Convince Me to Keep the QSDP and not Upgrade...

[rafiki14]

I honestly could not eat all the food on the regular dining plan. And I don't like being tied down to meal times that much.

Quick Service for me every time. If I need that special ADR, we'll still make it.

 

[scdufek]

I am the OP and we are staying at POFQ. I was thinking of the tips too...lol! It's not the actual amount of money to upgrade it's that the QSDP is free so I wanted to keep the dining free and be happy about it . When we figured it out it's about $450 extra for us for the week to upgrade but again the QSDP is FREE so can I be happy and enjoy with that? I do love the freedom of not having ADR's too, I must admit

We are three adults so character meals are really not our thing and after reading all the great QSDP reviews we are actually feeling pretty good.

Anyone else have any imput?? Thanks!

I had the same dilemma! We're a family of 5 with two of our kids 10yrs and 11yrs and the youngest 4yr, staying at the POR for 9 nights. We have free QD as well. I had up graded to the DDP to begin, because we usually do that plan. But after thinking about it, the 600.00 for us to upgrade plus the $200-$250 for tips....I decided to save our $800+ and keep the QS and reserve two TS meals to just pay oop. That way we still save considerably, have the freedom of QS, and still get 2 TS. The thought of a lot of hamburgers turned me off to, but after researching, there are tons of options! I'm actually excited about not having to worry about a bunch of ADRs and keeping to track of reservation times!

 

[feistygalkmc]

I have done the QSDP 2 of the 4 times I have been to the world and honestly I love it. I would get it again and again. The only downside is I have read this year you only get 1 snack vs the 2? I can't remember what it was last December when I went but regardless 2 meals and 2 snacks is more than enough food so 1 less snack isn't going to hurt. I have ate at many great TS on my other 2 trips (Kona-always a must for me, Teppan Edo, Cape May are my favorites) however on my last trip I tried out some QS places that I absolutely loved and can't wait to try again. I also went to some old standby's that are just as good as the last time. Not ONCE did I have a burger on my last trip. In fact, after my very first trip to DW I tried Pecos Bill's. Well, I wish I had made another choice because I didn't like it at all. That was the last and only burger I have ever ate while in the world. Here;s some of my favorite CS and some not so favorite:
Favorites:
Kringla Bakery (many go for the school bread or sweet treats but I discovered that Kringla has some great hot sandwiches. One that I recreate at home in the toaster oven. Their soup is also very good.)

Sunshine Seasons-I only ate there twice, once for breakfast and once for lunch but the selection and quality I found to be great.

ASM cafeteria-I have stayed here twice and the Crispy Chicken Alfredo gets me every time lol

Caseys Corner-Very simple meal, hot dog and fries but the cheese sauce...oh the cheese sauce!!!! It is so good

Columbia Harbor House-I wish I had tried this one 3 trips ago! I love shrimp and the shrimp basket was SO GOOD

Fish stand in the UK(can't remember the name oops!)--I had it 2 or maybe 3 times on my last trip it was yummy and I sometimes crave it

BW Bakery or Pool Bar-Surprisingly enough the tuna sandwich I got at the pool bar was really good.


Now for my least favorites:
Flametree BBQ-I like a sweet BBQ sauce, I didn't like the flavor of the BBQ here at all. Just wasn't for me.

Pecos Bills-I got my first and last WDW bacon cheeseburger. Even with the topping bar, the burger was bland and quite frankly I would have rather had McDonalds

HS-Nothing for QS really jumps out at me at HS. I have never ate at a CS here. However, my saving grace is to grab a seat at Tune Inn Lounge and order off the Prime Time menu if I get hungry.

POFQ Food Court-There was nothing very appetizing here at all. I had the beignets but they were just ok

Tangierene Cafe-The first few times I loved it, but the last time I went about a year ago, I thought the food quality had gone done here. Maybe just an off day? I didn't eat much of my meal there that day.

 

[chigirl]

Did the regular plan twice and the QSP once and I preferred that...we are going in September and using it. As much as I LOVED the places to eat, it was too much work being tied to an ADR, etc....I have to say, though, we went to Disneyland this past June and the counter service places were great! The corn dog cart was amazing, and Pinocchio Village Haus is far superior to the one at WDW: chicken sausage sammies, really cool bacon pizza with fresh herbs. Yum! Plus there is a barbeque skewer place near the Dole Whip hut that is really good! But no real dp at Disneyland, so it was all out of pocket, which I never enjoy! Much eaiser to pre-pay and relax!

When we had the QSP in 2009, we never ate a hamburger! We did Wolfgang Puck Express 3 times, Columbia Harbor House, the picnic in the park at AK, and ate at the All-Star Movies food court. I am looking forward to it again...the only thing I miss are the character meals!

 

[Emme]

Thank you all so much for the great replies...Keep them coming. I can feel the excitement building

 

[feistygalkmc]

Oh I forgot to include Earl of Sandwich! I LOVE their blt's. The last time I looked it was not on the 2012 QSDP though?

 

[tinkerbell1984]

We love the flexability of Quick Service. I don't like having to be tied down to ADR's and I don't like how much time sit down resturants take either!

We used it once and will use it again this time and we get plenty of food so that the 2 year old, who doesn't get a plan, can eat from our plates.

We bring cereal to eat breakfast in the room before going to the parks. Or, each time we've booked one character breakfast and paid OOP, which we didn't mind at all. One sit down is enough for us, and since the rest of the food is free (we got free dining), the OOP for one meal is no biggie.

 

[hedge333]

We went 2 years ago with 3 adults and 2 kids and loved the QSDP. We paid out of pocket for one character meal and the rest was QS. I had one hamburger the whole week we were there and was never hungry. Our girls were little and we couldn't see being tied to a reservation time. I can't tell you how many people I saw leaving lines after waiting 30+ minutes and missing the ride so they could go to their reservation. We usually ate a big breakfast, go a snack for lunch, and then ate dinner and that worked really well for us.

We ate at the Polynesian QS-Captain Cook's for one of days at MK. It was a great break from the park, the food was awesome, the restaurant not crowded, and we got to see another resort.

We're going again in April and are on the QSDP again and are really excited about. Plenty of food and plenty of flexibility. You only have to have a burger if you want one.

 

[jacksgirl]

Ok I'm a little off topic but confused. A poster above said something about staying at POR (POFQ) and having free QDSP. I thought you got DDP with mods.

 

[Emme]

Ok I'm a little off topic but confused. A poster above said something about staying at POR (POFQ) and having free QDSP. I thought you got DDP with mods.

That's me! Yes, this time around all they offered me for the moderates was the QSDP. It depends on the code you get and the time of year you go.

 

[jacksgirl]

Oh ok.

 

[mommykds]

Please see my QSDP review in my signature. We stayed at WDW last summer for 2 weeks on the plan & we ate well. Everyone was happy with their choices & we did not have too many hamburgers & chicken nuggets. DH is a vegetarian & he was able to find tasty things to eat as well.

The freedom of the QSDP cannot be beat. My kids even said that they liked not having to be anywhere at a certain time to eat. We could just stop anywhere & eat when we were hungry not when it was time for our ADR.

 

[MellyMouse]

We had the QSDP on our honeymoon and loved it! People have already addressed the amazing variety of food you can get with quick service, so I won't repeat that, but I wanted to address another QS complaint I've seen. People say they'd miss having the opportunity to sit down and have a quiet meal.

I found the exact opposite to be true--we had lots of relaxing, quiet meals. True, we had to stand in line to get our food, but once we had it we could find a quiet corner to sit and eat and people watch at our own pace with no one making us feel we should hurry. Some of our favorites in that regard were upstairs at Columbia Harbor House, over the water at Mexico and over the water at Flame Tree.

I'm sure that depends in part of the time of year, but I found QSDP to be relaxing, delicious and PLENTY of food.

 

[feistygalkmc]

We had the QSDP on our honeymoon and loved it! People have already addressed the amazing variety of food you can get with quick service, so I won't repeat that, but I wanted to address another QS complaint I've seen. People say they'd miss having the opportunity to sit down and have a quiet meal.

I found the exact opposite to be true--we had lots of relaxing, quiet meals. True, we had to stand in line to get our food, but once we had it we could find a quiet corner to sit and eat and people watch at our own pace with no one making us feel we should hurry. Some of our favorites in that regard were upstairs at Columbia Harbor House, over the water at Mexico and over the water at Flame Tree.

I'm sure that depends in part of the time of year, but I found QSDP to be relaxing, delicious and PLENTY of food.

Melly, this is SO TRUE! I have never gone hungry on QSDP. Even without the extra snack it is still worth it. Check out the menus and find places you would like to eat ahead of time. or have something in mind anyway. Also, don't limit yourself to just the parks, the resorts have QS places as well and sometimes will have a similar meal to one of their TS restaurants.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We always upgrade to DxDDP because we love to eat We do a character breakfast everyday and a signature dinner. Once DD is tired of character meals maybe we'll skip the DDP but I hope that day never comes

 

[Emme]

I found the exact opposite to be true--we had lots of relaxing, quiet meals. True, we had to stand in line to get our food, but once we had it we could find a quiet corner to sit and eat and people watch at our own pace with no one making us feel we should hurry. Some of our favorites in that regard were upstairs at Columbia Harbor House, over the water at Mexico and over the water at Flame Tree.
.

I am searching every CS menu I can find. Looking at the meal, desserts, and as you said a nice relaxing place to sit... So hoping we love the QSDP

 

[wdwmaw]

We are also in the same boat as we have free QS dining for our upcoming May trip. We have enjoyed free dining for years. Everytime we have enjoyed some really good dining. Each time about 1/2 way through our trip we all kind of had the thought not another meal. So, this time we were offered QS dining and I did not upgrade. For our family for 14 nights that upgrade would be about $700. Well for $700 we will pay out of pocket for Tusker House breakfast, lunch at Chef's de France, O'hanas, and will enjoy Gardenview Tea and Rainforest Cafe (DD favorite and we have a $25 gift card), both of these are not on dining plan. We will still have money left over.

We love counter service at Disney World but on the regular dining plan we find that we end up not getting to enjoy some of the best food on property. Our family, for one can't wait for our 15 days of eating counter service in the world.