Anyone think the DDP ISN'T too much food?

[kstgelais4]

My DH and I are planning our next trip, and I am trying to get brushed up on the DDP since our last trip, last December. As I am reading everything about the DDP here it seems like everyone had a gazillion credits left and it was "so much food". I gotta tell you... I am feeling a little sheepish. We got the DDP last trip (myself, hubby, and 6 kids ages 12-21 months) and we only had 2 snack credits left last day. And because I was the credit nazi, we paid OOP for some things (not meals, mostly a la cart and snacks). We are not large people. My DH is 6' 2" and 165 lbs. soaking wet. I just don't get how it is so much food for everyone.

 

[dmdelight]

I am one of those who has credits left over, however, I' 've read loads of reports which use every single little last credit- you are definitely not alone.

 

[MichiganKris]

We have never left with meal credits. The first time we used the DDP we kept forgetting to use it for snacks, so we ended up taking a bunch of Mickey Rice Krispy treats home. The next two times, we ended up with 2 or 3 snack credits left at the end of the trip and did not use any snack credits for beverages. That being said, we were never hungry, but also didn't gain a bunch of weight while we were at Disney either. We are average size people.

 

[MEK]

Are you talking about the regular dining plan or the deluxe dining plan? I think the deluxe is definitely a lot of food. It's much more than I eat normally. If I ate like that every day I would gain 50lbs in a year. I'm not kidding.

The regular dining plan, on the other hand, is the right about of food. I can have snack credits left over, but I always find a way to use them.

 

[aaarcher86]

We do the DXDP - we always have extra snack credits and end up getting a bunch of treats to take home. We just can't eat it all while we're there (snack wise), but I'm okay with that. We save money using the DXDP and I don't include the snacks when doing the cost comparison, so I'm not losing anything.

I've never understood the 'it's too much food' for the regular DP honestly. It's 2 meals and a snack throughout the course of an entire day. I'm sure people are eating at least that much in a normal setting?!

Don't feel any guilt - eat, eat EAT!

 

[mtfarlin]

I personally enjoy both the regular and deluxe dining plans....I do not feel either is too much food, I just pace myself out...with the deluxe I use TS for mostly the 2 credit signature resturants and the remaining TS credit for a light sit down or counter service lunch or breakfast. There were times I used my snack credits for a light breakfast or used them for a light lunch....any remaining snack credits I had I planned on using them for chocolate bars/Mickey rice krispy treats to take back home to family, friends and co-workers who were overjoyed with the treats...

 

[2girlsmom]

We liked the regular dining plan, and didn't find it to be too much food. We did one week with the deluxe, and that did seem like excessively too much food, and we went home at the end of the week with 6 meal credits remaining (would have had 19 snack credits, but bought treats to take home with them). BUT we were not smart about it, either. If I did deluxe again, I would do it as 2 table service meals; either a late breakfast or lunch at a regular 1 credit place and then dinners at signature restaurants accross the board. I am pretty sure that if we had done that we would not have felt so much like it was SOOO much food. We tried to do 3 ts restaurants every day for the entire week, plus bought tickets to the dessert party for wishes, etc, not my best decision. the plus to that was it did allow us to try a LOT of new places.

 

[smiths02]

We've only had extra CS credits because we ate at extra TS meals (OOP) or because my DS has a small appetite but will eat adult food (so I would share CS with him which would leave us with extra child CS meals) or because my DH left a few days early last trip or because some snacks we like are not on DDP (Minnie Mouse caramel apple...Goofy's create your own although that seems to vary...want to try Nutella waffle).

We also drive so we can bring bottle of water, breakfast items, granola bars, chips, apples, etc. So we don't have to use snacks for breakfast, and I feel silly using a snack credit on $1 piece of fruit vs. a $5 Dole Whip.

ETA: It can also be too much food if you do a lot of buffets or high calorie items. A cheeseburger with fries, chocolate cake and large Coca Cola followed by a giant ice cream sandwich snack then dinner which may be a big steak, soda, and cheesecake is WAY more calories than most people should eat in a day. On the other hand, oatmeal (snack credit) for breakfast, salmon and cous cous and bottled water and yogurt for lunch, followed by grilled chicken salad and unsweet tea and sorbet for dinner is different.

 

[brockash]

I think it's only a lot of food if you have someone in your party that doesn't eat a lot. We've had extra credits (usually CS meals) because my dd (5) has never been a big eater, and it's a struggle to get her to eat a meal. I don't feel like forcing her to eat everything while on vacation, so I just make sure she gets a decent amount of healthy stuff and let it go. Many times, my ds, dd and myself will split 2 CS meals, as dd eats very little. I think if everyone in your party are normal (or what I would call normal) eaters, then no, it's not a lot of food.

We also pay for 2 TS meals each trip (RFC and T-Rex,) so that helps. Those 2 restaurants didn't used to be on the dining plan and I can usually find coupons for the kids meals, so we always pay OOP for those.

ETA: We also always get groceries delivered, just water and breakfast stuff, but if we didn't do that, we'd def. have to pay for a lot of drinks OOP.

 

[goofyintoronto]

we must eat like beasts because we dont normally have credits left over either!

Our snack credits are the first to get used up, my son LOVES to snack. I save most of the credits for him.

We use up all of our TS credits, always. Sometimes i even pay for a couple of extra restaurants out of pocket. We do quite a bit of TS!

Most of the time thou, we'd each have 1 QS credit left....but i'd use it up by stocking up before i leave....I'd either get 3 snacks for 1 QS credit, or i'd grab a sandwich/chips/drink for the plane. It works out well.

 

[kstgelais4]

Are you talking about the regular dining plan or the deluxe dining plan? I think the deluxe is definitely a lot of food. It's much more than I eat normally. If I ate like that every day I would gain 50lbs in a year. I'm not kidding.

The regular dining plan, on the other hand, is the right about of food. I can have snack credits left over, but I always find a way to use them.

I was talking about the regular dining plan, although Dh and I were considering the deluxe plan for our anniversary trip!

We do the DXDP - we always have extra snack credits and end up getting a bunch of treats to take home. We just can't eat it all while we're there (snack wise), but I'm okay with that. We save money using the DXDP and I don't include the snacks when doing the cost comparison, so I'm not losing anything.

I've never understood the 'it's too much food' for the regular DP honestly. It's 2 meals and a snack throughout the course of an entire day. I'm sure people are eating at least that much in a normal setting?!

Don't feel any guilt - eat, eat EAT!

That is exactly my thought! I eat 3 meals a day here, with a couple of snacks in between. I am not saying that I licked the plates clean at the restaurants in Disney, but we used almost every credit. And the times where i didn't lick my plate clean, my 9 year old would finish it off for me because she finished off her poor excuse for a kids meal already.

We've only had extra CS credits because we ate at extra TS meals (OOP) or because my DS has a small appetite but will eat adult food (so I would share CS with him which would leave us with extra child CS meals) or because my DH left a few days early last trip or because some snacks we like are not on DDP (Minnie Mouse caramel apple...Goofy's create your own although that seems to vary...want to try Nutella waffle).

We also drive so we can bring bottle of water, breakfast items, granola bars, chips, apples, etc. So we don't have to use snacks for breakfast, and I feel silly using a snack credit on $1 piece of fruit vs. a $5 Dole Whip.

ETA: It can also be too much food if you do a lot of buffets or high calorie items. A cheeseburger with fries, chocolate cake and large Coca Cola followed by a giant ice cream sandwich snack then dinner which may be a big steak, soda, and cheesecake is WAY more calories than most people should eat in a day. On the other hand, oatmeal (snack credit) for breakfast, salmon and cous cous and bottled water and yogurt for lunch, followed by grilled chicken salad and unsweet tea and sorbet for dinner is different.

We also packed stuff for breakfast (and still used all our credits). We also had bottled water, gatorade, and chocolate milk boxes that we took into the park.
And I will be the first to admit that I don't watch what I eat when I am on vacation. I eat healthy most of the time, but I did indulge in a burger or two while we were there. I can't say I finished it, but I enjoyed it

 

[smiths02]

I don't eat healthy at Disney either...I'm just guessing that is how some people say it is too much food because you can get really filling food.

We also skipped some CS because we would eat a buffet for breakfast and then not need lunch. Mostly because we have no control at buffets.

 

[aaarcher86]

That is exactly my thought! I eat 3 meals a day here, with a couple of snacks in between. I am not saying that I licked the plates clean at the restaurants in Disney, but we used almost every credit. And the times where i didn't lick my plate clean, my 9 year old would finish it off for me because she finished off her poor excuse for a kids meal already.

I'm not ashamed... I did a bit of plate licking It's that compote!

 

[Eliza32]

Not too much food for us either. We had a few snack credits left, but used them for treats to bring home. One CS and one TS per day was plenty but not too much....but Le Cellier was still a single credit for dinner then! We used to get a full box on Entemanns donuts to share for breakfast and use our mugs for coffee or hot chocolate. Sure made the credits go a long way!!

 

[simonsayz]

I'm not ashamed... I did a bit of plate licking It's that compote!

who doesn't like to lick there plates?

My DH and I are planning our next trip, and I am trying to get brushed up on the DDP since our last trip, last December. As I am reading everything about the DDP here it seems like everyone had a gazillion credits left and it was "so much food". I gotta tell you... I am feeling a little sheepish. We got the DDP last trip (myself, hubby, and 6 kids ages 12-21 months) and we only had 2 snack credits left last day. And because I was the credit nazi, we paid OOP for some things (not meals, mostly a la cart and snacks). We are not large people. My DH is 6' 2" and 165 lbs. soaking wet. I just don't get how it is so much food for everyone.

I think it's about planning, if you plan it out you won't really have any credits left over.

If you wing it, you most likely will.

Then again, lots of the time plans don't go accordingly. Usually snack credits are the main ones that gets left over.

 

[ItsNotMuchofaTail]

I think the DDP is just right for food. I just returned from a 7 night stay with my DD. We had nearly 8 full days, so the first day I bought us lunch OOP as I was worried about credits lasting the whole time. But on the last day we had 2 CS and could have easily shared, so I needn't have done that after all.

I like a light breakfast (snack credit), a bigger lunch (TS credit), and dinner (CS credit). It worked out very well. I didn't have leftover credits, I planned carefully to use exactly what I had. We wasted one meal as my DD got sick, but that isn't disney's fault.

My last trip we got the DxDP and I planned poorly AND made a mistake. We left the last day with 18 bottled drinks, 20 rice krispies, and I can't even think of what else. But I was traveling with my STBXHusband, the fact that we all survived was a win.

I don't understand wasting the credits by not using them, we used all of ours.

But for 1 adult and 1 child, I found the DDP a great value. I know for other family arrangements, it isn't always.

 

[minnie mum]

We never left with unused credits of any kind. And it definitely wasn't too much food- but then I suppose it could depend on the types of places you choose to eat at. With only 1 CS and 1TS per day, we still had to pay OOP for either breakfast or lunch (and yes, since we did buy groceries for some breakfasts in the room I still count that as paying OOP) every day. And since we usually have one or 2 signature meals each week, we were also paying OOP for some of our TS meals.

We actually stopped using the DDP because it just didn't fit the way we like to eat. We never have desserts at lunch when at home. We usually share a dessert when we go out to dinner. And we prefer an appetizer and a glass on wine occasionally.

I think that people sometimes forget that the DDP (in whatever form) is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. It works really well for some families. It doesn't work at all for others.

 

[gtpoohbear]

Personally I don't see how anyone could have credits left over on the regular dining plan! It's only two meals a day (first strike for my family, guess we're old-fashioned b/c we require 3), and one if them is fast food! We've always found the CS portions to be really small, they don't generally fill us up for a meal. How people claim to be able to share them is beyond me. (And I should mention that we are not large people by any means. In fact DH tends to hover within a pound or two of being officially underweight. The few times we've eaten CS for something other than breakfast, he's been hungry again within an hour.)

We do the deluxe plan, and still run out of credits, since we always do a couple of signature restaurants too. I don't really see how we could get by with less food for sure, especially when you are out all day and using so much energy-you need your fuel!!

 

[Princess on the Run]

We end up not using our snack credits because we're not big snackers. We do 3 meals a day (usually eating breakfast in the room) so the TS and QS are used up but then we end up using snack credits at the Confectionery or something just to use them up. This past year, we had something like 23 snack credits left on our last day so we used them to make a make-shift small meal with a beverage, piece of fruit and bag of trail mix each. I need to get better at using those...

 

[goofyintoronto]

Personally I don't see how anyone could have credits left over on the regular dining plan! It's only two meals a day (first strike for my family, guess we're old-fashioned b/c we require 3), and one if them is fast food! We've always found the CS portions to be really small, they don't generally fill us up for a meal. How people claim to be able to share them is beyond me. (And I should mention that we are not large people by any means. In fact DH tends to hover within a pound or two of being officially underweight. The few times we've eaten CS for something other than breakfast, he's been hungry again within an hour.)

Honestly I wonder that myself! My son and I have never shared! I dont find the CS portions big enough to share. My son loves to eat! (ok so do I).

We do the deluxe plan, and still run out of credits, since we always do a couple of signature restaurants too. I don't really see how we could get by with less food for sure, especially when you are out all day and using so much energy-you need your fuel!!

Wow you guys must have speedy metabolisms! Impressive!