If you eat "grazer-style" ( small meals more often) is DDP a mistake?

[FINFAN]

Even if it's free? To me it is really more like discounted as we have never paid rack rate for a room before...AND ar changing our orig plans of a value/deluxe split to all moderate...so anyway...the kids and I tend to graze, but DH is so excited over the convenience of food being paid for ahead of time, not worrying about how much was spent the day before to balance out the next day, figure we need TS ADR's anyway to compete with DDP folks, (even tho we graze, we do need a decent meal with veggies here and there)OK so it;s the one thing DH has asked for, he gets it..but will the rest of us be miserable? If I am getting groceries to have along to snack on, it defeats the savings of DDP and then the loss of a deluxe room...anyone else prefer to pass on DDP due to their eating habits? I REALLY wish you could break it up on your room key...add only the person who wants DDP ....sigh....any opinions?


Pam

 

[frannn]

I graze somewhat during the week, because I get dizzy if I don't eat for a while. We go out to dinner to buffets often on Sat, so I try to undercompensate what I eat at home that day. I will skip having a full lunch, and will snack instead. I think you can still do this with the DP. You can share a CS meal with someone else in your party at 11:00, then share another at 2:00, and only eat one large meal a day. The snack can be a drink, or something more substantial. Since you are staying at a moderate, you will have a small fridge for leftovers, which you can reheat later in the day, or the next day. If you are concerned about having too much food at one meal, or too many TS, you can plan a few special dinners that require 2 TS credits each. You are going to be walking so much, you may need to eat more than usual anyway. I hope it works out for you. I think your best bet is sharing meals at different intervals during the day.

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

We graze too, so here's a sample day I made up for the 6 of us:

7am: 3 cs breakfasts to share: Breakfast Platter - scrambled eggs, potatoes, biscuit, bacon or sausage w/ water for the kids to take to the park
(milk from store in fridge, coffee pot in room)

9am: 2 snacks to share, pretzel and popcorn

12:00 3 cs lunch to share, bugers, dogs, chix nuggets, share 3 drinks and desserts.

2:30pm: 2 snacks to share, softserve ice cream cup and crispie treat

5:30 ts dinner (order 4 to feed 6...will have another ts meal on check out day)

8:30 2 snacks cookie and popcorn

if we're not hungry enough for all the snacks we'll get waters and powerades, if we're too full at lunck we'll take our lunch dessert to eat for snack and get water or powerades. Some people have reposted being able to get a piece of fruit for CS dessert, this would work great for us on days the kids don't want more food. Fruit stays in the backpack much better than cake or ice cream.

It took some extra planning but I think the plan still works for us, we actually get all of our meals covered this way, not just 2 a day plus snacks. AND hopefully we don't gain 15 lbs each.

 

[kcashner]

I tend to eat smaller meals, so found sharing CS/snacks worked well for us.

For instance, at Cosmic Rays or Peppermarket you can get a side of ribs and 1/2 chicken (counts as one CS) and is enough to feed 3! I'm not exaggerating. DD likes burgers--we'd order the double cheesburger with no cheese. I'd take one of the patties and eat that with a glass of water. I could have purchased an extra bun for 90 cents, but didn't want the bread. Since we'd used only one CS to feed both of us, we had the other CS from that day for later "grazing" or for breakfast the next day.

At TS dinners, we sometimes just had the dessert boxed to take back to the resort.

Granted, most snack foods are not healthy, but many snacks are more than you can eat at one time--for example, you can get a whole box of donuts at the resort!

I think there is plenty of food on the plan to eat in a grazing fashion.

I've stayed at deluxe resorts and value resorts. Since we are now DVC members, we stay at member resorts. There is not a lot of advantage of a deluxe over a value unless you are going concierge level. It is a matter of a little floor space and a lot of decor. My feeling is that we generally didn't go to WDW to stay in a hotel room, so the "prettiness" of the room is really not important to me. In a deluxe you will have a real closet and a bigger bathroom area. In a value you will have a hanging rod in a "closet cubby" without a real closet door. You will have nicer furniture and bedding--not important to me! I'd save the $ and not feel that you are missing something. Of course, the deluxe resorts have TS restaurants, lobby entertainment, etc. Again, very nice if you take advantage of it.

AKL is a different issue. THe animal experience makes this deluxe resort well worth the $...at least for a couple of days.

I greatly prefer the DVC resorts as you have the kitchenette even in a studio. However, that's a totally different topic.

I'd enjoy the dining plan and your stay at a moderate or value resort.

 

[FINFAN]

I agree with the splitting of meals...I have to tell you, I have these visions of "August" ( Ah-Ghooost) from Willie Wonka just shoveling the sweets in his face and then falling into the chocolate river....maybe it's because we are going in August and I have that word in my head...anyway, I guess we can adjust...I just really do not care to spend 1/2 of our trip accomodating the DDP, free or not! It has already convinced us to switch to a moderate from deluxe for the savings,( and ONLY for savings) so if sacraficing park time and room /location..it is not looking all that appealing to me! I even told DH to book his own room/plan on his own name...and the kids and I would book a room only seperate ticket trip...I am that concerned about it! He can keep track of his credits and the kids and I can do quick eats whenever we feel like it! We'll let him know how all the rides were AFTER he comes out of the TS places!


Pam

 

[MEM]

We're a family of grazers too and with the free dining plan in August we plan to stretch our CS to cover both breakfast and lunch and save our TS credits for restaurants we could not normally afford: Artist Point, Narcoossee's, Flying Fish, California Grill and Jiko.

I am also going to try having the five of us share 2 of the large fountain drinks at lunch and get the other drink(s) as bottled drinks - I hear this depends on your CM.

 

[HalfDozen]

You can always do things that are "entertainment" as well - hoop dee doo or character meals. No reason you have to gorge just because it's free

There are also light menus at a lot of places - fruit and granola for breakfast at CRT, entree salads, etc. And you can always split a meal at a table service restaurant and share the appetizer with the kids.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Ditto on sharing meals. My mom and I do this alot. I works great and you don't get overstuffed.

 

[calgarygary]

Free Dining will definitely be worth it to grazers. Paying for the DDP would be more subjective. To me, the value of the DP was experiencing TS's that our budget in the past has never allowed. The food ranged from acceptable (H&V) to outstanding (CG) but the theming and atmosphere was always first rate and thus we experienced Disney on a new level. Almost as important, was the change in attitude that the plan had with me. I did not care if my children wanted an 'expensive' item, I did not encourage them to share an entree when their tastes were different, and if they wanted a smoothie that wasn't part of the plan, no big deal if I paid for a drink while getting the rest of the meal paid through the plan. Our first meal last year was at CG and when the $440 bill turned to $0/ I was in heaven. Go for the plan.

 

[kaybird]

Agree with all the CS sharing grazers, this is what we find so terrific about the plan is the flexibility, and we totally agree with your DH, our best thing is having everything prepaid! has always worked great for us, we eat where and what we want and never worry about sticker shock!