QS or upgrade??

[Rippleglrl]

Hi all,

I have read through so many threads but haven't posted much, and could use some advise from you all before I make our decision. Thank you to everyone who posts on these boards because reading all of your responses has helped me plan my children's first trip!!! I am visiting WDW Nov 11-16 with my dh, dd3, ds7months, and dm. We originally booked POR with FD. We have now decided that a week sharing a room is not sane for us and are switching to Pop in two rooms. With the switch we go from the DP to a CS plan. I have ADR for Crystal Palace(breakfast), Askerus (dinner) and CRT (dinner).... Am I right in thinking its better to just pay OOP for these three rather than pay to upgrade? Should I cancel one of the princess meals to save the $? (Are they too similar?) Any help or advice is GREATLY appreciated!!!
Thank you!!

 

[lauradis]

Hi all,

I have read through so many threads but haven't posted much, and could use some advise from you all before I make our decision. Thank you to everyone who posts on these boards because reading all of your responses has helped me plan my children's first trip!!! I am visiting WDW Nov 11-16 with my dh, dd3, ds7months, and dm. We originally booked POR with FD. We have now decided that a week sharing a room is not sane for us and are switching to Pop in two rooms. With the switch we go from the DP to a CS plan. I have ADR for Crystal Palace(breakfast), Askerus (dinner) and CRT (dinner).... Am I right in thinking its better to just pay OOP for these three rather than pay to upgrade? Should I cancel one of the princess meals to save the $? (Are they too similar?) Any help or advice is GREATLY appreciated!!!
Thank you!!

Whats the price different to upgrade? Im not a fan of Askerus. Thats the one I would drop. I would keep CRT over all of them its just too cool of an experience.

 

[MEK]

I would also look at the total price to upgrade to the regular dining plan with two rooms and compare that to what it would cost you to do the TS meals OOP.

Of course, if you do CRT that will be worth two table service credits and you will need to eat OOP for one meal.

I used the QS dining plan on a 5 night trip and booked one extra TS meal for the 5 days and that was plenty of eating so take into account when you would be using on your QS meals. With three TS meals you may not use them up completely.

Your kids are young so they probably won't mind missing character meals, although I have to say that CP is one of my favorites. Many people say CRT is overpriced for what you get food wise.

I will tell you that there are some nice meals you can do with the QS dining plan so you can have pretty decent food without the upgrade. I do recommend Wolfgang Puck Express in DTD. Very good value for the QS credit. If you like Moroccan food the QS in Morocco also presents a value good value for the plan.

Good luck with your decision.

And Welcome to the DIS boards.

 

[Rippleglrl]

Thanks for the replies-

I am torn about keeping the CRT because the only time I could get was 4:30 on the sat that we leave so that would be the last thing we do! The upgrade will cost us about $200 for our room alone, a little less than the OOP cost for the meals (assuming we keep them all). I know if we pay OOP for the meals and keep the QS that it is a LOT of food
Thanks for the recommendations of places in DTD for QS, we'll definitely want to check out the Wolfgang Puck Express!

 

[Rippleglrl]

Thanks for the advice- the plan is about $300

To upgrade, which is a bit less than out out of pocket expense, which I figured around $360- but then we'd still have to pay for a few meals OOP due to the signature meal. I think we might just not upgrade and keep CP since its not that expensive and keep one of the princess meals- for us it's not about the food so much (I don't really like buffets) but the experience w the princesses since my daughter loves Cinderella and the other princesses... I've been searching for a better time at CRT because the only time I could get was 4:30 on our last day, so that'd be the last thing we would do.... Decisions, decisions....
I will def check out those two CS meals you suggested, thanks!!

 

[Rippleglrl]

For some reason it didn't post my reply, so I wrote a new one, then posted both.... I have a lot to learn

 

[lovedworld]

I think that CRT and Akershus are very similar, so I wouldn't do both. Instead I might choose a character meal with Mickey and friends like the Garden Grill at Epcot or Cape May at the Beach Club for breakfast, your kids would probably enjoy meeting them. Also as was said before there are alot of great QS locations that you can enjoy with the QS plan. You can go to Be Our Guest at MK for lunch with a QS credit and alot of people like it better for lunch. Also Columbia Harbour House in MK is one of our favorite QS locations. Sometimes little ones will eat that kind of food better anyway. Hope you have a wonderful trip. We will be there in November also the 14th- 24th, staying at POR with the FD. Can't Wait!!

 

[MarbleBob]

We've done both versions of the dining plan and they both have their pro's and con's. The nice thing about the QS version, especially with your young children, is that your vacation doesn't become so centered around meals, which can eat a lot of time. On the DP, we usually try to get the most bang for our buck, and then our touring plans become centered around where we are eating that day and how we can best maximize our time. It can sometimes be a drag to always have a strict dining schedule. (But it's also awesome to eat so many excellent meals in one week!!!!!) The QS is nice because you can just go with the flow. If the kids are cranky and need an extra long nap or something, no problem, just eat later. No need to park hop just to get over to that certain restaurant. Etc...

Either way, like the others have suggested, we always hit Wolfgang Puck Express in DTD at least a couple times per trip. Great food value for the credits!!!! I'm hungry just thinking about one of those wood fired pizzas and they also have awesome french fries!!

We've eaten at all three table service restaurants that you mentioned for both dinner and breakfast. I agree with the others, I'd skip Akershus for dinner. We didn't care for the dinner food offerings. We've done their princess breakfast twice and it was great both times. Basically the same food as Cindy's breakfast for cheaper/less credits.

With respect to Crystal Palace, the last time we had breakfast there, I wasn't too impressed. We've always had more fun at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary

Finally, if you can pull of CRT, I'd say "go for it". We've done two breakfasts there and one dinner. Great memories, especially when our oldest DD was 3 like yours. We dressed her up in a Snow White outfit and the "real Snow White" gave here a lot of attention. Such great memories!!!



I can't believe that this picture is nearly 10 years old now. Seems like it was yesterday. Make sure to get lots of photos of your DD What a special age!!!!!! You are going to make some awesome memories!

 

[Rippleglrl]

Marblebob- that picture says it all!! I think we have finally decided not to do the upgrade and just pay OOP for CRT and CP, and cancel Akershus for the reasons you mentioned. I was also able to book California Grill for the day before our hotel stay begins so we'll be paying for that OOP too- I did make a lunch ressie for H&V on the off chance that they will add Sofia (a girl can dream!!) but will most likely cancel that later, leaving us with only two sit down meals, and not worth the extra money. I agree that it is just too hard to think about so many TS meals with two little ones, and the last thing I want to think about is having to make a restaurant on time.... Getting so excited to go!!
Thanks for the advice

 

[MarbleBob]

Sounds like you've got a great plan! California Grill is our favorite WDW restaurant. Now, I'm getting jealous! I haven't paid much attention to the changes that will be in place after they reopen, but their sushi is amazing. And the kids would say the same about their sushi deserts (made out of candy and rice krispies)

 

[Rippleglrl]

That just made my night! I think my husband will love the kids sushi.... Lol