Pros and Cons of Quick Service?

[FigmentForEver1976]

I have been going back and fourth on how I want to do OOP dinning. I 90% sure I want to do quick service for my meals. Can you tell me your pros and cons of Quick service?

 

[Regan117]

I have been going back and fourth on how I want to do OOP dinning. I 90% sure I want to do quick service for my meals. Can you tell me your pros and cons of Quick service?

We rarely do quick service because we had 3 (now 4) little kids and it was just too many trips carrying food and hard finding tables and too chaotic. So we eat TS for every meal. But if you're in a group with older kids or adults or alone, QS is just as good as anything else you'll eat at WDW.

 

[pitpat]

Pro: It's faster, cheaper and you aren't tied to a reservation time.

Places like Flame Tree BBQ, Columbia Harbor house, Sunshine Seasons have good food.

 

[carlandellie31]

Quick service meals over several days would certainly be cheaper, if nothing else because you don't need to tip. As the above poster mentioned, lines can sometimes get very long, chaotic, and feel overwhelming to me at times. I find it relaxing to sit in some air conditioning and have someone else bring me food and water. Table service can be a nice break in the day, but will take longer.

 

[Trap]

the line can be a pain stand there for 15 minutes and the person in front of you can not decide what they want but some of the qs have really good food

 

[AngiTN]

Pro
no ADR needed? Though the fact that you have no ADR is also the reason for 2 of my cons

Con
Stand in line to order
Find your own seat (majority of the time)
Food is really poor, fair at best. Good is hard to find
Variety is very limited
Cost - while it is cheaper some times it's too much for what it is. I'd rather spend another $5 or so and eat TS

 

[22Tink]

We don't mind eating QS. It is a bit cheaper and I find if we eat at off times the lines aren't quite as long and we've found the food to be good. Our favourite is the Pacific Wharf Cafe in DCA. They have soups and salads in delicious breadbowls. That said, we do enjoy TS as well. It's a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the day.

ETA I realized after the fact this is probably for WDW, I have DLR on the brain! For WDW we definitely prefer TS to have a break inside where we can relax a bit. I don't think we ate a single QS meal in the parks on our last trip with the exception of BOG breakfast.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Pros: faster, cheaper
Cons: food quality (generally), far less of a BREAK in the day, less variety in options

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Pro: It's faster, cheaper and you aren't tied to a reservation time.

Places like Flame Tree BBQ, Columbia Harbor house, Sunshine Seasons have good food.

Ditto. We had the quick service plan on two of our past three trips and love it. We always have a few table service meals over the course of our trips but eat mostly quick service. There are definitely some good places to check out. The only place that we aren't fans of the counter service is Hollywood Studios. There are some good counter service places in the various Epcot WS countries (Yorkshire County Fish, La Cantina De San Angel, Lotus Blossom, Tangierine Café) in addition to Sunshine Seasons and Electric Umbrella in FW. AK's Flame Tree Barbecue is a winner, and I've read good things about Yak N' Yeti's quick service. Columbia Harbour House at MK is excellent; and I've read good things about Pecos Bill and Cosmic Rays. Disney Springs has Blaze Pizza, Earl of Sandwich, and Wolfgang Puck Express. There are resorts that are known to have good quick service as well. We stayed at Pop and loved the food court here and we also had a good lunch over at Art of Animation's food court. I've also read good things about Captain Cook's at the Poly.

 

[AngiTN]

We don't mind eating QS. It is a bit cheaper and I find if we eat at off times the lines aren't quite as long and we've found the food to be good. Our favourite is the Pacific Wharf Cafe in DCA. They have soups and salads in delicious breadbowls. That said, we do enjoy TS as well. It's a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the day.

If we are talking DL/DCA QS my answers change 100%

 

[FigmentForEver1976]

Ditto. We had the quick service plan on two of our past three trips and love it. We always have a few table service meals over the course of our trips but eat mostly quick service. There are definitely some good places to check out. The only place that we aren't fans of the counter service is Hollywood Studios. There are some good counter service places in the various Epcot WS countries (Yorkshire County Fish, La Cantina De San Angel, Lotus Blossom, Tangierine Café) in addition to Sunshine Seasons and Electric Umbrella in FW. AK's Flame Tree Barbecue is a winner, and I've read good things about Yak N' Yeti's quick service. Columbia Harbour House at MK is excellent; and I've read good things about Pecos Bill and Cosmic Rays. Disney Springs has Blaze Pizza, Earl of Sandwich, and Wolfgang Puck Express. There are resorts that are known to have good quick service as well. We stayed at Pop and loved the food court here and we also had a good lunch over at Art of Animation's food court. I've also read good things about Captain Cook's at the Poly.

I so want to try Harbour House, but my DS (15) has a shrimp allergy. I don't know if they can help us with that.

 

[megs1313]

pros:
cheaper (no tips, too!)
quicker (usually)
no reservations to make/maintain/meet
ability to split meals or order off the kids menu

cons:
no refills on fountain drinks
lines can be long and you have to stand in them with your already tired feet
sometimes repetitive in offerings from location to location
finding a table can be hard if it's busy
carrying your own stuff
food quality isn't as high

My biggest tip for doing an all quick service trip is to do resort quick services whenever possible!!! they're far superior to park quick services in my opinion. We really love Captain Cook's at the Poly, Gasparilla Island Grill at GF, Riverside Mill at POR, and Roaring fork at WL.

 

[disnut8]

My husband and I do quick service 99.9% of the time with just us two.

We like not having to be at a certain place at a certain time.

Others have mentioned long lines but they really aren't that bad and we just "plan" to eat either later or earlier than "normal" people
Carrying the tray can be difficult but if you have a family, have one person in front of the tray carrier and one person behind and make sure THEY are the ones looking out for interference. I always walk in front of my husband and will constantly be looking out for any scallawags who could suddenly push out their chair from behind and trip him up.

 

[Lisa F]

con: it is hell on earth with little kids during crowded times (which is when your kids are going to get hungry)... but if you have enough adults it's manageable.
pro: cheaper and more flexible than a TS

personally, I like being waited on.

 

[loves to dive]

Some of the food can be good, especially at WS in Epcot and the lines there tend to not be too long (except at Mexico). There is no problem getting a kid's meal if you are an adult. This can be done at TS but it's easier at QS, if you aren't a big eater this works well (plus you save a little money). I've never had a problem finding a table so maybe I eat at odd times and I've never eaten chicken fingers or a burger at QS (I have at table service).

 

[Oneanne]

Pros - don't have to stick to a pre-determined schedule and can eat what you want when you want
Not really a con but a suggestion to research before hand to find places with different offerings.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

After having done DDP a few times, I really enjoy doing QS only. There's no planning your day around reservations (planning around FP is hard enough!) so you have more flexibility.

I like Captain Cooks at the Poly, Sunshine Seasons (which can be busy but I like the food selection), Electric Umbrella, Columbia Harvest House (go upstairs for seating and it's usually very quiet), Roaring Fork at WL, the bakery in Norway, the cafe in France.

 

[Harambe]

Pros - don't have to stick to a pre-determined schedule and can eat what you want when you want
Not really a con but a suggestion to research before hand to find places with different offerings.

Totally agree with this. Many folks are saying that the food quality is ok at best, with limited offerings. Well, yes, each place might have limited offerings, but there are so many great places now that you can eat Mexican, pizza, asian, BBQ, salads, etc, etc. But you do need - as Oneanne says - to research before you go. That way, you will have a broad idea of all the places and can meander until you come upon one that you read about. For instance, we tried to go to the bakery in France once, and the line was ridiculous, but then we just strolled along until we hit the QS in the UK and had fabulous fish and chips! Your research will also help you with finding a good place to sit and eat! Another for instance, if you go to Kasafuri Bakery in AK, you can come out and find a seat easily outside of the Dawa Bar, lots in the shade even! Sometimes you just need to look around a bit before you find a great place to eat your meal.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

We like to do QS for lunch, it's easy and cheaper, typically, and doesn't confine us to a set period of time we need to be there, but we prefer TS for dinners. I couldn't do a trip and only eat QS.

 

[B-Ride]

Quick Service saves time and money. On a short trip or your first trip there is an advantage to "Quick". We found on later trips we liked to sit down, take a break and rest a bit. Also we found ourselves looking forward to dinner when we stepped up to Table Service.