Tips for using DDP?

[disneymom2one]

Any good tips for using the DDP? What would you differently? What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

Thanks ...

 

[Hound 109]

Any good tips for using the DDP? What would you differently? What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

Thanks ...

Disneymom, after a couple of days it was obvious to me that we (a family of 3) were able to "share" counter service & some TS meals. (For example 2 CS meals easily fed the 3 of us - we then used the extra CS credits at breakfast, where 1 CS credit & 1 snack credit would often feed the 3 of us).

I would read the Restaurant review board threads. Many of them describe how various familys used the DDP. (Kaylie&LaurensMom in particular has an informative thread with DDP info & pictures.)

Have fun.

hound

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

One thing I have noticed is that people tend to stress over trying to maximize the plan. They worry about getting their moneys worth. My suggestion is that once you have decided to go with the plan then just focus on which restaurants you would enjoy the most and don't worry about whether they are the most expensive. Look through the menus and pick ones that look interesting. Then once you've made your choices don't look back! One thing I do like is to alternate between lunch and dinner for the TS meals. That gives you a little more flexibility in my opinion and you aren't always tied to dinner meals each night.

If you have little ones the character meals are fun. We've enjoyed Chef Mickeys for a late breakfast. I don't have little ones anymore so that's the extent of my character meal experience.

Hope this helps. Happy planning!!!!

 

[Cinderella2004]

I agree with both the above posters. We scheduled a lot of buffets, then (after reading threads on these boards) I was stressed I wasn't getting my "money's worth". lol...it was free dining. I finally decided, that since we love the buffets, it was worth it for us.

Another tip I'd be sure to mention, is to use your snack credits!!! We bought water OOP several times, as well as some other "smaller" priced items. I didn't want to "waste a credit" on them. The last day we ended up having about 10 snack credits and we had 6 counter service left!!! We bought another family lunch with the counter service, and Mickey Rice Krispie treats with the snack credit.

It's a wonderful plan though. We are purchasing it when we go back in February!!!

 

[Lewisc]

You're tempted to pay cash for water and save your snack credits for more expensive dessert type items. Dessert is included with your CS (lunch) and TS (dinner). I found I didn't want an extra dessert most days. Like other posters I wound up with extra snack credits which I used to get stuff for the plane.

 

[LizinSTL]

Any good tips for using the DDP? What would you differently? What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

Thanks ...

Have fun ) I think it is nearly impossible to not come out ahead if you use all your TS credits (even if you do all buffets!). Make reservations at restaurants you want to try- don't look at prices first. Share CS meals after the first day or so- gauge how much your family is eating at each sitting. We found we could share 2 CS breakfasts and 2 CS lunches on some days. We actually doubled up TS meals some days- (Lunch in Norway, Dinner in Canada; or Lunch at 50s PT, dinner at H&V) and were able to enjoy snacking at various cs places on other days rather than rushing to a TS meal for dinner.

Use up all your CS credits and your snack credits before you think about paying OOP for anything. We had to "spend" a bunch of snack credits before we left because we had so many left.

Don't be afraid to ask for a substitution. If you want carrots instead of fries, ask. If you want fries instead of carrots, ask! If you want fruit for your dessert, ask if it's possible. The worst that can happen is they say no.

Order what you want, when you want it and if it's not covered, pay OOP. You'll have more fun that way and we only ever had to pay OOP for liquor. If you are worried about something not being covered ask before ordering so there are no surprises.

Disney is very accommodating and they are not looking down their noses at people who use the DDP regardless of all the dis posts to that effect. Go in expecting good service, and I bet you'll get it 99% of the time!

 

[HLDisney]

Use your snack credits to get things like milk and water (if you need/want these items) And also check at your resort's gift shop to see if they have big bottles of these items. We stayed at Coronado Springs and I found that, while you can get individual serving sizes of milk, water and juices for snack credits at the convenience store in the resort, you could get much larger bottles of milk, water and juice for the same snack credits at the gift shop.

I also agree that you should use your snack credits for as much as possible during your trip. On our last night, we found ourselves with 11 extra snack credits so we ended up buying boxes of cookies and candies just to use up the credits. By the way, you can get nice 7 oz boxes of Minnie's Bake House cookies for the snack credits and they make nice souvenirs/gifts. Just keep in mind that every store seems to have different rules regarding snack credits. In Downtown Disney, I was told in World of Disney that I could not use a snack credit to buy these cookies. Then, in another store, I was told that the total price, including tax, had to be under $4...and since the 7 oz boxes were $3.95, they didn't qualify. But then in CSR's gift shop Panchito, I was told that as long as just the price itself was under $4, it qualified for a snack credit. So be sure to ask around if it doesn't work the first time.

HLDisney (just back 2 days and wishing I was back there again....)

 

[tndisneyfan]

One thing I have noticed is that people tend to stress over trying to maximize the plan. They worry about getting their moneys worth. My suggestion is that once you have decided to go with the plan then just focus on which restaurants you would enjoy the most and don't worry about whether they are the most expensive. Look through the menus and pick ones that look interesting. Then once you've made your choices don't look back!

That was exactly the response I was going to give. Just eat where you think you would enjoy, don't worry so much about "bang for the buck". I would rather barely break even than go to expensive restaurants that I don't think I would enjoy.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't worry about leaving credits behind. We left 3 CS credits when we left. And my son used up a bunch of the snack credits on cupcakes from Roaring Forks. I'd try to use the TS credits, and Snack credits you can pick up stuff you can take with you like bottled water, cookies, etc.

We just ate too darn much that I felt like we were waddling.

 

[kj2mom]

My advice is to relax and have fun. I made TS ADR's where we wanted to eat and the rest of the meals just fell into place. We didn't share any meals, we didn't try to maximize anything, we ate when we were hungry and planned a little around our ADR times obviously. Definitely don't start your trip by paying for things OOP because at the end of your visit if you have credits left you will be kicking yourself. Use credits first then pay OOP if they are all used. We often used a credit for water and while some would be shocked at our misuse of credits because water is soo much cheaper than the $4 allowed, water is what we wanted so water is what we got. It really was great to sit down at a TS and know we could order anything we wanted no matter what the price. I think that was probably the best part of the plan. I am definitely the kind of person who would sacrifice taste and desire to keep more money in my pocket for longer lasting things but with the dining plan I really felt like I could really get whatever I wanted and I enjoyed every bite!

 

[Hound 109]

Hmmm....my opinion is that the OP asked "what would you do differently?" or "what would you do knowing what you know now".

"Maxing out", "Stressing" etc. was never asked about nor initially discussed.

My opinion is that with some counter service meals (& some table service meals) more food is given than one can eat. My opinion (after the second day) was that I had a decision to make. Order 3 CS meals for my family of 3 & throw one of them out.......or order 2 CS meals & not throw one of them out. I didn't "stress". I didn't worry about "maxing out".

My opinion is that 8 out of 10 folks posting on here have indicated that they had "way too much food" on the DDP. After my second day there, we decided not to "have too much food" at meals.

Oh....& I didn't "stress" when I handed the food court CM my room key (@ 7am on a couple of mornings) & got a Bfast plate & Cinnamon Roll - using 1 CS & one snack.

Nor did I stress when we went to the Bakery on Main St. (twice) & handed the CM my room card and had several bakery items for Bfast. Since I had a few extra credits there was NO stress, nor was there a need for $$. To the OP......that is a "tip" that I would like to share.

hound <----believes there is a difference between "maxing out" & not being wasteful.

 

[kellyg403]

I agree about sharing your CS credits if you are start to get to the point you don't know if you can eat another bite. We learned this in Dec and on our Sept trip, we sometimes shared CS for lunch and then had breakfast a few days. The first time we used the DDP it seemed like we were "too" careful and ended up spending money needlessly. In Sept, we knew how much food was on the plan and so we didn't seem to spend too much on extras.

And always remember, box up desserts on the dining plan if you can. We didn't do that in Dec. we would eat 2 bites and leave it if we were full. Just because the plan said that we could have an appetizer and dessert we didn't always get them. At Planet Hollywood we just shared a few appetizers and didn't all order dessert. We got more than our $$ worth in dinner without them.

Kelly

 

[Lewisc]

Nothing wrong with giving your opinion but please don't misrepresent others. You're the only one in this thread who said they had "way too much food"

My point was not to pay cash for water in order to save snack credits for later.

The only way I had enough food to share, for most CS meals, was to eat all the food that should be thrown out such as the fries and breakfast potatoes. The entrées at the many of the restaurants, particularly the signature restaurants, isn't large enough for most guests to share.

Guests can use the TS meal for dinner, the CS meal for lunch and either use a snack or cash for breakfast. Nothing wrong with sharing but there isn't any reason for guests to plan their entire vacation around which restaurants give large enough portions to share.

My opinion is that 8 out of 10 folks posting on here have indicated that they had "way too much food" on the DDP. After my second day there, we decided not to "have too much food" at meals.

hound <----believes there is a difference between "maxing out" & not being wasteful.

 

[S.Poppins]

First of all Hound, I really don't think anyone said you were stressing out . They sounded like they knew people had stressed about things like, "Should I pay OOP for this $2 bottle of water and save the DDP credit to get the $3.50 yummy snack?" or "Should I book cheaper buffets or get 'more for my money' by trying to eat steak and lobster every meal?" That is the way I read it anyway - just eat what you want and don't worry about it, share if you can't eat it all and don't worry about it. I don't think there were any hidden meanings or anything like that. So everyone gets a !

Okay this is a little embarrassing to admit - I chalk it up to being a newbie and I only found the Dis a few weeks before our trip last year - so I made many, many mistakes! We used the DDP last year. I thought (according to the pamphlet) that with our snack credits we could get coke, water, mickey ice cream bars, or popcorn. So that is what we got. We even went to France and paid OOP for pastries and had tons of left over snack credits . Oh well, we never went hungry! Now I know better and have printed off the list of DDP snacks listed here! I am excited about Dole whips and school bread!

Other mistakes - Mickeys Backyard BBQ - 2TS , San Angels CP package very yucky!

Now that I know better, all my adrs are Dis tried and proven.

 

[jtlover]

I just did some planning when we went in February - we worked out where we wanted to eat TS each day and made ADRs and made a list of places we wanted to eat for CS. We also made a small list of snacks to remind us what we could get and just relaxed when we were there. I love the DDP you dont have to worry what the bill is going to be - you just have to worry how many pounds you are going to put on

 

[mommyesq]

I have an 8 year old with a hearty appetitete and soon learned that most of the child options were not enough for him - but the DDp does not distinquish b/t adult and kid credits so for TS we did the buffets and for CS I would have my son go find a table and i would order for both of us....

 

[LoveWDW]

We chose and boxed most TC desserts and had them for an early breakfast the next morning. Then we split a late CS breakfast at the parks and a CS lunch. A snack mid-afternoon for each of us, then TS for each for dinner. We never felt as though we had eaten too much. It was fun to be able to try whatever we wanted. We didn't choose places or items because they were the most expensive. We chose what and where we wanted to eat. It was really fun.

 

[HLDisney]

One thing I did was that when I chose my dessert for my counter service meal, if possible, I tried to choose something I could eat for my breakfast the next morning. For example, when dining at the Pepper Market (we stayed at CSR), I would often choose one of the croissants or danishes being offered as dessert and then save it for breakfast the following morning. This didn't work as well at the park restaurants which usually offered things like cake and cookies but at the Pepper Market and a few other places, it worked out great.

If I were to get the dining plan again in the future, I think I would vary my table service meals between breakfast, lunch and dinner. This time around, we scheduled almost all of them (except for Cinderella's Royal Table) for dinner and it made things a little incovenient to have to schedule our park schedule around our table service dinners. And often, we were so tired by dinner time, we didn't feel up to eating a sit-down meal.

HLDisney

 

[seajoker]

We used TS for breakfast and dinner. This freed us up to use CS many different ways. We did use only 1 CS at times because of the amount of food, which allowed us to eat breakfast at The Mara later in the week.

One bit of advice that people keep mentioning is not to save up you snack credits. After 3 days I was worried that we would run out, but in the end we could have had a few more bottle of water or other snacks, although we had a case int he room.

AKL 2006

 

[GS67]

We used TS for breakfast and dinner. This freed us up to use CS many different ways. We did use only 1 CS at times because of the amount of food, which allowed us to eat breakfast at The Mara later in the week.

One bit of advice that people keep mentioning is not to save up you snack credits. After 3 days I was worried that we would run out, but in the end we could have had a few more bottle of water or other snacks, although we had a case int he room.

AKL 2006

how were you able to use TS for both break/lunch? you didnt run out of TS this way?