Mistakes you made the 1st time you did DDP.

[tricia]

This was a great thread! We also made the mistake of hoarding snack credits and then trying to spend them all the day we left. This year we will use the snack credits for breakfast items as well as fun snacks throughout the day. I also made our ADR's too close together last time and we were full going to our next meal. I've learned a few ideas off this thread. Keep it coming.

We use our snack credits for breakfast. Can get a bagel or a croissant, or a danish, or muffin. Works for us, then an early lunch. We have never ended up with left over credits.

My daughter and I will be doing the dining plan this coming July, so there will be
2 A and 2 C. We are getting the 2 QCS each a meal a day with 2 snack each a day.
We decide that we will be paying for 1 character meal out of pocket and 2 TS meals out of pocket, as the boys love rainforest cafe and the new T-rex place at downtown Disney.

That will leave us 3 QCS meal each left over. We thought we would use that for Breakfast for the boys. Since we don't eat breakfast, I'm now finding that we can't do that because you not suppose to share.
Listed below is from Disney world Dinning Brochure.
(Sorry, meal entitlements can not be shared between Guests ages 10+ and Guests ages 3-9.)
Do you think it would be better if I send my daughter out to the food court to bring the food back to the room?

We also were going to share all the meals, we would share one adult meal for us and the boys would share a child meal, that way we all could eat 4 small meal a day, since it would be so hot in July, It would be too hot to eat a big meal. We have been in July the last three years.

When we paid for it out of pocket, no one told us we couldn't do this, as this is something we have always done. I didn't think there would be any problem doing this on the dinning plan. first time we ate in July, you wouldn't believe the food we threw away, so we just started to share meals but eat more times a day. If we were hungry we would go back and get more.

I'm kind of wishing now, that I didn't get the dinner plan. I don't want anyone thinking we are cheating Disney, but we are eating the way we always did. We look at the snacks as a plus, we could get the boys ice cream or pop corn.

The only reason we didn't do the 1TS and 1CS a day is because I don't think we could eat that many TS. To me three is way too many TS in 7 days.
At rainforest cafe and T-rex we brought 2 adult meals, BQ ribs and shared with the boys, We still threw away food. We have never had anyone say that we couldn't share meals, when we are paying for it.

Do you really have trouble if you are sharing using the dinning plan? Has anyone ever had anyone say anything to you for doing this?

I am not quite understanding either. Are there only 2 people out of 4 getting the dining plan?
If 4 people are staying in the room, then all 4 must be on the same dining plan.

 

[veraletta]

There are 2 adults and 2 Children.
We are all getting the 2cs each and 2 snacks each.
Are we aloud to share?

 

[katieam1]

There are 2 adults and 2 Children.
We are all getting the 2cs each and 2 snacks each.
Are we aloud to share?

Do you mean share between you or share with someone not on the plan?

Yes, between the people on the plan you can share your counter service meals. You would just go up and buy your food, then take it to the table and eat. You would just have another credit to use at another location. Some meals are big enough for two people to share! That would make it so you can use your credits at a lot of different places (like Epcot) with out feeling so stuffed. But you are not suppose to share with people not on the plan. We went in January and got a couple of CS and shared with our kids. It was nice! Just be sure not to have a lot of credits left at the end!

 

[MelanieC]

After reading the post again, i see that somehow 2 boys come into the picture that are not on the plan..are the boys just coming in afterward since everybody on the reservation has to have the same options?
Little bit confused about the math and how the 3 QS meals left over came to be...

She means that she is getting 2 qs per person per day(so 4 total - 2 adult & 2 chd per day. She is eating 3 TS OOP, so there are 3 QS left per person.


Veraletta - Since you will have 12 QS left - I don't see any reason you can't use them for the kids for breakfast. Of those 12 - 6 of them entitle you to adult QS meals and 6 entitle you to child QS meals. Just have the adults order them for them and if your using one of the 6 adults - you can order an adult meal (just tell them they are for you - your entitled to those 6 adult meals) and for the 6 that are for the kids just order the kids breakfasts. No one says you have to order 4 QS meals at a time, so ordering 2 breakfasts - or even 1 breakfast and sharing is allowed. Heck you can even use the QS for 1 breakfast and 1 snack after you are back at your hotel. They are there to use whenever and any combination you see fit.

You are not supposed to share, but in this situation and with the QS dining plan - many people share a meal here and there to save up credits. Heck - some people even share at TS and only spend one credit. Where it really becomes a problem is on buffets or family style meals.

Heck - if one person eats all the snacks and the other 3 in the party don't want any - it really doesn't matter in the end.

 

[ctbusymom]

DH, DDs (12 and 13) and I are going for free dining Aug 30- Sept 5. All these tips will help us a lot. As God is my witness, we won't have snack credits left over!!

Sheryl

 

[snykymom]

As God is my witness, we won't have snack credits left over!!

And you'll never be hungry again!

 

[katieam1]

DH, DDs (12 and 13) and I are going for free dining Aug 30- Sept 5. All these tips will help us a lot. As God is my witness, we won't have snack credits left over!!

Sheryl

We had snacks left over and we went to Magic Kingdom and got a whole bunch of fudge and we also went to DTD and got a whole bunch of stuff to take home with us from Goofys! We really liked that. We drove so it was nice to have in the car and to give some to our family when we got home. They really liked that! That was a great tip I got from here on the Dis!! We will be doing that again this trip!! We will be going in August (it will be hotter than it was in January for Sure!! So we will probably use more snack credits on ice cream too!!)

 

[woodnymph]

We'll be doing DDP for the first time in September. We've always eaten CS and brought a lot of our own snacks. Just wanted to thank everybody for all the great tips!!!

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Mistakes: Ate too much desserts. (Will get more fruit next time. But that temptaion....)

As far as I know you can get a CS and share. I've shared a piece of chocolate cake with my whole family as the piece was huge, it was expensive and it is too many calories for 1 person.

It would be the TS and buffets you cannot share.

 

[Snork]

We made two mistakes the first time we had free dining on the DDP.

1) We ate at all the "have to" eateries like Le Cellier, CRT, Chef Mickeys... All of those places are good, but there is other food in the parks that I felt were better. For example, I like the steaks at Kona better compared to Le Cellier . I felt that the CS at POR was better then CRT, you pay for the princesses and you dont get to take one home... I would suggest that you try the must do's, but also throw a couple of other resteraunts in the mix and you might be surprised.

2) We were wrong to assume that the most expensive menu item was the best. We ate steaks all around our first trip and later we learn that we should go with what we are hungry for instead of the expensive items. At the Brown Derby my wife likes the ahi tuna and I like the pork tenderloin over the strip steak.

I am going to add one more; We ate everything on our plates and that was alot of food. Practice portion control to avoid uncomfortable situations.

 

[veraletta]

MelanieC Thanks
We are all going to be on the QC plan, just can't see us all eating a meal each at the same time.
It was so hot last year, that the two boys would share one meal and my daughter and I, would share a meal. that way we all could eat smaller meals but we would eat more times in a day. LOL.

With us paying for TS, we would each have 3 QC left over, so I thought we could use them for the boys. we were thinking the boys would eat breakfast before we leave the resort.

I hope I can clear it up, that we are all going to be on the plan.
Just hope we will be able to share.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

Well, it was the first time going as an adult and we thought it was a good deal all around for the money because we wouldn't have to worry about the cost of everything it was already paid for. This is the kicker, we were disney visa card holders and i was not on the dis so i had no idea we could have eaten for free, it was during free dinning and we would have had 4 adults and 1 child, so needless to say i was less than happy 6 months later when i was planning my next vacation and found out we all could have eaten free The next thing was i thought it would be a good idea to make dinning res because everytime i would call disney the would ask me about them, when i brought the idea to the group i was told "to go with the flow we won't worry about that" never again!!!!!!! I was saying i told you so all week. We just ended up eating at really wierd hours and not where we wanted everytime. But even with all that we had fun and thought it was worth it....

 

[Coparm]

Again I agree on the snack's, we had loads left and had paid OOP for things we could have used the credits for.

The interesting thing I did find out was that if we had paid OOP for a meal and had the receipt and credits left that they could switch the meal to the credits and refund us thet cash, likewise if we wanted to pay OOP for a meal after the fact they could let us do that and credit us back the TS credits. We paid OOP for crystal palace but at the end still had a TS credit left each, so they refunded us the cost of the meal and used the credits instead. Make sure you keep your receipts!!

 

[Camping Cat]

lampshadehead: We are getting the 2 Quick service meals each a day with each getting 2 snack each a day, Plus we each get a Resort refillable mug. 1 Arcade play card, 1 golf voucher, 1 Planet hollywood merchh. VCHR, 1 Planet Hollywood $15 meal VCHR. 1 Sea Raycer offer voucher.
I was shock we were get the refillable mug.

Is this a special deal or does everyone getting the QSDP get all this? I knew about the refillable mug but not all the other things....1 Arcade play card, 1 golf voucher, 1 Planet hollywood merchh. VCHR, 1 Planet Hollywood $15 meal VCHR. 1 Sea Raycer offer voucher. I hope to get an answer soon because we leave in 8 days. Woo Hoo!

 

[lampshadehead]

Is this a special deal or does everyone getting the QSDP get all this? I knew about the refillable mug but not all the other things....1 Arcade play card, 1 golf voucher, 1 Planet hollywood merchh. VCHR, 1 Planet Hollywood $15 meal VCHR. 1 Sea Raycer offer voucher. I hope to get an answer soon because we leave in 8 days. Woo Hoo!

When you get a plan, you get the vouchers and all that crap ........
I just still wanted to say that it seems like the poster is under the impression that with the QSDP, the she will get 2QS and 2snacks per person per day, when actually the QSDP is 2 quick meals and 1 snack per person per day

 

[veraletta]

Camping Cat It's what I was told and also what was on my reservation confirmation that they e-mail me. We are doing the Ap deal.
So I would say anyone that booked for the AP deal will get it.
it also says in the email, Two Quick service meals each and Two feature snacks each, Plus refillable mug.
We also changed our dates and they had to redo our reservation again, it was also in the e-mail.

 

[teach22180]

When you get a plan, you get the vouchers and all that crap ........
I just still wanted to say that it seems like the poster is under the impression that with the QSDP, the she will get 2QS and 2snacks per person per day, when actually the QSDP is 2 quick meals and 1 snack per person per day

The QSDP is 2 meals and 2 snacks. It's the regular plan that has only one snack.

 

[veraletta]

lampshadehead
When you get a plan, you get the vouchers and all that crap ........
I just still wanted to say that it seems like the poster is under the impression that with the QSDP, the she will get 2QS and 2snacks per person per day, when actually the QSDP is 2 quick meals and 1 snack per person per day

I'm not under the impression that I get the 2qs and 2 snacks per person per day, I don't want to sound mean but that is what
my reservation confirmation says that I will get.
Note that:
The QSDP is 2 meals and 2 snacks. It's the regular plan that has only one snack.

 

[lisalonglash]

Camping Cat It's what I was told and also what was on my reservation confirmation that they e-mail me. We are doing the Ap deal.
So I would say anyone that booked for the AP deal will get it.
it also says in the email, Two Quick service meals each and Two feature snacks each, Plus refillable mug.
We also changed our dates and they had to redo our reservation again, it was also in the e-mail.

Absolutely true. Here is the description from http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/packages/2009-packages.htm#mypqsd:

NEW FOR 2009 - The Magic Your Way Package Plus Quick Service Dining
This package includes:

Stay 1 -10 nights at a Disney Resort
Magic Your Way Base Ticket
This package includes everything listed in the starter Disney package
Includes the Disney Quick Service Dining Package:

Choose from participating Quick Service Restaurants

Two Quick Service Meals per person, per night
Two snacks per person, per night
One Resort Refillable Mug per person, per package

 

[inkedupmomma]

I realized after that you were talking about another poster Veraletta lol..so yes YOU ARE right, it is 2 snack pp per day!

lampshadehead
When you get a plan, you get the vouchers and all that crap ........
I just still wanted to say that it seems like the poster is under the impression that with the QSDP, the she will get 2QS and 2snacks per person per day, when actually the QSDP is 2 quick meals and 1 snack per person per day

I'm not under the impression that I get the 2qs and 2 snacks per person per day, I don't want to sound mean but that is what
my reservation confirmation says that I will get.
Note that:
The QSDP is 2 meals and 2 snacks. It's the regular plan that has only one snack.

I'm sorry, but you had the wrong info mailed to you. You DO get 2 snacks pp on the QSDP

Straight from Disney's site:

2009 Magic Your Way Package Plus Quick Service Dining

The Walt Disney World Vacation Package with Quick-Service Dining.

This vacation package includes a Disney Resort stay and a customizable Magic Your Way Base Ticket, as well as a dining plan that helps you save up to 20% on your Disney dining needs. Eat at participating quick-service restaurants and receive 2 quick-service meals and 2 snacks per person per night of your package stay. You'll also receive a mug you can refill as often as you like at any quick-service restaurant at your Resort hotel.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/vacation-packages/2009/quick-serve-dining/