Extra Food $ on DDP

[AdventureGuru]

Hi..
We were able to get free dining in Sept However, I was wondering how much $ we should allot for food...We know we will probably pay for 50's PT and Chef Mickeys OOP...So, we will need about $100 for that...but how much for breakfasts or extra snacks and stuff...I am sure that the DDP will be MORE than enough to keep us full...but I was just wondering how others handle this...We have all of our ADRs and so we are all set for TS.
Thanks for the insight!

 

[ReneeA]

Now that all snacks under $4 (for the most part!) are covered under the DDP we spent very little...for a family of 4 for 8 full days, we spent $20.

We still had a couple credits left on our card when we left, also.

 

[smartestnumber5]

I think it's just really different for everyone. It depends on much you're actually going to eat breakfast and extra snacks, and probably how conservative you are with your CS and S credits.

My gf and I just got back a few days ago and we spent $144 OOP on food. $67 of this was from OOP items at signature restaurants (we went to 3 such meals) where we used only 2 TS credits and then bought some extra appetizers to share. The other $77 was made up of $40 worth of alcohol at Pleasure Island and $37 worth of snacks--including bottles of water and coffee drinks. In fact, we were being a bit overly cautious with CS and S credits. Our last day we left for the airport at 6:45 am and we had 3 S and 1 CS left. We used them for some food for the airport, but it wasn't the best use of credits.

GF never eats breakfast, and most days I just ate it in the room (we brought pop tarts and granola bars). A couple of days I used a S credit for yogurt and one day I used a CS credit for pancakes. Some of the time the snacks I paid for were kind of in lieu of breakfast if we woke up late and it was too late for breakfast but not really time to have a full on lunch.

Hope this helps.

 

[AdventureGuru]

I know it will vary...
I am just trying to get an idea.
we dont drink -So we will save there! ok maybe I'll have 1 margurita in Epcot-no ETOH...
I'm planning on at least a liter of water per person per day...to put in our camelbacks to probably last us all day...
and I know we will have $100 oop for our ADRs
I am sure we will purchase breakfasts I have to eat with the meds I take in the AM...last time we would split room service or go to kona (we stayed at the poly)-it doesnt have to be anything heavy...I guess we will find out...

any other insight?

 

[ReneeA]

If you sign up for Staples Reward program (it's free!) you can order cases of water to be delivered without a delivery charge and not have to pay $2 a bottle for it.

We used Garden Grocer for water and beer.

 

[mince]

If you are going with kids, you can use their credits for adult meals. If not, you can most likely share some counter meals and use some credits for breakfast. We used snack credits for fruit in the morning also.

For a family of 3 eating at *2* 2TS (Hoop and Jiko) for 7 nights, we ordered wine just about every meal and payed OOP for kids meals...we spent around $200 OOP max.

If you end up using all of your TS credits as you should, the only thing you'll need to fork over $ for is breakfast. You can share a counter breakfast and beverage for under $10. You'll have TOO much food, that's for sure.

Oh and one last thing...if you arrive in the evening, keep in mind you'll have extra CS and snack credits for that day that can be used toward breakfasts.

 

[Frantasmic]

if you have 100 dollars already allotted to your OOP meals, I'd say $10-$12 per person per day is enough for other OOP food items.

 

[tinker&belle]

I have to second the staples thing...we didn't spend ANY money out of pocket except for the first nights dinner (we had a split package and ddp started day 2), and then a cup of coffee with a meal and two glasses of wine in italy...it was amazing! I don't even want to think about how much money we would have spent on water if it weren't for staples...it was great!

 

[AdventureGuru]

staples thing???

 

[ReneeA]

staples thing???

Go to staples.com and there is a spot to sign up for their rewards program. They will email you a rewards number. Search their site for bottled water...staples sells cases of water for about $7.00, I believe. Order it, specify your resort and when you will be arriving, enter your rewards number where indicated on the order form and send it!

They will deliver cases of bottled water to your resort with no delivery charge.

We were just there for 8 days with our family of 4. I ordered a 32 pack of 16oz. bottles from Garden Grocer. We could have used another 12 bottles or so, and my kids are only 3 & 4.

 

[momto1disneyfan]

We just returned for and 11 night stay at Disney and were on the DP. We spend around $50 oop and most of that was on Liquor.
We actually hardly ever ate breakfast (to full the supper the night before). Some days we would go back to the resort for lunch or if we had lunch in the parks, we would come back to the resort for supper, just to take a break from the parks. (We would go back after a swim and a bite to eat) I would get either the grapes or a cookie for desert and would keep it for breakfast the next morning.

 

[kami2199]

If you are going with kids, you can use their credits for adult meals.

You are very brave to post that here! I wish I would have read this thread a few minutes ago. I was just posting/asking if they had separated credits yet. I guess not!

 

[SLDL]

Did you have any trouble getting the water into the parks? I was planning on using a small cooler bag for this..is that what you did?

 

[ReneeA]

Did you have any trouble getting the water into the parks? I was planning on using a small cooler bag for this..is that what you did?

No problems at all. We had a little cooler and filled it with 6 bottles every morning. They only had Dasani Water at the parks, and I don't like it...tastes like plastic to me.

 

[AdventureGuru]

for water I am planning on ordering water from staples and having it sent to the hotel prior to our arrival (I think I found this idea on the budget board or here) We both have camel backs and this was the best way to do this.

Bottled water in the parks is like $2 a pop!!! Thats crazy!!!

 

[Shagley]

If you are going with kids, you can use their credits for adult meals.

You may encounter a CM that will allow you to do this, but some places are being strict about not allowing adults to use child credits. The below is a quote from page 5 of the dining plan brochure...

Q. Can children age 3-9 order anything off the menu?
A. No, children age 3-9 must order from a child’s menu, where available. Many
child’s menus offer healthy options in addition to kid favorites.

Q. Can adults use child meal entitlements?
A. Sorry, meal entitlements can not be shared between adults and children
age 3-9.

 

[CamColt]

I just posted this on my DDP breakdown post, but we spent just about $100.00 OOP for extra tips, a mug, 1 meal for 2 (ESPN), and miscellaneous items while on the free dining plan (6 nights). In the end we had extra credits we needed to use up and could have used them for some of those items. This amount does not include alcoholic drinks which I didnt track.

 

[SplashMom]

We spent very little extra money, maybe $50 for 10 days (4 people). We often ate lunch at the resort and we bought mugs (most of the money) our first day and then when we got counter service meals, we got water for our drinks. We took the water back to our room and put in the fridge because we had our drinks in the mugs. Then we had the water for later, and it accumulated very quickly. We also often took our desserts with us from CS or TS because we were so full and so they also built up. We usually got fruit cups for dessert with CS and we often had them for breakfast the next day, along with a cereal bar. We are big eaters and it was a lot of food! I don't think you will spend much more.

 

[AdventureGuru]

Thanks for all your replies...I guess we will play it by ear...it isnt going to be that hard to play with....
Where we take from one we trade off with another...
For instance we are going on the keys to the kingdom tour..they give you lunch...So that day we will use our CS for breakfast...
I dont think we will spend much but I will keep youpsted!

17 days!!!