Quick Service Dining? Thoughts please :)

[delmar411]

we love the QSDP. Works really well for our family. We don't get tired of CS either. There are so many places to eat that take CS credits. I do chuckle at those who think you are eating burgers and nuggets all the time. I guess that's what they use their credits on but we don't.

 

[Sundancer UK]

Thanks once again

I keep forgetting to put it in my sig strip but we're staying at All Stars Music - would this make it less or more convenient?

It seems as though QS is worth it for piece of mind, knowing that our meals are sorted for the duration of our stay.
But it also seems that financially it's not worth it and I might be better just to budget X amount of money for food each day and save the rest for general spending.

Hmmm...

 

[maggiew]

If you decide to do a couple sit down meals, I would recommend Rainforest Cafe at AK and/or T-Rex at Downtown Disney. These are ones that you can get into without having ADRs. And I think the "entertainment" at these places would be good for the age of your children.

I also think Coral Reef at EPCOT and Sci-Fi at Hollywood Studios might be fun for them. But you would need ADRs for those and I am not sure if you could get those now. But it might be worth a try. Although I'm not sure about 6 of you eating in the "cars" at Sci-Fi. Maybe others with more experience with 4 kids could chime in.

Maggie

 

[pat fan]

we're staying at All Stars Music

Lucky you! That's our favorite place to stay! when we did the QSDP we were at ASMovies, but it's pretty much the same, and yes it makes it very helpful. All the dining options there are QSDP. That is where my family would get a sundea at night, where we got all our Mickey rice krispie treats and our water option at breakfast.

But it also seems that financially it's not worth it and I might be better just to budget X amount of money for food each day and save the rest for general spending.

Well, for us it was close $$-wise, so what would you have extra for spending? $20? You may be really good at $$ and set aside an exact amount and stick to it, but for us it was just so much easier this way. The cost was paid up front in the package (albeit ours was free!) and we never had to think about it again.
Although I'm not sure about 6 of you eating in the "cars" at Sci-Fi. Maybe others with more experience with 4 kids could chime in.We ate there last year with a party of 7 and we were able to sit together. It was not in a traditional "car" but same area. Super fun! I'd try for an ADR there in a minute! I also recommend Crystal Palace in MK for breakfast with Pooh & friends, although you have little chance at this point (still worth a shot though!). Don't forget about Cosmic Rays in MK. It's counter service, but a lot of options!

 

[lizabu]

I would say no based on the ages of your kids. The adult menus (anyone over 9) has tons of choices but once you look at the kids menus they're pretty limited. Kids under 9 doing quick service are going to be eating a lot of mac & cheese and chicken nuggets

 

[ceecee]

Thanks once again

I keep forgetting to put it in my sig strip but we're staying at All Stars Music - would this make it less or more convenient?

It seems as though QS is worth it for piece of mind, knowing that our meals are sorted for the duration of our stay.
But it also seems that financially it's not worth it and I might be better just to budget X amount of money for food each day and save the rest for general spending.

Hmmm...

IMHO...ASMu (all the values) has one of the best food courts, we really enjoyed the breakfasts when we stayed there. If it would put less stress on you about budgeting the days meals, then go for it.

 

[notaprincess]

Just MY opinion.

I would not do the QDP... seeing that you are not big eaters, you might want to share meals or just have a snack at you pass by them.

Could you get gift cards with the amount that the QDP would cost, in advance?


On the other hand, I have to say that there a wonderful CS places throughout and not your typical fast food!

I'm intending to do the regular dining plan on my next trip, but have to check the menus first if the math is "right". I love the Signature restaurants.


Have fun no matter what you decide!

 

[Sundancer UK]

One big question before I decide either way - as we've already booked and paid for everything (hotel, tickets, flights all in one package), does anyone know if I actually can get a QDS now?

 

[KELLY]

Ok I have done the QSDP and love it. We did it for 10 days. We added to our package again. I ate a burger once and never ate a chicken finger. I'm a huge sandwhich person. So at the pop food court I would get there turkey cabbita,chicken pam,meatball sub,pizza and loaded nachos. I ate alot of other things also. There are plenty of CS options with out eating burgers all week. I'm in the minority but the RDP just don't work for us. We do usally book 2 adrs for the character experience for my kids. But we don't like being tied down to adr's for 10 days.

As far as desert this is plenty of options besides the pre-packaged stuff. You just need to do some reaserch and know where to eat. Plus all the extra snacks you get come in handy.

 

[KELLY]

One big question before I decide either way - as we've already booked and paid for everything (hotel, tickets, flights all in one package), does anyone know if I actually can get a QDS now?

In the states you can add it up to a few days before. Call and find out.

 

[skysmom99]

We loved the QSDP. It was so nice to have that part of the trip paid for when we got there. The food courts at the All Stars are actually pretty good and we ended up eating a number of our meals there. We used a snack credit in the morning for a pastry or bagel along with a drink in our free refillable mug. We did do a lunch at Rainforest and a breakfast a Crystal Palace but those were "free" since we used gift cards from rewards programs to pay for them.

Plus your kids' plans would only be $12 per day. A kid's meal is normally $5, so 2 meals/2 snacks adds up to about $14 per day. That basically offsets the 2 adults costs, doesn't it?

Oh, I ate one burger w/fries in 10 meals. There is plenty of variety if you look.

Have a wonderful time!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Could you get gift cards with the amount that the QDP would cost, in advance?

I like this idea ~ and what you don't spend on food you can spend on souvenirs! And I'm guessing you mean Disney Gift Cards.... That's what we use at Disneyland to "pre pay" our meals ~ the dining plans at DLR are nothing like the D Ps at WDW ~ not worth it, you never save $$ and it's never free *we had the reg dining plan free when we went to WDW * so when we visit DLR I use Disney G Cs to pay for our meals/snacks!

 

[seven dwarfs]

Make sure you read the menus and be sure your kids like what they see. The kids meals really stink. They are very small and the quality is yuck. I have found some to be OK.

This last trip we went with no plan. I was nervous because having six kids the dinning plans seem to be a great deal. It was nice knowing food was covered. But to be honest, it was better with no plan. When we bought food, we would buy adult meals and split them between 2 kids. I have 6 kids so we would buy 3 meals. My kids loved, loved, loved this. They said they didn't ever want to eat a nasty kids meal again.

I found even the TS kids meal were pretty bad. I tasted several meals including the grilled chicken and fish. They were both so dry. It was hard to eat my nice adult meal and see my kids have yucky stuff.

It was also nice to be able to be flexible. I never had to worry if a snack was covered by the plan. I kinda think the plan causes more stress for me. (But we do have 8 people to order for) I bought snacks to share for them and they loved this as well. The bakery on Main Street, or some of the Epcot locations have great desserts and they are huge and easy to share. We saved money this way and we also saved money in tips on the TS places. We are water drinkers and with sharing it kept our cost down.

I will also say, I always gain so much weight when I am on the plan. This last trip, I didn't. It was nice not to feel so stuffed every night. Nice not to have so much sugar.

I think you can't go wrong either way but wanted to share our experience. We are looking at going back and the kids are already saying they want to share adult meals.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[redcubfan]

We have done both the basic and quick service plans with our sons (now 10 and 6). Although it is nice to have a table service meal each day (we don't eat out a lot at home), I have to admit the qs plan works better for us at this point because we aren't building our plans around dining reservations. Don't get me wrong, we have had some wonderful meals at Disney restaurants, and if it were just me and my hubby we would probably go with the basic plan, but the qs plan allows more spontaneity for us and our boys. And, honestly, we love all the snack credits. We use them at the bakery on Main Street in MK to buy lots of goodies, especially at night to have for breakfast the next morning. We also use them at Goofy's Candy Company in DTD, and we love to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express in DTD too--counter service meals that would otherwise be expensive and are delicious! As for the dessert at every meal, we either try to get something for later (like a brownie or rice krispy treat), or I'll ask for a bottle of water as a substitute for dessert so I can actually zip my pants at the end of the trip. Any unused snack credits can be used at the end of your trip for bottled pop/juice/water, fruit, or other snacks to take with you. Too bad we can't all bring home Mickey ice cream bars and Dole Whips with us!!

Have a great trip!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

When we bought food, we would buy adult meals and split them between 2 kids. I have 6 kids so we would buy 3 meals. My kids loved, loved, loved this. They said they didn't ever want to eat a nasty kids meal again.

I agree ~ we didn't order a single kids CS meal when we visited WDW *our family for that visit was me, my mom, DD who was 6 and DS who was 9 *but Disney "thought" he was 10 ~ I knew he'd prefer to order from the adult menus at our TS meals and our DP was free ~ I only had to buy him an adult MYW ticket which wasn't that much more than the kids tix* We'd order 2 adult CS meals and split them between the 4 of us, it was plenty of food - at the end we had several CS credits left, we came home with lots of Mickey Rice Crispy treats.

 

[rubato]

OP: From what you've said, I don't think I'd go with any plan. If you aren't huge eaters, aren't very concerned with food, and wouldn't mind splitting large meals between family members, just use your room card and it takes the same amount of time to pay as it does with the dining plan.

We are the same way. A lot of people don't seem to understand us. Food is just food. I'm not on vacation to eat, but to experience. We've done the regular dining plan twice and no dining plan twice. I will always opt out of the dining plan, even during free dining (always can get a room discount instead). I like to eat at 1 or 2 table service, but that's it. The rest of the time, my family just wants a little snack or to split a burger or sandwich or something.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Here is a link to the CS restaraunts that are in the QS dinning plan
Just be sure to look under the column to the far left for the restaruant name. Click the name and read the description of what food is served at that location
I think you will have a lot to chose from over a 14 day period.


http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm#participatingddp

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

My family enjoys the CS meals. Here is another link to check out menus and pricing. http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm . Being there 14 days, you would make good use of the refillable mug. This link includes a list of snack options: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2640292. Here is the QSDP brochure:http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...altDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2011QuickService.pdf.

 

[Dizneydaz]

We've used the standard DDP about 5-6 times now. Last fall we did the QSDP for the first time. So how did we feel about only getting CS instead of TS and CS?

We FELT GREAT! (and full!)

Personally I didn't have to make all the plans, and ADRs for our Dining. Trying to figure out where we might want to eat on a given day wasn't always that easy.. I would make at least one ADR per day and then we would usually keep about 1/2 of them and reschedule the other 1/2.

My DM loved the fact the we didn't have to schedule our day around a TS meal.

Now, don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed eating at most of the TS we ate at but not having to do TS (and we didn't do a single one last year) was a nice time saver.

I did miss some of our favorite TS but we also tried a few new CS ones.

Personally, we had plenty of selection. Neither my DM or myself had one burger or chicken strips the entire 10 days. I don't think my DD11 had a single burger either.

If you go with the QSDP I think you'll be happy-we were!

Oh, and now that you can make ADRs so far out there's no way I would get the ADRs I wanted. It was hard enough to do it 90 days out.

BTW, some of our favorite CS places are at DTD. We always have a rental car so getting to DTD or another resort is never an issue!

 

[EKW]

Well, this past week I got the PIN for free dining, so, you betcha! If I could afford a Disney trip this summer, we would be doing the counter service dining. Would we eat at sit downs? Maybe a couple of times...honestly, for the price, other than Tusker House for breakfast there's no place at WDW that calls to me. Having the majority of our meals covered would be a real perk!!!