Quick Service Dining Plan a Good Deal?

[auroralark]

Hi there! I'm hoping someone can give me some insight.

DH and I are heading to the World in May for our 2nd anniversary. We were on the DDP for our honeymoon back in 2007 and while it worked for us then, we don't want to have so many sit down meals this time.

Anyway, so I was looking at the Quick Service Dining Plan and wondering if that might work better for us. We are planning on having a few sit down meals, probably 4 at most, and for breakfast and lunch - no dinner. We'll be there for 8 days. I'm not a huge eater, but DH has a healthy appetite and he drinks a lot, so I know he'd definitely use the refillable mug. I'm also not worried about using the snack credits.

I guess what I'm asking is...do you think $30 a day per adult is a good value for what you get with the plan? I wonder if it would be worth it to forget the plan, and maybe we could save some money just sharing a CS meal once in awhile.

Thanks!

 

[karibritt01]

My personal opinion (and I have not tried the Quick Service DDP) is that you will never use all your credits. It is tough for us to use all credits during our stay, because there is so much food. Add in several OOP table service meals, and you will most likely lose quite a few QS and snack credits. I think if it were me, I would do the DDP with table service credits, and have those for your planned meals. You can use 2 TS credits and go see a dinner show, or go to a signature restaurant. Seems to be a better use of your money to me.

You could go to www.allears.net and compare prices based on their menus, and what you would probably order.

By the way... keep in mind that the mug is refillable in your resort only. Cuts down on the benefit in my opinion.

 

[septbaby]

For $10 per day I'll take the TS meal.

If you don't want "so many" sit down meals you have some options. You've already stated that you are willing to sit down for 4TS meals and the Basic plan would allow you to sit down for up to 8TS meals. Here is a way to use those credits:

Books 2- 2TS meals (4 of 8 used)
Order Room Service (2 TS per meal) (6 of 8 used)
2 TS left for 1TS meals
With that plan you still only sit down for 4 meals and get pampered once (twice if you share the meals) with room service on an anniversary trip.

Keep in mind the mug can only be used at the resort, not in the parks so DH will still buy drinks in the park.

 

[SherriLynn44]

I thought the mug was good in the parks too?!

 

[katieam1]

I thought the mug was good in the parks too?!

No only the resort you are staying at. Animal Kingdom has a drink mug you can get refills in but the refills are $1.00 a refill. My husband and I did that the last time we were there and it worked out ok, the water parks also have a refillable mug option that I have heard of but not sure how it works, never used it. But that is it.

 

[septbaby]

I thought the mug was good in the parks too?!

Resort Refillable Drink Mug that is what is included in the Dining Plan. It is good at your resort, not every Disney resort.

Not familiar with any pay as you go refill program at the resorts, so I cannot speak to that.

The refillable mug at the Water park is specific to those parks, not included in the dining plan, cannot be paid for with DP credits and is good at the water parks only. I am not sure if it is a one day mug or something that could be used multiple days at those parks.

Funny how this has become a "mug" thread....lol

 

[karibritt01]

Animal Kingdom has a drink mug you can get refills in but the refills are $1.00 a refill.

Sorry to continue the mug discussion, BUT... Is the AK mug good at any of the other parks? I wish Disney would get with the program of pay to refill mugs... it would cost them less overhead, and cut down on waste.

 

[katieam1]

Sorry to continue the mug discussion, BUT... Is the AK mug good at any of the other parks? I wish Disney would get with the program of pay to refill mugs... it would cost them less overhead, and cut down on waste.

No just AK. They do not have those options at the other parks.

 

[taliategan]

If you use all the CS and snack credits, you will save $$ on the Quick Service plan rather than paying for these OOP. The potential savings is greater on the regular DDP, but you can still save money and your meals will be prepaid. If you are planning on paying for some TS meals OOP, you will then could have extra CS credits to use. This means on some days you would be eating three meals (probably two CS and one TS.) I think it may depend on how you like to eat breakfast. A lot of people will eat breakfast in their rooms with food they brought or use snack credits for for breakfast rolls, bagels, etc. Most do this to save time and/or money. However, if you like to eat a full breakfast, at least some of the days, the Quick Service Plan may work for you if you are planning on buying some TS meals OOP.

 

[katieam1]

The refillable mug at the Water park is specific to those parks, not included in the dining plan, cannot be paid for with DP credits and is good at the water parks only. I am not sure if it is a one day mug or something that could be used multiple days at those parks.

the ones at the water parks are specific to that day you buy it. They have a bar code on them that changes daily and the soda dispenser reads the codes before releasing beverages so you can not reuse mugs another day.

As far as the QS plan I think it just depends on your family. I would probably figure out what meals you would want to sit down to and then figure out the price with doing it OOP and buying the QS plan to the regular DDP price for the length of time you are there. See which option works for your family. I know when I was figuring it out it was a lot of math. This trip we are doing DxDDP but I would absolutely check out the QS plan in the future. I would suggest maybe a spreadsheet. I do not have one but I think I have noticed them on other threads. hope this helped!

 

[SGMCO]

It would only cost an additional $10.00 for the Basic DP.
CS meals get old real quick if that is all you get to eat for
8 days--it's nice to have a variaty of food choice and
get to take a break from always being on the Go by having
a Sit Down Meal.
If you will be wanting to eat at any TS restaurants while
visiting, I think the Basic DP is worth it--because you can order
any entree' on most menus without having to check the cost.
You will still have to pay Tip with or without DP for TS Meals.
Snack credits are not hard to use up--you can get bottles of water
with them. At the end of your trip if you have any snack credits left
you can pick up prepackaged snacks in the gift shops to bring home with
you.

 

[B9erSteve]

For $10 per day I'll take the TS meal.

Yep, when I did the math the regular DP was the way to go. For $10/day you get a good meal (not just fast food fare) and a bit of relaxation while someone waits on you. (I'm forever getting up from my meal to handle some request or another for my children.) Besides, have you gotten a bill for a TS meal at WDW? One of my meals on the last trip was well over $120 for the four of us.

It would only cost an additional $10.00 for the Basic DP.
CS meals get old real quick if that is all you get to eat for
8 days--it's nice to have a variaty of food choice and
get to take a break from always being on the Go by having
a Sit Down Meal.
If you will be wanting to eat at any TS restaurants while
visiting, I think the Basic DP is worth it--because you can order
any entree' on most menus without having to check the cost.
You will still have to pay Tip with or without DP for TS Meals.
Snack credits are not hard to use up--you can get bottles of water
with them. At the end of your trip if you have any snack credits left
you can pick up prepackaged snacks in the gift shops to bring home with
you.

Again, think eating fast food every day for a number of days.

 

[Mrs D]

For $10 per day I'll take the TS meal.

If you don't want "so many" sit down meals you have some options. You've already stated that you are willing to sit down for 4TS meals and the Basic plan would allow you to sit down for up to 8TS meals. Here is a way to use those credits:

Books 2- 2TS meals (4 of 8 used)
Order Room Service (2 TS per meal) (6 of 8 used)
2 TS left for 1TS meals
With that plan you still only sit down for 4 meals and get pampered once (twice if you share the meals) with room service on an anniversary trip.
.

Yup! A plan similar to this is the way to go. Make a plan to try the signature restaurants and dinner shows! Maybe make an ADR every other day to space it out. Here's the direct link to the allears list of DDP restaurants. http://allears.net/pl/packages08a.htm#rest The right column is 2ts credit restaurants.

Either way you are going to have a truly magical anniversary!

 

[Pumbaa_]

There are so many options now that are not typical fast food. We do CS often on some trips and rarely have a 'fast food' meal.

The QS plan doesn't seem to work price wise for us since I would not normally order a dessert at every meal. If you price out what you would really order you can get an idea of if it is deal for you. Click the dining link above to link to the DIS Menus websote

 

[bangzoom6877]

If I had the same dining plans as you I would go with the regular plan, treat myself to some really nice signature restaurants and maybe go to a dinner show for my 4 table service meals, and use the CS credits for lunches. I would use my one snack credit a day on various treats at the parks and resort, and have a quick breakfast in the room each morning.

Our normal vacation eating habits are much more geared to the regular basic DDP. If we were to plan on no TS meals whatsoever then we would get the CS plan and eat those meals for lunch and dinner each day. But I get bored easily with the CS. I mean Disney does a great job at having tons of variety, but with an 8-night trip I think I would definitely get bored with 2 CS meals a day.

Especially for an anniversary, DH and I would definitely treat ourselves to the nicer signature restaurants. That's what I would do if I were you! Enjoy!