I'm Looking At This, But Can't Believe It

[ReallyFunMom]

The appets are smaller than you are use to getting at home town restaurants and splitting between 2 or 3 people. It's really wasn't as hard as I thought to get thru appet and entree but often took dessert to go or ordered smallest dessert (not that hard to fit in a small cream brulee). I think you'd be quite happy with the nugget sized (but delicious) crabcakes from Kona cafe as a starter to your meal in the DDP but would be disappointed by the size if paid for the OOP and tried to split among others. Could be different at ESPN or PH where they might have more traditional sized appets. For the most part, I'd think of it as a 3 course meal.

 

[kaysmommie]

It is a lot of fun and I tend to eat too much of it. My DH tells people when we come back from WDW that he cannot believe how much his DW eats. I am one of those that when I am on vacation it is vacation and yes I EAT. Plus it's a great variety. My family are picky eaters so all we eat is hamburger and chicken and there only so many ways I can prepare it without someone complaining. One good thing is with all the walking you do in WDW it burns it off. I have yet to gain a pound from a trip.

I gained 3 lbs. on the DDP. I didn't even order the appetizer & dessert most of the time. But it is so much food. It was all so yummy though .

 

[OctDisney]

Yes its great. But the best part is, you don't have to finish it! I loved being on the DDP and not feeling bad leaving the last bite of creme brulee on the plate. My favorite part was getting to try everything.

Your quote is just sad. I wonder how much waste the DDP has caused and how many mouths all that wasted food could feed. If there are alot of people taking your attitude, then that is very sad.

I for one have been taught to make an effort to finish my plate and due to that is why my family will not be on the plan.

 

[OctDisney]

At Kona's I was told that the reason the Kiddie Kone was taken off the kids menu was because it was wasted by "one bite". There were huge waste so they took it off the DDP for kids. The same thing for the Smores at Prime Time. Everyone at the table insisted on having their own when it was meant for at least two people. They then could only eat part and the rest was tossed out. They decided to half the portion but keep the price. Another one bites the dust because of the DDP. Honestly all this trying one bite has and there and wasting it is just dwindling the menu more and more. There is NO way anyone can eat all of an appetizer, entree, and dessert at a meal and still walk out. I do consider a soup to be an appetizer too. If I were on the DDP I would only order what we could truly eat and not every single thing that comes with it.

Well put. Too much waste and some of the workers that are at disney are just trying to get by and they see all of this waste. Some come from very poor backgrounds and look at all the waste and probably get a little attitude.

I could use stronger wording about the DDP in general, but this board would not appreciate it.

 

[OctDisney]

Folks defintely shouldn't feel bad about taking one or two bites of something that they don't often have the opportunity to try, like an appetizer or dessert, and throwing the rest away. That's one of the great aspects of the Dining Plan, that you get to try all these normally-expensive add-ons, without paying extra. It sure would be nice to be able to tell the server just how many bites you want of something, and then have them serve you just that much, but it is generally less trouble for the restaurant to just serve you the full portion anyway.

Are you a spoiled brat?
You should feel guilty about the excess waste.
I wish I could say something stronger to your comments.

 

[Dopey420]

It is a lot of food but you can share. we regularly got 3 apps, entrees, and desserts and split between 4 people.

You can get soup or salad instead of appetizer if you want.

 

[bicker]

Your quote is just sad. I wonder how much waste the DDP has caused and how many mouths all that wasted food could feed.

None, and none. There is no waste, because Nanu57u enjoyed the creme brulee that they did eat. There were no mouths that could have been fed somewhere else by that creme brulee, because the problem with hunger isn't one of lack of food -- we have more than enough food to feed everyone -- the problem is one of geography. People who lack food lack that food not because someone else is eating it (or eating some and throwing the rest away) but rather because it is too costly to transport the food to where the hungry people are. Many years, food is left to rot in the field because there isn't enough of a market for the food -- isn't enough money to transport it to where it needs to go.

If there are alot of people taking your attitude, then that is very sad.

I believe your judgemental remarks are misguided.

I for one have been taught to make an effort to finish my plate and due to that is why my family will not be on the plan.

That's your prerogative, for your family. I will teach me and mine what I believe is truly important, and cleaning one's plate is something I will never teach. It is a major contributor to one of the worst scourges today: the obesity epidemic. I'll take this opportunity to implore you, with respect, to reconsider your perspective, since I feel it is a misguided and damaging perspective.

 

[bicker]

Are you a spoiled brat?

Perhaps you should spend a little time in a community before you start making such rude comments.

You should feel guilty about the excess waste.

As I mentioned above, I believe you're way off-target with your perspectives. If you are really concerned about hunger, then please learn about it, rather than promulgating such a perspective which I believe stems only from ignorance of the real problem.

I wish I could say something stronger to your comments.

You should probably learn our community guidelines before doing so, as your rude comments here arguably are a violation. You can argue against a perspective -- even disagree with what I'm saying about the root of hunger -- but the DIS does not permit posters to call someone a "brat" in open forum.

 

[Nanu57v]

Your quote is just sad. I wonder how much waste the DDP has caused and how many mouths all that wasted food could feed. If there are alot of people taking your attitude, then that is very sad.

I for one have been taught to make an effort to finish my plate and due to that is why my family will not be on the plan.

I'm sorry I make you sad, but if you read any of the literature on preventing childhood obesity it states that one of the causes is because of the old "you have to finish your plate." This teaches you to ignore your body telling you its full, and continuing stuffing yourself just to finish your plate. This is also one of the reasons America as a whole is so overweight.

The food has been cooked, I ate part of it, and its not not going to help anyone else anymore whether I eat it or not.

 

[Nanu57v]

So what did you do with all the leftovers? Did you take it with you or let them toss it out? You really didn't feel bad about trying a bite here and there with no intention of eating all of it?

Honestly, I took the leftovers to my mom who was also visiting WDW but wasn't on DDP if it was something I knew she'd like and if she was in the same park. However, usually it was just a bite or two left on the plate, not like just one bite. The portion sizes aren't all that big. I also didn't snack between meals like I normally do so I was plenty hungry. We used our snack credits for breakfast or water.

 

[MILLZ]

On table service meals, is each person at the table allowed an appetizer? If so, I can't imagine that much food after adding entree and dessert! As a family of four, we usually share 1 appetizer. Not complaining, but that's alot of food.

DDP IS A GREAT INVENTION BUT YEA YOU WILL FILL LIKE A STUFFED COW BY THE END BUT ITS GREAT

 

[Hound 109]

Wow...alot of opinions here. My perspective is:

1. Try not to waste food (& doggie bags aren't such a good option in the "World".
2. Enjoy & try different restaurants.
3. Efficiently & Economically (not cheap) use the DDP.

A couple of folks mentioned above sharing (& using leftover credits for sig restaurants). I agree with this. In fact we also "share" counter service meals and use the leftover credits for breakfast or late night snacks.

Most families of 3 can easily split 2 meals 3 ways. This was our experience at virtually all meals, & we normally were "full" & not "stuffed".

(& families of 4 can split 3 meals 4 ways, etc.)

We tried Brown Derby, several neat "snack places" & a couple of late night counter service meals that we might not have tried if we didn't have the "extra credits".

hound

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

When traveling with 4, we found it best most nights to just use 3 credits, and pay OOP for anything extra.

For instance, we went to Le Cellier and ordered 3 apps, 3 entrees, 3 desserts, and paid OOP for something like a soup or salad and split it all among 4 people. It was WAY enough food. And we are big eaters. It also helped us save credits for later use (though that wasn't the intention, we just had too much food).

NED

 

[Hound 109]

For instance, we went to Le Cellier and ordered 3 apps, 3 entrees, 3 desserts, and paid OOP for something like a soup or salad and split it all among 4 people. It was WAY (more than) enough food.
NED

We did exactly the same thing at Brown Derby, Tonys, 50's Prime Time. (Except it was 2 "credits" for 3 people. (Actually BD was 4 credits since it was double, but you know what i mean)

At BD we paid OOP for my wife's wine and a cobb salad. At Prime Time & Tony's, OOP for wine, but (because of the portion sizes at Tony's & 50's PT)there was more than enough food for the 3 of us.

hound

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

Your quote is just sad. I wonder how much waste the DDP has caused and how many mouths all that wasted food could feed. If there are alot of people taking your attitude, then that is very sad.

I for one have been taught to make an effort to finish my plate and due to that is why my family will not be on the plan.

If YOU put the food on your plate you should make an effort to finish it. Meaning you take the serving spoon and put it on your plate. When you are dining out you do not put that food on your plate. Someone else gives you what they consider a serving and when you dine out you tend to have more than what is considered one serving on your plate. I never finish what is on my plate when I dine out. Never! Nor will I when I go to DW. If I am full I am full and I could careless what remains on my plate. I take a doggie bag home so it does not go to waste. However this may not be possible in DW as I would have to carry a small cooler pack with me to do this. I also will never tell my child they have to eat all the food on their plate as this is teaching a child they must eat whether they are hungry or not. I have never had a weight problem either and this is because I have no emotional connection to food and I will never be guilted to eating everything on my plate. I also see nothing wrong with taking one or 2 bits of desert. Desert is not food it is mostly sugar a flour. Completely empty calories.

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

That's your prerogative, for your family. I will teach me and mine what I believe is truly important, and cleaning one's plate is something I will never teach. It is a major contributor to one of the worst scourges today: the obesity epidemic. I'll take this opportunity to implore you, with respect, to reconsider your perspective, since I feel it is a misguided and damaging perspective.

what is with the nastiness? Did you really say spoiled brat?

I totally agree with the above. I will not ever teach my child to stuff himself just because the food is there. We were a full we are full. Bag it up to take home or put it in the garbage. Often times we take our doggie bag and give it to a homeless person when we are driving home. I live in downtown Chicago and there is a homeless person on every corner.

 

[Texian@WDW]

I didn't mean to cause a debate. We all have different eating preferences that is clear. My question was answered with one poster's reply that the portions were smaller than the typical restaurant in town, so that sounds good to me - no food will go to waste at our table!

I would think that Disney took into consideration that alot of people would not eat all their food if on the plan, I'm sure they pay people to conduct those types of studies. They make up the difference somewhere. Disney isn't losing money on this (I own stock and it has consistantly gone up since 2002 ). As for starving children in other countries (as well as this country I guess), there are wonderful charities that accept donations to get food over there, or helps with the farming and marketing. World Vision is one that comes to mind.

 

[bicker]

what is with the nastiness? Did you really say spoiled brat?

That poster is gone, apparently -- hasn't posted anything since s/he made the "brat" comment, so let's forget about him/her and move on.

I totally agree with the above. I will not ever teach my child to stuff himself just because the food is there. We were a full we are full. Bag it up to take home or put it in the garbage.

Absolutely. And enjoy the Dining Plan!

 

[AuntieM03]

When you split a TS do you then just buy an extra drink? I am a child of the 70's where cleaning your plate was a must because of the starving children in whatever country my mother chose that night. I am now as an adult trying to get my mindset away from having to clean my plate. I would rather leave the restaurant with food on the plate than pounds on my body.

 

[Hound 109]

When you split a TS do you then just buy an extra drink? I am a child of the 70's where cleaning your plate was a must because of the starving children in whatever country my mother chose that night.

Yes, just put the "drink" (or extra salad or soup) on the OOP ticket.

Regarding the comment above that the portions were small....I (& several others) disagree. Which is why the topic of "sharing" or "splitting" a TS (& counter service) meal was brought up.

Some choose to walk away "stuffed", others choose to leave large amounts of food on their plates. We choose to walk away "full" & use the extra credit in a manner that works for us.