Quick Service or DDP?

[chipndales]

I got a pin in email and am planning to surprise my DD who will be 12 with a trip. Every year we go, we do the sit down dinner thing so I'm wondering if anyone has used the Quick Service plan? I was considering possibly doing one sit down and just paying OOP of course. Will it suffice since we're just going for four days? If you've used it, where are your favorite haunts to grab a bite? I've not eaten at a lot of counter service places so opinions and reasons would be amazing. Thanks!

 

[SLM]

We're going to try the QSDP this August-we'll eat breakfast in the villa except for one TS dinner and then we'll eat breakfast out that morning. I looked at the menus on allears.net and was encouraged by the variety of the CS restaurants. We like the Flame Tree BBQ in the AK, several of the CS places in EPCOT (especially Sunshine Seasons) that I don't think we'll have a problem finding something other than burgers and chicken strips. We ate at Wolfgang Puck's Express last time and loved it. Even the CS place at our resort has a nice selection.
Traveling in August we're just not interested in TS meals every night or during the day-too hot!

 

[chipndales]

We're going to try the QSDP this August-we'll eat breakfast in the villa except for one TS dinner and then we'll eat breakfast out that morning. I looked at the menus on allears.net and was encouraged by the variety of the CS restaurants. We like the Flame Tree BBQ in the AK, several of the CS places in EPCOT (especially Sunshine Seasons) that I don't think we'll have a problem finding something other than burgers and chicken strips. We ate at Wolfgang Puck's Express last time and loved it. Even the CS place at our resort has a nice selection.
Traveling in August we're just not interested in TS meals every night or during the day-too hot!

Ooh, I can say that I've eaten at Sunshine Seasons and I loved the variety! It's one of the few CS places we've tried and it was really great. Wolfgang Pucks sounds really great and they take the QSDP I assume? I should really find out more about this before I book lol.

 

[ohiotinkfan]

I took my DD12 over Easter this year and we tried the QS plan. We also did 2 OOP TS meals ( I had the TIW card for those.) We found a great variety of food options at the many CS locations. Check out AllEars for menu options, that will help a lot. We stayed at the CR resort so we had a good CS option there too. I probably wouldn't do more than 1 TS because you will have plenty of CS credits you will need to use. It is nice to have the food prepaid, so that is a plus.

 

[chipndales]

I took my DD12 over Easter this year and we tried the QS plan. We also did 2 OOP TS meals ( I had the TIW card for those.) We found a great variety of food options at the many CS locations. Check out AllEars for menu options, that will help a lot. We stayed at the CR resort so we had a good CS option there too. I probably wouldn't do more than 1 TS because you will have plenty of CS credits you will need to use. It is nice to have the food prepaid, so that is a plus.

We'd be staying at All Star Movies with the pin I have, or Music, ect and I know the last time we stayed at Movies the food court was a bit of a nightmare for us. But I'm thinking offsite in the parks might be a good option. Wolfgang Puck Express people keep talking about so maybe we'll try there! Thanks for the help!

 

[WUVmyDISNEY]

I have just returned from another stay where we did the Basic DP. I orginally booked quick service and upgraded and sorry I did. We didn't come anywhere near the money we put out for the basic plan and I won't get it again. I love Casey's in MK, Captain Cooks in Poly, also so many choices at Epcot, and yak n yeti at AK. I am kind of over the sit down meal thing. I would be willing to pay for one OOP CS meal for a nice breakfast at Kona or one of the buffets for breakfast as well. I didn't know that the boardwalk pizza window didn't participate with the DDP. For all the searching and planning I did before this trip, ya'd think I would have known this!

 

[chipndales]

I have just returned from another stay where we did the Basic DP. I orginally booked quick service and upgraded and sorry I did. We didn't come anywhere near the money we put out for the basic plan and I won't get it again. I love Casey's in MK, Captain Cooks in Poly, also so many choices at Epcot, and yak n yeti at AK. I am kind of over the sit down meal thing. I would be willing to pay for one OOP CS meal for a nice breakfast at Kona or one of the buffets for breakfast as well. I didn't know that the boardwalk pizza window didn't participate with the DDP. For all the searching and planning I did before this trip, ya'd think I would have known this!

CASEY'S! I almost forgot about that! How was Yak n Yeti? I was actually considering going to AK for half a day and give it another try. We've been twice and it's not our favorite park but if we end up there, I'd like to know if Yak n Yeti is worthy of credits. I've also never been to Kona but we love our breakfasts, so maybe that would be a good time to check it out. The sit down thing I don't mind when we're with my parents because they sort of need that break, but my DD and I like to just go-go-go and get a lot in so I think the QS is looking like a better choice for us with maybe one sit down peppered in just to chill out.

 

[2 Little Mermaids]

We just got back from 4 days and used the QSDP and loved it. I have 2 little ones and didn't want to sit at table service with them
We stayed 3 nights so had 6 meals and 6 snacks for each of us.
Day 1 - ASmo lunch paid OOP.
DTD supper Earl of sandwich (not overly worth the plan but very good)

Day 2 - Brought snacks for am
Pinocchio's Village Haus lunch(ok)
Cosmic Ray's supper ( omg way too much yummy food)

Day 3 - Tusker House breakfast with Donald paid OOP
Not hungry till after park closed so ate supper at ASmov. Very good, lots of choices with yummy desserts. Remember that you are entitled to meal, drink and dessert so if you have refillable cup use drink to get bottle of water for next day. Or they upgraded my dessert to a brownie sundae.

Day 4 - ASmo breakfast. good except french toast. You can get a piece of fruit or breads for dessert.
Wanted to eat at Wolfgang puck express but no one hungry so got Earl of sandwich to go and ate it at the airport.

We had 7 snacks when we were leaving so loaded up on treats from Goofy's Candy shop to bring home. I would recommend this plan because you get one extra snack per day plus the refillable cup. The QS places are not just burgers and fries. Well worth it!

 

[dis75ney]

We're going down June 3rd and have the QSDP. I really didn't want to be tied down to ADRs for the entire trip, which was a big sticky point on our last trip in October.

That being said, we will be paying OOP for three meals - O'Hana breakfast (DS loves Stitch), Hollywood & Vine for the Fantasmic package, and DH and I have a date night scheduled for California Grill . We're purchasing APs on this trip and will be getting the TIW card as well, so that should help save some money...

 

[Poohbug]

We just spent a week at WDW and had the QS dining plan. It was still way too much food. We only went to one restaurant and paid OOP. On our last day we still had 7 snack credits and 9 CS meals left. The dining plan was still well worth the money

The snacks are easy to pick up but the meals were a nightmare. I did get meals to go from DTD as we were staying a couple of more nights off site.

Don't worry about being stuck with the same food choices just because you only have CS meals. I did not eat a cheeseburger all week---until I went to Margaritaville. There is a wonderful variety for adult meals--kids meals are a whole other option. We tried Casey's and Flame Tree this time and both were really good.

 

[chipndales]

We just got back from 4 days and used the QSDP and loved it. I have 2 little ones and didn't want to sit at table service with them
We stayed 3 nights so had 6 meals and 6 snacks for each of us.
Day 1 - ASmo lunch paid OOP.
DTD supper Earl of sandwich (not overly worth the plan but very good)

Day 2 - Brought snacks for am
Pinocchio's Village Haus lunch(ok)
Cosmic Ray's supper ( omg way too much yummy food)

Day 3 - Tusker House breakfast with Donald paid OOP
Not hungry till after park closed so ate supper at ASmov. Very good, lots of choices with yummy desserts. Remember that you are entitled to meal, drink and dessert so if you have refillable cup use drink to get bottle of water for next day. Or they upgraded my dessert to a brownie sundae.

Day 4 - ASmo breakfast. good except french toast. You can get a piece of fruit or breads for dessert.
Wanted to eat at Wolfgang puck express but no one hungry so got Earl of sandwich to go and ate it at the airport.

We had 7 snacks when we were leaving so loaded up on treats from Goofy's Candy shop to bring home. I would recommend this plan because you get one extra snack per day plus the refillable cup. The QS places are not just burgers and fries. Well worth it!

Thank you so much for that! It's exactly what I was looking for, examples and opinions on the food ect. I think I want to take my dd to one nice sit down lunch or dinner, somewhere girly or somewhere we haven't been yet. But seeing your plan, I think that's exactly what I'm looking for. Since we only have the four days, one of which will be the Halloween Party so time wise I think that's perfect. Goofy's candy shop. Tell me the pretzels are included in snack choice! PLEASE!

 

[chipndales]

We just spent a week at WDW and had the QS dining plan. It was still way too much food. We only went to one restaurant and paid OOP. On our last day we still had 7 snack credits and 9 CS meals left. The dining plan was still well worth the money

The snacks are easy to pick up but the meals were a nightmare. I did get meals to go from DTD as we were staying a couple of more nights off site.

Don't worry about being stuck with the same food choices just because you only have CS meals. I did not eat a cheeseburger all week---until I went to Margaritaville. There is a wonderful variety for adult meals--kids meals are a whole other option. We tried Casey's and Flame Tree this time and both were really good.

Wow, you had left overs? What's Margaritaville? I think that was my biggest concern. I didn't want my daughter eating burgers all week because she didn't like any other option. But it sounds like the CS isn't a bad way to go at all!

 

[2 Little Mermaids]

Oh yes the pretzels are included. We got 4 make your own rice krispie treats, 2 make your own marshmallow sticks and a big sucker. YUM!
And they all make it home safely on the plane.

 

[Jitzy]

Oh yes the pretzels are included. We got 4 make your own rice krispie treats, 2 make your own marshmallow sticks and a big sucker. YUM!
And they all make it home safely on the plane.

I don't know if all of my snacks would have made it home safely! Those snacks from Goofy's are YUMMY!

 

[Cmbar]

I don't know if all of my snacks would have made it home safely! Those snacks from Goofy's are YUMMY!

This is really sad since I got to Disney every year..... Where is this Goofy's??? Thanks!

 

[sharadoc]

QSP vs. regular DDP - my opinion!!

Okay, I think the QSP is great but overpriced compared to the regular DDP. For those of you who took the QSP, but paid OOP for one or two TS meals - you could have taken the DDP, only used your TS credits on a couple meals and done the rest CS for the same amt. of $. You are not required to use TS credits for TS meals. During free dining, I understand they give you an extra snack credit if you trade in a TS credit for CS, but there's no guarantee of that.

I think the QSP should be cheaper! Then I would want to use it.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I was going to ask this very question, so glad I found this thread! I am debating between QSDP w/ TIW or just DDP for a 10 night trip in Dec. Me, DH, and 2 DS - one almost 4 y/o and the other 1 y/o. Thought we could do a few of our must-do TS places with the TIW and then just do CS for the rest. Having the refillable mug might come in handy for a 10 night stay as well. I'll have to put together a plan and look at what it would cost to do both options. If I do that - and do it right (my math isn't always trustworthy) - I'll post it and let you know what I came up with.

D4D

 

[holeceks]

We were debating the QSDP vs. regular DDP for our trip last week. We ended up getting the DDP, as our travel agent said with the TS we wanted to do it would be a better option (she also so we could trade TS for CS). We ended up getting a lot of the ADRs we wanted to just a month before we went (Ohana dinner, Crystal Palace breakfast, HDD 9:30 show, Ohana breakfast, WCC, Biergarten). With the all you can eat aspect of many of our TS...we ended up burning 7 credits at Earl of Sandwich, 5 at Wolfgang Pucks Express, and 14 snacks at Goofys on our way out of town. However, we still felt like we got a good value for our money because of the quality of food we received at the TS and CS we ate at.

That being said, since we have now experienced the TS meals, I would probably just do the QSDP the next time. There are some great CS meal places (we stayed at Riverside the the build your own pasta was very good). Beaches and Cream & Pepper Market would also be a good options for you for something different if you decide to do the QSDP.

 

[chipndales]

QSP vs. regular DDP - my opinion!!

Okay, I think the QSP is great but overpriced compared to the regular DDP. For those of you who took the QSP, but paid OOP for one or two TS meals - you could have taken the DDP, only used your TS credits on a couple meals and done the rest CS for the same amt. of $. You are not required to use TS credits for TS meals. During free dining, I understand they give you an extra snack credit if you trade in a TS credit for CS, but there's no guarantee of that.

I think the QSP should be cheaper! Then I would want to use it.

The pin I have included the QSP and was 200.00 cheaper overall. Of course, the 200.00 also included a moderate resort instead of value, but for the four days we're going, I wanted to just go cheap and save for our big vacation the following year. But I totally understand what you're saying, and you're right. It would make sense to do the DDP moneywise if that was the way you were going. Thanks for the advice!

I was going to ask this very question, so glad I found this thread! I am debating between QSDP w/ TIW or just DDP for a 10 night trip in Dec. Me, DH, and 2 DS - one almost 4 y/o and the other 1 y/o. Thought we could do a few of our must-do TS places with the TIW and then just do CS for the rest. Having the refillable mug might come in handy for a 10 night stay as well. I'll have to put together a plan and look at what it would cost to do both options. If I do that - and do it right (my math isn't always trustworthy) - I'll post it and let you know what I came up with.

D4D

We've done the DDP before with free dining and I was ok with that since my parents were with us. TBH, they need that break to sit and eat lol. But for a visit with my DD, she doesn't want to sit still for a sit down twice a day. So I actually did end up booking with the QSP and we're going to do Kona and Le Cellier I think while we're there. Kona because we've never gotten to visit the Poly before and I keep hearing such great things about it, and Le Cellier because we need some of that Cheese Soup. Yum! Let us know what you did, though. I'm curious how others are handling the QSP vs DDP. I think with kids that young, though, you'll make out better with QSP and just OOP for a couple TS. Good luck!

We were debating the QSDP vs. regular DDP for our trip last week. We ended up getting the DDP, as our travel agent said with the TS we wanted to do it would be a better option (she also so we could trade TS for CS). We ended up getting a lot of the ADRs we wanted to just a month before we went (Ohana dinner, Crystal Palace breakfast, HDD 9:30 show, Ohana breakfast, WCC, Biergarten). With the all you can eat aspect of many of our TS...we ended up burning 7 credits at Earl of Sandwich, 5 at Wolfgang Pucks Express, and 14 snacks at Goofys on our way out of town. However, we still felt like we got a good value for our money because of the quality of food we received at the TS and CS we ate at.

That being said, since we have now experienced the TS meals, I would probably just do the QSDP the next time. There are some great CS meal places (we stayed at Riverside the the build your own pasta was very good). Beaches and Cream & Pepper Market would also be a good options for you for something different if you decide to do the QSDP.

I'm dying to try Earl of Sandwich after everyone has been raving on it. And Wolfgang Pucks as well. I did book for the QSP finally, so those are two places we're definitely going to hit along with Cosmic Ray's which seems to always go over well with everyone. Sunshine Seasons I love, so there's another pick. Then we're going to do Kona and Le Cellier oop. ASMo was not the best last time we were there so we'll see how we do there. But I'm sure we'll have no problem burning the CS credits! Thanks for the advice. I definitely needed to hear from people who had been there, done that!