A couple of DDP questions...

[smilesx4]

I noticed that quite a few folks who take addvantage of DDP stay quite a while. We are going in Oct for 3 days/4 nights. I am moving my dates up a week to try to take advantage of the free dining. Is it worth it still for that short of a stay? You see the other way I got a free ticket since it was my bday but I received advice that I will be better off to switch.

I am assuming the best way for us to use this is as follows, please tell me if this is correct since for some reason I am having a hard time working this out!

we are staying at POP and hear their food is good for breakfast.

breakfast.. entree/drink/drink to take along, water I think
lunch...snack credit
dinner...table service


and that is included in the deal? There are 4 of us and I think this is best for our family, is a snack credit for lunch enough to hold us over if we eat a pretty good breakfast?


thanks for your help, as a frequent Disney traveler I have never done the DDP, what can I say...I am a creature of habit! But I have heard great things about it and thought this year was the time to try it out.

[Faldred]

I believe general public free dining requires a minimum of 5 nights. Disney Visa holders may be able to do it for as little as 3 nights.

CS breakfast, snack lunch, TS dinner is a legit way to plan the meals, though snack breakfast, CS lunch, and TS dinners seems to be more common (especially since lunch is typically a better "vale" than breakfast). But it all depends on your needs and preferences.

As to whether it would be enough... some people would say it's too much food, others would find that they'd have to supplement that with more snacks. Really depends on how hungry you'd normally get.

[smilesx4]

Oh thanks for that! I do have the Visa and have been collecting Disney bucks for my trip. So you are saying that I need to use that when I make my rsvp?

[Mickey country]

I would use my snack credit for breakfast, or eat a granola bar out the door to the parks. For lunch I would do a CS about 11 or 12, and then have a TS dinner. With lunch we order ice water (its free) and then get a bottled water and take it with us for later.

[RMAMom]

You don't need to stay a minimum of 5 days for FD, Disney just uses that as an example for the FD ad because it is an average stay. You can book a 3 or 4 night stay for FD

With FD you get a snack, CS and TS meal for each night you stay.

A snack credit wouldn't hold my family for lunch. I would use the snack credits for breakfast. If you check out the snack thread you will be surprised to see what qualifies as a snack. There are some great CS places in the parks and you will have more of a variety then at Pop.

[brymolmom]

For my family (2 adults, ds6 and dd5) - we find that bringing a box of cereal in the luggage works great. We each (or at least the kids) have a small bowl of cereal plus a snack or two (that we get the day before) - like a muffin or banana - that we split - for breakfast before leaving the room. We don't like to do cs breakfast as it takes too much time. We give the kids theirs while we shower and then eat our own while the other gets ready to go and we're out the door.

Then we do cs OR ts for lunch (sometimes late breakfast buffet at 11:00am - like we will at CP when we go next) and the other for dinner. Also - we generally split 3 CS meals between the 4 of us. Especially in the summer heat - we don't eat as much. Besides we usually end up with a mickey ice cream bar for a snack credit shortly after a meal - so no need to stuff yourself.

Good luck!