When to throw out my Disney Dining Plan Rules?

[Diegosmom]

So we leave in less then 2 weeks for our 8 night Free Dining vacation.

Yes it is free Dining but I cant seem to get past getting the most for our money. So I have set up certain "rules"

1 Dont use CS for breakfast (unless we do the buffet at Peppermarket) or perhaps if they let us do the 3 pastries as a meal (although still not a great deal)

2. Also get a large drink even if you arent that thirsty

3. Always get all your entitlements (This is more for DH, he is not a dessert person so if I sent him to get food on his own I could totally seeing him not getting a dessert cause he didnt want it but I have told him at least get a cookie).

4. Only use snack credits for items $3.50 or more (we love snacks so I totally see us using all our credits and then some so if it is under $3.50 we will pay OP).

5. Dont waste CS somewhere that you cant get a side (like at the turkey cart).

6. If we use CS at Resort always get a beverage in a bottle for later and use refillable mug.

So number 5 was really getting to me today. I was reading a disney food blog about these and I thought well DH and probably DS would really like the turkey leg so I would probably have to make an exception there cause we wont want to have to pay OP for that meal...

But does anyone else have "rules" like this.

We are going for 8 nights so I am thinking on Day 5 if I have more then 1/2 CS or snacks left then I will let up on the rules

So what are your rules?

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I only have one rule: get what you want.

I use the dining plan because I don't want to be counting pennies while traveling. When I know I am just paying for "extras" and tips, I am more likely to order an expensive entree, alcoholic beverage, or appetizer that I might have skipped otherwise.

We decide ahead of time which meals to use our credits for, so those "rules" wouldn't apply to us, and we always have leftover snack credits, so if someone wants a bottle of water, why not use a snack credit?

 

[Diegosmom]

I only have one rule: get what you want.

I use the dining plan because I don't want to be counting pennies while traveling. When I know I am just paying for "extras" and tips, I am more likely to order an expensive entree, alcoholic beverage, or appetizer that I might have skipped otherwise.

We decide ahead of time which meals to use our credits for, so those "rules" wouldn't apply to us, and we always have leftover snack credits, so if someone wants a bottle of water, why not use a snack credit?

We arent doing TS just CS so I dont have those meals planned out. There is a number of places we want to try but we will just eat when we are hungry.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

We don't have rules but we do try to get the most out of our dining. I love the idea of using mugs at the resort and grabbing a drink in a bottle.
We get the DDP so we too don't have to watch everything we order. If I were paying out of pocket we would be much less free on our ordering due to price.

We do try to stretch as much as possible. An example would be at Cosmic Rays, if ordering Chicken and ribs, way too much food for one. We order two meals, split between the four of us and use the extras CS for a quick breakfast in the park, like Main Street Bakery.

Even though we have our dinings all laid out before we go, we always end up with extras some how and end up scrambeling to use them.

For use, the DDP make great sense, we love it!!

 

[tanyaandallie]

I am all for getting the most out of our meal plan but we really do not have any hard and fast rules. I have never done the CS meal plan either so perhaps I would have more rules if I did? We generally only eat breakfast outside of our hotel room if it's a necessity or if we are doing a character breakfast. We eat breakfast in our room. It's super cheap, easy, quick and mostly healthy.

I personally was sick to death of all the desserts that came with the meal plan. We just do not need dessert with every meal so I don't care if we get the dessert or not. We always got it and then saved it for later. At the end of the trip we had a to of packaged cookies left over.

I'd say go, do try and make the most of your meal plan but don't go overboard and stress/worry about not getting this or that. I think when you have too may restrictions you will end up either not eating what you want or "saving" your meals or snacks for later and ending up with a bunch leftover.

 

[Diegosmom]

Yes I totally see us sharing...Especially DS sharing with DH and I. Dont get me wrong the boy can eat but when there is a lot going on he tends to not eat so much and tends to be more of a snacker...Oh I totally forgot about Main Street...Cinn Bun for breakfast...good idea. I really need to write down a list of must do's/eats.

 

[Faldred]

Don't get too bogged down by "rules". The biggest advantage of QSDP is its flexibility -- get what you want, when you want. If you hoard snack credits because you don't want to use them "inefficiently", but then wind up with extra snack credits at the end that you're scrambling to use up, then it wasn't very efficient after all, was it?

Some of the "rules" make sense -- like get all of your entitlements. Even if someone doesn't want a dessert, for example, getting something packaged that keeps well can make a good snack for later (possibly even for someone else in the party)... as long as you've got a way to carry it, of course.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I totally agree with "get what you want." But I do like the rule about getting a bottled drink for later at resort CS. And we're going with free dining, so maybe I'm less concerned about maximizing the monetary value.

At first, I was planning out our days and figuring out how to get all our TS credits at dinner time and in the more expensive places, and then I just said "forget it!" So now, if we want to waste a table service meal on a lunch and then getting CS for dinner, that's what we're doing.

 

[figment_jii]

I agree with most of the PP's comments, especially about getting what you want. With the Free DDP that is even more the case; enjoy yourself and try new/different things.

2. Also get a large drink even if you arent that thirsty

While this is certainly economical it might be pretty wasteful. If you can share the drink with others in your family, then get the large, but if it's just you, I'd get the size that you're likely to drink.

3. Always get all your entitlements (This is more for DH, he is not a dessert person so if I sent him to get food on his own I could totally seeing him not getting a dessert cause he didnt want it but I have told him at least get a cookie).

You can also often get a bottle of water or a piece of fruit for the dessert. Just ask to see what the options are.

4. Only use snack credits for items $3.50 or more (we love snacks so I totally see us using all our credits and then some so if it is under $3.50 we will pay OP).

A good starting point, but see where you are towards the middle of the trip. If you have a lot of snack credits left, drop the price point down so you don't end up with left over snack credits.

Overall, my family tends to try and maximize the TS credits and let's the CS credits "float". If you can maximize your TS credits (dinner is generally more economical than for lunch or breakfast), then there is less of an issue with the CS credits.

 

[captinhookedondisney]

I am a fan or these!

But if something appeals and breaks let's call them guidelines, so be it…

 

[LJSquishy]

Those rules are pretty much what I plan to follow, except for the $3.50 or higher snack credit rule. We are planning to use some of our snack credits for breakfast items like muffins, cinnamon rolls, yogurt parfaits, and fruit cups. I'm not sure if those are over $3.50 or not but we are trying not to pay OOP for any food.

Great idea about getting a bottled beverage when eating at your resort! Does Pepper Market (for dinner...since it is now a buffet breakfast & lunch) offer bottled beverages with meals?

 

[Diegosmom]

Yes guidelines are more like it.

Thanks for all the comments.

Not going to get mad if we "break" a rule but good to have a starting point and to let hubby know so he doesnt skip the dessert.

And in terms of the large drink comment, we never throw out whats left we would take it with us to drink thru out the day. So even if I think I will only drink a small during the meal I will get the large cause I will drink it later. We will have a stroller so easy to store drinks and leftover desserts.

 

[captinhookedondisney]

Would you mind if I stole these rules to use on my next trip?

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We did that only the first time on the DDP, now we just get what we want and will eat at the time.

 

[mommyrosa2]

We don't have any rules per se and basically use the DP as such:

snack credits = primarily used for breakfast, sometimes for snacks around the parks (all depends on who's hungry or not in the morning)
CS = lunches (we have our favorites like Peppermarket, Wolfgang Puck Express, Earl of Sandwich and build your own pasta station at POR)... rarely do we use our CS in the parks unless we are at Epcot and that's mainly b/c most of the stuff in the Parks are fried foods like chicken nuggets, burgers and they're not that good.
TS = always dinners (and we always order what we want to eat not what's necessarily the most expensive item). It just so happens that we are a family who likes a good steak or seafood so many times what we choose is a more expensive item

One last thing: Re: CS ....We have substituted dessert many times with items like bottled water and fruit. We find the prepackaged brownies are nasty and we don't always want the pre-packaged cookies.

We've always come out ahead but this year, it will be close.

 

[Diegosmom]

One last thing: Re: CS ....We have substituted dessert many times with items like bottled water and fruit. We find the prepackaged brownies are nasty and we don't always want the pre-packaged cookies.

Glad that you all mentioned this. I know that DH is not a dessert person and I LOVE dessert but well I am a dessert snob lol...I like good dessert and the idea of the standard chocolate cake, key lime pie or carrot cake does not appeal to me. We will hit some of the places with "good" dessert but I know we will hit a few places with the standard. DS loves dessert too and will pretty much eat anything BUT if he is getting 2 desserts a day plus maybe something sweet for a snack he DOES NOT need to be eating DHs or mine.

Think we will use some of our desserts for yogurt and fruit or drinks.

I know you all said water but could you get a bottled beverage instead, say soda or chocolate milk?

 

[Diegosmom]

Would you mind if I stole these rules to use on my next trip?

Feel free to steal

Love hearing everyones else's guidelines too...

As I said we got free dining and I think the difference between free dining and the 25% discount was around $300 so really all I need to do is "spend" $300 on food to feel like we at least broke even and with 48CS credits and 24 snack credits we should be able to hit that no problem. But I would like to actual see that if we paid out of pocket for the meal plan that we got our money's worth. I plan in doing a dining report when I get back so we will see

 

[CarrieR]

I would hang tight to 2, 3, and 6 -- although I do have to say, there were times when we got breakfast at the resort with a CS and got a chocolate milk to drink with it right then, lol. (We would also fill up our mug and take it with us for later, so it all came out in the wash.)

I would bet money that you will have extra food left at the end of the trip. Our first trip on the DDP, I was focused on maximizing it, so there were lots of snacks that I paid OOP for... only to have a ton of snack credits left at the end. While it was nice to bring some Mickey Rice Krispies home, it sure would have been more effective to use the snack credits on my cousins' $2.50 sodas, kwim?

We find at Disney we don't end up eating three square meals. I might give the "no CS breakfast" rule a day or two, but to me, the breakfasts are some of my favorite meals. Although I guess with two snacks/day you could always use a snack or two for breakfast... and use your mug for your drink. I would let that one go early on in the trip if you observe it will work better for you.

Likewise, it doesn't do you a lot of good to be standing in Liberty Square and respond to your son, who has asked for a turkey leg by saying, "No, son, you can't have a turkey leg for lunch, you can't get a side with it! Come in heeerree, to this lovely restaurant where they have fish and shrimp -- I know you hate seafood but you can get fries with it!" LOL, a bit extreme but I think you know what I mean. I would use the CSes to eat *what you want* for lunch; there's no value in eating something you don't want just because it comes with a side.

One thing I did my first DDP trip was to make what I called a "credit tracker" -- essentially a table in Word. I listed the days and the meals/snacks I expected to eat, along with the balance that would be remaining. I didn't really "use" it per se (there was a spot to mark the actual total,) but it was an easy way to see where we stood vs. what I had projected throughout the trip. I was convinced we would be hungry the whole trip and need to conserve our credits, but, uh -- no. We got back from that trip and told our friends who were on FD with us in July, and in Sept (two different groups) that there is so.much.food! They were like, uh, two meals a day is not enough. Then we went and both sets were like, "Holy cow you guys were right!" We went OOP in Dec and half the time I just got a kids meal, and then a snack later, I was way less stuffed (read: overstuffed) and therefore happier. (I would take free dining again in a heartbeat, but it's not cost-effective *for us* to pay for it.)

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

So we leave in less then 2 weeks for our 8 night Free Dining vacation.

Yes it is free Dining but I cant seem to get past getting the most for our money. So I have set up certain "rules"

1 Dont use CS for breakfast (unless we do the buffet at Peppermarket) or perhaps if they let us do the 3 pastries as a meal (although still not a great deal)

2. Also get a large drink even if you arent that thirsty

3. Always get all your entitlements (This is more for DH, he is not a dessert person so if I sent him to get food on his own I could totally seeing him not getting a dessert cause he didnt want it but I have told him at least get a cookie).

4. Only use snack credits for items $3.50 or more (we love snacks so I totally see us using all our credits and then some so if it is under $3.50 we will pay OP).

5. Dont waste CS somewhere that you cant get a side (like at the turkey cart).

6. If we use CS at Resort always get a beverage in a bottle for later and use refillable mug.

So number 5 was really getting to me today. I was reading a disney food blog about these and I thought well DH and probably DS would really like the turkey leg so I would probably have to make an exception there cause we wont want to have to pay OP for that meal...

But does anyone else have "rules" like this.

We are going for 8 nights so I am thinking on Day 5 if I have more then 1/2 CS or snacks left then I will let up on the rules

So what are your rules?

We pretty much have the same rules but I never thought to wright them down, dont know why?? the only difference nobody in our family would get a turkey leg meal, just cant do it after watching DBIL eat one on the last trip... lol. New QSDP is going to have only one snack per person per day so there will be some out of pocket snacks coming up in March.

 

[Diegosmom]

I would hang tight to 2, 3, and 6 -- although I do have to say, there were times when we got breakfast at the resort with a CS and got a chocolate milk to drink with it right then, lol. (We would also fill up our mug and take it with us for later, so it all came out in the wash.)

I would bet money that you will have extra food left at the end of the trip. Our first trip on the DDP, I was focused on maximizing it, so there were lots of snacks that I paid OOP for... only to have a ton of snack credits left at the end. While it was nice to bring some Mickey Rice Krispies home, it sure would have been more effective to use the snack credits on my cousins' $2.50 sodas, kwim?

We find at Disney we don't end up eating three square meals. I might give the "no CS breakfast" rule a day or two, but to me, the breakfasts are some of my favorite meals. Although I guess with two snacks/day you could always use a snack or two for breakfast... and use your mug for your drink. I would let that one go early on in the trip if you observe it will work better for you.

Likewise, it doesn't do you a lot of good to be standing in Liberty Square and respond to your son, who has asked for a turkey leg by saying, "No, son, you can't have a turkey leg for lunch, you can't get a side with it! Come in heeerree, to this lovely restaurant where they have fish and shrimp -- I know you hate seafood but you can get fries with it!" LOL, a bit extreme but I think you know what I mean. I would use the CSes to eat *what you want* for lunch; there's no value in eating something you don't want just because it comes with a side.

One thing I did my first DDP trip was to make what I called a "credit tracker" -- essentially a table in Word. I listed the days and the meals/snacks I expected to eat, along with the balance that would be remaining. I didn't really "use" it per se (there was a spot to mark the actual total,) but it was an easy way to see where we stood vs. what I had projected throughout the trip. I was convinced we would be hungry the whole trip and need to conserve our credits, but, uh -- no. We got back from that trip and told our friends who were on FD with us in July, and in Sept (two different groups) that there is so.much.food! They were like, uh, two meals a day is not enough. Then we went and both sets were like, "Holy cow you guys were right!" We went OOP in Dec and half the time I just got a kids meal, and then a snack later, I was way less stuffed (read: overstuffed) and therefore happier. (I would take free dining again in a heartbeat, but it's not cost-effective *for us* to pay for it.)

As for having snacks left over I really dont think we will. Starting in 2012 you only get 1 snack per day. So that is only 24 snacks for my family for the entire week. I have a long list of snacks we want to try so I doubt we will have snacks left over even if I stick to my rule of $3.50. But I will see how we are on Wed (half way thru) and if we have more then 12 snacks left then I might consider letting that rule go a bit.

And if DS really wanted a turkey leg well no I wont tell him no he had to eat something he hated just because it came with a side.