Quick Service Dining Plan... worth it?

[TheGreatMazzu]

Hello!

You guys have helped me out here a couple of times already, so I figured I'd confide in you again, since I have another burning question I want to get resolved before my girlfriend comes home and we leave for Orlando.

So, we are preferred passholders and I'm weighing the merits of getting a QS Dining Plan for us, for each of the 6 days we'll be visiting the parks. My thought process is this: would the discount we got as preferred passholders on meals in the parks be a substantial substitute for eating (haha food joke) the extra expense on the Meal Plans? As far as a table service, I've already decided I'm gonna just pay for that meal out of pocket, it's not worth the cost of a meal plan that includes table service. I'm more thinking about the day-to-day meals. Also, does the Royal Pacific standard room have a refrigerator or mini fridge? I'm also considering the benefits of having a loaf of bread and peanut butter, and other avenues for quick, "free" food, and this is definitely on my list. I'm not trying to play too cheap I promise, I just want to come out having some money haha

Thanks so much for your insight in advance!

 

[damo]

It depends on what you buy. Some entrees and snacks are more expensive than others.

 

[TheGreatMazzu]

That makes sense... I'm more or less talking on a general level, though. It's my understanding that most entrees costs somewhere between $8 to $15, and I'm not 100% if that would include a drink. Thinking about it, the idea of the meal plan seems like a good enough idea, but I don't want to leap into it and realize that I've wasted money, you know?

 

[nkereina]

Royal Pacific rooms don't have a fridge - it's a mini bar so you can't store anything in it.

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but while we were waiting in line at Three Broomsticks, an employee was talking to guests and promoting a "QS dining plan". She said for $20 per person, we could get our meal at Three Broomsticks with a drink and then have a snack and a drink to use whenever we wanted before we went home. We didn't pay much attention, but the employee at the register when we were ordering tried selling it again. Since it was going to be $40 for our meal anyways, we decided to go with it and were able to get it right there with the cashier. The only caveat is that butterbeer and other "specialty" drinks in the HP areas are considered snacks - not drinks. Also, it's supposed to work anywhere in City Walk but the person cashing us out at Panda Express would not use our last drink credit and insisted it's only good in the parks (not true). So some places don't know what to make of it, which leads me to believe it's not very popular. This was a good deal in our instance, but I probably wouldn't buy the plan for the duration of our stay - we enjoy the TS meals and ate at City Walk a lot more than we thought we would.

 

[TheGreatMazzu]

That makes sense...

So do you think it would be wise to only get QS meal plans for only a few of the days than? And than just make it a point to go to CityWalk for meals outside of that? I'm not 100% sure if we're going to visit the parks every day... we'll probably take a day just for CityWalk and the resort, so I'm just trying to figure out what would be best both for us during the stay (waste is no bueno) and for my wallet.

 

[johde]

Deciding if it's "worth it" it tough to do ahead of time. It also depends on if you're getting a refillable cup or Freestyle Cup. I'm traveling solo so it's a bit easier. You can order the QS dining plan at the restaurant so I've done a little math in advance. If you figure $2.50 a piece for the drinks and $4 -$5 for the snack you're at $9-$10 in "extras". With the meal plan costing $19.99. The entree will need to be $10-11 to have any chance of even breaking even. If you have a refillable cup and drinks are $.99 the break even on the entree goes up to $13-14 unless you get a drink you can't get with the refillable cups. With the Freestyle cups the breakeven on the entree goes on up to $15-16 since you don't need any other drinks.

 

[nkereina]

I probably wouldn't buy anything ahead of time and just wing it as you go. Considering we had the option to buy the plan at the restaurant when we were ordering, I assume you can do that at any QS location. If your lunch totals $40+, it would make sense to purchase the plan instead because then it leaves you each with a snack and a drink to use at some point during the rest of your stay. It's my understanding you could do this at any given time, whenever it makes sense. Can't speak to the unlimited drinks at all.

As for City Walk, some of those places can be pricey and some are TS so just plan accordingly. We found Red Oven to be decently priced, and then Moe's, Panda Express and BK are all normally priced as well.

 

[TheGreatMazzu]

I probably wouldn't buy anything ahead of time and just wing it as you go. Considering we had the option to buy the plan at the restaurant when we were ordering, I assume you can do that at any QS location. If your lunch totals $40+, it would make sense to purchase the plan instead because then it leaves you each with a snack and a drink to use at some point during the rest of your stay. It's my understanding you could do this at any given time, whenever it makes sense. Can't speak to the unlimited drinks at all.

As for City Walk, some of those places can be pricey and some are TS so just plan accordingly. We found Red Oven to be decently priced, and then Moe's, Panda Express and BK are all normally priced as well.

Awesome, thanks so much!

 

[macraven]

for me, it is worth it for some of the places.
gotta know prices in order to make it worth it.

the 3 B's and Louie's is where i buy the counter service plan.

the meal is about or close to $17, which includes the beverage.
i buy the meal plan, get the food and drink then have one beverage and one snack to use within the 14 day time period.

it's about a $6 savings depending how i spend the snack and beverage coupon.

i'm at the darkside for 12 days so i'm not limited to just the park foods.
it works for me as i usually have one main meal for the day and one light meal.
have my favorite restaurants at the hotels and city walk and a few places in the parks.

 

[chabs]

for me, it is worth it for some of the places.
gotta know prices in order to make it worth it.

the 3 B's and Louie's is where i buy the counter service plan.

the meal is about or close to $17, which includes the beverage.
i buy the meal plan, get the food and drink then have one beverage and one snack to use within the 14 day time period.

it's about a $6 savings depending how i spend the snack and beverage coupon.

i'm at the darkside for 12 days so i'm not limited to just the park foods.
it works for me as i usually have one main meal for the day and one light meal.
have my favorite restaurants at the hotels and city walk and a few places in the parks.

Do you get a discount off of the $19.99 price of the plan with your AP? I was thinking about picking up a few of these before we go next time, but I didn't know if we'd be better off waiting until we get there to get the 10% discount.

 

[macraven]

i didn't get an a discount with my ap as the counter plan already had a discount in it.
don't know if that has changed since i last used it in october.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Does butterbeer or cider count as a non-alcoholic beverage?

 

[macraven]

it counts as a snack credit

 

[crazelion]

Is the quick service plan all eat all day. Like sea world all day dining. I could not found any information. If so the 19.99 is a deal than.

 

[macraven]

Is the quick service plan all eat all day. Like sea world all day dining. I could not found any information. If so the 19.99 is a deal than.

i wish it were an all day eating set up but it is not.

you get one counter service meal with beverage and a coupon for one snack and one beverage.
the coupons are valid for 14 days from the time it is issued.

if you know the prices of the food, you can make it work for you and end up saving up to $7 on the high end.

so for about $21 total, it's a good deal based on how you use it.


at the 3 B's, i bought the chicken rib meal which was about $16 or 17 and included a drink.
used my snack credit for a butterbeer the next day, which goes for the cost of $4.50
on another day, used the snack credit for butterbeer ice cream.
i had purchased 2 different quick service deals during my stay and used both snack coupons early.
i used the beverage coupons for water/soda.

i came out ahead money wise.

Louie's was another place i bought the quick service plan.
pizza/salad and coke worked for me as it was priced to where the other 2 coupons made me come out ahead again.

check the menus for costs of the foods you would want to eat.
if a meal is less than $11, you are better off not going with this food service plan.

 

[crazelion]

i wish it were an all day eating set up but it is not.

you get one counter service meal with beverage and a coupon for one snack and one beverage.
the coupons are valid for 14 days from the time it is issued.

if you know the prices of the food, you can make it work for you and end up saving up to $7 on the high end.

so for about $21 total, it's a good deal based on how you use it.


at the 3 B's, i bought the chicken rib meal which was about $16 or 17 and included a drink.
used my snack credit for a butterbeer the next day, which goes for the cost of $4.50
on another day, used the snack credit for butterbeer ice cream.

i came out ahead money wise.

Louie's was another place i bought the quick service plan.
pizza/salad and coke worked for me as it was priced to where the other 2 coupons made me come out ahead again.

check the menus for costs of the foods you would want to eat.
if a meal is less than $11, you are better off not going with this food service plan.

Thank you for the information. I think I will pay out pocket.

 

[macraven]

TheGreatMazzu
things are changing at rpr with their renovations.
they are replacing the minibar with a fridge.

tower 1 has some floors of completed rooms now and those rooms have a mini fridge.
when the reno has been completed, all rooms in the 3 towers will have the free fridges in them.

 

[chabs]

I decided that I am going to buy the dining meal tickets when we eat at the 3 Broomsticks (you will come out ahead no matter breakfast, lunch or dinner). Other than that, most of the counter service meals cost around $8 plus a drink for $2.50, so we would probably lose money because we get the 10% off with my AP.