Counter Service only DDP?

[forever a child]

Undecided if I want to add the Counter Service only DDP. I was hoping for suggestions.

How do you and your family get the most bang for your buck? :thumbsup: What are some good places/meals to get? Or snack suggestions?

I am thinking of getting the DDP and the $500 card to help pay for the 2-3 sit downs that we will do. But maybe I dont need the DDP at all. I have used the Intercot Estimator but It is really hard to say because normally we would never do that many purchased snacks and it has been 5 years since we have been to WDW so I dont really recall which quick service places I would choose.

Thanks for any suggestions!:mickey:

[PetefromRI]

We love the QSDP.It's just my wife and I and we've found many really good places to eat.Wolfgang Puck's Express at the Marketplace is our favorite and we get the best bang for our buck there.Flametree Barbecue is good.Cosmic Rays has an awesome rib/chicken combo that's also good.The fish house in England is good and so is the sushi at the Yakotori House in Japan.We love to have breakfast at Captain Cooks at the Poly.They have aTonga Toast meal that's identical to what you'll get at Kona Cafe.Plus you get two snacks per person per day and the refillable mug.We thinks it's a good deal,not great,but we don't ever lose.We could eat cheaper but we really enjoy this plan,in fact,we'll be on it in May when we stay at the POFQ for 5 nights and then we'll use our 500.00 gift card when we stay at the Poly for the last 3 nights for dinners.

[luvdiznee]

Flame Tree & Sunshine Seasons come to mind.:mickey:

[forever a child]

Thanks Pete for all of the names. I'll have to check them out!. I love Sushi! I am only familiar with the Flametree BBQ which we love.

Still just wondering if anyone else has suggestions of snacks and total savings vs. value of counter service meals....

Thanks.

[HoosierDisneyFan]

Wolfgang Puck's Express (DTD)
Earl of Sandwich (DTD)
Flametree BBQ (AK)
Columbia Harbour House (MK)
Pecos Bill Cafe (MK)
Yorkshire County Fish & Chips (EPCOT)

[disneyfan328]

we did the QSP last May and loved it. We loved the smoothies for snacks at Auntie Gravities in Tomorrowland at MK and also the BIG pretzels in Germany. Also the big cinnamon rolls at the bakery!

as far as meals go, we loved Cosmic rays and also Pecos Bills. We actually used a few credits on Pizza in the room - not sure if we would do that again or not, but it wasn't bad.

snack credits are mostly anything 4.00 or less on the menus and we LOVED using ours at Goofy's Candy Company to buy some of the hand dipped pretzels and oreos to take home with us as reminders of our trip! I think that the QSP definetly saved us money and I would do it again ( hopefully soon!)


p.s. I almost forgot about using them at Earl of Sandwhich. That was really good too!

[Iteachpc]

We were at WDW in July and did the QSDP for the first time. I was on the fence about it before I went since I was traveling with 3 teens who count as adults. It turned out to be a great decision. I will most likely do the QSDP from now on. My teens weren't interested in sit-down meals or character dinners so it was perfect for us. We had plenty of food all the time. Lots of mornings we ate a dessert from the night before as a breakfast snack or used a snack credit to grab something quick. Even with eating as much as we wanted we still ended up with about 13 snacks credits on the day we left (which we used before we left on goodies for the car ride home).

Snacks that we enjoyed:
Dole Whip Float @ MK
Churros in Mexico @ EPCOT (comes with a drink!)
Ice cream Sundaes @ POP food court
Fruit cups for breakfast @ Pop food court
Strawberry Shortcake @ MK
Fruit Slushie @ DHS
Mickey Bars & other Ice Cream treats
Egg Rolls & Fried Rice @ AK

We ate a good variety of meals and didn't eat the same thing unless we chose to. Cosmic Rays gave us one of the biggest meals I'd say: ribs and chicken - a $14 meal that more than paid for the dining plan that day!

We also ate at Pizza Planet in DHS
Sunshine Seasons in EPCOT
Pecos Bills in MK
Flametree BBQ in AK
Casey's Corner @ MK

The food court at POP was also terrific. We ate there a few times and enjoyed the food and the variety of choices.

Another tip we took advantage of was upsizing our drinks whenever we could. They automatically give you a medium, but most places will give you a large if you ask for it.

The cost when we went was $30/day for adults and $10/day for children under 10. We might have been able to eat a little cheaper if we had paid out of pocket but we wouldn't have eaten nearly as much (is that a good thing?) :) and I loved the convenience of having the food already paid for. If you are traveling with children who will be eating off the kid menu it is an especially good value. $30 a day for 2 complete meals and 2 $4 snacks seems like a good deal to me. I enjoyed letting everyone get what they wanted without worrying about the price, too.

[Rekenna]

We had the QSDP on our last trip for the first time after having used the regular DDP and we loved it! It was perfect for us-no ADR's-I can do without that stress. From now on when DH and I go by ourselves we will plan out sit down meals, but as a family the QSDP worked really well. I don't know how much we saved, but we saved enough to make it worthwhile, and my planning vacation spirit loves having everything paid for ahead of time. We had more than enough to eat-a great variety of items.

Our family votes Cosmic Ray's as the best deal-you get a nice meal w/vegetables-I get tired of french fries after a couple of days. It is a tough decision to make when you have that gift card in your hand. Do you have to use the gift card on this trip? I'm not sure. If not, you could get the dining plan QSDP and use the gift card for extras on this trip and any upcoming trips. Just a thought.

MK - Cosmic Ray's, Columbia Harbor House
DHS - Pizza Planet (this was also a pricey meal if I recall and my DS's loved it, so the QSDP was a good deal here)
EP-Yakatori House
Resort - we were at ASMo and got a couple of good deals on meals at the food court

Snacks
MK - Aloha Island (favorite)
Resort - Ice Cream, Candy

As another poster said the kids rates for the QSDP are phenomenal. Last trip we had DS3 and DS2 (DS2 didn't have a ticket or dining plan b/c of his age) DS2 and DS3 shared meals which is a 2 for 1 deal.

I think the QSDP is a good deal, at least for our family. It is a tough decision-they don't make it easy by giving us so many options!

Have fun!:mickey:

[forever a child]

Thanks iteachpc & renekka! This was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

My DD and I like the flexibility that the CS provides but my DD eats a LOT and I wanted to make sure the portions were worth it cause who wants to save $ but still be hungry! Or just eat junk all of the time. We like our veggies and salads!
Thanks again!!!:mickey:

[forever a child]

Thanks iteachpc & renekka! This was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

My DD and I like the flexibility that the CS provides but my DD eats a LOT and I wanted to make sure the portions were worth it cause who wants to save $ but still be hungry! Or just eat junk all of the time. We like our veggies and salads!
Thanks again!!!:mickey:

Opps, I mean Rekenna! :D

[Rekenna]

Great minds think alike-Forever a Child. We both love Disney, love to eat, have the same avatar and we both live in the awesome state of Kentucky-we are only about 1 hour apart!

Have fun on your trip!:mickey:

[forever a child]

Great minds think alike-Forever a Child. We both love Disney, love to eat, have the same avatar and we both live in the awesome state of Kentucky-we are only about 1 hour apart!

Have fun on your trip!:mickey:
:high5:

[Gator]

The CS DDP never made sense to me. Why pre-pay to eat burgers and chicken nuggets everyday, all week? You might as well not have it - that way during the week, you can upgrade to a TS and not lose a CS credit.

[forever a child]

The CS DDP never made sense to me. Why pre-pay to eat burgers and chicken nuggets everyday, all week? You might as well not have it - that way during the week, you can upgrade to a TS and not lose a CS credit.

My thought is IF I can same $ then do the CS and we normally do 2-3 TS during our visit. So I would just pay out of pocket for those and use the CS DP credits for all of our other meals...
We never do just burgers..which is why all of the other posters suggestions are helpful...
chinese, salads, BBQ's and snack options!:thanks:

What I DONT like about the DDP with TS is the ADR's. I dont like having my whole time planned around ressies and I dont know when I might be hungry...since we often dont eat at a set mealtime anyways! So CSDP makes more sense for at least our preferences...obviously not for everyones at least.:mickey:

[kakn7294]

I figured out the math for my trip last March and it was not a good deal for my family. We never buy the mugs and while we would have used them that trip, we don't carry them at the parks so that means we would have had to go get coffee at the food court in the morning then take the mugs back to the rooms before getting on the bus. Reverse the process for the evenings just to get a drink. No thanks! We also don't like getting a dessert with every QS meal so if we eliminated that, we actually pay less OOP than we would for the QSDP.

[forever a child]

The CS DDP never made sense to me. Why pre-pay to eat burgers and chicken nuggets everyday, all week? You might as well not have it - that way during the week, you can upgrade to a TS and not lose a CS credit.


I figured out the math for my trip last March and it was not a good deal for my family. We never buy the mugs and while we would have used them that trip, we don't carry them at the parks so that means we would have had to go get coffee at the food court in the morning then take the mugs back to the rooms before getting on the bus. Reverse the process for the evenings just to get a drink. No thanks! We also don't like getting a dessert with every QS meal so if we eliminated that, we actually pay less OOP than we would for the QSDP.

I think you bring up a good point in regard to factoring in cost of mugs and desserts. Since we have not been to WDW in 5 years...the mugs wont really be our issue. I wouldnt mind a new one for a souvenir, but for someone who regularly goes...this may be a wasted cost factor.

As far as the desserts go, my DD and I have sweet tooths...so taking home a chocolate cake for breakfast or latenight snack is welcomed...but honestly I would not pay for them at every meal either if I were paying out of pocket.

[kakn7294]

I think you bring up a good point in regard to factoring in cost of mugs and desserts. Since we have not been to WDW in 5 years...the mugs wont really be our issue. I wouldnt mind a new one for a souvenir, but for someone who regularly goes...this may be a wasted cost factor.

As far as the desserts go, my DD and I have sweet tooths...so taking home a chocolate cake for breakfast or latenight snack is welcomed...but honestly I would not pay for them at every meal either if I were paying out of pocket.If you are going to eat the desserts and use the mugs, then the QSDP can be a decent deal. It probably saves anywhere from 10 - 30% over OOP depending on how and where you use it.

[Ksmith75]

We are doing the QSDP for the first time this year. The last 3 years we did the regular dining plan. We want the flexibility of not having a dining res most nights....we are paying out of pocket for 2dinners and I breakfast..and that willl leave some credits for a few breakfasts....we are paying for ohana and chef mickeys breakfast and t-rex (not on dining anyway)..so those 3 are not expensive at all....looking forward to doing this plan...there were definately a few times last year when i wasnt too hungry for a big dinner...so didnt want to leave where we were to get to dinner....