Hi everyone -
I wanted to follow up on with a report now that we've returned from our amazing trip. Let me start by saying that I cannot imagine the Deluxe Dining Plan not offering great value to anyone in the following situation: 1) you are confirming more than one room (a party reserving 3 rooms that takes this plan on one room only would get even better value than we did) at a Disney Resort AND 2) you do not plan to / want to rent a car AND 3) you do not plan to go out of your way to return to your room to cook or order pizza for most of your meals.
If you are in this situation, this plan offers great value - period. And yes, we bought the AP so I say this even with the anniversary discounts (more on this later). Note that in terms of maximizing monetary value - we didn't attempt to do this and, in fact, did the extreme opposite (as it turned out we had no desire to sit down twice a day for meals with my little ones.) So what I'm saying is that we did the exact opposite of what all those blogs say to do to make "best use of the DDP" and still saved a lot of money. Our party was 4 adults and 2 children under 3 - staying in 2 one bedroom units at SSR. We took the plan for 1 room with 2 adults which gave us 42 meal credits. On average, our bills came out to around $300 per night after the AP discounts were applied (so total of $2,100.) We did not go out of our way to "maximize" the snack credits either (should be noted though that at Flower and Garden Festival there are many good "real food" choices on the plan that cost $7-$8 at Epcot - we did that once because we happened to be there.) We used most of the snack credits at Star Bucks and $6 Mickey Pretzels with cheese. I'll round down and say each of our 28 snack credits were worth an average of $5 for a total of $150. Combined that's $2,250 (we used the refillable mugs several times by the pool and for coffee in the morning but I'll render those worthless for the purpose of this post) - we paid $1,442 for the plan. Here's where we ate - all dinners:
1) Yachtsman Steakhouse - If I could do it again, I would not return here. This was our worst meal - service very slow and a pain to walk there from Epcot on our first night. The shrimp cocktail apps were the best thing we had there. We're not big dessert eaters - this restaurant allowed us to substitute our desserts for any soup, side or salad we wanted which was a nice perk, I suppose. Our bill here came out to close to $400 dollars so not terrible "value" for the 2 credits. But the steak and lobster were just average though and none of the sides were great in our opinion. I would pretty much choose any restaurant in Disney Springs over this place if staying at Saratoga.
2) Chef Mickeys - Sadly, my kids weren't as in to the characters this trip. You don't go to buffets like this for the food. For a buffet - it was okay. We canceled our Hollywood and Vine reservation in favor of another meal at Disney Springs after this.
3) Boathouse - We ended up eating here twice. The first time was amazing - second time was still good but wouldn't go twice again. On the deluxe plan, you can order any appetizer here that you want including the raw bar and specials. The dessert could be substituted for lobster bisque soup which most of us did. Bill here was similar to the bill at Yachtsman the first time we went (mainly because most of us ordered the lobster.) There are a lot of really good choices here though that are inexpensive - (the lobster roll sandwich looked fantastic and so was the burger.) We went here our last night with 6 credits left over - paid for the burger out of pocket. The AP discount here was excellent value. I'm not sure if it was an accident but both times the discount was taken on both the wine and the gratuity.
4) California Grill - Best meal by far. This place is awesome - a must do on the deluxe if you like sushi. All the sushi appetizers are $26-$28 and well worth it. Steak was fabulous. Here the alternative to dessert was Caesar salad which was also terrific. Another bill close to $400.
5) Paradiso 37 - I can't say enough about the convenience of eating at Disney Springs when staying at SSR. After this meal we rearranged the rest of our plans to eat at Disney Springs the rest of our nights including a return to Boathouse. We stayed in the Grandstand section which was about a 7 minute walk to the House of Blues end of the Springs with a double stroller. We loved everything about Disney Springs. The Surf and Turf was very good at this restaurant. It's the only steak option that doesn't require a $7 surcharge on the meal plan - skirt steak and shrimp. The appetizers here were good - guacamole excellent, shrimp ceviche very good too. Quesadillas were expensive, but just okay. This restaurant did not have a substitute option for dessert, but we actually loved the desserts here. The mini ice-cream cones were great for the kids - 4 regular cones with one scoop of different flavors. Churros were amazing (and normally I don't like dessert but this was a treat.) Bill here was $280 I think - we ordered 2 $7 kids meals though. Good value overall for 1 credit meal.
6) Portobello - We are New Yorkers. Hated Mama Melrose last trip. Went in with low expectations on Italian food but this place delivered. Loved it. Excellent bread and olive oil dipping. Dessert can be substituted for any soup or salad. The salad with chopped salami and cheese was fantastic. Appetizers very good. Steak was very good and pasta dish with shrimp was decent. Pizza was the only disappointment. Ordered one for the kids out of pocket since you couldn't use an appetizer credit for it. Meal was $275 (including the $12 pizza and glass of wine) after the AP discount.
7) Boathouse - Return trip - worst monetary value since we only got 3 of 4 meals included this time using our last 6 credits. Canceled our T-Rex reservation as we could only get 4:15 and decided this was too early to eat on our last day. Probably should have gone to House of Blues instead - it smelled delicious. Could have used the last 2 credits at a counter service place in Epcot instead for similar "value".
Some final notes:
1) SSR is a vastly underrated resort with little kids (particularly staying in the Grandstand section - first bus stop so guaranteed a seat in the morning.) Outside the monorail choices, this would easily be my first choice of the Disney properties with young children. Toddlers don't last all day in the parks. Ability to walk to Disney Springs for dinner is a massive perk - the Boats require you to pack up a stroller.
2) At SSR, loved being in the 8600 building - right near the bus stop (first on and off) - and the closest location to the lobby (even most of the Springs buildings require crossing a main road.) Also a few feet from a nice pool area with a splash play are. The other pools were more elaborate with slides, etc. but for toddlers in particular the Grandstand pool is perfect. Didn't need to bring the diaper bag or stroller down that's how close it was to our room.
3) Disney Springs is fantastic and the walk over there is so easy and beautiful from SSR. So much to do for the kids too - Train, Merry Go Round, Bowling, Movies, T-Rex Sand Digging area, Build a Dino, live DJ dance areas for the kids at night. Great stores. Toy Store with make your own themed Mr. Potato (Buzz, Star Wars, etc.) Tons of kid friendly restaurants all on the meal plan.
4) Previously we've stayed at Marriott resorts in Disney. While the space is better, the bus drop off at the MK is much more convenient than taking a car there and taking a tram to a monorail to get into the park. The buses were easy as long as it wasn't late at night when it was crowded. After the first time, we opted for a $14 Uber from the Contemporary after dinner there. Walking to Disney Springs at night made this trip extremely convenient for us along with not having to retrieve luggage. Would do this again for sure.
Hope this commentary is helpful!