Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Meal Vouchers

[mad4themouse]

Sorry, cathyn, the vouchers are not good for any DTD restaurants. However, you can find a list of participating restaurants by checking the first two posts in this thread.

 

[cathyn]

Thanks!!

 

[EDANDKARI]

I'm looking to buy some Q & C vouchers for October 2004. Should I wait until June to buy these to ensure I get ones that expire in 2005. Or am I safe to order them now

 

[Debrah44]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I visited Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom yesterday and tried to use my voucher for some menu items. Well, I was told that the voucher CANNOT be used on the Sampler Appetizer OR the Volcano cake, since these count as two items really. Just wanted to know if anyone used the voucher on these items before. I thought I heard that RC was pretty nice about ordering anything you wanted. :0)

Debrah

 

[LIFERBABE]

I'm looking to buy some Q & C vouchers for October 2004. Should I wait until June to buy these to ensure I get ones that expire in 2005. Or am I safe to order them now

I ordered all 40 of my QC vouchers plus VKL and VKB and they all had the 2005 expiration. No one has reported receiving the old vouchers lately so I think it is pretty safe.

 

[Liz]

Debrah44, I recall reading recently someone saying they combined the dessert option of two vouchers and got the volcano, so it sounds like they do count that as two desserts. I don't know about the appetizer but its probably the same.

 

[MRS AR]

Debrah44, what time of day did you go to the Rainforest? Did the server seem familiar with the vouchers? We're going soon and are planning on the vouchers for 5:00 reservations.

 

[Debrah44]

We went at 2:30pm, during normal lunch hours as stated in the vouchers (I always seem to have trouble, so I wanted to be safe). I showed the voucher as soon as we were asked for our drink orders because the waitress asked if we were on any meal plans or discounts. She told us that we could get anything on the menu except for the sampler appetizer. That was okay, so we ordered and boy did it take a long, long time. Three couples were seated after us and left BEFORE we even got our entrees. We did order the steak and lobster, so that could be it. We also asked for the steak medium, but it was cooked more like well done, so some advice there. I didn't want to ask for a new one since the kids were starving and we were all sharing. The food was alright and we figured a volcano would make it a little better, but nope, Volcano's not covered. Ok, I asked if we could pay a few dollars more and just get it. Manager comes over explains no volcano (counts as two) and says he will make us a diablo cake with ice cream scoop. Okay. All in all, not worth the $33 I paid for the voucher, just my opinion....

HTH!

 

[HaleyB]

Okay
If an Appetizer, Steak and Lobster, a drink, and cake and ice cream are not worth $33 including tax and tip, what would be??? Do you feel your long wait was because you used a voucher? I am not trying to be overly critical, I just wanted to understand why you didn't think this was worth the $33, because it looks like a deal to me.

 

[disney4us2002]

Yeah, I'm confused about Debrah's finding as well. I'm guessing she tried to use just one voucher but then mentions the 'kids' so I'm not sure how many people were sharing one voucher. There isn't anything stated against multiples using a voucher but I'm thinking $31.50 for a voucher and then a few dollars extra for drinks, etc. is a huge bargain! Our bill for our family of five was nearly $140. We'll definitely try vouchers rather than that bill again.

 

[Castillo Mom]

If my son is 11, then he's considered a child by WDW standards as it relates to dining. When I looked on the Hotwire website, it states that the child's Breakfast Feature Meal voucher for children is limited to ages 3-9. Since the two policies differ, which one do I go by? Would I be able to use a child's voucher for my son at a character meal?

 

[disney4us2002]

Hi Castillomom,

I posed that very question a few weeks ago and the dis posters all assured me that you should go by Disney's age policy. I ordered a child's bkft voucher for my 11 yr old but we're not going til Christmas so I won't be able to post the results til much later, lol. I'm thinking it'll be fine though. It seems for consistency that the vouchers list the same age as the park hoppers.

 

[disney4us2002]

Different issue so separate post - hope nobody minds, lol.

Can anyone verify for me how the tipping works with the vouchers? Say for instance we use them (q&c) at Beaches & Cream and use 3 vouchers for the five of us and split stuff. The waitress/waiter will get 15% tip on the actual cost of our meal (minus any extra drinks of course) or 15% of the face value of the vouchers? We would leave extra anyway for the drinks, splitting the meals, quality of service etc., but I'm curious if the waitress would do pretty well tipwise on vouchers or find them a pain.

If my math is correct (ha ha) and our estimated total came to $71, the included 15% tip would be appx $10. The 15% tip on actual cost of vouchers would be appx $5. Quite the difference.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Originally posted by disney4us2002
Hi Castillomom,

I posed that very question a few weeks ago and the dis posters all assured me that you should go by Disney's age policy. I ordered a child's bkft voucher for my 11 yr old but we're not going til Christmas so I won't be able to post the results til much later, lol. I'm thinking it'll be fine though. It seems for consistency that the vouchers list the same age as the park hoppers.

I'm so glad to hear that. Thanks!

 

[elfbo]

The tip goes for the cost of the food. Thats why it good for the waitstaff to help you get the best value for your vouchers, more of a tip for them. So the tip would be for the food covered by the voucher. Any extra food you purchase you will need to tip seperately for. When we ordered food in addition to what was covered by the voucher beaches and cream gave us 2 recepts so we knew how much extra we needed to leave for a tip.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Ok, I think I know the answer to this question, but I'm going to ask anyway. I was considering getting lunch vouchers for the Brown Derby. We're a family of 5 that includes our 3 boys, ages 9, 11, and 14. My sons are not picky eaters and enjoy trying new things. I was looking at the child's menu for Brown Derby and was not impressed with their offerings for children. When using the VKL voucher, do they have to order off of the child's menu? I don't understand why restaurants insist on limiting the choices to the standard chicken, mac and cheese, corn dog, burger or fish sticks. I may end up having to get them adult vouchers, but it seems like an awful lot of food for them. I thought maybe they could split an adult meal, but their tastes differ so I don't want to have them argue. Any ideas?

 

[mad4themouse]

Restaurants are quite happy to serve children items from the adult menu as long as you're willing to pay the adult prices. At $31 apiece for the VKLs, I don't think I would be in too much of a hurry to buy adult VKLs for all 3 children either.

How about trying this: Order 3 VKLs for your family. Get 3 appetizers that appeal to all of you and split them 5 ways. Order the 3 most expensive entrées using the VKLs and the pay out of pocket for the remaining 2. Add two extra beverages and let the children pick the 3 desserts as long as they promise to give Mom & Dad a taste. The cost to you (above the cost of the VKLs) will be the cost of the 2 cheapest entrées and 2 beverages, their tax and gratuity.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Wow, that makes a lot of sense. When my kids were little, we exposed them to different types of food and expected them to at least try new dishes but I have to say, now that they're older and prefer the offerings on the adult menus, it can get pretty expensive dining out with them. Thanks so much for the tip, I'm going to try that!

Edited to add: I forgot a couple of questions. The menu states that you can add shrimp to the N.Y. strip steak for an additional charge of $4.00. Would that be covered with the VKL voucher or do you pay the extra separately. Also, how are the portion sizes at the Brown Derby? Thanks again!

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Seems as though Connections changed their membership trial period. This is the message I get when I click on "join now"...

Once you activate your 5-day trial membership - for just a $2.95 processing fee, charged to your credit card - you can start taking immediate advantage of all the great savings Simple Escapes offers!

After your 5-day RISK-FREE trial, it's just $159.95 a year, automatically charged to the credit card you use today. Remember, you can call us toll-free at 1-877-836-6903 within the first 5 days to cancel, and you will not be charged the annual fee. To ensure continuous service, your membership will be renewed and charged each year at our then-current renewal fee, unless you call us to cancel. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, call our toll-free number to cancel future renewal years and you'll no longer be charged.

 

[Castillo Mom]

No way! That's way too much and only a 5 day trial period? Hotwire seems to be a much better deal. 30 day free trial, and if you decide to join it's $7.95 a month. I was only going to do the trial but I'm so happy with the membership, I decided to make it permanent. I haven't had any problems at all so far and their customer service has been excellent every time I've called. I also like that they deliver your order very quickly. I ordered Hard Rock Cafe GCs on Tuesday and got them on Friday. Oh, and HW offers a $10 rebate on your first order for joining. I joined 4 weeks ago and I got my rebate this week.