Appetites at the world

I regularly read on the boards of people stating that the DDP includes way to much food. I could only dream of what that must be like for their families. I have a 10y/o DS 5'1" 110 lbs that is already eating me out of my home (prayers for me for when he actually reaches the teen years). Back when the DDP included appetizers, that was usually enough for us, but now that they do not offer this, I really have to do my homework prior to our trips due to us not wanting to spend all of our meals at buffets.
We are not small fries, myself 6' 140 lbs & DH almost the same size, but are we actually the only family out there that can eat that much food? Are we some sort of freak of nature? Should we be signing up for a WDW eating contest?:eat:

You are not alone!

I always wonder too when I see people saying DDP is too much because we can eat our way through the regular dining plan in no time at all. :blush: And we aren't big people! I'm 5 foot and 115-120lbs but with all the walking at WDW I can easily eat 3 decent meals and a couple of snacks.

We do however, really, really enjoy food.:chef:

We very rarely (less then once a month) go out to eat normally. When I'm on vacation my trips really do revolve around food. And when I'm out I want an appetizer, entree and dessert! This trip we're doing the deluxe dining plan. Most days of this trip we'll combine two credits for a signature restaurant dinner at night and a big breakfast. The two snacks per person should get us through afternoons as long as I don't get too carried away with mickey bars :bar: . I'll be fine, I worry about the future hubs, at 6'2", 180lbs and highly athletic he eats like a horse. (He eats us out of home too, couple boxes of cereal and 2-3 gallons of milk each week. just to give an example lol)

So no, fear not, you are not alone. Another big eater family is right here :D

Count us in - I've never really understood the comment, either, since it doesn't even include breakfast. The only thing we really DON'T need is the dessert with the counter service meal.

I agree too!

It isn't too much food (although, we wouldn't normally have quite so much dessert), but especially with all of the activity, we eat our DDP and enjoy it.

I would say no also. For us it is not so much that it's too much food. We are a family of 4 with a 14 year old son and a 14 year old daughter. Although we are all very active and in relatively decent shape, we are still foodies. :eat: We usually end up splitting a couple of Apps at dinner in addition to what the regular DDP offers, but have to admit at times we are stuffing down the dessert just because it's on the plan. I personally would take apps over dessert anytime, especially when you can walk around, let dinner digest a bit, and an hour later find something delicious someplace else. For us it is all the planning around the meals we don't like.

I am usually all for the Dining Plan. This is the first trip staying on site with no DDP. We made ADR's at a few places we want to eat, but plan to pay OOP this time around and compare the experience to previous trips. We actually had the DDP early on right after booking and canceled it.

Worst part is we are staying when there is free dining offered but we are staying DVC so no free DDP.

Well, it's too much for us. We don't eat like that at home. On vacation, we eat MORE than we do at home, but still not that much.

I think it's just that the portion sizes at WDW are too large, especially the CS meals. The baskets make it seem like less food, but if you were to plate up a standard CS meal, and add a drink and dessert...I'd NEVER eat that much at lunchtime at home.

We usually split CS meals and TS meals. So, for us, it is too much food.

We stay Club Level so we can eat light snacks a few times a day. That's all we need.

Something we just cannot do is eat a big, hot breakfast in the morning. If/when we do that, we all feel uncomfortably stuffed for about 6-8 hours. NOT fun, especially when walking around all day. Cereal, fruit, and juice is about as much breakfast as we need.

The last trip on our last morning, we ate at Captain's Grill breakfast buffet. It was really good, and we did it because we would be flying at lunch time. Honestly, we weren't even hungry until dinner time that day. Could not imagine doing that on a theme park day. :sick:

Everyone's different. My sister and her husband can EAT. Man. I think the DxDP would not be enough food for them. And, they are also not big people at all. I always tease them that they should enter food eating contests.

Whatever works for your family works for your family. And, vice versa. :)

It's not too much food for us either; and sometimes we will add an appetiser to the TS meal. With all the walking/exercise you get we use it all up and never gain a pound. :blush:

However, for our fall trip this year (just me and DH first time ever) we are going to wing it..no DDP and no ADRs! WoW that's a new one for me!

I also agree that the dining plan isn't too much food.

We don't eat out all that much at home, so it's nice on vacation to indulge.

I think the dessert for the counter service is a waste, but we try to get something we can take with us and eat later for a snack like cookies or rice krispy treats.

We went a few years ago on a three-day trip and decided we would just eat counter service food while we were there, by the end of day 2, we were standing at Tony's Town Square BEGGING them for a table. We were starving after 2 days of being park warriors. You just walk so much, I feel like you need that extra energy burst for a nice big meal, plus it forces you to sit down for at least an hour to an hour and a half each day.

That's just my :twocents:

Now that there is no appetiizer I don't think it is too much food either. We always get the dining plan.

At home we only eat only every other month. We don't even get fast food except on rare occasions. Even when we go on vacation we don't eat out very often. Eating out every day on our WDW vacation is a real luxury. That being said...This is our third trip to WDW with a child under three and we never felt the need to order another meal for that child.

Outside of Boma we don't usually do family style or buffets. For the first time ever we are do a Character breakfast buffet and I am going to try my best not to gorge myself.

We also almost always ask for the dessert to go and enjoy it later in the evening.

I had to laugh when I saw this, because I always think the same thing when read the "too much food" comments. My family loves to eat! We're normal sized people, but we enjoy eating - especially on vacation! We're not big snackers, so by the time we sit down for a meal (especially after all the walking), we're starving! I was sad when they removed the appetizer - we always loved being able to sample a bunch of things and have it be included on the DP.

I think it's more that there are things we don't always need on the plan. I don't always have a full dessert after a meal. I would be happy to split a dessert. And I never really need a dessert after a quick service meal. I don't even like a lot of the dessert choices for quick service. But otherwise, we will eat a quick service meal and a table service meal plus snacks in a day and that's not a problem (though portions can be too generous). It's possible that it's too much food at one time for some people if they tend to graze and keep to more of a six small meals a day sort of diet.

Mostly, for me, it's the Deluxe Dining Plan that is too much food. Three full TS meals a day is quite a bit for us. We'll do some Signature dining and it breaks it down a little, but the problem with the plan in that case is still too much time spent sitting and dining when we could be off exploring. You can choose quick service meals on the deluxe plan, but it's not a great value comparatively.

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Originally Posted by SBETigg

Mostly, for me, it's the Deluxe Dining Plan that is too much food. Three full TS meals a day is quite a bit for us.

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I do agree with that! We did the Deluxe Dining one trip and was crazy!! I felt stuffed to the brim for the whole trip.

I don't think that it's too much food, rather than maybe it being foods we tend to not eat regularly. I love the portion sizes and find them adequate. Our last trip we did order salads and appetizers and it was a bit much.....I guess it just depends on each individual with regards to how much you can eat......I love Disney food !!! :cool:

I don't think the problem is too much food, but getting a dessert with both QS and TS, plus possibly getting a sweet for a snack is certainly overkill, and I have a rather enormous sweet tooth! I'd like to see an option to trade the dessert for something else, like an appetizer, another side, or an adult beverage. :marg: Okay, obviously that second option isn't at all realistic. :blush:

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Originally Posted by darthmacho

I don't think the problem is too much food, but getting a dessert with both QS and TS, plus possibly getting a sweet for a snack is certainly overkill, and I have a rather enormous sweet tooth! I'd like to see an option to trade the dessert for something else, like an appetizer, another side, or an adult beverage. :marg: Okay, obviously that second option isn't at all realistic. :blush:

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This is where too much food comes into play for me. We haven't done the dining plan in a while but desserts with lunch and dinner plus a a snack...that's too much.

But for regular food...I am fine. I don't always get the biggest something and I don't always clean my plate but there is no way DH & I would be able to go through vacation sharing our meals.

Thanx everyone for making me feel a little better our hearty appetites. Like OP have stated, we also very seldom eat out at home or eat this much & take advantage of this while on vacation. I also agree that if we were on the delux dining plan that it may be too much for even us. Only my DS eats breakfast. To add to my original post, we can all handle the desserts at the end of each meal & on occassion have left hungry (this is when appetizers were still included).

I have also read on many other posts that families have left over dining credits at the end of their stay. Not a single snack or dining credit remains at checkout for us. Heck, during last year's MNSSHP my DS devoured 3 dole whip floats. I felt like we spent the entire party going back & forth to Aloha Isle. Don't get me started on my obsession with school bread. Every year I say I am going to bring some home with me with any extra snack credits. If I have a couple extra snack credits, the additional school bread don't make it through the night.

We are such pigs, but now I guess we are not the only ones. Not calling anyone else pigs, but now I don't have to be ashamed of our appetites. Now I am looking for upcoming October trip to see how DS enjoys finally being on the adult DP.

Even on the Deluxe plan, it's not necessarily too much. If you consider that one's appetizer is often a cup of soup or a salad, it's not that different than a normal meal out.
Also, you don't have to take everything just because it's included. If your goal is to get the maximum ammount for money spent, then of course you take everything. Fos us, the deluxe plan was more about convenience and not maximizing every cent.
In any event, now that we have annual passes and DVC, TIW is a better deal.

The DDP can be too much food if you order the biggest thing on the menu every time. I've learned to get quality over quantity. It keeps me satisfied and happy that I got the DDP.