Quick Service Dining...not worth the money!

A while back I posted about the Dining plan and I think I mentioned that I thought that the Quick Service plan would be about a wash as far as price (you wouldn't save any money), but I thought the convenience made it worth it. I think I even said that if I had to pay for it, I would go ahead and add it just to avoid the stress of having to pull out my wallet at every meal and try to decide the cheapest option for all three of us. Well, my opinion has now changed on that. I am no longer a fan of the Quick Service Dining plan and I will explain why below.

Now, first of all, let me say that we had the plan for free during our 10 day trip in October. Of course that was worth it. Two free counter service meals and two snacks per day per person for free? Of course we enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, we liked it so much that I thought we would pay for it for our upcoming trip in December. So, I called to add it yesterday....and now I am not a fan anymore :(

First of all, the price listed is $30 per day per adult, and $9 per day per child. So, for a family of three you would expect to pay $69 a day. Well, hang on, you have to pay taxes on that. The tax rate is a whopping 13.5%, which brings our total to $78.32 per day in food. For two meals and two snacks per day? Seriously? Who eats that much food? We had a hard time using all of our snacks in October. Most days, we only used one per day unless we wanted a treat (i.e. cotton candy or candy that we didn't need). Also, as a note, the plan is changing in 2012. Soon, you will only get 1 snack per day, and I am sure the price is not going to reflect that change (I can't confirm that though).

So, let's walk through a typical meal for our family. We always go to Pizza Planet. There, each adult gets a pepperoni pizza (8.29 each) and the kids meal is 4.99. My daughter PREFERS water, so that doesn't cost anything as the restaurants give a complimentary cup of ice water. Plus, my husband and I can easily share a large coke (2.49). So, if I use the high tax rate of 13.5% (I don't know what it is in the parks) our total would be about $27.50. That is feeding each of us our own meal. If we spent that at each meal we are spending $55.00 a day in meals. That still leaves us $23 a day for snacks. The highest amount we would spend for snacks a day is $5 per person, so $15 a day. That brings us to $70 a day. We have already saved $8 a day by not getting the dining plan.

Hang on though, there is more. I mentioned what we would get at Pizza Planet on a typical trip. That is with the meal plan (that we always seem to get free in October). When we were there last June (and were not on the meal plan), our family shared two pizzas. Each pizza comes with a salad so my husband and I each had a salad and the three of us shared the two pizzas. That saves $4.99 for the kids meal that we can use later as a snack to get something else if we don't leave "stuffed". Often we can all share a pretzel (with free ice water) in the afternoon, and all be satisfied. There are many counter service meals where we can share meals. I will post on that at a later time. There were many meals where we wasted food because we just couldn't eat it all. Why pay extra to have all that food if you aren't going to eat it all?

Some people may say that you also get a refillable mug with the meal plan. Yes, you do and it really is a nice bonus. However, my family really only needs two of those. My daughter doesn't drink sodas, so all she wants is hot chocolate in the morning. I take some throw away coffee cups and my own hot chocolate packets. Then she gets some free hot water, and has her own hot chocolate. Since we aren't really at the hotel a lot, we only used the mugs in the morning with breakfast, and at night when we returned to the room. My husband is not a huge fan of drinking coke with breakfast, and is not a coffee drinker, so he doesn't use his much either. So, I would rather buy one or two out of pocket with the money I save by not getting the meal plan.

When I was talking to the reservation cast member yesterday, she kept asking me over and over are you sure you want to pay for all of these meals out of pocket? The more she asked me that question, the more determined I came to make the meals work for our family for cheaper than the cost of the meal plan. Now I may even (GASP) leave property for a meal or two. I can go to Giordanno's, McDonald's or even Olive Garden and spend the same amount I would for hamburgers and chicken nuggets at a counter service meal. I will take my coupons and plan ahead and see how much we can actually save. I love a challenge and after spending an hour on my cell phone with Disney to try to figure this out, I am up to the challenge! Bring it on!

Travel Tip Tuesday

If you are in Magic Kingdom and you are tired of the same old hamburgers or pizza, take a monorail ride over to the Contemporary and enjoy a tasty meal at the Contempo Cafe. This is a really fun place to eat and the break from the parks (and bonus monorail ride) can be just what you need to recharge your batteries without getting too far from the parks. This is an especially good choice if you are on the Dining plan. It is a great value for the plan, and the dessert choices are super tasty. They had some really big cupcakes to choose from that I had not seen in any of the other restaurants that week.

What makes this restaurant so fun is the monorail going overhead while you eat (the Cafe is right next to Chef Mickey's), along with the touch screen ordering stations. You get to walk up and custom order your whole meal, from beginning to end. My daughter especially loved that part and I have to admit that I did too! There were many options to choose from and it was definitely a step above the quick service meals offered in the parks. Definitely a tasty and fun break for us!

Quick Service Disney Dining Plan...a new persepective

Well, until a few months ago, I always said I would probably never purchase the quick service dining plan. I could not see the "value" in it. I mean realistically, at every meal we are not going to be able to get our money's worth out of the plan. Our family would not order dessert at every meal, and usually we can get by sharing some meals among the three of us. So, based on this information, when I look at old receipts from past trips, I can't see how we would spend $35 per adult and $12 for my child in food every single day. Seriously, $82 a day for food when I can get a whole weeks worth of groceries for that at home? It can't be worth the value.

Well, after our trip to Disneyland, we discovered a whole new definition and appreciation for the word value when it comes to Disney dining. Our new interpretation for the word is based on convenience and the ability to plan ahead for all dining expenses. The three of us ate several counter service meals at Disneyland. Each meal we usually shared two adult meals between the three of us, and in some cases one adult and one child meal. This also meant a free cup of ice water for my daughter, and a shared large drink (with no ice) between my husband and myself. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't feed three of us for less than $30 a meal. Ouch. It was painful to pull out that wallet every time and spend that much for either two burgers or two slices of pizza. Plus we were having to agree on a common meal for everyone so someone was always compromising something on the meal choice. Plus, a little while later, one of us would be hungry for a snack. Those were all around an extra $3.00 each. So add those to the other two meals and we spent a minimum of $66 a day on food (not counting our breakfast).


After a few meals, I was desperately wishing we were back in Disney World on past trips where I could just simply swipe a card and the food was "magically" mine. At least it felt magical since I had long ago paid for that meal and I didn't have to worry about how much that meal was. I also didn't have to think, ok, if I choose to add an order of french fries, does that mean I can't get that one last souvenir I want?


When we are on the Dining plan, I know exactly how much all of our meals are going to cost ahead of time and that is one less thing I have to worry about on our magical escape from reality. I have already budgeted that fixed amount and paid for it before I even left the house. So, since my room has already been paid for, along with all of my food, all I have to worry about is expenses for my treasures, and gas to get back home. I will take that mentality any day. The truth is, when I go to Disney, I 100% escape from reality. I get away from it all. This is one more reason I choose the Dining plan. I can eat wherever I feel like at that moment, and not have to worry about how much it is going to cost me. I can walk up, order whatever, and maybe even treat myself to a tasty dessert every now and then. Goodness knows I will walk it off before the day is over!

So, in closing, I have already added the quick service plan to our upcoming October trip. Don't get me wrong, I am hoping against hope that Disney will continue their trend of offering free dining in the fall and we will keep our trend alive and get free dining for the sixth year in a row. However, if they don't give it to me free, I will still happily pay for the plan. With two counter service meals a day, two snacks a day, and a free refillable mug for each of us at our hotel, I think we will get our "value" out of it. It may not be monetary value, but we will definitely value the fact that we can pre-budget our trip and enjoy any food we want, whenever we want it, on our trip.