Way too much food on DDP

[bechtelca@comcast.ne]

My family of 5 - 2 adults, 3 kids ages 11, 8, and 4 just spent a week on DDP and left with 6 CS and 5 snack credits unused and we still ate way too much. I ended up giving a family my son's KTTW card so they could use up the remaining credits (non-charging card of course). I don't think we would do dining that way again. It was a pain to have to stop park touring to make our reservation time, especially when we didn't even feel hungry. We ended up cancelling our Coral Reef ADR, much to my disappointment. My kids just gave me this look like please don't make us eat again mom! Several times we ate just because we had the credits and the reservation was made so we succumbed to eating. So, good lesson learned for our family. We won't be on the dining plan again (unless it's free!)

[disneyfan55]

My family of 5 - 2 adults, 3 kids ages 11, 8, and 4 just spent a week on DDP and left with 6 CS and 5 snack credits unused and we still ate way too much. I ended up giving a family my son's KTTW card so they could use up the remaining credits (non-charging card of course). I don't think we would do dining that way again. It was a pain to have to stop park touring to make our reservation time, especially when we didn't even feel hungry. We ended up cancelling our Coral Reef ADR, much to my disappointment. My kids just gave me this look like please don't make us eat again mom! Several times we ate just because we had the credits and the reservation was made so we succumbed to eating. So, good lesson learned for our family. We won't be on the dining plan again (unless it's free!)

We kind of feel the same way about the dining plan. There is just too much of having to be at a certain time at a certain place. We only have used the free dining. We, as well had some credits left at the end of our trip, mainly snacks and brought home 4 of the carmen apples. I don't think I would ever do it and pay for it. Last year it was even more food-the appitizers were included!

[EpcotBeauty]

The basic DDP is a good fit for my family. However, the DxDDP is crazy too much food for us. We always eat one CS and one TS per day and anything over that is wasted.

[lisa_mae]

My mom and I are doing the DxDDP next october. we know its alot of food but plan to do 2 pointers at least once a day, we did the basic DDP last year and still had a few cs left but we wanted to try places we've never eaten and we can always take the snacks home with us.:)

[disney's daughter]

My sister, my niece (in her 40's) and I were recently at Disney World and were on the Dining Plan for the very first time...(after going to Disney over 30 times). We were on the regular Dining Plan...and it worked out well for us...One.."sit down" meal, one snack, and one counter service per day. We ate our "breakfasts" in our room...(stopped at the grocery to buy bread, peanut butter, fruit, juice, and milk)

As far as the "snacks" are concerned...We usually used ours for water or soft drinks each day...Especially, if we get an early start and stay until later in the evening. You do get a dessert with each counter service meal and for each sit down meal...That became an issue with us...because normally, we just don't desserts that often...but, because it "was on the Dining Plan", we felt we were "entitled"....So, we found ouselves giving our desserts to young families with kids and spreading a little of the "pixie dust"......:wizard:

I guess it just depends on what you feel comfortable doing...:goodvibes

[scramez]

We are a family of 6 and we had credits left over and got snacks and sandwiches for our plane ride home. However, we ended up giving away our bottle waters and gaterades because we could not take them on the plane.

[KigerKat]

Deluxe Plan here...We did a couple of 2 credit dinners, and used our snacks for breakfast foods to eat in the room and then things to take home with us. But for me, I honestly did not have much of an appetite while we were there. Maybe it was all the fresh air or riding so many things that made me not so hungry. I would honestly eat about half or less of everything we ordered, and hardly had any snacks throughout the day. I just felt so bad wasting all that food!!

[igitur]

I've been going back and forth on this one. We had decided on DDP, but then I started thinking maybe we should do DDE or Tables in Wonderland, as it's now called.

Problem is, we're down there Dec. 21 - Jan. 2 and for some of our meals we'll be running into holiday pricing and not being able to get the discount. Plus, the Candlelight Processional is included in the DDP and that's a big expense.

So I figured it out and for our family of 4 including dd (10) and ds (8), our total bill not including tips for the DDP will be $1487.52. That's about $124 a day total food allowance for the 4 of us.

I think this will end up saving us money. My daughter is developing quite an "expensive" palate so she'll be able to order whatever she likes on the adult menu. We're staying in a DVC studio at BCV so we'll use our snack credits to purchase milk, fruit or cereal boxes at the Marketplace that we can use in our room for our breakfasts.

I'll report when we get back...how it works out for us.

[PrincessTiffany]

I'm always surprised when I read these thread with people saying that the basic DDP is too much food. We have done the basic DDP a number of times since it came out in 2005 and I just have to say we love it. We are a family of 6 and I think it's just the right amount of food. We use some of the snack credits for breakfast in the morning, have an early CS lunch around 11 or 11:30 a.m., share a few drinks and snacks around 3:00 and then a nice sit down dinner around 6:30 p.m. I guess to each his own, though.

[caroline1851]

I'll never understand how 2 meals/day plus 1 snack is too much food. At home, i eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and have 1 snack a day. Maybe people stuff themselves silly at the buffets and force themselves to eat dessert if they're full...I don't know.

We came back a few weeks ago and we had to spend extra money plus the ddp. Granted, dd2 was with us and we sometimes had to buy her food instead of sharing w/ us because she has her own likes and dislikes. We just didnt' stuff ourselves at meals.

If you eat breakfast at 7;30am, lunch at 1pm and dinner at 6pm...how is that too much food? But again, we didn't stuff ourselves.

[PrincessTiffany]

I'll never understand how 2 meals/day plus 1 snack is too much food. At home, i eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and have 1 snack a day. Maybe people stuff themselves silly at the buffets and force themselves to eat dessert if they're full...I don't know.

We came back a few weeks ago and we had to spend extra money plus the ddp. Granted, dd2 was with us and we sometimes had to buy her food instead of sharing w/ us because she has her own likes and dislikes. We just didnt' stuff ourselves at meals.

If you eat breakfast at 7;30am, lunch at 1pm and dinner at 6pm...how is that too much food? But again, we didn't stuff ourselves.
I don't understand it either. Seems like just the right amount of food for us.

[cdrn1]

I understand what the OP is saying...we have done it twice and it's like we NEVER feel hungry the whole time we are there. I am a BIG eater. I LOVE to eat. Love to try new and unique flavors and dishes. And I love the food I have had on the DDP. But I have not been hungry, truly hungry, for a meal while on the plan. It may be because we have only done it during the free dining so it's very hot and we have had a lot (often a LOT) to drink prior to meals...that being said, we have thoroughly enjoyed some pretty great meals anyway. But we have commented that it's kind of a pain to be at a certain place, and try to be hungry, at a certain time. And to leave half of the best filet I have ever had in my life, ever, at California Grill was VERY painful. But, we would do it again in a heartbeat!

[KigerKat]

I don't understand it either. Seems like just the right amount of food for us.

I would say it's a lot of food if you want to get your money's worth out of it. $60/day on the deluxe plan for an adult is a lot of money if you are just going to do counter service. And during lunch and dinner, why not order the appetizer if it's included? DH and would each order an app to try them, but we never ate them all so it wasn't like we stuffed ourselves to the gills at each meal. To save room for dessert, we wouldn't eat all of our entrees and then share a little of each other's dessert (again, to try different things).

So all in all, we ended up wasting a lot of food because we never ate everything we ordered. So, yes, it is a lot of food for the plan.

I'm not saying that would be the same for the basic plan. I can see us getting better use out of the basic plan rather than the deluxe.

[Tricia1972]

I understand what the OP is saying...we have done it twice and it's like we NEVER feel hungry the whole time we are there. I am a BIG eater. I LOVE to eat. Love to try new and unique flavors and dishes. And I love the food I have had on the DDP. But I have not been hungry, truly hungry, for a meal while on the plan. It may be because we have only done it during the free dining so it's very hot and we have had a lot (often a LOT) to drink prior to meals...that being said, we have thoroughly enjoyed some pretty great meals anyway. But we have commented that it's kind of a pain to be at a certain place, and try to be hungry, at a certain time. And to leave half of the best filet I have ever had in my life, ever, at California Grill was VERY painful. But, we would do it again in a heartbeat!

I agree.

When I priced what I would want to eat, eating three meals a day vs the DDP, I saved without the DDP. It was also nice to have the option to cancel a TS dinner if we weren't hungry and just felt like snacking that night.

DDP isn't for everyone, but it's great that it works for so many.

[PrincessTiffany]

I would say it's a lot of food if you want to get your money's worth out of it. $60/day on the deluxe plan for an adult is a lot of money if you are just going to do counter service. And during lunch and dinner, why not order the appetizer if it's included? DH and would each order an app to try them, but we never ate them all so it wasn't like we stuffed ourselves to the gills at each meal. To save room for dessert, we wouldn't eat all of our entrees and then share a little of each other's dessert (again, to try different things).

So all in all, we ended up wasting a lot of food because we never ate everything we ordered. So, yes, it is a lot of food for the plan.

I'm not saying that would be the same for the basic plan. I can see us getting better use out of the basic plan rather than the deluxe.
I agree with this. We find the amount of food on the Basic Dining Plan a perfect amount for us, but I don't think we would ever do the Deluxe. Maybe if it was just me and my husband and we were doing a bunch of 2TS Signature Dining, but not with 4 kids. One sit-down meal a day is great, but I can't imagine trying to get to 2 sit-down meals per day, a CS and 2 snacks. That would be a huge waste for us.

[tyandskyesmom]

The kids (9 and 3 at the time) used the Deluxe DDP in January 2008 and loved it!

In the past we have done a few TS meals but not many...mostly CS. But this was more from a not able to afford it mentality not a did not want to one. DH was unable to go with us on that trip and he does not know that he would like being scheduled but for the three of us it was perfect. Skye (now 4 1/2) is still not 40 inches so we did not need to worry about wasting time in line for the big ride so we had extra time. It gave us a time to sit, relax, warm up/cool down. The kids loved being able to get whatever they wanted and did not have to share...and stealing my dessert which I probably normally would not have gotten...again because of cost not want. We also loved having the appetizers. And I loved not having to worry about what it costs...normally I would look at what I really wanted and settle for something cheaper...not on that trip! We were also able to hit a lot fo character meals that I would hate to pay OOP for because, let's face it, who gets their money's worth out of those??? Some days we'd have 3 TS a day, some 2 TS (one 1 credit and 1 two credit). Little to no CS were visited...I think none but I cannot say that for sure though. No, we were not starving by the time the next meal came but we were able to eat...and my kids are not real adventurous but they had a good time trying all the different places. We did have a ton of snack credits left that we used on the last day but the kids loved having those as snacks for months afterwards...they were some of the only souvinears we got!

So when I got our ressies for 12 days from now (WOOHOO!!!) with free regular dining I had a hard time deciding on where to eat. Because the kids love the character meals (and so do I) but also we like others...so it was a no brainer to upgrade to deluxe. Really I am having ha hard time seeing a trip without it again!

Now, next year, Tyler will be an "adult" (turns 10 in December) so I don't know if it will be such a good deal since a basic kid's meal is just fine for him so it may take a bit more planning and thought but we absolutely loved, loved, loved the deluxe plan...dining in the world is as much fun as the rides for us...but then again Tyler has been there over 10 times and he is only 9 so it is not like we are in a rush to see and do everything.

When I figured out what we would be spending without the plan I did it three different ways. I tool what we would eat if we were sticking to a strict budget (the old ways), then what it would cost for us to eat at the places we would like to eat but only eating what we could afford easily (which a lot of the time would involce sharing out of necessity or only one appetizer or dessert or maybe none at all), and then again those same places with all that the DDDP allows...includung snacks and mugs (on a budget we probably would not eat much snacks and we would probably share two mugs) and then I compared the actual cost of the OOP budget, OOP regular, and the DDDP and then the actual "value" (meaning quality and quantity of food) and we always come out ahead on the DDDP...especially this time with the upgrade from DDP to DDDP!

It was a lot of food but for us the food is part of the experience.

[allshookup]

We've done the DDP twice, once was free. Both times were when app was included, but I think it was way too much food & DH finally agreed with me after having it the second time. DH & I are by no means light eaters, but Disney restaurants typically serve huge portions & even without the app, as a family of 4, we would be sitting down to a CS meal everyday & ordering 4 full meals which includes a sandwich & chips or entree & sides, plus 4 desserts & drinks which is large meal in itself. Then to go & sit down again this time at a TS & again have maybe bread first, an entree with sides, drinks & then 4 big desserts put on the table, makes me nauseous just thinking about it, not to mention the snack credits that we never seemed to use all of. And yes I know we didn't have to eat it all, but we hate wasting food so we always try to eat most of what we order & we've actually had servers push us to order dessert even when we didn't want it. So yes it can be a lot of food if you're not used to eating that way, but if you typically eat a couple of big meals a day along with a snack & desserts, then it's perfect. :thumbsup2

[SPAM]

It's not too much food for me, I will eat all of my credits. I love it!

[caroline1851]

We've done the DDP twice, once was free. Both times were when app was included, but I think it was way too much food & DH finally agreed with me after having it the second time. DH & I are by no means light eaters, but Disney restaurants typically serve huge portions & even without the app, as a family of 4, we would be sitting down to a CS meal everyday & ordering 4 full meals which includes a sandwich & chips or entree & sides, plus 4 desserts & drinks which is large meal in itself. Then to go & sit down again this time at a TS & again have maybe bread first, an entree with sides, drinks & then 4 big desserts put on the table, makes me nauseous just thinking about it, not to mention the snack credits that we never seemed to use all of. And yes I know we didn't have to eat it all, but we hate wasting food so we always try to eat most of what we order & we've actually had servers push us to order dessert even when we didn't want it. So yes it can be a lot of food if you're not used to eating that way, but if you typically eat a couple of big meals a day along with a snack & desserts, then it's perfect. :thumbsup2

Exactly my point! If you eat EVERYTHING offered because, for example, the waiter pushed you to get a dessert, well then of course, it's going to be too much food. If you're stuffed from CS lunch, why would you eat the bread before dinner, then your dinner and then dessert? Practice some self-control and it's not too much food.

[allshookup]

Exactly my point! If you eat EVERYTHING offered because, for example, the waiter pushed you to get a dessert, well then of course, it's going to be too much food. If you're stuffed from CS lunch, why would you eat the bread before dinner, then your dinner and then dessert? Practice some self-control and it's not too much food.

We do practice self-control when we are not on the DDP & we eat when we're hungry. Typically we have coffee & donuts in the room, we grab a snack, sandwich or hotdog in the park & typically sit down for a TS meal where we sometimes split an app & usually one dessert or two. Like I said I hate WASTING food, & we did say no to the waiter but they do get gratuity on what you order so some are VERY insistent & I wasn't FULL when I started eating the bread which is hours after the CS meal...never said I was still full from CS, but I would agree I was not STARVING however I am a sucker for the bread which I love & after that AND the entree...yes I am pretty full & I typically only have a few bites of DH's dessert just to get a taste.

My point is...if you don't NORMALLY eat that much food then it's NOT a savings & not worth getting. If getting dessert at every meal is not something you normally do...then it's not a savings whether the waiter pushed it or not or if you practiced self-control or not. It's a LOT of food for someone who doesn't normally eat that much or burn that much off depending on your metabolism. Everyone is different, but I was giving MY opinion on whether it was too much & for our family it is.

[tom31b]

We do practice self-control when we are not on the DDP & we eat when we're hungy. Typically we have coffee & donuts in the room, we grab a snack, sandwich or hotdog in the park & typically sit down for a TS meal where we sometimes split an app & usually one dessert or two. Like I said I hate WASTING food, & we did say no to the waiter but they do get gratuity on what you order so some are VERY insistent & I wasn't FULL when I started eating the bread which hours after the CS meal...never said I was still full from CS, but I would agree I was not STARVING however I am a sucker for the bread which I love & after that AND the entree...yes I am pretty full & I typically only have a few bites of DH's dessert just to get a taste.

My point is...if you don't NORMALLY eat that much food then it's NOT a savings & not worth getting. If getting dessert at every meal is not something you normally do...then it's not a savings whether the waiter pushed it or not or if you practiced self-control or not. It's a LOT of food for someone who doesn't normally eat that much or burn that much off depending on your metabolism. Everyone is different, but I was giving MY opinion on whether it was too much & for our family it is.


One of the reasons we don't go for it is we don't have large meals every day and can't see paying for stuff we won't eat in the end....

[caroline1851]

One of the reasons we don't go for it is we don't have large meals every day and can't see paying for stuff we won't eat in the end....

Just so you know, we skipped desserts when we weren't hungry for them and often ended up just getting water instead of soda, etc. because we typically drink water with meals and we still saved a ton of money using the ddp. The food we got would've cost $800 if we paid oop, but the ddp cost us $604.

[WantToGoNow]

We had the regular dining plan last trip (still incuded appetizers and gratuity) and will be doing it again last year. Normally, when we go out to eat, we don't order appetizers and desserts for each person - we share 1 of each. I liked having my own and not having to order something the kids would like. I also liked being able to pick anything I wanted off of the menu -- if the food had not been pre-paid, I would have been more likely to pick cheaper items instead of what I really wanted.

We had 2 character breakfasts - the rest of the time, we had cereal and pop tarts that we brought from home. We would have a counter service lunch and a sit-down dinner. If we were at home, we would have a similar breakfast plus lunch and dinner so I don't really see the difference. Now, I do have to say that we were not hungry and only 2x during the week did we get snacks - Mickey ice cream bars. The night before we came home, we spent the rest of the snack credits (something like 21) on candy, pretzels, chips, drinks that we brought home (on the 16 hour drive) and enjoyed for weeks afterwards.

If you don't want the appetizers - don't order them. If you don't want the dessert - don't order them. It's up to you to decide how much you are eating - the servers might encourage you to order, but they can't make you and they won't force the food down your throat (well maybe at 50's Prime Time Cafe they might).

[rdsx28]

We have done the Basic DDP twice now and will be doing it again this year. I love the fact that my food is all paid for . No budgeting money for food. It was alot of food when the appetizer was included. I normally never order an appetizer but felt because it was included I "had" to get it. To me the deluxe DDP is fine if you want to spend all day in restaurants eating. Just my opinion. It is bad enough having to plan out being somewhere for one meal never mind two. Maybe I would also feel differently if I had no children as well you enjoy a nice meal gourmet meal for two. I also can see it for those that want 2 credit TS meals. I think that maybe the new quick service may work for some folks who think that it is too much food. Personally I would rather pay the 39.99 /day vs the 29.99 /day to be able to include a sit down or character meal. Just my opinion and everyone is different for sure and in the end we all do what works best for us!:)

[cruisin'Mike]

Just so you know, we skipped desserts when we weren't hungry for them and often ended up just getting water instead of soda, etc. because we typically drink water with meals and we still saved a ton of money using the ddp. The food we got would've cost $800 if we paid oop, but the ddp cost us $604.

So it sounds like you're saying it is too much food?:confused3

[maverick61]

I'll never understand how 2 meals/day plus 1 snack is too much food. At home, i eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and have 1 snack a day. Maybe people stuff themselves silly at the buffets and force themselves to eat dessert if they're full...I don't know.




I am with you - don't understand this thinking of some folks at all.

[squirrel]

I can't eat large amounts of food at one time and we were at WDW in September while it was hot.

I found the DDP was plenty of food. My niece and I had 2 CS credits, 15 snack credits and 2TS credits left over. It was nice having the DDP but I would not pay for it for us. There were many mornings that I thought I would like to order a CS breakfast but once I walked into the food court -the smell of the food made me feel ill.

[iluvpluto27]

Sorry you found it too much for you. I can understand that with kids it can be quite tying to get to a reservation each day, when you just want to be in the parks having fun.

As it's just me and DH, we've never found the DDP to be too much, and last trip we did the dxddp for 14 nights. We did eat mostly 2 table service and a snack each day, and if I'd eaten everything on my plate it would have been too much food but I just ate what I wanted and left the rest. I loved the plan and the only bit I thought was too much was the 2 snack credits a day, we really struggled to use them and had 20 left with 2 days to go!!

[disney's daughter]

We always have something to drink at least once a day...That takes up a snack credit right there...I will admit....At various times, we did offer our desserts to other families...Especially those with young children...But, that was OK...I enjoyed seeing the smiles on their faces...:thumbsup2

[PEPE THE PRAWN]

Just back from a dxdp experience in Oct. obviously during the FW. We used 2 TS credits a night @ YSH,CG,AP,and Jiko. Then we had a early lunch each day and used the snack credits to eat around the world at the FW. We barely were able to use all the credits, but we managed. I've never eating so much food on a vacation,but then again thats why I love the World.:hug:

[catne]

we used the DDP twice this year...I don't think it was TOO much food. I think it was exactly the right amount of food. Snack credit for breakfast, counter service for lunch & table service for dinner. We very occasionally bought a snack in a park (had to have a Mickey bar, & a dole whip) but mostly, the 3 credits a day on the DDP were just enough to keep our tummies very happy.

Now, the DxDDP would be too much for us...I guess if you're set on doing lots & lots of 2 credit restaurants that might be the way to go, but we've done some of them & just didn't see the value (and they take too long...minimum of 2 hours, seemed like.) JMHO, of course. I know the people who love the signature restaurants really love 'em. Just not our cuppa.

[TroyE]

This is going to be the first time in 5 years with 2 new kids. I worry about it being too much food on the DDP plan, so we are going to just buy food and then next time look at the plan. With 2 under 4, it is hard to judge the amount of food we will eat.