DDP - too much food?

pjulie75

pjulie75

Member
Original Poster
Hi

I am going away in 27 days:sohappy: and have booked our ADR. We haven't booked the dining plan but have decided to booked some restaurants, going for 14 days and have made 8 reservations spread out throughout our stay. I just wondered, for people on the dining plan, isn't it too much to eat soooooo much at Disney restaurants with all the rich food don't you get fed up of the "fancy dinners" and just want something plain?

When we are away on holiday we usual start getting a bit fed up of big dinners especially with the heat on holiday, it seems to put us off food:hurl:. We are hoping to maybe grab a pizza one night, a sandwich, light quick bites rather than large dinners. Don't get me wrong we love restaurants and it is a treat to eat out especially in Disney but reading lists and lists of restaurants people are intending to visit got me thinking.
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
pjulie75 said:
Hi

I am going away in 27 days:sohappy: and have booked our ADR. We haven't booked the dining plan but have decided to booked some restaurants, going for 14 days and have made 8 reservations spread out throughout our stay. I just wondered, for people on the dining plan, isn't it too much to eat soooooo much at Disney restaurants with all the rich food don't you get fed up of the "fancy dinners" and just want something plain?

When we are away on holiday we usual start getting a bit fed up of big dinners especially with the heat on holiday, it seems to put us off food:hurl:. We are hoping to maybe grab a pizza one night, a sandwich, light quick bites rather than large dinners. Don't get me wrong we love restaurants and it is a treat to eat out especially in Disney but reading lists and lists of restaurants people are intending to visit got me thinking.
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Thats one of the reasons the plan is not for everyone.

I COULD eat all the food on the plan, but I don't WANT or NEED to eat all the food on the plan.

Other people do eat a snack/QSFB/Sit down meal each day.

If I grab some "junk" (ice cream, snackie food from WS, stuff like that) then thats pretty much lunch for me.

Breakfast is coffee - maybe depending on the plans for the day some toast or a bagel (but you cant get bagels in WDW - thats a different story)

So yes, for me, I agree with you, the plan is not worth it. For other people it is.


-dave
 
djpoore94

djpoore94

Well-Known Member
I agree that the dining plan can be too much food, but for us having good sit down meals (most places have some somewhat healthy choices) keeps us from eating so much "junk" food. We usually use a few snack credits on things like Dole Whips, or other special treats, but we typically save most of them and end up getting things for the plane trip and to have when we get home.
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I agree with you, as well. For our honeymoon next month, we really considered the dining plan (we thought, if ever we are going to want to eat at lots of nice restaurants, it would be on our honeymoon), but we opted out--it's just too much food. I don't think I would be able to walk around the parks after all that food. So, instead we staggered our sit down meals so that we have a nice sit-down every other day.
 
DizneyPryncess

DizneyPryncess

Well-Known Member
It is too much food for us too. It just depends on the people going, and how many big meals they plan on eating. It's great for some people, not so much for others. We were so overly full on our last trip - eating less than we would've on the DDP - that I don't know what we would've done had we had more food we had to eat!
 
foreverbelle

foreverbelle

Well-Known Member
yep i to agree. it is sooo much and to much food for me....but DH loves it and always thinks its worth it....the plan isn't for everyone however it can be a really good deal at the same time.
 
pjulie75

pjulie75

Member
Original Poster
I do think it is a wonderful idea, great treat eating in Disney restaurants and it helps you budget as food is already paid but just too much food.

In Disneyland Paris we stayed in a Disney hotel, so breakfast was complimentary and consisted of crossiants, cheeses, cold meats, cereal, fresh fruit and we purchased Dining Plan for 1 meal per day which I think was excellent, you could us vouchers whenever you wanted but purchased 1 for each night you stayed. I think this is a far better idea.:)
 
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
I was on the quick service plan last week, by the last night of my stay, I still had 3 QS meals and 5 snacks left. It is A LOT of food even on the quick service plan.

I have decided I like being free - the QS plan kept me from eating at places I would have wanted to go like Rainforrest, Beaches and Cream, and other table service places.

Will I get it again? Probally not.
 
worldfanatic

worldfanatic

Well-Known Member
Wife & I are are kind of caught in between on the Dining plans. Virtually every day at WDW, we eat 2 sit down meals. So the basic plan isn't enough, and the 3 table service Deluxe plan is too much.

We also are rarely interested in the most expensive items on the menu. Which are beneficial to order when trying to get full value on your DDP.

The final straw for us is that we prefer water with our meals unless ordering an alcoholic beverage. So the included drink is totally useless.

It all depends on how people will use it, but for us, the DDP will never be an option.
 
G

gspin2k1

Member
pjulie75 said:
Hi

I am going away in 27 days:sohappy: and have booked our ADR. We haven't booked the dining plan but have decided to booked some restaurants, going for 14 days and have made 8 reservations spread out throughout our stay. I just wondered, for people on the dining plan, isn't it too much to eat soooooo much at Disney restaurants with all the rich food don't you get fed up of the "fancy dinners" and just want something plain?

When we are away on holiday we usual start getting a bit fed up of big dinners especially with the heat on holiday, it seems to put us off food:hurl:. We are hoping to maybe grab a pizza one night, a sandwich, light quick bites rather than large dinners. Don't get me wrong we love restaurants and it is a treat to eat out especially in Disney but reading lists and lists of restaurants people are intending to visit got me thinking.
Click to expand...
'

I made a huge spreadsheet that discovered that the Disney Dining Plan wasn't really worth it. However, I did go with it anyway. Mainly because it got that portion of the trip out of the way. It was very nice because we no longer had to think about budgeting for food period when we were on our trip. Just went to our quick service or table restaurant ordred what we wanted and it was done. Sign for the tip and it's all good.

Even though we pretty much wasted half of the food we ordered it was also nice because since we were on vacation and we both got appetizers and desserts each with our entree (we normally would share or skip). We just ordered them anyway. Haven't you ever looked at a menu and saw two appetizers or desserts and just wanted to pick both. In this case now you can and then you can just sample it..and hey if you don't eat it all..it was already paid for so who cares if you waste it right?

That's how we treated the disney deluxe dining plan. and by ordering everything we were entitled to, we technically saved money, and we also lost money by wasting half our food...but just being able to have an even more care-free vacation made it all worth it. I would recommend the disney dining plan. Because honestly the most we would've saved between my girlfriend and I for our 5 nights would've been maybe 200-300..at absolute most...and it would've required us to be constantly budgeting, eating more quik service, picking up groceries, etc etc and just take away from our vacation.

So if you can afford it I recommend the disney dining plan.

~G
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Which is exactly why Disney pushes it. Figure how many people end up not using their snack credits, or splitting a desert instead of getting 2 separate ones. That is all bonus money. As it is, you only come out ahead by a bit if you plan your meal choices carefully, so Disney just ends up making more when you don't eat/use it all.
 
G

gspin2k1

Member
dreamfinder said:
Which is exactly why Disney pushes it. Figure how many people end up not using their snack credits, or splitting a desert instead of getting 2 separate ones. That is all bonus money. As it is, you only come out ahead by a bit if you plan your meal choices carefully, so Disney just ends up making more when you don't eat/use it all.
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I'm somewhat of a foodie and when I'm on vacation I like to sample a lot of things on menus (even if I don't plan to finish it or eat a lot of it). So for ppl like me it's worth it (cus it did save us some money given what we ordered). Not to mention it took the pain away if you wanted to order the most expensive thing on the menu. No longer that crappy feeling you'd get when you order a $39 filet mignon vs the $27 Curry Shrimp.

However, if eating isn't a huge contribution to what makes your vacation, that yeah don't both with the DDP.

I did like the snacks too because it meant less things I had to carry in the park and honestly anything that saves you more and more weight in your backpack is a blessing. i.e. Even though I could've spent so much less on water by bringing in a lot into the park, by using a snack credit to get a bottle of water it was an extra 20-40 ounces of water I didn't have to carry around for 3-4 hours until I needed it.

Honestly there's no right answer. I spent so long stressing about whether or not to do it I practically drove my gf insane..and we just got it anyway and it worked out for the best.


~G
 
sjead

sjead

New Member
We have gone with and without the dining plan. First time we used it, tip and appetizers were included (those were the days ;)) and that was a huge savings. We then skipped it last time we went because we couldn't justify the cost considering that we rarely eat desserts at lunch ( and would split one between at least two of us if we ordered dessert at dinner) and two of my children can share a kids meal and be happy. Now this time. . . it's FREE so we are of course going to use it. I do plan to keep track of what the cost would have been for comparison to decide if it is indeed worth it when we have to pay out of pocket for it.

I think if you plan on desserts and/ or a lot of character meals, it may be worth it. If you plan on doing signature dining exclusively, the regular plan is definitely not worth it and if you are in- between it may be a toss up.
 
ThinkTink721

ThinkTink721

Well-Known Member
We always seem to have a few snacks left.
I guess it's because we always to to conserve them at the beginning of the trip & forget to keep up w/ them.
We wind up trading the credits for candy at the resort.
 
techiegsy

techiegsy

Member
on the subject of DDP, can the meal credits be used for things like souvenirs, I have heard this but not sure if it is a rumour or not...
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Donald Duck said:
yes, the DDP is a lot of food...by I can eat it all...and then some...just ask Phonedave!!!
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Have I eaten with you somewhere ? :)


As I said, I COULD eat it all (and then some) but then its really eating for the sake of eating. While there may be some places in WDW where I have a hard time deciding between two items on the menu, very often there is only one that stands out. Most of the time its not the overpriced generic filet either.

Now I have to go renew my tables in wonderland card :) (%20 off booze, now THATS a dining plan)

-dave
 

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