Not enough food in DDP?

[jtowntoflorida]

We're planning our first trip as a family and I think we're going to go for the dining plan. I've been reading a lot of posts about the possibility of there being too much food, but has anyone ran into not having enough food under the plan?

My husband is a big guy, and he's a big eater, but he doesn't do dessert usually. For sit down meals, he always orders a salad to start in addition to a traditional side with his meal. So he's just worried that we'd be paying a lot extra for the things he likes (the salads) and then over-paying for something he wouldn't eat, like dessert.

Is this a valid concern?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We're planning our first trip as a family and I think we're going to go for the dining plan. I've been reading a lot of posts about the possibility of there being too much food, but has anyone ran into not having enough food under the plan?

My husband is a big guy, and he's a big eater, but he doesn't do dessert usually. For sit down meals, he always orders a salad to start in addition to a traditional side with his meal. So he's just worried that we'd be paying a lot extra for the things he likes (the salads) and then over-paying for something he wouldn't eat, like dessert.

Is this a valid concern?

Yes. The DDP isn't for everyone. I suggest looking at the restaurants you will want to eat at and calculate what you'd pay. Then compare to the cost of the DDP. One thing I did, was not even factor in the desserts (we wouldn't order nearly as many if we paid OOP) and we still come out ahead. But we have 3 kids and many character meals so that helps out a lot....It's typically a good bargain for kids.

 

[MSLRAC]

We opted for the DxDP because I knew that we would not have enough food on the regular plan. We are not huge eaters but we eat 3 meals a day and we usually get appetizers or a salad with our meals. We also enjoy TS meals so when I crunched the numbers, the DxDP was by far the best savings for us and it allowed us to eat more like we normally do at home.

 

[julirina]

I agree that this is a valid concern. We did the DDP last time and it was fine (lots of uneaten desserts), but this time we'll have a child under 3 who will have to share meals or pay OOP. She can't eat everyone's desserts for a week and nothing else (although she might like to think so). Plus I will be nursing the littlest one and I am a bottomless pit when I'm feeding two of us! We're going during FD and staying at a value so it "pays" for us to get the DDP (even with the upgrade charge from QSDP), but if we were paying for it I would seriously rethink it.

I agree with the PP that your best bet is to price it all out using current menus for the places you're most likely to eat, and then crunch the numbers against the dining plan cost. It's a lot of work but it will give you a better idea if it's a good deal for you, a break-even or if you'd end up spending more on the DDP than you would if you just paid OOP.

 

[sjs314]

We are doing the DP for the first time this trip. We opted for the DxDP after checking various menues and knowing how we eat it is the best fit for DH and myself.
We are Breakfast people always do a TS and when dining out for lunch or dinner normally order and appitizer with our entree, we normally forgo dessert to keep the cost down but with the DXDP we will be able to order an appitizer, entree and dessert
Another plus to the DXDP is that if we want we can use our credits at CS places instead of TS

The DDP with only 1 TS ,1CS and a snack would not work for us at all. We would have to still pay OOP for at least 1 TS a day

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

We have a son who is a serious athlete. He eats astonishing amounts of food. He ate three bananas, two bran muffins, and a half a gallon of milk for his afternoon snack yesterday.

With the regular dining plan, we book buffets or all you can eat experiences to ensure he gets enough to eat. He gives a big thumbs up to Boma, Akershus, Biergarten, 1900 Park Fare, Hoop Dee Doo, Trails End (especially the ribs) O'hana, Cape May Buffet, and the endless skillet at Whispering Canyon.

We always take a bag with us filled with breakfast items and snacks. My son packs his favorite nuts, jerky, crackers, peanut butter, and seeds (sunflower and pumpkin). He also brings along Pop Tarts, a special treat that is not normally part of our family diet. He also brings the instant oatmeal. We get him a refillable mug, and he drinks his weight in tea, hot chocolate, and coffee.

He orders the largest meals for counter service. He likes the combo plates of ribs and chicken at Fairfax Fare and Cosmic Ray's. He likes a lot of the meals at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot. He also really likes the sandwiches and desserts at Starring Rolls.

For snacks, he tends to go for things that are not super sweet or liquid. He likes the pretzels with cheese, egg rolls, and chili cheese fries.

Last but not least, the plan offers way too much food for our very petite oldest daughter. Her "little brother" is always happy to finish off whatever she does not eat.

 

[Nadjalu]

To be honest if you don't eat like the plan offers it isn't a good fit for you.

If you eat less food, you can wind up paying for things you wouldn't have OOP. That means more money spent than would have been.

If you eat like the meal only more, then it can save you a bit with the actual meals while you add snacks/meals OOP.

If you don't eat dessert then you are paying for something you don't get.

So to be honest in order to see if a dining plan fits you, you must go thru and see where you would potentially eat, what you would get for each meal and add it up. Then compare that with a plan or OOP, obviously go with what saves you $$

Good luck.

 

[ccgirl]

We have done the regular (1TS/1CS/1SN) twice and both times it was TONS Of food. We tend to eat mostly at character buffets though so there is always enough for everyone. Most counter service places let me substitute a side salad for a dessert. You would be surprised just what counts as a snack too. Most of the snacks we got we actually considered meals.....enormous sticky buns at Main St bakery, 3 beignets at POFQ etc. Check out the menus on allears.net and see what you think. For us, it was great value.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Thanks for the good advice! Lots to think about.

 

[sunshineNJ]

We do the regular dining plan. We do like desserts though. I agree that you should do the math on the salads and apps you may want to see if it's worth it. I have a 15 year old son who eats ALOT!!! Honestly it was more then enough food. We used some of our snack credits for breakfast and we still had snack credits left at the end. Just a thought about dessert, sometimes my daughter and I were too full to eat our dessert so we would bring it back to the room, put in refrigerator and eat if for breakfast the next day. They will give you a box.

 

[robinsegg]

We took the DxDP. At CS, they would let us get a salad (appetizer) in place of the dessert.
At TS, we never lacked for enough food (including feeding dd17mo from our plates)! We would get the appetizer, the entree, the non-alcoholic drink (we don't drink, anyway ) and the dessert. Sometimes, we only took a bite or two of our dessert
Tbh, we figured we saved more than $50 per day on the DxDP, with the high cost of the TS meals we had (and we used those to relax instead of going back to the resort, most days).
IHTH!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I agree with the PP that your best bet is to price it all out using current menus for the places you're most likely to eat, and then crunch the numbers against the dining plan cost. It's a lot of work but it will give you a better idea if it's a good deal for you, a break-even or if you'd end up spending more on the DDP than you would if you just paid OOP.

I've been thinking about this and it sounds like an excellent way to obsess over this trip a little more and add to my already-detailed Disney Excel spreadsheet.

I think Disney was created for Type-A planners. My husband thinks I'm a little crazy with my spreadsheet. LOL.

 

[julirina]

I think Disney was created for Type-A planners. My husband thinks I'm a little crazy with my spreadsheet. LOL.

Just a spreadsheet? I planned a trip for 12 of us last time and I had an entire binder full of stuff when I was done! I think my family finally just started deleting my emails unread because I was micromanaging the trip so much. But they were glad I had when we finally got there...and they saw how much my touring plans and ADRs and menus and custom maps and spreadsheets helped them out!

Have fun with your menu planning. Just don't be surprised if you find you're starving while you're pondering those choices...!

 

[havoc315]

OP is probably better off paying oop. Look at it like this--
It comes out to about $30 per TS meal. No salad, no extra sides.
So about $22 for the entree, $6 for the dessert and $2 for the beverage.

Now, let's assume you want to skip dessert, but decide to order a salad and a side dish. That's about $10 in extras. So on the DDP, you just spent $40 for the meal.

So, by skipping dessert, you only broke even if your entree costs $28 or more.

 

[juliebean]

Oh - so funny about the bottomless pit boy. I have a 14 year old son - not a serious althlete, but skinny and active with lots of things - and I am scared to see what will be gone after his afterschool snack - half a loaf of bread? a pound of salami? I hide anything I really need to not be eaten, lol.

We are doing the deluxe plan, my dh will order a salad or appetizer anyway (although if you are doing a lot of buffets, that issue is moot), we needed an "extra" dinner for the night we arrive and an extra credit to go to Cinderella's Table - so two days we will be doing 2TS instead of 3, and I can't deal with CS in April. Last time it was staking out and cleaning our own table at CS.

I haven't done the menu cost comparison yet - I'm okay with spending a little more to just be on vacation and not worry about it. But, I am going to one day just to live it and see if I like it, lol. Also, we are going about this relaxed - not hit every ride like last time, with just our 8 & 5 yo daughters for the first four days (son will be with his marching band), so no big rollercoasters to worry about catching, etc. - you might not want to spend two meals sitting down....I'm good with the break.

 

[sjs314]

Oh - so funny about the bottomless pit boy. I have a 14 year old son - not a serious althlete, but skinny and active with lots of things - and I am scared to see what will be gone after his afterschool snack - half a loaf of bread? a pound of salami? I hide anything I really need to not be eaten, lol. We are doing the deluxe plan, my dh will order a salad or appetizer anyway (although if you are doing a lot of buffets, that issue is moot), we needed an "extra" dinner for the night we arrive and an extra credit to go to Cinderella's Table - so two days we will be doing 2TS instead of 3, and I can't deal with CS in April. Last time it was staking out and cleaning our own table at CS.

I haven't done the menu cost comparison yet - I'm okay with spending a little more to just be on vacation and not worry about it. But, I am going to one day just to live it and see if I like it, lol. Also, we are going about this relaxed - not hit every ride like last time, with just our 8 & 5 yo daughters for the first four days (son will be with his marching band), so no big rollercoasters to worry about catching, etc. - you might not want to spend two meals sitting down....I'm good with the break.

Yours was the first post I read this am and while my comment is a bit off topic, you made my day.
I laughed so hard reading about hiding anything you do not want eaten. Once when my son was in high school 17 maybe, his friends would always come over and I kept the freezer downstairs stocked with micro foods bugers, chicken parm sandwiches etc so they could grab something to eat easily without messing up my kitchen while I was at work, so this day I come home and tell my son to bring me up a loaf of garlic bread from the freezer, I was prepareing dinner and I find out the "boys" had eaten it and his one friend stands there telling me how good it was........needless to say we had no garlic bread with dinner that night.........yes definately hide anything you do not want eaten with growing boys around aka bottomless pits.

 

[MSLRAC]

We have done the regular (1TS/1CS/1SN) twice and both times it was TONS Of food. We tend to eat mostly at character buffets though so there is always enough for everyone. Most counter service places let me substitute a side salad for a dessert. You would be surprised just what counts as a snack too. Most of the snacks we got we actually considered meals.....enormous sticky buns at Main St bakery, 3 beignets at POFQ etc. Check out the menus on allears.net and see what you think. For us, it was great value.

I just wanted to point out that from what I have read on here, that getting a salad instead of a dessert is not the norm. Most people have reported that all they were able to get was a piece of fresh fruit or a bottled water.

 

[juliebean]

I'm sure that the fact the bread was frozen didn't even phase them! We figure we'll save a couple of hundred a month once he goes to college and they have to feed him...

 

[Rantybaby]

We opted for the DxDP because I knew that we would not have enough food on the regular plan. We are not huge eaters but we eat 3 meals a day and we usually get appetizers or a salad with our meals. We also enjoy TS meals so when I crunched the numbers, the DxDP was by far the best savings for us and it allowed us to eat more like we normally do at home.

Thank you someone who admits to 3 meals a day. They way folks rag on it being Too much food was getting on my nerves.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I'm dreading the teen years. My 4 kids eat constantly!!! We are staying DVC so we will order stuff for snacks, drinks and breakfast for the room (my 5 yr old is starving the minute her feet hit the floor in the morning). Get the DDP and add a few extra TS meals OOP. They aren't worth the TS credit anyways (Beaches N Cream, Plaza) or aren't on the plan (RFC).