please tell me I'm doing the right thing

[abmitch01]

my friend just got back from Disney and is convinced I should do the quick service dining plan. DD 15 and I are going for 10 days in August. She still eats kid meals and generally eats like a bird. I think it was $800 for the plan. I took out $800 and am going to set aside $80 a day for food and I'm sure we won't spend that. But my friend says the plan is so generous and convenient and it will get us to eat better food we wouldn't ordinarily spend the money on. I still don't think it's worth it. I'm going to allow myself to eat what I want with the $80 a day money and I know Claire is not going to venture much of the kids' menu. I'm doing the right thing, right?

 

[HM]

I think you are actually doing it the right way. The QS dining plan won't save you any money, it is but a convenience. It's especially a loss if you don't do a dessert at each meal and don't drink sodas.

 

[poohfriend77]

Yes, I think you're doing the right thing! Especially if your DD wants kids meals. I ran the math for our last trip, and the QS plan just doesn't seem worth it unless you plan to order the most expensive entree, drink, and dessert at each meal. And really, the QS desserts are pretty pitiful compared to treats available elsewhere. We got them when we were on the dining plan, but we didn't miss them at all on our last OOP trip. We much preferred to skip dessert and get a better treat later in the day. OOP also gives you more flexibility for the times you just feel like a fruit cup or other snack, or don't want soda, or want to share, etc.

I do agree it might be more "convenient," and it's true that it might be a good idea for cheapskates who *want* the rib/chicken combo but would order a kid's burger to save a couple bucks. If you're the type to obsess over prices at each meal, I can see how it would be wise to just pay up front and be done with it.

 

[bookgirl]

You are right.

My mom and I were on it last year and added a few TS meals we would not have normally have done because honestly we had the credits and didn't want to 'waste' them, we also had to work a little harder to figure out HOW we could make the plan fit our way of eating. (I don't drink soda, we both are picky and don't tend to want an actual dessert WITH a meal, and often would 'share' one meal then have to pay OOP for ala carte items. We used our refillable mugs exactly twice over 5 days.

Don't get me wrong it wasn't a disaster, but we are more likely to eat/share meals, snack instead of meals and maybe do one or two TS OOP and by doing so will spend less money.

I think on my March trip the cost of the quick service dining plan included with my package total was about $200 over a room only cost. I kept track. Over 4 1/2 days I spent $85 including two small TS meals. I also spent around $20 on the small items I brought with me to eat for breakfast and buying a carton of milk at the resort.

The dining plan is GREAT, but only if it fits your normal eating habits, or if you have children (price reduced) and plan to do lot's of character meals.

For adults who are not foodies or planning TS or Signature meals, it's not that great.

 

[wendow]

I absolutely think you are doing the right thing. My family of 6 spends about $80 a day on food eating two QS meals. I have two "Disney adults" who both are content to eat off the kid's menu and I even sometimes order off the kid's menu depending on what I am in the mood for. We don't watch prices. We just order whatever we want. Sometimes my oldest dd & I will share an adult meal b/c we both have our eye on a snack that we want. We don't drink sodas or eat the typical QS desserts, so that would just be a waste for us. And the snacks we usually want are not on on the DDP.

I think you & your dd will be fine.

 

[Happyjen27]

The QS dining plan is a break even plan at best.

I think you'll find that paying out of pocket for your food, even including some sit down meals, you'll do better than the QS dining plan. For example, you can sit down in some nice places and split one meal rather than buy the QS dining plan.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

I've had the QSDP when it was free and worked out to be a good deal, but, it isn't anymore and I'm not going to pay for it either, the last time I had it free was November last year and I found I wasn't always in the mood for a dessert or even an adult meal. I wouldn't pay for it if your daughter isn't a big eater. If you do drink soda or hot beverages buy the refillable mug, I found that excellent value, especially if you enjoy resort hopping as a break from the parks as it can be used in all resorts at the quick service places. If you plan to relax down the Boardwalk you can use the mug at the bakery too. I can't see the DDP lasting much longer as people are realising it is not that great value, certainly the QS one isn't.

 

[abmitch01]

can you use your mug at your resort's pool?

 

[ktlm]

You don't want the dining plan, especially if your 15 year old eats kids meals and doesn't eat much. We are a family of 3, and never buy the dining plan. I sat down and did the math and figured out what we normally spend on dining v. the cost of the dining plan. The dining plan did not save us any money at all. In fact it might have cost us more. We just did not eat the amount of food that came with the dining plan. We don't get a dessert every meal. We were better off paying out of pocket. The only time we would do the dining plan is if it was a free dining period and we could not get a room discount instead. Other than that, we don't need the plan.

Also, for a 10 day trip, I wouldn't want to do the quick service plan. Are you doing any table service dining? I really think I would go nuts doing WDW quick service every meal for 10 days. The options just aren't that great. EPCOT does have some good choiced in WS, but MK and DHS would drive me nuts. I'd need at least a few TS meals in that time period. You might want to take a look at allears.net. It has all the menus set out with all the prices so you can figure out what you think your meal cost will be.

 

[abmitch01]

I know, I'm dreading all the burgers and fries, but last time I found turkey sandwiches and fruit. Plus, we'll eat at POR food court sometimes which has more choices. I like the food at the Living with Land building in Epcot. Lots of good choices there.

I want to surprise DD with one nice TS restaurant to has a lot of ambience. Food is less of a consideration since she barely eats. Any suggestions? we are going to go early and try to do lunch at BOG

 

[worm761]

I know, I'm dreading all the burgers and fries, but last time I found turkey sandwiches and fruit. Plus, we'll eat at POR food court sometimes which has more choices. I like the food at the Living with Land building in Epcot. Lots of good choices there.

I want to surprise DD with one nice TS restaurant to has a lot of ambience. Food is less of a consideration since she barely eats. Any suggestions? we are going to go early and try to do lunch at BOG

There are PLENTY of options at CS that are NOT burger and fires.

I got the taco salad and the turkey wrap at Pecos Bills. Though I do normally get a burger there. Pinocchio Haus has no burgers. Columbia Harbour House has no burgers. Casey's has no burgers.

Animal Kingdom has ribs, chicken at Flametree and pizza and Italian deli sandwich at Pizzafari. And don't forget Yak and Yeti. Restaurantosaurus also has non-burger options.

And there is no reason to eat a burger in Epcot! Unless of coarse you want to.

Not too sure about HS because we usually do Sci Fi and 50's on that day.

 

[LJSquishy]

You will definitely save money paying out of pocket! Especially if you don't normally buy dessert with lunch and dinner every day (who does???).

A couple of tips for you...if you want to purchase a beverage at the parks, just share one large instead of buying two smalls. Ice water is always free if you don't want to pay for drinks.

If your daughter does want to get an adult meal instead of a kid's meal, a few items you may be able to share if her appetite isn't huge. And, in reverse, if YOUR appetite isn't very big one day, you can get a kid's meal at counter service locations. Some of the kid's options are a roasted chicken drumstick with carrots, grapes, and beverage (or sub a soda, cookie, fries, etc).

Don't forget there are a couple of very affordable table service locations as well such as The Plaza restaurant in MK. For a few dollars more than a CS location you can get better quality food and larger portions, possibly even big enough to split.

You may want to look into buying refillable mugs for your length of stay at your resort if you plan to each drink soda/lemonade/tea at your resort once per day or more. If you think you would drink one beverage every 3 days there, it may not be worth it...but if you relax at your resort and fill it 2 or more times per day, you would save money by purchasing the mugs. Maybe have a rule that you only drink water at the parks (free) and can have sodas at the resort with the mug. Or not. I don't know what your beverage preferences/habits are.

Oh, also consider places like Via Napoli where they do allow sharing as long as you're not on the dining plan. Split an individual pizza ($19) and share a dessert ($9-$14) or just share a large pizza ($30). I haven't eaten there yet, but we ate at Yak & Yeti table service in AK and their portions were huge...definitely somewhere you could share if they have anything on the adult menu that appeals to your daughter.

Breakfast is the cheapest meal of the day generally, so consider doing a breakfast buffet, snack for lunch, and a counter service dinner. Or a larger counter service breakfast (like the breakfast platters, not just a muffin), mid-day snack, and early counter service dinner.

My husband and I found that we were less hungry at Disney than we would be at home. We had the regular dining plan (1 TS, 1 CS, 1S) and it was WAY too much. We used our snack credits for a light breakfast (muffin or yogurt parfait at the resort) and skipped most of the desserts and still felt like it was too much food. That was without snacking between meals.

 

[Chelley00]

Not too sure about HS because we usually do Sci Fi and 50's on that day.

ABC Commissary has Asian salads, seafood platters, and chicken clubs. Backlot Express has grilled turkey and cheese, southwest salads and more. I hardly ever eat hamburgers, hot dogs or chicken nuggets because of food allergies and I would never want to eat them on vacation.

 

[LJSquishy]

I know, I'm dreading all the burgers and fries, but last time I found turkey sandwiches and fruit. Plus, we'll eat at POR food court sometimes which has more choices. I like the food at the Living with Land building in Epcot. Lots of good choices there.

I want to surprise DD with one nice TS restaurant to has a lot of ambience. Food is less of a consideration since she barely eats. Any suggestions? we are going to go early and try to do lunch at BOG

Coral Reef has neat theming with the aquarium wall, but it is overpriced in my opinion.

What about doing Hoop-De-Doo as a fun splurge? It depends on your budget really.

She might get a kick out of 50's Prime Time Cafe, or enjoy Sci-Fi Dine-In. Both of those are affordable and have awesome theming.

There is also Rainforest Cafe.

San Angel Inn looks awesome but you can see the inside without eating there.

 

[Sandi]

I know, I'm dreading all the burgers and fries, but last time I found turkey sandwiches and fruit. Plus, we'll eat at POR food court sometimes which has more choices. I like the food at the Living with Land building in Epcot. Lots of good choices there.

I want to surprise DD with one nice TS restaurant to has a lot of ambience. Food is less of a consideration since she barely eats. Any suggestions? we are going to go early and try to do lunch at BOG

There are lots of choices for TS meals both in the parks and at the resorts. Personally, I'd let your DD choose if it's for her. My DD (now 19) enjoys selecting restaurants and considers the planning and selection part of the fun. Some of her favorites are Teppan Edo, Flying Fish, Yachtsman, Jiko and Via Napoli.

 

[wendow]

There are PLENTY of options at CS that are NOT burger and fires.

I got the taco salad and the turkey wrap at Pecos Bills. Though I do normally get a burger there. Pinocchio Haus has no burgers. Columbia Harbour House has no burgers. Casey's has no burgers.

Animal Kingdom has ribs, chicken at Flametree and pizza and Italian deli sandwich at Pizzafari. And don't forget Yak and Yeti. Restaurantosaurus also has non-burger options.

And there is no reason to eat a burger in Epcot! Unless of coarse you want to.

Not too sure about HS because we usually do Sci Fi and 50's on that day.

Exactly!! So many options for QS that are not burgers and fries. The first year we went to WDW, all I heard was how QS was only burgers and chicken strips. Well, I ate for 11 days (only 2 TS meals and 1 of those was breakfast) and never once ate a burger or chicken strips I get stir-frys, salads (love Pecos Bills taco salad!), tuna sandwiches, clam chowder, flatbreads, etc. Maybe I am just really easy to please but I enjoy the QS meals and love how little of our park time they take

 

[POOHsie]

I know, I'm dreading all the burgers and fries, but last time I found turkey sandwiches and fruit. Plus, we'll eat at POR food court sometimes which has more choices. I like the food at the Living with Land building in Epcot. Lots of good choices there.

I want to surprise DD with one nice TS restaurant to has a lot of ambience. Food is less of a consideration since she barely eats. Any suggestions? we are going to go early and try to do lunch at BOG

If you don't know already, when you order food at a CS, they always show the entree with side on the menu board. But you can order just the entree. They will deduct about $2 if you don't get the side. And you can order a cup of Ice Water at any CS for free.

Re: TS with ambiance, you could go to many extremes. I love the fun atmosphere of Sci-Fi Dine-In at HS. There's San Angel Inn, Epcot Mexico, watching the boats go by in a Twilight atmosphere. Garden Grill at the Land rotates. I loved the rotate gimmick when younger. There's the comedy aspects of '50s Prime Time at HS, or a personal favorite, Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL. Ask for ketchup, or a straw, or a refill, etc. Funny! You could go sophisticated with a Grand Floridian afternoon tea with accompaniments, or dinner at California Grill at Fireworks time, with a visit to the rooftop deck after your meal. Gosh, so many choices. It really relates to DD's likes and dislikes. See if you can feel her out about the subject.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I'm another that agrees you are doing the right thing. There is no way on earth you and your DD will be spending $80 a day on food. The only DP I have ever done is the Deluxe and that is because of character meals and buffets. My DH is a truck driver and eats like one. WDW always loses money on us for that alone.

You have many options with CS. No need to ever eat a burger in the days you are there.

 

[LovesTimone]

When DD was middle school and high school she was involved in so much stuff she could eat like crazy, but not a lot at once, she is a grazer. So when DH, DD and I would go we would share, QS meals, like chicken fingers, & fries or a half a double cheese burger and fries, even a few salads and pizza. We could share breakfast, she would eat the French toast and I would eat the eggs and we would share the bacon But we did the regular DDP when she was in middle school and would have one nice meal a day, chef of France when she was taking French, Crystal Palace or Tusker House for Breakfast, Corral Reef, or Tutto were her fav's. When she went to high school we up graded to DDXDP and have been very happy with that.


We love dessert so its a win win for us, also sharing QS made sure nothing went to waste.

 

[dawnball]

Just as another data point - we just got back from WDW. Our group of 6 (4 adults, 2 Disney-adults at 10 and 11) spent ~ $25/day/person for food.

We ordered what we wanted without much attention to price. The kids almost always got meals off the adult QS menu. However, we aren't soda drinkers, didn't buy bottled water, and don't have dessert with every meal. One day we went to The Fountain and had ice cream for dinner - then snacked afterwards. We also had a trip to PF Changs in there.