Questions from a DDP Newbie...

[Kirlinale]

Here are some random questions ..

We purchased the dining plan because, A , we wanted to try the sit down restraunts on this trip and be more relaxed then in trips past, we figured we would come close to the price if not better, and , B, we did not want to worry about how much we were spending since the $$ amount was already given.

We are a family of 5, DH, Myself, DD 12 (Eats like a bird), DS 10 (Could eat a whole pizza by himself) and a special needs DD 7 - Kids menu.

1st question, are the credits alloted to the 'person' or the group? What if DD 12 (bird) at our sit down dinners ate OOP (usually just a small meal or appetizer) and that carried over 5 TS credits for the week.. could our family use those 5 TS credits for a lunch or breakfast? or can only she use them.. this would be helpful in our planning. I'd hate to use her credit for a 'childs meal' being that she is paying the adult price, she'd be more likely to eat an adult breakfast/buffet and get a good amount of food then any other meal (she likes breakfast!)

2nd question, are there any places where snack credits can be used to purchase a breakfast item such as a muffin, bagel etc.. We eat light breakfasts and since the CS comes with Desert we figured this would be a good use for it on occaion.

3rd question, at the CS service locations, do you have the option of a side item vs. a dessert?

4th question, Does Disney help calculate the tip on the bill for you, or do you see the prices/total on the bill, including the OOP stuff.. I want to make sure I tip on the right amounts so it would be helpful to see the total bill . I thought for Buffets this was automatically calcluated?

5th question, What is considered a beverage on the DDP.. I know soda, cofee, tea etc.. I guess if I order an Adult beverage and want cofee with desert I would OOP for the drink and cofee would be included.. correct.. What about for the kids, can they get a Shirley Temple or Milk Shake, two are considered adults on our plan?

any information would be greatly appreciated.. We have the following ADRs...

Coral Reef Dinner
Chefs De France Dinner
Kona Cafe Dinner
Spoodles Dinner (OOP)
Akershus Breakfast
Crystal Palace Dinner
Cape May Breakfast (at our resort OOP)
1900 Park Fare Dinner
Ohana's Dinner

 

[Faldred]

1) Credits are "pooled", and you can always "buy" fewer meals at any given time than there are people in your party... you just can't buy more. They're allocated for your entire stay at once, so you may use any credit on any day, up until midnight of your checkout day. ETA: This means your DD12 can order off the kid's menu sometimes and leave you extra adult TS credits to use for your currently scheduled OOP meals.

2) Resort food courts and any "bakery" should suffice here. Carrying over CS desserts for breakfasts is an excellent idea.

3) Technically, no. Your mileage may vary by location and cast member.

4) The receipt will list suggested tips for 18% and 20%. You still get to choose how much you leave (since you have fewer than 6 in your party).

5) In theory, any non-alcoholic drink that doesn't come in a souvenir container should be allowed. People report varying degrees of success with things like milkshakes and smoothies, but generally can get them. Coffee should be just fine as a drink option.

 

[brokenlola]

1. For a 7 night stay you will have 28 adult TS and 7 child TS, so if you want to pay OOP for your oldest then you will be able to use those left over credits for another meal, for the adults, but not your youngest who needs a childs credit.

2. check out the snack thread sticky it has tons of ideas on how and where to use your snack credits for breakfast items.

3 & 5. will depend on your CM/waiter, some will allow you to sub. items, some will not. Sometimes you can get a milkshake as a drink and other times as a dessert.

4. there is a total and a tip suggestion (18% and 20%) on your bill.

ETA: you should look at the price of each individual restaurant before deciding which to pay OOP for. A childs breakfast buffet is likely more expensive than a childs meal at a sit down TS. So you can pay OOP for the adults but use a child TS credit at one place and then the opposite, OOP for child meal at dinner and 4 adults credits, at another place.

 

[Kirlinale]

I was hoping it was pooled.. I can so see DD 12 just wanting a 'Turkey and Bread' or a Salad and soup for dinner .. Since we have TWO buffet breakfasts I figured I could use her TS credits for the Buffets and then OOP if she wants to order light at places like (spoodles, Chefs, Kona, Coral ) Since she has to pay the adult price regardless at the buffets that doesn't make sense.. I'd just hate to waste the credit and have her eat nothing more then 10.00 worth of food..

So basically do I just have to tell the server how many credits I will be using and which would be OOP.. I hate to make things complicated .

I am so glad they give the Total.. I am sure it was much easier when it was totally all inclusive.. I just didn't want to have to guess and under compensate the server.. I just wanted to make sure I had a number to work with as I have to usually use my handy dandy tip calculator to figure since my brain does not do on the fly math

I am not so concerned about making it all 'add' up.. I like the idea of not worrying about it and we spent close to the DDP price on our last trip.. I am however glad to see that the plan is pooled so we can make it work more flexibly.

Thanks SOOO much .. We are so ready for this spring break trip...

 

[kcashner]

So basically do I just have to tell the server how many credits I will be using and which would be OOP.. I hate to make things complicated .


Thanks SOOO much .. We are so ready for this spring break trip...

Yes, you just indicate to the server that "we" (indicate with hand) are on the dining plan, but will be paying OOP for Suzy (point to Suzy).

Suzy can also share some of your food if she desires (and you choose to allow it!)

 

[eandesmom]

Here are some random questions ..

We purchased the dining plan because, A , we wanted to try the sit down restraunts on this trip and be more relaxed then in trips past, we figured we would come close to the price if not better, and , B, we did not want to worry about how much we were spending since the $$ amount was already given.

We are a family of 5, DH, Myself, DD 12 (Eats like a bird), DS 10 (Could eat a whole pizza by himself) and a special needs DD 7 - Kids menu.

1st question, are the credits alloted to the 'person' or the group? What if DD 12 (bird) at our sit down dinners ate OOP (usually just a small meal or appetizer) and that carried over 5 TS credits for the week.. could our family use those 5 TS credits for a lunch or breakfast? or can only she use them.. this would be helpful in our planning. I'd hate to use her credit for a 'childs meal' being that she is paying the adult price, she'd be more likely to eat an adult breakfast/buffet and get a good amount of food then any other meal (she likes breakfast!)

Theoretically yes however I could see some CM's accidentally assuming that if she ordered from the kids menu, she was using her TS for it so you'd want to be super clear that it was OOP.

2nd question, are there any places where snack credits can be used to purchase a breakfast item such as a muffin, bagel etc.. We eat light breakfasts and since the CS comes with Desert we figured this would be a good use for it on occaion.

Yes. Your best bet for that will be your resort CS locations where they do a good job of labeling what is considered a snack credit (most are also considered sides) but each park has at least one, if not more, places where you could do this as well. Although to be honest I don't think I saw a bagel all week we were there. Lots of muffins though.

3rd question, at the CS service locations, do you have the option of a side item vs. a dessert?

Sometimes, completely varies by location. I wouldn't count on it and if it happens, it's a blessing. LOL. Typical places that allowed it would let us switch for fruit or chips. Some places will offer fruit as a dessert offering anyway.

4th question, Does Disney help calculate the tip on the bill for you, or do you see the prices/total on the bill, including the OOP stuff.. I want to make sure I tip on the right amounts so it would be helpful to see the total bill . I thought for Buffets this was automatically calcluated?

Not sure about buffets. For parties of 6 and more, yes they calculate and add it on. The one time they didn't do that for us (which was odd as we were a party of 6 so I expected it) they showed a print out at 18% and 20% which was nice.

5th question, What is considered a beverage on the DDP.. I know soda, cofee, tea etc.. I guess if I order an Adult beverage and want cofee with desert I would OOP for the drink and cofee would be included.. correct.. What about for the kids, can they get a Shirley Temple or Milk Shake, two are considered adults on our plan?

Depends on the restaurant. MANY of the TS places let any adult (inlcuding the tween and teen lol) get shakes or smoothies as their beverage. If it is a kids meal plan though, about all you can get is the usual but a shirley temple (or cherry coke/roy rogers) are usually considered just a soda anyway.

We typically gave our 2 kid meal kids our adult non-A drinks so they could get a shake or a smoothie while we had an "adult" drink instead worked out really well! We also let our 12 and 9 year old "trade" entrees if the 12yo wanted soemthing off of the kids menu instead of the adult. Disney didn't care as they just want you to use the proper allotments, but it let the tween keep the better drink and cool dessert and the 9 year old get somehting off of the "big" menu that he really wanted without the whole meal being too much food.

any information would be greatly appreciated.. We have the following ADRs...

Coral Reef Dinner
Chefs De France Dinner
Kona Cafe Dinner
Spoodles Dinner (OOP)
Akershus Breakfast
Crystal Palace Dinner
Cape May Breakfast (at our resort OOP)
1900 Park Fare Dinner
Ohana's Dinner

Of these, we only went to Kona but LOVED it. The kids grilled fish was Mahi Mahi and this was a location where the 9 and 12yo switched, the 12 year old going for mac and cheese (but then this insane sundae) and the 9 year old for the pan asian noodles. YUM!

 

[Kirlinale]

That trading Idea sounds good.. I'd have loved that.. but both my 10 and 12 year olds have to be adults on the DDP.. my 7 year old is special needs and will be fine with her kids meal.

What I think I will do is let DD 12 (bird) look at the menu at the non buffet places and decide what she will want.. she likes steak and pasta as a rule.. but that usually means Buttered noodles and 1/2 portion of what an adult will eat. If her meal is less than the Breakfast Buffet then we will then pay her meal OOP - and I can use my Drink to give her a milkshake while I sip away on a much needed adult beverage. My 10 year old DS eats anything.. at Akershus when he was just 9 (he is almost 11) he loaded up on Herring and other strange things.. he is a good brave eater and going througha growth spurt ..

My think was really to make the best use of the TS credits.. we have 9 TS meals planned (two we planned oop) I just wanted to make sure that we could spend her table service credits a the meals she'd actually eat.

I am probably overthinking this.. but there are very very few things she will eat.. she has severe tree nut allergies so that rules quite a few options, she doesn't eat fish and as a rule will not eat chicken. My thing was I'd have hated to spend the 40.00 per day to have her eat soup and bread everyday..

Really the ONLY restraunts I can see it being a problem is ..

Chefs De France (but the do have a Filet so she will probably go for that)

Kona Cafe' ..(lots of nutty dishes and they took the filet off the menu, but there is a Teryaki dish.. and she might like the shrimp.. I expect she will eat very light here)

Spoodles (Not sure what current menu is..)

Coral Reef (again, there is steak so that is our back up)

Thanks for all your thoughts, help and suggestions!!!!!!

 

[catne]

The other thing to remember is that at Kona (and actually at virtually every Disney restaurant) if she wants her steak "plain", just ask for it that way. We really liked the teriyaki steak - it was not overpoweringly flavored, and it's just a couple of tablespoons of pineapple/teriyaki sauce on top. But the people at the next table ordered the same steak, no sauce. And that's the way it was delivered. Same with the side dishes -- one dish may "come" with noodles, and the other comes with mashed potatoes--the reality is there is usually no problem to switch the side dish.

 

[eandesmom]

The other thing to remember is that at Kona (and actually at virtually every Disney restaurant) if she wants her steak "plain", just ask for it that way. We really liked the teriyaki steak - it was not overpoweringly flavored, and it's just a couple of tablespoons of pineapple/teriyaki sauce on top. But the people at the next table ordered the same steak, no sauce. And that's the way it was delivered. Same with the side dishes -- one dish may "come" with noodles, and the other comes with mashed potatoes--the reality is there is usually no problem to switch the side dish.

My DH had the Prime Rib at Kona and loved it. It will be far too large but was covered on the plan. 2 of our kids had the pan asian noodles shrimp and loved them as well.

 

[eandesmom]

That trading Idea sounds good.. I'd have loved that.. but both my 10 and 12 year olds have to be adults on the DDP.. my 7 year old is special needs and will be fine with her kids meal.

What I think I will do is let DD 12 (bird) look at the menu at the non buffet places and decide what she will want.. she likes steak and pasta as a rule.. but that usually means Buttered noodles and 1/2 portion of what an adult will eat. If her meal is less than the Breakfast Buffet then we will then pay her meal OOP - and I can use my Drink to give her a milkshake while I sip away on a much needed adult beverage. My 10 year old DS eats anything.. at Akershus when he was just 9 (he is almost 11) he loaded up on Herring and other strange things.. he is a good brave eater and going througha growth spurt ..

My think was really to make the best use of the TS credits.. we have 9 TS meals planned (two we planned oop) I just wanted to make sure that we could spend her table service credits a the meals she'd actually eat.

I am probably overthinking this.. but there are very very few things she will eat.. she has severe tree nut allergies so that rules quite a few options, she doesn't eat fish and as a rule will not eat chicken. My thing was I'd have hated to spend the 40.00 per day to have her eat soup and bread everyday..

Really the ONLY restraunts I can see it being a problem is ..

Chefs De France (but the do have a Filet so she will probably go for that)

Kona Cafe' ..(lots of nutty dishes and they took the filet off the menu, but there is a Teryaki dish.. and she might like the shrimp.. I expect she will eat very light here)

Spoodles (Not sure what current menu is..)

Coral Reef (again, there is steak so that is our back up)

Thanks for all your thoughts, help and suggestions!!!!!!

I would make a note on your ADR's and at check in about her allergy. I have heard wonderful things about what the various chefs can come up with that isn't on the menu to deal with it so she isn't quite as limited in her choices. Just a thought