How does the QSDP math ever work out?

[winterwhite]

I was looking into the dining plan for our next 5 night trip first week in May.

We've never done free dining because paying rack rate for a room has never been worth it since we typically stay at POR and have gotten up to 50% off those rooms through Expedia or similar.

The price per person is $39.64 per day.

How can you ever get 2 QS meals and a snack to ever add up to $40?

Even BOG lunch, which is quite expensive for a QS, is roughly $18/person with a dessert.

Everywhere else an entree is $8-10, a dessert is roughly $4 and a drink is $3.

A snack is $3-5.

So the maximum value of this is $18 x 2 + $5 for a snack: $41. What is the point in potentially saving $2/day, in order to be restricted to eligible choices?

Has anyone else ever found a way to make this worthwhile? None of my calculations are coming out with it being cheaper and many are coming out with it being up to $10/day more expensive than eating out of pocket. We typically only do 1 or 2 table service where we split a meal, so that doesn't really factor in.

 

[Fernandak]

There is a lot QS locations with entree of 15 dollars like Flame tree, morocco in Epcot.... So, if you want to choose entrees of 8-10 dollars you will be equal, but with the dinning plan you can choose whatever you want without thinking in the money. In addition, there is a lot of snacks of more than 5 dollars, like the ice cream cookie sandwich ( I love it! )
Also, it is a good way of pre-paid all and feel like all inclusive.

 

[Alesia]

It really only works out for people who insist on pre-paying for thair meals, even if that means overpaying.

 

[smitch425]

We use the QSDP every year during FD. We would not pay for it. It has priced itself out of being the deal it once was.

 

[winterwhite]

There is a lot QS locations with entree of 15 dollars like Flame tree, morocco in Epcot.... So, if you want to choose entrees of 8-10 dollars you will be equal, but with the dinning plan you can choose whatever you want without thinking in the money. In addition, there is a lot of snacks of more than 5 dollars, like the ice cream cookie sandwich ( I love it! )
Also, it is a good way of pre-paid all and feel like all inclusive.

I can't say we've ever eaten at flame tree or morocco. The places we typically eat are:

BOG lunch
Columbia Harbor House
Les Halles
Breakfast at the food court
ice cream wherever we can find it. we used to like the cookie sandwiches from fountain view but now they don't have them so I think the only place is MK? where we have other desserts we like...
Via Napoli - we split a pizza

I can't really think of others that are required. We're light eaters in general or we'd gain a bajillion pounds. We eat some sitdowns at downtown disney but even there we like earl of sandwich or house of blues.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

You mean to come out ahead on the cost?

Well, you would have to 1) never use your credits for breakfast - if you do, you lose the dessert entitlement entirely 2) plan to eat every lunch and dinner at locations that sell entrees that cost between $12-15 3) seek out the most expensive snacks and 4) make a whole lot of use out of the refillable mug. The vast majority of your value on the quick plan comes from the refillable mug.

Of course if you are just choosing what you want with no regard to the price, how often are you going to choose the most expensive item on the menu or seek out the restaurants that have the most expensive entrees? In that way, the dining plan has the effect of feeling like it is all-inclusive when in fact it is not. You may actually be paying for the perceived convenience of having your meals pre-paid. Are you going to each eat your own dessert with every meal? Are you used to getting a free cup of water with your meal, and will that do, or do you really want the option for soft drinks or bottled water? Will you use your refillable mugs daily? Would it matter to you if it turned out you were actually spending less than the plan cost you? And if you leave credits on the table, then you've paid Mickey for food that you never even ordered.

 

[dd50]

It really only works out for people who insist on pre-paying for thair meals, even if that means overpaying.

The last time I went I kept all my receipts to see if I would have done better with the plan and saved almost $240 by not buying it. We had 4 adults (3 teens). We don't usually get the desserts after eating but get a snack later on. We ate what we wanted and where we wanted.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We stopped getting the dining plan two years ago. It used to be a good deal but it's not anymore (at least for us). We're not big dessert people, certainly not with both lunch and dinner as well as a snack on a daily basis. If they switched the dessert to another option we might take a look at it again, but even then I think we would probably break even at best.

 

[ncc1701]

As a pp said you have to eat the more expensive entrees. Out of the parks if you go to Cooke's of Dublin and/or Wolfgang Puck Xpress (Marketplace location ) in DTD several times a trip that also will help get your moneys worth.
We only did the DDP when we got it for free andwe didn't get a room discount at POFQ.

 

[Fernandak]

I always use the regular dining plan with FD, but this year I pay for it. Why? I did my math, choosing where I would like to eat and what.
Even not counting the desserts at meals, the result was that the cost of OOP vs dinning plan was even. So, under this result I choose the plan, where it can get my deserts or the most expensive meal if I want to.

My recommendation, DO your math to see what is the best for you, choosing what you will really would like to eat.

 

[Fernandak]

I can't say we've ever eaten at flame tree or morocco. The places we typically eat are: BOG lunch Columbia Harbor House Les Halles Breakfast at the food court ice cream wherever we can find it. we used to like the cookie sandwiches from fountain view but now they don't have them so I think the only place is MK? where we have other desserts we like... Via Napoli - we split a pizza I can't really think of others that are required. We're light eaters in general or we'd gain a bajillion pounds. We eat some sitdowns at downtown disney but even there we like earl of sandwich or house of blues.

You can find the ice cream sandwich in Main Street Bakery and Sleepy Hollow , plaza ice cream parlor in the Magic Kingdom, Dino-Bite Snacks in Animal and Hollywood Scoops in Hollywood Studios.
I will search where in Epcot we can find the ice cream sandwich now you tell me it is not more at fountain view

 

[smitch425]

You can find the ice cream sandwich in Main Street Bakery and Sleepy Hollow , plaza ice cream parlor in the Magic Kingdom, Dino-Bite Snacks in Animal and Hollywood Scoops in Hollywood Studios.
I will search where in Epcot we can find the ice cream sandwich now you tell me it is not more at fountain view

The Main Street Bakery is a Starbucks now, and they don't serve ice cream as far as I know. Pop Century also has the ice cream sandwiches.

 

[Fernandak]

The Main Street Bakery is a Starbucks now, and they don't serve ice cream as far as I know. Pop Century also has the ice cream sandwiches.

That is sad news! But we still have the others locations. I know there is at least one location in each park where you can find the ice cream sandwich.

 

[kaybird]

The tax on OOP adds up very quickly. We like both the QSDP and the regular DDP. Simple for us, we can eat cheaper, but never better!!!

 

[johde]

I've done the QSDP twice. In 2009, the price was about $30 and you got 2 snacks and I thought it was a pretty good deal, especially for a short trip, but after 4 days I picked up several snacks to take with me the rest of my trip. In 2012, the price was $34.99 and the snacks had dropped to 1. I probably did slightly better than break even on the food and snacks and the mug was a bonus. I checked in Dec. 31, 2012. Had I checked in Jan 1, 2013 it would have been $ 37.58 and the math probabaly wouldn't have worked out for me any more.

At $40 like others have said, you'd need to really plan out your meals to "make out" even slightly better than break even. My next trip is Jan 2015 and I don't even want to know what the QSDP is going to cost. Unless I cut my onsite portion way down, which is possible, I don't see any way it's going to be worth it.

 

[jon18uk]

I was thinking same thoughts as OP, the Quick Service plan just doesn't quite work out great value, particularly as I wouldn't bother with dessert if paying OOP, but I would eat more snacks in place of those desserts.

I was thinking maybe the regular dining plan (one QS 1 TS) is getting more expensive as they know TS restaurants are oversubscribed and reservations are hard to get. But then it would make sense to keep quick service plan at reasonable price.

 

[North of Mouse]

The last time I went I kept all my receipts to see if I would have done better with the plan and saved almost $240 by not buying it. We had 4 adults (3 teens). We don't usually get the desserts after eating but get a snack later on. We ate what we wanted and where we wanted.

There's only two adults for us, but otherwise the same.

 

[mb_uh]

It works out pretty well with kids especially if you have smaller appetites. Some of the best CS are fairly expensive- Wolf Gang Puck, Tangeriene Cafe, Boardwalk Bakery.

 

[POOHsie]

Free Dining seems to work better at Moderates or Values, and for a family with 2 kids or more. For two adults only, it may be break-even, and you're only discussing the convenience factor. One thing we like to do is use our snack credits at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. I think the Flower and Garden festival has food booths, too? We feel that's a great value for the price. Out in the hot sun, we don't want to stop and eat at a CS. We'd rather graze.

As a PP wrote, it's important to keep in mind that DDP includes sales tax in the cost you pay. So when you compare it vs. OOP, remember that the menu prices you are looking at don't include tax. Tax is 6.5%, or x1.065.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Quick service plan price for adults just went up to $41 plus change per night. Don't know if restaurant prices have increased, they do so pretty regularly.