Do you have to buy extra food with the DDP?

[DisneyMama409]

I have a question.Did you have to buy extra food when you are on the Dining Plan? I just dont think it's enough food. I had the QSDP for my first trip and i felt like it was plenty of food and snacks . I want to try some of the TS restaurants but nothing really stands out for me or it's too far to get to. Needless to say if I do get the DDP I would mostly be eating breakfasts /character breakfasts because I dont really like the menus so far ...Is that a waste? Is it a much better value to use the plan for dinners??

This is what I have so far...

First night Chef Mickeys dinner
Second day Ohana's Breakfast
Third day Liberty tree Tavern Lunch
Fourth Night Le Cellier (nothing really jumps out at me but it's popular so i'd go with it )
Fifth Night (Fantasmic Dinner ...probaly Mama Melrose

Nothing is set in stone because i havent booked yet...dont know any exact dates....Do you think this is a good ADR list?

I really liked having two snacks and getting the free mugs on the QSDP ... OK i just went over my list and there is only 1 breakfast meal...Oopsies

 

[DisneyMama409]

Ok liberty tree can be dinner...we can eat Colombia Harbor house for Lunch!

 

[DisneyMama409]

Why is the toffee cake only offered for lunch at LTT ???It said dessert is a fruit crisp at Dinner...I may have to keep the lunch!

 

[TagsMissy]

no matter the dining plan we end up with extra credits... I'd never consider deluxe as the amount of food for us would be wasted.

We have never finished a trip with the regular dining or qs dining without a mad scramble trying to work out how to use up the credits...

 

[TagsMissy]

Why is the toffee cake only offered for lunch at LTT ???It said dessert is a fruit crisp at Dinner...I may have to keep the lunch!

heheh the fruit sounds more appealing to me

 

[aleask]

@TagsMissy
I so get the scrambling at the figure how to use up the credits.

Last trip we almost missed the bus to the airport cause we were trying to use up credits at the ASMo Cafe.

oops...

 

[Kate716]

I think how much extra food you buy is totally dependent on how your family likes to eat. When we do the dining plan, we use all the TS for sit down dinners (because our family likes to take the time to relax and have a nice dinner together). We have used all of our CS meals for lunches and then paid OOP if we wanted a hot breakfast or we had snacks for breakfast - like fruit cups and such. We have only left a trip one time where we had 1 CS credit not used, all other times (and we've used the plan 4 times) we've used up every credit.

This year we are moving to the Deluxe plan because we decided we wanted to try several Signature restaurants for dinner and still have some nice TS breakfasts. If the 1 credit TS dinners don't "wow" you, have you looked at the Signature restaurant menus? Perhaps a move to Deluxe is right for you if you don't think you'll have enough food on the regular plan. (Deluxe also gets the resort mugs and 2 snacks per day per person). Just a thought.....

 

[DisneyMama409]

Deluxe would be wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too much food for even a person like me! Now I can EAT let me tell you! LOL I think im pretty satisfied for what i have planned so far . I just was wondering about the other meals like breakfast/lunch etc...I can use a CS for that but there would be 1 meal per day i'd have to pay OOP...Or i can use a snack credit for breakfast for the kiddos(although to me that seems like a waste )...If anything Ill probaly pack poptarts and muffins for the kids breakfasts to cut down on the paying OOP. Im not a breakfast eater anyway.

 

[Cafeen]

Typically, if you're struggling to use up any form of the credits, then there's a good chance you won't end up ahead. You'll end up just booking places to fill the "quota" rather than do what you actually want. If this is the case, it may be better to go with QSDP again and pick a couple of the TS that really grab you and just pay OOP for them.

Now, if enough TS restaurants do interest you, then a good mix of dinner and lunch/breakfast will be fine. Yes, you will (usually) get more value per credit when booking dinners, since dinners are (usually) more expensive than the other meals. However, if you're not enjoying those meals, what's the point?

One word of caution though, I'd get this figured out ASAP as I believe you are planning to head down sometime in Sept, which is the middle of the free dining promotion. While the parks typically tend to be less crowded than other times of the year, the restaurants will not be. Figure out what you want and start booking as your window (depending on exactly when you're going) has been open for 1 1/2 - 2 months already.

'OHana, Chef Mickey's, Le Cellier, and the Fantasmic packages will be difficult to get, so plan backups if you do go with the DDP.

 

[Kate716]

We did the PopTart breakfasts on the regular dining plan too and this time will let the kiddos use up some of the snack credits on fruit and such (which I didn't let them do on the reg plan because I also thought it might be a waste).

I think your currently planned ADRs look good (and yummy!). Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

We have never bought extra food on the dining plan....and I would consider my family big eaters. My ds is 7 and eats more than some adults I know. I think that kid may have a worm

We split up our ts credits....breakfast one day, then dinner the next. We have cs breakfast or dinner opposite our ts meals. We have a snack midday and never eat lunch. I have no idea how people handle the deluxe plan.

 

[2Tiggies]

I have a question.Did you have to buy extra food when you are on the Dining Plan? I just dont think it's enough food. I had the QSDP for my first trip and i felt like it was plenty of food and snacks . I want to try some of the TS restaurants but nothing really stands out for me or it's too far to get to. Needless to say if I do get the DDP I would mostly be eating breakfasts /character breakfasts because I dont really like the menus so far ...Is that a waste? Is it a much better value to use the plan for dinners??

This is what I have so far...

First night Chef Mickeys dinner
Second day Ohana's Breakfast
Third day Liberty tree Tavern Lunch
Fourth Night Le Cellier (nothing really jumps out at me but it's popular so i'd go with it )
Fifth Night (Fantasmic Dinner ...probaly Mama Melrose

Nothing is set in stone because i havent booked yet...dont know any exact dates....Do you think this is a good ADR list?

I really liked having two snacks and getting the free mugs on the QSDP ... OK i just went over my list and there is only 1 breakfast meal...Oopsies

I like the QSDP as it currently is. It works for us, although it is still too much food. I had the option to upgrade and decided not to because it wasn't much less than just paying OOP for the TS meals we want and we still get to keep the extra snack per day plus the refillable mugs. To put things into persepctive, we have 7 TS meals over 16 days. One is a dinner and the rest are breakfasts and lunches. It will obviously depend where you eat and what you order as to whether this is a feasible option for you and you will need to do some math and then also take into account what benefits of each plan are most important to you. There is no way we will be short of food ..... !!!

Just a quick mention, and this is purely personal opinion, I would NEVER book a restaurant just because it is popular. Le Cellier's menu doesn't grab me either and there is no way I would book it just because everyone else seems to like it.

 

[DisneyMama409]

I hear they charge your credit card for the fantasmic package..not loving that and Mama Melrose has alot of negetive reviews...I may switch to hollywood and vine or no package at all..Honestly I saw ppl getting into fantasmic at the very last minute and grabbing decent seats and i'd prefer to be in the back rows so i can get out faster . Im leaning more towards sci fi because i did the Prime Time Cafe already ...

 

[kirbygump]

I think you really need to sit down and check the menus and the prices at AllEars.net before booking DDP. Most of the things you are planning or not a great bargain if using the DDP, I think you'll be better off OOP. When we did the DDP we did bring breakfast items to eat in the room before we left for the parks in the morning, I hated the desserts served at CS places and if was paying OOP wouldn't buy them, for were we allowed to switch our soda for a bottled water which I would have preferred. And, we almost always bought an appetizer to split at the TS meals plus adult beverages at most of our TS meals. So, you should really sit down and see what your various options actually cost, then do the comparison. Remember also, the peak season DDP is more money.

 

[Cafeen]

I hear they charge your credit card for the fantasmic package..not loving that and Mama Melrose has alot of negetive reviews...I may switch to hollywood and vine or no package at all..Honestly I saw ppl getting into fantasmic at the very last minute and grabbing decent seats and i'd prefer to be in the back rows so i can get out faster . Im leaning more towards sci fi because i did the Prime Time Cafe already ...

Just remember, for every posted bad review, there's 10 that thought it was perfectly fine, 2-3 that thought it was really good, and 1 that thought it was excellent (arbitrary numbers, but you get the point). People tend to post bad experiences a lot more often than good ones, especially around here as expectations are typically considerably inflated. You will also rarely hear a review of "It was fine. Nothing spectacular and nothing horrible. It was as expected", as that's just plain ol' boring reading, but that will make up the vast majority of experiences .

 

[Kate716]

We split up our ts credits....breakfast one day, then dinner the next. We have cs breakfast or dinner opposite our ts meals. We have a snack midday and never eat lunch. I have no idea how people handle the deluxe plan.

We are handling our Deluxe plan just as you eat your regular dining plan, only we have Signature restaurants booked for dinner. We will eat a CS lunch then have a TS dinner. A couple of days we have a TS breakfast (early) and then a TS dinner - no lunch, just snacks on 2 TS eating days. That really isn't that bad IMHO.

And back on topic- for Disney Mama - we ate dinner at Mama Melrose's on our last trip. It was ok. Not fantastic, not horrible, just ok. I'd personally eat at 50s Prime Time Cafe again before going back to Mama Ms. So, that will be my quick boring Mama Melrose review! LOL Cafeen!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

The dining plan is so hard to figure out. The first couple of times, we paid OOP for some food like breakfast and ended up with extra CS's at the end. This last time we did a bit better, just paid a few meals OOP mostly CS at the resort for breakfast. Next time we have some things we really want to do since it is our anniversary and each time I go, I want to try new things. I am sure if you really planned to a T and brought some extras with you, you could get away without purchasing anything. Not happening with me. So I just put a slush fund away each week, and I am going to get what I want that is extra...

As for Mama Melrose, I am a supporter. I paid OOP for it!! (telling you I am getting soft with my old age) We have been 4 times and have had great food and great service each time. I have also been to 50's Prime Time which we enjoyed, but didn't "wow" us, and Sci Fi once for the experience. We felt the salt in the food at SciFi was "way overboard".

I guess the best advice I can give you, is to go in with an open-mind. Worse case scenario, you don't like the meal and order a pizza, or even better off, 2 desserts and no entree works also....

Boy, am I long-winded or what!!

 

[EvilQueenT]

i think the dining plan really depends on the type of group and/or vacation your planning...

we only do the deluxe plan when it's my husband and i going because we do more of a honeymoon type vacation. we do a later evening (8-9pm) signature dining for dinners, table service for lunch (12-2pm) and if we eat in the morning at all we use our snack credits for breakfast and any drinks during the day.

when i go with a big group especially my kids/grandkids we only do the basic ddp for quick service in that it's easy for people to split up (especially the teens) and have everything already paid for but not give them free reign to charge to the room.

when i go with just my sister or a friend or two, for example, we don't do any dining plan at all as we just don't take the time to really eat that much. just grab go drink (hehe) and ride.

 

[KELLY]

We are doing the qsdp this time around. Yes I think it will be to much food. But it is pre-paid and I figured how much we would spend just on our meals and I think we will come out even or a little better just for the 2 cs meals without deserts. Every cs meal we ate after soda's and tax was around 30.00this is without desert. So the plan is costing me 73.00 a day so 60.00 is already gone plus we get 6 snack credits a day. Even if we use just 3 credits that would probably be another 12.00. My kids love icecream and popcorn. We are paying for 2 ts meal in on our 10 day stay. But didn't want a ton of adr's this trip.

 

[Sagginit]

think about where you want to eat, how often you want to eat, do you want to take the time to sit down and eat, etc. i did deluxe and it was just enough food. we did not clean our plates but as two adults walking all day we got very hungry and wanted the food. we also plan our trip to have almost a full day since we land in orlando by 10 am the first day and at least half a day the last day. many people flying in cant do that. plan one or two double credit meals and it can work out well. we would rather pay for the deluxe plan than pay OOP since the meals are so pricey. for us part of the ease of our vacation is not worrying about the money on things like that once we get there.