QSDP worth it?

[momtotwoteens]

Does the QSDP really save money? My husband and I are planning a short trip and I can't decide if we should add it to our package. We've never done a DP before. I guess what I really want to know is if the food actually does total more than the price to add it to a package.

 

[Sienna]

We got the QSDP this past January and I think we definitely got our money's worth. I compared the cost of the plan with the total cost of the food we ate, and we came out ahead by purchasing the plan. That said, if we weren't on the plan, we might have made different choices when ordering our meals, and probably would have spent less by paying out of pocket. I'm okay with refilling water bottles throughout the day instead of purchasing beverages, I don't need desserts with every meal, or a lot of snacks, etc. But those were little splurges that we enjoyed on vacation, and it was nice to have everything paid for in advance.

 

[cluvsdisney]

At $32 per day (2010 price), I think it's a push at best. It does include a lot of desserts and snacks and it's nice to have mug if you will be spending time at your resort.

But personally, I don't like the idea of feeling locked into only CS meals and I wouldn't want to waste the CS meal credits by paying more to go to a table service restaurant.

 

[summerlady]

We've used the QSDP twice so far and thought it was great. It wasn't a huge money saver, it came down to the 2 snacks per day per person being just about free, and the refillable mugs are included, which was a plus. A snack can average $4 each, so if the two of you used 2 snacks each per day the savings are not bad. We always used one of the snack credits for a light breakfast at the food court every morning. If you research menus, there's no reason to be stuck with burgers only, ditto on getting the most bang for your buck.

 

[momtotwoteens]

Thanks for the help!

 

[jlines]

From your signature it looks like you are going during free dining. Did you get a room discount? If not then definitely see about adding it. If so, then look at the difference in you discounted rate and rack rate and see if you would spend at least that much on food. If so then free dining would be the best way to go.

 

[dd50]

When we went in July I didn't get a food plan but kept all my receipts and we came out about $200 less than if I had purchased the plan. We ate what we wanted when we wanted including soda's, snacks, etc. We are a family of 4 with the youngest being 12. We stayed 7 nights. I personally don't think it is worth it.

 

[Cin]

The two of us used the free QSDP on our last trip 3 weeks ago and I kept a record of what we ate and added up the costs for 7 days, our grand total if we had spent OOP was $460 for 2 adults. We did not eat a "real" BF most days though, just grabbed a banana and juice to hold us over til lunch. We were on the free QSDP and with it was included dessert that we would not have ordered had we been paying OOP. But bottom line is our OOP price for what we DID eat (not counting the desserts we threw away) was around $5-10 less than the QSDP would cost, so to me for the bottom line it was really nice and worth it to have the food pre-paid and order whatever we wanted without looking at prices. We are planning on paying for the QSDP the next time if we don't get it free because for me it's worth a couple bucks more. And we did manage to eat a few desserts, the creme brulee at Wolfgang Puck's was the best! It really depends on how big of appetities you have though as some of the portions were large enough for two to share. No cash to carry, all your meals are on your room key card! Certain restaurants are much better values too using the DDP. There is a list of menus and prices for every restaurant on the link under the dining tab and you can calculate for yourself what your OOP costs would be before you decide which is most economical for you. It all depends on where you dine and what you order and how much you eat. Whew, long winded answer.... but there is my take on it.

 

[2Tiggies]

At $32 per day (2010 price), I think it's a push at best. It does include a lot of desserts and snacks and it's nice to have mug if you will be spending time at your resort.

Like any of the dining plans, if you can find one of them that is fairly similar to the way you would normally eat on vacation I think they can all save you money. The desserts add value if you can get things to take with you to use as snacks if you don't want dessert with a particular meal. The snacks can be great if you want something to drink in the parks or extra snacks can be used to buy things to take home. What I will say, for any of the dining plans, is that if you have snacks left over but you are spending money on drinks, you may be doing yourself a disservice as far as value goes. Some will disagree with me; and this is because it is such an individual thing. If you want to maximize park time on a short trip, as the OP is trying to do, I think this is the best plan to go with, if any at all.

But personally, I don't like the idea of feeling locked into only CS meals and I wouldn't want to waste the CS meal credits by paying more to go to a table service restaurant.

I am the opposite. I found TS meals too restrictive on a daily basis and prefer to pay for the few I want OOP. Again, what suits one, will not suit the next.

 

[GaG8tr]

The last time we had the dining plan we felt like it was way too much food, so on another trip we saved our recipets to see what we would have spent. While there is a lot of food, it out weights the cost that you would have spent for less food. Totally worth it.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Like any of the dining plans, if you can find one of them that is fairly similar to the way you would normally eat on vacation I think they can all save you money. The desserts add value if you can get things to take with you to use as snacks if you don't want dessert with a particular meal. The snacks can be great if you want something to drink in the parks or extra snacks can be used to buy things to take home. What I will say, for any of the dining plans, is that if you have snacks left over but you are spending money on drinks, you may be doing yourself a disservice as far as value goes. Some will disagree with me; and this is because it is such an individual thing. If you want to maximize park time on a short trip, as the OP is trying to do, I think this is the best plan to go with, if any at all.



I am the opposite. I found TS meals too restrictive on a daily basis and prefer to pay for the few I want OOP. Again, what suits one, will not suit the next.

When I said locked into CS meals, I meant monetarily, not timewise. I am not going to prepay my meals with the CS plan and then let any of those credits go to waste by subbing a TS meal at an additional cost. I am one of those people that don't fit into the dining plan molds. For me, it doesn't make any sense to prepay for food when I would spend more on the plan then I would OOP. I could make the plan work but there's no reason to since it doesn't save me time or money.

 

[2Tiggies]

When I said locked into CS meals, I meant monetarily, not timewise. I am not going to prepay my meals with the CS plan and then let any of those credits go to waste by subbing a TS meal at an additional cost. I am one of those people that don't fit into the dining plan molds. For me, it doesn't make any sense to prepay for food when I would spend more on the plan then I would OOP. I could make the plan work but there's no reason to since it doesn't save me time or money.

That makes you one of a minority of winners with the DDP debate - you actually know for sure where you stand with the DDP's in terms of gaining or losing. All I can say is well done. Trying to assess whether the DDP is the way to go is, I think, often more stressful than making the ADRs.