TS vs QS

[Eureka]

I don't know your kids obviously but last year when we went, my boys were 10 and 12 (going on what your sig says) and they felt too old for character meals, so do they even want to do that? There's lots better food out there for less $$ than the character buffets imo, and just being in the park around the characters is so magical the first time.

Also, a value room is kind of small for your size family but if you're only in the room to sleep and shower, it's not that big a deal. At least not to us, so the price difference would be significant to downgrade from a suite. We always stay value and then splurge on the food part because that's what we like when we vacation. Maybe consider not even doing a plan…we went OOP last year when my kids were the same age and were able to eat just how we wanted. Then you can schedule a couple TS meals and then graze on snacks, bring breakfast food with you, etc.

If it was me, I would want to be able to do things during the summer with the kids too. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Happyjen27]

You'll have a great time!!

You'll be at Disney my friend, it will be wonderful!

Our first trip we did DDP and felt like it was so much running around. Our second trip we did Out Of Pocket and it was much better.

We still had a sit down meal once a day, give or take a day (I cancelled some based on energy level and interest). But, that is because my belly gets angry with lots of QS. It was liberating to not have to rush here and there to get to reservations.

Character meals are fine and all, but that food was the worst of all the food we had on property. Ick, ick, ick. Even my DD who does not have a discerning palate refuses to step foot in Chef Mickey again.

I think part of this might be a case of DIS-itis. You read about all these posh trips with all these dining experiences, and all of these club level this and MVMCP that, and it feels like your trip is lacking. When, in fact, your trip is going to be amazing!!

 

[StayCool]

I don't know your kids obviously but last year when we went, my boys were 10 and 12 (going on what your sig says) and they felt too old for character meals, so do they even want to do that? There's lots better food out there for less $$ than the character buffets imo, and just being in the park around the characters is so magical the first time.

Also, a value room is kind of small for your size family but if you're only in the room to sleep and shower, it's not that big a deal. At least not to us, so the price difference would be significant to downgrade from a suite. We always stay value and then splurge on the food part because that's what we like when we vacation. Maybe consider not even doing a plan…we went OOP last year when my kids were the same age and were able to eat just how we wanted. Then you can schedule a couple TS meals and then graze on snacks, bring breakfast food with you, etc.

If it was me, I would want to be able to do things during the summer with the kids too. Just my 2 cents.

Since we have never been I asked them before I planned everything and they said they did want to go see characters. I wasn't sure either. I'm going to check on values and mods and see if anything opens. I'm sure people will be cancelling between now and then, I just need to have good timing!

Yeah, I'm not prepared to give up my whole summer of fun (and mostly cheap) activities for a week in the fall. Everything in moderation.

 

[StayCool]

You'll have a great time!!

You'll be at Disney my friend, it will be wonderful!

Our first trip we did DDP and felt like it was so much running around. Our second trip we did Out Of Pocket and it was much better.

We still had a sit down meal once a day, give or take a day (I cancelled some based on energy level and interest). But, that is because my belly gets angry with lots of QS. It was liberating to not have to rush here and there to get to reservations.

Character meals are fine and all, but that food was the worst of all the food we had on property. Ick, ick, ick. Even my DD who does not have a discerning palate refuses to step foot in Chef Mickey again.

I think part of this might be a case of DIS-itis. You read about all these posh trips with all these dining experiences, and all of these club level this and MVMCP that, and it feels like your trip is lacking. When, in fact, your trip is going to be amazing!!

I agree, it is mostly due to the DIS that I feel things have to be a certain way... A lot of great info here, but at the same time I probably have overplanned. I was mostly putting the character meals in because I'm not sure we will want to wait in lines for them and this would be an easier way to see them. I'm too type A for this!

 

[PlainJane]

There are a lot of great QS options to choose from. Definitely start looking through the menus and pictures. Some of my favorites.....

MK
Be Our Guest
Pinocchio Village Haus
Columbia Harbor House

Epcot
Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie

Hollywood Studios
OK, I'm going to be real here, there are not any great options here. However, Backlot Express and Toy Story Pizza Planet are fine options. I've also heard good things about Starring Rolls Cafe (only open for breakfast and lunch) and Studio Catering Co. Whatever you do, do not eat at ABC Commissary.

Animal Kingdom
Pizzafari
Flame Tree BBQ

Downtown Disney
Earl of Sandwich

 

[Eureka]

Since we have never been I asked them before I planned everything and they said they did want to go see characters. I wasn't sure either. I'm going to check on values and mods and see if anything opens. I'm sure people will be cancelling between now and then, I just need to have good timing!

Yeah, I'm not prepared to give up my whole summer of fun (and mostly cheap) activities for a week in the fall. Everything in moderation.

Another option is getting a FP+ to see characters. Actually, on our last trip I was waiting for my family to do a ride and stood in line only 15 min to see Chip and Dale in Adventureland, so it can be done without a tone of time spent.

 

[HM]

We don't do much TS on our trips to WDW. There are great places to eat QS, so you'll do just fine. Don't worry about it at all. And if you want to do one character meal and it fits in your budget, then do just that one.

 

[StayCool]

There are a lot of great QS options to choose from. Definitely start looking through the menus and pictures. Some of my favorites.....

MK
Be Our Guest
Pinocchio Village Haus
Columbia Harbor House

Epcot
Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie

Hollywood Studios
OK, I'm going to be real here, there are not any great options here. However, Backlot Express and Toy Story Pizza Planet are fine options. I've also heard good things about Starring Rolls Cafe (only open for breakfast and lunch) and Studio Catering Co. Whatever you do, do not eat at ABC Commissary.

Animal Kingdom
Pizzafari
Flame Tree BBQ

Downtown Disney
Earl of Sandwich

Thanks! I will have to start looking at menus to get an idea of what we would like.

Another option is getting a FP+ to see characters. Actually, on our last trip I was waiting for my family to do a ride and stood in line only 15 min to see Chip and Dale in Adventureland, so it can be done without a tone of time spent.

That's awesome! I'm afraid this might be my only chance to get the kids to take pictures with the characters. lol Too much longer and they will only want to do rides.

We don't do much TS on our trips to WDW. There are great places to eat QS, so you'll do just fine. Don't worry about it at all. And if you want to do one character meal and it fits in your budget, then do just that one.

Thanks! That is probably what will happen.

 

[C-CMom]

Awww, don't sweat it....you don't need table service to have a good time at Disney.

Now you won't be tied down to ADR's... never any regret when we just did quick service.

Agree completely! There are lots of options for Quick Services (check menus before you go). We appreciate not being tied down by lots of reservations.

We had a really wonderful day sampling many of the countries' offerings at Epcot. Couldn't have done that quite the same way with a specific table service. Lemons--> lemonade kind of thing...

Have fun

 

[kymom99]

Last time we went my son was 11. He didn't really care where we ate. My husband sounds a bit like yours. I would plan for some cheap bites in the room and he wouldn't eat them. So if he wanted to get a meal at the food court, I figured I shouldn't sweat over it, but I kept some things in the room for my son and me so the difference wasn't that big of a deal.

My son eats very little when he is hot and busy. I have never done this, but you may want to get a grocery delivery. Just bringing snacks in your bag can save a ton and some fruit and cereal helps a lot too.

 

[StayCool]

Agree completely! There are lots of options for Quick Services (check menus before you go). We appreciate not being tied down by lots of reservations.

We had a really wonderful day sampling many of the countries' offerings at Epcot. Couldn't have done that quite the same way with a specific table service. Lemons--> lemonade kind of thing...

Have fun

Definitely. Food & Wine is definitely on our radar. Maybe I should just drop to All Stars Movie and do room only. Then we can eat as we wish...

Last time we went my son was 11. He didn't really care where we ate. My husband sounds a bit like yours. I would plan for some cheap bites in the room and he wouldn't eat them. So if he wanted to get a meal at the food court, I figured I shouldn't sweat over it, but I kept some things in the room for my son and me so the difference wasn't that big of a deal.

My son eats very little when he is hot and busy. I have never done this, but you may want to get a grocery delivery. Just bringing snacks in your bag can save a ton and some fruit and cereal helps a lot too.

I don't think that the kids will eat much when it is hot and I know I won't. I already told my husband I'm either ordering or bringing bagels and other breakfast stuff. He wasn't impressed. lol I am considering a Garden Grocer order. Too many options!

 

[donac]

Dh and I did qs last year and loved it. We did not eat hamburgers at every meal.

We are going next year and hoping for fd but we want to stay pop so it will be cs. We are going with friends and the wife will want a sit down meal at dinner. I canvo along with it but am nothappy about it. Sit down meals are highly overrated. You sit around and waste a lot of time. Good luck with your decision.

By the way we loved pop and allstars.

 

[kymom99]

One of the reasons I prefer a quick bite in the room is that I don't want to go somewhere to eat breakfast. I usually eat while my hair is in a towel. If your husband wants to walk to the food court while you get ready, tell him to knock himself out. You can meet up when you all are ready.

Are there any room only discounts if you don't take the FD? If so, you may be able to get a moderate for a really good price. I know my son at that age loved the pool slides. We really liked CBR. However, the All Stars were fun too. I have some of the most precious pictures taken at All Star Movies.

 

[StayCool]

Dh and I did qs last year and loved it. We did not eat hamburgers at every meal.

We are going next year and hoping for fd but we want to stay pop so it will be cs. We are going with friends and the wife will want a sit down meal at dinner. I canvo along with it but am nothappy about it. Sit down meals are highly overrated. You sit around and waste a lot of time. Good luck with your decision.

By the way we loved pop and allstars.

Thanks! My husband really enjoys eating out and that is a lot of the experience for him.

One of the reasons I prefer a quick bite in the room is that I don't want to go somewhere to eat breakfast. I usually eat while my hair is in a towel. If your husband wants to walk to the food court while you get ready, tell him to knock himself out. You can meet up when you all are ready.

Are there any room only discounts if you don't take the FD? If so, you may be able to get a moderate for a really good price. I know my son at that age loved the pool slides. We really liked CBR. However, the All Stars were fun too. I have some of the most precious pictures taken at All Star Movies.

I would rather everyone grab something to eat while we are getting ready just because it won't waste so much time! The kids can be slow to get moving. lol

So there is currently a room only discount offered. I ran numbers for All Star Movies and POP. There is less than a $200 difference between them. Since everyone has been so helpful I am going to ask what your preference is and why?

I'm really hoping that they renew the military discount and I can take advantage of that but I will have to wait a few more weeks to find out. If I get military tickets I can add a dining plan if I choose to. Idk what to do about that. Is it cheaper to pay oop? I would eliminate some of the character meals if I need to and choose some of the cheaper options and more QS.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We have been to WDW several times, so it is not the same as a first trip, but we did very few TS meals this trip and didn't miss them. If you want to do character meals, breakfast is less expensive than lunch or dinner. Some people book a late breakfast (10:30) and just snack for lunch. It depends how your family eats. We prefer to book an 8:05 breakfast to get into the parks early (on a day that it opens at 9:00)

There are some TS meals that are not much more expensive than the QS places. We had a great lunch at Via Napoli - we ordered one pasta and one large pizza. It would be even less expensive to order the largest pizza (Mezzo Metro) - it is about $40 and would feed your whole family. If you eat here on the dining plan, every gets their own individual pizza or pasta, but that is a lot of food. The Plaza at MK is also reasonably priced, and the portions at 50s Prime Time are large enough to share.

Keep checking for availability at the moderates if you want to have the regular DDP - it would be less than paying for the AoA suite and upgrading the plan.

There are some very good QS places - Be Our Guest (lunch) and Columbia Harbor House at MK, Sunshine Seasons and most of the World Showcase at Epcot, Flame Tree at AK (and Yak n Yeti QS was okay), not so much at DHS. The only burgers I ate all week were actually at TS places.

 

[leebee]

I've done trips both with and without the dining plan, and we usually save about $200 by paying OOP. We don't necessarily eat the way the dining plan is set up; we mostly drink water at meals, we don't usually eat dessert with every meal, we like snacks more than once a day sometimes, etc. We've also found that with the heat in Florida, we don't eat anywhere near as much as we would at home, so the DDP is too much food for us. We were happier paying OOP.

Some things to remember if you keep the dining plan:
First, it only covers TWO meals a day. What is your plan for that 3rd meal? DD and I found that we can often share meals at Disney, so we'd use her QS credit to order a bounty platter to share at breakfast, and my QS to order a lunch to split (Flame Tree BBQ does a half-chicken with 2 sides- PLENTY for 2 people to share), then each have a TS credit for dinner. If you aren't going to share meals, you'll need to pay for breakfast OOP OR have food in your room for breakfast.

Will you want more than one snack? At MK, we always have a dole whip, but later in the evening someone invariably wants a Mickey Bar. YOu'll pay OOP for any snacks above the one allotted per person.

Do you eat desserts? The DDP includes dessert and I found most of the QS dessert offerings to be abysmal. We'd skip them or pitch them about half the time… but still want those 2 snacks at MK!

Are you planning on going to the Food and Wine festival? You can use DDP snack credits at the booths (not for alcohol), but then you have no snack credits left for your other days. Also, we have discovered that when we go to F&W, we do NOT need to eat supper that day. It's always a waste, as we are full of food from noshing our way around the World!

Another thing to consider is your park tickets. What kind are you getting, and for how many days? It's possible to save some money here. If your trip is Sunday to the following Monday, you could get away with six day base tickets. That gives you 4 single park days, plus two days of re-visit. You mentioned MNSSHP tickets, so DON"T go to the parks on that day. Take a casual day by the pool, and hit MK at 4pm for the early party entry. You'll be able to stay in MK from 4pm-midnight, and 8 consecutive hours in MK is a LONG time, especially with the lower crowd levels for a party. Actually, if MNSSHP is your MK revisit, then you'll have 2 MK days, plus a day each at the other parks, and two revisit parks. Stretch those park days, and with basically 2 days at each of three parks, you really don't need park hopper tickets.

Remember all the free things there are to do at Disney. We can fill an entire day doing Disney-related things that don't include going into a park. Also… you probably don't need water park tickets. Your resort will have a great pool, and if you are looking to cut costs, this is a reasonable way to do it. Actually, most resorts have at least two pools, even the values.

What will it cost for you to get a room at a moderate? These rooms have queen sized beds, so you'll all sleep more comfortably. The room has 2 sinks, with a curtain between the sink area and the room, so you can make a dressing room of sorts. There's also a fridge and coffeemaker in the room, making in-room breakfasts easier.

Regarding character meals, if you are paying OOP… I'd do breakfast at Crystal Palace and at Chef Mickey's. Breakfast is the cheapest OOP character meal, and if you do it at a later sitting, it can double as lunch (in fact, at the latest breakfast sittings, they bring out the lunch food as lunchtime nears, and you can have some of that, too). With these 2 meals, you get the Pooh Gang and the Fab Five, and can avoid some really long meet&greet lines in the parks. If your DD is dying to meet princesses, maybe you and she can do b'fast at Akershus and let your DH and DS skip the girly stuff, if they aren't into it.

Keep looking, keep thinking, keep crunching the numbers. On our first trip, we stayed offsite, at dinner at our hotel every night (residence inn, so we had a kitchen), didn't do a single TS meal or see a single evening show, and still had a marvelous time! Face it, it's DISNEY!! Don't think about the things you aren't doing; focus on the amazing time you are having!!

 

[kymom99]

I vote for AllStar Movies, but I have never been to Pop. I like the theming of ASM the best. We always pay for a preferred location, except when we went to POFQ, because I don't think they have any there.

 

[C-CMom]

... All Star Movies vs. POP.

Dining plan...Is it cheaper to pay oop?

It really depends on your preferences, but for us, we like to eat a small breakfast while getting ready. None of us want to get dressed to GO to breakfast. We did do the Cinderella Breakfast one year, but scheduled the latest possible time so it feel more like lunch and we would be able to rope drop the rides.

Have done AS Sports (not Movies) and POP. Liked them both. The rooms are very similar POP and All Stars, just different themes, maybe POP a bit more spread out. Personally, the theme at POP was more interesting to us, and has a lake. If the general room style would please you, any of the themes would probably be fine. The All Stars usually (perhaps not always if very busy?) share buses, so may take a bit longer, but POP alone has more rooms in one spot.

We found it cheaper and more suited to our style to pay out of pocket for meals. We don't eat a ton in the heat and didn't want to have to keep up with credit tallys. We have "adult" diners by Disney standards, though, so the cost is much more per person on the dining plan.

Honestly, there are lots of ways to enjoy! And they don't all involve breaking the bank.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Thanks everyone for making me feel better! I'm going to hold onto everything until the bitter end just in case it does work out, but I will not stress over it if it doesn't. I think I will just call once a day to see if any other free dining opens in a regular room, but if not we will go have a blast anyway.

are you aware they generally (other than the actual opening of the Little Mermaid rooms in AoA ) do NOT offer free dining for the Little Mermaid (aka regular room area at AoA)?

If you want free dining and a standard/ regular room at a value resort you could check POP or the All Stars and probably find a free dining room (thus saving you $$ over the suite price). If your heart is set on AoA you could stay at POP and visit AoA to see the theming..... just a thought.


OK I see above you're already looking into All Stars and POP. If you are looking to save $$ I seem to recall All Stars are generally a bit cheaper. We love Music - it is a fun resort but quieter than Sports (which can get a bit crazy with cheerleaders, sports groups and band folks). We have stayed in Movies and really liked it as well. For our taste POP was too 'big'

 

[StayCool]

We have been to WDW several times, so it is not the same as a first trip, but we did very few TS meals this trip and didn't miss them. If you want to do character meals, breakfast is less expensive than lunch or dinner. Some people book a late breakfast (10:30) and just snack for lunch. It depends how your family eats. We prefer to book an 8:05 breakfast to get into the parks early (on a day that it opens at 9:00)

There are some TS meals that are not much more expensive than the QS places. We had a great lunch at Via Napoli - we ordered one pasta and one large pizza. It would be even less expensive to order the largest pizza (Mezzo Metro) - it is about $40 and would feed your whole family. If you eat here on the dining plan, every gets their own individual pizza or pasta, but that is a lot of food. The Plaza at MK is also reasonably priced, and the portions at 50s Prime Time are large enough to share.

Keep checking for availability at the moderates if you want to have the regular DDP - it would be less than paying for the AoA suite and upgrading the plan.

There are some very good QS places - Be Our Guest (lunch) and Columbia Harbor House at MK, Sunshine Seasons and most of the World Showcase at Epcot, Flame Tree at AK (and Yak n Yeti QS was okay), not so much at DHS. The only burgers I ate all week were actually at TS places.

I have reservations for Tusker House and Ohana's breakfast and I think that I will keep them. They are cheaper and look fun. I am still looking for free dining but if it doesn't happen I will just do oop. Then we will consider Via Napoli (who doesn't love pizza?) and other things like that.

I've done trips both with and without the dining plan, and we usually save about $200 by paying OOP. We don't necessarily eat the way the dining plan is set up; we mostly drink water at meals, we don't usually eat dessert with every meal, we like snacks more than once a day sometimes, etc. We've also found that with the heat in Florida, we don't eat anywhere near as much as we would at home, so the DDP is too much food for us. We were happier paying OOP.

Some things to remember if you keep the dining plan:
First, it only covers TWO meals a day. What is your plan for that 3rd meal?

Will you want more than one snack?

Do you eat desserts? The DDP includes dessert and I found most of the QS dessert offerings to be abysmal. We'd skip them or pitch them about half the time… but still want those 2 snacks at MK!

Are you planning on going to the Food and Wine festival?

Another thing to consider is your park tickets. What kind are you getting, and for how many days?

Remember all the free things there are to do at Disney. We can fill an entire day doing Disney-related things that don't include going into a park. Also… you probably don't need water park tickets. Your resort will have a great pool, and if you are looking to cut costs, this is a reasonable way to do it. Actually, most resorts have at least two pools, even the values.

What will it cost for you to get a room at a moderate? These rooms have queen sized beds, so you'll all sleep more comfortably. The room has 2 sinks, with a curtain between the sink area and the room, so you can make a dressing room of sorts. There's also a fridge and coffeemaker in the room, making in-room breakfasts easier.

Keep looking, keep thinking, keep crunching the numbers. On our first trip, we stayed offsite, at dinner at our hotel every night (residence inn, so we had a kitchen), didn't do a single TS meal or see a single evening show, and still had a marvelous time! Face it, it's DISNEY!! Don't think about the things you aren't doing; focus on the amazing time you are having!!

I am seriously considering paying oop if I don't get free dining. I will just have to change some reservations around. As for the 3rd meal, I was counting on having breakfast in the room anyway most days so no big deal there. I'm not sure how many snacks, but really I was thinking we would share most. The kids aren't big eaters most of the time. Definitely planning on Food & Wine. Again if I don't have free dining, I will just nosh on all the yummy food. I am only getting 4 day base tickets unless they renew the military tickets. Then I will have 4 days with water parks & more for the same price as 2 day base tickets. Moderates seem to be a pretty decent jump in price, comparable to the AOA suite I currently have booked. I will definitely keep looking and pricing things until I run out of options. LOL

I vote for AllStar Movies, but I have never been to Pop. I like the theming of ASM the best. We always pay for a preferred location, except when we went to POFQ, because I don't think they have any there.

I'm leaning toward Movies right now and I believe only preferred rooms are left. I'm good with that.

It really depends on your preferences, but for us, we like to eat a small breakfast while getting ready. None of us want to get dressed to GO to breakfast. We did do the Cinderella Breakfast one year, but scheduled the latest possible time so it feel more like lunch and we would be able to rope drop the rides.

We found it cheaper and more suited to our style to pay out of pocket for meals. We don't eat a ton in the heat and didn't want to have to keep up with credit tallys. We have "adult" diners by Disney standards, though, so the cost is much more per person on the dining plan.

Honestly, there are lots of ways to enjoy! And they don't all involve breaking the bank.

I was just thinking that if I don't do the dining plan, then the kids can actually get kid meals which will be cheaper anyway. And so can I which will be healthier!

are you aware they generally (other than the actual opening of the Little Mermaid rooms in AoA ) do NOT offer free dining for the Little Mermaid (aka regular room area at AoA)?

If you want free dining and a standard/ regular room at a value resort you could check POP or the All Stars and probably find a free dining room (thus saving you $$ over the suite price). If your heart is set on AoA you could stay at POP and visit AoA to see the theming..... just a thought.


OK I see above you're already looking into All Stars and POP. If you are looking to save $$ I seem to recall All Stars are generally a bit cheaper. We love Music - it is a fun resort but quieter than Sports (which can get a bit crazy with cheerleaders, sports groups and band folks). We have stayed in Movies and really liked it as well. For our taste POP was too 'big'

Movies is currently the cheapest option by about $10/night. Most of the resorts are full right now and don't show any availability except Movies and POP for values.