QS & TS: When to Use?

[KandyM]

We've never done the DDP but are considering it for maybe our next trip. I am just curious to hear from the more experienced how they like to split up the credits. Do you like to save all your TS credits for your last meal of the day? Do you split it up and use half at lunch time then a QS dinner? Does it matter to you if you are having a park day or a resort day? What impact does weather have (our next trip will likely be the heat of August), in the heat do you like TS earlier or later?

I'm a total DDP newbie so thanks for patience.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

It usually makes most sense from a financial perspective to use your TS credits for dinner, but I've always used them according to what meal I want rather than what meal gives me the most value. The past two trips, I've used TS credits for breakfast at Crystal Palace. Are there more expensive meals I could book? Sure, but I wouldn't enjoy them as much as I would this one. You asked if weather could impact the decision and it certainly did for me for our trip in August 2010. I booked a couple TS lunches because I wanted to give us a break from the heat in the middle of the day.

For that August 2010 trip, I booked 3 TS breakfasts, 2 TS lunches, and 3 TS dinners. But I barely broke even on using the DDP that trip. We leave for a 10 night trip next Thursday, and I've decided to skip the DDP. I have 6 ADRs booked, 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 dinners. I'm taking gift cards loaded with the amount I would have spent on the DDP, plus a little extra to account for tips at the TS restaurants. We'll see how much money I have left on the gift cards at the end of the week.

 

[RIdisfan]

We enjoy our Ts at the end of the day. We love to review our day and just relax,no more park hopping for that day. I love to just linger over my meal and go peacefully on my way. It is a very personal decision ( to say the least ),but, whatever you decide will be a lesson for your next trip. Whatever you choose you will be in the most magical place , so enjoy !!!

 

[goofyintoronto]

I dont book a DINNER TS for each day. We enjoy bf and lunches too, so i do a good mix of everything. For our Aug trip, 8 nights, we have 3 dinners booked, a couple of breakfasts, and the rest lunches. Just worked out that way cause places like 50's & Via Napoli have the same menu for both lunch AND dinner. so it doesnt matter which meal we pick, price will be the same for both. so we picked lunch.

Another good reason to have a lunch ADR is to get out of the heat. If we're not at the resort pool, we're at a TS restaurant.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

When we were on the regular dining plan we tended to use our TS for breakfast. As others have pointed out it's not the 'best' use in terms of money but for us it worked out well in terms of time. We could book a really early breakfast and still get to the parks for Rope Drop. Then we didn't have to stop and go to a meal at a specific time for the rest of the day (we ate QS).

 

[goofyintoronto]

I usually get Free Dining, so im not concerned about maximizing the value of the DP. It helps.

 

[Reese]

It depends on our plans for the day. If we are going for an early morning we like to use our TS for lunch. A nice air conditioned break and than we can leave the park whenever we would like after that. If we plan on staying for any of the night shows we will use or TS for supper than we don't have to be at the park until later.

 

[acpalmer]

We've never done the DDP but are considering it for maybe our next trip. I am just curious to hear from the more experienced how they like to split up the credits. Do you like to save all your TS credits for your last meal of the day? Do you split it up and use half at lunch time then a QS dinner? Does it matter to you if you are having a park day or a resort day? What impact does weather have (our next trip will likely be the heat of August), in the heat do you like TS earlier or later?

I'm a total DDP newbie so thanks for patience.

We use them primarily for dinners, but we also have a Chef Mickey's breakfast booked (late morning, though, so it works more like lunch for us) and two lunches, so we have a variety. For the places that have the same menu for lunch and dinner we usually choose lunch to take a break from the heat. We go in early June and always hit rope drop so by 11:30 or 12:00, we are ready for the time indoors.

 

[Geordietyke]

It depends on how you holiday I suppose. We've booked 13 dinner TS meals (3 being signature) as we're staying 16 nights. We prefer a sit down evening meal and it fits in with how we tour the parks. We will be off-site for at least 5 days (also doing US/IOA etc) so will have a build up of QS credits too. We plan to either split some of these and use as shared snacks during the day (ie. 1 QS meal shared between us), use a couple on evenings when we've not booked a TS meal and maybe a couple of breakfasts. Our snack credits will be very useful for the F&WF too

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

When DH and I have gone on our own, we like to eat our largest meal of the day at dinner. This is what we would typically do at home. This fall, we're taking DS4 on his first trip, so we've opted for dinner the first night (after only a couple of hours in the park) and lunches for the rest of the week. This way, if DS is tired or cranky, we don't have to worry about not being able to enjoy (or even make it to) our dinner reservations.

 

[MinnieGolf]

Every trip is different, so I don't have a one-size-fits-all answer to your question. We usually do TS at dinner and use the CS either for a big breakfast or lunch. If we do CS for breakfast, then we might use the snack credit for lunch or pay OOP. Sometimes we use the snack credit for breakfast (to get a bagel, for example), and then use the CS for lunch.

In the past I've driven myself crazy trying to coordinate the use of DDP credits. Now I just tell everyone what credits they have ("You each have 7 TS, 7 CS, 7 snacks for the week") and let each person decide how to use the credits. Otherwise, too much time is spent negotiating over the credits and whether to split meals and snacks.

Of course, on most trips we don't have the DDP, but since you didn't ask about the merits of DDP and non-DDP vacations, I won't get into that mess!