Is QSDP a good idea for this itinerary?

[mirak]

Family of 2 adults and 3 boys ages 4, 7, and 9 coming to Disney for two days in the park this February.

Staying 3 nights, but we don’t arrive at resort until around 11pm on the first evening (Day 1)! We plan to spend all day of the next two days (Days 2 and 3) at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom (no park hopper). Then check out the morning of Day 4 before heading to the coast.

So basically, we’ll be eating nothing at Disney on Day 1. Days 2 and 3 we’ll be eating three meals plus a snack or two. Day 4 we’ll be eating breakfast at resort (and I suppose we could get lunch to go if we had spare credits).

The standard dining plan definitely won’t save us money - We simply won’t use anywhere close to that many table service meals.

But do you think the QSDP is a good idea? It would give us enough credits to cover all the meals on Days 2 and 3 plus snacks.

We would probably get our money’s worth for the lunches and dinners, but not so sure about the breakfasts, which we’ll be eating early at our resort (the Caribbean Beach Resort) before hitting the parks.

Thoughts?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

If you want 3 square QS meals per day for the 2 park days then yes seems logical.
If you're planning ANY TS meal then to me you might as well just pay out of pocket.
Often times for the QSDP its more about convenience of having already paid.
I feel like there's better saving opportunity with the regular DDP.

 

[Disneylover99]

Just a quick calculation says you’re going to spend just over $500 total to buy the quick service plan. Are you really going to spend that much money over two days for quick service? I don’t think it would be worth it.

 

[mirak]

I took a look at some of the menus and I think you guys are right. The prices are high but not as high as I expected. We would have to do a lot of eating - and all quick service eating - just to break even with the QSDP.

Or I could take that $520 and eat the way we’d probably prefer to, by maybe hitting a nice table service buffet (Tusker or Liberty Tree) one or both nights and then doing a combination of quick service, snacks from the parks, and snacks from home to cover the other meals. Even with that we might spend less than the $520.

The standard dining plan gives us the table service credits but it’s even more expensive so it definitely doesn’t make sense for our itinerary.

Am I wrong?

 

[Disneylover99]

I took a look at some of the menus and I think you guys are right. The prices are high but not as high as I expected. We would have to do a lot of eating - and all quick service eating - just to break even with the QSDP.

Or I could take that $550 and eat the way we’d probably prefer to, by maybe hitting a nice table service buffet (Tusker or Liberty Tree) one or both nights and then doing a combination of quick service, snacks from the parks, and snacks from home to cover the other meals. Even with that we might spend less than the $550.

The standard dining plan gives us the table service credits but it’s even more expensive so it definitely doesn’t make sense for our itinerary.

Am I wrong?

You are not wrong. Pay out of pocket. If you want to do restaurants, consider some cheaper, but fun restaurants like Sci-fi diner or 50’s Prime time where you’re not paying buffet prices. When we order quick service meals we often share adult meals or order kids meals to save money.

 

[sharonabe]

The standard dining plan gives us the table service credits but it’s even more expensive so it definitely doesn’t make sense for our itinerary.

With three kids under ten and wanting to do some character buffets, you may come out ahead with the DDP. You would have 3 TS credits each, so that's just two on the days you're at the park and then a fun, breakfast buffet before you head out on departure day.

Let's say you do Tusker lunch, Liberty Tree Tavern dinner and Chef Mickey for breakfast on departure day. The total for the 5 of you for those 3 meals is right at $500 (using the sticky here which I think does not reflect the recent price increases). The plan costs you $685. With the dining plan, mom and dad will also get an alcoholic drink at all three of these, so if you get those OOP, that's another $60-75 added to the $500. Now you only need to "spend" $100-125 on your QS meals AND snacks to break even. With 5 people, that's pretty easy to do. And if the buffet sticky is out of date, you'll end up saving even more.

 

[mirak]

Character meals aren’t really a thing for us. If I had girls it might be different. I wouldn’t typically pay for three table service meals with only two days in the parks. So like many coupon “deals” it doesn’t really make sense to spend more money just to “save.”

If Disney didn’t make me buy the dining plan for all three nights, it might make more sense. But they don’t offer that flexibility. Most families probably don’t arrive late on the first night.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

OP, I agree with your reassessment. It's difficult to save $$$ on the QSDP even if a person is there the full time - ie. not arriving late the 1st night. Just pay out of pocket, eat where & when your family wants and enjoy!

 

[Nancyg56]

I think OOP is the way to go for you. I Generally use a regular DDP however I would never try to make the plan work for my family, but I do use the one that coincides with our dining plans. In your case, in order to at least break even, well I don't see how you would unless you worked at it, and even then, I am not sure you could.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Now you only need to "spend" $100-125 on your QS meals AND snacks to break even. With 5 people, that's pretty easy to do. And if the buffet sticky is out of date, you'll end up saving even more.

Exactly. That works out to $20-$25 per person. Over the three nights.

 

[Nancyg56]

Exactly. That works out to $20-$25 per person. Over the three nights.

It works if the OP wanted Buffet or character meals, however they are not interested in them.

 

[sharonabe]

It works if the OP wanted Buffet or character meals, however they are not interested in them.

I only suggested it because the OP did say they were thinking of doing two buffets:

Or I could take that $520 and eat the way we’d probably prefer to, by maybe hitting a nice table service buffet (Tusker or Liberty Tree) one or both nights and then doing a combination of quick service, snacks from the parks, and snacks from home to cover the other meals. Even with that we might spend less than the $520.

But I guess they changed their mind somewhere in this thread.

 

[Nancyg56]

I only suggested it because the OP did say they were thinking of doing two buffets:



But I guess they changed their mind somewhere in this thread.

I thought they did but this would not be the first time I was mixed up here! Lol!

 

[sharonabe]

I thought they did but this would not be the first time I was mixed up here! Lol!

Oh no, you're not mixed up. The OP did change their minds about buffets somewhere in the process.

 

[Nancyg56]

Oh no, you're not mixed up. The OP did change their minds about buffets somewhere in the process.

I was afraid I was! I’m at the hairdresser getting ready for our vacation and they gave me wine! 1/2 way through the glass and well, it sure eS possible!