Would DDP be worthwhile during Food & Wine Fest?

[allik07]

We're planning a trip during F&WF this year, and have thought about doing the DDP. I've read here though that the DP is a lot of food, and we will obviously want to do some tastings around the World Showcase at the F&WF. I'm beginning to think we wouldn't be able to make the DP worth it, with the F&WF going on in Epcot.
Does anyone have experience with this??

 

[dbk1029]

Well we did the DDP last year during the food & wine festival. The booths at EPCOT did allow you to use your snack credits to purchase the samples being sold (excluding alcohol). Not a bad use of your snack credits. Definately worth it in my opinion.

 

[jx3smom]

We also used it last October and got to try a lot of food with our snack credits.

 

[allik07]

Thanks for the advice!
I didn't know you could use your snack credits at the different booths.
That's great!

 

[TDC Nala]

I would not use DDP for food and wine festival, but I attend the special dinner events. If you are going to do that, it is not worth it to tie yourself down to the restaurants.

 

[dznymom1]

I am not a fan of the DDP during F&W because there are just so many things to eat and drink without setting foot in a restaurant. My eating pattern is completely different during F&W than at other visits to the world. It really comes down to how you "do" the festival.

 

[ksoehrlein]

I saved most of our snacks so we could use them at the F&WF booths (October 15, IIRC). Well, there was a computer glitch and several booths could only take cash -- which I did not bring along that day! Two other booths mistakenly did a room charge instead of taking the snack credit off the card. But aside from that, it was an excellent value and I was able to get the room charges reversed and the snack credits adjusted at the Lobby Concierge, so no regrets here.

 

[bellenbuzz]

Just my opinion, but YES, do the dining plan.......
Have Fun !!

 

[Aimeedyan]

I think it'd be worth it - we quickly found that you could spend a FORTUNE on trying to sample things. Since we didn't realize how quickly the $$ added up, we would share a sample or two that looked good at each spot instead and still eat a large meal. To get full off those samples costs a TON of money.

This allowed us to try anything we wanted without trying to make it a meal.

We were so glad we had made a late reservation for dinner and snacked all day. We really were hungry!

I would use the DDP for helping take the sting out of those sample prices and still use the table service credits (even if you didn't use it the day or two you were touring Epcot, you could still use them for a table service meal on another day and just eat two that day)

 

[Lovelise]

I have never been to Disney during the food and wine festiva,but my family was there earlier this month,and we deided not to go for the dining plan.Well,while we were there,we saved up all our receipts for all the food we bought,and were surprised to see that the dining plan really is worth getting.We spent almost as much without the dining plan,as getting it would have cost us.However,we didnt have the deserts or the appetizers with our meals,in trying to keep some of the cost down .So we decided for our next trip,we are definetly going to use the dining plan.It really is worth it.

 

[gigi1313]

we loved the DDP during the F&W Fest... it worked great and by using most of our snack credits to sample around the world, and grab counter service for the kids when we got to McD's (in epcot near canada) we "saved" a TS one day and were able to enjoy Artist Point (2 credit TS) the next...

 

[NMW]

WE used the DDP during the F&W this year. We used a lot of snack credits for samples. I vote yes!

 

[ReneeA]

The next time I go is going to be during the F & W festival using the DDP.

I think it would be great.

 

[Delaware Mike]

DW and I used DDP during F&W last year, and had a wonderful time! We saved almost all of our Snack Credits for use at the booths. Here's the list I posted upon our return to Reality World: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1239133 Everything was allowed for a Snack Credit...even the $6.50 Lobster Roll at the USA booth near the American Adventure. Oh, and my favorites, Beef Cabbage Roll, Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies and Paczki at the Poland booth near Canada. Talk about choices....

While I agree, one gets tied to a restaurant and preplanning is required to make the best use of the Plan and TS, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, IMHO. The biggest advantage for us was the $299.06 savings gained using DDP over paying OOP (2 adults, 8 nights). (DW and I just happened to go through our receipts last night, so that's how I know the amount to the penny.)

There IS a lot of food on the plan's TSs, however we didn't order more than usual. We sometimes left dessert behind, and sometimes had it boxed "to go" for the next day's brekkie.

Preplanning and ADRs are nothing new to us, since we always advance plan what we'll be doing once we arrive at the World. We find that's simply part of the overall fun. Doing this, we ensure we'll get to all the WDW experiences important to us and eat where we "always wanted to try that...". Oh, and we find we don't have to endure the usual "whattayawannadotoday?" conversation each WDW morning, especially when we haven't had any coffee yet...We've already addressed that issue before getting there.

Whatever it's worth, I hope this opinion helps...

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Oh, and we find we don't have to endure the usual "whattayawannadotoday?" conversation each WDW morning, especially when we haven't had any coffee yet...We've already addressed that issue before getting there.

OMG! That is so us - I usually take my parents on trips and they are so indecisive and we are all concerned about making the wrong choice that it turns into a big thing of what do you want to do? I don't know. What do you want to do? I don't know. What do you want to do?

Back on topic though. We had the dining plan when we went last October during F&W. My only thought is that you might want to book a 2 credit meal and skip a big dinner the night you do the festival. We didn't get to try half of what we wanted because we were concerned about being too full for our dinner at the Coral Reef (which was excellent). Also, look at the booths and decide what you really want to try. We just started at one side and travelled around the WS. The samples were okay but as it turned out, if we had gone around the other way, we probably would have enjoyed it more.

 

[Delaware Mike]

My only thought is that you might want to book a 2 credit meal and skip a big dinner the night you do the festival.

Good point. We didn't do TS every night. We saved TS credits for one or two Signature meals. On the "EPCOT Grazing Day" (as we call it) we do Snacks Credits and maybe a CS, but no TS.

No doubt, there is a lot of food on DDP. If I let myself gorge all week, I know I'd have to spend a lot of time with the threadmill and bowflex upon return to Reality World!

 

[allik07]

Many thanks to all!
That is some great advice about using the DDP during F&WF.
I think we will definitely do the DP...I'm really looking forward to it now!!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

You may also want to grab a bottle of water before you start.

I found some of the food to be overpowering and I really needed a drink between tastings.

 

[ncbyrne]

The DDP and F&W is a perfect match! We spent one day with a group of DISers, "noshing around the world". We didn't make any dining plans that day, just tasted the sample items all the way around the lake using snack credits until we ran out! We used the extra TS to book a night at HDDR.