RealBlast3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2012
We don't do the dining plan nor do we stay on site. I just wanted to comment on what we witnessed last week while traveling with a large group who did stay on site and did get the dining plan. Two families in particular were desperately trying to use up their snack credits the night before we left for home. One bought a TON of rice krispy treats and candy in Goofy's in Disney Springs, and the other bought a bunch of lobster rolls for everyone to share in the American pavilion at Food and Wine. They were both disappointed in the waste and trying hard to "make it work out" before losing those extra credits.
Ok, here's the thing, the dining plan, especially the Deluxe Dining plan can be quite overwhelming and intimidating to utilize properly so you can maximize it's potential and feel you are getting everything you want out of it.
I will admit it took me a few tries to not "waste" credits, both meals and snack ones, and I, too, a few times, was like this family, scrambling on my last night where ever I was just acquiring snacks I didn't really want so as not to waste them.
But now, after some practice, I operate the Dining Plan like a well-oiled machine and I run it, and not the other way around. Bottom line is it is alot of food and you have to want all that food and all those meals and snacks and make peace with that and how you want to go about it.
What I do now on the Deluxe plan is I make it my business to use at least 2 snacks a day and to use them properly. What do I mean? I mean, by getting snacks I know I want to consume. In some cases, my "snack" is a beverage like a bottle of water for I know I need a few of those a day and I can use my snack credit even in my resort gift shop to stock up on water bottles for my fridge in my hotel room and I do do a little of that and it saves me out of pocket money.
The other thing I pay attention to is all the really, really delicious gourmet snacks they have throughout Disney World that are actually quite expensive to buy out of pocket, so I make sure I am constantly walking up to the various quick-services everywhere and checking out their menus so I will treat myself to a genuinely great snack or 2 on some of my days, so that I will use them. And for me, that will mostly be all those amazing snacks which are practically meals you can get at Epcot at World Showcase from the bakeries in France, Germany, and Norway and everywhere else.
Alot of people don't realize how many amazing gourmet foods there are on the Dining Snack plan. People tend to think it's just the typical stuff like Mickey pretzels and ice cream bars and popcorn and cotton candy and the like, and other bargain basement candy and junk food you can get anywhere. But all around you, if you just look, and remember to incorporate it into your vacationing style, are amazing snacks that can help you get the most bang for your buck from the dining plan.