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The Quick Service Dining Plan

Image: DisneyIn recent years, Disney has offered the Quick Service Dining Plan as a clever way to entice budget-conscious vacationers. This deal doesn’t include any Table Service entitlements. Instead, Disney guests receive two Quick Service credits each day. The presumption is that these visitors want to spend as little time and money on food as possible. They’re in a grab-and-go situation where they want to maximize park time. The way to do that is by avoiding sit-down restaurants with servers.

In the same example of a five-day stay at a Disney resort, a person would have 10 Quick Service credits. They also receive the two snacks per day and the refillable mug. In other words, the *ONLY* difference in the two plans is a set of five meals at Table Service restaurants.

Image: DisneyIn exchange for sacrificing these better-quality meals, people save quite a bit of money. The Quick Service Dining Plan costs only $52.50, which is $23 cheaper (well, $22.99) than the original DDP. Over the course of five days, that’s $115…and you save the tip money, too.

As for the time element, getting seated at Table Service restaurant takes a few minutes. Even if you have an Advanced Dining Reservation, you must check in for your meal and then await an open table. That could take 15-20 minutes. Then, your meal will take an hour. That’s 75 minutes of possible park time that you’ve spent on a meal.

Pros and cons

Image: DisneyThe Quick Service Dining Plan clearly has two huge pros. You eat cheaply at Walt Disney World, and you save a lot of time in doing so. Presumably, the latter advantage will grow in future months as Mobile Order is now available at many theme park restaurants. It doesn’t currently accept Dining Plan payment, though. When that changes, you will have the amazing ability to order your Disney meals from your phone and then pick them up without waiting in line.

Let’s look at the cons of the plan, which are admittedly kind of nitpicky. The primary one is that you actually pay $26.25 per meal on this plan. That’s what two Quick Service entitlements cost by Disney’s calculations, although the plan’s included daily snacks are worth about $8-$10, which lowers those meal prices by $4-$5 daily.

Image: DisneyIn practice, you can eat at a Quick Service restaurant for cheaper than that. So, you may save even more money by paying out of pocket. A lot depends on whether you will actually use the refillable mug. It costs $17.99 to buy, but if you won’t use it, you gain nothing by its inclusion in the plan.

Really, that’s an important point about both of these versions of the plan. You can find several online calculators. With these, you can enter your basic information such as number of adults and children in your party plus the type of Disney meals you enjoy or plan to eat. With this information, the calculators will show which plan is right for you.

Image: DisneyThe other negative is that you’ll feel a sense of sameness when you eat nothing but Quick Service meals. While each of the eateries has unique items on the menu, you’re still going to order a burger and fries often. People with demanding palates won’t feel satisfied with their selections unless you do a bit of planning. My suggestion is to familiarize yourself with offbeat eateries at World Showcase and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. These places have more exotic cuisine even though they’re Quick Service establishments.

What I will say in a general sense is that I see no true downside to the current version of the Quick Service Dining Plan. Historically, the worst problems with Quick Service meals were waiting in line to order and finding a place to sit. Once Mobile Order accepts this dining plan, you won’t have to worry about the former issue. As for the latter, well, you’re still at the most trafficked theme park on the planet. Alas, there are some issues you just can’t avoid.

Image: Disney

 
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