Has ANYONE done this?

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I know the DIS is full of all kinds of people, and I doubt many of you have ever tried this... but heres what we did last trip.
We tried to eat at as many places as possible. NOT for food persay, not to see how much "Disney money" we could spend either. We wanted to be able to say "Ive eaten there too!"
So here is how we did it:
We booked all our TS credits for breakfast buffets or lunch. (Coral Reef, Garden Grill, Hollywood Playhouse and Vine, etc) Then for supper, I'd grab a single adult entree, at say... Sommerfest or the Norway CS(Kringla) , and she would grab a plate at say Mexico CS, and we'd meet and eat while saving a spot for Illuminations.
I was trying to split out the meals so we had more variety, and it kept the kids away from each other for a few minutes. (24/7 sibling rivalry wears on you).
It was fun trying this.

 

[asmit4]

While it certainly sounds like a fun idea, I doubt you got nearly as much value out of the DDP if you did this. Breakfast and lunch on DDP is much cheaper than dinner. You can easily spend $50 a person on dinner alone with 1 TS credit, but I don't think you can spend much more than $25 on breafast and probably not more than $30 for lunch. My #'s are probably a bit off but the jist is the same- pancakes and waffles are cheaper than steak and lobster.

I know a lot of people that see the DDP as a convenience, rather than a cost savings issue, and certainly if you enjoyed it then that's the entire point I just don't think I would use the DDP for breakfasts and lunches for an entire trip.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

This is my 3rd week on the DDP. We got it "free" during the promotion. (No, its not completely free... but thats another thread). I can say using the TS credits for lunches and breakfasts this trip was MUCH MUCH MUCH better for the trip than the previous weeks of using them for evening meals.
1) your eating your TS during the heat of 12;00-2:00pm. Your doing the CS when the evening breeze is flowing and the sun is down.
2) When everyone else is in the TS of their choice, your on the attractions.
3) The same basic food is served during the day. You might lose a steak or lobster, but for the most part, the menus are very similiar.
4) TS credits for lunch include smaller portions. Thats what I'm after. Gluttony adds inches to the hips and stomach. Not good.
5) You dont feel "obligated" as much. After lunch you can hop to any park you choose, and your not "tied into" a park for that day. We booked ours mostly early; 11:00-12:00. If the park was packed (happened once) we ate our booked TS, then hopped to another park, where it just happened to be low attendance.
6) If your not hungry by supper, you can just grab a small portion CS or even a Mickey bar. The POP was PACKED late night with people grabbing full size meals at 10:00 and later. I assume they did the same thing.
7) we could grab a meal and eat it while we WOULD HAVE BEEN just standing there wasting time waiting for illuminations. We got the best spots for the fireworks, and had a nice meal toboot. No rushing to grab a spot after the meal took longer than you expected... or worse yet... like our prior trip... LOSING any chances of getting a spot.

The TS during the day is the only way to go. I'll do it that way from now on. It was MUCH better. On the prior trip we were always hearing someone in our group say "What!?! We have to go eat ALREADY??? I'm still full from LUNCH!!!".
This trip there was none of that. Theres just too much food on that DDP for our family.
That wasnt the question, the question was about splitting up CS credits to cover more restaurants.

 

[dbarker]

I like your ideas. I might have to try them next time. Especially at EPCOT.

 

[mickeymousemom]

I also like your ideas! I never thought about it that way before, but you make good points. Esp. about adding inches to the hips . We already have our ADR's set, but if we do the DP next year, it sure is something to think about. Thanks for sharing!

 

[1000th happy haunt]

While we have a number of favorite restaurants that we tend to go back to again and again, we also like to try new places.

We don't tend to use DDP (we'll be using it in October for a split stay), but we do have DDE. For upcoming trips we'll be trying Chefs de France (lunch), Narcoossee's, Yachtsman Steakhouse, and Cap'n Jack's.