Dining plans

[lgp1]

Hi,

We're going to Disney next Sept and had planned on staying at Pop Century but we may now stay at Port Orleans or Old Key West [still trying to decide].


If we stay at Port Orleans we will have the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan and if we stay at Old Key West we will have the Disney Dining Plan.


Could someone please tell me how the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan works and what kind of food we will have to choose from. Also do we have to reserve a table or can we just turn up and order our food.... and the same question for the Disney Dining Plan. [I really don't want to be tied down to times and places if possible]


Any help will be really appreciated.


Thanks in advance

Lyndon

 

[orangetiggs]

Quick service in includes two counter service meals, these range from the food in the hotel to some better ones such as wolfgang puck in dtd, no reservations are needed as these are not proper sit down restaurants

The dining plan includes 1counter service and 1table service, these table services are ones i recommend you book reservations for and they include proper waiter service meals

You also with both plans get snacks and i think the refillable mugs with both plans

We have only done the dining plan with the table service and love it

 

[wayneg]

The regular DDP is perfect for us, we like a CS for lunch and a TS for dinner each day, no way could we enjoy 2 CS every day.

Before we tried DDP I was like you, never thought we could enjoy making ADR's, didn't want to be tied to times, next year will be our 4th time doing DDP, we have already started a list before we have booked the hotel we enjoy it so much.

 

[2Tiggies]

We are fans of the QSDP. Some prefer a sit down meal every day. We don't and often skip a meal or eat at odd times so CS suits us better.

On QSDP you get 2 CS meals (non alcoholic beverage, any entree off the menu and a dessert) plus two snacks per person per day and a refillable mug. I actually think that CS is more food than the regular DDP. This year I 'upgraded' my 9 year old to the adult dining plan for the sake of variety and even using about 5 credits on our last day for snack items at the food court, we still had 19 meal credits left over between the two of us. We did manage to 'spend' our remaining 31 snack credits over the last few days on items at various stores to bring home with us (lots of bags of Cheetos ). We probably would have eaten more if it had not been so humid the first week as all we wanted to do was drink water the first few days.

If you like to hit the parks all day, don't like structure with your meals and are erratic eaters, the QSDP is ideal. If, like many folk, you like a nice table service meal every day (or most days), prefer a designated time to unwind and try out some lovely restaurants, then the DDP is a better option. Although we love QSDP and could never do TS every day for 2-3 weeks, we do book a couple of TS each week and just pay cash for those. We also like to eat at a couple of places which do not accept the dining plan so we dont feel like we are wasting credits or restricted by our choice.

Hope this helps.

 

[disneyholic family]

this was the first year we all did the dining plan.

of the 6 of us, 3 of us said we'd prefer to do quick dining the next time, for the freedom of being able to eat whenever, wherever.
They said that they would still eat at 50's and sci fi, but those are easy out of pocket ...(they're cheap)..
and the rest would be quick service.

the other 3 in the group said we would prefer the regular dining plan - including all the table service meals.

so there you have it.....in a poll of 6 people, 50% preferred regular, 50% preferred the quick service plan

 

[Cinderella2006]

The regular DDP is perfect for us, we like a CS for lunch and a TS for dinner each day, no way could we enjoy 2 CS every day.

Before we tried DDP I was like you, never thought we could enjoy making ADR's, didn't want to be tied to times, next year will be our 4th time doing DDP, we have already started a list before we have booked the hotel we enjoy it so much.

Oh Wayne i hope my Uncle comes to your way of thinking He is not a fan off the dining plan as he likes the freedom of doing as he pleases ... any words of wisdom to persuade him!?

I am a planner and i think he is dreading holidaying with me I like to plan my whole 15 nights around busy day guide but dont mind changing it if the word 'shopping' is mentioned!
I plan to do mostly breakfasts or dinners that way if he and my aunty want to visit Ron Jons at Coco Beach they can still have the freedom.

 

[2Tiggies]

Oh Wayne i hope my Uncle comes to your way of thinking He is not a fan off the dining plan as he likes the freedom of doing as he pleases ... any words of wisdom to persuade him!?

Even if you don't take the dining plan and pay out of pocket, you still need to make reservations if you want a guaranteed meal at a certain place so based on that, I would tell him the same planning is required no matter what. If no DDP means you would not eat too many meals onsite, then he may have a fair argument - but don't tell him that. Wait for us to come up with more persuasive arguments

 

[Rienchen]

We are fans of the QSDP

[...]

If you like to hit the parks all day, don't like structure with your meals and are erratic eaters, the QSDP is ideal. If, like many folk, you like a nice table service meal every day (or most days), prefer a designated time to unwind and try out some lovely restaurants, then the DDP is a better option. Although we love QSDP and could never do TS every day for 2-3 weeks, we do book a couple of TS each week and just pay cash for those. We also like to eat at a couple of places which do not accept the dining plan so we dont feel like we are wasting credits or restricted by our choice.

Hope this helps.

That's exactly how I feel. I've never tried the dining plan but last time I was at WDW we always shared a counter service meal for lunch, so the amount of food on the regular DDP would just be too much.
We will probably still pay for a couple of table service meals out of pocket, just have to decide which ones.

Also, when you weigh up the cost difference between the plan, you also have to take gratuity into consideration, which for us it would have been another $150

 

[disneyholic family]

Even if you don't take the dining plan and pay out of pocket, you still need to make reservations if you want a guaranteed meal at a certain place so based on that, I would tell him the same planning is required no matter what. If no DDP means you would not eat too many meals onsite, then he may have a fair argument - but don't tell him that. Wait for us to come up with more persuasive arguments

we did 3 walk ups at sci fi when we were there in august.....
also, when we checked in for our ADR at rose and crown, a group of 6 got a walk up at the same time....
the same thing happened at another restaurant, but i can't remember which it was....coral reef i think...
of course, now that they're doing the guarantee for a lot of the restaurants, walk ups might be a lot more difficult to get..

 

[Cinderella2006]

Even if you don't take the dining plan and pay out of pocket, you still need to make reservations if you want a guaranteed meal at a certain place so based on that, I would tell him the same planning is required no matter what. If no DDP means you would not eat too many meals onsite, then he may have a fair argument - but don't tell him that. Wait for us to come up with more persuasive arguments

Yes we dont tend to eat much on site, fruit in the morning, light lunch in the park then sit down meal off site but my argument is it would be nice to try all the lovely Disney Restaurants and we can always change one or two if plans change ... i think he may be surprised! We will still have one or two off site meals x

 

[General Panic]

My brothers and i love the QS plan. We always stay at the Port Orleans and whilst you can use a token for breakfast we tend to use the 2 meal tokens in the parks or DTD in the evening , Earl of Sandwich being our fav there.

In the Magic Kingdom we like eating in Cosmic Rays or the Inn that serves the fish nar the Haunted Mansion , forgot the name.

In EPCOT we like Sunshine Seaons in the Land pavillion because of the great choice you get there on the plan.

In AK we like the Flame Tree BBQ for the food choice and the outside location down by the lake looking over to Everest.

In MGM , sry DHS , we like the Backlot Express for the atmosphere and chance to take in a Jedi show.

The Quick Counter plan gives so many options with something for everyone so unless you prefer your sit down , waiter served food for me it's good enough.

The 2 snacks a day you get can be used in the hotel shop in the evning for sweets and stuff like candyfloss buckets and bags of Disney chocs , or like us you can cash all your remaining "tokens" in at the end of your trip for lots of small treats . The first time we used the plan we had a combined waste of around 20 snack tokens , only on the second time there did the nice lady in the Riverside Store tell us we can spend them in their shop.

 

[joanne74]

We just got back today and had the QSDP - it was more food than we could eat! There was me, DH, DS8 and DD5. We've come away with 4 snacks and 15 meal credits left! However we still think we've had more than our money's worth. We found the choice for children very limited and on our last day ordered 4 adult meals. Doesn't help that our 2 are fussy in different ways! We were only there for a week so didn't want to do any ADRs because of our limited time but wouldn't want to eat counter service meals for any longer. Don't want to see another chip for a month!! It was a bit confusing as to what counted as a meal in various places but we just kept asking what we could have. Also there are a lot of places you can get snacks from not just what is listed in the DDP leaflet.

 

[2Tiggies]

We just got back today and had the QSDP - it was more food than we could eat! There was me, DH, DS8 and DD5. We've come away with 4 snacks and 15 meal credits left! However we still think we've had more than our money's worth. We found the choice for children very limited and on our last day ordered 4 adult meals. Doesn't help that our 2 are fussy in different ways! We were only there for a week so didn't want to do any ADRs because of our limited time but wouldn't want to eat counter service meals for any longer. Don't want to see another chip for a month!! It was a bit confusing as to what counted as a meal in various places but we just kept asking what we could have. Also there are a lot of places you can get snacks from not just what is listed in the DDP leaflet.

It is a LOT of food! We got back a few weeks ago and DD and I had just under 30 snacks to use up the last few days and had 14 or 15 CS credits left on our account at check out.

It is very easy to tell what counts in the restaurants because it's one entree (anything on the menu), one dessert (limited choice - usually 2 items at the parks but more at the resorts) and one non alcoholic beverage. Snacks can be a bit trickier but we noticed they have really improve labelling them on the shelves this year and very few times did we have to check first.

Good rule of thumb in the food courts if wondering if your choice of dessert counts as a dessert (some dont, like ice cream sandwiches etc) is if the DDP logo is nest to it for a snack, it counts as a dessert

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

We just bought the QSDP for our Feb trip, we're DVC so don't get it for free but I like the peace of mind that our food is paid for up front.

The plan hasn't increased in price next year but it is only 1 snack now not 2.