Anyone else think the DDP is NOT too much food?

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Wow! I didn't realize how big this thread got!

Okay...so it's official for us...just got back last night from a week at WDW and I still conclude the regular DDP is NOT too much food! We had to stretch the snacks and had to buy some counter service for the last day since our flight didn't leave till the evening. I felt bad too cause my boys kept asking when we were going to eat a good breakfast instead of bagels/bananas/pop tarts....we usually had our TS for dinner or lunch.

 

[hill6]

I personally think that Disney needs a meal plan that is somewhere between DDP and DxDP. We have done both and DDP leaves you short on food and DxDP leaves you stuffed. Yes DxDP we did a number of 2 TS meals which was great, but the appetizer and dessert were a bit much. We had no trouble using the snacks as it was over 90 every day. We had on meal credit left at the end between four of us.

DDP leaves you paying out of pocket for at least one meal. Also we prefer appetizers to desserts.

Create one in the middle of the two. Give you two snacks and your choice of dessert or appetizer with the TS meal.

 

[stayhomemom77]

I agree with hill6. I'd prefer an appetizer over dessert and 2 snack credits a day would work for our family. Now we just have to convince the Disney exec's!!

I don't think the DDP or the QSDP are too much food, but I do think that portion sizing in North America is out of control. I don't mean Disney specifically, I mean EVERYWHERE.

I think the people who suffer are the ones who are trying to get their money's worth and end up stuffing themselves silly in order to accomplish that.

I've done both the deluxe and the regular plan. I found that we wasted a lot of food on the deluxe plan (so...too much food for us) but the DDP was the right fit for us as we did cereal and milk for breakfast in our room (although a second snack credit for waters each day would work very well for us.)

Could we get by on less food? Yes. We could definitely spend less on food when we are on vacation. But we love the convenience of the dining plan (and the fact that it's sometimes available for free) so when we need something more for a third meal (which sometimes happens) we gladly pay for it out of pocket.

 

[hill6]

My other opinion is that you shouldn't have to buy park tickets to add the dining plan. We bought No Expiration Passes on our last two visits. It is not cost effective to add the dining plan as I have to spend $168 to add park tickets for one day (not even hopper) to get the dining plan.

Not worth it.

 

[Colleen27]

For me, it isn't even a question of quantity but rather of the type of food. I have no desire for half my vacation meals to be counter service! The food and the overall experience of fast food style dining just aren't what I like to have when I'm on vacation. And we love appetizers but are happy to skip/share dessert, so the basic plan is a mismatch to our dining-out style.

We've done the deluxe plan for both the trips we've taken since it was introduced, and we love it. We don't eat three meals per day - we're not big breakfast eaters, so unless we're doing a character breakfast we just use our mugs and snack credits in the mornings before we head to the parks. What we usually do is either a character breakfast or a table service lunch, followed by a signature dinner. We use a lot of our snack credits on drinks, especially on warmer days, and we usually have just enough left over at the end of the trip to hit the candy store for treats for the kids to share with their friends when we get home.

 

[gem21]

I'm going in January, and I think the DDP will be almost just right for our family! None of us are huge eaters, so I think we can honestly get by with sharing 2 CS (for the three of us) for lunch (in general we are doing CS for lunch and TS dinner, except for two days where it's reversed) and using 1 CS and 1 Snack for breakfast as well (I usually only eat a chocolate granola bar for breakfast!). We'll I kind of wish there was 2 snacks per day, but it's not a huge deal, a few extra dollars OOP per day won't be a huge downside!! And it would probably be for candy or Goofy's or stuff that tend not be on the DDP!

I think the QSDP isn't bad either... looking at the menus, there seems to be a lot of different choices, not just the same buger and fries!

 

[TandLMommy28]

I'm a little concerned about having enough food because my 2 year old doesn't get his own credits. That's all well and good at TS but at QS and snacks? Eek! I'm not a big eater so I am fairly certain that if I order an adult QS meal, it will be plenty for both of us with some left over but that's still just one meal per day. My kids are grazers... they like to eat 5 - 6 times a day. I'm a little nervous about whether or not the plan is going to fit us well but it's free dining so we'll give it a shot!

 

[WantToGoNow]

Before our last trip, we always bought breakfast items and took them with us (pop tarts, bagels, boxes of cereal) and we found we were having way too many snack credits at the end of the trip that we would have to use up on bags of candy/chips to bring home. We just were not hungry enough with a CS and TS meal each day to even want that snack. This past trip, we used our snack credits for pastries most mornings at the foodcourt, we had a CS lunch (except 2 days - 1 was a TS buffet and the other we skipped because of a 4:30 dinner at CRT) and a TS dinner. With the few remaining snacks we didn't use for breakfast, we mainly bought popcorn/pop. I didn't realize until we got home that I hadn't had a single snack that I had planned to try except a Kaki Gori (that I paid for) and we all 11 ate off of while we walked to dinner at LeCellier (and later we learned that 1 child had strep but luckily no one else caught it - and yes, we all shared the same spoon). So our OOP expense for food was around $5 for me, dh, dd25, ds8 and dd6.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I am going Deluxe DP next trip. We did the DP and didn't think it was too much food. We thought it was just right, but I have a goal to eat at every WDW TS restaurant at least once and we always wanted more snacks on the reg. DP so that's why I'm doing deluxe next time.

 

[bytheblood]

2 meals a day is perfect for us. That is how we eat at home.

 

[Sunday]

At home, we eat smaller meals frequently. Hubby is a gym freak and eats 6 times a day, but they are lean meals. We found the DDP to be the perfect quantity of food, but you have to choose the right restaurant or counter service place to get a balanced, lean meal. You have to look! I'm not a big girl, but I can pack it away lol, so I find the meals just the right size. That said, we still order groceries into the room for breakfasts and more healthy snacks (extra fruit, small bagels, wholewheat crackers).

 

[DisneyAlly]

I used to think DDP was too much food when they included the appetizer. Ah...what a great deal that was! Without the appetizer, I feel it is just right. The portion sizes for items like fish and steak have gotten smaller over the years. Also if my entree is too much for me, I'll share some out with my DS16 who is always hungry!

 

[free2div]

I'm a little concerned about having enough food because my 2 year old doesn't get his own credits. That's all well and good at TS but at QS and snacks? Eek! I'm not a big eater so I am fairly certain that if I order an adult QS meal, it will be plenty for both of us with some left over but that's still just one meal per day. My kids are grazers... they like to eat 5 - 6 times a day. I'm a little nervous about whether or not the plan is going to fit us well but it's free dining so we'll give it a shot!

Even the QS meals are big..I split one with my daughter or hubby many times..also take some kid freindly snacks for them to have during the day..we took grapes, boxes of raisins, and crackers for my granddaughter when she was 2. We always had enough food. You can alwasy use snack credits to get extra fries or grapes apples or carrots.

 

[TaylorsDad]

Not too much for us either. We always end up paying oop. Of course we dont use all our snack credits either but a snack just doesnt seem to cut it. My family begins usually with a character breakfast early. This leaves the rest of the day with onlly using one counter service. Wish they had a 1TS, 2Cs plan that was sort of a compromise between basic and deluxe dinning.

 

[hitman007]

I played college football as a linebacker. 6'1 225lbs as of today and I think the DDP is too much food. Don't get me wrong, I eat all of it but by the end of desert I feel over full and bloated. After we get home from Disney I usually don't eat anything except breakfast for 2-3 days. But thats just me...

 

[bcvmargs]

I agree op