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- Jul 22, 2006
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- 5,539
This trip was our second using the DDP. We really like the DDP, but may try DDE next year to have a comparison. There's so much eating on the DDP. Even though the DDP is definitely a value if you're going to order that much anyway, we want to see what the total bottom line would be if we're only eating when we're hungry, instead of eating "everything we're entitled to."
During our 2005 vacation, the plan was very new. I understood when servers or cashiers weren't familiar with the plan, and seemed confused. This time, even though the cast members were much more familiar with the plan, it still seemed to me to be inconsistently administered from park to park, restaurant to restaurant, and even cast member to cast member. For example, at Animal Kingdom a large McDonald's French Fries is considered a snack. At Epcot, only a small fry can be ordered (the location of the snack symbol on the menu board wasn't clear in this regard. In fact, this led to the one and only bad experience I had with a CM during the two-week trip. "The World Showcase isn't in the Animal Kingdom, sir.")
Things I was pleasantly surprised to get as a DDP snack:
* Large (family size) bags of chips at the Artist Pallet grocery section
* Jar of salsa at the Artist Pallet grocery section
* Bag of 6 bagels, Loaf of Bread, Full size box of Entenmannss donuts -- also from grocery section
* Onion rings from Flame Tree BBQ
* Large McDonald's Fries at Animal Kingdom
* Large bowl of mixed fruit at Main Street Bakery
* Huge soft pretzel and frozen lemonade at MGM
Places I found with menu restrictions for the DDP:
* Earl of Sandwich: salad or sandwich only; no chips, coleslaw, potato salad, or soup are included with it. Only eligible desserts are cookies, cupcakes, and brownies.
* Teppanyaki: sushi section of menu is not available
One big mistake I made was to pay for a few things out of pocket, thinking it was a better value. I paid for the Spirit of Aloha on my Disney Visa card before the trip, which gave us two extra TS meals. I also bought the Universal meal deal (wrist band) for the day we went there; and Dining with Shamu for our Sea World day. Had I not bought each of these things in advance of the trip, I probably would not have bought them when we were there. At Universal, for example, we had done 1900 Park Fare for breakfast before heading that way. By 4:00, neither one of us was hungry yet, but we felt the need to start eating because we'd paid for the wrist bands.
With these extra meals on top of the already-generous DDP allotment of meals, we had trouble using everything. As the end of the trip approached, we realized we had 11 CS and 14 snacks between the two of us that had to be used in the last 5 days. This was in addition to the TS meals on those days that had already been scheduled. Had I not tried to "save" DDP coupons or bought stuff OOP, I think it would have worked out more evenly near the end.
Another mistake I made was to try to save my snack coupons for the bigger stuff. (I know, greedy, greedy me.) For the first week, I paid cash for any bottle of water or soda I bought in the park.
On our checkout day, we still had 4 CS and 4 snacks left. We both had breakfast, then picked out a couple of pre-packaged sandwiches to take on the plane with us. With the new TSA rules, we knew we couldn't take any drinks with us to the airport, and neither one of us could stand the thought of another dessert. So we picked a family at random at Artists Pallet and asked them if they'd like to pick out some desserts on us. It was nice to make someone else's day, but I really wish I had used the credits on the in-park sodas earlier in the trip.
One last DDP tip: when ordering at a CS location, always specify the size of the drink you want. If you don't specifically say "large", they'll give you the smaller size.
During our 2005 vacation, the plan was very new. I understood when servers or cashiers weren't familiar with the plan, and seemed confused. This time, even though the cast members were much more familiar with the plan, it still seemed to me to be inconsistently administered from park to park, restaurant to restaurant, and even cast member to cast member. For example, at Animal Kingdom a large McDonald's French Fries is considered a snack. At Epcot, only a small fry can be ordered (the location of the snack symbol on the menu board wasn't clear in this regard. In fact, this led to the one and only bad experience I had with a CM during the two-week trip. "The World Showcase isn't in the Animal Kingdom, sir.")
Things I was pleasantly surprised to get as a DDP snack:
* Large (family size) bags of chips at the Artist Pallet grocery section
* Jar of salsa at the Artist Pallet grocery section
* Bag of 6 bagels, Loaf of Bread, Full size box of Entenmannss donuts -- also from grocery section
* Onion rings from Flame Tree BBQ
* Large McDonald's Fries at Animal Kingdom
* Large bowl of mixed fruit at Main Street Bakery
* Huge soft pretzel and frozen lemonade at MGM
Places I found with menu restrictions for the DDP:
* Earl of Sandwich: salad or sandwich only; no chips, coleslaw, potato salad, or soup are included with it. Only eligible desserts are cookies, cupcakes, and brownies.
* Teppanyaki: sushi section of menu is not available
One big mistake I made was to pay for a few things out of pocket, thinking it was a better value. I paid for the Spirit of Aloha on my Disney Visa card before the trip, which gave us two extra TS meals. I also bought the Universal meal deal (wrist band) for the day we went there; and Dining with Shamu for our Sea World day. Had I not bought each of these things in advance of the trip, I probably would not have bought them when we were there. At Universal, for example, we had done 1900 Park Fare for breakfast before heading that way. By 4:00, neither one of us was hungry yet, but we felt the need to start eating because we'd paid for the wrist bands.
With these extra meals on top of the already-generous DDP allotment of meals, we had trouble using everything. As the end of the trip approached, we realized we had 11 CS and 14 snacks between the two of us that had to be used in the last 5 days. This was in addition to the TS meals on those days that had already been scheduled. Had I not tried to "save" DDP coupons or bought stuff OOP, I think it would have worked out more evenly near the end.
Another mistake I made was to try to save my snack coupons for the bigger stuff. (I know, greedy, greedy me.) For the first week, I paid cash for any bottle of water or soda I bought in the park.
On our checkout day, we still had 4 CS and 4 snacks left. We both had breakfast, then picked out a couple of pre-packaged sandwiches to take on the plane with us. With the new TSA rules, we knew we couldn't take any drinks with us to the airport, and neither one of us could stand the thought of another dessert. So we picked a family at random at Artists Pallet and asked them if they'd like to pick out some desserts on us. It was nice to make someone else's day, but I really wish I had used the credits on the in-park sodas earlier in the trip.
One last DDP tip: when ordering at a CS location, always specify the size of the drink you want. If you don't specifically say "large", they'll give you the smaller size.
