Qs dining plan...how's it worth it?

[ELG13]

We didn't do our normal dining plan this year and the hubs is stressed.....he likes it all to be paid for. Any mo ey we bring should be for fun in his eyes. So I looked at the QS plan. Last year we had the TS/QS one (the name is escaping me right now) and it was just too much food and truthfully all those ADRS to work around got a little old. So I'm crushing numbers for QS and I'm no where close to the cost. We usually hit the same few spots and same snacks everyday...it's just a pattern I've noticed and it works...I'm getting around $600 for 4 people for what we would normally spend. The dining plan is adding almost $900. How do people make this work? Now if we could count alcohol as a snack we would get our money out...it would be awesome to enjoy a beverage as the fireworks go but since that's not part of it....any suggestions? We don't .and mixing it up but I can't seem to see where we would break even on this...

 

[Disneyfreak Jen]

I went once or twice during “free” dining, another couple of times I bought the QS plan. The last handful of times I have not gotten the dining plan and just paid per meal, which is my preferred way to go.
On the meal plan, I feel kind of obligated to eat all the food, including snacks, and it’s SO much it’s ridiculous. I don’t need a dessert after every meal.
In the months prior to my trip I buy Disney gift cards and I use them for all meals and souvenirs. Then I’m not carrying a lot of cash in the parks every day and it helps me budget.

 

[HwdStudio]

We didn't do our normal dining plan this year and the hubs is stressed.....he likes it all to be paid for. Any mo ey we bring should be for fun in his eyes. So I looked at the QS plan. Last year we had the TS/QS one (the name is escaping me right now) and it was just too much food and truthfully all those ADRS to work around got a little old. So I'm crushing numbers for QS and I'm no where close to the cost. We usually hit the same few spots and same snacks everyday...it's just a pattern I've noticed and it works...I'm getting around $600 for 4 people for what we would normally spend. The dining plan is adding almost $900. How do people make this work? Now if we could count alcohol as a snack we would get our money out...it would be awesome to enjoy a beverage as the fireworks go but since that's not part of it....any suggestions? We don't .and mixing it up but I can't seem to see where we would break even on this...

Sometimes it’s just cheaper to pay out of pocket. You did the right thing by running the numbers. I’ve always found paying out of pocket more economical than the qs plan

 

[KRW101]

We have gotten free dining a few times and paid for the plan once. You will most likely not save any money by purchasing, however it is a convience to have it if it fits in your budget. I myself will never purchase it again, but it does work for us when we get in on the free dining. Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[slappy magoo]

Basically 10+-ers gotta "spend" $20 on each meal and $5 on each snack, plus tax, to break even. If you only use the meal credits for lunch and dinner (and Be Our Guest breakfasts, otherwise never on breakfast), if you get pricey entrees, pricey snacks and an alcoholic beverage on each meal credit, you'll save.
Question is whether or not that's how you want to eat while at WDW.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

One reason I don’t pay for a dining plan is I don’t want to feel like I need to order certain foods to get my money worth. We do a little research with menus and get a ballpark amount of what we think we’ll spend. Since we use the Disney Visa we start with Disney dollars, next I’ll purchase gift cards before our trip to make up the difference. Sometimes you can find deals on them at Target, Walmart or BJs. Use my Disney Visa to pay for them and get a few more Disney dollars. Plus the gift card can buy anything on property and you don’t need to keep track of how many credits used.

 

[ELG13]

I went once or twice during “free” dining, another couple of times I bought the QS plan. The last handful of times I have not gotten the dining plan and just paid per meal, which is my preferred way to go.
On the meal plan, I feel kind of obligated to eat all the food, including snacks, and it’s SO much it’s ridiculous. I don’t need a dessert after every meal.
In the months prior to my trip I buy Disney gift cards and I use them for all meals and souvenirs. Then I’m not carrying a lot of cash in the parks every day and it helps me budget.

See back when they first did fdd it was great. It's changed so much now I feel like it's not really a deal unless you were planning on having all the requirements.
I'm glad I crunched the numbers because we wouldn't come close to getting the value of it. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's seen that...I thought I must have been doing the math wrong!

 

[Disneyfreak Jen]

See back when they first did fdd it was great. It's changed so much now I feel like it's not really a deal unless you were planning on having all the requirements.
I'm glad I crunched the numbers because we wouldn't come close to getting the value of it. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's seen that...I thought I must have been doing the math wrong!

You are correct in that is has changed over the years. I always check me out a little ahead by paying out of pocket. And my clothes still fit at the end of the week because I’m not eating all those desserts out and f obligation!

 

[ELG13]

You are correct in that is has changed over the years. I always check me out a little ahead by paying out of pocket. And my clothes still fit at the end of the week because I’m not eating all those desserts out and f obligation!

OMG so true!!!!!! Not gonna lie, last time we did the dining plan we were tired of eating by the 3rd day BUT....it was all sooooooooo good!!!

 

[erasure fan1]

any suggestions? We don't .and mixing it up but I can't seem to see where we would break even on this...

For us, there is really no break even point for the quick service plan. It's so far above what we normally spend on food it's not even funny. $210 a day for my family for quick service and snacks? Thats crazy. For me it would have to be a moneys no object scenario for me to get it. Even then, if money was no object for me, I wouldn't care and I would just eat wherever and whatever I wanted.

 

[jaklgreen]

Just keep the money that you would have spent on the dining plan in your bank account. Charge all of your meals to 1 card and then pay that off at the end of the month. You will more then likely have money left over and charging it back to your room is more convenient then trying to keep track of your meal credits.

 

[DarthVader]

With my kids being > 10 years and are now considered "adults". any dining plan just doesn't make fiscal sense. Its cheaper for me to pay out of pocket then to buy a meal plan.

 

[Minthorne]

The dining plans work perfectly for Disney. They get you to spend more.

 

[Jon81uk]

One option if your husband likes it to be pre-paid is to put the $600 onto Disney gift cards upfront, that way you have budgeted the money, but have flexibility of what to spend it on.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We didn't do our normal dining plan this year and the hubs is stressed.....he likes it all to be paid for.

Get a gift card and load it up with whatever you otherwise would have spent on food. Or bring cash and leave the credit cards at home. Boom, paid for.

 

[JIMINYCR]

We always look at the menus and snacks well in advance of our trips and by adding up the totals can come up with an idea wether the dining plans work for us. At times it has and at times it hasnt. The times when it has saved us money it was never an exhorbitant amount, but at least was something. The variables making the dining plan work for you all is depending on the items you choose and if its completely used. Overall I'd much rather be paying out of pocket because it makes me more aware of my budget and ensuring I'm getting the best value for what I get. Most of the times I dont want to eat the desserts with meals and havent used all the snack credits. So I do take home a lot of snacks items at the end of the trip.

 

[donaldtoo]

I've posted this around here before...
The only 2 times we ever got the dining plan was when I was a CM at our local Disney Store and got it for a 50% discount, on our family trips back in the summer of '12 and '13. It was, essentially, $60 per adult (all 3 of our kiddos were well over 9 yrs. old), per day, at the time and we got it for $30. It was the plan where you got 2 snacks, a QS, and a TS for each day.
It was worth it to us at that price, but, never at full price, and we, generally, can't swing a trip during "free" dining times.
We have never eaten so much food at Disney before, and probably never will again...It was just waaayyyyy too much...!!!
Before that we had always just paid OOP, and spent even less than the discounted price. We shared snacks and dishes and did only 2 ADRs on a week-long trip, and we never went even close to hungry.
And, as others have mentioned, having to schedule around those ADRs can sometimes be a pain, instead of just winging it...although, admittedly, winging it is not as easy as it used to be...!

 

[righttrack]

Having the plan brings a sort of pace to the trip that I like. In the end, paying out of pocket always saves money. We always like to eat at the same places, with only a few changes each trip, because each person in our family has a favorite meal or two that the must have. Each time I run the numbers, it always comes out the same, a few hundred cheaper to pay out of pocket. When I compare that to what people actually order, the result can come out differently. The key question is, yes, if you compare QS=Drink/Entree/Dessert and TS=Drink/Entree/Dessert plus the snack vs ordering just that, you always come out behind if you take the dining plan. You have to ask yourself what would your crew order if there were no set plan? Two appetizers and no entree? No dessert mostly? More snacks? I would say model that after your average restaurant setting with the family. Add in some extra food for those "hangry" times. See where you end up. We have often said that the dining plan has a lot of food but not always the kind of food we want. There are a lot of times we would want to skip dessert in lieu of getting an ice cream somewhere along the way back. There are a lot of time the appetizers and drinks look great and would add up quite a bit to the bill (plus we definitely would pass on dessert after eating/drinking all of that!).

 

[Nottamus]

Dining Plan is fun - almost like a ride. ooooooh...how many credits left??

We got 'free' dining a few times, and it seemed we planned our week around dinner. We HAD to be somewhere at a certain time, took the spontaneity out of the day (minus fastpasses, that is)

AND it was just too much. Always had to eat a lot, finish it all...can't waste anything. By the end of the week, we were food burnt.

So, we just pay as we go. We have a expected budget, and always end up right around it. I try not to even look at room charges as I'm there, kinda takes the fun out of it.

So, to end my rant, its easier to 'wing' it. Pay as you go. ( for us)

 

[ppet]

You are correct in that is has changed over the years. I always check me out a little ahead by paying out of pocket. And my clothes still fit at the end of the week because I’m not eating all those desserts out and f obligation!

I like the dining plan, and I eat all the deserts. But I always end up loosing weight at WDW no matter how much I eat. If I could just learn to walk miles and miles every day at home and not stop til late at night, I would never need to diet again.