QS Dining Plan--Worth it at 50% off?

[Paigesmom2013]

So I'm thinking about the upcoming Stay Play Dine promotion for our dates of stay. Is the QS plan worth it at 50% off? We are staying at Pop for a week and we're already planning mostly Quick service meals anyway. But we have 3 ADR's planned for table service meals.
DH and I drink soda with meals. We were going to split a kids meal between DD's 2 and 5. Then I thought about using my dessert credit for soup or fries (for DD 5). We definitely don't need a dessert at each meal, but we wouldn't waste it either.
My calculations have the discount at $60 a day for 3 of us on the QS plan. At first I thought was a lot, but I could see us spending almost $50 just at BOG lunch, if we paid OOP. We've never done a dining Plan before so I'm unsure.

 

[hblevins32]

I think it would definitely be worth it.

 

[jon18uk]

Assuming there would be no better room-only discount it sounds like a good deal.

Quick Service adult entrees are in the $9-$14 range so if the dining plan is only costing you $21 then basically the dessert, drink and snack are free as the two entrees each day adds up to to $18-$28.

 

[mchelle77]

Have you done the math to see if (depending on which ADRs you have) it would make sense to pay extra to go up to the regular dining plan? For us (2 adults, 1 "Disney adult") it made sense to upgrade to the regular plan (added cost of $340.00 or so) because one meal was Chef Mickey's (which would be about $150 right there!) and another Ohana (another $130 or so) So for another $60 (plus tips) we could have a TS meal every day.

 

[boufa]

Yes, the QS dining plan is generally worth it if discounted. I have done the math for my eating habits, and I come up with a 85-110% value for my money based on the full price plan. If you discount the plan to 1/2 price, then you definitely get you money's worth. If you are going to do a lot of TS, then maybe not so much, but I generally do 1 or 2 TS and the rest QS. The excess credits for the TS meals I paid out of pocket for breakfasts... and now with the conversions of meals credits to 3 snack credits, it is even easier to get your value.

As for the advise that you need to check your room only discount first and compare the 2... I can tell you that RO discounts will never beat discounted QS food discounts. Why? Because if you are a solo traveler, you would save $21 on your food, and with value resorts being 15-20% Room only discounts, you would save only $15-20 with them. (You can't get a discounted QS food plan at any resort other than Value!). The more travelers the higher the food discount, but the Room Only discount remains the same.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

I've had the DP, free dinning and paid OOP. I just found out we can get the stay, play & dine in December and were not going to bother with it. We don't always drink soda, rarely get a dessert with a meal and could care less about resort mugs. I did the math knowing our eating habits and that we have two TS restaurants that won't be covered, we break even. That being said I like the freedom of not being tied to the dinning plan.

 

[jon18uk]

I've had the DP, free dinning and paid OOP. I just found out we can get the stay, play & dine in December and were not going to bother with it. We don't always drink soda, rarely get a dessert with a meal and could care less about resort mugs. I did the math knowing our eating habits and that we have two TS restaurants that won't be covered, we break even. That being said I like the freedom of not being tied to the dinning plan.

But if you would break even on your normal eating habits compared to a half-price QSDP then that could mean the dessert credits are "free". You are now free to have any snack in place of dessert, so if you don't want sweet then could get soup at BOG or onion rings at flame tree etc. At some places you can also get slushies instead of soda (as you can swap drink to any snack available)
Also with quick service you don't need reservations (other than BOG) so you are still pretty free, unless you prefer to snack a lot instead of eating full entrees.

I'm not saying that QSDP would be exactly right for you, but if it is 50% off it might work out getting you some extra little treats.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

When we do the DDP we tend to overeat at meals because we feel like we need to get our moneys worth. Then later we do not get that snack we really wanted because we are full and heading to our next meal. When we are not on the plan we ate less meals and snacked more, as a family we agreed we enjoyed it more. I realize it may sound crazy but it has to be free to be worth it. I'm not sure the stay play dine is 50% off on every offer. We used DDP for years (free and OOP) and then finally tried a trip without it and it's more relaxing. No keeping track of credits and making sure you get the most expensive things just to get your moneys worth.

 

[j-me]

Where did/ how do you get the 50% off QSDP? We just booked for Jan.. and didn't see that.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Many QS meals can be shared. If you are going to use all of the credits, it should be a good deal.