Free QSD but should I upgrade to DP?

[qv09vvp]

Ok...last time I was at Disney was 2006. We bought the DP back then & it was awesome...ate at some great places & was totally spoiled with appetizer, entree & dessert plus tip included!

fast forward...received a pin for free QSD in June. I figured it was a sign from heaven that we should FINALLY go back & so I did it. We are set for 7 days in June with the QSP for free!

BUT here's the rub...we REALLy enjoyed several of the TS restaurants...and now with the kids being older (both athlets that eat a LOT!), I just don't see not visiting at least 3 TS restaurants in that week. Thinking Ohana, Japan restaurant, maybe CP, Hollywood & Vine...well, you get the idea, 3 could easily turn into 4 or 5.

My question is, at what point dollar wise should I just go ahead and upgrade us to the regular plan? I mean, I can't use CS for TS and just pay the difference right? fyi...all 4 of us would be considered adults, so I think that adds 80 dollars a day to my budget......but if i KNOW we're gonna eat at 3 TS anyway..is it better to upgrade or just pay OOP?

sorry to dump on you guys, but I'm planning this trip solo...hubby doesn't wanna know or care..... and gonna surprize the kiddos...

 

[mjp12831]

You can upgrade to the DDP from QS - you're getting QS for free and you'll end up paying the difference between what DDP costs over QS.

You cannot convert QS credits to TS credits or pay an upgrade fee to convert QS to TS at the restaurants. You'd need to make this decision beforehand.

So you can figure out what it would cost to convert - then make the decision on whether it is "worth" it to you. TS are much nicer from CS in general (food quality), and they give you a break from your day. Also, TS are usually inside and airconditioned while CS are often out in the elements.

 

[SFreelove]

I would say it sounds like if you upgrade ideally it will be more of a save for your family. We've done both the QS and TS plan on previous vacations. The vacation we did with QS was more fast paced and just bouncing around parks/attractions, no set plans.. just enjoying disney as we go. The vacation we had the TS plan, I must say I had planned down to every minute.. to no shock everything didn't go as planned BUT we did eat at each resturant we had reserved and the vacation was slowers paced because we knew what we were going to do, when and where. Regardless you can still bounce around just as much with a vk in DW having the TS plan so that really doesnt matter, but myself and others have said they enjoy have the TS because you get to take a break out of your day have sit down meal and take everything in.

To your question- no you can't pay the difference, you must either have one or the other. It really depends if you KNOW your family will be having atleast 3+ sit downs, you mine as well upgrade for the difference rather than pay because it will probably equal out or if not cost you more if you pay for each TS meal your family has. If you were only doing 1 or 2 TS I wouldn't bother but 3+ I say yes! PLUS with the TS plan you get just the same but more.. you can't really go wrong! ENJOY

 

[jana616]

Ok...last time I was at Disney was 2006. We bought the DP back then & it was awesome...ate at some great places & was totally spoiled with appetizer, entree & dessert plus tip included!

fast forward...received a pin for free QSD in June. I figured it was a sign from heaven that we should FINALLY go back & so I did it. We are set for 7 days in June with the QSP for free!

BUT here's the rub...we REALLy enjoyed several of the TS restaurants...and now with the kids being older (both athlets that eat a LOT!), I just don't see not visiting at least 3 TS restaurants in that week. Thinking Ohana, Japan restaurant, maybe CP, Hollywood & Vine...well, you get the idea, 3 could easily turn into 4 or 5.

My question is, at what point dollar wise should I just go ahead and upgrade us to the regular plan? I mean, I can't use CS for TS and just pay the difference right? fyi...all 4 of us would be considered adults, so I think that adds 80 dollars a day to my budget......but if i KNOW we're gonna eat at 3 TS anyway..is it better to upgrade or just pay OOP?

sorry to dump on you guys, but I'm planning this trip solo...hubby doesn't wanna know or care..... and gonna surprize the kiddos...

We were in a similar situation when we booked. We went in 2009 with free TS dining, and now were offered free QSDP for June as well. I debated, and in the end, we are sticking with QSDP, but here's why I think that was right for us...we didn't love being tied to our ADRs. I felt like we were really pressured to be certain places at certain times, and while we liked our meals, it wasn't worth it to us. Our kids are also 7,4, and 20 month olds, and for us, taking that much time to sit with them is hard. While they enjoyed the character meals last time, we aren't so into the characters and just seeing them at the Character Spot is enough. My older two are boys and there just aren't the character options for them that there are for girls.

However...if my kids were older, ate a lot, and I didn't mind the time constraints of ADRs (which it sounds like you don't), then I would probably pay to upgrade. Can you look at menus for the places you'd choose and add up what you think you might get to get a rough idea of what each of those 3 definite meals would cost? If it's going to be only $200-250 (than just buying those meals OOP) more to upgrade and get 7 TS meals instead of 3, then I'd spend the extra $560 and enjoy your vacation more. HTH!

 

[MissStitch626]

I would say it really depends on your family and how much paying OOP is going to actually cost versus the cost of upgrading.

We had free QSDP last September, and for a 14 day trip I had an ADR booked for everyday of our trip. Because of this a friend suggested that I upgrade to the DDP. I went through the menus for each of our restaurants and did a sample bill for each meal based on things that we were likely to order (I know that sounds tedious but that's the kind of thing that passes for fun in my house ). I turned out we were spending less OOP than we would for the upgrade.

Not necessarily the case for everyone though - DH and I tend to stick to an entree and a dessert at the most, most times skipping the dessert - I'm sure the figures would have been different had we been eating three courses at each meal.

 

[sharonabe]

It will cost you $16 per person per night to upgrade. If you're staying for 6 nights, that's $384 total. You just need to decide how many TS you want to eat. If it's only 1 or 2, you're probably better keeping the QSDP and paying OOP. If it's more than that, you'll probably do better to upgrade.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

In addition to the $16 per person per night to upgrade you will also be paying gratuity on the entire amount of the TS meal...for a $150 meal for example, that will be an extra $30 per day or thereabouts..

 

[dancin Disney style]

We've had the DDP many times but last year we booked during FD and got the QSDP. We had many conversations about upgrading. On past trips we totally enjoyed the TS and there were a few that we all agreed were must do's. Since we were staying for 12 nights the upgrade cost was much higher than the OOP cost of 3 TS meals. In the end we agreed that it would be really nice to try something new and kept the QSDP. Well, turned out to be the best choice for us...something we will do again without a thought. The freedom to dine when ever and where ever was fantastic.

Before we got there I spent a fair amount of time researching menus (yep, passes for fun for me too ). I had a list of all the places that offered alternative options....besides burgers and fries. There are a ton of great places with things like ribs, fish, pasta. Only once did we have burgers and that was what we actually wanted.

BTW...in the end I cancelled all the ADR's. We were very happy to just carry on with what we had.

 

[hedge333]

I have never used the DDP just the QSDP. We always pay for any TS oop and come out ahead. We love the QSDP because we don't have to work our day around reservation times. It gives us a lot of flexibility.