Basic Dining Plan

[DisneyCrazMom]

Am I confused or am I reading the material correctly...the Basic Dining Plan does NOT include a refillable mug? I am torn between the Basic and QSDP but the whole mug thing has been leaning towards the QSDP and paying for one or two TS meals OOP.

 

[mickeygirl14]

You are not confused - you are correct. The regular dining plan does not include the refillable mugs. Only the quick-service or the deluxe/premium dining plans. Just depends on how many TS meals you're planning and how much time you plan on using the mugs. For example - I love the mug, as does my son. But my daughter and husband don't drink enough to make it worth us buying them for them. Just depends on what you want/need.

 

[brymolmom]

If you would really only prefer 1 or 2 TS then I would do the QS (of course, run your specific numbers and estimates for how much those TS would cost to figure out which one costs less overall). But, generally speaking, a weeklong trip with 2 max TS plus QS plan would be less expensive.

Although, for me I wouldn't let the mugs factor in significantly. We love the Basic dining plan. We don't like TS every day (get too sick of eating and too much food after about 5 or 6 days) - so we will be doing two 2 credit meals on our 9 night trip this August, so that we don't have TS every day. We end up buying 2 refillable mugs for our family of 4. That takes care of dh's morning coffee everyday plus gives us drinks for the small handful of meals we eat at the resort.

The only way it would even be significant, IMO, is if you plan on spending a LOT of time at your resort since the refillable mugs are only able to be filled there. Most people spend too much time at the parks to truly make it a huge money-saver.

 

[aubriee]

If you would really only prefer 1 or 2 TS then I would do the QS (of course, run your specific numbers and estimates for how much those TS would cost to figure out which one costs less overall). But, generally speaking, a weeklong trip with 2 max TS plus QS plan would be less expensive.

Although, for me I wouldn't let the mugs factor in significantly.

The only way it would even be significant, IMO, is if you plan on spending a LOT of time at your resort since the refillable mugs are only able to be filled there. Most people spend too much time at the parks to truly make it a huge money-saver.

Even though personally we prefer TS meals and except for a few exceptions don't care for the CS restaurants, I agree. If the OP is planning only 1 or 2 TS meals then the basic DDP would be a waste for them.

As far as the mugs I think it depends on where you are staying and how close your room is to the food court. Last Dec I did a split stay at CSR and YC and had the DxDDP for both stays. (I'm an AP holder so did not have to buy park tickets and prefer the Signature restaurants, so the DxDDP made more sense). Anyway at CSR I was in a Cabana room close to the pool bar and main building, so used the mug several times a day. When I moved over to the YC, I never used the second mug, except for the day I got it. It just wasn't convenient. Both mugs just sat in my room for that whole stay. In May and again in Sept/Oct I'll be at POFQ. In May we're on the basic DDP, but will be purchasing the mug because as small as POFQ is, we'll be using them several times a day. In Sept/Oct I plan on dining at alot of restaurants that don't accept the DDP, so will be paying for all my meals OOP, but will still be purchasing another mug, because I know I'll be getting my money's worth out of it.

 

[jbuey22]

yes the basic plan 1 TS, 1 CS, & 1 snack daily does not come with the mug, BUT.... I never found it neccessary for that plan. You get a drink with every meal. At resort food courts, you can get sealed bottles of chocolate milk, pop, orange juice, etc... OR you can get a cup and fill it at the drink island. In that case you can re-fill it over and over until your meal is done and you throw it away. Now if you are one who hangs out at the pool and sends the kids to fill the mugs several times while you are swimming then it pays to buy a mug for each of the family. If you are thinking about changing to the QSDP just for the mug, then you will lose out on all of the nice TS choices. Of course the QS plan is cheaper so that may be a better fit anyway. The first year we had the basic plan and bought the mugs only to find that we didnt really need them. If you could use your mugs all over the world that would be a different story, but you can only use them at your resort. So I guess I am saying that on the DDP I am not a fan of the mugs.

 

[2Tiggies]

I think you need to first take the mug out of the equation and decide which dining plan suits you. The cost of the mug over the course of your stay if you decide to purchase it, is not going to come close to the upgrade price for that period. I would not want to be stuck with CS meals if I wanted TS just for a mug. If you feel you would get good value out of the mug, or even if you would break even on the cost and would like it as a souvenir, then why don't you buy it if you would rather have the DDP?

 

[DisneyCrazMom]

Guess I should add, we will be on DCL before our stay and are DH and I are traveling with young children (4&2). I am just not sure how many TS meals we will want to do for our short stay of 3 nights, we are booked of one TS buffet in the morning. The QSDP is only about $66 cheaper then the Basic plan. Torn on what is better for us. DS(2) will be a month shy of 3, he eats more then DD. So thinking we are going to be OOP with him and maybe with more snack and CS credits QSDP might be better. Oh I don't know...

 

[canopynut66]

Am I confused or am I reading the material correctly...the Basic Dining Plan does NOT include a refillable mug? I am torn between the Basic and QSDP but the whole mug thing has been leaning towards the QSDP and paying for one or two TS meals OOP.

You can upgrade QS to MYWD but your right do not get a mug however if you have a mug from resort can still use see it all the time but we like them to take back to people who like them and they never get to WDW