Vouchers? Convince me

[YangYang]

We will be going to WDW in November - 10 of us in all and this will definitely by budget! We are camping so I am mainly thinking about character meals. We have reservations for Donald's Breakfastsoraus, Chef Mickey's(Breakfast) and Crystal Palace (lunch). Would it be a big savings to buy the vouchers? What is the tax rate at WDW? My concern is the hassle factor - I don't have time to jump through hoops if it won't save me a fair amount of money.

 

[maggiew]

The breakfasat vouchers are ones you will always save money with (for character meals, at least.) The vouchers cost $17.50 for adult. All of the breakfasts you are looking at cost $16.99. But the vouchers come with tax and tip. I figured about 10% tax and 15% tip. So you are saving about $4 each. Multiply that by 10 and you are saving $40 on one character meal!! Now multiply that by 2 (for your 2 character meals) and that is a savings of $80! Its a no brainer for me.

You would probably also benefit by getting some Quick and Casual vouchers. If you have any teens who may go off on their own, its a great way to make sure they eat. If this is a budget trip, you can use the vouchers to get a nice steak dinner for $11.25. If you go to Pepper Market, you can use the vouchers for the ribeye dinner with baked potato or the Carved Rib roast with baked potato. (Or lots of other great things.)

I think since there are so many of you, that the vouchers would be great. Even a few dollars in savings when multiplied by your number would save a lot of money.

Maggie

 

[CarolMN]

This is another perspective from someone who isn't a big fan of the vouchers (even though I have used both the Q&C and Kingdom Lunch varieties. Got them from other DIS'rs who had extras and didn't have to join anything).

IMHO, the vouchers do not save all that much money, but I factor in the cost of joining Connections or the hassle of joining and cancelling after the free trial period is over.

The tax is actually 6.5%, so the savings per character meal is $3.65. If the vouchers are the only thing you would use from Connections, it may not be worth it to you after you factor in the cost of the program. Believe it is approx $80/year, unless you can do the $1 for a month trial deal. Some have reported great difficulty cancelling after the trial period, though. Suggest you do a search on "Connections" before you join so you know all the pros and cons of dealing with this Company.

FWIW, the real savings for us (Q&C and Kingdom Lunch) came because portions at WDW are so huge. Neither my DH nor I can eat what WDW considers a "normal" portion, especially if we want to try appetizers and have dessert. We shared meals, used only one voucher for two people and bought only an extra drink. Both always left full. We did leave an extra tip (beyond the 15% the voucher provided). Even so, the savings aren't enough to tempt me to join Connections.

The vouchers are nice for those who like to have meals pre-paid before their trip. We just use Disney Dollars for that, though.

Enjoy the trip.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by YangYang
We will be going to WDW in November - 10 of us in all and this will definitely by budget! We are camping so I am mainly thinking about character meals. We have reservations for Donald's Breakfastsoraus, Chef Mickey's(Breakfast) and Crystal Palace (lunch). Would it be a big savings to buy the vouchers? What is the tax rate at WDW? My concern is the hassle factor - I don't have time to jump through hoops if it won't save me a fair amount of money.

I'm not trying to tell you how to plan your vacation, but if you're really concerned about your budget, I'd consider dropping one of your three character meals. For a party of 10, you're talking $200 per meal ($600 total) for the buffet, tax and tip. Unless you're certain your party will get its money's worth, I'd give careful thought to the possibility that 3 pricey character meals are overkill.

The other replies summarized the vouchers well. Just remember that if you don't end up using some of the vouchers (party members ill, don't want to go, etc.), your savings may be gone. Likewise if you forget to cancel during the trial period, or have problems correcting billing errors, you should factor in the hassle.

 

[funhouse8]

You should do the ice cream social at the garden grill in epcot. The characters are there and i think it only costs 8.00 a person. With so many people I'm sure you would have a good time. We seen farmer mickey,minnie, chip and dale when we had dinner here. This trip we are going to try the ice cream social because it is cheaper and we love ice cream!!!!!!
Oh and thanks for asking the voucher question I'm trying to decide if this is a good deal for me too.

 

[frannn]

but I am this time. I am going to join one of the venues-probably hotwire-because it is the least expensive month to month membership. We have a bunch of PS already, including 3 character bkfasts, 2 RFC, and a couple of character lunch and dinners. This is DD1's first birthday trip, so we are not going to go crazy budgeting while we are there. The most budgeting was already done- we are staying at AS Mo with the DC discount. This is the hotel we chose because we thought DD would like it. Plane fare was Skymiles, thanks to boss, and rental car is a midsize at 265 for 13 days. DD loves the characters, so the meals are important to us. The only way I have found to budget them is to use the bkfast vouchers- CRT and PSB are normally 20/pp not including tax and tip! So for us, the voucher save about 15/meal. The lunch vouchers cost 30.50, but we will use them at RFC (which we enjoyed the last time we went) to share a meal at dinnertime. We will probably leave an extra tip, but 15.25/person for a good meal at WDW is a great deal in my eyes. The Q&C's are a good deal if you are a big eater, or if you can share one. I am getting a bunch not so much because it will save a ton of money, but even though its counter svc, it will be a full meal and I can share with DD. If DH and I find it is too much food, we can always share. I also love the Pepper Market, so the savings using these there is a bonus.
Sorry for the novel. By the way, when we go out to eat at home, we only go to a diner or similar, so counter service is still a treat!

 

[maggiew]

I personally have not had trouble with Connections. But then, I kept my membership and didn't try to cancel within the trial period. I have more than made up for my investment. I bought $200 in gift cards for Kids R Us and used them to buy school clothes - then I got $40 back, so those $200 in school clothes only cost $160 (not to mention the specials and the coupon I used.)

I also give out the gift cards as teacher gifts. I gave them at Christmas and at end of year gifts. Teachers usually like Barnes & Nobles or restaurant cards.

I also send out the gift cards to my nieces and nephews as birthday gifts/easter gifts/valentines gift, etc. Since they live so far away, it is nice to be able to just tuck in a gift card in their regular CARD. But then, my nieces and nephews are a little older and actually prefer the gift cards to receiving a gift that I pick out. With the gift cards, you buy a $25 gift card and then they refund $5 to your account at the end of the month.

I felt the meal vouchers were beneficial to us, a family of four, so I really think they would be great for your large party. I also would suggest that you plan on sharing meals, because you usually get so much food at Disney.

Just MHO.

Maggie