QS or Upgrade ?

[bcbsmom]

Our trips to Disney were in 2008 & 2010 when the kids were little. We enjoyed both stays at POR with the 1 Table Service Plan. We loved our vacations and the table service was a wonderful way for the kids to meet lots of characters. We will be going this September and the children are now 24, 23 & 19. My husband seems to think quick service plan is fine as he felt we had plenty of choices etc. My friend went last year and said they absolutely hated the QSP & would never do it again. Would love the opinion of people who have done both or people with older children’s experiences. TIA

 

[Disneylover99]

We are on the Quick service plan for two weeks over the summer. We've done the TS dining plan several times in the past, but I prefer quick service. There are so many choices and it's very freeing to not be tied down to ADR's.

 

[kbender295]

Very interested in everyone's opinion on this as well. I am doing QS this summer w/ my family and daughter's friend (51, 48, 25, 20, and 12). I thought about upgrading to the 1 TS which over the course of 8 days is close to $900. I was figuring that we would do the QS for the most part and do a couple of dinners out of pocket. I think we'd make out with that approach rather than upgrading. We are staying at the Cabins at FW so will most likely start our day w/ something in the room before we head out. Thoughts?

 

[Disneylover99]

Very interested in everyone's opinion on this as well. I am doing QS this summer w/ my family and daughter's friend (51, 48, 25, 20, and 12). I thought about upgrading to the 1 TS which over the course of 8 days is close to $900. I was figuring that we would do the QS for the most part and do a couple of dinners out of pocket. I think we'd make out with that approach rather than upgrading. We are staying at the Cabins at FW so will most likely start our day w/ something in the room before we head out. Thoughts?

If you really want to add a couple of TS restaurants, I'd do that over paying for the upgrade, then you'll have extra quick services to use which is great if you have some big eaters.

 

[bcbsmom]

Very interested in everyone's opinion on this as well. I am doing QS this summer w/ my family and daughter's friend (51, 48, 25, 20, and 12). I thought about upgrading to the 1 TS which over the course of 8 days is close to $900. I was figuring that we would do the QS for the most part and do a couple of dinners out of pocket. I think we'd make out with that approach rather than upgrading. We are staying at the Cabins at FW so will most likely start our day w/ something in the room before we head out. Thoughts?

Well according to my friend if you plan on doing any meals out of pocket you might as well upgrade. They were sick of QS and did a buffet 1 night. Her & her daughter and it was $190. With a bigger group like both of ours that’s my concern!?

 

[Disneylover99]

Well according to my friend if you plan on doing any meals out of pocket you might as well upgrade. They were sick of QS and did a buffet 1 night. Her & her daughter and it was $190. With a bigger group like both of ours that’s my concern!?

If you think you want to do a bunch of buffets then upgrade. Look at the menus and restaurants now with everyone and see how they feel.

 

[kbender295]

WOW! I guess I will have to take look at where we'd want to eat and then make that decision. Last time we were there was 2013, I don't remember food being that expensive with the exceptions being the Hoop de Doo or signature restaurants. We are not huge foodies and would use the TS as a means of just slowing the pace down a bit when needed.

 

[mn51]

My husband and I stay at moderates and upgrade since they changed the plan. There are several sit down restaurants that we really enjoy and look forward to eating at on every trip. Then we like to try a few new restaurants. After running the numbers, it was best for us to upgrade. One trip we decided to take the room discount and quickly discovered that the dining plan worked better for us when offered at a discount.

 

[sharonabe]

You really need to look FIRST at where and how you want to eat and then decide on a dining plan.

If you know you'll have an alcoholic drink with your meals, a dining plan will probably be a good idea. If you're water drinkers and you're thinking of just doing QSDP, you'll do better OOP. If you're somewhere in between, you definitely need to look at menus and see what you might order and DO THE MATH. You can find menus with pricing on Disney's site, wdwinfo.com or allearsnet.com

For math purposes, the QSDP is $52.50 per person per night. If you use $5 avg for snacks, that means your QS meals need to be $21.00 just to break even. You get an entree and drink.

The DDP is $75.49, so using the $5 per snack and the $21 for QS, your TS meals need to be $44.00 to break even. You get entree, dessert and drink with TS.

It's not difficult to do, but it's not easy either. Check the menus.

 

[Nevada Jen]

How is it even possible fr the QS meal plan to work out better than OOP? What am I missing?

 

[gillep]

You really need to look FIRST at where and how you want to eat and then decide on a dining plan.

If you know you'll have an alcoholic drink with your meals, a dining plan will probably be a good idea. If you're water drinkers and you're thinking of just doing QSDP, you'll do better OOP. If you're somewhere in between, you definitely need to look at menus and see what you might order and DO THE MATH. You can find menus with pricing on Disney's site, wdwinfo.com or allearsnet.com

For math purposes, the QSDP is $52.50 per person per night. If you use $5 avg for snacks, that means your QS meals need to be $21.00 just to break even. You get an entree and drink.

The DDP is $75.49, so using the $5 per snack and the $21 for QS, your TS meals need to be $44.00 to break even. You get entree, dessert and drink with TS.

It's not difficult to do, but it's not easy either. Check the menus.

Also, regarding alcoholic beverages, I love myself an alcoholic beverage when at WDW, but do not prefer the vast majority of those available at the QS restaurants. Would much rather one of the alcoholic beverages at the various bars and lounges around the parks and resorts that do not accept the dining plans, so having them included with the QSDP isn't helpful for someone like me.

 

[KTR]

I think it can only work out better if you get free dining and stay at a value where the room discounts are never as big.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Why did your friends hate the qs dining plan?

You can eat very well on the qs plan

 

[sharonabe]

How is it even possible fr the QS meal plan to work out better than OOP? What am I missing?

If you like a beer or glass of wine with every meal, it will do nicely. You can go to just about ANY QS and order any entree and easily "spend" the needed $21 to break even. If you don't drink alcohol, you will have to do your homework and find the places that have the $15 and up entrees to pair with your soda or coffee to break even.

 

[Dakota731]

I’m not crazy about most of the counter choices. They feel similar to fast food to me. I enjoy sitting down to relax and enjoy a nice meal after a busy day at the parks.

 

[SG131]

I just did QS dining for the first time in December. I’ve usually done TS. QS was fine, it was nice to have more flexibility, but I did get sick of it. However, when I went last in August there is no way I would’ve given up my TS for QS. For us, we found TS meals to be a great break from the heat and time to relax in addition to providing better food options. Also, we aren’t foodies so we did a lot of buffets which were a good value per credit. In September it can still be incredibly hot so personally I’d prefer one TS a day for a more relaxing meal.

 

[mamamelody2]

Our first two trips were with free regular DDP. We then went just DH and I and had free QSDP. We loved it! Last year we had free QSDP for DH and I and boys age 16 and 12. We all loved it. We did pay OOP for breakfast at Crystal Palace one day.

We LOVE not being tied to ADRs. We eat when we're hungry, not when an ADR dictates. Also, if we want to hop to another park, we aren't "stuck" in the first park because that's where our ADR is.

We definitely aren't big foodies, though. DS 16 had at least one cheeseburger every day. LOL. I didn't have any burgers, though. I don't understand those who say "It's only burgers/pizza/chicken nuggets" at Disney quick service locations. SO NOT TRUE. Look at menus. There is tons of variety.

Whichever dining plan you end up with, make sure you a get lunch ADR at BoG. So good and a great value for a quick service credit! Not sure how knowledgeable you are about Disney restaurants, but Be Our Guest is table service for dinner, quick service for lunch. Lunch does require an ADR, though, even though it is quick service.

 

[wdwrule]

We went many times with the “free” regular dining and enjoyed it. The past few times however we had the QS plan. Kids are older now and we’re all about non-stop riding rides and absolutely love the QS plan because of our touring style. We don’t have to constantly worry about the time and getting to an ADR. (Not to mention many big OOP tips.) We still usually do one or two TS restaurants during our stay but that’s it.

And for us, QS food is filling and we find a huge variety. We rarely have “typical burgers and pizza”. We plan ahead and look at menus before our trip. Hubby and I enjoy the alcoholic drinks that are included since we’re on vacation. My favorite is the patron margarita at the QS Mexican restaurant at Epcot. At any rate, it really depends on your touring style, etc. But just speaking for MY family, it’s not worth our time or money to upgrade.

 

[HopperFan]

After years of DDP we had a trip it wasn't feasible so did QSDP. I think our trip was around 11 days. By day 4 I was over it. And this was with substantial planning for diverse menus and maximizing value.

NOW the plan has changed since and addressed at least one of my issues and added the plus of alcohol so I could see possible trying again IF I could make the numbers worked.

- We found that while I could find varied entrees, the sides were not and that was tiring.
- Then you got dessert, which we didn't need, they were mostly the same and we lost value there.
- We are not big soda drinkers and do mostly park time, so the mug was wasted on us.
- MK and DHS QS locations were fails on QS for us (still are).
- I kept close accounting and we literally broke even within dollars.
- But since we didn't need mug, the desserts and many of the drinks ... we lost money.

NOW with two snacks in lieu of dessert and alcohol at each meal, I could possibly make it work but honestly since I don't need ADRs I see no value in something that forces a dining style on me ... we just eat when we want, what we want and end up spending less. We also like TS at least a few times a trip.

Value really comes into play with your party makeup, how they all eat, what you like to eat, what parks you are going to etc.