Portion Size - am I the only one...

[Disney_Princess83]

Coming from Australia, we feel that the portion sizes are absolutely huge. We more often than not share counter service and sometimes share table service. Honestly, here in Australia, you would pay double the price of the meal for half the amount of food.

At table service we rarely would order an appetizer, entree and dessert. We might share all 3 of share an appetizer and get our own entrees and skip dessert. We are not big eaters but I wouldn't necessarily say "light" eaters either. This is why we never do the DDP, it would cost us much more than what we would eat so we get the TiW card.

 

[MickeyGs]

I think some are large and others aren't. We do ddp and get snacks and desserts, so I think that leads to feeling like there is a lot of food. We rarely get appetizers, only at Sanaa (helloooo bread service!), but I actually ate all of my food there! Most places give bread and if I eat bread first and want dessert, I don't often finish my entree. We also eat fruit or a granola bar for breakfast unless doing a character meal. I do find most qs meals appropriate, but we also have shared with young children. A flatbread is small enough to eat, but pizza, side salad and uptake? Too much. We do walk a lot there and I am fairly average size, 5'5 and 130.

 

[AaronInWI]

Interesting topic. I think it depends on what you compare it to. Relative to what I feed myself at home, I think portion sizes are huge. But my normal lunch is 1/2 sandwich and some carrots. For a typical dinner, I'll have 3 oz of chicken and a plain sweet potato, and I'm stuffed. So yeah, I think the portions at WDW are big. But when you compare them to what you get at any chain restaurant around the country, they are about par for the course. My wife and I typically do three TS meals each trip. One on our first night to celebrate being there; one in the middle just because; and one on the last night as one final hurrah. Otherwise we'll do QS, and split whatever we get. Saves us money and doesn't make me feel like I've over eating. And quite honestly, I can't imagine eating a full TS or QS meal every night for an entire week, let alone for lunch or even breakfast too. It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it.

But, let me just say I am certainly not a "portion snob" or anything like that. I don't look down on people who like to eat a TS meal every evening. I just know, for myself, if I'd do that I'd come back home 15 pounds heavier than when I left. (I learned that lesson the hard way on my honeymoon. Oof.) Now, if they'd have some sort of a "Disney Dessert Plan", that I could go for, weight gain be damned!

 

[TeresaWen]

Interesting replies. I am glad I am not alone. We don't do the dining plan so we do have a lot of flexibility in how we dine. There are days we just do the monorail loop and have apps at the bars. We are not big junk food or desert people so we rarely snack unless it is during food and wine. We have been known to split counter service meals at EPCOT doing a trip around the world to "create" our own food and wine festival

I always thought that the table service meal portions were perfect at Disney because it is not realistic to take leftovers back.

Water is my beverage of choice unless it is time for wine.

 

[JimmyV]

There is also the issue of what it means to "split". We are a family of three. If it were just two of us, we would not find the portions so big that two people could split a single meal. But with three of us, there are many times when we find ourselves ordering two CS meals to split among three people. Each person gets roughly 2/3 of a whole meal. For us, that is about right for a lunch, especially if we have an ADR for a sit-down dinner (which we almost always do). Could I eat an entire order from Flame Tree for lunch without help and without feeling like I am on a "Man vs. Food" challenge? Sure. Do I want to or need to? Nope. Same holds true for an order of fried chicken at 50's. If it's dinner, I'm likely eating the entire thing. If it is lunch, then I am sharing, no doubt about it. And my DD has to fork over, (or, I suppose it would be "straw over") some of her milkshake in return for some of my chicken!

On a somewhat related note. We had an exchange student from Russia over for dinner not to long ago. When asked what he noticed first were the biggest differences between our two countries, he replied: "All this talk about guns, and your meal portions." Take from that what you will.

 

[Reese D]

I think it adds up. None of the meals are exceptionally huge on their own, but eating them two or three times a day for a 7-10 days is more than we're used to eating.

That being said, we still schedule a lot of TS, buffets and prix fix meals because we like the variety of food and the experience of character meals for the kids.

 

[loveswdw]

We do the DDP and never split meals. For my family, the portion sizes are fine for us. I may not get dessert at every meal. Many CS meals I get the cookie or choose whatever dessert is the most portable and eat it later.

One of the few places that we've ever gotten so much food that we had enough leftover for a whole other meal was the Rainforest Cafe. I swear my pasta dish could've made at least 3 meals. My DS ordered the kids pasta and it could've been 2 adult portions. That was a meal I felt that the food was wasted. They could charge less and dish less food on your plate.

It does always amaze me how many people talk about they can never eat "all that food on the dining plan" or "the DDP is just way too much food". Are you on the same dining plan I am?

 

[Skatermom23]

We don't split CS meals but TS we absolutely share! We are also those people who only eat two meals a day with maybe a yogurt for breakfast. Disney has a great yogurt that they sell with fruit and granola. I don't think anyone really cares...order what you want.

 

[ziggystardust]

It does always amaze me how many people talk about they can never eat "all that food on the dining plan" or "the DDP is just way too much food". Are you on the same dining plan I am?

This is how I felt with the original dining plan that included an app and dessert per person. I traveled with 3 other people and we had SOOO much food. With the current plan, I don't think it's too much but I am not really a dessert person.

I also don't think entree portions are enough to share but that could be because when I'm on vacation I'm likely to eat more than normal (no point in leftovers) and my boyfriend and I have completely different tastes so we would never agree on just one entree.

 

[Disneylover99]

We always share counter service meals. We have always been on the ddp for the 4 of us and we usually will buy 2 or 3 meals to share. I don't like to waste food, or walk around feeling stuffed. Sharing meals allows us to try different counter service meals throughout the day whenever we feel hungry.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We eat 2 TS a day & rarely snack. Our first meal is usually TS breakfast, which is often buffet for convenience. When we do eat an al a carte breakfast, we order a savory & a sweet entree & share. It's very rare for us to finish both. For an a la carte lunch, we usually share an entree. Most non-signatures serve about twice what we would normally eat, so I don't always finish my portion of the entree. I have to save room for dessert, after all. It's vacation. I must have something sweet with every meal. It's a rule in our house. Occasionally, we also get an appetizer, if there's something we really want, but not often. Dinners are almost always at signature restaurants, which have much smaller portions. We usually share a couple appetizers, 1 entree, & a couple desserts. I prefer the appetizers & dessert, but my DH prefers having an entree. This is a good compromise for us.

I agree that this would vary by individual. I could have easily eaten my own entree at non-signature restaurants prior to having my DS. If I did now, I'd be huge. That's forced me to train my stomach to fill up faster. I'd love to be one of those people who could eat as much as I want & stay slim. If you can, lucky you. Enjoy it!

 

[North of Mouse]

I keep reading about folks sharing entries because the Disney portion sizes are huge. Am I the only one who does not think so?

I am not a huge eater and I am in great shape. My husband and I usually eat breakfast in the room to avoid the high calorie options for breakfast (whole grain bread and peanut butter sometimes with a side of fresh fruit that I get from the hotel). For lunch we are usually by the pool at the hotel so we usually eat counter service from the pool bar.

When we go to a TS restaurant we order an app and we each get our own dinner. Almost never desert (we may get ice cream later). I have never found the portions to be huge. If we are at a Signature we sometimes get two apps or an app and a salad and soup in addition to dinner.

We rarely snack unless we are at F&W and then we sub that for a meal. We may snack around the world for dinner a few (OK lots of) nights of our trip.

Am I alone?

I agree! I have a feeling that the word 'huge' is really being over used on the Dis when regarding food portions. We take pictures of a lot of our food, and looking at them, actually the portions are small compared to off site portions.

I think a lot of people that eat on the DDP find the portions large because it's hard to eat that often, so probably can't eat all that food. I have heard people say that lots of times they will barely taste their desserts.

We don't eat desserts at mealtime - prefer to have it later, or not at all. At Disney I make a dinner ressie every other day and eat smaller CS the next day - never 3 meals a day. We are light eaters but never have a problem eating a TS or CS each. We don't order appetizers, drinks, or desserts either, all of which would make the meal larger, and lots more filling.

 

[danceintherain]

Now, if they'd have some sort of a "Disney Dessert Plan", that I could go for, weight gain be damned!

I'd buy it!

I do think Disney portions are large, but I think most portions are large. I'm a very light eater, except when it comes to some things. The issue I have with Disney portions is not that they're larger than standard US portions, but that I don't have anything to do with my leftovers. When we eat out at home, I usually eat about half my food, then take it home. I can't do that at Disney. When we were on the Dining Plan, we ended up with tons of desserts in our room fridge. The idea was to eat them later, but it didn't usually happen.
Since then, I won't do the dining plan, because it doesn't fit. I'd much rather order exactly what I want, when I want it, save money, and have less food go to waste.
It's not that I necessarily think it's too much food, but that it's not the right food for my appetite.

We don't share, because DH and I don't necessarily like the same things, and DH almost always finishes off his meals.
This last trip was kind of eerie, because I was the one who was chowing down, and DH barely touched his food. Even so, quite a bit of my food went to waste.

 

[gtpoohbear]

I actually feel like the portion sizes at most Disney TS restaurants in considerably smaller than the normal places we eat out at when at home. Several times on our last trip I was a little surprised at how small they were. Usually it was fine for me, but I got several looks from DH like, "That's IT??"

We always do the DxDDP, and usually eat 3 TS meals/ day, because we are used to eating 3 full meals/day at home. We just came back from our 3rd trip- this time we had DH and I, DD(9) and DS(2). Many times we would order an extra child meal oop for him, because 2 adult meals and 1 child meal really was not enough for the 4 of us. DH always cleans his plate, and the kids meals are really too small for DD. Which left only me to share with DS if we didn't order him something.

So, I also don't see why people think the portions are "huge", or how 2 adults could get by sharing. I never considered us "big eaters", and we are certainly not large people. But we are used to eating 3 real meals everyday. And even the DxDDP doesn't seem like too much for us.

 

[disney1990]

I actually feel like the portion sizes at most Disney TS restaurants in considerably smaller than the normal places we eat out at when at home.

Yes, they are smaller than at home -- and I am very happy about that. The typical meal that I get at a place like Olive Garden is more like 2 or even 3 meals for me. We eat basic portion control. A piece of meal is the size of a deck of cards. When we buy something like steak for home, we measure it out into 1/4 pound pieces; the rest of our meal consists of veggies or a salad.

So DH & I have no problem whatsoever dividing up an appetizer and meal at Disney because it what we are used to eating at home.

However, if you are one of these people that goes to a steak house and orders a 16 ounce steak, I can see why you say the meals aren't big enough to share.

 

[gtpoohbear]

Yes, they are smaller than at home -- and I am very happy about that. The typical meal that I get at a place like Olive Garden is more like 2 or even 3 meals for me. We eat basic portion control. A piece of meal is the size of a deck of cards. When we buy something like steak for home, we measure it out into 1/4 pound pieces; the rest of our meal consists of veggies or a salad.

Yeah my DH would have a panic attack if I gave him something that size and tried to pass it off as a meal, lol! He eats some serious food. No idea where he puts it, as he weighs a whopping 130 pounds. I eat about 1/2 what he does, and still weigh more. Totally unfair.

 

[disney1990]

Yeah my DH would have a panic attack if I gave him something that size and tried to pass it off as a meal, lol! He eats some serious food. No idea where he puts it, as he weighs a whopping 130 pounds. I eat about 1/2 what he does, and still weigh more. Totally unfair.

I can totally understand. I remember when my DH ate so much more than he does now. That was before he lost 50 pounds and got to get off of his blood pressure medicine. He doesn't want to go back to those days - so small portions of meat and lots of veggies are the future.

 

[brertoad]

It just depends, I think most of the portion sizes are adequate. Basically one CS or TS meal being enough to fill you up 80% - 100%.

When we share, it's because we are getting a 3rd item or 4th item, like a salad or soup, or dessert.

Some appetizers are downright stingy! The pot stickers at Kona is tiny, 4 pieces for about $8!

The General Tso Chicken Dumplings at Nine Dragons (supposedly for 2 people!!) is only 6 pieces and is $13!!! I could eat about 3 orders of those dumplings as a meal. They are yummy though.

The PB&J milkshake at 50s Prime Time was big enough for me and DH to share.

 

[~Brandy~]

I'm not a tiny person but I find that I'm more hungry than normal at WDW. Maybe it's all the walking or the heat (or just the constantly availability of awesome snacks) but I find the counter service meals to be just right, and usually can share an appetizer and eat a whole entree at a TS restaurant.

 

[Fuhnuh]

We generally find the portioning close to perfect for our needs/appetite. We generally do not finish our plates, but would not be satisfied sharing portions if each of us just had one entree (we don't do dessert because of allergies). We usually only have one TS meal a day and are generally light eaters (at least when not vacationing).