collybird vs Deluxe Dining Plan [a Fall 2017 Report] - COMPLETE

[Swimmer68]

I was so excited to see this my favourite type of trip report. brilliant reading new ideas already , we have never tried Minnie's seasonal dine always choose mama Melrose for fantasmic package but next year with more open at studios will do both - thank you looking forward to the rest - so happy

[collybird]

Originally Posted by Mexy02

I’m starving so reading this while dinner is cooking isn’t helping but it’s a great report

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Hi Sam, how was your trip? I was so jealous of all your Deluxe stays. Thank you for reading.

Originally Posted by Fuellady

Well that's an impressive first full food day! Good start with the breakfast at Chef Mickeys - it all looked very nice.

Hollywood and Vine sounds like the kind of place we would like, some nice looking choices there. I'm storing all of these thoughts away for future use

I've heard good reports of Olivias before, what a shame you weren't really up for a full meal. The sandwich looks lovely, I think I would have preferred that as well.

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Yes, 3 ADRs by 5pm was quite the feat! Hollywood & Vine really is great, if you are looking to do the Fantastmic! package I’d really recommend it. Thanks for reading Lynda.

Originally Posted by sha9

It’s funny you say that about character meals as I’ve gotten to that stage too. I actually suggested to Marie we don’t bother next year (definitely none this year as paying OOP!).

We’re also fans of H&V but haven’t been since it became Minnie’s seasonal thingy. We thought about it next year for the Fantasmic! package again.

We also think Olivia’s is a hidden gem! We went last year even though we were staying at POR. It wasn’t as good as we’d had previously though.

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Yes, I am quite looking forward to eating my meals in peace in future, Nik wants Chef Mickey’s again but I’m hoping if I don’t mention it he’ll just forget about it haha. I don’t think the H&V menu has changed much since they added the characters at lunch and dinner, so I’m sure you’d still enjoy it. Thank you for reading Lisa.

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

H&V seasonal dine looks so good, nice to read a positive report about it as I love the costumes and the chance to get good Fantasmic seats.
Really interesting to find out more about resort options too.

(The diet has only just started, why aren't I thin yet?! )

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The seats you get at Fantasmic! with the dining package are really good, much better than the FP+ ones. If you decide to do the F! Dining Package you really can’t go wrong with the restaurants at HS, they’re all fab. Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by Goldia

Hmm, Chef Mickey looks good, I'm really tempted by it. I wanted to eat here this year, but was overruled! I said to DD that she could choose between Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey. She chose CP, she adores the pooh characters so I shouldn't have been surprised. But I had wanted to try out Chef Mickey as we've eaten at CP before. I might have to try to get her to reconsider. The problem I will have is she can't meet piglet anywhere other than CP and she has made Minnie ears with 1 ear based on pooh and 1 ear based on piglet...so not sure I will win her over.

A fab first full day. Loving your report and it looks like everyone else is too!

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I had no idea you could only meet Piglet at Crystal Palace, I’d never even thought about that before, in that case I’m not sure you’ll win Kate over. I think food-wise, Chef Mickey’s edges it over Crystal Palace by a little, they seem to have a little more variety. Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by penguin19

Excellent start so far. Thank you for all the details.

I'm following along as it will be interesting to see if all the meals included you find worth it with the added time it takes to eat more TS and also the cost in tips they would be my concerns.

The food as always looks lush so will mostly be following for that

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The extra time for the sit-down meals was definitely something I was worried about, and clock watching always knowing we had to be somewhere. I think for a family on their first trip they would resent it, but for us, as a party of two, who were a few visits down the road, it was actually not an issue. I think the flexibility on MDE to edit your ADRs really helped, as we didn’t always stick to the plan! Thank you for reading.

Originally Posted by fletchie148

This is making me feel so hungry, I love seeing the food reports so much
Thanks for sharing

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Thank you for reading my fellow Scot!

Originally Posted by jothp

I'm really enjoying reading about all your meals. We loved Chef Mickey too even though it doesn't always get great reviews.

We didn't do Olivias on our last trip as we weren't staying at OKW but I think it will be a must for next time as we all really missed it.

On our last trip we did Hollywood and Vine for breakfast and weren't keen but your lunch looks delicious so I'm thinking that might make it on to the list for next time too.

I'm sure by the time we can finally get back I'll have about 3 times too many restaurants on the list!

Looking forward to reading more.

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I think we’ll visit Olivia’s every year now, I was surprised how much I loved returning to OKW, as I hadn’t really had any attachment to it during our stay. It is a great restaurant to have at your resort. We are Chef Mickey converts, I actually forgot to mention, our first visit in 2013 was underwhelming, but we’ve had two good breakfasts in a row now. Oh no, that’s not good news about Hollywood & Vine breakfast, I hope we have better luck. I really can’t rave about the lunch/dinner menu enough, such a variety, and nothing I wouldn’t eat. Haha my list is the same, ever growing. Thank you for reading.

Originally Posted by loves2plan

Wow, that's a lot of food and characters for one day. I do like a club sandwich and the freshly carved turkey sounds delicious!

Did you count up how many desserts ended up in the fridge and not being eaten? I'm also guessing that you had quite a few snack credits left at the end of the holiday as I don't think you've used any yet?

Looking forward to the next update

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We ended up with a lot of desserts in the fridge, most of them Key Lime Pie, and I still haven’t tried it. I’ll have to keep a tally as we go along.

We actually managed to use all our snacks, which I was surprised at. It was actually easier than you’d imagine, as we committed the cardinal sin of using them for drinks. Normally I’d have a fit at the thought of this, but with so many TS meals, I knew the chances of us actually needing a ‘real’ snack were slim, so I found peace with it eventually. I didn’t include sodas, drinks, or packets of crisps (Nik’s partial to a bag of Lays), but some days have more exciting snacks. Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by MissFortune

Stupidly excited about this report. Loving it so far and can't wait for more.

You did seem to be falling a little bit behind on eating all the food at the start as can be expected when you first arrive (a huge shock to the system compared to normal everyday eating).

Hope you managed to get over the jet lag, stretch your bellies and catch up soon. Un-eaten desserts?! Nooooo lol I have a huge sweet tooth so that's pretty much blasphemy to me

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It was definitely a bit of poor show from me. I’m not the biggest of eaters anyway, I have eyes bigger than my stomach, but I do struggle with the heat and tiredness at first. For the first few days I definitely had a bit of a feeling of ‘what on earth have we done!?’ Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by Swimmer68

I was so excited to see this my favourite type of trip report. brilliant reading new ideas already , we have never tried Minnie's seasonal dine always choose mama Melrose for fantasmic package but next year with more open at studios will do both - thank you looking forward to the rest - so happy

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Mama Melrose is a favourite of mine, the steak is one of my favourite ever dishes. You are so right about more opening at HS giving us more opportunities to eat there, we have definitely neglected the park over the last few years. Thank you for reading.

[joanna23]

Loving every minute of your report so far. Thanks for taking the time to write it all up. Much appreciated.

[loves2plan]

Originally Posted by collybird

We ended up with a lot of desserts in the fridge, most of them Key Lime Pie, and I still haven’t tried it. I’ll have to keep a tally as we go along.

We actually managed to use all our snacks, which I was surprised at. It was actually easier than you’d imagine, as we committed the cardinal sin of using them for drinks. Normally I’d have a fit at the thought of this, but with so many TS meals, I knew the chances of us actually needing a ‘real’ snack were slim, so I found peace with it eventually. I didn’t include sodas, drinks, or packets of crisps (Nik’s partial to a bag of Lays), but some days have more exciting snacks. Thank you for reading!

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I don't think there's anything wrong with using snacks for drinks or a packets of crisps. I'd much rather do that than pay for them then have snack credits left over at the end. Sometimes all you want is a simple bottle of water and pack of crisps rather than fizzy and sweet things

[Guest]

Brillant! Cant wait to read more!

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by loves2plan

I don't think there's anything wrong with using snacks for drinks or a packets of crisps. I'd much rather do that than pay for them then have snack credits left over at the end. Sometimes all you want is a simple bottle of water and pack of crisps rather than fizzy and sweet things

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We haven't had ddp before, this October will be our first time. I have been wondering about the drinks as snacks, I know it is generally considered a wasted credit, but then I read of people using loads up on chocolate or snacks to bring home and I feel that would be more of a waste of credits. I may want a couple of treats to bring back but not as many as I have seen in some trip reports 😀.

However, we also want to use snack credits at food and drink festival so I think we will easily use all our snack credits. So I am still unsure whether to use them on soft drinks or not. I think I will see how many I have after the first few days and if they are piling up then start using them on soft drinks.

[collybird]

Originally Posted by joanna23

Loving every minute of your report so far. Thanks for taking the time to write it all up. Much appreciated.

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Hello Joanna, thank you for reading.

Originally Posted by loves2plan

I don't think there's anything wrong with using snacks for drinks or a packets of crisps. I'd much rather do that than pay for them then have snack credits left over at the end. Sometimes all you want is a simple bottle of water and pack of crisps rather than fizzy and sweet things

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Totally agree Vickie, every trip I go with a list of Snacks I want to try, then I realise it’s too hot to eat and I just want a drink. Our first few times on DDP I was obsessed with getting the best ‘value’ out of the plan, and ended up paying OOP for drinks, and having snacks leftover at the end.

Originally Posted by Tippytoes

Brillant! Cant wait to read more!

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Thank you for reading

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

We haven't had ddp before, this October will be our first time. I have been wondering about the drinks as snacks, I know it is generally considered a wasted credit, but then I read of people using loads up on chocolate or snacks to bring home and I feel that would be more of a waste of credits. I may want a couple of treats to bring back but not as many as I have seen in some trip reports 😀.

However, we also want to use snack credits at food and drink festival so I think we will easily use all our snack credits. So I am still unsure whether to use them on soft drinks or not. I think I will see how many I have after the first few days and if they are piling up then start using them on soft drinks.

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Food & Wine is absolutely the best use of credits, you might find that you just want to share things between the two of you, so your credits will stretch further than you anticipate. I do recommend using your credits on drinks, we’ll usually buy a large one and share it, and remember if you just want water you can get this for free at QS locations, or any snack stalls with a soda fountain.

[Kat11]

Yay yay! Love a food report!

We stayed at OKW in October 16 and again this October. We didn't manage to try Olivia's last time which is a shame but it was our first time onsite so there was loads of other places we wanted to try first. I'm determined to try it this time and thinking of lunch on our last day and paying OOP since the price is so good.

Can't wait to follow along!

Kat 😀

[fletchie148]

I keep thinking I’ll do a report of some sort but never do
I do take a lot of inspiration from other people’s reports and pick up a lot of ideas and places to visit

[DisneyDreamer81]

I've read a few good reports of Olivia's now - definitely one for the list! Your sandwich looks lovely I think we might also have to give H&V a try some time as the food looks really nice! Love that picture of the two of you with Minnie too.

I'm so impressed that you managed three ADRs before 5pm! Amazing!