Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan Review

When Megan and I were planning our recent trip to Walt Disney World, I mentioned our interest in trying the Quick Service Dining Plan.  With two snack and two counter service meal credits per day, we believed we’d have much more flexibility in our park touring versus our typical vacation habit of booking one or more sit down meals per day.  What we were hoping for:  Delicious food, tasty snacks, and a good value.

Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan Review

What we spent – Regular price for this plan is $48.19 per person per night of stay.  We got a small Disney Vacation Club discount, which brought our price down to $46.34 per person per day for a total of $278.04.Disney Quick Service Dining at Pecos Bill's

Where we ate – First, let me say that we enjoyed the meal choices we made very much!  We arrived on Sunday and had lunch at Pecos Bill’s (Magic Kingdom) then dinner at Wilderness Lodge’s new Geyser Point Bar and Grill. The next day (Monday), we enjoyed lunch at Harambe Market and dinner at Flame Tree Barbecue.  On Tuesday we had lunch in the Mexico Pavilion (Epcot) at La Cantina de San Angel.Tuesday night we didn’t use a credit and enjoyed our one-and-only table service meal at Paddlefish in Disney Springs.  That left one credit for the following day when we had lunch in the Morocco Pavilion at Tangierine Café.  This picture does not do it justice.  Our first time there and boy, was it delish!

What snacks we chose – We had to have Mickey ice cream bars in Magic Kingdom, but after that we got as creative as possible.  Mickey Premium Ice Cream BarWe enjoyed chocolate filled beignets from the Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie in the France Pavilion (oh, wow!).  Stopped in Karamell-Kuche in the Germany Pavilion for a salted caramel cupcake, caramel corn, and a hunk of caramel (my absolute fave).  With one last snack credit, we grabbed some bagged pretzels at Saratoga Springs to eat on the way home.

The verdict –  We did not go hungry, that’s for sure, and were happy we purchased the plan.  Out of pocket, our meals would have cost about $210.68 with tax.  That left about $67.36 of the meal plan price for snacks.  Between us we got 12 snacks and I know most of them were over $5.  So we broke even.  We didn’t try to order the most expensive options on every menu and ate where we wanted to with no consideration for which restaurants would be the best value on the plan.  We also ordered bottled water (relatively cheap compared to soft drinks) with every meal in order to stay hydrated.  The ease of pre-paying for most of our meals was super convenient and budget-friendly.  Using our Magic Bands to access our meal and snack credits was great too.

What we’d recommend:  Don’t skimp on snacks because you think you’ll want to use them for something better later.  Use the two each day as you go or you’ll be like us and have to snack like crazy (or stock up for later) on the last day.

Have you tried the Quick Service Dining Plan?  What did you think about it?

 

Considering Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan

With all the details nailed down for April’s Disney World visit, Megan and I have moved on to planning June’s “Epic Mother / Daughter Disney Summer Road Trip”.  This vacation will be different in a lot of ways…Not the least of which is it’s GIRLS ONLY and we couldn’t be more excited to have some time away together.

We’re planning to thoroughly explore Pandora and take advantage of Animal Kingdom’s nighttime Extra Magic Hours at least once.  We’re also planning an afternoon and evening in Magic Kingdom so we can do all our favorite attractions and see the new Happily Ever After show (replacing Wishes).  For sure we want to grab a few hours in Epcot’s World Showcase and based on all of that, we decided maximum flexibility will be key to our Disney happiness.

Normally we enjoy at least one, if not more, table service meals on every day of a Disney World visit.  We have our favorite places and also a list of to-try restaurants waiting.  When Megan and I talked about where we might like to eat and when we wanted to book ADRs, we realized how much time those meals might cut into the free-style park touring plans we were really looking forward to.  That’s when I remembered the Quick Service Dining Plan.

Considering Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan

With two meals and two snacks per night of stay, we’ll be good to go and our food will be mostly pre-paid.  Since we’re driving, we can bring breakfast foods and use our meal credits for lunch and dinner.  Booked through the Disney Vacation Club site, we’d pay $46.24 per person, per day ($279.04 total).

I must confess…I did book one ADR for the last night of our stay, but this would actually work out perfectly.  We’d have one Quick Service credit left over to use for lunch on the day we leave AND we’ll get to try Paddlefish in Disney Springs for the first time.

No doubt about it, we will certainly miss the guys on this trip, but by making plans that are different from our usual Disney vacation style, we think we’ll have a great time!

Have you tried Disney’s Quick Service Dining Plan?  What restaurants did you choose?