Dining plan tips!

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Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Just booked our flights for January 2020 :)
We are now looking at hotels, and as there are no current offers it looks like we will be staying in All Stars (still undecided whether the refurbed rooms at Movies are worth the extra). We want the Quick Service dining plan as having costed meals and snacks (the kids will definitely need a Mickey Ice Cream each day) this is going to be more cost effective than paying out of pocket. Looking for tips on how to get the most out of the dining plan. Can we use our QS credits to pay towards character dining? (we did this recently in DLP). aNY TIPS AND ADVICE GREATLY APPRECIATED :-)
 
QS credits can only be used in QS locations. You need to have TS credits to use these towards character meals. You can use your QS credits at Be Our Guest in MK for breakfast and lunch however and can book an ADR via MDE although they are difficult to come by. Lots of options though and loads of tasty snacks to try.

Mrs TT
 
Have a look at a list of snack credits and try to maximise your snacks. For example, it isn't worthwhile to use snack credits for a bottle of water. There are far better offerings - they change all the time so it's worth looking at the lists.
 
you can't upgrade qs credits to ts, only downgrade and use them for multiple snacks

all character dining are TS credits so if you're on the QS plan you'd have to pay out of pocket
 


How you use your snack credits can make a real difference. We allocate a nominal value of $5 to each credit and as snacks range from $1 to $7+ you can see how easily you could loose money. Good use of snacks are anything at an Epcot festival, large Starbucks drinks, frozen drinks, and many ice creams sundaes. I agree with another poster, and recommend looking at lists of snacks, there are some real gems like Mac and cheese at animal kingdoms Eight Spoon Cafe which in my experience are must eats and hit the value mark too
 
I also think you can make the most of it by ensuring you aren't wasting money on things like bottled drinks that are super cheap compared to other snacks you could have. Remember at any resorts you get a free drink in your refillable mug so you can use your "drink" with a counter service meal either for an alcoholic drink or for a snack of some sort which you can then have later. I tend to check the menus out for all the parks before I go and pick a few QS that I know I would like so I know where to aim for. Although I have a rough plan I also take back ups so that if I don't fancy whats there I know where else has some great items. The Mac & Cheese mentioned I've got on my list to try this year as everyone seems to rave over it (although I'm just doing the normal not the pork or shrimp so less value).
 
We had QSDP for 2 adults for 1 week in December, this was the first time we have ever had a plan. I kept a rough count of expenditure and really if paying OOP it would have only been worthwhile because of the alcohol included.
We also used it for the Pizzafari meal at AK which I'm not sure if it is included this year and BOG breakfast. As others have mentioned you can use your refillable mug for drinks, so use your credit to get a snack, at POFQ this included the beignets. Other good snack credits for us was a dole whip, funnel cake (to share) or an ice cream sundae. Captain cooks at the Polynesian was also very nice. You can also use 2 credits to buy 1 large pizza and get 2 sides (we got tubs of fruit) and we shared this with family who joined us 1 day for lunch.
If you do a bit of research before you go, then you will know the best things for your family. For example for breakfast a couple of days my husband got a hot breakfast but used his drink credit to get a pastry for me. I then used a snack credit for cereals and milk, and we got hot coffee in the refill mugs.
 


You can also ask for a cup of drinking water at all counter service locations which is free and saves a snack credit if being used for a drink. Sometimes the water isn't to all UK tastes as it does have a slightly different taste to what we're used to out of our taps but it's perfectly fine.
 
I believe that the QS credits don't differentiate between adult & child meals. So if you're 2 adults & 2 children you could share 3 adult meals and only use 3 credits instead of 4.

Some of the snacks are also so big we share (2 adults) cinnamon buns, funnel cakes etc.
 
I have been looking online for locations that accept QS Credits, and looking at menus. If a location accepts QS credits, will pretty much everything on the menu be included, or just 1/2 options.
I believe that the QS credits don't differentiate between adult & child meals. So if you're 2 adults & 2 children you could share 3 adult meals and only use 3 credits instead of 4.

Some of the snacks are also so big we share (2 adults) cinnamon buns, funnel cakes etc.
Oh my gosh yes, the funnel cakes are huge (and delicious) We would probably only need 2 between 5 of us as the kids will be 5,3 and 1!
 
I have been looking online for locations that accept QS Credits, and looking at menus. If a location accepts QS credits, will pretty much everything on the menu be included, or just 1/2 options.

Oh my gosh yes, the funnel cakes are huge (and delicious) We would probably only need 2 between 5 of us as the kids will be 5,3 and 1!

From my knowledge everything is included that is classed as an "entree". This can sometimes mean things are excluded like soups or salads as these are classed as an appetiser/desssert and you get a main & drink (alcoholic or non) with the QS credit
 
If you haven't booked your hotel yet why not wait until next month - that is typically when the free dining offers are released for the UK.
 
One of the better quick service restaurants we tried was Sunshine Seasons in The Land pavilion at EPCOT. Decent food, and decent sized portions.
 

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