Quick Service Dining Plan - Anyone Feel this Way?

[smiths02]

If you like at 1 TS meal a day then the QSDP is probably not the one you want. However, if you want 1 or 2 TS meals than the QSDP is probably for you.

I did the math for our stay, 7 nights for 2A and 2C. The cost of the difference between the two plans is $154 for our stay. The cost of a character breakfast (what we normally have) is $66. So, we would need more than 2 meals for it to be better. Factor in the mug and extra snack and now we are looking at 3 sit down meals to make the upgrade worth it for our family.

The dining plan really varies depending on your family. It's so great we get so many choices. I just read about a wine and dine plan - have to look into that one.

That is if you use the mug. I always thought of it as a waste...we just drink water at home...I don't need 50 "free" sodas on vacation. Also, everyone talks about having leftover snacks...I know we did when we went even on regular.

 

[fireman17]

Only way that I would get the QSDP was if I could eat at Wolfgang Pucks Express every meal.

We did the QSDP for the first time last year and loved it and yes, Wolfgang Pucks Express is on the plan. I enjoyed the meal there very, very much.

 

[BaysMom]

That is if you use the mug. I always thought of it as a waste...we just drink water at home...I don't need 50 "free" sodas on vacation. Also, everyone talks about having leftover snacks...I know we did when we went even on regular.

We are probably going to be ahead with that mug! LOL. DH and I are HUGE pop drinkers... I am a diet coke fanatic, and he is a coke fanatic! If it were free water bottles they gave out, we would not do so hot... LOL! But, talking Coke products... Oh yes, I see many trips to the machines in our future.

 

[Terrie..]

We have done the QSDP for the last 2 years and are getting it Free for our trip this August. We would never go back to the basic dining plan. We love the flexibility of the QSDP. We can eat when and where we want - no ADRs. I don't like having to make ADR's so far in advance. We don't know where we want to eat 6 months out. We do usually eat at one TS during our trip. But, last year we walked into Yak and Yeti at 10 am and made a reservation for noon. This year we have an ADR at Tusker House - but as for the rest of the trip, we don't have to plan our parks around dining. Also, many times our kids are off on their own, so they just eat when and where they want. We love the QSDP.

 

[MomToPirate&Princess]

We love QSDP and have used it on our last 2 trips. Being able to stop and eat whenever we feel like it at whatever time is great and it doesn't take a lot of time away from our 'commando' touring. We are snackers too and love that we get 2 snacks each day.

After all that bragging on the QSDP, we are trying the regular DDP for the 1st time on our next trip. Princess DD6 really wants to eat at the castle and Akerhaus, DH has a couple TS that he has always wanted to try, and it's our last year that DS9 will be a 'child' in the eyes of the meal plans at least. We figure this is our best trip to try it

 

[Reddy]

Add me too

I make 2 character Breakfasts for before the parks open then we eat when we are hungry. If I had to worry about getting to table across the park then we won't be getting on as many rides as I like to ride

 

[luvdumbo]

I have always done the dining plan. But this time I booked the QSD plan. And for some reason I feel less stressed. It will be nice to just have a basic plan but not tied to a reservation. Anyone else feel that way?

I have always wanted to try just the QSDP, but then I can't pull myself away from dining at my favorite restaurants. If I ever do a solo trip I think I will try the QSDP.

 

[goingroundthebend]

i sat and went through menus for the qsdp and the ddp and for us as a family infact have decided to go with the qsdp .As we are a eat when we are hungry family and like the idea of not being tied down.
Plus as 1a and 2dc even if i pay for the odd Ts it wont break the bank eg at t-rex

 

[5boyz]

We have done the QSDP for the last 2 years and are getting it Free for our trip this August. We would never go back to the basic dining plan. We love the flexibility of the QSDP. We can eat when and where we want - no ADRs. I don't like having to make ADR's so far in advance. We don't know where we want to eat 6 months out. We do usually eat at one TS during our trip. But, last year we walked into Yak and Yeti at 10 am and made a reservation for noon. This year we have an ADR at Tusker House - but as for the rest of the trip, we don't have to plan our parks around dining. Also, many times our kids are off on their own, so they just eat when and where they want. We love the QSDP.

Me too..last 2 yrs and free in July...woo hoo! I feel exactly like you!

 

[ccgirl]

That is if you use the mug. I always thought of it as a waste...we just drink water at home...I don't need 50 "free" sodas on vacation. Also, everyone talks about having leftover snacks...I know we did when we went even on regular.

Some people are addicted to their coffee..I am addicted to my diet coke. With the TS dining plan, I did have left over credits because with the buffets I found it was just so much food! With the QSDP, it is not as much food so we use 1 snack credit as breakfast and the other as a night time snack. It just works out so much better for us.

 

[nooneshome]

We have enjoyed the FD QSDP and the freedom that comes with it. We hate being tied to ADRs and TS meals eat up a lot of time.

We have two teenagers so TS is silly when they only eat junk. DD loves the Tempura Shrimp Udo at EPCOT. We have a blast rationing out the meals and spending snack credits. DW and I have one TS meal just to ourselves so this allows us to have more QS breakfast meals.

 

[Juliealto]

We, too, love the freedom of the QSDP and the fact that the refillable mug is included. We used the regular DDP for 2 of our last 4 stays and QSDP for the other 2. We found that which one we used had a lot of influence on the focus of our trip (dining experience focused vs attraction focused).
Although we are pooh-sized people with hearty appetites, we typically share CS entrees at theme parks anyway and with QSDP this is possible, whereas, with DDP they really frown on sharing. Having a less full belly and staying well hydrated keeps us enjoying the parks better. We also make a game of finding the best values for our credits in advance, and knowing where we'll find a snack that makes a great little meal or cooling opportunity is to us, priceless.

 

[GoMegGo]

The only DP we've ever done was QSDP and I can't imagine even trying the other two, especially since we'll have a toddler with us for our next trip. We still had a handful of ADRs that we paid for OOP, but the convenience of CS meals and the wide selection of great places to eat was a huge win all-around for us. Plus, researching the hidden gem CS and snack credits was kind of fun. We've both been to the World several times and we still ended up finding new, great places to eat.

Team QSDP, all the way!

 

[ekendall2]

The only DP I have ever done is the table service plan. This time we are doing the qsdp and I am so excited about not having to make reservations and be toed down for 2 hours trying to eat! So excited.

Happy Disney Worlding!

 

[2DisPrincesses]

I wouldn't mind trying the QSDP, but DH has to have atleast 1 TS meal a day. He's sure he would starve otherwise (and my DH is NOT fun to be around when he is hot AND hungry).

QSDP may be an option for us when the girls get bigger, but for now, they would be quite disappointed if they didn't get to do any character dining!

 

[3boys4me]

We have used the dining plan in the past and it was good. We had free dining so that helped, but we usually go during Thanksgiving and that is the only discount we could take advantage of. Well, I just took my kids back for another trip and tried to keep the cost down. nopark hoppers and did the QSDP. We loved it. Not once did I pass a restaurant and wish I had a reservation to get to. I also did not miss leaving all of those tips at the TS places. The kids did not ask for any of the TS places either. I would pay oop for a couple of kids breakfasts for them to share. We would get a CS for lunch n the parks and usually would grab a later dinner back at the hotel food court. I don't think I ate the same thing twice. I will definitly do the QSDP again in the future.

 

[larryz]

Next time we go, if we decide to pre-buy food, it'll be the QSDP. If we decide to do table service, we'll just pay OOP.

 

[junebugs]

We've always done the TS Dining Plan and have enjoyed trying many different restaurants. But after getting the FD Pin w/QS Dining for a trip this July we decided not to upgrade. I think it will be nice change not worrying about making ressies and making it to a certain restaurant on time.
Interested to see if we are less stressed - although I need to start researching how to use ALL those snack credits!!

 

[Rita007]

Doing a rather unexpected mother/daughter trip with my eldest in June. Neither of us are big breakfast eaters. My plan for QSDP (free!!!) is to hit the food court on the way to the bus...fill up the mugs and then take something small and portable as a "snack". Then use a cs for lunch and dinner. Fill in with an extra snack mid day.

In addition to just being the two of us, I'm looking forward to not having ADR's...I think we're going to have a lot more touring time!

 

[KigerKat]

It was cheaper for us to add the reg plan, but then when I factored in the tips for the meals, it became more expensive, lol.

So true!

This will be the third trip for us. On our first, we were celebrating our anniversary, so we splurged and got the deluxe DDP. What a waste of money it was for us! It was so hard to plan 3 meals a day for us, while trying to make plans with other people we were traveling with that did not have the deluxe DDP. We ended up canceling a lot of our ADRs and doing counter service instead.

On our second trip, we had the regular DDP for free. A little easier to manage with only 1 TS per day, but it was still somewhat of a drag if we found we weren't actually hungry yet or if we wanted to catch a particular show or watch the street performers. We didn't cancel any of our ADRs on that trip.

Now, we have the free QSDP. I did make 2 TS reservations that we will pay OOP for, but that's okay with us. We can just use the extra CS credits for breakfast a couple of days.

I love that I won't have to stress over calling and calling to check and see if the time I want is open at a certain place or worry that my reservation will be lost. We can eat when we are hungry and not rush to make our ADRs on time. Plus, it will be much faster. I found that eating at a TS place usually takes about an hour - and there's just two of us!

But the big thing is the money we will be saving on tips. After a week, that tends to add up pretty quickly!