Was this worth it?

[mommahnina]

We are leaving for Disney in 25 days. Yesterday my husband was able to find a CRT ADR on the computer. At that time we only had Mickeys Backyard BBQ, Chef Mickeys, and 1900 Park Fare Dinner booked, and we were having to pay out of pocket because we only had the free dining from the value ( qs meals ) We are a family of 6, ( 2 adults and 4 kids 3,7,9,12 ) and we are staying at All Stars Music Family Suites. Well my hubbie did the math and just the Mickeys BBQ was 283 something, Chef Mickeys and 1900 were probably going to run us 150 each. So he told me to call and see how much to upgrade our dining plan would be. Lucky for us it was only 360!!! So to us it was worth it to upgrade and get other TS places we wanted to go only down fall is the tips are not included I am not sure about taxes ( 3 of ours have taxes and tips included the shows and CRT ). So yesterday we just happened to get ADRS for *drumroll please * lol CRT , LeCiellar, Sci Fi Diner, Spirit of Aloha, Via Neplia (sp?). We got all of them in one day with 26 days to go plus they were all for a table of 6. I am thinking that tinkerbell herself came to visit us in our sleep and sprinkled some MAJOR pixie dust on us LOL!! so My ? is The last time we went to Disney was two years ago and we had some pretty bad experiences mostly with the Liberty Tree Tavern and Tusker house breakfast. So I was wondering if I could get opinions on the ones I did book this time. I tried not to have ALL character meals because honestly we had some bad experiences So I tried to choose wisely. So I would love to hear some of ya'lls thoughts If you think those are good ADRS and if you think it was worth it for us to upgrade? ( our main reason for the QS plan was for the mugs LOL yes silly and for the snacks cause we were under the impression that you could still get the goofys candy shop make your own was still on the DP, and its NOT which was a heartbreaker for me!! and after him paying all of that for the few ADRS we did get at the start of us planing it just made sense to us to change. Anyways like I said before any thoughts/ opinions would be appreciated! thank you!

 

[Diz Kids]

It makes sense to me to upgrade if you are going to do the TS meals anyway. It seems that with QSDP and paying OOP for the TS that you would spend all of the extra money and then waste some of the QS credits. Just make sure you remember that many of the places you mentioned are 2TS credits.

Taxes are included in the DP, the only thing you will need to pay for are tips at the places where they are not included.

Your restaurant selections sound good to me! I have visited many of them and have not heard many negative reviews on the others.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[TheRatPack]

We kind of ran in to the same decision this year with our family of 7. This is our first year on the QSDP and while we're excited to get the extra snack credits for F&W Festival....we do miss some of our TS meals too and had to cancel a few of them because paying OOP for them is CRAZY expensive. We factored in buying our own mugs, the tax and tip for TS meals and the fact that we were still having to buy a few CS and Snacks when we'd went before (thanks Passporter for helping me save all my previous trip receipts LOL) and figured we were still coming out ahead with the QSDP. Still though.....kind of sad to be missing some of our old TS meals.

As far as your ADRs go....we were really kind of let down at the fact that CRT cost 2 credits, not really worth it to us. The food was good....but definitely not what I'd expect for 2 TS Credits. LeCellier was not what we expected either. I don't think anyone in our family enjoyed that restaurant. SciFi is fun for the kids and they have some good food choices for the adults too (really enjoy the Reuben and the Appetizers). Sadly appetizers aren't included anymore....so we always paid OOP for those. Chef Mickeys is good, standard breakfast foods....but I like Hollywood and Vine breakfast better. I've not eaten at the other restaurants you mentioned....I'm sure someone else will chime in though

 

[havoc315]

If you maximize use of the refillable mug and the snacks, some would say that the QSDP is a better value.
That said, it really depends on the value you are putting on items. If you want several TS meals, it's probably worth $10 per person per day to upgrade 1 of those QS meals to a TS meal. Yes, you are losing a snack credit.. But even if you priced that snack credit at around $3... I still think upgrading from a QS meal to a TS meal is generally worth $13. Most CS meals run abour $12.. while typical TS meals can range from $25-$35 to much more.
I personally place minimal value on the refillable mug. To me, it only has value if you are a big soft-drink drinker, and you plan on spending lots of time at your resort near the food court. I could see value if you're going during the hot summer months, and you plan on spending a couple hours per day by the resort pool, with a cold beverage and relaxing. But if you're spending most of your day touring, and already getting beverages with your formal meals, buying a few bottled waters OOP seems to be a better value to me.

 

[TheRatPack]

Right Havoc....it's really an individual math problem for every family LOL We always purchased mugs when we went....so that was a savings for us. Plus as I said we saved all our receipts from other trips and our CS meals ran around 75.00-90.00 each time we purchased an extra one and that was when 2 of ours could share a meal. It really makes sense to upgrade if you're doing a lot of TS though and don't use extra snack credits...etc.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We found it worth it (also a family of 6 thought youngest will still be 2 on our trip). Also consider with the family suite you will have a fridge and can bring or order breakfast and other snacks to keep in your room. You may not need the extra snack credit and if you have plastic cups in the room to split/transfer teh drinks you may not need 6 refillable mugs. I'm only getting 3 or 4.