How do you use your snack credits?

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

This is our first time using the DDP. I'm wondering if people use their snack credits on drinks or save them for the good stuff. We drink a lot and often but I hate to waste them on bottled water or coke when I could have a pastry from France or a baked potato at LS. I have heard other DISers say that the DDP is a lot of food so I guess I want to know if others pay out of pocket for these drinks or just go ahead and burn those snack credits?
Thanks for helping me plan down to the smallest detail

 

[commdoc]

After two trips of not using them for drinks and having many left over at the end of the week - I've elected to use them. Even so, we still had 3 at the end of this last trip. Often we decided to share a meal and then use a soda as a snack credit for the other person. That way we could have CS for both breakfast and lunch. I think it worked well.

 

[brokenlola]

Check out this list of confirmed 2009 snacks, many many wonderful choices....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2067447

 

[ofhs93]

We had Grardengrocer deliver a case of water and brought some single serving drink mixes with us. On DDP you only get 1 snack per day...not like DDxDP or the QSDP...which both include 2 snacks per day. I would certainly not want to "waste" my only snack credit for the day on a drink if I didn't have to.

 

[brymolmom]

I was like you the first time I used it...and ended up with a LOT leftover at the end. So my advice is to use them as soon as you can - whatever you need that you can use a credit for. That way you will not be left with a lot leftover.

 

[miss_deville]

We often use snack credits for nice, fresh, cold bottles of water at the parks -- and we still end up with credits left over at the end of the trip! I would say go ahead and use snack credits for water if you are thirsty. You will probably still have enough credits to use for actual snacks -- but you may not be that hungry because of all the food you get with the counter service and table service meals. Both include dessert! Have a great trip!

 

[catne]

we've had the regular dining plan several times now (1 CS, 1 TS & 1 snack per day) We honestly get so full after the first day that we rarely want any snacks in the parks or between meals so we use the snack credit to buy some really good pastry as we're leaving a park. We save the pastry for breakfast in the room the next day (take large ziplock bags to keep them fresh because to-go boxes are not air-tight.) This works really well for us.

for the very occasional in-park snack, like mickey bar or dole whip, we usually just pay cash.

 

[Sandisw]

Last time, we decided to pay OOP for our drinks/water OOP to save the snack credits for better snack options.

By day 4, we realized that we were so full from all the meals that we weren't hungry for snacks and weren't using the credits. So, we just started using them for drinks.

We are going in August on the QSDP, and that is our plan again. Since there are 2 snacks, we will use one to get something for breakfast (danish, muffin, etc.) and then play it by ear with the other one.

 

[noahdove]

I don't use them for drinks..you can always ask for ice at any counter service and they will even add water to it for you also, well, at least the couple I had did it, plus, use the water fountain and add crystal light packet too...if I have any left over, use them at Goofy's Candy..or store up a few for your ride home Just taking Disney with me for a little longer helps my tears

 

[eandesmom]

and never felt the need to use it for drinks but once or twice.

So treats for the kids, often ice cream, juice bars, or smoothies. The mandatory trip to Goofys and the Main Street Confectioners for sugar overloads. We avoided using it on pop and water unless we really felt we had credits to burn. We had drinks at the room to bring wiht us and there are drinking fountains. Plus really, with kids getting pop with the CS and TS meals we had plenty of that!

So many good treats to pick from!

For the adults, often an espresso in the afternoon, savory things like pork egg rolls and popcorn.

 

[SomDayMyPrnceWillCom]

We used our snack credits generously through out the week. Drinks, ice cream and we loaded up at Goofy's Candy Company. We got several snacks there and took them back to the room and on the last day, I went and used the remainder snack credits and took stuff home also. DD loved the create your own snack.

 

[aliceinwdr]

We went on Free Dining last year with 8 people. I was stingy and only said I would use them for $3.50 or more snacks so we paid oop for all drinks and ice creams, etc. At the end of the trip we had over 25 credits and blew them all at Goofy's Candy on the last day, I still have lollipops, but used some for gifts. Really excited booked Free dining again and we will be there during the food and wine festival. (Most on snack credits)

Favorite snacks - Dole whips, any dessert at Sunshine seasons (key lime pie rocks), kringle and other desserts in Norway, Icees and make your own giant candy covered treats at Goofys, popcorns (under my budget yes) paid oop for a few, used them for small snacks for my three year old. My 14 yo used them for a lot of ice cream and mickey rice krispies at hotel. McDonalds fries at Epcot for the kids. Lots of cotton candy.

One day at Magic Kingdom, we had a lot of snack credits left so my DD 3 and I had snack credit day, pretzel for breakfast, cotton candy for snacks, izzakadoozie, popcorn...WARNING 3 year olds on that much junk food are dangerous!

Yes - definitely too full to eat a lot of snacks - had plenty leftover - we were saving them all for Epcot and many booths closed when we got there too late. I could still never use one on a bottled beverage.

 

[angelsmith52]

This is so good to know! I have been wondering about the snack credit and using them on bottled drinks. Am I understanding right in that you can bring in a drink like a bottle of water?

 

[catne]

This is so good to know! I have been wondering about the snack credit and using them on bottled drinks. Am I understanding right in that you can bring in a drink like a bottle of water?

Yes you can bring in bottled water.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It seems like there is not a consensus if it's a good idea to use snacks credits for drinks. I'm thinking maybe those frozen cokes or lemonades may look like a good snack option for us when we're thirsty. Has anyone tried them?

 

[bouncycat]

We're gonna budget in a certain amount for drinks, DH likes to drink alot of coke, plus I think I'm gonna get the resort mugs for May, but not for September....Plus my Step Mom will probably bring a water bottle for her and Dad TO the park, so that'll help!

 

[rockundergirl]

Mickey rice crispy ears on a stick... we give them out to people when we get home..

 

[madisonsmommy7704]

if you are worried about getting the most $$ value out of your snack credits then no, don't use them on drinks... However if you use them for a drink or 2 it will stil work out LOL we drove down and brought a case of water & sodas for dh, and juice for dd- every morning I packed my bag w/ 2 waters, 1 juice, and 1 soda (it was a heavy sucker for the first hour or so LOL) sometimes we used a snack credit on a drink here and there, and sometimes we tried to save them and paid OOP - but we also went back to the hotel for lunch and a rest, and would use our own drinks, and reload my bag, so we didn't need to buy many in the parks.
of course we had plenty leftover on our last day, and got a bunch of stuff to bring home (and that was with just haveing 2 a day for the 3 of us- dd was just 2 yrs then) although I wish I had known about all the good stuff you can get w/ them .. I am really looking forward to getting dxddp on our next trip and having more to work with LOL
If you are not opposed to sharing a drink- one could order a drink and the other a snack for a nice little treat and just be using 1 snack credit each

 

[househunter]

We use ours for water and drinks and the very occasional snack. We already will be eating way more than we usually do and drink alot of water anyway. We would rather not have a ton of credits left at the end if we can use them on things we will be buying anyway.

 

[figment82]

We do different things with them every trip...
last trip we were there for food & wine fest, so we spent a day walking around EPCOT and used every single one of our snack credits that day just eating around the world (and then we had an extra counter service the last day, so we just used it to get some food to take with us to the airport)

the trip before that my mom and I got a parfait for breakfast every morning (yum!) as a snack, and then had a late counter service lunch and a late table service dinner.

If you're getting the frozen lemonades or other "special" drinks, it can be worth it to use a snack...if you're just buying water or whatever, it's not worth it, price-wise...but then again, if you pay out of pocket for your waters and at the end of the week you have snack credits left that you didn't use - you lost money two different ways!