Just back from 7nts/8days: me (mom), adult dd, and 8yo dd ... wanted to give a quick observation on our experience using the Connections meal vouchers.
I purchased four Quick and Casual Lunch/Dinner vouchers @ 10.50 each and four sit-down lunch vouchers @ 29.50. I came home with one leftover $29.50 voucher.
Here's how we used them:
One $29.50 lunch voucher at Chefs de France. We got a 3:30 p.m. PS, so this was planned as an early dinner.
Food quality was very disappointing. (That's another post. Three years ago, my daughters and I had a great lunch here.) We didn't use two vouchers when presented with the bill because even ordering the most expensive items on the menu, we had difficulty making up the full value of the voucher. I think it was valued at $29.10 (plus 15% gratuity, which was essentially my savings).
We each ordered three-course meals (the appetizer and dessert would have been sufficient) and two glasses of wine. My 2.75 espresso coffee was not included as the non-alcoholic beverage because, as the waiter put it, "it is too expensive." Perhaps regular coffee would have been included. I think it was more than $2.
There was nothing on the menu that appealed to my 8yo. We asked for a plain grilled cheese sandwich, but it came with ham and tomato (the regular Croque Monsieur). Needless to say, she refused to eat more than a few bites.
Using just one voucher, the meal ended up costing an additional $71 (4 glasses of wine and the $10 child's meal, plus one lunch) to which I added a 15% tip.
Net result: major tummy aches from ingesting mass quantities on a hot day, not to mention the assault on our food budget.
The next day, we used two $29.50 lunch vouchers at Whispering Canyon Cafe.
My adult dd and I each ordered an appetizer, the $13.99 family style barbecue skillet, chocolate shakes with refills, and cherry cobbler with ice cream for dessert. The food was better IMO than at Chefs de France (and I've lived in France, so I know how good mediocre French restaurants can be). My 8yo did get her plain grilled cheese sandwich, but didn't eat it after sharing her sister's Buffalo Chicken Strips appetizer. The second appetizer went mostly uneaten.
This meal was enjoyable enough, and the additional out-of-pocket expense was only about $10 for the child's meal, smoothie, and tip.
Unfortunately, the tummy aches from overeating were even worse this time. How could we resist the unbidden refills on those chocolate shakes?
We did manage to use all four of the Quick and Casual Lunch and Dinner vouchers:
one at Tusker House, two at the The Land Sunshine Grill food court in Epcot, and the fourth on a Greek salad, dessert, and soft drink at Pizza Planet.
Of course, when I ordered the vouchers, I had studied all the menus I could find online and narrowed down the best places to use them. I kept thinking about our previous wonderful meal at Chefs de France and about the sundaes at Beaches 'n' Cream. This trip did not take us anywhere near the Boardwalk area, and I couldn't see making a special trip just to stuff our faces with ice cream.
There was no problem sharing meals, especially not at the counter service places, but even so, I think we would have done better ordering individual sandwiches and sharing an occasional dessert. If I hadn't invested in the $29.50 lunch vouchers, we would have done the less expensive character buffets.
Overall, we concluded that the vouchers limited our food choices, encouraged overeating, and caused us to spend way too much time calculating whether we were getting our money's worth. I haven't totalled all my receipts yet, but my overall impression is that we spent MORE money on food because we had the vouchers. I probably saved 10% to 15% on the regular prices of the food items purchased with the vouchers, but again, I don't think we would have ordered so much food.
I'll try to post a more positive trip report later. I hope this information helps!
Lanora
Just back from 3 nights at AS Music and 4 nights at WL... and glad we split the trip between two resorts!
but dh is right. 
inkbounc
