Never used Quick Dining Option?????Help About This Page:

[NOT A PACKER'S FAN]

Okay so is this a good deal or not? we do one character meal and hoop dee doo but all other meals are counter service I am on a strict college student budget so is it worth it. Also has anyone sent a abox ahead of time with sm cereal boxes granola bars, energy bars for breakfast? I dont like wasting time eating in resteraunts when we could be riding. My plan was to send a box on ahead with snacks cereals etc, and also our first aid kit and things we dont need to carry on with us. How far out do you send that box and do u put special instructions on the top, and just send it to ur resort care of ur name and ur arrival date??????I feel like I am so out of the loop I know yrs ago people were talking about sending stuff ahead wonderingif it works and if its worth it????

[JoanneS]

I've done the QS plan once. It was convenient, but I had credits left over at the end of the trip. More recently, I've gone without a plan and I think it works out better for me. I fly SWA and luggage is free (2 bags) so I just pack snacks with me instead of sending them ahead. I'm not a big eater, and I rarely get dessert with a QS meal, so that part was kind of wasted on me.

If you're on a tight budget, then I think I'd skip the plan and go totally OOP. Bring along or send ahead breakfast stuff and snacks and you'll save money there. Then just be watchful of your spending while you're in WDW.

[Caldercup]

I think the general concensus is that the dining plan is no longer a "savings," but it is convenient if it matches with your family's style of eating.

If your family is likely to eat meals that match the make-up of your chosen dining plan (as in, you always order dessert, you don't get appetizers, you only drink sodas/milk and not alcoholic beverages, you like to eat 2/3 meals a day, etc) then it works.

If you're like my family who doesn't order dessert, will sometimes make a dinner out of appetizers, will often split meals and "fill in" the rest of the day with snack items, then the DDPs do not make financial sense for us and we always save money paying out-of-pocket or, at least, don't end up overeating just because we don't want to waste credits.

What I suggest is that you look at the menus (Allears.net has them for each restaurant) and make a rough guess of what each person of your family is likely to consume when paying OOP. Then you have to compare that to the daily cost of the DDP and determine which is less -- or which enhances/cramps your style.

Good luck making a decision.

[Dave Marx]

It's not a good deal. It's a service that offers break-even value, or worse. The "service" is the feeling of freedom/peace of mind that comes from being pre-paid and unconcerned with cost when making selections. Only those who carefully choose the most expensive items and use all options come out close to ahead. You'll find the analysis in PassPorter's Walt Disney World.

Your best savings is to pay out of pocket, skip desserts from time-to-time, and avoid snacks. If you do desserts and snacks only half as often as is covered by the meal plan, you'll come out way ahead.

As to shipping food ahead... If you'll avoid paying an extra luggage fee on the airline, you can come out ahead, but if you can fit the stuff in your luggage, you'll probably save more (I've often seen folks use carry-on sized items as checked luggage - a bigger bag costs no more until it reaches the airline's size/weight limits). If you do ship, use USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes (they're available in a variety of sizes), packed tightly with relatively heavy items - bulky, light snacks like chips are a waste of postage when using Flat Rate - paying by weight may turn out cheaper. UPS will probably cost more than any savings you'd get from purchasing items at the resort gift shop (they really don't gouge - they just don't discount). Parcel Post rates are very comparable to the Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes (when filled with heavier items).

Plan to have your package arrive a few days before you do. Address it as follows:

Guest (name on reservation) Check-in (check-in date)
Resort Name
Resort Address

[B.M.]

I've only used the DP when it was free.... in which case; it was a great deal

[disneydreamer33]

I have only used it when it was free. It was still too much food for my girls. We realized if we had had to pay for it, it wouldn't have saved us any money. We have decided on our next trip to forgo any dining plan and have the girls split meals. They are both over 9 now and I would have to pay the adult price and they just don't eat that much food.
I agree with Eileen (Caldercup), check Allears menus and make you a list of where you might want to eat and price what you would eat and see if it will save you any money. More than likely it won't. Good luck deciding.

[dolphin041599]

I like the DDP for the convenience of not having to count each penny when I'm on vacation. As a single mom, I budget and count pennies every day. I know everyone says it isn't a savings, but to me its worth paying for it ahead of time and not worrying about it.

[valegirl5292]

Originally Posted by dolphin041599

I like the DDP for the convenience of not having to count each penny when I'm on vacation. As a single mom, I budget and count pennies every day. I know everyone says it isn't a savings, but to me its worth paying for it ahead of time and not worrying about it.

I agree with you not having to worry about paying for it while I am there. Everyone has made some great points about the dining plans and it has got me thinking maybe to weigh it all out for our next trip whether it is a good value or not for our family.

[pinkerbell]

We tried the QS dining plan once and felt that it was still too much food for us. For this past trip we purchased several $25 Disney gift cards during the months leading up to the trip so that we could "prepay" our meals and this worked much better for us.

[valegirl5292]

Originally Posted by pinkerbell

We tried the QS dining plan once and felt that it was still too much food for us. For this past trip we purchased several $25 Disney gift cards during the months leading up to the trip so that we could "prepay" our meals and this worked much better for us.

I like that idea.

[yalibrarian]

We got the "free" QSDP two years ago, and my husband loved it so much that he said let's pay for it next trip. As it happened, we got it free again (staying at a value resort means the free DP is worth more than our average 20% room discount). I liked it because otherwise I have to listen to my husband complain about how much everything costs, so he ends up eating a hamburger twice a day and sharing his unhappiness with us. With the QSDP, he could have a real meal instead. We also used snacks sometimes for meals, like soup, oatmeal, bagel or biscuits with gravy, all one snack credit.

We don't normally do desserts, so we ended up with a stash of giant cookies and little cakes in the room that served as late-night snacks. Our son liked being able to order ice cream for his.

Now that they have dropped one snack, I don't think QSDP has any real value beyond convenience. We do use the refillable mugs, but we can buy those and get our value out of them without the DP. For a young person on a budget, there are other ways to save on meals. As with the snacks noted above, you can make a light meal for under $4.00, especially if you carry a water bottle with you or ask for free ice water at CS places. Bring some of those little flavor packets if you need something in your water. The gift shops sell snacks at normal store prices; we have bought a box of donuts and had them for breakfast with coffee in the refillable mugs. Bring bread and peanut butter and take your own sandwich to the parks (if you drive, the Hess stations are a swell source of reasonably priced items too, like $1 hot dogs). I'm sure others will have more to say on this subject.

[EddieCVS]

We are getting the basic dining plan for our next visit. It is much easier making payments on our trip and not having to worry about money for food. We had deluxe dining last trip and tips alone cost us a majority of our spending money, not to mention how much time sit down meals take. Still we prefer the dining plan because we can pay for it over a period of months.