has anyone ever used the quick serve dining plan?

[KristinaB1024]

with this free dining im seeing alot of people that upgrade there quick serve to a reg dining plan..do any of u just stick with the quick serve plan if your staying in a value??..if so, where do u eat everyday? isnt the food repetitive? where r the good spots to eat if u are sticking with the quick serve plan?? i couldnt imagine eating burgers and fries every day

 

[minnie mum]

Most of the people who upgrade from QSDP to DDP (during free dining) do so because they prefer the TS menus AND the chance to enjoy the ambiance of the restaurants at least once a day. They are still having at least one CS meal per day.

Having used both plans, we prefer the DDP specifically because we want a leisurely TS dinner every night. But we visited WDW many times and only ate CS.

But if you are on the QSDP don't be afraid that you are only limited to burgers and fries or pizza. Theres so much more: chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs......

Just kidding. Years ago this may have been true. But WDW has come a long way in the last while. Every park has great options for CS meals. And all of the values and mods, and most of the deluxe resorts have food courts with a very good selection of food. Don't be afraid.

If you go to the top of the page and click on 'Dining", then scroll down to The Complete List of Restaurants and click on it. Select a park or select resorts- this will take you to all the restaurants in WDW. Click on any one of them and scroll down to view the menus at each one. You may be surprised at the variety available.

 

[POOHsie]

We had a split stay last fall. Half on DDP. Second half on QSDP. The last 3 days of our stay was the beginning of Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. You can use the QSDP snack credits to get the food plates there. We three had collected 30 snack credits over 5 days (2 snack credits per day) and had some wonderful food at F&W.

There's a lot on the QSDP besides burgers and fries. You have to study the menus before your trip. We had a pre-plan for 2-3 choices for each park we visited. Here's a link to Disney park and resort menus (left side of page). While we visited MK, we took the monorail to have CS at CR, Poly and GF.
http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

 

[notaprincess]

it's all about time, as in you have enough of it to travel to the best CS places?
A lot of ppl favor CS at the resorts. I've heard the values food courts a very nice.

I like Wolfgang Puck Express and Earl of Sandwich in DTD (no Burgers there!)
Sunshine Seasons at Epcot, Flame Tree BBQ at AK, Starring Rolls at DHS, Columbia Harbour House and Cosmic Ray at MK
The Mara at AKL, Capt'n Cooks at the Poly- a quick break away from the respective parks.

I would not think twice about it, just do it! Just check the menus on allears and plan a bit ahead.

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD is an AWESOME deal for a CS credit!! And yummy food! Certainly more options than burger and fries!

 

[kollerbear]

What kind of food do you enjoy? While I agree that in most of the park the counter service food can be a little repetitive, there are some stand-out places.

In Magic Kingdom, the offerings are a combination of hot dogs, burgers, chicken sandwiches and salads, and flatbread sandwiches. Casey's Corner, Cosmic Ray's, Pecos Bill's, and Golden Oak Outpost has a wide variety of stuff like that. Liberty Tree Tavern is my personal favorite, but that's because I'm vegetarian and like the hummus sandwich and vegetarian chili. They also serve tuna and other fish-type offerings there, too, though, and their offerings tend to be different than what you'd find elsewhere (e.g. sunflower seeds on the salad). The Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland also has new super-deluxe hot dogs with toppings, like the Philly Cheese Steak Hot Dog.

If you like a good variety of foods, there are lots of great counter-service options in Epcot that break away from the norm. Tangeriene Cafe has great Schwarma or veggie platters with chicken, lamb, couscous, tabouleh, hummus--and some add up to upwards of $14! They're a great bargain on the QSDP. Sunshine Seasons also has a wonderful variety of food and desserts, with Asian Noodle Bowls, salads with roasted beets and goat's cheese-- it's a great place for quick service variety and delicious desserts.

Hollywood Studios isn't great for counter service, but the basic burgers and salads have a slightly more sophisticated take on them here. I like Backlot Express. There was a really yummy veggie flatbread sandwich there with asiago, but again, that's just me. You can also get a Southwest Chicken Salad there, and that's kind of different. You can get BBQ Pulled Pork at Fairfax Fare.

Animal Kingdom has yummy BBQ at Flametree Barbecue, and Yak and Yeti Counter Service (I think it's call Anandapur Local Cafes) has a great, more Asian inspired menu that is served in little Chinese take-out boxes. So there's definitely some more variety there.

Of course, this doesn't even begin to get into all of the other things you can get at Downtown Disney and your resort. You can get some GREAT, GREAT counter-service food at Wolfgang Puck Express--pastas, fresh-made individual pizzas, soups, pasta. You can also get rotisserie chicken at at Pollo Campero.

I'm not sure where you will be staying, but the quick service dining at Pop Century is supposed to be really, really great, with a solid variety.

 

[pgumiela]

We did the quick service last year and really like it. For us we liked having the freedom to eat whenever we wanted, and if we wanted to split up to eat at different places we could, or if one son was hungry right now we could go ahead and get him his lunch, dinner etc. We didn't have to plan our park time around an ADR, or risk having a super hungry child an hour before an ADR. Now I will admit once or twice I missed having a table service meal, and I missed that we didn't schedule any character meals, but overall we really like the QSDP. And I think that over the course of the week, I only ate one burger, pizza once, and never ate a hot dog. So there really is enough variety, unless you are there for two weeks - then it might get old. When we booked our next trip with the kids stay and play free promotion we bought the QSDP because we liked it so much.

 

[KristinaB1024]

We had a split stay last fall. Half on DDP. Second half on QSDP. The last 3 days of our stay was the beginning of Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. You can use the QSDP snack credits to get the food plates there. We three had collected 30 snack credits over 5 days (2 snack credits per day) and had some wonderful food at F&W.

There's a lot on the QSDP besides burgers and fries. You have to study the menus before your trip. We had a pre-plan for 2-3 choices for each park we visited. Here's a link to Disney park and resort menus (left side of page). While we visited MK, we took the monorail to have CS at CR, Poly and GF.
http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

hey, i wanted to know if u had to book two seperate ticket packages also??? so u didnt get the discount of tickets? like the longer u stay the cheaper it gets?

 

[AMickeyG]

We have done both the quick service and the table service dining plan. For our family the quick service works best. The table service food is really good and having a sit down meal was enjoyable, however you must dedicate the time and travel to a resort if need be. While on vacation we tend to eat lighter. We could hardly fit a sit down meal and a quick service into one day, there was so much food! There is so much more flexibility in the quick service as you can choose to eat whenever, wherever you want.

I would imagine that eating a regular burger/fry place would get boring over a vacation but there are good options in Disney that aren't just the same thing over and over. In downtown Disney there is Wolfgang Puck Express which is more table service that counter service and has really good food. Earl of Sandwich as well. In Magic Kingdom there is Columbia Harbor House which has fish and shrimp. Epcot there is a place called Sunshine Seasons which has different stations that have something for anyone. There is also a pretty good place in Animal Kingdom that is the counter service version of Yak and Yeti called Anandapur local foods.

Overall I recommend weighing the options and trying to figure out what would best for your trip.

 

[whacked]

We've done both plans.

I'm going with the QS this time because it lets us change what we're doing mid stream, or stay and watch something (parade, show, event in EPCOT WS), and not have to leave to make a TS meal.

I also don't have to make plans six months out that affect what park I need to be in at what time, without regard to weather, if we're hungry, and if we decide to (gasp) add some spontaneity to day.

That being said, it would be nice to be able to trade a CS for a credit towards one or two TS meals during a 10 day trip, but you can't have everything.

We're going with our kids (11 and 13) but if they manage to grow up and move out, we'll probably look at the TS dining plans again.

We find there's plenty of variety in CS dining, but you need to look at the menus in advance so you have an idea of what's where in the parks, resorts, and downtown Disney. That way when someone says "I'm hungry", you don't end up with fried food because that happens to be what you're standing next to.

We actually print the menus of the places we like and put them in a report binder that goes with us on vacation. We then take a quick look at what's going to be available where we'll be before leaving the hotel room each day or evening.

 

[KristinaB1024]

thanks for all the input..i really enjoy reading what everyone has to say about this...im surprising my mother in law and sister in law with a trip to disney world, both have never been and probably wont be returning anytime soon(financial issues) me and my DF can only afford 4nights at a value, we're just gunna include them on our reservation now for september, we were planning on upgrading to better dining but with adding them on i dont think its gunna be a possibility..i really want them to LOVE disney like me and DF do, i dont want them to think disneys food is all quick serve tasting because me and DF have come back from vacations and raved about the food but they wont get the opportunity to try it, its bad enough were gunna have to cram everything thing since we only have a 5 day ticket....the only positive is since we have to cram everything in maybe the quick serve will be better with our time

 

[ukool]

Something that has been bugging me about QSDP is the resturants, will it say on the outside of a place if we can eat thier? i dont fancy carrying a list of places round with us or seeing somewere we want to eat to find out we will have to pay OOP to eat thier.

 

[NorweJenNY]

thanks for all the input..i really enjoy reading what everyone has to say about this...im surprising my mother in law and sister in law with a trip to disney world, both have never been and probably wont be returning anytime soon(financial issues) me and my DF can only afford 4nights at a value, we're just gunna include them on our reservation now for september, we were planning on upgrading to better dining but with adding them on i dont think its gunna be a possibility..i really want them to LOVE disney like me and DF do, i dont want them to think disneys food is all quick serve tasting because me and DF have come back from vacations and raved about the food but they wont get the opportunity to try it, its bad enough were gunna have to cram everything thing since we only have a 5 day ticket....the only positive is since we have to cram everything in maybe the quick serve will be better with our time

Why don't you consider doing just one TS meal? Just because you have the QS dining plan doesn't mean that you can't just go to a TS restaurant and pay OOP for one meal. I understand funds are tight, so consider lunch instead of dinner for your TS meal... or try one of the restaurants on restaurant.com (where you can get some $25 gift certificates for just $2 right now with code: FLAG). I know we've done House of Blues in DTD with one of those gift certificates - worked out to be a sweet deal! Just a thought - pinch some extra pennies here and there, and you might be able to get a nice sit-down meal... maybe for your last full day in Disney.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[KristinaB1024]

Why don't you consider doing just one TS meal? Just because you have the QS dining plan doesn't mean that you can't just go to a TS restaurant and pay OOP for one meal. I understand funds are tight, so consider lunch instead of dinner for your TS meal... or try one of the restaurants on restaurant.com (where you can get some $25 gift certificates for just $2 right now with code: FLAG). I know we've done House of Blues in DTD with one of those gift certificates - worked out to be a sweet deal! Just a thought - pinch some extra pennies here and there, and you might be able to get a nice sit-down meal... maybe for your last full day in Disney.

Enjoy your trip!

o wow im gunna have to check that out..i would love a gift card for 25 and pay 2...that just seems to good to be true

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

Pepper Market at CSR is also a good value, when using QSDP.

 

[kollerbear]

Something that has been bugging me about QSDP is the resturants, will it say on the outside of a place if we can eat thier? i dont fancy carrying a list of places round with us or seeing somewere we want to eat to find out we will have to pay OOP to eat thier.

Just wanted to answer your question--although the names of all of the places to eat kind of smoosh together if you've never been to WDW before, it will be pretty obvious whether or not a place is counter service or table service just when you get there and take a peek inside. If you can walk up and order on a touch-screen or from a cashier, it's gonna be covered on your quick service dining plan. There won't be a "Surprise!" table service you'll have to pay for OOP. Just remember what you're entitled to when you order, and ask a CM for help if you want to avoid paying OOP and it seems like you might be ordering something extra. I'm not aware of there being too many counter-service places that aren't covered on quick service. Don't sweat this one too much.

It's still a good idea to take a peek at menus, though, so that, as a previous poster said, you don't end up with whatever you happen to be standing next to, and then end up finding the food to be really repetitive.

 

[Sugardimples]

We've done QC and have never eaten a burger or chicken strips. There are lots of choices. I really recommend Sunshine Seasons in EPCOT, Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD Marketplace and Flame Tree Barbeque in the Animal Kingdom for wonderful variety.

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

We have done the regular dining plan three times and absolutley love it. This time, however, we are going during F&W, so we're doing the QS so we have more snack credits to play with. Also, both of my girls qualify as adults, so it's a little cheaper. They were each allowed to pick one TS meal that we will pay for OOP. My older daughter chose Boma for breakfast, and the younger picked Teppan Edo (our family favourite). I am looking forward to all the snacks!

 

[KyleeB]

We did the QSDP when we went in October, and we loved it. I like table service as well, but with 3 kids and all the excitement they don't want to wait to eat and we like the flexibility!

Also if you have an iphone they have dining apps and it tells you the menu and if it's on the DDP.

Enjoy your trip

 

[tina.tina]

If I were you, I would want to sort of have a plan of where I wanted to eat- at least have a couple of places picked out so you can have a choice & then decide where you actually want to go when you get there. There's a brochure about the QS plan on the WDW website so you can choose ones that are on the plan.

I didn't eat a single hamburger while we were at WDW for 9 nights in April. Here's a list of some things I had from CS:
shrimp lo mein @ Pop foodcourt
Mickey waffles @ Pop foodcourt
philly cheesesteak @ Cosmic Rays- MK
chicken tacos @ La Cantina in Mexico- Epcot
bacon wrapped meatloaf @ Wolf Gang Puck Express in DTD
Pizza @ Pop foodcourt
chili cheese dog @ Pop foodcourt
cheese danish @ Main Street Bakery- MK
turkey sandwich @ Sunshine Season- Epcot
sub sandwich @ Earl of Sandwich in DTD