quick service meals

[motherof4]

I booked my disney trip in sept so i got the free meal plan i had to do an upgrade to the basic dining plan this was an extra 900 dollars, it is not exactly free. i can get the quick service for free but i don't know if it is going to be as good as the sit down restaurants does anyone have an opion on this

[Jillirose]

I'd take the free dining and just pay out of pocket for TS if you only plan on a few sit down dinners. If you are planning on some TS meals, you will need to make reservations in advance and can do it online.

We prefer to eat at TS every night. I think we look forward to dining as much as anything! I think a lot will depend on your families eating habits. TS is definitely not worth it for young children IMO.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

For $900 I would either do the quick service plan, and pay for a few TS meals OR upgrade a moderate resort, and get the basic plan for "free".

For my family, we like having a TS meal each day, to take a break, but quick service (especially at the resorts) is quite good!

[HoosierDisneyFan]

Not sure how long your staying but $900 to upgrade does not sounds right. Have you talked to MJ?

[Kairi_7378]

I think it depends on your vacation style. Do you like eating at a table service restaurant every day? Would carrying each meal on a tray bug you after a while (especially if you have a lot of people in your party?) If so I would consider staying at a moderate resort. I can't imagine that it would cost $900 to upgrade between a value and a moderate resort.

I do think that you can have some great dining experiences by solely using CS credits. Remember that some of the resorts serve CS meals. Also, there are several CS restaurants where you can eat inside (Cosmic Ray's, Columbia Harbor House, Sunshine Seasons, ABC Commissary all come to mind) so you can get a break from the heat. Finally, there is a lot of variety to the CS restaurants. If you really WANT to eat burgers all week you can but there are so many other places to eat as well. Some places have such large portions that DH and I plan to share credits at them. Personally I wouldn't pay another $900 to get the TS meals. But that's just my style. (I just booked my Sept. trip today and am just starting to think about meals.)

I agree with the previous posters that you might want to talk to someone at Magical Journeys to run the packages for you.

[KatrinaJ91]

We have done the QS plan several times and LOVE it! It depends on how often you want to eat TS though. There are plenty of wonderful restaurants on the QS. We never had a problem finding something delicious!! I also believe you can use 2 QS credits to do a TS as well. For us, it would not be a question...go for the free dining!

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Based on your moniker "motherof4" my first question would be to ask the ages of your children. Having done the DDP with just my DW and myself and then doing it again last December with my 3 DD (oldest being 8, youngest 4) I would have done the QS plan instead.

DDP and TS are great. We had some great meals including some character ones that we probably wouldn't have paid oop for. That said, TS requires more time, getting there (many times our TS was in a different park) and the actual dining time and then a return to the park/resort. In hindsight I found that we probably spent more time than I would have liked getting to and using our TS. The food and experience was great, but with 3 kids ages 4-8, the time could have been better spent. And, as much as I enjoyed the TS, we actually found several CS locations that served up very good food.

So if I were given the same options (free DDP at a moderate vs room discount) I would take the room discount and then pay out of pocket for the CS plan.

[BrerGnat]

How long is your trip? $900 seems like a lot of money for TS dining.

I'd take the QS plan and add on a few TS meals that you pay out of pocket. Stay away from the buffets, as those are $$$$ and just book a few choice TS spots for a nice lunch or dinner. Lunch is cheaper than dinner, often, so I'd do that. We find that we enjoy the evenings in the parks, so we prefer to do our TS meals at lunch time anyway, and do CS for breakfast and dinner.

[garymacd]

I'd take the free dining and just pay out of pocket for TS if you only plan on a few sit down dinners.

My thoughts exactly. It's going to be a lot cheaper than $900!

[Tink#64]

Well it appears as though you are well seasoned traveller with WDW! Do you plan on any TS dining? Is this important to you & even if it is, a few TS meals won't cost you $900.00! If it was me, I'd go with what you have in the free dining & pay out of pocket for any TS as long as it doesn't run you more than $900.00 in total. You can do a quick check on the restaruants & menu's to do the math.

I have to say, we didn't make adr's for any TS for our trip next week! :eek: I know right? But we all agree, we have done many TS, character meals,we aren't at WDW for the food! TS can eat up a huge chunk of time, and so this year we're winging it! We're doing all CS and don't feel like we have to be anywhere at anytime besides park openings! It's very liberating! On a side note, we're only doing MMY, Wishes & RoE! I think we're going to love feeling so free this trip! We've always been satified with the food at WDW from all dining venues, so this is going to be great! :thumbsup:

[BigThunderFan]

$900 can NOT be right! I upgraded from the QS in January and we stayed for 10 days and it only cost us a couple hundred (if that). I would seriously check with them again, and then do the upgrade! :thumbsup:

[flipadeeflop]

Every Disney trip I've done we've only gone to one sit down restaurant each time. It seemed to save money and allow more time for rides!!

THIS trip we plan on going to 1 table service restaurant each day because we want this "grown-up" trip to be a bit more about trying new foods! Otherwise we would do all CS again no problem!!

We never felt like we missed out on anything going to all CS!!!

[Jared]

Yeah, I have to agree with the pack here. Something doesn't seem right. It doesn't make sense that upgrading to a different dining plan would cost an extra $900. Can you give us a little more information about the situation? It would definitely help everyone give better and more informed advice.

But if somehow a few table-service meals really does cost $900, you're definitely better off paying out of pocket.

[lighteningqueen]

It has to be wrong He must think you have to pay for the total amount on DDP. It is only a 11-12 difference per day to upgrade. I just talked to them 2 days ago. The last time we did it we paid 180.00 for my hubby and I for 9 days to upgrade from QS to TS. So there is no way unless you are stayng for months ha ha I asked again this time and she said IF the dining comes free for Dec the upgrade will be about 11.00 per day x 7 days so 77.00 each for 7 nights total 144.00.. Check that again??

[Snow's Mom]

Numbers aside, we've done both TS and QS and they were both great. It depends on how you plan to tour.

If you want to plan it all in advance and make ADR's and probably buy Hopper tickets...and if your kids are old enough to enjoy a long meal...TS is a super choice.

If you want to have more options/spontaneity or your kids are young enough that they don't really eat much and aren't interested in sitting for long, go QS.

Don't worry that QS doesn't offer a lot of variety, because it does. We enjoyed our meals in the parks and the ones at our hotel as well. Only had a burger once.

Each TS meal was an experience in itself, but it added up to a LOT of food. If you're not big eaters, maybe not the way to go. Truthfully, the QS was a lot of food, too.

And don't forget you have to tip with the TS meals. An extra cost you don't have to worry about with QS.

[DisneyMom12]

Not sure how long your staying but $900 to upgrade does not sounds right.

I agree. I did not pay that much to upgrade to the deluxe plan.

[spoiledraf]

IfAnd don't forget you have to tip with the TS meals. An extra cost you don't have to worry about with QS.

EXCELLENT POINT!!! And one I'd like to get my wife to understand. :D But shes not a big fan of all the rides and she enjoys the variety of restaurants and we've done a lot of signature dining. However we now take grandkids who don't want to sit quietly around wine sipping adults. And not adding another 20% to a $200 meal is a world of savings. Add that to the meal at QS only being about $10/$12 dollars apiece. Plus I don't have to waste valuable time going back to the room to shower and change. This trip will be the most economic one we have ever taken. But still in a Deluxe at the BC. 41 days!