is also a different beast than the normal dining plan, and is easier to break even with two meals (TS) a day.

Totally agree that the deluxe is a completely different beast. It does really surprise me though that there is is much "value" left in it given how much Disney has stripped the regular plan to make it harder to break even. I suspect they realize that people wouldn't pay those prices if they weren't getting some value and it keeps the fancy restaurants full. I wonder what the proposition of deluxe plans there are to regular. I suspect it's a small percentage.

Love your reviews as we have such similar eating habits in our family of 5. Your Jiko review is making me reconsider my June ressie... I switched from Narcoossee's which we love and I may have to just switch back!

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed. It's fun for me to do and see how it all works out. I had guessed we'd be up by about $500 so I was surprised by the actual number. As for Jiko, I know it's a huge favorite around the boards, but I'd seen a few negative reviews that had me questioning, too. I was really expecting to like it so it was a surprise.

Or you could say it was an "Uber lyft" in the frustration level. I kid, I kid.

Thanks for sharing your experience. We went the other way... DW and I had been to WDW all those years until I ended up in So Cal for business in 2010 and took an impromptu solo trip to DL for a day. It was always a one shot bucket list item, but I realized there was a lot more to offer than just a similar experience on the opposite coast. I remember arriving around 10:30am and left after 1am (shopped on main Street after the rides closed.)

Now we go to both locations every year! I will say, overall, dining is far superior at DL. There are good places in WDW, too, but it can be hit or miss at times. I miss WDW having places like the Plaza inn at DL where you just pay for what you want. They were all switched to overpriced buffets years ago. It is what is is.

I still find DxDP to be massive overkill, but that's probably due to my glutenous mentality. Best for people like me to pay as I go!

OMG too funny!!! It was indeed an uber lyft! DLR doesn't have nearly as many upscale "signature" type dining options, but they definitely have some good mid-range options. I used to love Carnation Cafe on main street, but they got rid of some favorites over the years.

You bring up a good point about temptation. I think for DH that's a bit of an issue and maybe a little on DS. But after a couple days, they stopped clearing the plates. It's definitely good to know yourself and what will work for you and your family..

Any way you slice it your dining cost was $2600 for 5 days. About $500 per day

Am I the only one that thinks paying 3 months of mortgage payments on 5 days of dining insane?

I am glad you found joy and value in the experience, but that cost is not in many people's budget

Sounds like a great time was had, and a 1 br villa w savannah view is awesome

Yes, it's a lot of money on food. If I wasn't sure based on past performance that we'd be spending that much anyway, I'd probably think differently, but the cost of WDW table serves is so overpriced, it's hard to escape the big numbers to eat well. I'm pretty convinced that they price so high to make people on the dining plans feel as if they are getting a deal so I suspect I'm part of the problem.

Sadly, like the next poster, the cost didn't approach three months of my mortgage here in CA

I wish that was anywhere approaching 3 months of my mortgage payments!!!!!

Growing up even one WDW vacation wasn't in my parents' budget and that is just the reality of any luxury purchase. We have no issues swinging a couple WDW vacations a year, but some of the trips my boss takes are so far out of our budget it isn't even a consideration.

We just did 1 night of the DxDP and it reminded me why we stopped doing the dining plan after our first visit, for us, it is just way too much food. We did Sanaa dinner, Artist Point dinner and spent our snack credits on F&G items, we came out way ahead doing the plan, but we were full by the time we finished our Sanaa apps .

LOL on the full after the Sanaa apps. I felt that way after the bread service, but I loved the entree so much that I managed to put a nice dent in it.

This was really interesting, thanks for sharing your experiences. We're doing the DXDP for the second half of our split stay (regular for the first) and I'm interested in comparing the two for future trips. There's only two of us and while I am all about the sweet things, DH is not and I'm sure he'd prefer the app instead of dessert idea, so it's something to think about.

Thanks for reading through it all and so glad you found it interesting. It will be interesting to hear your experiences with the two plans. I hope you are planning to do a write up or dining review Have fun!!

 

[ScubaCat]

You bring up a good point about temptation. I think for DH that's a bit of an issue and maybe a little on DS. But after a couple days, they stopped clearing the plates. It's definitely good to know yourself and what will work for you and your family..

One other thing I just thought of... It depends on the amount of time you're there. 3-4 days and doing some signatures, it's worth it. We once did a 6 day DxDP trip and by the 5th day, I was willing to pay just to skip a meal. DW and I get a 3 night NYE trip alone every few years, and for that I buy it because it lets me detach from the cost and pretend to be a kid for that brief period. (and TIW and some other discounts are blacked out anyway on Dec 31 and Jan 1, too.)

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

One other thing I just thought of... It depends on the amount of time you're there. 3-4 days and doing some signatures, it's worth it. We once did a 6 day DxDP trip and by the 5th day, I was willing to pay just to skip a meal. DW and I get a 3 night NYE trip alone every few years, and for that I buy it because it lets me detach from the cost and pretend to be a kid for that brief period. (and TIW and some other discounts are blacked out anyway on Dec 31 and Jan 1, too.)

You are so right! I meant to add something about length of trip. I think 3-4 nights is ideal. Much beyond that and I think I'd be tired of eating out. I get like that when traveling anyway. But great point! As the PP pointed out, the cost is so high even for a few days. I wouldn't want to pay more than 3-4 days going forward. We haven't stayed longer than 5 nights in the past, but I would definitely hesitate if we were to have a week long trip at some point. I have to admit I like the detaching part, too. It's nice not to even look at prices.

 

[tortoni]

Thank you for these great reviews, pics and analysis. We are going on the DxDDP in about 10 days and looking forward. I plan to do as you did, just order what we want and not worry about whether it is a savings or not. It will certainly be a convenience and allow us to feel free to order as we wish without thinking about prices.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Thank you for these great reviews, pics and analysis. We are going on the DxDDP in about 10 days and looking forward. I plan to do as you did, just order what we want and not worry about whether it is a savings or not. It will certainly be a convenience and allow us to feel free to order as we wish without thinking about prices.

Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed the reviews/analysis. I really like doing it (as you can probably tell, LOL). Have a great time on your trip! I love that aspect of it, too. It's so nice to be able to relax about the dining part of the equation. It's definitely a pretty penny, but it really ups the vacation for us.

 

[lolomarie]

Any way you slice it your dining cost was $2600 for 5 days

Am I the only one that thinks paying 3 months of mortgage payments on 5 days of dining insane?

I want to live where you live! That's a biweekly payment for us, and our house isn't even that big!!!!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I want to live where you live! That's a biweekly payment for us, and our house isn't even that big!!!!

Ditto from me on that!

 

[mamamelody2]

Any way you slice it your dining cost was $2600 for 5 days. About $500 per day

Am I the only one that thinks paying 3 months of mortgage payments on 5 days of dining insane?

I am glad you found joy and value in the experience, but that cost is not in many people's budget

Sounds like a great time was had, and a 1 br villa w savannah view is awesome

I agree, that is a ton of money for food and would not work at all for our family. But since it was in your budget, and that's what you wanted to do, good for you, OP! Glad you enjoyed it.

$2600 is actually almost exactly 3 months mortgage for us.