cfewell,
I think that you are right-- the Q and C vouchers may not offer a savings for many people, depending on eating habits. We have looked into these vouchers rather extensivley and recently purchased 20 for our trip to the world. We believe they will save us money; here is the logic we have used:
First, there is the no-brainer scenario of using the vouchers at the sit-down restaurants which accept them: Beaches and Cream and the Sand Trap bar and Grill. The vouchers should offer substantial savings at these establishments. We expect to take advantage of this scenario twice, saving around $20.
Second, the vouchers should save a good bit at certain food courts (Pepper Market, Riverside Mill, and Mara look good to us). Meal, drink, dessert, and tip come out to around $15-25 at these restaurants, and these will be a nice option when we want something quick, but more of a "real" meal than burgers and fries. We expect to make use of this scenario three times, saving around $30.
Third, there is the Magic Kingdom Resort counter service scenario, which offer sandwiches with the option of "better" sides than fries (things like salads, baked potatoes, and deli salads). If the MK is very uncrowded and we are getting to do everything without waiting in lines (a possibility when we are going late Sept/early Oct), we may bop over the the Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary, or Grand Floridian for a lunch that looks to be a notch above what we'd get with park counter service.
Fourth, there is the EPCOT World Showcase scenario. It looks like the counter service options at these sites will save $2-4 per meal, with Cantina de San Angel, Tangerine Cafe, Yakitori House, and Kringala og Bakeri (perhaps Sommerfest and Boulangerie Patisserie being possibilities as well) appealing to us. We might wind up getting a pastry for our dessert and carrying back to our hotel for breakfast the next morning. We expect to take advantage of this scenario twice, saving aorund $12.
Fifth, there is the themepark scenario. For me, this usually means salad and side, which, with a drink, comes out to the cost of the voucher, giving me dessert for free. For my husband, the typical themepark lunch would be burger, fries, and soda and with dessert, might not be a break even situtation for the voucher (in which case we won't use the voucher). We expect to take advantgae of this scenario four-six times (including water parks), saving around $10-15.
Sixth, there is the re-sale potential for the vouchers. The Q and C vouchers sell for $15-17 each on e-bay, and you wind up paying about 10% to ebay. So even if we don't use all the vouchers, we expect to be able to unload them and make a few dollars on each.
So our plan will be to eat a big, late-ish lunch with dessert. For us, this means we may or may not eat another meal for the day. Not counting the fact that such a big lunch may mean we skip dinner, we expect we will easily save $75 on meals over the course of our 2 week trip (which will come close to paying for the two of us to go to SeaWorld for 2 days). In our calculations, we have not assumed that we will get anything we are not entitled to (like an additional side with a combo meal). Nor have we assumed we will spilt meals (although we may if we are not too hungry).
The fact that I love to plan extensively, we have a car, are happy with the occassional food court meal, and like our desserts means that the vouchers make sense for us. For many people, thought there may be little to no savings. I have also downloaded the relevant menus into my PDA, which we will have with us at the parks, so we won't need to walk from restaurant to restaurant looking for a good place to use the vouchers. I will try to remember to post and let you all know how the vouchers worked out in reality.
Beatnik
PS I ordered my vouchers thorugh hotwire savings club and did not pay any shipping or tax. $11.25 was the actual cost for the vouchers. As a nice "bonus," the Hotwire Savings Club offers a number of other shopping benefits which: I also bought a bunch of gift cards (Macy's, Blockbuster, Sam goody, Barnes and Noble, Media Play, Toys R Us)to Christmas shop with for 20% less than face value, as well as restaurant gift certificates for the same 20% off (Bennigans specially to use while on vacation and Bahama Breeze touse at home), and half price movie tickets to give as Christmas and Birthday gifts. The HSC has first month trial membership for free, which we intend to cancel. Will let you know if there is any trouble with the cancellation process or with any of our charges.
I just placed my order and hope my vouchers will come SOON!
I bought 3 for my trip in Nov.
