Counter Service dining plan?

[nboicepardee]

Good Morning everyone!
My daughters and I are leaving next Wednesday to head to WDW and then my husband will join us a few days later. I am debating getting the counter service plan for the first leg of our trip (we change rooms after 3 nights). I would have to pay for 1 adult and 2 children. Do you think it would be a good deal for us? We are moving to a DVC 2 bedroom and will be getting groceries once my husband gets there. Thank you for your thoughts!

 

[Suz D]

Good Morning everyone!
My daughters and I are leaving next Wednesday to head to WDW and then my husband will join us a few days later. I am debating getting the counter service plan for the first leg of our trip (we change rooms after 3 nights). I would have to pay for 1 adult and 2 children. Do you think it would be a good deal for us? We are moving to a DVC 2 bedroom and will be getting groceries once my husband gets there. Thank you for your thoughts!

We LOVE the counter service plan. We eat more healthy food than if we were paying oop right at the restaurant. When you are watching your budget, you tend to order among the least expensive things on the menu. In addition, you get 2 snack credits each day which will give you enough for breakfast if you choose to spend them that way. I say go for it!

 

[Suz D]

I forgot to ask how old your children are? That does come into play because if they are 10 and up, they pay for an adult QS plan which may not be as good of a value.

 

[nboicepardee]

they are 5 and 7, so i would be paying the child price. are there healthier options for the kids as well? we aren't big soda drinkers, but i do like the idea of having the mug included because we are going to enjoy the pool for those first couple of days until my husband gets there. i can grab them a lemonade to bring to the pool. do you know if you can get drink refills at the pools? we will be staying at kidani village. thank you!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

There is a certain timeframe that you have to add the dining plan, so be sure to make your decision before then. I'm thinking 72 hours, but please check to be sure.

We liked the QSDP and always found healthy options for our kids. One thing they loved was carbonated water from the soda refill stations with a slice of lemon.

 

[suedaisy]

There are drink refills at Kidani pool. It is a great pool! Have fun!

Please note that unlike table service credits, counter service credits are not identified as "adult" or "child". You are able to purchase an adult-sized meal for one counter service credit. We often split meals and this allowed us to have a hot breakfast. There are not many counter service options at Kidani, but Jambo's Mara has several delicious options.

There is also a mug refill station at Kidani's gift shop.

 

[nboicepardee]

thank you so much for all the great tips! i didn't know that about the child/adult credits, so that gives us so many more options. we are looking forward to the kidani pool! we have stayed once before and loved it! the mara has wonderful choices if i remember right. delicious chicken dish! i was thinking the timeframe was 48 hours, so i will definitely check on that today. i would hate to miss it!

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

While the credit might now be split per say your card does specify 1A 2C & you will only be able to order 1 adult meal & 2 childrens meals at a time. You will not be able to go up & order 2 adult meals 1 child or 3 adult meals etc. We are rule followers here since we feel it's important to teach our children right from wrong so we order kids meals with the kids credits & adult meals for the adult credits.

 

[2binak]

While the credit might now be split per say your card does specify 1A 2C & you will only be able to order 1 adult meal & 2 childrens meals at a time. You will not be able to go up & order 2 adult meals 1 child or 3 adult meals etc. We are rule followers here since we feel it's important to teach our children right from wrong so we order kids meals with the kids credits & adult meals for the adult credits.

OP could order 2 adult meals and one child meal if she wanted to. She would then have 1 less adult credit and 1 more child's credit to use by the end of her stay. If the OP was staying 3 nights & wanted to order 6 adult meals at once, using all of her adult credits, she could do that too.

I think what you were trying to say is what you said at the end of your post, that the OP should only order adult meals with adult credits and kids meals with kids credits.

 

[nboicepardee]

So, the rule is that children need to order a child's meal? I of course will want to follow the rules. It still sounds like a good deal, especially because of the snacks and refillable mugs. As long as there are healthier options for kids' meals, I think they could still split a meal and then split a breakfast in the morning. I just don't want them eating chicken fingers for every meal (maybe only once a day! )

 

[DisneyMomma81]

So, the rule is that children need to order a child's meal? I of course will want to follow the rules. It still sounds like a good deal, especially because of the snacks and refillable mugs. As long as there are healthier options for kids' meals, I think they could still split a meal and then split a breakfast in the morning. I just don't want them eating chicken fingers for every meal (maybe only once a day! )

We had 3 Disney Adults *DS was 9 but Disney *thought* he was 10* and 1 Disney kid ~ we had the regular Dining plan *1 TS 1 CS 1 snack per night* I didn't order/"purhcase" a single kids CS meal. I'd order 2 adult CS meals at a time and we'd share them between the 4 of us.

 

[SunnieRN]

they are 5 and 7, so i would be paying the child price. are there healthier options for the kids as well? we aren't big soda drinkers, but i do like the idea of having the mug included because we are going to enjoy the pool for those first couple of days until my husband gets there. i can grab them a lemonade to bring to the pool. do you know if you can get drink refills at the pools? we will be staying at kidani village. thank you!

I love the Mara!!! I love AKV Kidani!!! I love the pool area at Kidani!!! And, I LOVE the QS dining plan!!

I'll tell you what we do and it may help, or it may not. The meals at all counter services seem to vary in size, but there are a LOT of choices, with many of them being HUGE! Especially on our 'pool days', I often used a snack credit for breakfast (oatmeal), a snack credit for lunch, (soup and some fries or fruit from someone elses meal), then a dinner for dinner. If I was hungrier, I would order something more substantial.

We have 2 kids in our party. (I am Grandma). If we ordered an 2 or 3 adult meals and two kids meals every meal, a LARGE portion of it would be trashed. It is WAY too much food! If I were you, I would start with one adult meal ((something your girls like also) and one child meal. You can ALWAYS buy more, if you need it.

On your last day, any unused meals can be 'traded' at Mara, or the AK gift shops, for three snacks each. Not such a good deal for adult credits, but a great deal for leftover childs credits. This can supplement your groceries, be all fun stuff, or a combo. We drove last time, had a LOT of credits left, got snacks for on the way home and a bunch of drinks for the cooler!

In my book, with the refillable mug, which I also LOVE! The QS dining plan is great!! We buy it for most of our trips, as my daughter and I want a VACATION also!!! Have a wonderful time!

Oh yes, we often supplement the QS plan with 1 or two TS meals OOP. The reason for this is the boys are young, some days are NOT good TS days, and we can't really enjoy dessert after a big TS meal, so we use a sack credit later for dessert!!

 

[suedaisy]

We were not trying to break any rules. Table Service credits are defined as adult and children, since counter service is not that way, we believed that we could buy whatever my nephew wanted- whether it was a kids meal or just a meal. I just realized on the brochure that it reads, "Guests ages 3-9 must order from a children’s menu where available."

Don't start hating on me disboarders... My mistake. On our trip of 11 days, keeping up with adult credits and kid credits would not have been possible as we used our counter service here and there and broke up into groups. I would have to ask at a stand or restaurant how many snacks and counter service credits we had as we were not always together. There is not a indication on the receipts which of these are children or adult.

 

[nboicepardee]

My youngest daughter is absolutely obsessed with macaroni and cheese (but then again, who isn't! ) but my older daughter is very lactose intolerant and can't have pizza or mac and cheese and even some chicken fingers might bother her. I will just need to check out menus before I go to see where we should eat most days. She can also share my meal each night and then we can get a breakfast or two. I just called to add the plan, and it is 48 hours before that you need to add the plan. Thanks for your help everyone!

I love Kidani too!

 

[tigger51276]

So, the rule is that children need to order a child's meal? I of course will want to follow the rules. It still sounds like a good deal, especially because of the snacks and refillable mugs. As long as there are healthier options for kids' meals, I think they could still split a meal and then split a breakfast in the morning. I just don't want them eating chicken fingers for every meal (maybe only once a day! )

When I was there in Aug/Sept last year, if my DD7 wanted an adult meal then they had no problem giving it to her. She often didn't like what they had for a kids meal or really wanted something else that was on the menu for instance a hot dog...very few counter service locations offer kids a hot dog but they have them for adults so they will happily give a child an adult counter service meal. The only place you may have an issue is in some of the countries in EPCOT as they seem to work a little different. As a cast member explained to me, while the KTTWC shows how many adults and child are on the plan, all counter service credits are bunched together and don't differentiate between child or adult. That being said, if there was something on the kids menu that my daughter liked then she got it, but if not she got an adult meal instead. There are also a bunch of counter service locations where adults and kids order from the same exact menu.

 

[Ericandjenng]

Hi

For our shorter trips, we love the QSDP. We just used it while staying at BWV. I have found that it makes even more sense the more kids you have. Kids' meals are $4.99 each and snacks range from $2 and up so you easily get your money's worth for them.

Some resorts (BWV is one) make it a little more difficult to get counter service because they have limited choices for it. The parks are never a problem for choices or availability.

We did run into a couple of QS restaurants that they don't have a kids menu--Casey's Corner is one. You just order your meals and don't worry about it.

Also it is 48 hours before arrival to add any dining plan and you do have to pay for it up front now. But, it's nice not having to worry about it when you get there.

Happy Traveling!