DDP or OOP?

[MolonLabe]

Personally I couldn't imagine eating 6-7 days of CS/ fast food for the duration of the trip, in addition to food on travel days. I don't think I could survive, lol!

For us, since more thanhalf of our meals would be TS anyway....

Even discounting the fact we wouldn't have bought 70% of the drinks and would have had about half the deserts, it works out in our favor.

Granted this years price increase cuts the margins some more but it still works out in our favor since we do a lot of CM's and such.

Granted if you ae accustomed to lots of FF, going the CS route isn't going to be a change up for you.

Different strokes for different folks!

 

[letsgoreds]

Glad other people find the word 'free' in front of dining plan amusing. You ARE paying for it by not taking advantage of other possible discounts. I would go insane trying to maximize (aka most $$$) the plan, eating more than I should or want to. Throw a couple of boxes of granola bars in your suitcase, bring waterbottles, hit the grocery if you can.

A trip to Disney always includes a Mickey ice cream treat and some sort of fun sundae, but NOT EVERY DAY. We definitely work to find the QS places that serve healthier options, harder with the kids meals. The other drawback for us is that I don't like being tied to a bunch of ADRs, which I would feel required to have to again, maximize the plan. We are usually flexible with our eating times to get into the restaurants.

I totally respect that people have a lot of fun with the DDP, but it is not a great way to save $$$.

 

[Dionnemay]

Personally I couldn't imagine eating 6-7 days of CS/ fast food for the duration of the trip, in addition to food on travel days. I don't think I could survive, lol!

For us, since more than half of our meals would be TS anyway....

Even discounting the fact we wouldn't have bought 70% of the drinks and would have had about half the deserts, it works out in our favor.

Granted this years price increase cuts the margins some more but it still works out in our favor since we do a lot of CM's and such.

Granted if you are accustomed to lots of FF, going the CS route isn't going to be a change up for you.

Different strokes for different folks!

OUCH!
I don't think I would be so bold as to assume that everyone who doesn't want the DP or who eats CS are a bunch of unrefined "fast food" eaters, lol!

Its actually the other way around for my family. I make Breakfast and dinner for the three of us every day; they eat lunch at school on weekdays, and on weekends I let them make their own lunch.

We go out to eat, or "Fast Food" as you put it, maybe once a month which is usually a buffet style family place, unless you include the occasional Friday night "Movie night" pizza! (And another reason DP is a waste for us is that we never drink soda-just water, and rarely have "dessert" with our meals - (calories are calories, whether you get them at a High end TS or a CS restaurant)

As I mentioned, my son once complained, when we were waiting for an hour to be seated at an Italian restaurant in WDW, that he "didn't come all the way to WDW to eat 'supper'".

Meaning... that part of the fun of being on vacation and at WDW was being able to discard mom's normal 'rules' for '"sit down and eat your vegetables" mealtime and-for one glorious week, be able to actually, YES, have quick, fun, on the go "kids choice meals"--or maybe even no "meal" at all if they weren't hungry for it--just a giant turkey leg followed by a churro or fried Ice cream.

They aren't kids for very long and trips to WDW come 3-5 years apart so I loosen the "regiment reigns" and let them live a little at the Happiest place on earth.

Also, when you only have a week, you want to cram as much "fun" into the trip as you can and not spend half the time "dinning". And keep on mind, there are healthy , "real food" options at plenty of CS restaurants,( Tusker house's chicken is a fav of mine).

We go to TS restaurants- when the three of us decide together that we WANT to...like the kids really like the decor of the T-rex at DTD so we're going but not for the need to sit and be served TS-- rather for the fun atmosphere.

Point is, they get "Sit down, home cooked TS meals" every day at home--so there's a novelty in being able to "freestyle" once every few years.

I think that's what most of the people here who opt out of the DDP are saying---not that they are all a bunch of ill-fed fast food eaters with unrefined palettes; That's like assuming that those who prefer the DP are over-indulged foodies.

I would wager that for some who like the experience of being able to sit down for a 3 course meal every meal, it is NOT something they get to do every day (maybe work or lifestyle doesn't allow it) so, like with our family, its part of the whole experience of being on vacation and getting to do something you don't normally get to do.

I think people have their own individual and varying reasons for choosing or not choosing the DP and it's a mistake , and probably an insult to some, to assume their lifestyle because of their decision.

 

[disneysteve]

Personally I couldn't imagine eating 6-7 days of CS/ fast food for the duration of the trip

We definitely work to find the QS places that serve healthier options, harder with the kids meals. The other drawback for us is that I don't like being tied to a bunch of ADRs

OUCH!
I don't think I would be so bold as to assume that everyone who doesn't want the DP or who eats CS are a bunch of unrefined "fast food" eaters

And keep on mind, there are healthy , "real food" options at plenty of CS restaurants

Some good points here. I think many people assume that Disney CS locations are similar to CS at other amusement parks, sporting events, etc., where the fare is usually limited to hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza and chicken nuggets. One thing that we love about dining at WDW is that you can get such a wide variety of food, healthy options and good stuff without spending a fortune or needing a reservation. We make zero ADRs when we go to Disney and most of the time during our stay, we have zero TS meals while there (at least on property). The CS options are so good, so inexpensive and so convenient that we don't feel the need to spend time and money on TS meals.

My vegetarian daughter's favorite meal is at Sunshine Seasons food court at The Land. She gets tofu, broccoli and rice at the Asian station. We usually hit that a couple of times during the trip. I'd hardly call tofu and broccoli surviving on fast food. The same place also offers roasted chicken, baked salmon and other options not typically found at amusement park counters.

All of that said, I also have friends who go to Disney with fine dining in mind. They book all of their favorite restaurants in advance. They are older, don't have children with them and don't go on many of the rides. They are more interested in the atmosphere, the shows and the food.

Us, we'd rather maximize our touring time and minimize our eating time. We go out to eat regularly at home, both casual and fine dining, so doing so on vacation isn't a big draw to us. Getting to ride BTMRR 6 times in a row, however, is something we can only do at Disney.

 

[ccgirl]

This is a great example and pretty much probably about what we would eat as well.

I'm so glad you found that helpful.

Thank you all SO much for your suggestions and your opinions. After reading all your opinions, I have opted to pay OOP since it will be less expensive for me. Neither of my kids eat a whole lot and I don't eat all that much either although I could if the food was right there for me I will not have a car so we will not be able to eat offsite. I know a few people here suggested comic rays. Can't remember if I have been there or not but will definitely go there. And I have been to Earl's at DTD in the past as well as Backlot express at DHS. I will make sure i pack plenty of snacks in our bags so we can snack when we need to. And have my DH get one refillable mug and maybe I can buy a case of water and have it shipped to our DVC resort. We are also doing a split stay. 2 nights at AKV and 2 nights at BWV. And for the first day, our flight doesn't get into to Orlando til almost 10pm so it really doesn't make sense to get the DDP on the first 2 nights since I will have too many meals leftover since we will just be checking in and going to bed on the first night. I have one reservation at Mama Melrose for the fantasmic pkg and that is it for TS. I thought about Cape May's for the seafood dinner buffet but more than likely skip it. Never been but after checking out the prices, I think I will skip it. My kids would not eat that much to justify the cost.

The last time we were at BWV, we had the tap water and it was actually very good. So, now we buy a big bottle of water once past the airport security and just keep refilling it at WDW. I also bring those lemonade packets to add to the water. If you freeze the water bottle the night before (make sure to leave room for expansion), it melts throughout the day and provides yummy cold refreshments.

At DHS, try Starring Rolls Cafe. The sandwiches are huge and yummy. My children can very easily split a sandwich there and their desserts are ridiculously good!

 

[North of Mouse]

We are a couple (grown children) that now go to Disney to totally enjoy each moment as it comes. We refuse to be tied to "anything" regarding times, unless it's a parade, show, etc. we want to be at. As for food, we eat exactly what and where we choose, when we choose. We are not huge eaters and would be totally stuffed and miserable eating three squares a day (not to mention that we would definitely become "pooh size" quickly ). We love 'Ohana and Cape May Clambake (once or twice) but never make ADR's. We go early on the days we decide to eat there and get in immediately. Otherwise, if we choose to subsist on junk food, or mixed with "good" choices we don't think a thing about it. Hey, it's vacation and a week or two of eating what we want will not kill us We are conscious of our food intake most times and are healthy and of a good weight, so we refuse to watch calories while at Disney - just part of the fun for us to spontaneously get whatever looks good at any time. One exception, this April, I did make ADR at CP early breakfast to "see" and enjoy the beauty of an empty park for early pictures. Did it once and loved it! But, we all vacation the way we enjoy it the most.

 

[tzolkin]

OUCH!
I don't think I would be so bold as to assume that everyone who doesn't want the DP or who eats CS are a bunch of unrefined "fast food" eaters, lol!

I think that's what most of the people here who opt out of the DDP are saying---not that they are all a bunch of ill-fed fast food eaters with unrefined palettes; That's like assuming that those who prefer the DP are over-indulged foodies.

I think people have their own individual and varying reasons for choosing or not choosing the DP and it's a mistake , and probably an insult to some, to assume their lifestyle because of their decision.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

The only time my family has ever eaten fast food is when we are travelling and need to stop somewhere quickly, but we prefer to do CS at Disney for several reasons.

First, with young kids it's nice to have flexibility in our schedule without ADRs. We also simply can't eat all the food that comes with the dining plan-- we don't do the desserts or drinks and we don't like to eat big meals in the heat.

As far as healthy... we did the Dining Plan last trip because we brought my parents along and they insisted on it. It was fun to experience the different restaurants and we're glad we tried it, but that was the most unhealthy we have ever eaten at Disney.

Normally we bring a lot of our own food to eat (fruit, veggies, nuts, etc) and then just fill in by sharing CS meals that appeal to us. We go to Epcot probably 2/3 of the days we're at Disney and there is a lot of variety there (not what I would consider typical fast food). We get adult meals and share (even if just the kids are hungry, they prefer to get adult meals and split them rather than eat from the limited kids' meal choices). Of course we do get a few greasy "fast food" items (sharing an order of corn dog nuggets at Casey's is one of our traditions ), but we consider these to be special vacation splurges-- not indicators of what our usual eating habits.