Confused about some CS meals.

[ToyStory3]

I did the DDP for the first time last November. It was just my mom and I for 3 days. We may do it for our whole family this September. I'm confused about some of the counter service meals and how you figure out what comes with it. For instance, Sunshine Seasons or the France Bakery. How do you know what it comes with? Can you get soup and salad? Salad and sandwich? Or is it just one item (one sandwich or one bowl of soup)?

I actually had a really bad experience at the Pop food court at breakfast. The lines for waffles and hot breakfasts were long and moving very slowly. So, I got cereal, milk, and a juice. They said it was 3 snack credits. It was insane to me that it couldn't be considered a breakfast meal. So, I put it back and a CM came over to help me. She put a croissant, and scrambled eggs, and coffee on my tray and told me it was a meal. Again they told it was going to be 3 snack credits. I refused to give in because a CM had assured me it could be a meal and they let me purchase it with a CS credit. But, it wasn't much fun. Will I be running into those types of situations a lot?

Thanks!

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

Breakfast is an entree and beverage (breakfast platter and coffee).
Lunch and dinner is an entree, beverage and dessert (chicken nuggets with fries, vitamin water and cupcake).

Beverages can be milk, bottled drinks, juice, coffee/tea/hot chocolate or a fountain drink.
Breakfast entrees include eggs, Mickey waffles, pancakes, breakfast platters. Breakfast entrees can also include these options with meat.
Lunch and dinner entrees are hamburger, pasta, flatbreads, sandwiches, chicken and rib dinners. These usually come with some sort of side (pasta salad, fries, chips).

 

[MakiraMarlena]

sounds as though either the policies have changed or you had a cashier who did not have the slightest idea what they were doing. Some time ago the policy changed from allowing cereal plus milk as a snack credit and it's now supposed to be a meal.

And it's going to be different in every one of those places that don't have set entrees - there's no absolute rule. Never heard of scrambled eggs being considered a snack either.

I also remember the resorts had a continental breakfast option but they were VERY specific on what you could get - had to be a beverage, a baked good and a piece of fruit (not a fruit cup - had to be a piece of fruit) and if you got anything other than that piecemeal, it was snack credits. But they should have considered the cereal a meal.

 

[figment_jii]

For the most part, a CS meal is going to be an entree, a drink, and a dessert. If the entree comes with a side included, then you'll get the side. For example, at the Kringla, the sandwich comes with a with a side of salad or fruit cup as part of the price, so you'd get to choose a side salad or fruit cup and that would be included with the DDP. Some places may allow you to substitute something like a bottle of water, fresh fruit, or bag of chips for your dessert portion of the CS.

In terms of the breakfast, I think the problem is that you selected options that are normally considered snacks. The breakfast entrees are specific items (e.g., omelets) and those would have probably been a QS meal. Having both milk and juice is probably considered two drinks or least perhaps that how the CM thought of it.

 

[ToyStory3]

Then this is what I don't like about the DDP. To me it makes absolutely no sense that you can't get cereal as a counter service breakfast. Why does it have to be a hot item? That's too specific.

Everything at the France Bakery is separate items. What if there are no entrees? Is it just one item and that's your meal?

 

[texasroni75]

Our last trip was the first time we used the Dining plan. The CMs at the food court at ASMovies were extremely helpful, as were the CMs at nearly every CS place we ate at in the parks. We only had one incident in which a CM gave us wrong info, and can concur that when that happens, it ends up being a huge annoying confusing mess!

Anyway, this is how we handled being a newbie on the DP: In the parks, as we were ordering, we would tell the cashier we were on the plan, but NEW at it, and they would tell us what we get with each meal (1 entree, 1 drink, 1 dessert) as we ordered. If we ordered too many of one thing or not enough of another, they helped us straighten it out.

At the Food Court, since you get your food and THEN go somewhere else to pay - the cashier would let us run back to get whatever it was we missed to make our "meal" complete. I think the confusion was that you didn't choose what is considered an "entree/meal". Cereal, bagels, etc are considered snack items, and I'm assuming the cashier just didn't know what they were talking about - they definitely could have explained it better.

I guess my own best advice is to always let them know you are new to the whole dining plan thing, and they are usually pretty willing to navigate you through it!

 

[figment_jii]

Everything at the France Bakery is separate items. What if there are no entrees? Is it just one item and that's your meal?

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking. There are plenty of entree type items on the menu for Les Halles. They have salads, sandwiches, quiche, etc. Any of those would be considered an entree. You would then get to choose one of the pastries/mousses/etc. as your dessert.

 

[siskaren]

I've never used the dining plan, but it seems to me that breakfast isn't the best use of a CS credit, especially if they did allow it to be used for just cold cereal, milk and juice.

 

[1025cruise]

We normally just used snack credits (5 years ago) for breakfast, but as we got to the end of the week, we still had CS credits, so we did CS one day when we got to the park. Ordered a combo, had plenty of food.

 

[TDC Nala]

If you are using the quick service dining plan with an eye out to save money, breakfast is one of the worst uses of quick service credits because you lose the dessert entitlement entirely. Maybe part of the issue is because the cashiers are aware you are not allowed a dessert with breakfast. They used to allow a second beverage to take the place of the dessert, but this practice was discontinued a few years ago.