Cabins and QS Dining

[Nolcrest]

I will be returning to Disney in early Nov. after a 14 year hiatus. Needless to say planning is much different than it used to be and quite frankly this trip was planned very quickly with little thought (long story). Dh & I are staying in a cabin (no kids) and have the QS dining plan. Now that I've had a moment to breathe and look everything over I am questioning whether to keep the QS dining plan, upgrade it, or cancel it. My family (offsite) has already planned for a few meals not on the plan plus, well, it is a cabin and I do have a kitchen so I won't be using the refillable mugs included with plan and I do have access to cook. SO...….. I know it's different for everyone however;

In your experience with staying at the cabins did the dining plan work out for you or was it a waste? Thoughts are welcomed.

 

[PaHunter]

Depends on your touring style. We did the dining plan one trip, but we were in the parks from Rope Drop until Close. Other trips we have come back for a break between parks and cooked or fixed something before going back in.

 

[2goofycampers]

I agree, it depends on how much park time you plan on doing. We eat breakfast at the campground, lunch in a park and dinner back at the campground. A crock pot is great for this. I haven't priced out the dining plan lately but it has been cheaper to pay out of pocket for quite a few years.

 

[Jorjabelle]

It definitely depends.

We will be there end of October. With EEMH in place at all of the parks, and 6am start at HS. Our plan is to eat most meals at the camper while we do the parks super early/ evening.

I’d like to avoid crowds as much as possible and I’m monitoring the DIS boards crowd reports. But right now, we are heading into all parks to take advantage of EEMH and be out of the parks by 11 am. Come back to the Fort, loop, eat, nap, relax - then head back out in the evening checking the MDE app for crowd levels.

For HS - 6am to 11am is enough time for us to see a lot, then take a long afternoon.

So most of our meals will be at the Fort. With breakfast and coffee to wake us up, and snacks packed in bento boxes to get us through the parks. And lunch/dinner meals at camper except for Hoop Dee Doo and Ohana.

 

[North of Mouse]

I will be returning to Disney in early Nov. after a 14 year hiatus. Needless to say planning is much different than it used to be and quite frankly this trip was planned very quickly with little thought (long story). Dh & I are staying in a cabin (no kids) and have the QS dining plan. Now that I've had a moment to breathe and look everything over I am questioning whether to keep the QS dining plan, upgrade it, or cancel it. My family (offsite) has already planned for a few meals not on the plan plus, well, it is a cabin and I do have a kitchen so I won't be using the refillable mugs included with plan and I do have access to cook. SO...….. I know it's different for everyone however;

In your experience with staying at the cabins did the dining plan work out for you or was it a waste? Thoughts are welcomed.

Not at the cabins, but in our mh with kitchen, etc. What people do about meals, how they plan their days, varies so much with the individual families. There is definitely not a 'one size fits all'.
Some people cook/plan nearly all their meals at site, some a few, etc. It just depends on what pleases you.
We have never cooked/eaten meals at our mh there - prefer to eat at parks/resorts. We usually eat one main meal a day, then fill in with whatever strikes our fancy at other times. The meal plans have never worked/appealed to our way of dining.
So, as you can see, whatever works for you is the way to go - we're all different. I love to cook, but I leave that behind while at Disney.

 

[sharadoc]

We're coming in December with the free dining offer so we'll be using QS at the Fort. We'll have a golf cart so we plan to go pick up meals a few times at the take-out. I'm trying to find out if we can use some QS entitlements for the family meals. Like the chicken bucket feeds 2-4, so can we get that with 2 or 3 qs credits? The pool snack bar also has some good sandwiches and snacks so we think we'll use it enough. Plus probably fill the mugs when we pick up the food. The mugs come in handy if you're going to the pool too.

 

[Jimsig]

I'm trying to find out if we can use some QS entitlements for the family meals. Like the chicken bucket feeds 2-4, so can we get that with 2 or 3 qs credits?

I want to say the GAG (Giddyup And Go) meal is not eligible for the dining plan.

Even if it is, IMO, QS credits would probably not be a good deal with the GAG meal as it's only around $25. Most QS are going to run you over $15pp.

In the years we have gotten the dinning plan we always pay OOP for the GAG instead of going somewhere else and using dining credits as it's a great deal. Where else can you feed (in my case) 3 people at Disney for about $8pp? It's the best deal in Disney IMO.

 

[bama_ed]

We're coming in December with the free dining offer so we'll be using QS at the Fort. We'll have a golf cart so we plan to go pick up meals a few times at the take-out. I'm trying to find out if we can use some QS entitlements for the family meals. Like the chicken bucket feeds 2-4, so can we get that with 2 or 3 qs credits? The pool snack bar also has some good sandwiches and snacks so we think we'll use it enough. Plus probably fill the mugs when we pick up the food. The mugs come in handy if you're going to the pool too.

There is an individual chicken dinner (2 piece) and ribs dinner (half slab) at TE Takeout that probably qualify for QS credits. There is also a breakfast plate that does too IIRC. Plus a few other breakfast choices (waffles, burrito, etc.).

The pool snack bar is an option as is the Food Truck (new in the last few years). During mid-day times I've seen it parked in the grass near the tennis courts (lunch crowd?) and then over by the Campfire Singalong seats (it took the place of selling the marshmallows for the campfire and sticks and smores fixings). The Food Truck meals actually have had some good reviews here.

We have some pictures in the pinned Info thread of the choices which will give you an idea what's available. Make sure to check both pages of posts in that thread as there are pictures of all the above there.

But the "feeds 2-4 people" usually can't be bought on credits (8 pieces of chicken after all) but IIRC the take out pizza at TE Takeout in the past has been stated as 2 credits.

Bama Ed

 

[Sjm9911]

For me, and i havent gone yet. I plan on breakfat and dinner most nights at my campsite. I do have 2 dinner reservations booked and will check out the buffet, and i will get some snacks lunches at the parks. For the most part this will save me a good deal of money , and time. I know it sounds time consuming to cook , but at least i dont have to wait in a line to get it!

 

[jaredjohn4]

We used to do the dining plan but it was just to much food and we didn’t use all the credits. Now we have coffee and bagels at the camper, then a lounge with appetizers and a qs or ts meal each day. The variety of food is one of the things we enjoy the most at Disney.