Why Share on DDP?

[aviva5675]

On our trip we are going to Citricos and CG (as well as BD, Kona, Le Cell), and I had planned to use just 4 (2 persons) TS and split among me, DH and DD14, vegetarian, getting maybe an extra app oop. Ive had this plan for almost a year, when I started reading the boards and planning the trip. Now Im worried that we will have to alter our plan, or pay more OOP, as posters are saying how the portions are much much smaller than a year ago. Im waiting for free dining to end to start hearing some reports if they are making changes in portion size or menu BACK to a little better like it sounds like it was at least pre-free dining this year...

 

[bigbabyblues]

For us, there were some meals that we just weren't hungry enough to eat all of it, and we were ordering the same thing anyway. We did this a lot with our kids. They both wanted the spaghetti (example), and we knew they'd only eat less than half, so we get them one meal to share. We used their leftover credit for another table service meal for them later in the trip. We do the same thing at home, almost every time we go out to eat. There were a couple meals that DH and I shared, but I'm not a big eater at all. We shared a combination plate type meal at San Angel Inn, it came with an appetizer (salad for me), beef, chicken, enchilada, and veggies, and dessert. Plenty for both of us, and food leftover!

 

[kritter]

We are planning on sharing I would not be able to eat that much ever and why waste the food even if it is paid for...Also I if I ate that much food I would be sick...I just would nto want to waste the food......

 

[Aimeedyan]

We shared the majority of our meals last week because the portions are HUGE and I can't stomache throwing away food. I even left stuff behind after my half portion.

There is no way we could have eaten all that food, or even came close to it. We ate some of our own meals but we didn't need to; the portions are large.

So, we share because we don't like to waste food, free or not. DH and I don't have a hard time agreeing on something.

 

[kpm76]

We're leaving next week and our family of four will definitely share most all CS and a couple TS while we're there. Why? 1. Because our dds are not big eaters. 2. I don't feel it's right to order so much food knowing some of it will be thrown away. People are starving in the world. I was brought up to "waste not, want not." 3. I've worked too darn hard to get to a healthy weight for the first time in my adult life. I will not gorge myself just because the food is available to me. A bite or two off someone else's meal/dessert/etc is enough for me to have the taste without the excess calories. I'm not niave enough to think that all the walking at WDW will keep the pounds at bay if I'm eating full meals twice a day and snacks. I was also brought up in a "clean plate" househole (ie:waste not, want not, again) so it's more feasible for us to only have one or two CS to finish off rather than four.

There ya have it. My reasons why sharing works for my family. To each his own.

VERY well said....ITA DH and I are doing DDP for the first time in a few weeks and we plan to share about half the meals. We've been to WDW several times and typically share so we know the portions are just right for us to split. Just because it's pre-paid doesn't mean I want to waste. And if we're in a park, I don't want to have to carry around a dessert so I can have it in my room. I like to have as little to carry as possible. We never, ever eat an app, entree and dessert individually so sharing is perfect for us....plus we get to try more TS places We like some of the buffets so we'll obviously have to use 2 credits for those but the other TS places we'll share.

 

[SnowWitch]

We share and have no shame in it. Some have suggested taking appetizers and desserts back to the room, maybe a dessert if we were in Epcot since we always stay at that resort area. But I'm not carrying around food in the parks all the time.

I was 6 months pregnant on our last trip and there was no way I could even eat half of the portions of most of the meals. The heat was awful. Yes, if your ordering a filet they are small but whose ordering a filet every meal.

Yes, in some cases portion size has decreased. Maybe we should take a hint in this country, our portions are to BIG and thus are our waist lines. If someone can eat one of the half chicken plates with mashed garlic potatoes and a creme brulee from Wolf's Express all I can say is "WOW".

 

[ILVPOOH]

It's fine if you can share. Me and my husband have different tastes, so it wouldn't work for us. I hate to say it but I didn't have a problem finishing my entree. I didn't eat the bread and a few times I skipped dessert. I also ate light at breakfast and lunch.

 

[JSCTRico4]

I am thinking a reason to share would be to save credits to be able to go to a TS that requires 2 credits each. My 11 year old son will be on the adult plan, and I can see that we could share a couple of meals if it meant we could go to a "signature" dining experience. We actually shared yesterday at breakfast at IHOP. No shame in sharing if you easily agree on what to eat.... and, why waste?

 

[groover]

We share for a couple of reasons:

1) It's not unusual for my wife and I to share a meal when we eat out.

2) We don't like feeling sick from eating too much, and we don't want to get fat.

 

[LeesyUD]

To me the sharing is silly if you are on the Dining Plan bc:

1. Why pay for two people to eat on the DP when you are really only eating for one?
2. What are people saving these credits for?

Alot of the people I have seen posting that they share meals in the past are the people that complain the DP is too much food for them. If it is too much food for you then don't get the plan. But what is the sense in paying for all that food when you are going to share meals and come back with 7 credits and complain it was too much food? Now if you are not on the plan then I understand sharing if you are not a big eater or are trying to save money. But it seems that some people are trying to get the most out of the DP but wind up wasting alot of money that way. And again...no one says you have to order everything the DP offers, so no one is being forced to waste anything. I would just advise to make sure you are getting your money's worth.

 

[NMW]

I can't understand sharing on the dining plan at all. Why do you have to? Also, I don't think the portions at TS restaurants are large enough to share or, CS for that matter. My DD ate her entire cheeseburger or most of it (ordered from the adult CS menu) this past December-we were not on the DDP. She was almost 4 and not a huge eater. Even now, she's over 4 1/2 and doesn't even weigh 30 pounds! If I had told her to share with one of her brothers (ages 7&9 at the time) they would have been hungry!!

I admit I don't care for sharing, especially at TS restaurants. DH and I would never share an entree-dining plan or not for many reasons. We like different things, I think it's kind of gross to share food, and really gross to share sodas-I mean, have you ever seen a 2 year old drink out of a straw with food in his mouth? (just OUR opinion ) I also don't understand the need to "save credits." We are going in Oct with the DDP. We are doing some extra TS meals-mostly breakfasts and a few lunches-and we are just paying OOP for them. We have the DDE card for these meals and it's not a big deal to us.

 

[kritter]

Can someone please fill me in on the DDE card and what it is?????????

 

[kpm76]

Well, obviously everyone has differing opinions on whether to share or not. There's no right or wrong answer, you just have to make a decision based on what works best for you and your family.

To answer another poster's question on why save credits and what are we saving them for, here's my answer. DH and I like to eat at TS places. We like the break and we like to experience different restaurants. Therefore, by only using one credit for lunch, we can use another credit for dinner and potentially eat at 10 TS places as opposed to 5 for our 5 night/6 day trip. Some people don't like to "waste time" at TS places and are fine with one/day.

Everyone's eating habits are different. DH and I probably could eat a meal on our own but then we'd likely feel sick because we don't eat that way at home. We'd rather have lots of little things during the day as opposed to one huge meal......in essence we like to graze I guess. It works for us and we certainly don't feel like we are wasting the DDP, but using it to our advantage. We'll splurge at a place like Le Cellier and get our own meal because we have different tastes at a place like that.

We always share CS meals and feel satisified. We'd rather feel satisified than overly full....I like to save room for Mickey bars I love to share meals and thankfully DH does too....

 

[disneymom2one]

I can't understand sharing on the dining plan at all. Why do you have to? Also, I don't think the portions at TS restaurants are large enough to share or, CS for that matter. My DD ate her entire cheeseburger or most of it (ordered from the adult CS menu) this past December-we were not on the DDP. She was almost 4 and not a huge eater. Even now, she's over 4 1/2 and doesn't even weigh 30 pounds! If I had told her to share with one of her brothers (ages 7&9 at the time) they would have been hungry!!

I admit I don't care for sharing, especially at TS restaurants. DH and I would never share an entree-dining plan or not for many reasons. We like different things, I think it's kind of gross to share food, and really gross to share sodas-I mean, have you ever seen a 2 year old drink out of a straw with food in his mouth? (just OUR opinion ) I also don't understand the need to "save credits." We are going in Oct with the DDP. We are doing some extra TS meals-mostly breakfasts and a few lunches-and we are just paying OOP for them. We have the DDE card for these meals and it's not a big deal to us.

'm the biggest germ freak in the world but sharing food is NOT gross if done the way we do it. First we never share drinks. But as far as meals, we routinely share among the three of us (we have an eleven year old). She's too old for kids meals (and the food isn't what we prefer she eats anyway) but too young to eat a full adult meal. So we split meals among the three of us by just getting her a plate and then giving her portions of our own meals. We do this at home when eating out. At WDW, it's senseless to pay three credits (giving us 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, and 3 desserts) for our family. By using two, we have PLENTY of food and still have credits we can use on other meals. Since we're all adults there's nothing "wrong" with doing this and I want my daughter to practice the same eating habits (at least somewhat) on vacation that she does at home. And why waste food? If we were paying cash we would order even LESS than the two credits would give us - probably one appetizer, two entrees, and maybe a dessert. Still way more food than we need or want.

And for us it IS a big deal to pay for meals OOP. We ordinarily spend about $120 a day on food on a typical WDW trip (staying in a DVC studio for the most part). The DDP only makes sense economically if we don't spend a lot out of pocket. So we don't plan on spending much OOP at all - unless of course they crack down on sharing which would be ridiculous in our case with three Disney adults.

 

[kritter]

Just a question do they differentiate CS and TS credits???

 

[kritter]

Just a question do they differentiate CS and TS credits???

 

[kpm76]

Just a question do they differentiate CS and TS credits???

Yes, you have 1 TS, 1 CS and 1 Snack credit for each night you are staying at WDW. Note that it's each night, not day. So for example, on a 5 night/6 day trip you would have a total of 10 CS, 10TS and 10 snack credits to use as you please. Hope that helps.

 

[Lisa_Belle]

We shared counter service credits (and still had one leftover). This was because:

1 - The kids lunch and dinner counter service meals aren't really appetizing, and DD wouldn't even touch the applesauce. I tasted it and don't really blame her. And exactly how much chilled chicken would you want to eat in a week? Neither of us are big eaters, so we would share my "adult" credits for a lunch or dinner and split the entree and dessert. (Kids meals don't come with a dessert). There were a couple of places where we ordered our own meals because we were especially hungry and the meals had more variety.

2 - We split her "child" counter service credits for breakfast and then used one of our snack credits for an additional drink. The kid's breakfast platters were almost identical to the adult platters. We didn't want to fill up and be miserable for breakfast, so splitting them was just about the right amount. Also, we pretty much wanted to get breakfast over with so we could spend more time in the parks.

We did eat our own table service meals. The kids meals here were more tasty and DD could actually get a dessert. It worked for us, but everyone is different. We ended up with one extra CS meal that I had planned to use on the plane trip home, but we were just too full and didn't eat. I wish I had used it for take-out because our plane was delayed in Atlanta. But we did use all our table service credits and snack credits.