Hi Debbie,
We just returned from WDW where we did the standard dining plan & carefully kept track of what we ate along with the costs -- we saved several hundred dollars having done the dining plan. We had thought about the deluxe dining plan beforehand to dine at a signature restaurant in the evening and a table service restaurant for lunch, but we were all in agreement during that trip that that would have been too much food. With an appetizer, entree, dessert, and drink along with two snacks a day, it is a tremendous amount of food (that being said from a family who likes to eat!). And I must confess, my kids enjoy saving time by dining at counter service restaurants.
I'd encourage you to explore the menus of the restaurants you are interested in since most of the table service menus are available through www.waltdisneyworld.com (counter service menus can be found at www.allearsnet.com). We did this beforehand to do a "practice" order and then decided which restaurants would help us to get the most for our dollar as well as which dining plan would fit our needs the best. You may also want to visit www.disneyfoodblog.com and search for "dining plan values" to get some other ideas of how to make your dollar stretch more.
You may also want to do a Google search for "Disney Deluxe Dining Plan Reviews" to see thoughts of other guests.
If I can help with more questions, please let me know by clicking
here. And thanks for the kind words; we love helping guests!