QS? Is it good enough for an entire trip?

Kevlar10

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 26, 2018
We have always done the DDP during our trips but I am wondering if it would be a good idea to do the QS Dining plan for our next trip. I have a few QS locations that we like but if there are any that are exceptional, suggestions would be appreciated. Favorite dishes too. Our regulars are Cantina de San Angel, Sa’tuli Canteen, Pecos Bill, and BOG breakfast/lunch.
 


We have always done the DDP during our trips but I am wondering if it would be a good idea to do the QS Dining plan for our next trip. I have a few QS locations that we like but if there are any that are exceptional, suggestions would be appreciated. Favorite dishes too. Our regulars are Cantina de San Angel, Sa’tuli Canteen, Pecos Bill, and BOG breakfast/lunch.

We've done just QS many times, and I rarely have a hamburger, hot dog or chicken nuggets the whole trip!

Other than the ones you've already mentioned, we like:
AK: Harambe Market and Flame Tree
HS: Fairfax Fare. Haven't tried it lately, but ABC Commissary seems to have stepped up their game.
EP: Just about any of the QS throughout WS, but we also like Sunshine Seasons
MK: Columbia Harbor House and Pinnochio Village

We also find the resort QS to have lots of yummy options. And DS has so many, it's hard to choose.

I think being able to use mobile ordering also makes QS much more appealing. You don't have to wait in line and can eat fairly quickly leaving more time for play!
 
We usually only do 1 or 2 TS meals over a 10-day trip. My kids occasionally order a burger or hot dog but mostly we have a variety of things. We don't care for Disney QS pizza at all.

We like:
AK - Flame Tree BBQ and Satu'li Canteen
HS - I like the caprese sandwich at Backlot Express. We used to eat at Fairfax Fare but haven't been there since they changed the menu.
EP - Tangierene Cafe is a favorite, we like La Cantina in Mexico, giant pretzels in Germany (works for lunch on vacation), Sunshine Seasons
MK - Columbia Harbor House for salmon, broccoli and couscous; Cosmic Rays for rotissere chicken and ribs

We've also found plenty of options at the food courts at the value and moderate resorts.
 


We did the QS free dining one year and we were completely fine! We really enjoyed it, especially at Epcot. It felt like it freed more time for other experiences and rides...plus we had a lot of people for that trip, like 13 people, so it made it easier. Now we love the TS places too, but I did not feel like we missed a heck of lot. Don't forget to think about the resorts for QS too. We went to Capt. Cook's at Poly and watched the fireworks from the beach after.

Our faves are Columbia Harbour House and Pecos Bills at MK; Sunshine Seasons, French Bakery, Tangerine Cafe, Norway Cafe and Cantina San Angel; no faves for HS, it was Pizza Planet but not for the food just because my son was Toy Story obsessed between 2 and 7, now at 12 he is secretly I think ;) and really no faves (YET) at AK, but looking forward to trying Sa'tuli Canteen. Oh, and for resorts, we love Capt. Cook's at Poly and Roaring Fork at Wilderness Lodge, both can get back and forth by boat from MK.
 
I htink it depends on what you want for any given trip. If I traveled with my DGD we would get the QS plan, and I would book one or two TS for the trip. My DD and family did this one trip and they were happy.

If I traveled with the family it would nto work for us. WE like a full TS meal per day.
 
We get the QS dining plan for two weeks each year. It's awesome! There are so many great choices. We prefer it over TS.
 
We did counter service one year and that was the year we learned we like a sit down dinner. :)

I like to be seated, served, have a glass of wine and relax in the air conditioning.

But that aside, we had plenty of options for counter service, only repeating if we wanted to.
 
I used to only eat QS, my husband is the one who likes TS. I see the value in both, but I could easily do a 4 to 5 day stretch with nothing but QS. A) It's cheaper. B) from what I remember some of the portions are soooooo huge two people can share one meal.

As long as you don't end up on the same touring plan where you end up eating at the SAME PLACES you should be good. This was the first trip where I did not eat at Cosmic Rays. I don't know how but practically every trip I've eaten there...
 
We did the QSDP on our last two trips. We paid OOP for 2-3 TS meals on each of those trips, but we would've been fine if we'd stuck to the QS options. On the days we weren't truly hungry for a 3rd meal, we opted to use a few snacks to pick up something to tide us over.

My favorite QS places include:
Epcot- Sunshine Seasons & La Cantina de San Angel
AK- Flame Tree Barbecue
HS- Woody's Lunch Box
MK- Columbia Harbour House, Pecos Bill, BOG, & Pinocchio's Village Haus
 
We love CS. I think I could eat the chicken nuggets and fries for a whole two weeks!! X
 
We've done quick service a few times. I mean only quick service.

There are so many options. Even for someone like me with a food allergy.

And I don't think I ordered a burger or chicken nuggets once.
 
We probably could survive on QS, we like the QS options at AK and EPCOT Disney Springs, Deluxe resorts. If we were at HS or MK we would have to leave the park to eat QS or TS depending on our mood or plans for the day. We stick to our usual meal with breakfast/lunch usually QS and dinner is usual TS. We like to take a break, rest and unwind during dinner. on our last trip we ate at Blaze pizza (DS),cooks of Dublin(DS), Earl of Sandwich(DS), one of our favorite QS on property Wofle gang puck express(DS).
AK's Flame tree BBQ is also a top pick for us. We love to eat at the WSC while at EPCOT so many choices. We are weeks away from our next trip and my DH is excited for the International Festival of Holiday at EPCOT.
 
DD15 and I did the QSDP for 5 days in December 2016.

Neither of us are huge eaters and it was waaaayyy too much food. We ended up sharing meals and never had a burger once!

If you plan ahead and look at menus you can see that there is in fact a lot of variety available!

We are returning in 26 days and eating completely OOP this time. No dining plan at all.
 
We are giving it a try on our upcoming December trip and will see how it goes! Based on our plans, these are some possible meal combinations (we are staying at the Beach Club and have park hoppers, breakfast is usually just coffee at home so we rarely eat breakfast on vacation):

Day one - arrival + Epcot

Dinner - Tangierine Cafe - Chicken and Lamb Shawarma Platter - served with side of Hummus, Tabouleh and a Tangierine Couscous Salad with fresh Moroccan bread ($14.99)

Day two - Epcot + Magic Kingdom

Lunch - Boulangerie Patisserie - Brie aux Pommes - brie, apples, cranberries on a multi grain bread ($8.00) + citron Tart - lemon cream topped with meringue ($4.25)

Dinner - Columbia Harbour House - Grilled Salmon - served with couscous and steamed fresh vegetables ($13.99)

Day three - Animal Kingdom + DHS

Lunch - Satu'li Canteen - Grilled Beef Bowl - slow-roasted sliced grilled beef marinated in a blend of garlic, herbs, red pepper spice, and red wine vinegar topped with crunchy vegetable slaw and boba balls served with your choice of base and sauce ($13.99)

Dinner - Backlot Express - Chicken Breast Nuggets (6 pieces) - served with French fries or carrot sticks ($8.49) gotta have these at least once a trip and DHS is pretty limited anyways!

Day four - Magic Kingdom + Epcot

Lunch - Captain Cook's - Aloha Pork Sandwich pulled pork on brioche bun with cheddar, Asian slaw, cucumbers, and tomatoes ($10.99)

Dinner - Sunshine Seasons - Pork Loin - with mashed potatoes, barbecue sauce and corn on the cob ($13.99) + Strawberry Shortcake ($4.99)

Day five - Animal Kingdom + Magic Kingdom

Lunch - Flame Tree BBQ - Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich - topped with cole slaw and served with baked beans ($10.99)

Dinner - Contempo Cafe - Caesar Salad with Chicken - with house-made croutons, shredded parmesan, cheesy breadcrumbs, and cracked black pepper ($11.49)

Day six - Epcot + departure

Lunch - Yorkshire County Fish Shop - Fish and Chips - two strips of fish served with chips ($11.49)

With the quality of TS meals declining over our last few visits, I'll be curious to see how the QS quality compares. We are also planning to have an Instacart order delivered with some snacks and drinks for the room from Publix.
 

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