Am I CRAZY???

[kmbound]

We saw the offer for free dining and decided at the last minute to take advantage of it this year. We downgraded from previous dining experiences to the QS plan for various reasons. This means that we are no longer tied to dinner reservations which often dictated which parks we visited on certain days. Although we always get park hoppers the reservations still tie you down a bit.

Anyway - with QS we have freedom and are seriously considering going 'willie nillie' and not planning anything. Just go where the wind blows when we are there. This is sooooooo not what we have done in the past but are excited by the prospect of what this may bring adventure wise. Thoughts or advice?

 

[claryche]

I say if you aren't going during a busy time then go for it. I have gone from really planning out things to now I just plan which park on which day. But we never get park hoppers anymore.

And as far as the dining plan, last year was our first time doing the QS plan and we loved it for the reasons you stated. You weren't tied to a park and a time. Even though I always tried to plan our ADR around the time we would normally eat, nothing is normal while at Disney World. I found that my DS was rarely eating at any of our breakfast ADR's and then would be hungry soon after. So with QS plan it made it so much easier. If he was hungry we could stop and get something and then if we were hungry just an hour later, so what. We are doing the QS plan again.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We saw the offer for free dining and decided at the last minute to take advantage of it this year. We downgraded from previous dining experiences to the QS plan for various reasons. This means that we are no longer tied to dinner reservations which often dictated which parks we visited on certain days. Although we always get park hoppers the reservations still tie you down a bit.

Anyway - with QS we have freedom and are seriously considering going 'willie nillie' and not planning anything. Just go where the wind blows when we are there. This is sooooooo not what we have done in the past but are excited by the prospect of what this may bring adventure wise. Thoughts or advice?

That's exactly how we are. We may be walking in the middle of the park and just decide to go to another park, resort, back to our resort for a break, swim, or nap. We do this even if we have reservations.

I have never really planned a trip to any other degree. It probably helps that we don't have kids, but even if we did, we would still probably tour this way.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I don't think thats crazy at all. The one thing I will say though is maybe to take the EMH days into account.

Honestly, I do a lot of planning for each of my trips, but what it comes down to is the only preparation I really listen to is which park/ADR for which day. Sometimes I do plan a ride/show schedule, but those plans always seem to go out the window. I think its just fun to plan and think about the things. If that makes sense.

 

[Mirax]

No I don't think you are crazy. We are traveling with a toddler for the first time, and sit down dinners, not a big part of our dinner plans. Even if the buffets were worth the price they are such a pain, only one adult at a time can go up and get food, while the other waits with the baby. One of us always misses out on the entertainment.

 

[Kimi313]

As my DH puts it I can plan the fun out of anything, lol. DD is 21 now and she is taking BF who has been with us the last 2 trips so this year I am giving up planning, well sorta, hahaha. I planned the evenings as in which park we want to end up in for EMH and I got ADRs for that park and which day is best for AK since only one day, in my opinion, will be the least crowded during our visit. BUT they have mornings and afternoons, they can get up, or just sleep, and decide which park we should go to, of course when they get up they may find me gone, lol.

 

[Taja]

Go for it and enjoy!

I did a 7-night WDW trip in March, 2007, with three-weeks notice. No ADRs available for places where I would eat (seriously picky eater here!), so I decided to wing it with QS only. Tried to get a couple of ADRs while at WDW, but still nothing available at the time.

Actually, QS provided a nice variety and really worked better for me than having a lot of ADRs. I tend to graze throughout the day rather than eat large meals most of the time. I bought fruit or veggies when I wanted, had a larger meal once a day (not on DDP at all) and enjoyed the occasional Mickey bar!

I have to admit that I did eat more fried food than I typically would at home, but--hey!--I was on vacation! *LOL* With all of the walking, I still lost about 10 lbs, which is fairly normal on WDW vacations!

 

[minnie mum]

If you think the QSDP will suit your family, then go for it. The selection of CS foods has improved so much over the years, that I can definitely see an advantage to giving up ADRs.

BUT this gal would still be too much of a control freak to throw caution to the winds and go completely plan-less. I'd still recommend that you at least take a cursory look at the crowd projections and recommended parks for each day that you're there. And then once inside the park, go willy-nilly, hither and yon!

 

[jenrose66]

We saw the offer for free dining and decided at the last minute to take advantage of it this year. We downgraded from previous dining experiences to the QS plan for various reasons. This means that we are no longer tied to dinner reservations which often dictated which parks we visited on certain days. Although we always get park hoppers the reservations still tie you down a bit.

Anyway - with QS we have freedom and are seriously considering going 'willie nillie' and not planning anything. Just go where the wind blows when we are there. This is sooooooo not what we have done in the past but are excited by the prospect of what this may bring adventure wise. Thoughts or advice?

I think that's a fine idea. Honestly, I try to militantly plan my trips. The last time that worked out for me was my 1st anniversary trip with DH 7 years ago. Once the kids came, planning went out the window.

Part of the reason I've started to not like the dining plan is because it has made walking into a restaurant almost impossible and I refuse to plan my day around a meal. This is the first time I've done free dining since 2007 and I'm happy to be staying at a value and doing quick service.

There is something liberating and fun to just walk into the hotel and take a look at the park hours they give you for the week and just wing it.

 

[cruisingkat]

We (DH & I) don't do the dining plan - first of all, because there is way too much food and we wouldn't use all the credits as we only eat two meals a day during summer, and second- because paying out of pocket for the meals that we do eat and getting a room only discount is less than paying rack rate for the room and having dining included and not using all the credits, and thirdly- we don't like being chained to a specific restaurant months ahead of our trip.
If we do decide we want a TS while at a park, I just go on my phone to m.disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/ and look to see where there available tables. We have always been able to find somewhere that we would like to eat within the time frame we want and been able to make the reservations right there on the phone.

 

[Virtucomp]

I can understand how you feel. We have done the DDP plan twice and while I like to have nice dinners without thinking about how much each dish costs I hate being tied to a dinner time.

Our next trip we plan to fill a gift card with the money we expect to pay for dinners and make a couple of ADRs for fun.

We have been reading the restaurant reviews of the QS places so we can try different locations in each park. If you know which menus have the food you like you can just wander over to that QS place when you find the time. Have one or two places in mind for each park.

I heard on the Dis-Unplugged podcast that the QS location at AK lodge is very good.

 

[kmbound]

I don't think thats crazy at all. The one thing I will say though is maybe to take the EMH days into account.

I have thought about this as well. Some people say to avoid EMH others say go for it. My thought is.....in the past EMH was awesome but in 2007 (my last trip due to being out of the country for the last 4 years) EMH was available every night - now the schedule is more sporadic.

We are going in September for an extended time. September 18 - October 2. So having plenty of time plays into our thought to go without planing.

There are some good thoughts on this post. Thanks for the input. I love this community.

 

[kmbound]

We have been reading the restaurant reviews of the QS places so we can try different locations in each park. If you know which menus have the food you like you can just wander over to that QS place when you find the time. Have one or two places in mind for each park.

There are some great apps available that show complete menu's and prices. These have been a huge help in deciding to go QS this time as we have many of the places to have a great variety. Not just burgers and fries anymore at the QS restaurants.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I say go for it. We did the QS plan last year with our Daughter and Grandson and loved it. It was so nice to just go to any park we wanted at night.