I'm Hoping Someone Can Help Me

[PandaBear & Boo]

We are going to be at WDW in Sept for 6 nights with the free DP. I have booked my ADR's and I need help trying to figure out the best way to use the CS meals. My TS Meals are all Dinners except for one which is a character breakfast. What I need help on is....Is it better to use up CS on Lunch or Breakfast? Should I Pay OP for Breakfast or Lunch? Or should I use a Snack credit for Breakfast and CS for lunch?

I am so confused on which is the better route to go. Some of our Dinners are booked early around 4:30 and some are booked late around 7:00.

Can anyone give me insight as to what they have done in the past? I'm just trying to figure out what to do.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

You get more bang for the buck using CS for lunch as it includes dessert. So, for the most part, many people are using their credits for that meal and using Snack credits for breakfast items. If you are staying at a resort that has a food court (or store that carries grocery items), it has been reported that you can get large boxes of donuts, bags of bagels, etc. that feed more than one person but only use 1 credit. You may want to splurge for a couple of days and change some of your dinner ADR's to a breakfast buffet/character meal and use your CS for dinner instead.

 

[JimMIA]

My TS Meals are all Dinners except for one which is a character breakfast.

If you had PAID for the dining plan, and had eaten absolutely nothing else, you would have already made money! I wouldn't worry about which CS, how do I use my snacks, etc.

Go have a great vacation! Work the other food into your vacation -- not the vacation in between meals.

I do have one suggestion for the day when you're doing the character breakfast. Several of the CS locations offer HUGE meals. The ribs & chicken platter at Cosmic Ray's comes to mind and I'm sure there are several others. Do a big CS for your evening meal the day you have the breakfast.

 

[Frantasmic]

My family and I had the dining plan for our Thanksgiving 05 stay. 6 nights equaled 24 credits.

We brought pop tarts, cereal from home and had milk in the fridge.

You get more bang for your buck with the CS lunches; however, I found that even eating a CS lunch early and having a later TS was a bit much on many occasions. The meals are huge.

If you are trying to stretch the DP to cover breakfast as well, your best bet is to use a combination of credits. For example, use 1 CS for a breakfast platter and 1 or 2 snack credits for donuts or fruit or something and share. This pattern would easily feed 2-3 people. Then, maybe split a child and an adult CS around lunch time if you have a TS dinner that evening.

The one day we had a TS breakfast buffet followed by a TS evening meal was when I was absolutely stuffed and didn't even need anything the next morning.

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

When we went last fall, we had made all early PM TS ADR'S except for 1 breakfast also. We used our CS for early lunches. With the heat and all the walking, you really don't have much of an appetite as it is. If we decided we wanted something in the mornings, it was usually something small that we paid OOP for until we stopped for our early lunch. The snacks add just the right touch if you have a desire for anything outside of your meal credits, but we found the two meals were more than enough. Had we been able to use the snacks last year as you can now, we would have just used them for something light for breakfast. Have a great trip and don't worry, it will all fall into place once you're there!

 

[bluejasmine]

I agree use your cs for lunch you'll get more for the credit. There are plenty of little things you can get at the resorts for breakfast using you snack credits but small things, I would recommend paying OOP for breakfast or bringing some items with you such as cereal or granola bars, potarts or bagels. We've done that before. This is our second trip with free dining and we just pay OOP for breakfast I like a light breakfast normally like bagels and yogurt or oatmeal as does my DD but my DS and DH get the breakfast platters but for a family of 4 we spend about $100 for a 5days of breakfast sometime even less..

 

[aubriee]

I have to agree with everyone else. I'd use the CS for lunch and either bring breakfast foods or use snack credits. A few suggestions for CS if you want to maximize them is:

Cosmic Rays rib/chicken plate at MK

Norway bakery in Epcot: you can get a bowl of soup, sandwich, any of their pastries, and a large soda

Tangerine Cafe in Morocco: lamb/chicken swarma platter with sides

Flame Tree Bar B Q at AK: 1/2 chicken, baked beans, corn cob, soda, dessert

Pepper Market at Coronado Springs resort-you can get a good steak using a CS credit

Chef Pucks Express at DTD

 

[LizinSTL]

We are going to be at WDW in Sept for 6 nights with the free DP. I have booked my ADR's and I need help trying to figure out the best way to use the CS meals. My TS Meals are all Dinners except for one which is a character breakfast. What I need help on is....Is it better to use up CS on Lunch or Breakfast? Should I Pay OP for Breakfast or Lunch? Or should I use a Snack credit for Breakfast and CS for lunch?

I am so confused on which is the better route to go. Some of our Dinners are booked early around 4:30 and some are booked late around 7:00.

Can anyone give me insight as to what they have done in the past? I'm just trying to figure out what to do.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

\

That depends on a lot of factors.

Does your family like a big breakfast? or are you satisfied with a piece of toast or a pastry?

Do you enjoy similar foods? or do you all like to get something different when you eat out?

My dh is a "breakfast guy". He needs to eat breakfast or he gets grumpy. Our dds and I can just nibble on something and be fine until lunch time.

He used a CS credit for breakfast every day. Sometimes the girls shared a single CS credit for breakfast. Sometimes we used a single snack credit for a box of donuts and shared that. I got a chocolate croissant a time or two with a snack credit. (YUM!)

We, then, shared a couple CS meals for lunch or dinner, depending on our TS meal(s) for the day.

My advice is to use up your DDP credits FIRST and then pay OOP for whatever is left. Sure, you get more "bang for your buck" with lunch/dinner rather than breakfast, but your "buck" is $0 in this case so don't worry about that. I would suggest sharing meals if you aren't big bf eaters. The kids pancake combo was large enough for my 9 and 5 yo dds to share (3 large pancakes, bacon, sausage and applesauce plus a large bottle of milk). The adult meal had an extra pancake.

But most of all, enjoy your trip, don't worry about "maximizing the plan" Even if you'd paid for it, you'd come out ahead if you just make all your TS meals!!!

 

[PandaBear & Boo]

\

That depends on a lot of factors.

Does your family like a big breakfast? or are you satisfied with a piece of toast or a pastry?

Do you enjoy similar foods? or do you all like to get something different when you eat out?

My dh is a "breakfast guy". He needs to eat breakfast or he gets grumpy. Our dds and I can just nibble on something and be fine until lunch time.

He used a CS credit for breakfast every day. Sometimes the girls shared a single CS credit for breakfast. Sometimes we used a single snack credit for a box of donuts and shared that. I got a chocolate croissant a time or two with a snack credit. (YUM!)

We, then, shared a couple CS meals for lunch or dinner, depending on our TS meal(s) for the day.

My advice is to use up your DDP credits FIRST and then pay OOP for whatever is left. Sure, you get more "bang for your buck" with lunch/dinner rather than breakfast, but your "buck" is $0 in this case so don't worry about that. I would suggest sharing meals if you aren't big bf eaters. The kids pancake combo was large enough for my 9 and 5 yo dds to share (3 large pancakes, bacon, sausage and applesauce plus a large bottle of milk). The adult meal had an extra pancake.

But most of all, enjoy your trip, don't worry about "maximizing the plan" Even if you'd paid for it, you'd come out ahead if you just make all your TS meals!!!

Thanks for your input. I wasn't really looking at maximizing the plan. My kids are all older 2 teenage boys (who eat everything in sight) my DD 10, my DH and myself. I was just trying to figure out if it would be better to get snacks for breakfast or for lunch. It never really crossed my mind to share the credits. I think I will probably do that. I've never done the DP before and I just don't know what to expect. I guess I thought it would be easier to have it all figured out before we went because some of us would prefer a big breakfast and some of us could just go with a muffin for breakfast. It is probably best to wait until we get there, that way I can see for myself how it all works and what is covered on the plan. Thanks again for your input greatly appreciated.

Cheers!