Are vouchers worth it?

[I_Know_You2!]

I loved the idea of vouchers and bought a bunch. will not do so for the next trip because I believe we ate a lot more than we would have normally. Giant soda, sides and desserts, rather than a sandwich and some water (my prefered drink.) My husband also, had a difficult time not trying to get the "best" deal with them! I MAY buy a set of breakfast vouchers still, for the charactor meal.

I know some have had problems with the company selling, but we have done okay. I buy all of my book store gift cards there, so it has been worthwhile to maintain my memebership for at least a bit.

 

[MEM]

I would say that for my family the vouchers were not worth the money or the effort to get the most out of them. We just returned Sept. 7th from 12 days at WDW. I had purchased 14 Q&C vouchers from Hotwire. We stayed for 5 days at CSR and had 3 of the worst meals in our Disney experience at the Pepper Market. I really wanted to give a good report about the PM but the food ranged from mediocre to inedible. I actually received a credit for one plate of kung bao chicken that was so full of hot peppers that it left my mouth numb. The other 7 days were at AKL and The Mara food court was also disappointing. The fried shrimp were mushy inside and tasted weird.

The vouchers are a better deal at the Tangierine Cafe at Morocco and Lotus Blossom in China. There the food ranged from good to excellent.

Overall we felt the vouchers cramped our touring and eating styles. We felt we "had" to order the most expensive items even if we had a taste for something else. Also, we rarely order desserts from counter service places at the time of our meal but again, felt we had to.

 

[kfeuer]

Originally posted by disneysteve

I wonder how many voucher users find themselves eating more food than they normally would because a) it is pre-paid and b) they want to get their money's worth.

It is well documented that people eat more at a buffet than when the meal is served to them at the table. I think this mentality contributes to the obesity epidemic. It seems to me that the vouchers could encourage the same type of behavior.

I've been on the fence about whether to get a few vouchers for our upcoming trip, but this post decided it for me. You're absolutely right, I am a serious bargain shopper, and there's no way I could use a voucher and not get all I could (whether it was what my body needed or not).

On our last Disney trip I gained 7 pounds (ouch!) and I have vowed not to let that happen again. I don't eat dessert with every meal at home, and I can't afford to do it on vacation, either. You're also right about buffets--although I made a point of limiting myself to one trip through the line, it was a big temptation. The other part of the problem was that I made too many PS's at sit-down restaurants who served huge portions.

I've lost 55 pounds since our trip last year (still have another 25-30 to go) and I've got to find a way to maintain my good habits while we're at DW. I think a few strategies will be:

1) No vouchers!
2) Eating a light breakfast in our (offsite) house
3) If we eat dinner offsite, get a takeout box right away and save half for a future meal
4) No more then one or two buffet meals
5) Limit number of meals/snacking
6) Limit fancy sit-down meals

Sorry, didn't mean to get so off-topic but I really appreciated your post.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by kfeuer
The other part of the problem was that I made too many PS's at sit-down restaurants who served huge portions.

What we generally do at the sit-downs is DW and I share one appetizer and one entree and that is plenty for both of us. Serving sizes are way too big at Disney and everywhere for that matter.

 

[threeboysmom]

I have to agree with the majority of the posts here. The vouchers are only a good deal if you have a big appetite and are used to eating large amounts of food for each meal.

I normally would order a cheeseburger/fry basket which costs say $8. I carry in my own water to the parks (we all do) so no drinks. If I had a voucher for $11.50, now I would feel obligated to order a drink, a dessert, and the most expensive meal/side on the menu. So I may get $14 worth of food, but I would have only spent $8 without the voucher, so using vouchers would actually COST me money ($2.50 in this case)!!!! But I guess some people look at it that I received $14 worth of food for only $11.50 so I saved $2.50! (not!!)

 

[captJack88]

Thanks to all, LisaZoe, your little princess is ADORABLE!!! I hope you have a great trip! Let us know how it goes. OK, back to the point, do servers ever get mad when you pull out a voucher since it includes tip, and it might have been a bigger tip for a large tab? If you tell them up front you have a voucher, do they not attend to you as much as they would if you were paying cash? How easy is it to use these things?

 

[jann1033]

Originally posted by kfeuer

On our last Disney trip I gained 7 pounds (ouch!) and I have vowed not to let that happen again. I don't eat dessert with every meal at home, and I can't afford to do it on vacation, either. You're also right about buffets--although I made a point of limiting myself to one trip through the line, it was a big temptation. The other part of the problem was that I made too many PS's at sit-down restaurants who served huge portions.

I've lost 55 pounds since our trip last year (still have another 25-30 to go) and I've got to find a way to maintain my good habits while we're at DW. I think a few strategies will be:

1) No vouchers!
2) Eating a light breakfast in our (offsite) house
3) If we eat dinner offsite, get a takeout box right away and save half for a future meal
4) No more then one or two buffet meals
5) Limit number of meals/snacking
6) Limit fancy sit-down meals

Sorry, didn't mean to get so off-topic but I really appreciated your post.

actually the vouchers helped me as my husband and i split the meals and it allowed me to stay on the ww program i was on since i was satisfied with a good but correctly portion sized meal plus a bite or two of a "treat, (btw we don't do buffets for the same reason, they a lot and we don't like to eat that much.) however since my husband was not on ww he got enough to be satisfied also and we would have spent much more to do that without the vouchers

however, i am the type that researches everything before i buy it so i knew where and basically what we would probably order before i ordered vouchers for that meal ( another ww tip btw, that way you are not tempted to order something at the spur of the moment that isn't the best for you)

 

[LadyBears]

The 3 of us - 2 adults & 1 child, just returned from our trip. I got several of each of the vouchers that I knew we were DEFINITELY going to use to their full potential. I did not get vouchers for every meal we were going to have during our 9 night/10 day stay. Also, with the vouchers even though the apps & desserts are included, does not mean you HAVE to order them! OR you could also take the left overs with you.

I KNEW that we were going to Cinderellas Royal Table for breakfast - so I bought Breakfast vouchers for that. vouchers - adults $18.25 each, child $11.00 (tax & tip included) - w/o vouchers - adults $19.99 each, child $9.99 (tax & tip NOT included).

I KNEW we were going to eat at the Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom as THE big meal of the day. Lunch vouchers - adults $31.00 each, child $12.75 tax & tip included - for a total of $74.75. Our bill for that lunch (we brought the leftovers & the dessert back to the hotel for a Hurricane Frances meal - we had a cooler & knew we could use the microwave at the hotel for warm ups) was a total of $138.37. If we didn't have the vouchers, we would have spent $111.40 (which does not include tax & tip) because we would not have ordered the appetizers & desserts.

I KNEW we would be eating at LeCellier. Lunch vouchers - adults $31.00 each, child $12.75 tax & tip included - for a total of $74.75.
Our bill for that lunch was 125.49. W/O the vouchers, we would have spent $80.01 without apps & desserts. Again, this is NOT including tax & tip!

As far as the Q&C's - We only got a couple of those figuring we would use 1 for the 3 of us for that meal. We knew we would be "eating around the world" so for us it wouldn't make sense to fill up at just one counter service place. I found these to just be a prepaid meal that didn't come out of our at WDW meal budget. Basically with these vouchers, it works out to getting a free dessert.

We never had bad service after telling them we were using a voucher. ALL of the servers were great to recommend the best way to use them to get even more out of the value. With the vouchers they automatically get a 15% tip. We tip even more in addition for better service. As a former waitress myself, I would think they would LIKE the vouchers. It is a guaranteed bigger bill which would mean a bigger tip. Also, from what I understand, in some countries, it is not customary to tip, so when they come to WDW they don't tip there either . So, since the tip is included with the vouchers, they are guaranteed to get 15 %. I know I hated it when a party came in, spent 1 hour at 1 table creating a $200.00 tab & either not leaving any tip, or only leaving $10.00!! (the faster people leave, the faster another party could be sat at the same table. More parties per table mean more tip $$ at the end of the shift)


Also, I found on the days we got the big meals with the vouchers, we were not spending money on all the snacks we would have like fudge, popcorn, fudge, ice cream, fudge, candy, fudge, etc. so that was a bonus for us (extra $ in the wallet & less going on our waists & hips ) Yes, I am a fudge-a-holic!

 

[ceecee]

Videogal1.............Cash is adorable!!!!!

We use a few vouchers on each trip and usually DH and I spilt something since we are not normally desert eaters, it's a nice treat. DD gets a kid's meal and shares the desert with us.

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

IMHO, if you are undecided about vouchers, maybe you should frequent the restaurant board as well on this subject.

After explaining the vouchers to my Mom, we decided to get 3 Q&C vouchers each with the intention of splitting each voucher meal with our DH's. My two DS, 15 and 12 are sooo big and hungry, they will not share, but they always fuss for dessert and this is a way to treat them special too on vacation!!!

For a solo trip with my DH next year, I plan to order a couple of the VKL vouchers because I think by planning with menus ahead of time, we will be able to enjoy a special sit down lunch without stuffing ourselves! I totally agree with Jann1033 about this. Not to mention that by sharing, we will definitely save money too

Finally, we ordered breakfast vouchers for each of our two character breakfasts because of the tax and tip being included in the vouchers. I really cannot see how one could go wrong doing this. Just my two cents

Thanks, Lisa

 

[Esmerelda]

We have had enough food on two $11.50 vouchers to feed 4+ people! I can't understand how folks are breaking even on these things...we saved tremendously and ate well on our last trip 2 years ago! We have never broken even ever on a voucher...? We have come out ahead I think by the smallest amount was $12.00 for the overall meal...that's $12 I can spend on a souvenir

to each his own I guess....

from a gal who loves to save money...
Esmerelda

 

[crisi]

Easy Esmerelda - don't buy dessert. Don't buy pop. Skip the fries.

For instance, at Peco's Bills I get the chicken wrap, for $7.50. I drop the fries (don't eat them), and bring the price down to under $7.00. I've brought in my own water (I don't drink sugared pop and try and limit my intake of the diet stuff - and while I buy a case of something on my way from the airport, I'm not paying $2.50 a bottle for water!).

My husband prefers the burger, so we aren't good splitters. And if I'm skipping fries, I eat most of the wrap myself anyway.

At Ray's, I like the sub - for $5.49. Once again, I'm not adding anything more.

We eat sweets, but I like mine as Dole Whips, etc - mid day. And as the fancy desserts in the sit down restauants - not the food service brownies and pies served counter service. Of late we've cut back on both these things - I've lost some of my sweet tooth, and we are trying to keep the kids habits decent.

For someone ordering sides, pop and dessert, they can be a great deal. But you have to eat like that to start with - or it isn't "savings." Ordering sides, pop and desserts makes the meals easily splittable, but if you aren't a splitting family, that won't work for you. i.e. my kids love french fries, I don't. I drink diet pop, my husband doesn't, and my kids drink juice or milk.

Sometimes, you can get a lot of "quality calories" and save money with a voucher. Morrocco is great for that - so is Tusker House. But junk calories in chocolate creme pie and french fries and pop are not what I want to be paying for - even if it is "free." And I'm not willing to run my vacation around "I'm hungry, but the spot where I can use the vouchers for value and quality is halfway across the park." When we are hungry, we stop and eat. If Pizzafari is close and Tusker House isn't, its pizza.

 

[disneysteve]

crisi - Thank you for clearly summing it up. I agree completely. Vouchers can be a good deal if you would eat at those places and get all of that food anyway. If you wouldn't, however, than the vouchers aren't worth the price or the hassle.

 

[Esmerelda]

We've taken our desserts with us in the past...they just pack em to go and we enjoy them later on...not a big deal.

We know exactly which restaurants are included with the vouchers and there are dozens in each park to chose from or at the hotels. None of us drink soda pop...we have opted for lemonade or juice or iced tea in the past with no problems.

Its all a matter of personal preference I guess. I remember oh too well when we ate at B/C two years back..there were 2 adults...3 older children (12-13) and one younger child (8). We used 4 Q/C lunch vouchers. That would be a total of $46.00 for what we paid for the vouchers. Our bill total was well over $100!!! None of us could finish our food and we took our desserts to go! It worked out perfect for us and we saved over $60 alone on lunch for 6 people. As I stated before, we have never broke even on vouchers...ever?

I like sitting down in a nice air conditioned place for 20-30 minutes for lunch as we usually go when its hot. I don't like getting lunch where you sit outside in the heat. We also did quite well at Pinocchio's Village House in MK. We saved around $22 there for our group. We had plenty to eat...no one overstuffed themselves...and we sat and watched "Its a Small World" boats and waved to all those folks (ok..it was pretty funny at the time...LOL) As I said there are many places to chose from...its not that limited for lunch. I (being frugal) enjoy the fact that some of my trip is paid for ahead of time. I order my vouchers...my PHP tickets..and some food certificates all thru Connections so I can narrow down more what my expenses will be when I arrive. We also do a grocery run and keep drinks in our rooms and snacks...and some PB/Jelly for sandwiches if we're in a hurry. We usually only eat 2 meals a day when we are at WDW anyhow...so the vouchers are really handy being as you get quite a bit of food.

Everyone plans there trips differently....but I can't understand how anyone thinks the vouchers are a waste of time. There is so much food to share w/one another. This one has me baffled....(my 2cents worth)

happy planning to all....
Esmerelda

 

[2Disneybuggs]

I ordered some Q C vouchers and a couple of VKL vouchers. I plan on doing Beachs and Cream and we all love sundaes. We can share a nice big one and Dh can get his own. I liked the idea of having lunches prepaid. Me and Dh can split a drink and the fries so it should work out good. I bought the VKL so we can have a couple of sit down lunches too. I hate carrying cash so I like the idea of carrying a voucher. Im sure it will all be okay and if not next time we know better.

 

[swilshire]

We actually spent less before we used the vouchers, but the kids were much less happy. I carried in sandwich makings, chips and our own sodas and waters. I was perfectly content with that type of lunch, but the rest of the family was not, particularly after a day or so. DH and DD would buy additional items, creating more discontent.

We would not normally order dessert in a Disney restaurant (or really any restaurant) because of the cost. We have thoroughly enjoyed sampling the different offerings. Sometimes we have loved them, sometimes we have left part of them, sometimes we have taken something with us to eat later.

While the vouchers have actually cost us a bit more, we have thoroughly enjoyed using them. We stop by Coronado Springs at least a couple of times during the week we are at the park. It is our favorite, by far, because of the variety of the offerings. My daughter has persuaded me to use an extra voucher there just so she could have leftovers to take "home" for later.

We studied the menus ahead of time and haven't taken any drastic steps to be in the right place at meal time. The vouchers have made mealtimes much more enjoyable for the family.

Sheila

 

[crisi]

Yes, but what you are missing Esmerelda is I don't eat those desserts. Not at lunch, not if pack them to go later. And I don't drink lemonade or iced tea or juice, I drink water - usually bottled that I bring along, but I'll drink tap water too. (I drink alcohol at dinner as well - but its water or adult beverages at Disney for me). There are a few sides at most Disney restaurants I will eat - but many restaurants have baby carrots or fries - fries I gave up years ago in the interest of maintaining my weight, baby carrots I can only eat a few times before I'm sick of them. An $11.50 voucher is not a deal if the only thing you want is the $5.50 burger.

They work fine for a lot of people. They sound like they work great for you. But they don't work for us.

 

[Esmerelda]

Crisi,
That's very true....its not worth your time or money. But, WE share a voucher....we split sandwiches...and sides (which are not always fries?) and you're right...we wouldn't always order dessert normally but they come with your voucher so why not save them to eat later? We've gotten anything from fruit cups to brownies...to CC cookies and its all good.

Everyone has to outweigh what they eat...if they can share meals...etc.. We find the vouchers very useful to us and have always come out ahead on them everytime. We don't use them for every meal but at least 4 times on our trips they are great.

best of luck,
Esmerelda

 

[callahanjulie10]

We love the vouchers- wouldn't go without them. We love to be able to eat when and where we want without having to shell out the $$ constantly. I think we enjoy the entire trip more because of this. We order ours well in advance and have them prepaid for way before we go/

 

[Carrie Ellis]

This is for the Disers that use vouchers!!

I bought 10 Q&C vouchers for our trip this Saturday (18th). We will be there for 10 days and it will be me, DH, DS (8), DS (8), DD (3) and DS (3).

Last night I went over the menus again and I can not find a place that I really think they would be worth it at MGM. Any suggestions? Also MK looks pretty slim. Any suggestion there? Pecos Bill looks like it might be worth it. I am planning on my DH and I splitting and may be our older 2 if the menu suits them. The younger two I will probably split a kids meal w/ them.

Epcot, AK and the resort rest look like great deals and fun!
These are the Rest. that I plan we will use them at:
Yakitori House (epcot)
Beaches-n-Cream
Flame Tree Bar-B-Que (AK)
Cantina de San Angel (epcot)
Peppermarket

Thanks ahead of time for any info!