QSDP vs. gift cards

[minerva78]

Sorry I meant to post this on the DDP board but I can't figure out how to delete it.

I may have finally convinced my husband to do a Disney trip! But he is insistent on having a dining plan when we go. We have always taken cruises and I think he is used to not paying OOP for food, most of the food onboard is included in your cruise fare. But he doesn't GET it than we will have 9 and 11 year old girls at the time, and unless something has changed since I last researched Disney, the QSDP is not the best value. I don't want to do the DDP because I don't want to eat a TS meal for 7 days, only about 2 or 3 TS meals. Has anyone ever taken gift cards and loaded them onto your spending account at the resort so you could use your magic bands to pay for food? I realized if I bought discount gift cards AND had them added to our account we might be able to just pay with magic bands instead of taking out cards all the time. It would be just as convenient as a dining plan. Will this work?

 

[sharonabe]

Sorry I meant to post this on the DDP board but I can't figure out how to delete it.

I may have finally convinced my husband to do a Disney trip! But he is insistent on having a dining plan when we go. We have always taken cruises and I think he is used to not paying OOP for food, most of the food onboard is included in your cruise fare. But he doesn't GET it than we will have 9 and 11 year old girls at the time, and unless something has changed since I last researched Disney, the QSDP is not the best value. I don't want to do the DDP because I don't want to eat a TS meal for 7 days, only about 2 or 3 TS meals. Has anyone ever taken gift cards and loaded them onto your spending account at the resort so you could use your magic bands to pay for food? I realized if I bought discount gift cards AND had them added to our account we might be able to just pay with magic bands instead of taking out cards all the time. It would be just as convenient as a dining plan. Will this work?

Unless something has changed, you can't preload your account at the resort with gift cards. You have to have a credit card on the account.

You CAN go to the front desk every couple of days and pay off your current bill with GCs, so you can still use your MB to charge to your room and use the GCs without having to carry them with you.

As to the value of the QSDP, if you and DH enjoy an alcoholic beverage with your meals, then it could still be a good value for you. You also still have one Disney child in the mix. You pay for the kid's plan for her, but she can order adult meals at the QS locations.

 

[minerva78]

Unless something has changed, you can't preload your account at the resort with gift cards. You have to have a credit card on the account.

You CAN go to the front desk every couple of days and pay off your current bill with GCs, so you can still use your MB to charge to your room and use the GCs without having to carry them with you.

As to the value of the QSDP, if you and DH enjoy an alcoholic beverage with your meals, then it could still be a good value for you. You also still have one Disney child in the mix. You pay for the kid's plan for her, but she can order adult meals at the QS locations.

Great, thanks for the info. I just searched over on the resort threads and found out I can't preload gift cards onto my account. I should have looked there first, lol.

I think I calculated it was going to be about $181 a day for the QSDP for all of us, and that seemed like a lot for 2 QS meals and 2 snacks, although we would use the refillable mugs too. I haven't researched this in a while, but are alcoholic beverages available at most QS locations? We don't drink beer, mainly wine, and I just assumed we wouldn't get that st QS locations. I'll go check out some menus and start pricing it out. If prices are out of control maybe the QSDP is worth it, maybe just the convenience is worth it. Thanks!

 

[sponica]

Great, thanks for the info. I just searched over on the resort threads and found out I can't preload gift cards onto my account. I should have looked there first, lol.

I think I calculated it was going to be about $181 a day for the QSDP for all of us, and that seemed like a lot for 2 QS meals and 2 snacks, although we would use the refillable mugs too. I haven't researched this in a while, but are alcoholic beverages available at most QS locations? We don't drink beer, mainly wine, and I just assumed we wouldn't get that st QS locations. I'll go check out some menus and start pricing it out. If prices are out of control maybe the QSDP is worth it, maybe just the convenience is worth it. Thanks!

It depends on how much time you spend in MK as I believe alcohol is only available at table service locations there.

 

[Lisa Skier]

I just take a gift card, load it for what I need, and then use it for spending. Seems easier then running down to the front desk all the time.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

You can't do that.
If you want to pay with your magic band but also use gift cards you'd have to go to the front desk after the fact to pay down your balance.
Plus if you will be eating at mainly QS locations then you wouldn't be able to mobile ordr if using gift cards.
Mobile ordering is the way to go in my experience.
You could just take the gift cards to the couple TS meals you plan and pay with them.
The QSDP does have much less value than it used to in my opinin but if DH prefers to pay ahead of time then feel free to get it for his happiness lol.

 

[sharonabe]

I think I calculated it was going to be about $181 a day for the QSDP for all of us, and that seemed like a lot for 2 QS meals and 2 snacks, although we would use the refillable mugs too.

I hope you are surprised at the number of QS places that do have wine, but it does seem like there are fewer of those than ones with beer or a cocktail.

Let's break down the numbers. If you spend at least $4 per snack (and I'm pretty sure you'll spend much more than that), then your per night total comes to $149. Divide that by 8, and you need to "spend" about $18.50 per person per meal. If we assign $5 to the snacks, then your down to $17.60. Neither of these gives any value to the mugs, which you will use and should then have some value.

So as you peruse the menus, keep those numbers in mind to see if it will be worth it. Make sure you add the 6.5% tax to your OOP costs.

 

[Micharlotte]

We use the regular DDP, but sometimes my daughter will want a kids QS meal and I will just pay out of pocket for that one as it’s a poor use of a meal credit. If we end up with extra credits we use those at the resor and the caramel shop in Germany to bring snacks home. There are so many great quick serve places now that it’s easy to spend almost $20 per meal. If you get alcohol almost every time it can pay off. Do some math and if it doesn’t work then grab some discounted gift cards and pay off your bill every couple of days.

 

[kniquy]

Has anyone ever taken gift cards and loaded them onto your spending account at the resort so you could use your magic bands to pay for food? I realized if I bought discount gift cards AND had them added to our account we might be able to just pay with magic bands instead of taking out cards all the time. It would be just as convenient as a dining plan. Will this work?

Just take the gift cards with you and pay with them. I feel that is easier than charging to your room and then having to go an pay your balance with your gift cards -- you can't load them on your MB. Do go ahead and plot out a budget for your daily food needs, buy the discount gift cards and if you have money left over it can be a little shopping spree before you leave.

We just went a couple weeks ago, figured we would need $1200-1300 to cover food for our time and some how we came home with $300. Not complaining but somehow we spent less on food than we plotted out to do.

Maybe mention to your husband that the dining plan is not really set out to save you money. It is a convenience aspect especially seeing that you will have 3 Disney adults when in fact your 11 year old might still prefer kids meals.

 

[sponica]

Maybe mention to your husband that the dining plan is not really set out to save you money. It is a convenience aspect especially seeing that you will have 3 Disney adults when in fact your 11 year old might still prefer kids meals.

To add on here, with an 11 year old, you'll be "paying" for alcohol that you can't drink...personally I'd just bring the gift cards. I don't have an issue charging to the room and stopping by the front desk every night though.

 

[minerva78]

I hope you are surprised at the number of QS places that do have wine, but it does seem like there are fewer of those than ones with beer or a cocktail.

Let's break down the numbers. If you spend at least $4 per snack (and I'm pretty sure you'll spend much more than that), then your per night total comes to $149. Divide that by 8, and you need to "spend" about $18.50 per person per meal. If we assign $5 to the snacks, then your down to $17.60. Neither of these gives any value to the mugs, which you will use and should then have some value.

So as you peruse the menus, keep those numbers in mind to see if it will be worth it. Make sure you add the 6.5% tax to your OOP costs.

Ugh, I just realized when I was pricing out vacations that my 9 year old wioukd have recently turned TEN when we go. How did I make that mistake? When I saw how much it would cost with two children who would be Disney adults, my then 10 year old who would likely still eat from the kids menu (maybe even my 11 year old) I don't see how it would be worth it. Maybe with one Disney child, but not now. I think I will just get Disney gift cards. I'm also looking at Disney Springs hotels. There is less motivation to stay at a value hotel onsite when I can stay at a nicer hotel for not much more and still get Disney transportation and 60 days out fast passes. I know DH will like that too, lol. Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[minerva78]

Ack, I still may go with onsite, I'll really need to price this out. The QS and TS meals are a lot more expensive than I thought, and it would be nice to give the girls an option of a regular meal, I think my 11 year old might prefer the regular sized meals. And if my younger daughter sees her sister not ordering from the kids menu, she may want to copy her! So we'll see. I cringe at the thought but I might consider the DDP. It might be nice to have a scheduled dinner each evening to wind down the day, and adult prices for those meals are crazy. Maybe staying off site for the first day would help since we'd be driving down that day and won't be in the parks.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

We’ve never found any of the dining plans to be worth our $$. We simply wouldn’t get our money’s worth. And at Disney I don’t consider the price of convenience when budgeting - the place is just to darn expensive to not save money whenever possible.

We just load up a gift card and that’s how we pay. Using a Magic band then paying it off every day or every other day at the front desk is an extra step I can’t be bothered with. We do have a CC on file so we can use mobile order. But I just transfer the funds to that CC when we get back to the resort in the evening.

IMO simple is best when vacationing. This is what works for us.

 

[TammyLynn33]

I never think of the dining plan as a way to save money as much as a way to not nickel and dime myself when I’m there.. I don’t have to worry or think about costs while there, and to me that is priceless
And now with alcohol being included it will be a nice add in I probably would have never considered simply to save money OOP

 

[Disney Frenhines]

I did try the gift card v qsdp once, for me it didn't work out, I still watched everything I bought to eat and thought twice about the more expensive snacks and meals, something I don't do with the dining plan, but, if you can get your gift cards from Target with the red card or if you belong to Sam's Club and they still do the 5% discount on Disney Gift Cards then it may be worth it. As a Brit I can't do it, but, I'd do it if I could.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

I never think of the dining plan as a way to save money as much as a way to not nickel and dime myself when I’m there.. I don’t have to worry or think about costs while there, and to me that is priceless
And now with alcohol being included it will be a nice add in I probably would have never considered simply to save money OOP

I just ordered my BOG breakfast, $38!!!! $28 for the meal and a $10 Mimosa. Can someone confirm those are both QSDP eligible as that seems too good to be true. To be honest, there is no way I would pay for BOG breakfast OOP at those prices.

 

[TammyLynn33]

Yep you’re all good I believe and I feel the same lol

I just ordered my BOG breakfast, $38!!!! $28 for the meal and a $10 Mimosa. Can someone confirm those are both QSDP eligible as that seems too good to be true. To be honest, there is no way I would pay for BOG breakfast OOP at those prices.

 

[Beachmom0317]

I just ordered my BOG breakfast, $38!!!! $28 for the meal and a $10 Mimosa. Can someone confirm those are both QSDP eligible as that seems too good to be true. To be honest, there is no way I would pay for BOG breakfast OOP at those prices.

Yup and this is basically why I love the dining plan lol when we go OOP I never go to BOG because I can’t justify the price. Now I’m excited to go since there’s lots of beauty and the beast fans in my family!

 

[Disney Frenhines]

I've booked three breakfasts at BOG so far, I'm at Disney for 15 days. Getting my money's worth because as a UK AP holder I cannot at the dining plan to my reservation despite staying at a Disney resort hotel. I only got it this time because I didn't renew my AP last year and got a 14 day hopper pass with breakfast for free as I was staying at a value resort bringing down the cost to £25 a day which is less than breakfast at BOG.

 

[Nancyg56]

I never think of the dining plan as a way to save money as much as a way to not nickel and dime myself when I’m there.. I don’t have to worry or think about costs while there, and to me that is priceless
And now with alcohol being included it will be a nice add in I probably would have never considered simply to save money OOP

Me too, although I do seem to more than break even. I like my wine with meals, and at least one of our crew who wants water or soft beverage will pass that lovely glass of cab over to me. As much as I would enjoy that treat at lunch or dinner, I would probably skip it if I had to pay upwards of $10 every time.

I just ordered my BOG breakfast, $38!!!! $28 for the meal and a $10 Mimosa. Can someone confirm those are both QSDP eligible as that seems too good to be true. To be honest, there is no way I would pay for BOG breakfast OOP at those prices.

Price lunch and you will faint I had my braised prom and my Cabernet ($16 or $17 per glass) a happily asked DH to pass his on over to me! I tried to pay for his lemonade and was ushered right past that! Prize Dust!