Your secret revealed about the disney dining plan

[masonsmousermom]

Do you have a secret or a tip about using the disney dining plan? Have you found a spectacular deal using a snack credit? Have you used your DDP credits creatively or is there a goodie out there in the parks, resorts, etc. that we wouldn't normally think of purchasing (esp. snack credits!)

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Regarding the snack credits, you can pretty much get anything under $4 and in our resort- pop century, we got a whole box of entenman's doughnuts for 1 snack credit. They were great for breakfast. You can also get 2 liter sodas.

 

[thunderbird1]

Great idea! I'm curious to hear what others have to say. As for me. . .

I read that last year you could use snack credits for any food item at the F&WF--including things like the Maine lobster roll, which had a sticker price of $6.50. Now that's a bargain!

Two tips for CHH: Parent wants fish & chips, kid wants the hard to find chicken strips--what to do? The Captain's special, of course! Fish for the adult (2 pieces, I think), chicken strips for the kid (also 2 pieces, I think) and plenty of fries to share, all for only one CS credit. And while we were there last year, a CM allowed someone to substitute a cup of chowder or vegetarian chili for the dessert, just in case the fish wasn't enough and/or you just can't face another piece of chocolate cake.

 

[kdkbrebel]

subscribing.

 

[dizcrazy]

Great advice re: DDP from the thread Dining Plan Problems

Do not link your cc with your room key OR have a key (usually for the kids) that is not linked to the cc and labeled NOT FOR CHARGING and pay for your meals with that card. Too many people are reporting that they told the CM to use the meal credits, but instead discovered their cc was charged!

 

[masonsmousermom]

Great advice re: DDP from the thread Dining Plan Problems

Do not link your cc with your room key OR have a key (usually for the kids) that is not linked to the cc and labeled NOT FOR CHARGING and pay for your meals with that card. Too many people are reporting that they told the CM to use the meal credits, but instead discovered their cc was charged!

Great advise there. I never thought of that happening, but now I'll make sure we keep this separate!

 

[PaulaSB12]

Great advice re: DDP from the thread Dining Plan Problems

Do not link your cc with your room key OR have a key (usually for the kids) that is not linked to the cc and labeled NOT FOR CHARGING and pay for your meals with that card. Too many people are reporting that they told the CM to use the meal credits, but instead discovered their cc was charged!

Only works if you have more than one room key, for us solos I don't see how you can do it. They did charge California grill to my room charge but took it off when I pointed it out.

 

[thunderbird1]

The most important thing is to check your receipts after each purchase. Both Spoodles and 'Ohana accidentally charged meals to our room instead of using credits. Because we caught them right away, before we'd even signed, they just backed the charge out and used credits instead, and it wasn't an issue.

If you're really worried, bicker recommends not putting any charging privileges on your KTTW card at all. When you need to purchase something, just use your CC or cash. That way, you'll have no accidental charges.

Any more tips out there? C'mon DIS'ers, this is your area of expertise!

 

[thelionqueen]

We like to eat as many dinners as possible. We will have some fruit or something healthy in the room early, then have an early dinner so we can use our TS credits for dinners. I also am horribly addicted to WDW popcorn, so 90% of our snack credits go there

 

[Belle5]

subscribing

 

[mrzrich]

subscribing.

subscribing

Hey guys don't know if you know this, but you don't have to post anything to just subscribe just click on the "thread tools" at the top of the thread. One of the choices is "Subscribe to this thread"

 

[Lewisc]

Many of us were tempted to avoid using snack credits for bottled water. Save the credits for more expensive items. You get dessert with your CS meal (lunch) and with your TS meal (dinner). Most days I didn't want an extra ice cream.

I used my extra snack credits for food for the trip home but it makes sense to make sure you use your snack credits during your stay. Use them for breakfast items or for drinks.

edited to add
Sharing CS meals isn't always diet friendly. Frequently the only way you'll have enough food is if you eat all the stuff you shouldn't be eating; breakfast potatoes and fries for example. Times I don't share I throw out most of those items but when I share we wind up finishing the potatoes.

 

[TiffanyK]

Always check your receipt. It gives a "guest count" which should equal the number of meals you ordered.

Also, we share CS meal because they're so big (not using child for adult) and had extras left over on our last day. We used those to get food for the road and had a great picnic dinner that night at a rest stop.

 

[pooch]

this worked the best for us last year. DD(21) and DS(16) slept til noon!!! DH and I would go to breakfast (WL) and order the biggest one thay had. Eggs, pancakes, bacon, biscuit & juice. This was more than enough for the 2 of us. The kids had donuts (doz entemenns) and juice (half gal) which we purchased at the resort store for 1 snack credit each. They'd meet us at the park around 1PM and we'd go to lunch. Usually 2 CS fed all of us. It was hot so our appetites weren't huge and the CS were!!! We'd then use SC for frozen lemonades & pretzels &, again, share. We all used our own TS each night. At the end of 10 days, we had 1 TS, 5 CS and 11 SC left!! It really could have been more left but it took a couple of days to figure the plan out and we wasted at least 4 CS and another TS in the process. It was free so, although I did try to take stuff home, I didn't obssess about it. Can't wait to do it all again in Sept.

 

[Praying Colonel]

We found that most days we were too full for dinner if we ate a late lunch. What worked best for us was having lunch around 11:15 or 11:30. Not only did it help us be ready for dinner but also allowed us to beat the lunch rush.

Also, we found that we weren't using our snack credits during the day because we were full from lunch and dinner. So we would use our snack credits to get something from the bakery for breakfast, which was more than enough to hold us over for our early lunch.

 

[Desnik]

Great advice re: DDP from the thread Dining Plan Problems

Do not link your cc with your room key OR have a key (usually for the kids) that is not linked to the cc and labeled NOT FOR CHARGING and pay for your meals with that card. Too many people are reporting that they told the CM to use the meal credits, but instead discovered their cc was charged!

Great advice and thanks for posting this!!!
I was so worried about being charged when we are on the DDP but never thought about just not getting the charging priviledges on the room card!

 

[Colleen27]

We shared a lot of the CS meals, because so many of them are just too much food for one person. A half chicken at Tusker House or a pizza & salad at the Toy Story arcade makes a great lunch for two, and your CS credits go twice as far.

I'm really looking forward to the next trip, now that I've found the DIS. Armed with the updated snack list sticky, I plan to drink myself into a caffeine overdose on all those snack credit cappuchinos.

 

[skater]

I second the idea to use snack credits for breakfast. It worked great at our resort food court for muffins.

If you purchase refillable mugs at your resort, remember to get a water bottle for your drink with your meal. We used our mugs for drinks and the water bottles at the park the next day.

 

[mrsltg]

My dd6 and I usually share counter service meals. However, I don't obsess over it. If she wants chicken fingers and I want a cheeseburger we go our separate ways! I use my snack credits for treats at the MK bakery. I never understand how people can have SC left over - get a bottle of water!

 

[party_of_five]

Goofy's Candy Shop in DTD accepts SC you can get create your own Rice Krispy Treat, pretzels and oreos. We stopped by to use up our snack credits on the last day.