As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I have just added the Quick Service Dining plant to my package but now I am not sure if I should just buy everything Out of Pocket! I am worried about being limited to what I can and can't order. I am really torn.
HELP....can anyone offer advice - we plan to share meals and snacks so I am now not sure if the Quick Service Dining Plan is going to be worth it.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
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You aren't limited by the plan, it's one entree, one drink and one dessert. I can't remember any meal being excluded at a CS restaurant. You can share meals. We do that and are able to get three meals in on some days. The only reason I'd rethink doing it is that having a dessert with every meal really isn't my style and I'm trying to drink fewer sodas. I'd save money by eating out of pocket.
We do the QSP and we have been happy. We to do not eat dessert with every meal and share on occasion but I like having the food pre-paid. Do you save a ton of money. No--but after adding up my receipts from our last trip we did save money. We have never had anything we could not order on the Quick Service locations. Happy Planning.
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Thanks so much for the advice!! Does anyone pre order water and soda's to be delivered to their resort? if so who do you use?
We are flying in from South Africa so would like some first hand accounts of who to use as I don't want to pay lots of money for water and soda's if I can help it...also please tell me what the water in the drinking fountains is like?
Thanks so much for the advice!! Does anyone pre order water and soda's to be delivered to their resort? if so who do you use?
We are flying in from South Africa so would like some first hand accounts of who to use as I don't want to pay lots of money for water and soda's if I can help it...also please tell me what the water in the drinking fountains is like?
We recently (after many many trips to WDW) used Garden Grocer for the first time - I can't say enough GOOD about them - I was very pleased with the entire service!!! My items were waiting for me when I checked in - they called me to inform me that they were at the resort - the cold items were cold - it was just fantastic!
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We've found that most drinking fountains taste fine. We've only encountered a couple that were awful. We stop by counter service places and request free ice water a lot. Saves having to carry a bottle around with us all day.
If you do go with the QS meal plan, you'll each get a refillable mug to use at your resort food court to use for sodas or tea or coffee.
We love the Quick service plan! You have so many options!!!! What resort are you staying at? We would eat some of our dinners after we got back to the resort. We would use our refillable mugs for our drinks and get bottled water or juice to take back to our room for the next day at the parks. That worked really well for us. Also we would get sides or desserts that we could save for breakfast or snacks in the parks...like fruit, bagels, etc. Another tip we have is if you don't want your dessert with your meal you can get your receipt stamped and get it later. (not sure if every place will do that but we found several). We would eat dinner at the resort then swim a while and go back and get ice cream.
I will do the quick service dining plan the next time we go!!!
We used garden grocer for breakfast items and beer on our last trip and we were pleased with them. There's nothing wrong with the tap water, though, and a refillable mug might be cheaper than delivery if you drink lots of soda.
We love the Quick service plan! You have so many options!!!! What resort are you staying at? We would eat some of our dinners after we got back to the resort. We would use our refillable mugs for our drinks and get bottled water or juice to take back to our room for the next day at the parks. That worked really well for us. Also we would get sides or desserts that we could save for breakfast or snacks in the parks...like fruit, bagels, etc. Another tip we have is if you don't want your dessert with your meal you can get your receipt stamped and get it later. (not sure if every place will do that but we found several). We would eat dinner at the resort then swim a while and go back and get ice cream.
I will do the quick service dining plan the next time we go!!!
We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside in a Garden view room. the eating dinners at the resort sounds like a plan for some of the nights. we are there for 8 days in Sept 2013. we arrive on the 18th and depart the 26th.
This is our 3rd Wedding Anniversary and also our Christmas presents.
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I am worried about being limited to what I can and can't order. I am really torn.
Don't be. Disney does not have a separate menu for people on the DDP.
If you go to a counter-service location (the kind of place where you carry your food to the table yourself), then every possible meal there, should be eligible for payment with a QS Credit.
(The regular and Deluxe dining plans work the same way, by teh by: cash or DDP, you get the same menu, and can order ANYthing off the menu you like - excepting only some items meant "for two", but those are fairly uncommon and IIRC limited only to a few appetiser items here and there.)
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HELP....can anyone offer advice - we plan to share meals and snacks so I am now not sure if the Quick Service Dining Plan is going to be worth it.
Now, that's a different question entirely. And one that's not so easily answered (how many people sharing how many meals and how often each day, for example).
One thing to keep in mind, is that meal and snack credits are pooled per room, not per person.
So if there's two people, you'd get 4 meal credits per night of your stay. If you shared breakfast (1 credit), shared lunch (1 credit), and got separate dinners (2 credits), the QSDP would cover all your meal needs.
OTOH, if you only shared lunch, but wanted separate Breakfasts and Dinners, you would wind up paying for one person's meal (or the shared lunch) out of pocket.
Or if you were going to do dinner at a table-service restaurant each night, you'd have an extra credit unused.
So as you can see, there's a lot of variables there. Your best bet, IMO, is to guesstimate how much you would spend for each type of meal (QS or TS), per person ... and compare that to the cost of a meal plan.
...
Another thing to keep in mind is, the DDPs have some non-monetary benefits. Chief among them, IMO, is knowing that your meals are already pre-paid. Even if your bank disappeared off the face of the earth, you'd have those meal credits available; you wouldn't go hungry. In turn, all of your spendable money is SPENDABLE; you don't have to hold any back for food, if you don't want to.
Which is a nice little nugget of peace-of-mind, IMO.
We tried the QSDP when we got it "free," and my husband (aka Mr. Cheap) loved it so much that he wants it every trip, free or not. The main benefit for us is that our meals are mostly prepaid. All your meal and snack credits for your stay are loaded on your KTTW card. You can use them in any order you wish. You could use three meal credits per person if you wanted, or six snacks in one day, however you would like to use them. When they're used up, that's it. We normally pay for one or two person's last CS OOP, since my son is a big eater and likes three full meals a day.
We are also not big dessert people, but there are dessert items that can be used as small meals: fruit and yogurt parfait, muffin, croissant, etc. Just take it back to your room for a late night snack or breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, I use snack credits at our resort food court for many breakfast items. In addition to fruit, yogurt and pastries, you can get bagels and cream cheese, oatmeal, and biscuits with sausage gravy (I suspect this is strictly an American thing--but quite filling). We also select bottled beverages with the meals we eat our resort and drink out of our refillable mugs (included in the plan) with the meal. Then we have a drink to tote to the parks with us!
As to what's included: everything. Last trip I spotted a salmon salad at ABC Commissary in the Studios. When I asked the guy if it was truly a QSDP item (price: $10.99), he said "Yes!" It was a beautiful warm slab of salmon on a huge bowl of greens, an amazing value for a CS meal.
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There are some really great values available on the QSDP--my favorites are Sunshine Seasons and Tangerine Cafe at Epcot and the food court at Art of Animation. Disney doesn't have any restrictions on what meals you can order on the QSDP. Besides AoA there are some fantastic QS meals at the resorts--Captain Cook's at the Poly is good and so is the Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary. My favorite is Roaring Forks at the Wilderness Lodge
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