First Time Using DDP - Loads of Questions!

[kizmet311]

We did the DDP with three adults and a child. One adult is my 15 yo step-D and the child is 5 yo.

I looked at the pinned thread regarding Kids Dining, but it appears that the first post hasn't been updated in a while.

So, first, for clarification - what comes with kids quick service and table service meals? Adults? Are appetizers and gratuity the only thing we would pay out of pocket for?

Second, would children's meals (QS or TS) be sufficient for our 15 yo and 5 yo to share, freeing up some credits for later? Maybe not all, but some? They are both generally pretty light eaters and I may carry some extra small snacks in my backpack so that they can use their snack credits for more substantial snacks like pretzels or ice cream.

We are staying 4 nights, but have 5 park tickets (no hopper). Our current ADRs are as follows, along with my thoughts for meals for that day:

1st day - H&V Fantasmic Package (assume we'll each use a TS credit here since it's buffet)
Since this is arrival day, we would eat breakfast on the way. I have an 11:35 and 4:35
reservation for H&V and will cancel one. Since it's a buffet I'm wondering if we can get away
with it being our only "meal" for the day and using a snack credit instead of a QS.
2nd day - Breakfast QS at BOG (just for me and the little one, will be cancelled if we choose to do dinner)
Dinner TS at BOG during MNSSHP for all 4 of us (possibly some meal-sharing here)
Plans this day are a little up in the air. If we do TS for dinner (it's a late meal at 8:55), then
we would probably do a QS lunch this day. If two of us do breakfast, then we would probably
use QS again for another meal and at least one snack this day since it's a long one with the
MNSSHP.
3rd day - Breakfast TS at Cindy's for all of us (currently prepaid because I booked before I had DDP)
We would probably do a QS for dinner and a snack or two this day with the big breakfast.
4th day - No reservations, so this would be 2 QS meals this day.
5th day - Breakfast TS at Kona's for all of us
Late lunch TS at Paddlefish (requires 2 TS credits)
If we keep the Paddlefish reservation, we will obviously be over our TS credits for the trip and
would have to choose to pay for this or Cindy's out of pocket. I'm assuming Cindy's is more
expensive and I should use the 2 TS credits there? This is also our Epcot day, plan to eat
breakfast at the Poly where we're staying and go to Epcot close to World Showcase opening. Going to DS for Paddlefish would be our break from the park before returning for Illuminations
(if I can convince my hubby to stay that late on departure day). There would be no QS meals
this day if we do PF, but we would need a QS meal if we choose not to do PF.

Actually, if we do H&V, BOG for dinner, and Cindy's we've exhausted our TS credits before our last day, when I have ADRs for Kona and PF. I'm mainly doing Kona because we are staying at the Poly and the french toast sounds really good. Is there a QS restaurant at the Poly that serves it that we could do for breakfast that day instead?

I am going to do an excel sheet to plan all of this out as if everyone uses a meal credit for every meal, but I didn't know if sharing some meals might help us stretch our credits over the five days since we will still be doing full days at the parks on arrival and departure day. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for the best way to plan out how to use the credits. I'm not worried about maximizing the credits as far as individual meal value, but just trying to avoid paying out of pocket for more than one TS meal if I can help it.

 

[Figmentmommy]

We did the DDP with three adults and a child. One adult is my 15 yo step-D and the child is 5 yo.

I looked at the pinned thread regarding Kids Dining, but it appears that the first post hasn't been updated in a while.

So, first, for clarification - what comes with kids quick service and table service meals? Adults? Are appetizers and gratuity the only thing we would pay out of pocket for?

Second, would children's meals (QS or TS) be sufficient for our 15 yo and 5 yo to share, freeing up some credits for later? Maybe not all, but some? They are both generally pretty light eaters and I may carry some extra small snacks in my backpack so that they can use their snack credits for more substantial snacks like pretzels or ice cream.

We are staying 4 nights, but have 5 park tickets (no hopper). Our current ADRs are as follows, along with my thoughts for meals for that day:

1st day - H&V Fantasmic Package (assume we'll each use a TS credit here since it's buffet)
Since this is arrival day, we would eat breakfast on the way. I have an 11:35 and 4:35
reservation for H&V and will cancel one. Since it's a buffet I'm wondering if we can get away
with it being our only "meal" for the day and using a snack credit instead of a QS.
2nd day - Breakfast QS at BOG (just for me and the little one, will be cancelled if we choose to do dinner)
Dinner TS at BOG during MNSSHP for all 4 of us (possibly some meal-sharing here)
Plans this day are a little up in the air. If we do TS for dinner (it's a late meal at 8:55), then
we would probably do a QS lunch this day. If two of us do breakfast, then we would probably
use QS again for another meal and at least one snack this day since it's a long one with the
MNSSHP.
3rd day - Breakfast TS at Cindy's for all of us (currently prepaid because I booked before I had DDP)
We would probably do a QS for dinner and a snack or two this day with the big breakfast.
4th day - No reservations, so this would be 2 QS meals this day.
5th day - Breakfast TS at Kona's for all of us
Late lunch TS at Paddlefish (requires 2 TS credits)
If we keep the Paddlefish reservation, we will obviously be over our TS credits for the trip and
would have to choose to pay for this or Cindy's out of pocket. I'm assuming Cindy's is more
expensive and I should use the 2 TS credits there? This is also our Epcot day, plan to eat
breakfast at the Poly where we're staying and go to Epcot close to World Showcase opening. Going to DS for Paddlefish would be our break from the park before returning for Illuminations
(if I can convince my hubby to stay that late on departure day). There would be no QS meals
this day if we do PF, but we would need a QS meal if we choose not to do PF.

Actually, if we do H&V, BOG for dinner, and Cindy's we've exhausted our TS credits before our last day, when I have ADRs for Kona and PF. I'm mainly doing Kona because we are staying at the Poly and the french toast sounds really good. Is there a QS restaurant at the Poly that serves it that we could do for breakfast that day instead?

I am going to do an excel sheet to plan all of this out as if everyone uses a meal credit for every meal, but I didn't know if sharing some meals might help us stretch our credits over the five days since we will still be doing full days at the parks on arrival and departure day. I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for the best way to plan out how to use the credits. I'm not worried about maximizing the credits as far as individual meal value, but just trying to avoid paying out of pocket for more than one TS meal if I can help it.

You can certainly share meals except at buffet, all you care to eat and prepaid restaurants, but I personally don't think a kids counter service meal would be enough to feed a child and 15 yr old. But you know your children best. At counter service restaurants you don't need to order a kids meal at this time with your child credit. You can order an adult entree for them to share.
As far as Kona breakfast - if by French toast you mean Tonga Toast- you can get Tonga Toast at Captain Cook's quick service location at Poly as an alternative to TS at Kona.

 

[kizmet311]

You can certainly share meals except at buffet, all you care to eat and prepaid restaurants, but I personally don't think a kids counter service meal would be enough to feed a child and 15 yr old. But you know your children best. At counter service restaurants you don't need to order a kids meal at this time with your child credit. You can order an adult entree for them to share.
As far as Kona breakfast - if by French toast you mean Tonga Toast- you can get Tonga Toast at Captain Cook's quick service location at Poly as an alternative to TS at Kona.

Thanks! Yes, I meant the Tonga Toast! We might be better off looking at Captain Cook's for breakfast then and not wasting the TS credit.

So, at a CS restaurant, I could order 4 adult meals even though we have 3 adults and 1 child? Another possibility for me is to let the 15 yo order from the children's menu and myself and my husband share our meals with the 5 yo, which would still save an adult credit per meal that we could use for sharing later. I guess I'm trying to "save" or stretch the adult credits. If all we're left with at the end of the week are a bunch of child QS credits, it won't do us much good, lol.

 

[kizmet311]

You can certainly share meals except at buffet, all you care to eat and prepaid restaurants, but I personally don't think a kids counter service meal would be enough to feed a child and 15 yr old. But you know your children best. At counter service restaurants you don't need to order a kids meal at this time with your child credit. You can order an adult entree for them to share.
As far as Kona breakfast - if by French toast you mean Tonga Toast- you can get Tonga Toast at Captain Cook's quick service location at Poly as an alternative to TS at Kona.

One last ? - does that mean we cannot share at Cindy's? So we couldn't let the 15 yo use the child credits and then the 5yo share with the adults? The 15 yo is pretty picky so I'm thinking she may only want what is on the child's menu. Does the pastry appetizer come with the meals at Cindy's for breakfast or do you have to pay for it separately?

 

[pangyal]

You cannot share at prepaid meals.

You wouldn't have "child" QS credits left, as they don't differentiate between adult and child credits for QS .

 

[kizmet311]

You cannot share at prepaid meals.

You wouldn't have "child" QS credits left, as they don't differentiate between adult and child credits for QS .

Thanks for the clarification. That definitely helps me plan things out a little better!

 

[Figmentmommy]

One last ? - does that mean we cannot share at Cindy's? So we couldn't let the 15 yo use the child credits and then the 5yo share with the adults? The 15 yo is pretty picky so I'm thinking she may only want what is on the child's menu. Does the pastry appetizer come with the meals at Cindy's for breakfast or do you have to pay for it separately?

Correct - no sharing at Cindy's. As others have already replied - as of right now there is no distinction between adult and children quick service credits. This of course could change at anytime - particularly with the addition of alcohol to the 2018 dining plans.
I haven't done breakfast at CRT so I'm not 100% about the answer to your pastry question but I'm pretty sure you would get the pastries included. Have a great trip!

 

[kizmet311]

Correct - no sharing at Cindy's. As others have already replied - as of right now there is no distinction between adult and children quick service credits. This of course could change at anytime - particularly with the addition of alcohol to the 2018 dining plans.
I haven't done breakfast at CRT so I'm not 100% about the answer to your pastry question but I'm pretty sure you would get the pastries included. Have a great trip!

Thanks! We're going in a couple months, so hopefully they won't change the way they do QS credits on us before then.

 

[sharonabe]

We are staying 4 nights, but have 5 park tickets (no hopper). Our current ADRs are as follows, along with my thoughts for meals for that day:

You have another problem. You're only staying 4 nights, so you each only have 4 TS and 4 QS credits. If you keep all your TS meals, you need 7 TS credits. And without even counting Day 5, you have too many QS meals for your 4 credits too. At least with QS, you can share the credits, so it's pretty easy to stretch those to cover all your meals. At TS that is a la carte, you can order a kid's meal and your 15 yr old can eat it and then feed the 5 yr old from the 2 adult TS meals. That will help you stretch some of the TS meals, but you only have 4 kid's TS meals and all of them will have to be used for kid's meals, so plan accordingly. The F! pkg and Cindy's will require all of you to use a credit, no matter how much you eat.

 

[kizmet311]

You have another problem. You're only staying 4 nights, so you each only have 4 TS and 4 QS credits. If you keep all your TS meals, you need 7 TS credits. And without even counting Day 5, you have too many QS meals for your 4 credits too. At least with QS, you can share the credits, so it's pretty easy to stretch those to cover all your meals. At TS that is a la carte, you can order a kid's meal and your 15 yr old can eat it and then feed the 5 yr old from the 2 adult TS meals. That will help you stretch some of the TS meals, but you only have 4 kid's TS meals and all of them will have to be used for kid's meals, so plan accordingly. The F! pkg and Cindy's will require all of you to use a credit, no matter how much you eat.

I know. That is why I struggled with whether or not to get the DDP. I know that since we plan on being in the parks five full days pretty much that we would be a day short on credits, and double-short on TS if we did Cindy's and PF. I may let the PF reservation go or just pay for it out of pocket since it's the last meal there. Since I can get Tonga Toast at Captain Cook's we should maybe do Quick Service there instead of TS at Kona since all of our TS credits will be gone by the last day if we do BOG. The only thing that might free up TS credits is if we cancel BOG for dinner. It's during the Halloween party and I'm not sure we want to take an hour to eat and be rushed to find a viewing spot for HalloWishes since our ADR is at 8:55.

I even considered doing the DxDP, but everyone said it's not worth it.

 

[sharonabe]

The only thing that might free up TS credits is if we cancel BOG for dinner. It's during the Halloween party and I'm not sure we want to take an hour to eat and be rushed to find a viewing spot for HalloWishes since our ADR is at 8:55.

With a 8:55 ADR, you might not even be out in time for Hallowishes. I would cancel that dinner, and pick a 1TS credit restaurant in EP. Garden Grill has great character interaction with Chip n Dale, Coral Reef is interesting because you're eating inside the aquarium, Biergarten has a fun music show with it. There are a lot of options there and you could still use it as your break from the parks if you do it mid-afternoon.

 

[kizmet311]

With a 8:55 ADR, you might not even be out in time for Hallowishes. I would cancel that dinner, and pick a 1TS credit restaurant in EP. Garden Grill has great character interaction with Chip n Dale, Coral Reef is interesting because you're eating inside the aquarium, Biergarten has a fun music show with it. There are a lot of options there and you could still use it as your break from the parks if you do it mid-afternoon.

Do you mean do an Epcot TS on day 2? We don't have Park Hoppers and are trying to stick to the one park per day. Although we could do a TS at Epcot on the last day as our "break" rather than going to PF at DS. Maybe that is what you meant, lol.

 

[kizmet311]

Sounds like maybe I should just give up the ADR for BOG during the party. DD and I can still do our PPO ADR at BOG for one QS meal credit potentially if we share. Then for a later QS meal I can let my step-D use a "child" QS credit to get an adult meal and let DD just share with everyone else. If I cancel Kona and PF, then I could use our last TS credits for a meal at Epcot on our last day rather than going to DS.

 

[kizmet311]

With a 8:55 ADR, you might not even be out in time for Hallowishes. I would cancel that dinner, and pick a 1TS credit restaurant in EP. Garden Grill has great character interaction with Chip n Dale, Coral Reef is interesting because you're eating inside the aquarium, Biergarten has a fun music show with it. There are a lot of options there and you could still use it as your break from the parks if you do it mid-afternoon.

Well, I just booked a 4:30 ADR for Via Napoli for our last day while we are at Epcot. Cancelled PF since it's 2 TS credits anyway. Haven't cancelled BOG yet, but probably will.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I wouldn't spend so much party time at a restaurant, so I would cancel the BOG dinner. BOG breakfast is fine for sharing, and a good idea.

As per your comment about the DxDP, it is actually cheaper, per TS dining credit, than the DDP. But, you are getting a LOT of credits. If you were to use all those TS credits, DxDP is actually, by far, the best value. The key, though, is using almost all of those credits on TS meals.

Personally, I would look elsewhere than Via Napoli for your Ecpot TS meal (that replaced PF). Personally, I would try to get Akershus, if there is availability (and you could use touring plans reservation finder if there isn't). Teppan Edo is very good, Coral Reef if you want seafood.

Everything at CRT is included in the price, including the pastry appetizer.

 

[kizmet311]

I wouldn't spend so much party time at a restaurant, so I would cancel the BOG dinner. BOG breakfast is fine for sharing, and a good idea.

As per your comment about the DxDP, it is actually cheaper, per TS dining credit, than the DDP. But, you are getting a LOT of credits. If you were to use all those TS credits, DxDP is actually, by far, the best value. The key, though, is using almost all of those credits on TS meals.

Personally, I would look elsewhere than Via Napoli for your Ecpot TS meal (that replaced PF). Personally, I would try to get Akershus, if there is availability (and you could use touring plans reservation finder if there isn't). Teppan Edo is very good, Coral Reef if you want seafood.

Everything at CRT is included in the price, including the pastry appetizer.

Is Akershus worth it if we aren't doing the breakfast with princesses? I kind of wanted a late start to the day for Epcot since we will have to check out of the Poly and won't have a room/pool to go to for our midday break the last day. We aren't the most adventurous eaters, so I'm not sure we would like Akershus for lunch or dinner, but I can look at the menu again. Is Via Napoli just not that good? I love Italian, but if you feel it isn't worth wasting a TS credit on, I may look at Coral Reef since we were going to PF for seafood originally.

I don't want to spend all of our time dining at TS. We got the two critical character meals (H&V/CRT) that will allow us to meet the whole Mickey/Minnie gang and whatever princesses are at CRT for breakfast. BOG for breakfast would obviously be for the atmosphere/setting since the Beast won't be there and I can definitely share with a 5yo who is a light eater to balance our QS credits for a later meal with all 4 of us. Based on what you are saying, I don't think moving up to the DxDP would benefit us, because we won't be eating that much table service. I'd rather do quick meals most of the time and maximize our ride/show/character time. And I will be ok if we end up having to pay for a few QS meals out of pocket. That's better than paying for all of those TS out of pocket like I originally had planned.

What would be a good QS option for the day that we use 3 credits for the 4 of us? Either myself or my 15yo step-D could share a meal with the 5yo since everyone is saying QS doesn't count meals as child or adult.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Is Akershus worth it if we aren't doing the breakfast with princesses? I kind of wanted a late start to the day for Epcot since we will have to check out of the Poly and won't have a room/pool to go to for our midday break the last day. We aren't the most adventurous eaters, so I'm not sure we would like Akershus for lunch or dinner, but I can look at the menu again. Is Via Napoli just not that good? I love Italian, but if you feel it isn't worth wasting a TS credit on, I may look at Coral Reef since we were going to PF for seafood originally.

I don't want to spend all of our time dining at TS. We got the two critical character meals (H&V/CRT) that will allow us to meet the whole Mickey/Minnie gang and whatever princesses are at CRT for breakfast. BOG for breakfast would obviously be for the atmosphere/setting since the Beast won't be there and I can definitely share with a 5yo who is a light eater to balance our QS credits for a later meal with all 4 of us. Based on what you are saying, I don't think moving up to the DxDP would benefit us, because we won't be eating that much table service. I'd rather do quick meals most of the time and maximize our ride/show/character time. And I will be ok if we end up having to pay for a few QS meals out of pocket. That's better than paying for all of those TS out of pocket like I originally had planned.

What would be a good QS option for the day that we use 3 credits for the 4 of us? Either myself or my 15yo step-D could share a meal with the 5yo since everyone is saying QS doesn't count meals as child or adult.

Akershus has princesses for all 3 meals!

We think the food there is great, definitely take a look at the menu. The appetizer buffet is very good also.

If you love Italian, I would take a look at Tutto Italia.

I'm from NY and very picky about pizza, so maybe not a fair judge. But, Via Napoli is the one TS restaurant that does not allow sharing when on the DDP, though most do love the pizza there.

Where will you be when you want to use 3 credits for the 4 of you?

 

[kizmet311]

Akershus has princesses for all 3 meals!

We think the food there is great, definitely take a look at the menu. The appetizer buffet is very good also.

If you love Italian, I would take a look at Tutto Italia.

I'm from NY and very picky about pizza, so maybe not a fair judge. But, Via Napoli is the one TS restaurant that does not allow sharing when on the DDP, though most do love the pizza there.

Where will you be when you want to use 3 credits for the 4 of you?

We would be sharing on the QS credits, not TS. Our first TS is H&V (can't share at buffet), second TS is Cindy's (can't share, 2 credits gone), so our Epcot TS meal would be our last of the trip so we can each get our own meal.

I am going to have to stalk Akershus like crazy then!

 

[kizmet311]

Wow, I just Akershus at 6:55 for dinner the day we leave! I can't believe it!

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We would be sharing on the QS credits, not TS. Our first TS is H&V (can't share at buffet), second TS is Cindy's (can't share, 2 credits gone), so our Epcot TS meal would be our last of the trip so we can each get our own meal.

I am going to have to stalk Akershus like crazy then!

In what park would you be sharing the QS meals?

You can try Touring plans reservation finder to look for the an akershus adr.