What of you think of the new CS dining plan?

[NC State]

Have you tried the Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad at Sunshine Seasons?
Or the Ribs at Flametree BBQ? Or Columbia Harbour House? Or the CS in Morocco? Respectfully beg to differ.

Flametree BBQ and Columbia Harbour is a must with us, it's great not to eat burgers and pizza!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I would LOVE this option as long as Wolfgang Puck Express is on the CS restaurant list. That is probably our favorite restaurant in WDW (CS or TS), hands down. I just told DH that if WPE is on the list for the CS dining plan, SSR will become my new favorite DVC resort

Eating table service meals with a toddler is torture for all of us. Also, I hate having to call 180 days out for ADRs and STILL not get what I was looking for The TS restaurants have gone downhill so much since the advent of the dining plan that we rarely eat in them anyways. The one good thing that's come of the dining plan is that it's forced us to discover good CS options that we had previously ignored because we were always dining TS.

 

[rentayenta]

The new CS plan wouldn't work for us. We like the TS way too much and the CS options get old after a few days. In addition, my kids share a lot so I see us with left over credits at the end of the trip.

 

[englishteacha]

We've never stayed on-site, so the dining plan conversations haven't usually interested me. However, if we were to stay on-site, a CS meal plan might work for us. In 3 WDW trips we've eaten one table service meal on-site. We'd like to go on a trip with a large group of friends, so staying on WDW property might be the most practical move. In that case, a CS meal plan would probably make perfect sense for our needs.

 

[bookwormde]

Unless I missed it one thing that has not been taken into account in calculating the value of the new CS plan is that it is a 2009 price. Does anyone really think with the way things are going that the menu prices will not increase 10% next January?

With the overwhelming success with the current free dining promotion (lot of people want it but WDW does not have enough rooms allocated), that it only makes sense to reduce the cost per room of the promotion and increase the number of rooms allocated so WDW can get as close as possible to full occupancy with as many room booked as rack rate as possible. Using CS as the free dining promotion would do this, I could see the potential for a split system with values and moderates getting CS and deluxes getting the old plan.

bookwormde

 

[labdogs42]

The CS plan idea is kind of neat, but I don't think I'd buy it. I like my TS meals too much and a week of only CS would probably put me over the edge. I do wish they would come up with a more flexible dining plan, maybe some kind of points system. Something like 1 point = a snack, 2 points = a CS meal, and 4 points = a TS meal. Then you could buy a certain amount of points for your trip (probably some minimum, like 7 per day to equate to the current plan), but you could be given the option to buy more points and you could use them as you wish. I think that would be an AWESOME plan!

 

[thunderbird1]

If you don't eat a TS meal every single day but only a couple per trip, this very well may be a great plan for you. Get the new CP DDP and pay for the TS OOP. It's worth doing the calculations for where you plan to eat.

We probably wouldn't use it...we enjoy our TS meals too much. However, what might be ideal for many is to get the CS Dining Plan and if eligible purchase the DDE for any TS meals. We have APs and have used DDE on our past trip when we weren't on the dining plan and it paid for itself in like 3 TS meals.

Both of you just said exactly what I was thinking. We're going for free dining this year (again--3d time), and I'm going to track what we pay for appetizers and gratuities. It might just be a whole new adventure to go with the QS plan for free, then add in a TS OOP every other day or so using the DDE card for a discount.

This year we are staying two weeks and I could not imagine eating counter service every day. Sure there are some healthy options but I enjoy a nice TS meal where I can reconnect with my family. Last year it was heaven to have that time together every evening. I am so looking forward to it this year.

We always do 2 weeks as well, but I think I might really enjoy this new QS plan. There are a lot of great CS restaurants in WDW, but I'm usually too full from or saving my appetite for the TS's that I don't get to experience too many of them. Of course, we'd still do a few TS's OOP--our favorites--but it would be nice to have a few days off to relax and reconnect without rushing to the next ADR. Not to mention my kids would love 2 snacks a day, lol!

If we went on a short trip say 4 days then it may be a good option.

It would also be perfect for F&WF. With a family of 4, we could have 8 F&WF snacks each day! How fun would that be? It would be even better for people who do some of the special F&WF events, like the PFTS. I've seen comments from several people who don't get the regular DDP during F&WF because the TS credits would go to waste. But this new QS plan is almost perfect for those folks.

 

[bookmama]

I'm excited about the new CS plan. I have a very active 11 yr old who couldn't stand sitting still for the TS meals last year. Just about drove us nuts. With this plan when can still sit down and eat but without it taking 2 hrs. Never mind it leaves us more time to explore DW. It also is great for my penny pinching self.

 

[seashellmom]

I think this is a great new option. Yes, QS could get old if you were staying for a week, but many families only go for long weekends and this would be great for them w/o having to give up park time.

 

[bigbabyblues]

The new CS plan wouldn't work for us. We like the TS way too much and the CS options get old after a few days. In addition, my kids share a lot so I see us with left over credits at the end of the trip.

This is us too. We use the regular DDP, and we always have several CS credits leftover. Our trips are usually 9-10 days, I can't imagine eating CS for that long.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

So, I just priced our trip now that the January rates have come out. If we get the old DDP it will be exactly $80 more than if we get the QS DDP. We are 2 people staying 4 nights. So, for us, it makes sense to get the old DDP as we want two TS meals which would likely equal more than $40 per person.

 

[Native NYer]

I think it really depends on each family's needs and budgets. We're doing deluxe dining for the second time next week and will do it again in 2009. We love having all three meals prepaid. It's a matter of convenience for us.

But I can definitely see the quick service plan being useful to some people.

 

[herbg]

I'm glad that this is being offered. When we first decided to go back to DisneyWorld (last trip in 96), we were very disappointed that now you have to make reservations months ahead and you had to customize your days plans on the basis of where you're eating.

With this plan we can eat at Counter Service, and we MIGHT make reservations for one or two TS restaurants that we enjoyed last time.

For us, Disney is about experiencing the rides and shows... not eating

 

[HelenePA]

I am thrilled with this new plan! I know it might not work for everyone but didn't like most of the sit down's we had last year. Too many sauces, spices, fancy stuff we dont normally eat Next year when we go we'll also have a 7month old baby with us.. It feels great knowing I wont have to worry about nap time, grumpy time ect ect while doing the TS! This plan is PERFECT for our family. I am not sure if it will save us a huge amount of money but I really love the idea of just having everything paid for up front. The only place I'd like to get into is CRT for breakfast.

 

[Flyin2MCO]

This may have been covered elsewhere, but the cost of the CS plan will be $29.99 for adults and $8.99 for kids. Personally, I think this can be a pretty good deal with proper research and planning.

However, I still have an issue with dessert at every meal...are there people out there that really eat dessert every day at lunch and dinner? Perhaps this is just a vacation thing....I might eat dessert once or twice a week usually, and then even when on vacation it's not something we order frequently. The snack credits can be used for plenty of dessert-like options, so it all seems like sugar overkill.

I agree with some of the PPs that the CS is likely to be the "free" dining option in 2009, assuming there is any "free" dining option at all.

 

[clkelley]

FYI - Here is a link to the quick service Disney Brochure:

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/m...fic/eng/nontheme/tickets/2009QuickService.pdf

 

[nascarcheshirecat]

I just booked today for Feb 09, and ws thrilled witht the new quick serve plan(2 cs meals a day ) there are a variety of cs meals everywhere, and i enjoy checking out different resorts, so will try a few of them. i also like the fact that the mug is included, along with snacks. plenty of food, and variety, in my opinion, and best of all, no deciding where to eat 6 months in advance for dinnertime.

 

[herbg]

FYI - Here is a link to the quick service Disney Brochure:

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/m...fic/eng/nontheme/tickets/2009QuickService.pdf

thank you for that link.... I think we are going to go that route when we book. So glad that we can still have a plan, yet not base our Disney itinerary on dining reservations

 

[asmit4]

Well for us- we wouldn't use the cups. We are up every morning at 6am, and at the parks til late EMH...yes, we do DW commando. We really wouldn't have time to use the cup. Plus- with the CS meals a drink is included and we don't hang at the pool to make it worth it.

We would use the snacks but from what I've heard the snack list is going to be SEVERELY cut back from this year. I'm basing snacks at 3.00 each- some are more, some are less and with 2 per day we are likely to spend anywhere from 2-4 bucks per snack. That's 6.00

That leaves 23 bucks left for 2 CS meals...we would eat the dessert if it was included but otherwise we don't think the CS desserts are all that great so we wouldn't buy them. I have no doubt that we could eat a CS meal for 11.50. Sure there are CS meals that are more- but many are with drink, side and entree.

I don't think the CS meal plan is a good deal at all- mainly due to the price. We are most likely going to skip DW next year or just pay OOP. Figure on a 4 night trip as per usual- then pay OOP for CS/snacks and pay OOP for 2 TS meals. We most likely would come out better $$ wise. I'm gonna run some numbers to check.

 

[HelenePA]

This may have been covered elsewhere, but the cost of the CS plan will be $29.99 for adults and $8.99 for kids. Personally, I think this can be a pretty good deal with proper research and planning.

However, I still have an issue with dessert at every meal...are there people out there that really eat dessert every day at lunch and dinner? Perhaps this is just a vacation thing....I might eat dessert once or twice a week usually, and then even when on vacation it's not something we order frequently. The snack credits can be used for plenty of dessert-like options, so it all seems like sugar overkill.

I agree with some of the PPs that the CS is likely to be the "free" dining option in 2009, assuming there is any "free" dining option at all.

witht eh deserts we just took them back to the room for a midnight snack, or for breakfast... hey its vacation.. why not have cake?