is 1 snack/day enough?

[AllieMallie]

As someone who has never been on the DDP, I just wanted to ask this question. With the 1 QS and 1 TS that you're alloted, I've heard that it's PLENTY of food but I was just wondering if the 1 snack per day credit is usually enough to tide you over in between meals or do you buy a second (or even a third!) one.

I know its different for everyone but I was just trying to see what the general consensus was.

 

[Doofenshmirtz513]

A lot of the answer just has to do with how you use the credits. Some years, we have used all the snack credits with a day or so to go. Other times, we have been trying to use the last few credits the night before we leave.

My suggestion is just to use the credits when you want something and can pay for it with a credit, without too much focus on the cost. So, if you want a soda at 2:30 in the afternoon, use a credit to buy a soda rather than holding out to use the credit on a more expensive treat. If you want something that you can't pay for with a credit, just pay cash and use the credit some other time. Then, after a couple of days see what your usage is like and adjust from there if need be.

My DDP mantra is to use it as a tool to help get the vacation I want, not to let the DDP be an end in and of itself.

 

[JKMJ441724]

We usually freeze a few bottles of water and take those into the parks with us - we drink them as they melt during the day. So we don't use up snack credits on that. Then my husband and I will split a coke and popcorn or some other snack and our kids with split a drink and a snack. That way we all get something small to tide us over a couple of times per day....

 

[figment_jii]

It depends on when we go! If it's F&W, then one snack is not enough because there are so many things to try. When it's not F&W, then one snack is usually enough (because my family often shares things), but sometimes we get extra snacks.

 

[Granfan]

One snack credit is usually enough. But I supplement with other things. Sometimes I will use my snack credits for breakfast. You can get oatmeal, muffins, and other small items. Also, I buy or take a box of snack cakes, lance peanut butter crackers, little bags of m & m's, etc. I carry one or two in my bag just in case I need something small or don't want to stand in line or don't want to use another snack credit. The Dining plan really just gives you 2 meals per day. Some have said they like to share a CS breakfast and CS lunch and then each use a TS dinner. I did that a few times but found it was easier just to buy a breakfast, eat something in the room or use a snack credit. Then we each still have a CS to use for lunch in case we want something different. We enjoyed our day better if we weren't trying to split meals.That's just us, though.

 

[catne]

it is for us....I usually take a box or 2 of granola bars (non-melting flavors!) and a couple of boxes of individual mixed nuts or peanut packages.

Our usual pattern of using DDP credits is this:

Breakfast: use refillable mug to get either coffee or soda & buy a pastry using snack credit.

Snack: each person in our party takes either a granola bar or bag of nuts with them to park...but many trips I end up bringing back almost all of the granola bars & nuts because no one ends up eating them in the parks between meals. Just full all the time, especially after the first couple of days.

Lunch: counter service either in park or back at the resort. We tend to get the pre-packaged desserts usually, and take them with us because we are not hungry for dessert after eating the large lunches available. That dessert usually goes back to resort with us & into the fridge for later.

Afternoon snack: eat lunch dessert if we're hungry, though often we are not hungry until last meal.

Dinner: table service at sit-down restaurant or buffet. At least 1/2 the time, at least one of us gets a dessert to-go because we're too full to eat it at dinner. And we're usually full til bedtime...but if we're hungry later, we often still have lunch dessert back at the hotel.

Frankly, we're not tiny people with small appetites, but the Disney serving-sizes are just pretty darn large, IMO. And if we're there more than 3 days, we usually end up throwing out a dessert or two when it's time to leave. Or we end up eating dessert for breakfast & then having a few snack credits left to use up right before we go home.

 

[beroh2253]

It depends on when we go! If it's F&W, then one snack is not enough because there are so many things to try. When it's not F&W, then one snack is usually enough (because my family often shares things), but sometimes we get extra snacks.

I agree at the F & W I could use 5 or 6 SC per day. Kind of bumbed this year we will be getting the QSDP and they cut back to 1 SC. We usually go with the reqular DDP but found we weren't that hungry for the Fest and then had to split for a TS dinner when we would have rather stayed at EPCOT. That's why the QSDP if its offerer for free if not the whole trip will be OOP with most meals being food from the Food and Wine Fest.

 

[Missytara]

I found it is enough if you don't waste it on a water/beverage.

We purchased the refillable mugs last year; and clipped them to our backparks. At the parks, we either went to a beverage station or a water fountain, filled the mugs with water and then I carried Crystal Lite to Go.

It is best spent on something like Mickey Ice Cream.... yummy!

 

[gtpoohbear]

If you don't need to buy a drink with your snack it probably will be. We generally only eat one "snack" a day, but we usually get a drink with it as well, so we come pretty close to using all of our 2 snack/day credits on the DXDDP. If you normally just drink water, that's easy enough to bring with you, or if you are doing most of your snacks at the resort you can use the refillable mug.

The other thing to think about though is breakfast - since you only have 2 meals/day on your plan. I know a lot of people use a snack credit for breakfast, and if you are used to eating 3 meals/day that might be a good option, but then it leaves you without a snack credit for the afternoon munchies.

 

[KeroKero]

Really all depends on the eating habits of your group. We're not huge eaters, so the DDP is always a ton of food for us.

For example my next trip will be me and my mom on the DDP. So we each have 1 Snack 1 QS and 1TS a night.

For breakfast we will usually use 1 QS between the two of us. The meals are so large that we don't mind sharing

Then during the day when we get the munchies we still have 2 snacks to use between the two of us (and if used smartly, we can share snacks too) and if we're really hungry before our TS dinner reservations we still have a QS to share (places like Cosmic Rays in MK and Flame Tree in AK, are more than enough for two people to eat one meal).

 

[sanapp]

We found the last time we were on the regular dp and had 1 snack per person per day it was fine. For example the Soft Pretzels are a snack credit and are plenty to share between 2 or 3 people (at least for us). We would get maybe a frozen lemonade and a pretzel for the 3 of us.

Our next trip there is going to be 2 of us on the dlx plan, so we will have a total of 4 snacks a day between us. I plan that we will be purchasing items to go on our last day of vacation.

Actually even on the regular dining plan we had a couple of snack credits leftover. You have to remember that you also get dessert at your CS and TS locations. We would often just get a chocolate chip cookie to save for later or in the evening get our dessert to go and have it later in the room.

If you are going during the heat of the summer and have less of an appetite and bring water in with you then you may not need them all.

Really depends on you.

 

[Nennie]

When paying OOP for food, I usually eat more than one snack a day.

On the DDP however, the meals are so much food (esp with all those counter service desserts that I would never pay OOP for), that one snack a day is plenty!

My advice on snacks, is that if you want a snack, use a credit for it! Our first time on DDP, I would pay OOP for cheaper snacks b/c I wanted to save my snack credits for the more expensive items. Then, of course, I'd be too full later on, and would never use the snack credit. At the end of the trip we'd have 10-15 snack credits left over, and would be struggling to buy candy and crackers to take home with us.

Now, if I want a snack, I use a credit, no matter how cheap it would be to pay OOP. I've never run out of credits!!!

 

[jlk806]

We ALWAYS have snacks left over, last year I think out of the 3 of us, we had like 12 snack credits we were getting mickey rice crispy treats to take home. We always have more snack credits than we use, even though we try to use them.

 

[NorthernGrl]

I'm worried that one won't be enough next week. We have 2 under 3 years, and used the snack credits to top up meals and spread them around. Example: buy a round of breakfasts and use a snack credit for a banana to make it go further.

 

[tndisneyfan]

For us it's enough but there is three of us, so we have three credits to use per day. We carry our Brita bottle with us in the parks so we only buy one drink per day and share, sometimes we buy two. With the DDP I was rarely hungry between meals so we didn't snack too much.

 

[KuyaJeff]

During my trip, I found the one snack a day to be enough. I agree with others that you get more value by not wasting it on a beverage. I felt that if I was going to buy a beverage, it would be out of pocket...the prices aren't as bad as they are over here at DLR. I did my best to stick with one snack credit per day, and if I had to, would pay out of pocket to supplement snacking urges not planned. I guess the savings were all still there since I did have free dining at the time. Sometimes there was too much food when I usde a QS or TS credit, so that dessert would be made to go and enjoyed later in the day.

 

[3pletprincesses]

To us it is if we pay OOP for drinks and depending on time of year. We wet twice last year during the hot months(May and August) and let me tell you that we were very thirsty all the time and no we didn't carry anything with us. I all hate warm water and so on therefor bought a lot of drinks especially frozen lemonades. We would buy 3 of them for the 5 of us(3 being kids) to share before they got all melted. 1 snack would not have been enough for sure for us.

 

[alice99]

The meals are so big, with dessert included. If you ate lunch in the park and got the dessert, you'd never be hungry by dinner time, even without a snack.

When we have the DDP for the 4 of us we always have snack credits left over.... because half the time 2 of us don't even want a snack.

When I travel w/ one of my kids, we may use the snack credits each day, sharing a soda and a pretzel.

 

[discookiemonsta]

For us the key is to rarely use the SC on breakfast or drinks. It is much cheaper that way. We are a family of four, with two kids., one of whom has T1Diabetes and has three 'snacks' during the day. At the beginning of our Disney vacation we go to Publix and load up on groceries - breakfast items, drinks and snacks to keep in the room. I do carry some snacks and drinks from the room with us to the parks for my daughter so I always have something 'safe' handy. We enjoy using our snack credits on 'special' snacks like when in Epcot, walking around the world showcase...a snack in Norway, some snacks in Germany, a snack in France, or at MK where we love to get the cream cheese pretzels or frozen/iced coffee drinks etc. Of course if our trip is in a hotter summer month then we tend to be thirsty and hot all the time, using some of our snack credits on cold drinks, but we find it much easier in the cooler November/December trips when we don't drink as much, spend OOP for drinks and use our snack credits on snacks, desserts etc. We also do a lot snack sharing, like getting one diet soda and popcorn in front of the castle, while waiting...this feeds 4 of us for 2 snack credits!

 

[CanadianPaco]

For us, 1 snack a day will not be enough. We love to try new snacks especially Disney snacks. We're going in August so it'll mean one ice cream per day (apparently it's a law) And then the churros... ahh! So even with free dining, I'm planning on paying oop for snacks at some point.