Mistakes you made the 1st time you did DDP.

[lynn71092]

I have a 1st timer here at work, going to WDW and getting the Free Dining. What mistake did you make the 1st time you used the DDP that you won't make again. I'm trying to make sure I get him addicted like the rest of us.

 

[Trinity524]

I ate everything at the ADR's, the CS and the snack each day. I gained 8 lbs. in 8 days. Enjoy yourself, but don't make yourself uncomfy!

 

[Later_Mater2009]

I am a frist timer on the DDP and I think this is a very GOOD question and Im interested in everyone's input.
One thing I can say I "heard" was an issue was make sure if you have a child onthe DDP you look at all the kids menus, seems to be either chicken nuggets or mac n cheese, and thats ok for one meal but Im worried my nine year old will get sick of that so I tried to include some buffets and a variety of snack options to break up the macnchicnuggetfest..this may work for some kids but my child likes to try new things too like his mama lol
anyways, im anxious to see others input on this one. thanks

 

[Poohbug]

Trying to get the most $$$ out of the plan by getting the most expensive meals and only having TS for supper.

Use your credits the way that you want. I know that a TS breakfast is not as expensive as a dinner but our family loves to go out for breakfast a couple of times on our vacation. We do not always like running around trying to get to that next ADR every night. Sometimes we schedule two ADRs in one day(breakfast/dinner) and have none the next day.

Get the food you like and don't worry about maximizing the most money out of it. It is not a value if you don't like what you are eating or you are not having a great time.

 

[riley2008]

My boys don't care for a lot of what was offered on the kids' menu for counter service credits. They usually ended up using one of "my" credits and I would eat off of the kids' menu. (bleh!) (And we had counter services credits left over - CM's were not helpful in "helping" us understand anything. )

(I wish Disney would break up kids and adults CS meals and let us use 2 kids CS for 1 adult, so that I don't feel guilty this next visit, because I will not be eating off the kids' menu again.)

 

[natalielongstaff]

we wasted snack credits we had loads left

 

[wezee]

We hoarded our snack credits all week, paid OOP for sodas and poolside snacks, then ended up with tons left. We ended up buying bags of chips in the food court and sharing with a family of 4 kids, on our way to catching our flight home. I know sharing is not allowed, but I figured, I bought them, carried them out of the resort to the airport...from then on I felt I could share all I wanted.

 

[KandD]

This September will be our first time on the dining plan so I am so happy that you asked this question!! And thank you everyone for your responses so far!!

 

[summersalt]

The biggest mistakes we made during are first DDP visit was:

1. We never used are snacks. The last morning, I went down to Roarin Forks and got 20 misc items to bring back on the plane.

2. We paid OOP for some of our meals when we didn't need to. My daughter was 10 at the time and considered an adult. She eats very little. We wasted so many meals by getting her one. She could have shared with me as long as it wasn't buffet and we could have saved paying OOP.

3. Buying snack and breakfast items for the room. Total waste!! We were never hungry and didn't need any of it.

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

the first time we used DDP, we didn't budget well. Now we are much smarter.

We learned:



2. Supplement your CS meals with snack credits. Look carefully at what constitutes a snack. A Large French Fry in Epcot costs one snack credit. A Cereal+Milk also costs one snack credit. So does a tiny portion of peanut butter. Don't waste snack credits on tiny, inexpensive or less-filling items.

3. If you have snack credits left over, Use them to buy airplane food. Giant Rice Krispy Mickey Heads cost 1 snack and travel really well.

4. Watch out for "Signature Restaurants" that eat up your Table Service credits. They cost 2 TS credits per person. That caught us off guard the first time. Be aware so you can budget your TS meals effectively. Also -- character breakfasts only cost 1 TS (as opposed to character dinners, which cost 2. Just FYI.)

 

[ReneeA]

Trying to get the most $$$ out of the plan by getting the most expensive meals and only having TS for supper.

Use your credits the way that you want. I know that a TS breakfast is not as expensive as a dinner but our family loves to go out for breakfast a couple of times on our vacation. We do not always like running around trying to get to that next ADR every night. Sometimes we schedule two ADRs in one day(breakfast/dinner) and have none the next day.

Get the food you like and don't worry about maximizing the most money out of it. It is not a value if you don't like what you are eating or you are not having a great time.

Exactly what I was going to say, too. We've gone every Aug since free dining came out, and the first 2 years were spent trying to "maximize" rather than just eat what we want and enjoying it.

Now we just eat where we watn, what we want, when we want to.

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

3. Buying snack and breakfast items for the room. Total waste!! We were never hungry and didn't need any of it.

Excellent point. There is a lot of food on the plan. We brought extra snacks, and didn't need any of them.

 

[smiths02]

Character breakfasts and dinners don't cost different credits...different restaurants cost different credits...

Almost all character meals (B,L,D) with the exception of Cinderella are 1 TS

Directly from the Disney brochure...
The Disney Dining Plan can be used for Character Dining experiences. One (1) Table Service meal for each person participating in the
Character Dining experience will be redeemed from your meal plan balance, unless otherwise noted. Gratuities are not included.
Please Note: Two Table Service meals for each person dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table will be redeemed from your meal plan
balance. Gratuities are included.

 

[smiths02]

I haven't used the plan yet, but my advice would be to actually read the dining brochure:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...09 Disney Dining Plan - Walt Disney World.pdf

It seems like there are several questions on here every single day that can be directly answered pretty simply from just reading the little brochure...

like meal entitlements are per NIGHT of your stay not day, which restaurants are included, how many credits is each restaurant, etc., etc.

 

[ExtinctDino]

As others have said above, we conserved our snack credits too carefully our first time and had a lot left to use up on the last day.

To families who are not only new to the DDP but to the parks, I would suggest buffets, because they don't take quite as long, leaving you more time to explore all of the attractions. Waiting for a server to take your order, and for the kitchen to cook your food, can add a 1/2 hour to every TS meal.

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

Character breakfasts and dinners don't cost different credits...different restaurants cost different credits...

Almost all character meals (B,L,D) with the exception of Cinderella are 1 TS

Directly from the Disney brochure...
The Disney Dining Plan can be used for Character Dining experiences. One (1) Table Service meal for each person participating in the
Character Dining experience will be redeemed from your meal plan balance, unless otherwise noted. Gratuities are not included.
Please Note: Two Table Service meals for each person dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table will be redeemed from your meal plan
balance. Gratuities are included.

Thanks for that update. When I tried to book character dinners - they all seemed to cost 2 TS. That's why we ended up at Crystal Palace for breakfast. It was the only one for 1 TS. Thanks again!

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

BTW - don't forget Goofy's Candy Shop at Disney Marketplace. You can get ENORMOUS made-to-order treats for 1 snack credit. A single dipped, rolled, and drizzled Rice Krispy treat can serve 2-3 people!

 

[bentleygirl22]

if you have the DDP
don't put charging on your room key or they may charge your Credit Card and not take the DDP credit ...
if you have to charge on your room key Use your kids room key when paying for food on the ddp ..

 

[milmore104]

We conserved our snack credits too much. We paid oop for a lot of water and things we didn't need to. Before we left though I used our 32 remaining credits to buy rice crispies for DD class.

 

[whogirl'smom]

Use some of your snack credits for water in the parks and don't worry about trying to get the most "value" out of them. The first time, we bought waters and had about 6 snack credits left the last day. Trust me, you will have enough food, especially if you split some counter service with your child.

Don't bother to bring breakfast stuff for the room. We took it all back home. Never were hungry for a snack in the room, just thirsty. Sometimes we'd get water for one of our breakfast drinks at the food court, then come back to the room put them in the fridge for later.

Like another poster said, use your TS credit on meals you will actually enjoy. I always felt like I had to maximize that credit. Not that I didn't enjoy the food, sometimes you just want a burger and don't want to waste a TS credit on it. Go ahead and enjoy it. Unless everybody in your party does this all the time, you will still come out ahead moneywise.

Don't try to eat all those counter service desserts!!!