meal vouchers for dummies!

[wrwrwrwreee1971]

I have a family of 4, (wife, 3 yr old son and 5 yr old daughter) and it sounds as if vouchers would be good for us. Explain how they could be best used for us, please. What is my best bet in purchasing them?

 

[staylor]

I'm about to try them for the first time ever. So, when I get back I can help you more. I have to say that I read the above post about everything you wanted to know about vouchers. The post list's the most profitable restaurants, etc. I joined hotwire savings club, through the link in the post. They give you a free 30 day trial then $8 a month after that. You can cancel at anytime no problem. The Quick & Casual Lunch or Dinner vouchers are $11.25 through hotwire.
When you use the Q&C voucher you get an entree, a side dish, a dessert, and a non alcoholic beverage. The voucher also includes your taxes and 15% gratuity.
Hope this helps!

 

[Tjkane28]

This explains it all

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=435889

 

[maggiew]

I can't help you with what your "best bet" would be in purchasing them, because everyone has a different idea about that. I personally signed up for Connections and have not had a problem with them. But then, I remained a member after the trial period. It seems that most of the problem occurs when you try to cancel within the trial period. I believe you can also buy the vouchers through Simple Escapes and also the Hotwire Savings Club. Those are a "pay by month" kind of deal as opposed to Connections yearly membership. Other options are looking at the DIS auctions or on eBay. I think on the DIS auctions you may find the prices nearer to what the face value is.

I have used the Breakfast feature vouchers and feel these are a guaranteed saver if you plan on doing Character Breakfasts. The vouchers cost $17.50, I believe. Character meals are $16.99 for most, and $19.99 for the 2 princess breakfasts. The voucher includes tax and tip, so it works out to be a savings, especially for the Princess ones. Also, its nice to just hand over the vouchers and have it taken care of.

I have also used the Quick and Casual vouchers that cost $11.25. These are good for lunch or dinner at Counter service places. They are a very good deal at the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs and at Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club. At the Pepper Market, we got a steak dinner with baked potato and grilled veggies, a drink and cheesecake for the price of the voucher. This was around a $25 meal (thinking off the top of my head, but you can check out actual prices on http://www.wdwig.com ) At Beaches and Cream we got the steak sandwich, french fries, coke and the Fudge Mud Slide Sundae for the price of the voucher. This was around a $22 meal. Both of these "counter service places" charge tax and tip. So add that in too. I have heard that people have gotten steak dinners at the All Star food courts with the vouchers and this was a great deal too. But I haven't done that personally. At other counter service places (like ones in the parks), you will probably break even or save a dollar or two per voucher. But maybe the convenience of prepaying your food is worth it. These counter service places don't charge gratuity, so keep that in mind when figuring out prices.

I haven't personally used the Vacation Kingdom Lunch vouchers, so I can't give you our experience. But, Ihave heard these are a phenomenal deal at the Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom.

I have more than paid for my membership to Connections through savings OTHER than my Disney food vouchers. I have given gift cards as gifts (Sunday school teacher Thank you gifts at end of year, teacher Christmas gifts, niece/nephew birthday gifts, sister/brother birthday gifts, etc.) I also purchased $300 worth of Kids R Us gift cards and used that for school shopping. I got a $60 rebate with those KRU cards. So really I spent $240 on school clothes. I have also purchased Kids R Us gift cards to use to buy Christmas gifts. Another $60 rebate for those.

So, there is my experience. We used them last June and had no problem with them and saved a lot of money. We are using them again this Thanksgiving trip.

Maggie

 

[mousefan]

I just used them for the first time.......and for me , the quick and easy lunch /dinner for 11.25 and the charcter breakfast ones 17.25 were the best for us. ( three adults)
Especially eating over at the Pepper Mill. our meals there came to like twice or better what the cost of the vouchers did.example: straight from reciept
Cold beverage 1.99
Bakery Tier 2: 2.99
10 oz ribeye steak17.95
soup and bread: 5.50
Sub total : 28.43
service charge : 2.84 ( taking this to be tip)
Tax: 2.04
Amt Due: 33.31
Disney Coupon: 33.31
ACCT: xxxxx
Amt Due: 0.00
and that was only one adult using one 11.25 voucher
the other two of us had prime rib dinners and our meal receipt is similar to the above example but total came to 34.08 ( again using one voucher each that cost us 11.25) the waiters and waitresses were very kind there explaining what we could use the vouchers for and if we didn't get enough the first time thru the line they told us what else we could get before taking ticket to check out.

the first night that we used the vouchers there I didn't grab enough out of the envelope we had in room safe. I thought I had three but had only grabbed two. but even with that there was enough food available to share part of meal from both hubby and son for me. in fact I could not eat everything put on my plate . There was no hassle at all about sharing meal either.

So we ended up coming home with an extra voucher wish we could get back before may 04 but don't think thats in the plans.

Even using them at the fast foods Ie: Pinocchio house at MK our meal was 13-14 .oo without tip so we still came out ahead . But generally it was nice to have meals prepaid so we didn't have to worry about that for trip.

As for the character breakfasts we came out about 10.00 . over what the vouchers cost us with tax and tip.at each character breakfast ....for the three of us. So will definitely be looking into them for next trip. we ate at Crystal Palace , restaurantousaurus (AK) , and Chef Mickey's .

 

[sln88]

to the OP. With the ages of your kids, I would think that 2 vouchers would be more than enough for the 4 of you.

I went to beaches and cream with 2 vouchers for 2 adults, a teen and 2 boys. We had the double cheeseburger, onion rings, soda and sundaes for dessert. We ended up wasting at least one sundae because we were so full. That cost $22.50 for vouchers.

I also went to RFC. Me, teen and 2 boys had 1 adult and 2 kids VKL vouchers. The waiter told us to order off the adult menu and encouraged me to order the pricier things. We had surf and turf, 2 combos of ribs, steak(upgraded per server) and shrimp. 3 adult appetizers, drinks and 3 desserts. we ate the appetizers, 1 steak, the shrimp, and 1 order of fries. I took the rest back to the hotel, and DH ate some and there were still leftovers. This cost about $55 for vouchers. You could probably do 1 adult and 1 child voucher.

If you are looking to save money over Disney prices, these are a good deal, but my family probably would have been just as happy spending $22 at taco bell or McDonalds and we would have had just as much food. I guess it depends on if you will have a car and can go to other restaurants or if you just want to eat on site.

The RFC was a good deal, and I would do it again, if I was sure they were going to continue to let you order from adult menu. I am sure some day the bean counters will wake up and say, hey, we can't keep doing this! Just like they did with the kitchen sink dessert at B and C.

I ordered mine through hotwire, and plan on cancelling my membership soon.