How many TS meals would you prefer in 13+ days?

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We (me, DH, DD9, DD6, DD4, DS2) will be in Orlando for 14 nights during Free Dining. Should I upgrade to the regular plan and have 12 TS meals plus Hoop Dee Doo? Or should I stick with the QS plan and eat at 6 TS meals over 13 days (not counting travel days). I'm not sure if I will be sick of QS at the end of 2 weeks?!?! (BTW, the QS plan plus 6 TS meals/tips is $200 more).

WWYD????

 

[disneystick]

My family prefers one TS a day and one QS a day. We always prefer dinner time to be our nice sit down meal. After a long day at the parks it gives us a nice way to relax and rest our feet for a while.

 

[MomofKatie]

I prefer to do a sit-down meal every other day or so- a TS every day gets to be too much, especially for a 2 week long trip. If it was me, I'd stick with the QS Dining and pay oop for your 6 TS. We find too many TS can take too much time away from the parks, and make us feel like we are doing nothing but eating the vacation away.

 

[catne]

We (me, DH, DD9, DD6, DD4, DS2) will be in Orlando for 14 nights during Free Dining. Should I upgrade to the regular plan and have 12 TS meals plus Hoop Dee Doo? Or should I stick with the QS plan and eat at 6 TS meals over 13 days (not counting travel days). I'm not sure if I will be sick of QS at the end of 2 weeks?!?! (BTW, the QS plan plus 6 TS meals/tips is $200 more).

WWYD????

I would stick with the QSDP...there are many, many options on counter service choices - it's not just burgers/dogs/pizza! And the QS gives you 2 meals and 2 snacks per night, plus a refillable mug. The regular dining plan is also 2 meals a night, but only 1 snack...and no refillable mug. Those extra snacks will go a long way towards filling kids up for breakfast or mid-morning snacks...and whenever you eat at your resort, use the refillable mug to get your beverages-then you can take bottled water, bottled powerade, or bottled vitamin water as your dining plan beverage: you then have bottled drinks to take to the park.

By the way, when you're doing the math comparing costs, don't bother to include cost of tips, because you're going to pay for tips whether you're getting dining plan table service or paying cash for your table service. tips=tips. Actually, if you went with the DDP, you'd pay a lot MORE in tips, because you'd have 14 nights of tips instead of just 6. Sticking with the QSDP (with no tips on majority of your meals) & paying OOP for 6 TS also gives you the flexibility of eating where & when you want most of the time, which might be a lifesaver when you're herding cats (4 kids, lol.) Paying OOP also gives you the option of cancelling table service at the last minute for most restaurants, which would be nice in case of a kiddo melt-down at the wrong time. JMHO, we had 4 kids at Disney at one point, similar ages, too...I think ours were 12, 10,8, & 3.5. No way would I have tried to do 14 table service. There were many times - in a week- when we changed up our plans entirely because someone was too hot/too tired/too interested in doing something else.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

By the way, when you're doing the math comparing costs, don't bother to include cost of tips, because you're going to pay for tips whether you're getting dining plan table service or paying cash for your table service. tips=tips. Actually, if you went with the DDP, you'd pay a lot MORE in tips, because you'd have 14 nights of tips instead of just 6.

That's why I figured in tips. Wanted to make sure I ran the numbers fully since the price difference wasn't that much.