DDP for a week without spending an extra dime on food?

[Pennsylvania Dad]

I have read a few threads about intercoters spending a week at WDW with Free Dining and raving about how they didn't spend a dime on food all week!

I don't believe them!

I have done three different WDW trips with free dining and I no matter how hard I try, somehow I always end up spending a semi-significant amount of money on food! And my family and I are not huge eaters.

I always end up buying a breakfast or two (Or a few lunches. Or a dinner. Or a soda...etc.)

Is it just me or is one TS, one CS, and one snack not enough to really feed a family of five for seven days?

I'm not complaining (I love the DDP, especially when it's free!). I'm just wondering if anyone thinks it is realistic for a family to live solely off the Dining Plan for their entire stay.

Please share your strategies/success stories for living on nothing but the food provided by the DDP!!

[LiloLovesTheKing26]

I think you always probably spend more if you have kids! I'm sure not everyone is always hungry at the same time and other factors. Especially if you get up early and go all day. My husband and I don't have kids and normally don't get up until 9 or so. So we usually hold out and skip breakfast but eat a really early lunch around 11, have our snack in the late afternoon then have dinner around 7. So for us it works without spending extra money!!

[Zippy 1]

We have done DDP and managed to do it with only spending $50 out of pocket. My husband loves to snack. My DD and I usually share a lunch and occasionally a dinner. So we save credits that way. We usually eat a late breakfast or an early lunch and then do dinner a little on the late side. We have always found it to be enough food except for my husbands extra snacks.

[Mickey91]

We spend very little but there is always a meal when we first arrive and before we leave that isn't covered on the dining plan. Plus we usually need more beverages throughout the day and we use our snack credit for breakfast and use our refillable mugs (but those are around $13 per person now) to get coffee or hot chocolate. Even if you bring your own breakfast and/or drinks, it is money spent on food and beverage.

[beksy]

We probably could do it but have never managed to! :blush: We can never seem to narrow it down to just one TS meal a day when I have to go to Kona for breakfast at least once a trip and my sister has to go to Chef Mickey's at least once a trip. Plus we always do at least one signature restaurant. So even with the best intentions we have one or two meals OOP for TS. CS is always covered and we get the refillable mugs and split drinks at CS meals so we have a bottle of water for later. We still usually end up spending more for drinks which is my fault since I hate water fountain water AND don't want to use my snack credit for something that cheap when there are Dole Whip floats, etc. Lately we have been going with the Deluxe plan and it works out well and we do not spend extra. This is when Mom is going with us and she has to spend a good bit of downtime so we go to more TS breakfasts, signature restaurants, and she loves her snacks! My sister and I can skip breakfast or get a snack but Mom needs something more so we are doing CS at least every day and when she gets to Disney she is like a kid (similar to most of us :mickey:) and doesn't understand that I can't just go up to a restaurant and get her in all the time. Luckily she tends to pick easy ones to get into and we go during slower times! So at times we end up with three TS a day but we do love to eat! :D

[Dedivah]

Well I don't have a family of 5, it's just 4 of us but we managed just fine.

We did have to buy one dinner but that was because we did at 2TS credit on a character breakfast. We are very much sit down meals people.

But that was also before the DDP was revamped. Our breakfast was pretty large and it held us over until dinner. We always had plenty of snack credits left over at the end so we would stock up for the trip home.

We'll see how it works out now that appetizers are not included on the CS and TS and we have to pay gratuity ourselves.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We have done it where we don't spend anymore money at Disney...but we bring bottled water, sodas and pop tarts, cereal bars etc...from home so we can eat breakfast in the rooms....

[PopPhan]

On the DDP the only thing DW and I spend money on are the tips! We generally have a number of CS credits to use up on our last day! I am no slouch of an eater -- 5'10", 300# -- but always have more than enough to eat from the DDP.

[Stu29573]

We did it and we didn't even try!

We used the snack credits for breakfast, CS for lunch and TS for dinner. We are not big eaters so the amounts we ate were more than enough to hold us from one meal to the next.

Oops! I just remembered, we did get spinach dip and shakes at the 50's Dine In that we paid for.... so I guess we didn't after all.

Still seven days and that was the only thing ain't bad!:thumbsup:

[MuchLovedMama]

When we went 2 years ago and the only thing we spent out of pocket was for Rainforest Cafe...It was a must for us as it always will be. We did however take a small suitcase filled up with snacks and drinks. This was mainly for breakfast (pop tarts, breakfast bars and stuff like that) and late night snacks. Had we not done this I'm sure we would've had to spend some more OOP.

[buzznwoodysmom]

If we bring breakfast items for a quick breakfast in the room we can most definitely do without spending additional money on food for the week. None of us are huge breakfast eaters so a quick snack in the room before we leave is plenty to get us through till lunch. We typically do QS for lunch, and afternoon snack with a snack credit, then our TS meal for dinner. Actually at the end of a week on the dining plan we often have QS and snack credits left over. We are a family of 4, and I guess we just aren't big eaters. We've used left over snack credits to buy snacks to take home with us, and we've treated others to CS meals on our last day because we had so many left over. I definitely think you can find a way to make do without spending additional money.

[#1donaldfan]

Impossible !!!! for us that is...!! We always end up paying for a drink, pretzel, something, somewhere....plus, OPP TS tips.....that's where we spend most of our $$'s in reference to "free" meals.....

[Cinderelley]

Except for tips, the DDP covers our food. As a previous poster mentioned, most of the time we use the snack for breakfast (schoolbread :D lol), QS for lunch and TS for dinner. The only exception is when we have breakfast at Crystal Palace and then switch up the snack for lunch and QS for dinner.

[Rekenna]

Hi! We too are a family of 5, love the dining plan and still spend extra money.

The QSDP was really nice for us last year, you get 2 CS, 2 snacks and mug at the resort-this is nice with little people b/c you eat on their time, not a time you planned for 6 mos ago-that was alot of food for them. We did go to T-Rex and pay out of pocket-with 3 boys this is a must do.

This year we are going for the DDP (FD) and we will still be taking juice, bottled water, soft drinks, snacks and breakfast items with us. And we will pay OOP for T-Rex for B-Day lunch. So even if we don't spend extra in the parks we still have spent money on food at some point.

If it is just DH and I we can almost make it solely on the DDP-we do tend to buy alcohol though when the boys are not with us.

So as someone else said, it really is the kids!

Sorry I couldn't offer any tips, apparently we need just as much help as you do!:mickey:

[SBETigg]

We usually pay for the dining plan, getting it "free" this time (yes, I know it's not really free but added in to the cost of the package vs rack rate yada yada), but we also spend on food beyond the plan. An extra appetizer or CS meal here and there. It's not that it's not enough food, it's that it's not the right food at the right time all the time.

We plan how we'll use our credits and then supplement around it when necessary. I do like paying in advance and while I don't save as much money on the plan as I used to, it generally works with our dining style and I do see some savings with the plan, or break even. I've never spent more on the dining plan than without it, even with extras, so I am satisfied (for now).

[HoosierDisneyFan]

Except for tips, the DDP covers "most" our food. We bring small items from home for a quick breakfast so the snack credits are only used for snacks. Since we are on vacation, I may have a ice cream bar and and a soda in the afternoon or late night snack. We are not big drinkers but we have have beer / wine with one or two of our TS meals throughout the week.

[Pop Centurion]

We typically pay for extra waters & powerade's throughout each day as well as some snacks. As for food we book ressies for a few places that we intentionally plan to pay OOP for but certainly could do without.

[AllDisney]

We use CS for breakfast (8:00AM) use snack credit around (1:00) and our TS credit for dinner. However, we enjoy wine with dinner so we also have to pay for that plus the tip.

[diz_girl]

On the DDP the only thing DW and I spend money on are the tips!

The first thing that I thought of when I saw this thread was, "They must have stiffed their server for the tip, because tips are not included in the DDP." So they have to spend extra $, at least for tips.

We had the DDP when tips were still included and we still spent extra money on food, and this was without kids. Especially when I'm on vacation, I need food for breakfast, not just a muffin or a bagel, but real food, a nice hot breakfast with eggs and the whole shebang. So we used our CS credit for lunch, our TS credit for dinner and our snack credit for water. We still paid OOP for breakfast because I eat food for breakfast, at places like the Kona Cafe, GFC and Crystal Palace. The restaurants at WDW make great eggs and I try to have them often while I'm there.

IMHO - to some PPs - bringing your own snacks/breakfasts and saying that you didn't spend anything extra isn't really true. You did spend extra money, but before the trip, just not at WDW.

[Tinker Fan]

Well rather it be the quick service or regular dining plan we were on, we did not spend any extra money on FOOD. Yes when they changed it to having to pay the tip we did put out for that and yes we did bring a box of cereal bars and went back with them!! We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids) and i am not sure why it is so hard to believe why you wouldn't have to put out extra money, the food and snacks on the plans was plenty and if you use them right it really isn't that hard.

[Belster]

We go and do not spend a dime on food. I think it is all in the timing of your meals and also depends on how your family eats.

I will say that we do purchase drinks sometimes and maybe an extra icecream or two but not much.

We ship a box over with breakfast supplies bowls, spoons and cereal...maybe cereal bars and pop tarts. So there we do not need any breakfast while on property. We eat lunch at 11:45 every day at a CS location. Then our dinner is around 6:00-6:45 sometime. When we return at the end of the night we will use our snack credit for a great snack...we are sure to use the snack credit to it's fullest potential.

Just an FYI...I also have a family of 5.

Hope this helps.

[mickey_M_lvr]

Ok...Please help me out. The last 3 times I have gone we have gotten the DDDp. LOVE IT!!! I get what I want, when I want it...and I feel like I am doing great in the savings dept. We NEVER pay for food oop....We tip OOP but that is it. Expain to me why you would pay for meals OOP when you could upgrade and have your meals covered??? :confused: I understand if it works for you...don't fix it...but I am trying to understand and see if it might be better for us the next time. Thanks All!

[LandFan]

Ok...Please help me out. The last 3 times I have gone we have gotten the DDDp. LOVE IT!!! I get what I want, when I want it...and I feel like I am doing great in the savings dept. We NEVER pay for food oop....We tip OOP but that is it. Expain to me why you would pay for meals OOP when you could upgrade and have your meals covered??? :confused: I understand if it works for you...don't fix it...but I am trying to understand and see if it might be better for us the next time. Thanks All!

Well... the deluxe plan cost a LOT more (maybe $35 more) than the regular dining plan per person per day and most people probably wouldn't need to spend that amount of money on a few snacks or one or two extra meals during the week to get them by.

Back to the op's question... We bring south beach protein bars for breakfast and eat lunch early (11:30ish) and dinner whenever and snack whenever. We save BIG on the water thing because we bring crystal light packets with us and ask for the free water with ice available at most of the CS places. The crystal light kills any weird taste the water might have.

So between the mug purchase and the free water, we really don't buy any other beverages. That saves us TREMENDOUSLY. I just can't justify buying bottled water - it just irks me : )

BTW, we are just two adults and the occasional teenager (DN14) so it IS a bit easier for us.

[kakn7294]

We've done it a few times. I can't really give you any tips or secrets though. We just planned our meals and stuck to it. CS credits were used as a family.

[SurferStitch]

DH and I did the DDP once, and we definitely had to spend OOP for several meals and snacks.

We do several signature dinners per trip, so that ate up credits right there. Also, we love to have a couple character breakfasts, so there was more OOP. Add in a few extra snacks for the days where we used our snack credits for breakfast, and we add a pretty good amount extra in addition to the DDP.

DH and I are not big eaters at all, and with the way we like to do signature dinners, there was no way at all that the DDP covered the way we ate. It still saved us money at the time (dessert and appetizers AND tip included, so this was a while ago), but we had to pay OOP, too. And, we still went home the same weight that we showed up with. :thumbsup:

[Janmac]

Since the DDP went into effect, we have spent money OOP for extra table service meals. We realized on our last trip that we could probably save money by getting the deluxe plan, as we prefer to eat a table service for breakfast and another for supper. We used to, before the DDP, eat a table service for lunch too. Used to make 3 ADRs a day, each day.

One day last spring we sat down with the menus info here at Intercot and picked out a week's worth of meals and even on days with buffets for breakfast and supper and a counter service lunch, we would break even. On other days we were at least $20 over the cost of the daily deluxe.

What got us to really thinking about the deluxe dining plan was when we saw snack size servings of Silk in the cooler at Roaring Fork at Wilderness Lodge. With that and the fruit available on snack credits, we don't even think we'd make a Garden Grocer order, altho we'd likely bring some coffee from home. Some of us like our morning coffee, asap.

We would not be happy on only the food from either the quick service plan or the regular dining plan. It seems to me, that if you're bringing foods for breakfast or snacks from home, you're augmenting your dining plan.

Jan

[crazeedizneefinatic]

we never really spend oop money for a meal or snacks when on the dining plan...we usually don't hit the parks till around 10:30 or 11:00 and have a counter service meal then our sit down meal later around 6 or 7....and we always have snack credits left...maybe it's the heat not making us want to eat or just being too busy but we have always found the credits to be sufficient....I do take that back we usually do pay oop on the 1st day we are there but it's usually just a meal from the resort food court so I guess that counts. Who knows this year may be different we are going on a bounceback so have the regular "free" dining but lately my 10 year old has been eating me out of house and home...lol