have DxDDP but still OOP for a meal?

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Anyone do DxDDP but still paid for a meal or 2 b/c you have 2 credit meals almost daily? Just wondering...

 

[Colleen27]

We do 2 credit meals most days on the DxDDP but have never needed to pay OOP for a meal (in 2 trips/20 total nights on the plan). If we get hungry between ADRs there are always plenty of snacks to be used!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We do 2 credit meals most days on the DxDDP but have never needed to pay OOP for a meal (in 2 trips/20 total nights on the plan). If we get hungry between ADRs there are always plenty of snacks to be used!

Thanks, I have an ADR everday for breakfast and lunch and a couple of 2 credit dinners.

 

[NMW]

The only meals I have ever paid OOP for with the deluxe meal plan is lunch at Brown Derby, lunch at Rainforest, lunch at ESPN.

At Brown Derby we only really go for the cobb salads and a glass of wine. Not worth 2 credits! Our kids don't love the lunch selections either. Last time I think my sons got some sort of appetizer for their meal and my DD got a hot dog. We got them ice cream outside with snack credits after lunch. If it wasn't for those tasty salads we wouldn't even go there.

We have paid cash for lunch at Rainforest Cafe because my family wanted to eat there and it isn't on the deluxe dining plan. We have done this a couple of times.

We have paid OOP for lunch at ESPN on our arrival day a few times. I think this is mostly because it's an inexpensive lunch and we do around 5 signature dinners each trip.

 

[Faldred]

We paid one child CS meal OOP over the course of a week, thanks to using a few 2-credit meals. (Us adults split CS meals twice instead.)

 

[MSLRAC]

We will be paying OOP for breakfast at WCC next trip. We like to do 3TS meals a day and by the time I got 4 signature dinners in our schedule, it threw me over a credit. If we decide to add CRT, then we'll be paying for breakfast at Cape May and H&V too.

I will tell you that on days you are doing 3 meals, that you need to space them out carefully. We did 6 hours between all our meals and it worked well. We never felt hungry yet we could eat at the next meal and not feel stuffed.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Thanks, I have an ADR everday for breakfast and lunch and a couple of 2 credit dinners.

With the DxDDP you get 3 credits per day. Breakfast is 1 credit and lunch is one credit. That means you have an extra credit per day. If you add up those extra credits over the duration of your trip, those should cover your 2 credit dinners. Where are you expecting to have to pay OOP?

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

The only meals I have ever paid OOP for with the deluxe meal plan is lunch at Brown Derby, lunch at Rainforest, lunch at ESPN.

At Brown Derby we only really go for the cobb salads and a glass of wine. Not worth 2 credits! Our kids don't love the lunch selections either. Last time I think my sons got some sort of appetizer for their meal and my DD got a hot dog. We got them ice cream outside with snack credits after lunch. If it wasn't for those tasty salads we wouldn't even go there.

We have paid cash for lunch at Rainforest Cafe because my family wanted to eat there and it isn't on the deluxe dining plan. We have done this a couple of times.

We have paid OOP for lunch at ESPN on our arrival day a few times. I think this is mostly because it's an inexpensive lunch and we do around 5 signature dinners each trip.

Thank you for sharing, I was wondering...my husband actually wanted to eat at Fulton

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We will be paying OOP for breakfast at WCC next trip. We like to do 3TS meals a day and by the time I got 4 signature dinners in our schedule, it threw me over a credit. If we decide to add CRT, then we'll be paying for breakfast at Cape May and H&V too.

I will tell you that on days you are doing 3 meals, that you need to space them out carefully. We did 6 hours between all our meals and it worked well. We never felt hungry yet we could eat at the next meal and not feel stuffed.

Thanks, I really want to have 3 meals a day b/c I like a well balance meal for our son...we are not trying to stuff our face with the buffet character breakfast (we go b/c our son loves it), we like TS for lunch b/c its part of our downtime. I don't understand when people say the the basic plan is alot of food when I'm doing DxDDP and have alot of 2 credits and still have to pay out of pocket. I have CRRT and I don't know if we are keeping it b/c the food choices doesn't appeal to our son but he wants to eat there.Thank you

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

With the DxDDP you get 3 credits per day. Breakfast is 1 credit and lunch is one credit. That means you have an extra credit per day. If you add up those extra credits over the duration of your trip, those should cover your 2 credit dinners. Where are you expecting to have to pay OOP?

I have breakfast (all character meals) and lunch daily and I have 5 meals for dinner that are 2 credits (Yatchmans, Brown Derby, CRT, California Grill and Candle Light package). we went for DxDDP b/c we tried DDP before and our son doesn't like the CS selection and we had 6 CS leftover last tiime and paid out pocket last time.

 

[crashbb]

With the DxDDP you get 3 credits per day. Breakfast is 1 credit and lunch is one credit. That means you have an extra credit per day. If you add up those extra credits over the duration of your trip, those should cover your 2 credit dinners. Where are you expecting to have to pay OOP?

I think that the OP has dinner every night - it is just that only some of them are 2 credit dinners. So, most days she is using all three credits (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and some days she using four credits (breakfast, lunch, and 2 credit dinner).

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I think that the OP has dinner every night - it is just that only some of them are 2 credit dinners. So, most days she is using all three credits (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and some days she using four credits (breakfast, lunch, and 2 credit dinner).

Thank you, you understood what I was trying to say.

 

[clanmcculloch]

OK, I'm understanding now what you're saying. I did misunderstand.

Have you sat down and thought through your daily timetable? Each meal will take at least an hour with character meals being at least 1.5 hours. For 3 TS meals per day, that's at least 4 hours in restaurants. Will your son be comfortable sitting in restaurants that much every day? How much time do you have planned between the end of one meal until the beginning of the next meal? You might find that on some days you'd be fine skipping one of the TS meals and using snack credits for those meals. There's a lot you can get with snack credits and you get 2 per person per day. This will give you a lot more freedom for doing things outside of the restaurants during the day and will also mean less chance of needing to pay OOP for something.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

OK, I'm understanding now what you're saying. I did misunderstand.

Have you sat down and thought through your daily timetable? Each meal will take at least an hour with character meals being at least 1.5 hours. For 3 TS meals per day, that's at least 4 hours in restaurants. Will your son be comfortable sitting in restaurants that much every day? How much time do you have planned between the end of one meal until the beginning of the next meal? You might find that on some days you'd be fine skipping one of the TS meals and using snack credits for those meals. There's a lot you can get with snack credits and you get 2 per person per day. This will give you a lot more freedom for doing things outside of the restaurants during the day and will also mean less chance of needing to pay OOP for something.

Some breakfast are first sitting at parks and when at resorts its before 7:30, lunch is around 12:30 and some dinner are around 6-7 pm (if our son makes it). This is his 5th Disney trip and it worked for us in the past with those eating time and he did great on all sit down meals (there were times we had to cancel our dinner and had room service a few times and I'm understand of being flexible with a child). He doesn't like CS and our son is a very slow eater actually so my husband and I can have a 3 course meal since he is 1 yrs old. He doesn't stuff himself and only eats until he is full like at home so he is ready when lunchtime and dinner. We do go for character meals for the entertainment purpose not the stuffing ourself (we are people thats not worth it at buffets b/c my son and I would only get one plate and thats it...maybe my husband would get a second plate...)

I wouldn't mind using snack credits for breakfast but our son really loves the character meals and he see it as part of our Disney experience (when we went with friends the last trip ...she made a comment that I waste alot of money on food b/c we did go to alot of character meals and we didn't even eat alot...I tried to explain to her that we go b/c our son enjoys it. Its not everyday we do this...only at Disney)
I was just wondering if others on DxDDP had paid out of pocket.

 

[crashbb]

I was just wondering if others on DxDDP had paid out of pocket.

We will be doing the DxDP on my next trip. I do plan on paying for Brown Derby OOP (since it is lunch, and I will likely only have the Cobb Salad - I'm not using 2 credits for a $15 meal!).

Actually, if I do use DxDP for the Brown Derby meal, I'd end up short one credit.

We are three adults. We have a 1 credit lunch each day (noon-1pm) and a 2TS dinner each night (7pm-8:30pm), which uses up all our meal credits each day. The day of the Brown Derby meal, is actually a 4 credit day. So, I'd have to pay OOP for lunch on our last day (we don't until late on the day we check out).

So, I could see the need to pay OOP even with DxDP. Because I cannot eat gluten, there are very few things that I can get with snack credits to make up a meal, so snacks are mainly just for treats. I will likely bring cereal for the mornings (because, I won't make it to lunch with only gluten free WDW snacks).

 

[Colleen27]

Thanks, I have an ADR everday for breakfast and lunch and a couple of 2 credit dinners.

We usually do one or the other, and use snacks to fill the gap. So a Magic Kingdom day would look like:

Breakfast - snacks at Main Street Bakery (huge delicious pastries!)
Lunch - Cinderella's Royal Table
Dinner - Kona Cafe

OR

Breakfast - Crystal Palace
Lunch - salads at Pinnochio's or chili cheese fries (chili = 1 snack, fries = 1 snack) at Caseys
Dinner - California Grill

We've found that three ADRs per day is just too much both in terms of food and time. Having a light snack-meal as the third meal of the day, with ADRs for the other two, works much better for us. Character breakfasts are something of an exception, however, simply because we tend to schedule them early to get into empty parks and we don't really go for the food - some fruit & yogurt, coffee/tea, and maybe a pastry is about all we eat, and on those days it isn't so bad to have a TS lunch as well.

 

[MSLRAC]

Thanks, I really want to have 3 meals a day b/c I like a well balance meal for our son...we are not trying to stuff our face with the buffet character breakfast (we go b/c our son loves it), we like TS for lunch b/c its part of our downtime. I don't understand when people say the the basic plan is alot of food when I'm doing DxDDP and have alot of 2 credits and still have to pay out of pocket. I have CRRT and I don't know if we are keeping it b/c the food choices doesn't appeal to our son but he wants to eat there.Thank you

I don't understand the feeling of the DDP being too much food either because we would have to buy an extra meal a day with it. The DxDP worked perfectly for us so I'm glad that it's offered. We never had the 'most bang for our credit' mentality going in to eat...we got what we wanted and the plan still saved us a ton.

Have you sat down and thought through your daily timetable? Each meal will take at least an hour with character meals being at least 1.5 hours. For 3 TS meals per day, that's at least 4 hours in restaurants. Will your son be comfortable sitting in restaurants that much every day? How much time do you have planned between the end of one meal until the beginning of the next meal? You might find that on some days you'd be fine skipping one of the TS meals and using snack credits for those meals. There's a lot you can get with snack credits and you get 2 per person per day. This will give you a lot more freedom for doing things outside of the restaurants during the day and will also mean less chance of needing to pay OOP for something.

I think if you're going to do the 3 TS meals a day, that it needs to be planned properly in order to make it work but that it is 100% doable. We did breakfast at 8, lunch at 2 and dinner at 8. We got done just in time for rope drop each morning, broke for lunch just as the kids needed an afternoon rest and then finished our day with a nice dinner. My kids are beyond the nap stage (the youngest did not go on our last trip) so lunch allowed them time to calm down, relax and refuel for a few more hours of fun. They did great at every meal and really enjoyed all the different foods. Plus having our days broken up, really allowed us to focus on a morning and afternoon touring plan and we got everything we wanted accomplished. So it can work with just a bit of pre-planning.

 

[Faldred]

So it can work with just a bit of pre-planning.

I completely agree, except I'd say a "lot" of pre-planning rather than just a "bit". On the other hand, I'm dealing with autistic twins, so operating on a schedule is very important and pretty much second-nature.

 

[havoc315]

We are doing the DxDP for upcoming trip, and I find it hard to imagine having to pay OOP for meals, though I can see how it could be possible. If you really want 3 TS meals every single day, plus some signature meals, sure you will go over your credits.

But for us, for example -- We are doing TS lunch and dinner every day, including some signature. For breakfasts, we will do a few CS breakfasts -- might even share them, to extend the credits a bit further. Plus, can easily build a breakfast with snack credits. Or, for our party of 5 -- combined a couple CS credits with a few snack credits to feed everyone.
Even if doing TS meals for every meal, you can always split some of those meals, and preserve the credits. Especially with appetizer and entree, I could easily see a family of four splitting 2 or 3 credits for lunch or dinner.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We will be doing the DxDP on my next trip. I do plan on paying for Brown Derby OOP (since it is lunch, and I will likely only have the Cobb Salad - I'm not using 2 credits for a $15 meal!).

Actually, if I do use DxDP for the Brown Derby meal, I'd end up short one credit.

We are three adults. We have a 1 credit lunch each day (noon-1pm) and a 2TS dinner each night (7pm-8:30pm), which uses up all our meal credits each day. The day of the Brown Derby meal, is actually a 4 credit day. So, I'd have to pay OOP for lunch on our last day (we don't until late on the day we check out).

So, I could see the need to pay OOP even with DxDP. Because I cannot eat gluten, there are very few things that I can get with snack credits to make up a meal, so snacks are mainly just for treats. I will likely bring cereal for the mornings (because, I won't make it to lunch with only gluten free WDW snacks).

Thanks for sharing, we will ate at Brown Derby 2x (once for lunch and another night for dinner)...the only restaurant my husband would like to eat in HS. We will be going to Hollywood and Vine for breakfast for our son.