QSDP good value for solo travel

[hpfan100]

I'm going to Disney over labor day weekend (Thursday to Monday) staying at POP. I booked room only to get discount but am wondering about dining plan. is it a good value when traveling solo? Is it better to just pay out of pocket? Any thoughts? Reviews of Quick Service?

Thanks!!

 

[tomt92]

I guess it depends.. If you do the Deluxe Dinning Plan you would get 3 Table service meals, and 2 snacks total.. I believe the cost is around $80 per night.. Please correct me if im wrong..

Personally i am planing on going to some of the higher priced restaurants so it will defiantly save money.. I guess it really depends on what you want to do, and how much you want to eat.. Personal if i did a 2 day trip i would be inclined to bring along breakfast items for my room, and a sandwich for lunch.. Then maybe a counter service for dinner..

 

[southcarolinagirl]

I think the difference between rack rate & reduced rate is about $30 a day. So, if you plan on spending more than that a day on food, I say go for the free dining! We had QSDP last year and we love it. Will have it again on this trip. We like not having to stop having fun to make it to a ADR or having to tip and getting a free refillable mug. Have fun!

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't like the dining plan at all (solo trip or trip with friends). It means I have to go where Disney says I can and order the way Disney says I can. If I want two appetizers, can't be done. If I want some food at La Cava del Tequila, it's not on the plan. If I want to eat at the bar in a popular restaurant because I can't get an ADR, no go on the dining plan.

I used the QSDP once (not free) for one night, basically to get the mug on a split stay. If you're good with eating all your meals at QS (I planned a TS dinner but didn't have room for it after a huge QS lunch) then if you're just out to save money, it will likely do that for you. If I'd ordered all the stuff I got on the plan and paid for it the plan would have saved me about $25 over that one night. However, I don't normally order all the stuff I got on the plan.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I don't know if it was a great "value" but I enjoyed it on my solo trip last year. I found it very convenient and easy to use. I think I calculated it out and I think I paid about $5 less than what I would have. Normally I don't get desserts though, and probably less snacks, but it was still nice. I didn't sit and decide what was the best bang for my buck, I just decided to order what I felt like at the time.

I also used a bunch of snack credits on brownies to take home; not the best credit use, but they were tasty!

 

[mainegal]

The "free" dining plan is best for families or multiple people in the room.

As a solo traveller, you are probably better with the room discount and paying cash for food.

 

[Faldred]

Length of stay or number of travelers are, to a large degree, irrelevant. It all boils down to:

1) Does a specific plan fit the way your party wants to dine? (Even a party of 1.)
2) Is your party OK living within the rules of the plan?
3) Will you save money (or at least break even) vs. OOP costs?
4) What is your subjective "value" of the plan?

Now, the length of your stay and the number of people in the party can affect the answers to those questions, but the questions remain the same.

Do you think a specific plan fits they way you want to dine, and are you OK with the plan rules regarding use of credits? Will you save money over going OOP by getting the plan. Will having the plan make the vacation more enjoyable for you?

No one can answer these questions for you, it's very much a personal thing.

 

[hpfan100]

thanks for the advice everyone...I guess I need to rpice it out better. I am flying in and will not have a car or fridge in my room so I figured I would need to eat all my meals at the parks or at POP. I ususally get a drink with meals not free ice water. So I figured 10 bucks for lunch and dinner at least OOP. Breakfast is trickier. I thought granola bars and fruit from home would be fine. I like snacks so I figured on 1 or 2 per day anyhow which would be about 4-8 bucks. That works out to at least 24 dollars everyday. hmmmmm


Room only cost through WDW 274 (from travelocity only 260)
Free dining cost through WDW 467 (room, 4 days of plan plus 2 day ticket)
Room only plus dining through WDW 488 (room, 4 days dining, 1 day ticket)

thanks for reading through my boring number crunching looks like room only and OOP eating seems cheapest. Thanks again DISers

 

[gigi1313]

i was going to suggest oop meals for a solo trip 'cause sometimes the qs meals are too much for one sitting... i'd rather be able to buy a burger at one time, an ice cream two hours later, and a side of fries or two hours after that... if i were on the qsddp i'd be "stuck" w/all that food all at the same time... of course, if i were not traveling solo, i could share each of those meals if my companion was in sync w/me...

 

[tzolkin]

i was going to suggest oop meals for a solo trip 'cause sometimes the qs meals are too much for one sitting... i'd rather be able to buy a burger at one time, an ice cream two hours later, and a side of fries or two hours after that... if i were on the qsddp i'd be "stuck" w/all that food all at the same time... of course, if i were not traveling solo, i could share each of those meals if my companion was in sync w/me...

I was thinking the same thing.

I was pricing out the QS plan for friends and looking through the menu prices it seemed they would about break even (the mug was a bonus). However, I would never buy a drink, entree, and dessert at every meal so it would be cheaper for me to not do the QSDP.

 

[mainegal]

I'm going to Disney over labor day weekend (Thursday to Monday) staying at POP. I booked room only to get discount but am wondering about dining plan. is it a good value when traveling solo? Is it better to just pay out of pocket? Any thoughts? Reviews of Quick Service?

Thanks!!

I was thinking this was room with discount vs. room full price with free dining.

In the case of a solo traveller, the room discount is better.

With "free dining", the room is full price. Solo traveller gets one person's worth of free dining with the full price room. But a couple or a family would get much more "free food" with their full price room

 

[NEV2OLD4DIS]

We just used the QSDP and loved it, although we are a family of 5 and our free pin offer for it was far better than a room discount at POR. If you search "QSDP question" here under Disney Dining Plan, you will get a summary of our experience that I gave another poster. Not sure how to put a link for you.

If your room discount is more than the cost of the QSDP, then I'd say keep the discount. If about the same, it would only be worth it if you were definitely going to use the snack credits and want desserts with most meals. Also, if your into beverages like Fuze or Monster Energy, these run about $3.99, but would be free with your meal at some resorts (but not most park CS's). We averaged more than the cost of the QSDP per day for most days, and broke even on just a couple of meals. We did bring home some snacks due to left over snack credits, but it was nice having a piece of WDW home with us and great for the sugar withdrawal. Brought back fudge and candies, etc.

Also, if you have left over snack credits they are great for stopping at a park bakery on your way out and getting a muffin, cinnamon roll or other pastry to have for breakfast. Our resort had great items for this too, as sometimes we wouldn't feel like dessert and keep it for breakfast. POR had a microwave and toaster for everyone to use, and POP probably does too. We also brought bagels, cereal bars and cereal for breakfast from home. I loved not having to worry about what we were spending and enjoying food while on vacation! Just finished the last piece of fudge today!

 

[hpfan100]

thanks again everyone

I think for me it will best to book room only discount and pay OOP. I made a list of must have snacks/meals and it worked out cheaper OOP than QSDP.

I was wondering if I book my room through hotels.com or expedia if I still get the planet hollywood food voucher and the mini golf voucher. I was thinking these two items could be for arrival night
Anyone know if Hess across from DTD sells 12 pack diet coke cans or multi pack bottles?

 

[TDC Nala]

I was wondering if I book my room through hotels.com or expedia if I still get the planet hollywood food voucher and the mini golf voucher. I was thinking these two items could be for arrival night

These come with package reservations, so no, you won't get them with a room only reservation at all. Third party brokers sell room only reservations, not packages. You won't even get them if you book a room only through Disney.

 

[hpfan100]

TDC-- thanks for the quick response

bummer about vouchers I thought that would make a freebie night for me. Well if no vouchers then I'm better booking off disney site to save even more money

 

[DisneyWisher]

Anyone know if Hess across from DTD sells 12 pack diet coke cans or multi pack bottles?

yes they do, as does the one by DHS and the one as you leave MK. The 12 packs were 2 for $6.50. The one by DTD has some kind of a milkshake maker that my DD26 swears by it's around $2 for one. She wishes they had them here in Ft Lauderdale.

 

[hpfan100]

yes they do, as does the one by DHS and the one as you leave MK. The 12 packs were 2 for $6.50. The one by DTD has some kind of a milkshake maker that my DD26 swears by it's around $2 for one. She wishes they had them here in Ft Lauderdale.

woohoo!!! That's a pretty good price. I may have to make a stop on arrival day.