Q&c, Vkl, Bfst

[Mickey527]

I am going to be at the parks for the New Year and was thinking of trying the vouchers this trip.
I have gone over all the menus on Deb's site, and read the tips on this site about the vouchers but unless I am wrong I can't see that they are really that much of a good deal. I didn't think the restaraunts that were listed as good deals or outstanding deals were really that much of a deal.
I listed the foods that are available and the cost of the meal and most of the time I just managed to break even. I didn't add the tax or tip but it still only brought the total to a little over what the meal would cost, maybe $2 or $3 of a savings. I didn't think the breakfast vouchers were worth it at all even the all you can eat brunches would only save you the tax and tip and I can only eat so much eggs and bacon.
There are a few that seem to be a good deal if you order the most expensive foods, but some of it doesn't sound very appealing and I could never eat the dessert so that would be wasted.
I have decided on the following restaraunts to use the vouchers at. If anyone did better let me know. Moroccan food doesn't appeal to me at all, and I don't like Chinese or Japanese. I am a big meat eater, steak is my best friend (4 onths on Atkins but never while on vacation).
Q&C vouchers:
Beaches and Cream (only if we have room for dessert)
Pepper Market (if we order the most expensive and eat dessert)

Lunch vouchers:
Animal Kingdom Rainforest Cafe

am I not seeing something that someone else knows about?
Peggie

 

[elfbo]

You have to add in at least tax, if not tip. Many places you would break even w/o adding that in. And yes, at many places you will save only a dollar or 2, but thats added up over all the meals you get, and can mean an extra souvineer, or savings for your next trip to disney. Check the post at the top of the board, I listed the meals i purchased, food items chosen, cost of food, tax and tip, and then the amount saved. I saved almost 100$ from original food cost on this trip, and it allowed me to try foods and resturants that I might not have tried otherwise.

 

[jann1033]

i figured we will save at least $1-2 to $20-40 per meal depending on where and which meal..you have to remember to add in the bev( at least $2 a shot). tx and tip on $30 alone is almost $7 also at Boma( where we are going) some have gotten the press pots ($7) so with the $15 buffet that is $22- without the $5+ for tax and tip for $18 or almost $10 per person savings. also some places are more liberal than others
.truthfully, i got my vouchers from hotwire , a couple clicks of the mouse, during the free trial month plus got $10.00 back (although they mistakenly gave me $7 in rewards points to my account for them, when I called to tell them she said they may or may not take that $7 back, but if they don't I got $17 instead of $10 ) so on the places we are using we should get about a 120 savings course we do have expensive tastes,,I love lobster and hubby would never pass up a steak!
we are splitting most meals as I am on Weight Watchers so:
q.c: beaches, pecos, cosmic ( the worst 2 deals but nothing great in MK), tangerine( sound great to me), tusker( meant to use aklv but bought 2 to many q/c,,oooppps so we'll have to use 2 somewhere and skip the akl)
bv: boma( trails end our other breakfast place is not worth using a voucher due to cost it but hubby loves it)
vkl :scifi, (not that great a deal, about 8 bucks savings but want to go), brown derby,RFC
like everything else ...it is good for some but not for everyone !

 

[beatnik]

We are just back and kept detailed records of our expenses in our PDA, in part in order to try to figure out if we'd want to order Q&C vouchers again. The details are below (cut and pasted from the PDA). Most of the dining was my husband and I, but we also treated my castmember cousin to a number of meals. Sometimes we used 1 voucher per person and sometimes 1 voucher for 2 people. We enjoyed pretty much everything we ate and would say it was all either good or excellent. The salads in particular were very good.

Date: 9/24/2003
Amount: $22.50
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Pecos Bill $28.26
Country: United States
Details:
I got a salad, fries, lemonade, and piece of chocolate cream pie. Stu got chicken wrap, fries, soda, and piece of chocolate cream pie. Bill came to $28.26, the vouchers saving us $5.76. Without vouchers, would have ordered: salad, 2 lrg sodas, wrap, probably split a piece of pie (were starving). Would have cost $19.45 W/O dessert, $23.16 with dessert. Saved $0.66 over what we would have ordered (but we got more food w/vouchers).

Date: 9/26/2003
Amount: $11.25
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Lunch at Land Pavilli...
Country: United States
Details:
Stu used voucher. Got chicken, ribs, corn on cob, slaw, coke, and turtle brownie. Came to $12.33, saving us $1.08. Would have ordered exact same thing without vouchers. I was not very hungry, so just paid cash for a salad.

Date: 9/27/2003
Amount: $22.50
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Tusker house
Country: United States
Details:
Stu had rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, large soda, and cheesecake. I had salad, fries, large lemonade, and cheesecake. Bill came to $29.64, saving us $7.14. Without vouchers, would have gotten salad, small lemonade, chicken, large soda, and split a piece of cheesecake for a total of $24.02 (incl. Tax).

Date: 9/29/2003
Amount: $33.75
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Sand Trap Bar and ...
Country: United States
Details:
I had cobb salad, cup of mushroom soup, iced tea, and chocolate cake. Linda got ruben sandwich, homemade chips, iced tea, tiramisu cake, and was told to order an appetizer as a side: she got onion straws (which we all split). Stu got a California club, homemade chips, soda, and cheesecake for dessert. Could have gotten appetizer as side, but we could not have eaten it, so decided to skip it. Meal came to $55.20. Linda left and additional $3 in tip. We saved $21.45 with the vouchers. Without vouchers, Stu and I would have gotten sandwich, salad, two teas, and 1 dessert, which would have come to around $34.15. We saved $11.65 over what we would have ordered. Didn't eat dessert or half of our meals. Took to Vero to have for dinner.

Date: 10/2/2003
Amount: $14.61
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Kringala og Bakeri
Country: United States
Details:
Used 1 voucher. Split ham and cheese sandwich, salad, and cinnamon roll. Stu got large soda with voucher and I paid for a separate latte ($3.16). Cost of voucher portion of meal was $14.02, saving $2.76. This was part of our "dining around World Showcase" plan. Planned to use 3 vouchers that day, but didn't get hungry again until dinner, so only used 1.

Date: 10/4/2003
Amount: $11.25
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Lotus Blossom Cafe
Country: United States
Details:
Got Orange Chicken with steamed rice and an eggroll, side of fried rice, strawberry smoothie as beverage, and red bean ice cream for dessert. Stu and I split this meal as part of our "dining around World Showcase" plan. Came to $17.10. Saved $5.85 using the voucher.

Date: 9/26/2003
Amount: $35.75
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Beaches and Cream
Country: United States
Details:
I got burger, onion rings, cherry coke, and fudge mudslide. Linda got the same thing, except with a cheeseburger. Stu got the same thing, but a double cheeseburger and fries. Meal came to $57.40, left an additional $2 tip, Linda left $1. We saved $20.65 using the vouchers. Without vouchers, Stu and I would have ordered a single burger, a single cheeseburger, 2 cherry cokes, sub 1 order onion rings for fries, and split a brownie a la mode. We would have spent $27.75 plus tax ($29.55) and tip ($35.05). Still would have saved $12.55.

Date: 9/28/2003
Amount: $33.75
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Pepper Market
Country: United States
Details:
Took Linda to dinner. Stu had rotisserie chicken, fries, vegetables, carrot cake and tea. Stacey had grilled ribeye, baked potato, vegetables, apple pie a la mode, and lemonade. Linda had the same. Bill for Stu and I would have come to $44.50. For all three of us, total would have been $72.43. Saved $38.68 for all 3 of us. Saved $22 for Stu and I. Without vouchers, we probably wouldn't have gotten 2 desserts, so perhaps the bill would have come to around $39.

Date: 10/2/2003
Amount: $11.25
Payment: Prepaid
Vendor: Yakitori House
Country: United States
Details:
Had shogun combo, salad, soda, and chestnut cake. Came to $17.64. Saved $6.39. Part of our "dining around World Showcase" plan. Stu and I split this meal for dinner.


By our calculations, we saved $58.96 over what we normally would have ordered at these restaurants (but of course we got much more food with the vouchers). Our savings if we had ordered all the food and paid cash was $109.76. If anyone has any questions, please ask. Hope these details help.

Beatnik

PS Peggie, you are right that there would be certain folks and certain restaurants for which the vouchers would not work out to be cost-effective. I think in particular if you are not a big dessert eater that the Q and C vouchers may wind up being more of a break-even proposition. For some folks the savings may be considerable, but for others perhaps too minimal to make the vouchers worthwhile. The best savings seem to be for those on long trips (saving $2 or $3 per person per meal for 15 meals works out to $30-45 savings each), those with smaller appetites who can split meals, and those who'd be ordering drinks and desserts anyway.

 

[jann1033]

I know it says you can't use them on frozen or alcoholic drinks but has anyone used them for lattes or other coffee drinks?
thanks

 

[sln88]

Mickey
I had the same problem deciding about the vouchers before I left. Even tho it is a savings, it still seemed like a lot of money to me.
I had luck at the places you mentioned- Beaches and RFC. I wanted to go to the Pepper Market, but we never made it there.

I guess it depends on if you want to eat meals at Disney restaurants or just save $$. I wanted to try some, so they ended up saving me money over what I would have had to have paid, BUT we could have easily gone for fast food, or, when at the parks, brought in our own food and saved over the price of the vouchers.

Also, if you want to do a character breakfast, the vouchers will save you a small amount of money. But, the character breakfasts are ridiculously priced if you look at them as just a meal. I wanted to try one so that my kids could have the experience(I got my vouchers with my Paramount order, so the price was right). I will also add that the buffet at Cape May was yummy.

I also wanted to try the RFC, just for the experience. It was a pretty good value and a cute restaurant, but the food was just ok. I spent about $55 on vouchers for that meal and got a ton of food, and the vouchers were a great deal there, but if I just wanted to save money, I am sure we could have done just as well at a different restauarant.

Look at what you want and can do. Are you at Disney without a car? Then you pretty much have to eat at their restaurants. Will it be a hassle for your to get to B&C or PM or RFC if you don't have a car? If you have a car, would you be just as happy eating off site somewhere? Do you want to be locked in to having an entree, drink and dessert when you eat? Do others in your party have a problem splitting a meal?(my DH is kinda like that).

It is alot to try to figure out. I know I hemmed and hawed about it until the last minute. I will say that if you do get them, and have left overs, they seem to be pretty easy to get rid of on DIS auctions.

 

[Mickey527]

Thanks for al the help, I think I will try the vouchers, but like I said, for Pepper Market and Beaches and Cream. I do plan on bringing the dessert home if I can because I won't be able to eat it there.
I have an RF card so I get 10% off and a few coupons that get me a free appetizer and free dessert so we should do better there with cash. My favorite meal there is the Volcano Cobb salad at a little over $11 so cash will be cheaper for there.
I do go to WDW alot so I have tried all the restaraunts that I wanted. This trip in Dec-Jan is one where I wanted to try and save a little and I thought the vouchers might help.
I am driving down so I will have a car and we will probably be eating a few meals at Taco Bell, M'cDonalds type places. My personal favorite is Steak and shake, a good burger and two sides for about $5 and their shakes are delicious.And the person I am going with loves IHOP so we will take a drive down I-92 for dinner there one night.
I did all the character bfsts when the kids were small, but I still do love Chef Mickey's. Those mashed potatoes are to die for, so Chef Mickey's might be on for one night.
We will probably do the cereal or bagels in the room and either a light shared thing for lunch and Chef Mickey's or Ft Wilderness buffet for dinner or do the big lunch with the voucher and run to a fast food for dinner.
I will try and keep good records and let you all know. Peggie