What is included with a counter service meal?

[rnorwo1]

Do most counter service meals come with a drink and a side (like french fries with a burger) or is all of that usually separate? We normally get the dining plan but it is just way too much food, and I don't want to have a TS every day. So with the new flexible options, I am going to get the regular dining plan for just part of our stay, and now I'm wondering if the quick service plan would be worth it for the other days. Thanks!

 

[PictureJumpr]

If you are booking seperate reservations, this is possible - to book a different plan for each half of your stay.

However, if you are booking only one reservation, you must choose one plan or the other and cannot change plans mid-week.

Along the same lines, you cannot have a plan for part of your stay but must book the same plan for all nights of your reservation - if you have only one reservation.


As for your other question, counter-service meals include one entree (i.e., a taco salad, or a barbecue plate that comes with with cole slaw and beans) plus dessert and beverage ~or~ one combo meal (i.e., a burger served with fries, or a pizza served with side salad) plus dessert and beverage. Whether you receive a side or not depends entirely on what comes with the item you order - 'extra' sides which must be ordered seperately are not included in the plan.

 

[TDC Nala]

All meals include a non-alcoholic beverage.

Sides are included only if they come with the entree (burger with fries, for example). If the entree isn't accompanied by the fries and you have to buy them separately, they're not included. For example, if you order a chicken meal at Flame Tree I believe it comes with beans and slaw - I may not have that entirely right but it's just an example. If you also want onion rings you have to buy those separately and the dining plan won't cover them.

Unless you have a split reservation you can't get two different dining plans (the answer is different if you are a DVC member booking on points - DVC members can now split their reservation into "segments" and book a different dining plan on each segment if they wish)

 

[rnorwo1]

If you are booking seperate reservations, this is possible - to book a different plan for each half of your stay.

However, if you are booking only one reservation, you must choose one plan or the other and cannot change plans mid-week.

Along the same lines, you cannot have a plan for part of your stay but must book the same plan for all nights of your reservation - if you have only one reservation.


As for your other question, counter-service meals include one entree (i.e., a taco salad, or a barbecue plate that comes with with cole slaw and beans) plus dessert and beverage ~or~ one combo meal (i.e., a burger served with fries, or a pizza served with side salad) plus dessert and beverage. Whether you receive a side or not depends entirely on what comes with the item you order - 'extra' sides which must be ordered seperately are not included in the plan.

Thanks for your quick reply! We will have separate reservations (we have DVC and are doing split stays between AK and BCV) so I was going to do the regular DP for one and was either not going to have one for the other or do the quick service.
But what I was wondering about the sides and drinks was for when you pay out of pocket.... I have looked at menus and estimated how much it'll cost us to pay oop, so that I can compare that with what we'd be paying for the quick service plan. I wanted to make sure that it was an accurate comparison, so that's why I was wondering if drinks and sides were included when you pay out of pocket. In other words, it looks like an average, adult counter service meal would be around $8-10, but does that include drinks and sides? I cannot find a very detailed menu listing all prices, and we've used the regular dining plan the last few years so I can't remember paying oop. We typically do not order desserts and we always have snack credits left over, so I'm trying to estimate what we will realistically spend oop. Hope that makes sense

 

[TDC Nala]

Drinks are always sold separately - they are not included as part of a combo meal. They are included in the dining plan though.

Extra sides (the ones that don't come with the entree) are not included. Sometimes, but not always, a counter meal will be a combo and will include some sort of side - like a burger with fries, a pizza with a salad, etc.

 

[taaren]

Okay, so with the split stay option ... if I get a 5 night package with a regular DDP, then take a 3 night cruise and come back to a different villa for 6 night and get counter service DP, do I have to use the 5 TS credits in the first week or can I spread them out over the two weeks. Were not really scheduling sitdown meals kinda people since we like loose ride schedules (we always end up going to our DLR reservations late bc one more ride beckoned) but we _love_ food and it sounds like we need to hit at least a couple of sit down restaurants ... can I schedule a TS every other day rather than 5 days in a row?

 

[crashbb]

Okay, so with the split stay option ... if I get a 5 night package with a regular DDP, then take a 3 night cruise and come back to a different villa for 6 night and get counter service DP, do I have to use the 5 TS credits in the first week or can I spread them out over the two weeks. Were not really scheduling sitdown meals kinda people since we like loose ride schedules (we always end up going to our DLR reservations late bc one more ride beckoned) but we _love_ food and it sounds like we need to hit at least a couple of sit down restaurants ... can I schedule a TS every other day rather than 5 days in a row?

You'd need to use all your credits during your first stay. Split stays are considered two separate reservations and credits do not carry over. All your credits will expire at 11:59pm the day you check out of your first 5 day stay.

 

[sharonabe]

allearsnet.com gives you a pretty good breakdown of the costs of counter service by items. Some of the menus are out dated, but it should still help you to compare the costs.

I did the same thing for our next trip. We normally do not order desserts and prefer water with our meals (which is free), so when I added up what we "might" spend OOP, our family of four could do two counter service each day and could even do two buffet meals during the week for CHEAPER than we would pay for the Quick Service plan. Of course, this did not include any snacks or a refillable mug, but we found ourselves just using up snack credits to use them in our last trip with the QS Plan.

 

[taaren]

Thanks for letting me know about the expiration. In that case I know the regular dining plan is definitely not for us, still trying to decide if I want QS for half of our trip or just OOP for the whole thing and buy a bunch of gift cards to prepay .. . Decisions decisions. =)

 

[TDC Nala]

if I get a 5 night package with a regular DDP, then take a 3 night cruise and come back to a different villa for 6 night and get counter service DP, do I have to use the 5 TS credits in the first week or can I spread them out over the two weeks.

No. The credits will expire at midnight after you check out. You would have to get a new dining plan withi the second reservation.

 

[rnorwo1]

allearsnet.com gives you a pretty good breakdown of the costs of counter service by items. Some of the menus are out dated, but it should still help you to compare the costs.

I did the same thing for our next trip. We normally do not order desserts and prefer water with our meals (which is free), so when I added up what we "might" spend OOP, our family of four could do two counter service each day and could even do two buffet meals during the week for CHEAPER than we would pay for the Quick Service plan. Of course, this did not include any snacks or a refillable mug, but we found ourselves just using up snack credits to use them in our last trip with the QS Plan.

Thanks for the tip on the website, the menus that I looked at previously were not that detailed. Ok, so after looking at the CS places where we usually eat or would like to go, there is actually a bit of a range of prices, so now it seems like we'd come out closer to the price of the quick service plan if we ate at the more expensive ones only... but then I still can't see us wanting to order that much food. The kids being so cheap on the plan is what makes it kind of close to worthwhile.... next year when our oldest DS will have to get the adult plan, it will definitely not be worth it.

We have always had snack credits left over too, no one wants to snack that much after eating big meals... and that is just with the regular DDP's one snack a day! My DH's thoughts are to go on and get the plan because it stops me from looking at each meal and being so frugal... we don't have to be frugal on vacation, but it's just in my nature and I can't help it! I'm thinking that on this trip that I will get the DDP for the days that we'll go to the more expensive sit downs (Ohana, Boma) and then we'll pay oop for the rest... I'll keep a tally of what we order and compare that to the dining plan, so next year I'll know for sure! Thanks for all the tips!