QS Dining Plan worth it to you when solo?

[MouseMamaToMany]

I’m trying to decide if trying the QSDP might be fun on my upcoming trip in early May. I usually try to do food as cheaply as possible when I’m solo, and often won’t order what I’d really like because it’s expensive. It might be fun to go the other way and really try to maximize the QSDP to get maximum value from it. What would you do?

 

[Lilsia]

Do the math. You can look at the menus and pricing and see if it comes out good for you. Sometimes, you can still splurge and have it come out cheaper then getting the dining plan.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

I’m trying to decide if trying the QSDP might be fun on my upcoming trip in early May. I usually try to do food as cheaply as possible when I’m solo, and often won’t order what I’d really like because it’s expensive. It might be fun to go the other way and really try to maximize the QSDP to get maximum value from it. What would you do?

For me, I can barely eat more than one meal at WDW. I'm probably not ever going to get the DDP again because it's just too much food (those snack credits kill me).

However, if you want think you can get the most bang for your buck getting the most expensive QS meals I so go for it.

 

[loves to dive]

Worth it is subjective. As Lilsia pointed out, do the math. Personally, none of the dining plans are "worth it" for us because we just don't eat the way they are designed. If I eat QS, it's usually a kid's meal because I don't eat large meals. We rarely snack between meals, although way back in the day when we did get the dining plan, we would use the snack credits for breakfast since a yogurt or pastry is all I want any way. When we eat TS, I tend to either just eat a couple of appetizers or eat chicken or fish, I'm not much of a steak eater. Trying to maximize and get our money's worth and figure out how to spend all the credits and what restaurant takes how many credits and is this meal on the plan, is just way too much work and planning for us.

 

[StageTek]

What would you do?

I have done both. If you get the most expensive item every time it's worth it. Like you I thought it might be fun. For me it was more expensive because I will get the most expensive meal only a few times. Most of the time I'm happy with the less expensive items. I saved about $45 over a 6 day trip NOT doing the dining plan. So I say go for it! As you said, it might be fun.

 

[DisLiss]

As an echo to everyone else, it depends on what you eat and how you eat. We eat almost exclusively QS meals when in the parks, and yet the dining plan would definitely cost us considerably more money than paying out of pocket because we never eat the most expensive items because we don't eat fish or meat, which are always the more expensive choices. Plus, we really prefer to eat somewhat healthy, even at Disney, simply because we start feeling really badly fairly quickly when we decide to eat the "fun" stuff. So we don't snack that much, and when we do, a lot of it is stuff we bring with us. So again, we're not purchasing the fancy, expensive snacks. And ditto the drinks. We drink only water & hot tea at home, and while our kids might try a special drink here or there and DH & I may get one or two alcoholic drinks--that's it, for the whole trip--just a few.

So for us, it's never going to work out financially to get the dining plan, but for others, it's a good option. You just need to go read some menus and make a few fake days up, picking out what you;d eat if you were on the plan, then average it out and see if it's worth it to you.

 

[Staren]

There are a couple of reason that I like the DDP. Saving money is not one of them. Here is why I do it

I like prepaying for my food. I like knowing that when I get home the only bill I’m expecting is for the fun stuff I bought.

It keeps me from looking at prices on vacation. If I am paying out of pocket, I always second guess if I really need or want the more expensive meal or that snack. On the DDP I get what I want without thinking about it. Since I’m not in it for the savings, I don’t push myself to get the most expensive things either.

Like you said, it can be fun. I make it a game to use the snack credits. As others have said, using those up can be the tricky part. So I put some effort into finding the most fun way to use them.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

And just one little thing to get the most bang for your back out of snack credits: Unless this has changed, Epic Eats at DHS has two huge Funnel Cake sundaes for $8.50 that are eligible for snack credits.

 

[Chronic Daydreamer]

Personally I would say worth it in general-no, but worth doing once, yes probably. The one time I tried dining plan it was just too much food for me alone, and probably wouldn't do it again. You can do the maths but if you're like me you might not always feel like eating what you did the maths on the day you get there! But while I wouldn't do it again, it was worth doing the once, It was almost a bit on an experience having all the big expensive food and snack options open to me when I wouldn't normally consider them

 

[Naomeri]

As someone else said, I think the convenience of having my meals prepaid is nice. I don’t worry too much about “am I getting every penny’s worth out of this?” but I am planning ahead for my next trip to make sure I at least use my credits up. Last time, I had no idea what I was doing, and I left 9 meal credits wasted (a shop guy did tell me on my last day I could convert them to snacks, but I had nowhere to pack 27 snacks at the last minute)

 

[kylenne]

I never understand this "prepaid" argument for the DDP. We "prepay" for food by purchasing discounted Disney GCs ahead of time and combining them (and taking advantage of extra cash back from my reward CCs). Everything is charged to the MBs and paid off the night before check out with the discounted cards. Boom, all the psychological relief of not worrying about the bill while not being robbed blind ahead of time for a bunch of food you won't eat and then hauling rice krispie treats from the resort gift shop in a panic before you get on the Tragical Express because you still have 50-11 snack credits to use up.

 

[Lilsia]

I never understand this "prepaid" argument for the DDP. We "prepay" for food by purchasing discounted Disney GCs ahead of time and combining them (and taking advantage of extra cash back from my reward CCs). Everything is charged to the MBs and paid off the night before check out with the discounted cards. Boom, all the psychological relief of not worrying about the bill while not being robbed blind ahead of time for a bunch of food you won't eat and then hauling rice krispie treats from the resort gift shop in a panic before you get on the Tragical Express because you still have 50-11 snack credits to use up.

I don't get it either. I rather save the money and just charge it all to pay off when I get home, then to give them more of my money. If you have the money to pay for it ahead of time, then you should still have that money waiting for you when your trip is over. I don't see it as any more of a convenience to do it that way.

 

[MouseMamaToMany]

I never understand this "prepaid" argument for the DDP. We "prepay" for food by purchasing discounted Disney GCs ahead of time and combining them (and taking advantage of extra cash back from my reward CCs). Everything is charged to the MBs and paid off the night before check out with the discounted cards. Boom, all the psychological relief of not worrying about the bill while not being robbed blind ahead of time for a bunch of food you won't eat and then hauling rice krispie treats from the resort gift shop in a panic before you get on the Tragical Express because you still have 50-11 snack credits to use up.

This makes total sense to me, and I think might be the way I decide to go. I just don’t think I’m a big enough eater to actually get any value from a dining plan. Just buying a few discounted gift cards and still choosing what I want? That feels like a better choice, especially since I will be in The World during Food & Wine. I appreciate the feedback from everyone! It gave me so much to think about.

 

[kylenne]

This makes total sense to me, and I think might be the way I decide to go. I just don’t think I’m a big enough eater to actually get any value from a dining plan. Just buying a few discounted gift cards and still choosing what I want? That feels like a better choice, especially since I will be in The World during Food & Wine. I appreciate the feedback from everyone! It gave me so much to think about.

I’m the same way. With the way I eat DDP is just needlessly flushing money down the toilet. I always purchase GCs from BJs because the $100 denomination is 5% off. And the benefit is if I don’t use it on food, it’s not wasted, I can apply it to souvenirs or a future trip. There’s no leaving money on the table unlike if you don’t use up credits. During F&W I set a specific budget based on what I wanted to eat, looking at menus ahead of time, and put aside a GC just for that. It worked out great. I had everything I wanted and didn’t overspend.

 

[lorenae]

In my case, I rarely spend valuable (expensive!) park time eating. I like going in January and other times where the hours are often shortened, like in November when the party nights close MK early. If the park is open 9-6PM, I don’t want to spend time thinking about food, planning it, etc. If I’m hungry, I’ll just grab something and go.
If it was peak summer, and the hours were longer and I needed some breaks, I’d consider the QS plan where I could sit and enjoy a meal and watch the world go by. Or maybe even a plan with a TS meal in air conditioning once a day.
I’m going next week with a friend who has never been there, and we do have some meals planned for her visit- two character meals and probably a Biergarten meal- and even then the math for that is much less than any dining plan.

 

[LovesTimone]

I have a friend that comes yearly on a solo trip... She calls it her " time out", and she puts herself in time out at least once a year... for 7 to 10 days... They have a DVC that for family time... and the family has to be put in time out yearly for at least 10 days..

She does the regular dinning plan... She like to enjoy TS meal, and normally does them at lunch time... she said that the resort TS, are not usually packed during lunch time, so she can enjoy eating lunch...

I suggest you try it... then you can decided for yourself... everyone deserves a splurge now and then...

 

[jsmla]

I don’t know if I come out ahead dollar-wise but, when paying out of pocket, I have a tendency to cheap out on solo trips and exist off of pretzels and iced water. It doesn’t matter how much I plan in advance or how many gift cards I buy I end up going cheap about 90% of the time. The DP “forces“ me to indulge a little which is nice every now and then.

 

[kylenne]

I don’t know if I come out ahead dollar-wise but, when paying out of pocket, I have a tendency to cheap out on solo trips and exist off of pretzels and iced water. It doesn’t matter how much I plan in advance or how many gift cards I buy I end up going cheap about 90% of the time. The DP “forces“ me to indulge a little which is nice every now and then.

Unless you're drinking a lot of adult beverages or doing a ton of character and/or signature meals, you're almost certainly not coming out ahead. And that's by design, Disney is very clever. The QS plan is an even worse value for your dollar. Outside of edge cases, saving money is absolutely not a legit reason to get one. 95% of people won't.

 

[YawningDodo]

I’m trying to decide if trying the QSDP might be fun on my upcoming trip in early May. I usually try to do food as cheaply as possible when I’m solo, and often won’t order what I’d really like because it’s expensive. It might be fun to go the other way and really try to maximize the QSDP to get maximum value from it. What would you do?

Honestly, the big reason I've priced and re-priced the DDP for every trip isn't because I really think I'll come out ahead--it's because the idea of having credits and figuring out how I want to spend them does sound fun to me! I've just never pulled the trigger because the math never works out in my favor. Honestly, I'm happy that next year I'll have an excuse to get the QSDP for the trip I'm taking with my housemate: I'm going to be paying for her food regardless, and a discussion with her confirmed my gut feeling that the least awkward way to do that is to set us up on the dining plan so she doesn't feel any pressure to order the cheaper option at any meal. I'm willing to pay extra for that benefit, and I'm looking forward to getting to try the dining plan out.

On a solo trip...I do get the impulse to be needlessly frugal, and it is something I've occasionally struggled with. What I've found helps me is to have a budget broken out day by day, using only money I already have set aside--I put everything on credit cards for the bonuses, but it all gets paid off immediately after the trip. I go through my receipts at the end of the day to review my expenditures against the budget, which helps reassure me that I'm on track (it's surprisingly rare for me to go over budget on any given vacation day--but I do budget high to give myself wiggle room).

 

[proud2b]

It's worth it for us. We tend to order the more expensive items on the menu and specialty/alcoholic beverages. We also maximize our snack credits and get the high $ ones. Every trip, we sit down and look at the menus. Then we figure up how much it will cost to get the things we probably will want (we don't usually vary much). For us, every time we have come out ahead. We also enjoy that we it is prepaid and don't feel guilty for buying the more expensive items. Without the DP, I would eat as cheap as possible. Part of our vacation is enjoying the food that we don't the rest of the year. Having said all of that, the Deluxe Dining Plan would never be a good deal for us. There is no way we could eat enough to justify the cost.

Now, if you don't want the specialty/alcoholic beverages, not big on trying the snacks, and rarely eat the more expensive items on the menu, then you will be losing money.