Trying this segmenting thing to get 1 day DDP

[primecap]

I see that the counter service meal plan gives you a refillable drink mug per person. Is that the same refillable mug you would use at the dvc resorts?

Also, could you then use the counterservice plan for the first night to get the mugs, and then switch to the regular dining plan for the rest of the trip?

 

[deerislemaine]

We did this on our January 2011 trip, and it worked great. We did a DDP for one night, and we did two character dinners and one character breakfast. We also used the mugs for the duration of our 9-day stay. We ate in the condo the rest of the time with a few meals out using the TIW card. The DDP really helped save money for the character meals that were important to our kids.

This next January (2012) we have done the same thing (have the first night segmented). This time we're staying at the Swan on Starwood points for a couple nights first, so it will be like the DDP is in the middle of our trip. We prefer the TIW card to any dining plan because we end up eating too much on the dining plan. However, the segmenting option is a way to get the character meals that we want and avoid overeating (or at least help with that).