How do you do the DDP?

[RN2B12]

How do you use your credits for the DDP? I was thinking of doing breakfast in our room (cereal, breakfast bars, cinnamon rolls, etc.), a QS lunch around noon, a TS dinner around 5, and then use the snack for the evening around firework time. I have 2 LO's so I'm trying to stick to the same meal schedule that we have at home. Is there a better way to do it than what I'm planning? Would it be better to use the TS for a big lunch and the use the QS for dinner? Also, I'm going back and forth with doing all character meals or mixing them in with some non-character restaurants. I know the girls would love all character meals, but it seems like they are all buffets and they all have similar items. If anyone cares to share what they would do, our plan is 6 nights @ ASMovies, 6 day park hopper, regular meal plan. We are going in May, so I'm prepared to go back to the hotel for swimming in the afternoons, if need be. TIA, Christie

 

[hollywoodprincess91]

We pay breakfast oop. We do qs for lunch and ts for dinner except when we have to do a ts for lunch at animal kingdom. We use the snack credit before the afternoon parade. Not all the character meals are buffet style. Some are family style such as Garden Grill or order off of menu such as CRT. A TS at dinner might be more relaxing and less rushed then having to get to a reservation in the middle of the day. Some of the rides might be too much after a big lunch.

 

[ekatiel]

We do pretty much what you've described. I always bring breakfast food to eat in the room before we leave, so we spend our credits on lunch and dinner. However, we love character meals and some are only offered at breakfast, SO, if we want to do a breakfast character meal, we schedule it for as late as possible-- usually you can get an 11 or 11:30am time-- and then eat "breakfast for lunch"! Also, we stay away from 2 credit places, so now if we want to eat at LeCellier, it will be for lunch (which is still one credit). It looks like you have girls, so make sure to schedule some princess dining!! If I were you, I would make sure to schedule Akershus and 1900 Park Faire (for dinner) to get your princess fix (the castle in MK costs 2 credits). Chef Mickey's is always on our to-do list for character dining, as well. 'Ohana is our favorite restaurant at Disney, so we try to eat there for breakfast (at lunch time-- it's a character meal) and at dinner! Have fun choosing your ADRs!!! --Katie

 

[blame my sister]

We try do more buffets just cause it's more options but they will still eat at certain sit down spots too. If you want to see Fantasmic and not wait in the line a good thing to do is the Fantasmic package, you eat a "dinner" at an earlier time but are guaranteed a seat. 1900 park fare is good w/ the step sisters and mother very funny. If you wanted to do a 2 point dinner we do California Grill. Cause you can see the MK's fireworks from the top of the Contempoary and they pipe in the music very cool to see. Chef Mikey's definately, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine, Garden Grill are all good. And if you do some research you can get some really good counters that are almost as good as a sit down. Wolfgang Pucks in DD is an example. Try and go for the more options. On on of the last podcasts they said the ABC Cominsary in HS was alot better so we may try it next time now.

 

[shannonstar]

Some days we do early breakfast in the park (before opening at CP, TH, H&V, and Akershus). The we use snack for lunch. Then it's QS for dinner.

Other days, we use Snack for breakfast, QS for lunch and then TS (Biergarten, Mama Melrose Fantasmic, Boma, etc) for dinner.

We find that both work equally well. It just depends on our style of touring that day.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

We'll bring food with us from home and eat breakfast in our room. Or pay a little OOP for some breakfast snack items. This is also a benefit to getting on the most popular rides early in the morning instead of eating breakfast at a restaurant. QS for lunch and then TS for dinner. We find it easier to schedule our park activities throughout the day and have a relaxing TS meal at the end. Otherwise, we're scrambling to juggle the rides and make a lunch time ADR.

 

[DixieBelle]

Your plan is what we usually do if we are there in busy times. Breakfast in the room, counter service lunch, then back to the hotel for swimming or naps (especially mine!) in the afternoon. Then after we are all clean and cool, back out to eat a nice dinner and explore a little more.

 

[umieesa]

Depending on the ages of kids and what type of eaters they are, you could probably get by with sharing meals. We used to do breakfast in the room until I realized that it was a lot of food and I could use my credits more efficiently, so now this is a typical itinerary for a Family of 4:


Day 1 (let's assume this is your first full day):

B=snack credits (either MSB on an MK day, or Starring Rolls on a DHS day)
L=CS (use only 3 credits)
D=TS

Day 2

B=TS character meal
L=CS (use only 2 or 3 credits depend on where we're eating--probably still full from breakfast)
D=TS

Day 3
B=CS (use only 2 credits and share a breakfast platter)
L=CS (use 3 credits)
D=TS

Because we use less CS credits at lunch we end up having an excess of credits, and thus are able to use some for breakfasts. Now some days will repeat depending on where we want to eat, and some days we might just eat breakfast in the room. Some CS restaurants are better than others (portion wise) for sharing, so here are my rec's:

MK

Cosmic Ray's (chicken platters are huge!)

EP

Sunshine Seasons
Tangierine Cafe

DHS

Pretty much sucks here, so we usually have to each get a meal, otherwise, we eat at Backlot

AK

Flame Tree BBQ

DTD

Wolfgang Puck Express (WPE) - I would probably eat every CS meal here if I could , and the portions are HUGE, so you definitely don't each need to order a meal.

On our first year on the dining plan I packed a box of cereal and paper bowls and cutlery. Then my husband would run and grab a bottle of milk from the food court and we'd just have cereal in our room. This was fine, but the kids (and I) were sick of cereal by the end of the week, and we found that for the next time we didn't need to bother since we were stuffed using a credit each at every meal (except of course for TS meals since each person has to redeem a credit). The only benefit of the cereal breakfast was that we had a lot of free space in our suitcase at the end of the trip

BTW, we never use a TS credit for lunch (better value at dinner)...unless maybe for Le Cellier