Grilled pork tenderloin and goat cheese polenta, Califonia Grill.

As I detailed in an earlier post, after much contemplation (and number crunching!) CP and I decided to give the Deluxe Dining Plan a spin on our recent trip to WDW. Since we were going to be staying at two resorts – the Contemporary for 3 nights, and the BoardWalk for 8 nights – we decided to give the dining plan a try for the shorter first part of our trip.  To refresh your memory, our plan was to eat 2-credit dinners at Jiko, California Grill, and Le Cellier; a one-credit dinner at Tutto Italia, and two one-credit breakfasts, one each at The Wave and the Crystal Palace. I had a detailed snack plan to follow that would maximize the value of each snack credit. We were prepared, and we were ready.

So, how’d we do?

First, the numbers – for the 12 snacks and 9 meals we consumed, we ate the equivalent of $705 worth of food. We paid $514 out of pocket for the Deluxe Dining Plan, and so we saved 27% on the dining plan. If you factor in the value of the two refillable mugs we received – and if you assume that we got our money’s worth out of those mugs – the savings goes up to 30%.

So, on paper we did well – very well! – meeting or even besting the savings I predicted through my up-front calculations. So, score one for proper planning; if you do the work ahead of time, you really can maximize your savings on the dining plan.  We realized slightly greater savings than I originally calculated because I a) didn’t add tax into my estimates and b) we got better value out of the non-alcoholic drinks than I had guessed.

From the financial perspective, the dining plan was a win. One caveat is that the 2013 prices for the dining plan are going up, with the price of the Deluxe plan going up significantly (by upwards of 15%, to almost $100 per person per day!).  So, if we had paid next year’s prices and eaten the same amount of food, our savings would have been only 15%. Even if the out-of-pocket cost of Disney meals rises by 3-5% next year, it’s unlikely that your savings on the Deluxe plan will cross the threshold of 20%.

Obviously, 20% savings is still good, but it brings me to my next point: the Deluxe Dining Plan was, in a word, exhausting.  Our meals were highly scheduled, and both of us felt constant pressure to eat higher-

Kaki Gori, a snack credit we used at Epcot.

priced food even if it wasn’t what we ultimately wanted.  After the first two days, too, we had signature dining fatigue – an appetizer, entree, dessert, and beverage at every dinner started to feel a bit tedious, taking some of the enjoyment out of dining experiences we normally love. Further, it was more stressful than we anticipated trying to squeeze 12 snacks into three days. While we looked for things to take home with us, ultimately most portable options weren’t a very good value.

On the plus side, the convenience of the plan – and the knowledge that meals were already paid for – was something I really liked.  We also successfully used our Tables In Wonderland discount for alcohol purchases at our meals, thereby increasing the relative discount on our food and drink.  For the price we paid for the plan, I do feel like we got our money’s worth, but with next year’s price increases, I’m not sure I would feel the same way.  We definitely ate more food on the plan than we would have ordered if we had paid out-of-pocket. And, for the amount of work that went into using the plan – pre-trip calculations, hassles during the trip with our package having to be rebooked/credits not working, difficulty keeping track of our credits and efficiently paying for gratuity/alcohol out-of-pocket, the pressure we felt constantly to get the best value out of each and every meal – I’m not sure I’d go through with it again for a savings of less than 20%.

So, I think it’s safe to say our Deluxe Dining Plan experiment was a one-time thing. In the future, I might consider trying out the regular dining plan, especially on a longer trip where we could use our table service credits for a few signature meals and then graze the rest of the time.  In the meantime, though, I think it’s back to Tables In Wonderland as our “dining plan” of choice.

And the award goes to….

It seems only fitting to end on a positive note, so here’s a few best-ofs from our dining plan experiment:

Best Use of a Snack Credit:

Small Iced Mocha, Contemporary Grounds (and other Joffrey’s coffee kiosks on property). A small iced mocha costs $4.89 out of pocket, making this a great deal for a snack credit. Plus, it gets you some real (and good!) espresso without having to leave Disney property. It’s a win-win.

Best Use of 1 Table Service Credit:

Tutto Italia (lunch or dinner). For whatever reason, Tutto’s appetizers and entrees are priced as high or higher than comparable dishes at Disney’s Signature restaurants. This makes Tutto a great use of one dining credit. While the food wasn’t overly gourmet, it was well-prepared, hearty, and quite satisfying. I’d probably go to Tutto even if I was paying out of pocket, but on the dining plan it was a particularly attractive meal option.

West African braised-beef shortrib, Jiko.

Best Use of 2 Credits for a Signature Meal:

Jiko.  In general, it’s often better from a cost standpoint to eat two 1-credit meals than to use two credits on a Signature meal. That said, while the relative out-of-pocket cost of our Jiko meal wasn’t much higher than our other Signature meals, I felt we got a lot more for our money/credits.  We were offered more non-alcoholic drinks at this meal (for instance, CP got a juice blend and I got a pomegranate lemonade during our meal, and we were also offered a press pot of coffee during dessert), and the appetizers and entrees we ordered were absolutely first-rate.  Our meal at Jiko felt special, and was the only Signature meal we had that I really felt was worth the two credits required.