Anyone else choosing not to upgrade from QSDP at value resorts?

[NoodlesMom]

I've done both plans and with free dinning this year, I was very tempted to upgrade to DDP. I choose not to this year. I've tried to look up ADR's and plan but it just seemed like more of a headache than anything. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good meal as much as the next person but the QSDP choices are enough for my family. When I did DDP, I felt like our entire day revolved around what we were eating that day. I also hate having to leave the parks or go to a restaurant in the middle of having a good time. Anyone else sticking with QSDP? Just curious.

 

[canopynut66]

Nope we upgraded again this year. I the one who gets to do all the ADR'S and I do them in the park were in for the day and try for around 7 PM and three days out of 14 we there I do three character breakfast early in park we going to for the day. the rest of TS I do at resorts that are outside the parks and easy to get to by monorail or bus and again try for around 7 PM. we eat in DTD quite a bit as well and will eat down there around 8 PM. we do not miss park time per say at all for dinner. but we upgrade to the 1 TS and 1 QS if more than that for TS would start cutting into the day seems like and we can not eat that much anyhow.

 

[tzeitel]

I keep debating about upgrading or not Right now we are not since we rather spend the extra money going to IOA

We are doing Yak & Yeti - using gift cards I earned by doing surveys - and breakfast at Kona. We might do Chef Mickey's but not sure about that one yet

 

[bdoyledimou]

i upgraded once, and will never do it again.
I absolutely hate having to decide what i will crave for dinner 180 days away. I can't even plan my cravings for tomorrow.

I enjoy the freedom of QSDP and the food is good and i can eat whatever i want. Never went hungry, never had to wait 40 minutes past my ADR time to get a seat, never had to wait around for 2 hours when i was hungry NOW.

will never go to DDP or higher again. QSDP works for my family fine.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We had and loved the regular dining plan while it was 'free' for the values and even one visit beyond that thanks to a BB.

Then it all changed - the QS was 'free' but upgrading was going to cost us significantly more and I bulked at the cost (upgrading plus tips). So we decided to try out the QS plan. I went prepared, having checked out all the QS locations menus and made a list of loads of places to try.

We loved it ! It was so freeing not to have ADRs. We've never looked (or gone) back. In fact we've moved on to paying OOP most of the time - but still sticking to CS places.

So yes, we're with you - we have 'free' dining this trip and will not be upgrading.

 

[kerstfan1]

nope i even upgrded too deluxe

 

[reneaterry]

We did it last year and it worked for us. We never had to plan on being anywhere. This year we're staying at a mod and have 5 adrs scheduled. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Greenfield1984]

We don't upgrade due to the ages of our chidren. With a 5 year old, 18 month old and 3 month old we don't want to be locked into a bunch of ADRs, QS works much better for us. We do always book one ADR per trip (last couple of trips have been Crystal Palace before park opening, this time will be 1900 Park Fare for dinner). But we find there are a lot of good options for QS so we don't need to upgrade.

 

[Nohal]

We have been doing the DDP since they first started offering it free (we go in Sept). We upgraded to the DDP because our 2 DS and DDil will be coming this trip. If we book bounceback like we do every september I will stick with the free QSDP. I'm tired of being tied in to a reservation and worrying about making it to the restaurant on time. I think the freedom of eating where you want when you want will be a nice change.

 

[PFW]

I'm not upgrading either. I have made a few ADRs and that's quite enough to keep track of and to have to work around for me.

 

[darkwing]

We are in the same boat and are learning towards not upgrading. We have a 3yr old and are nervous about the idea of having a bunch of ADR's that we will have to stick to. Much easier for us if we can be flexible throughout the day. That being said we will probably book one character breakfast out of pocket and cross our fingers that it's a good morning!

 

[maxiesmom]

We upgraded. I did give serious thought to sticking with quick service dining, but the I was told we just HAD to eat at LA Hacienda, and the Rainforest Cafe, and Le Ceiller, so upgrading made sense.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I'm not upgrading. When we stay at a value resort, we really like eating a lot of QS meals because we spend a lot of time at our resort and once we're back at our resort I don't want to go far for dining. We're doing a split stay and we are eating at least 1 TS meal per day during the part of our stay that's not a package so we'll still get our fill of TS meals but it'll be nice for a portion of our stay to not be tied to ADRs, especially since our TS meals take so much longer than they do for most (it's the nature of dining with long lists of food allergies; it just takes a long time but it's SO worth the extra time). I also did a bit of math and realized that I can get all those CS meals plus pay for a few TS meals and still spend less money than upgrading our group of 5 Disney Adults (2 adults, a 14yo, a 12yo and an 11yo).

 

[TheRatPack]

We didn't upgrade last year and we ended up spending around 900 oop on ts meals. This year we decided to upgrade since it was about even. Plus the qs plan took away one of the snack credits and the regular plan now includes the reusable mugs.

 

[PFW]

If I'm not mistaken the regular dining plan also only has one snack credit now as well. And the QSDP also includes the refillable mug.

 

[TheRatPack]

If I'm not mistaken the regular dining plan also only has one snack credit now as well. And the QSDP also includes the refillable mug.

Right but those two things kept us on the QSDP last year. We ran the numbers and it was maybe 200.00 cheaper for us to pay OOP for our TS meals last year and get the extra snack and the refillable mug. When we factored in all the snacks we ate at F&W Festival and having to buy our own refillable mugs (5 kids, 2 adults) we just paid OOP for TS last year and came out just a bit cheaper.

This year since they took the extra snack away (roughly 2.00-3.00 each) and added the mug to the regular dining plan, that plan made more sense to us so we paid to upgrade. We'll probably break even this year....after you factor in tips and buying snacks at F&W.

 

[freddydiser021]

We aren't upgrading either ..we may sit down to a table dinner once or twice in a week ..and without DDP we don't have to stick to Disney if we don't want to ...plus I detest making reservations and sticking to a schedule ...lol it ruins the fun for me

 

[akayek31]

I thought about upgrading. But we will be there 10 days and with 4 people it would have been $662 for us. I have TiW and we have 6 ADR's and it will be less than $100 a person. So we decided against it.

 

[cey]

We did not upgrade from the QSDP last year and won't be upgrading this year, even though they have taken away one snack credit! We found that even with CS you receive overly large portions and frankly when we go to WDW, we do not want our day to revolve around dining. Once you have dined at the TS restaurants and character meals once, believe me it gets old! Plus, I really don't consider very many of them fine dining experiences!

 

[TACK]

It is just my daughter and myself and I find that it's easier to book a couple of out of pocket reservations for those places we really want to go. This time, it's Sci Fi and Le Cellier. I am finding that if you can get around (I rent a car), there are plenty of places to go to switch up the variety of QS food and places. The extra TS cost is holding me back (along with money for tips) compared to the QS plan.