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Thread: Use table service credits for quick service on dining plan?

  1. #1

    Use table service credits for quick service on dining plan?

    hey gang got a question. going to the world in oct. and we have the dining plan. we dont do sit down meals with reservations the closest we come to it is sitting down at the food court at the hotel. now our dining plan has snack, quick serve, and sit down. can we use the sit down meals for quick serve?


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  3. #2
    Registered User wishiwasthere's Avatar
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    If you really wanted to you can trade down. You cannot trade up. May I ask why? Is it because you don't like taking a lot of time away from the parks?


  4. #3
    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    You're also not going to get the value from the plan if you trade down to CS. Though if it is a 'free' plan...

    Cathy

  5. #4

    As I've said many times, the free dining plan really isn't free. When you get it, you are forced to pay full price for your room. But as most of us all know, Disney usually does some terrific discounts on room rate, both for the regular guest and even greater discounts for the annual passholders. So if you're paying $35 to $40 more for a room to get a "free" dining plan, and then you're trading down your table service credits to quick serve and only getting $25 out of a day's credits, then you're definitely losing money.

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  6. #5

    Actually, you have to work into your calculations how many you have in the room, and what their ages are to know for sure if it's really the better value for the dining plan or the room discount.

    Have you considered buffets for the TS credits? Basically, once you are seated, it's a very short time until you get your food. If you have say, children that are of an age where they are not good at waiting (age 2, comes to mind...) or similar, this might be a solution.


  7. #6
    Registered User wishiwasthere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barberella View Post
    Actually, you have to work into your calculations how many you have in the room, and what their ages are to know for sure if it's really the better value for the dining plan or the room discount.
    Right. So if they OP can give us more info we can help you out even more!
    Kristin

  8. #7
    Registered User littlej's Avatar
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    Definitely give us more info. Generally speaking, if I were calculating for my family, and we booked a full-price package at a moderate or deluxe and got the "free" regular dining plan, I would also look to see if there was a room-only discount for the resort we want and then price out adding the counter-service dining plan to that. If you know you will only be doing counter service meals, that might be a better deal for you. But yes, you'll have to figure in # of people in the room, ages, etc.

    --jenny

  9. #8

    A couple of additional thoughts and some repetition.

    If you're not using the 'value' of the DDP, even if it's free, look at room only discounts and see which is the best deal for you.

    If you're paying for the regular DDP and not planning on using it don't do it!

    If you're going to stick with the acommodation and deal you've got anyway, assuming you got the free DDP, then you will actually save money trading TS meals for CS as you won't have to pay the tip.

    BUT - if the above is your situation, why not consider the buffets? They don't take any longer if you don't want them to then queuing up for CS, especially if you have to que at more than one food station to choose different meal options for different family members.

     

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  10. #9

    I agree that it depends on how many are in the room.
    We are going with 3 adults and 1 child and even paying the extra 50 bucks we are definately making out. Many of the buffets are only 1 TS but cost over $30 if not $40 (akershus) per adult. Plus what we would spend on counter service each plus a snack which could be 3 or 4 bucks. It DEFINATELY works mathematically this way.
    1 person in a room probably not.
    2 people might be close but I would just do the math.
    Good luck!


  11. #10
    Self-proclaimed Diz nut TinaMouse's Avatar
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    And we just learned that 1 CS = 3 snack credits if you find yourself leaving w/ a few CSs on your tally.

    As an aside, we did 1/2 trip out of pocket; 1/2 trip as QSDDP. While the QS DDP was "worth" it money-wise, we realize we're DEFINITELY TS people for at least one meal a day.....no, we didn't eat burgers & fries every day on the QS....

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  12. #11

    I have to admit, all this free dining with the abbreaviations that are being used is so confusing to me. With the quick counter and credits or the sit down credit and snack credits. Cant Disney come up with a better less confusing set up for people who like me never has used it before. I would like to use what we had before and that was just a good old plain Disney gift card with a balance that was given after every charge so there was no guessing and confusion. ugh Maybe if offered in February I will opt for a room discount and pay for our own meals and keep it guess free and simple.


  13. #12
    Registered User petesimac's Avatar
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    Is it officially permissable to use a table-service credit for a quick service meal?

    ("permissible" - edit wouldn't allow me to correct the error in the title)

    Because of how the timing of my visit works out, we'll end up with an extra TS credit on the last day; can I officially use that for a quick service meal instead? We are already having a sit-down meal on this last day, and I don't feel like taking the time to have another one, just to use it up. I'd like to use it at Columbia Harbour House for lunch (and our last QS credits for a breakfast some time during our stay). Any official word? Is it just an unspoken thing?

    1999 - Coronado; 2003 - DL's Paradise Pier ; 2005 - All Star Music; 2007 - POP; 2008 - Paradise Pier; 2009 - POP ; 2010 - Dolphin; 2011 - POP; 2012 - POFQ; 2013 - POFQ; 2014 - POFQ; 2015 - Art of Animation; 2016 - Pop; July 2017 - POFQ

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  14. #13
    Registered User Silvercat's Avatar
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    I'm interested in the 'official' line too - when we go to WDW in November next year, we are getting the Dining Plan for free (yay! Thank you Uncle Walt!!). However, we don't like planning too far in advance so while we will make a couple of reservations for places we really do want to eat, I reckon we will be doing QS far more often than TS, so would be interested to see what the official line is regarding this query.

    Silvercat

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  15. #14
    Read Everything-Assume Nothing GusMan's Avatar
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    We have used TS credits at a CS eatery, but our experience is from CS dining at a resort. It is not an advertised thing and I would ask before doing it just to be sure that the option is still available.

    But it is a huge waste of a TS credit for sure. Did it once in a pinch - and after realizing how much it "cost" - I would not do it again.

    Free dining or not, if you are not going to use the TS credits to their fullest (assumed cash value) potential, or if you dont like to plan out your ADR's. you would be better off not using a dining plan.

    In the case of free dining, in most cases, you would be better off seeing if you can get a room discount instead since free dining requires paying full rack rate for the room. That way your dining can remain flexible while paying for what and where you want to dine.

    (Silvercat, being that you are from the UK, your discounts and offers do vary from US offers, so you would have to do some number crunching first to see what suits you best.)

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  16. #15
    Registered User petesimac's Avatar
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    I called Disney, and the official line is that they don't like to do it. It may be done in certain instances, but from what I heard, I'm not going to try it. I've rearranged things anyway, so I won't have to worry about it. I'll be using two TS credits for a dining reservation at Le Cellier, and then eating a breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe; all TS credits counted for!

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  17. #16
    Registered User wishiwasthere's Avatar
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    Just for future info:

    In August 2009 we were supposed to eat at the Luau the last night of our vacation to only have it cancelled due to a horrible thunderstorm. We had 8 TS left. We went to the CSR (Peppermarket) food court and used 4 there. The next day we went to EoS and used 4 there for sammies and salads for the airport. No questions asked. I just said to the cashier that I didn't have any CS left and if they could use the TS. They looked at me like I had 4 heads, but they did it.

    Kristin

  18. #17
    Registered User Silvercat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GusMan View Post
    (Silvercat, being that you are from the UK, your discounts and offers do vary from US offers, so you would have to do some number crunching first to see what suits you best.)
    Yes, you are right - our discounts are very, very fixed, and we can't negotiate for a discount on something different than what is offered! Therefore, the offer we had was this : 50% off rack rates on certain dates next year, but only at one of two resorts - Studio accommodation at either Saratoga Springs or Old Key West - plus free dining plan. This worked out exceptionally well for us, and meant that not only were we paying the same amount for a superior accommodation as we paid this year for a room at Pop Century (although we did love it there!), we also got a huge extra monetary incentive in the form of free dining! What could we do other an accept Disney's very kind 'offer'??

    However, we had already agreed that we would NEVER have bought the DDP, as we are very much 'ad hoc' guests - going where and when we want to without too much forward planning, other than to agree how many days to spend in each park. Having read many other guests' trip reports and articles, we were aware that having the DDP means planning 6 months in advance and making reservations for virtually every day of the trip (and we have 14 days in total!), which really doesn't appeal to us. So, the solution for us has been to plan for around 5 or 6 ADRs (yet to be made) for restaurants we REALLY want to try for the first time, and then to probably use the remaining TS credits for QS meals - not ideal, I agree, but the only way it will work for us. We may try to get some walkups if we happen to be near a restaurant at some point that we don't have a reservation for, as I do know that this sometimes works, but other than that - we'll see.
    Silvercat

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  19. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by tdelaney_98 View Post
    And we just learned that 1 CS = 3 snack credits if you find yourself leaving w/ a few CS on your tally.
    What does that mean? Are you referring to this as using 3 snacks as a meal (example: drink- and say french fries and bread sticks as sides for a meal?) or will they literally transfer my 3 snack credits for one full quick service credit?
    **Kristin**
    You just have to have it in you... the MAGIC*



  20. #19
    Read Everything-Assume Nothing GusMan's Avatar
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    It means that you could get 3 snacks for 1 counter service credit. (Not the other way around.)

    And maybe Tina can chime in on her experience, but I found that doing "trades" like this is usually easier at resorts than CS eateries at the parks.

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  21. #20
    Self-proclaimed Diz nut TinaMouse's Avatar
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    YES!!!! It was done at the resorts, not the parks.

    Working hard for that next WDW trip!

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