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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
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.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
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 always do the quick service plan..Although I don't think it's a hugh savings..I just like having everything paid in full when we get there...I say it is worth it for sure...
I don't think QS is much of a deal. I put aside the money I would have spent buying the DDP, and when we arrive, I put it on a gift card to use for dining. So it's like having it pre-paid, and all I do is show my gift card at the restaurants.
I save, because we don't drink pop- don't like it. So we're happy with ice water, and we don't have a dessert after every meal. Also- if we want a dessert, we're not tied down to having the offerings at the place we're eatting at. I can eat lunch at Back Lot, and then a little later go to Starring Rolls for a yummy cupcake. They are huge, and we share.
I don't think QS is much of a deal. I put aside the money I would have spent buying the DDP, and when we arrive, I put it on a gift card to use for dining. So it's like having it pre-paid, and all I do is show my gift card at the restaurants.
I save, because we don't drink pop- don't like it. So we're happy with ice water, and we don't have a dessert after every meal. Also- if we want a dessert, we're not tied down to having the offerings at the place we're eatting at. I can eat lunch at Back Lot, and then a little later go to Starring Rolls for a yummy cupcake. They are huge, and we share.
I was wondering about the water thing. at home when we go out to eat I always get water. do you have to pay for ice water at the counter service resturants. also what about table service meals?
I was wondering about the water thing. at home when we go out to eat I always get water. do you have to pay for ice water at the counter service resturants. also what about table service meals?
I personally have asked for ice water even when just ordering a snack. They have never charged me for a cup of ice water. Of course if you ask my DH he will tell you, "oh you paid for that ice water all right. The cost is just built into what you pay for your food".
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Planning a trip to WDW is like planning a wedding... If you expect things to be flawless, you will be sadly disappointed. If you know that there will be less than perfect times & decide to just laugh them off, then you will be excited when you find the magic all around you.
disney quick service dining or pay of of pocket. which do you think is best way to go?
There are a lot of variables to consider, before you can answer that question.
For one: the Quick Service plan will almost certainly not save you a single dollar. Odds are good that you'll wind up breaking even.
However, many people - myself among them - put certain value on simply knowing that, no matter what else happens - bank failure, theft/loss of your CC or travelers' cheques, an ATM network outage, whatever - you have two meals per person per day, pre-paid. There's a certain sense of security, and peace of mind, to be had in that.
There is also a benefit in that you can deny charging privileges to some of your party (young children, for example), yet AFAIK they can still use dining credits. So while you might not trust your eleven-year-old with the family credit card (via room charges), he or she CAN still get and pay for their own meal, via the dining plan. Also, drinks and snacks/treats from vendors in the parks.
For dining plans that include one or more Table Service credits, there's also the sense of being liberated from the prices in the menu; you can order an entree because of how tasty it sounds, NOT because the price falls within your budget. Obviously it's not a factor for the QSDP, but for normally-frugal diners, the Basic and Deluxe DDPs can offer a sense of freedom and adventure, that way.
Ice, iced water, and sometimes hot water are free where available. True on both coasts.
Dining Plans
Each person must sit down and figure what they normally will spend and what they will eat. I rarely eat dessert so that is something on the DDP that made it not worthwhile. On the QSP you get two meals and a snack. You have to decide if you will pay more out of pocket or with the plan. It would be cheaper for me to do out of pocket as I would not use the desserts while for others it is just a little bit of savings. There are some QSP meals that can be expensive thus profitable but most are $10 and under so you would have to plan to eat a certain way which defeats the free spirit dining.
Get gift cards and add them to your KTTW card if you want to save up for the trip. For me there is the credit card interest on anything charges such as the plan. If you spend $400 or more a year in dining and drinks then look into the Tables in Wonderland card if you have AP, DVC or Florida residence. I am not a big fan of the dining plans, I could never profit from them.
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Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
We have used the QSD our last two visits....and love it!
It would depend on how many people are in your family. We have two adults and three young children...so we find it well worth it. Maybe two adults, not so much.
The things I love...
1. knowing my meals are all paid for leaves the cost of food not hanging over my head during the trip (I know any spending money I have is for souvenirs and face panting...the fun stuff).
2. if you look at your receipt after each meal, it will tell you what you would have paid. We average about $45/ meal....so $45 x 3 + snacks = usually way more than we paid for QS.
3. you can get your receipt stamped at your resort eatery, and get a sundae/ milkshake/ pecan tart w/ ice cream for dessert when you are done your meal. Make sure to ask for brownies in your sundae!!
4. being able to treat my children to mickey mouse ice cream bars on Main Street...(already paid for) makes me feel smart! (they are app $4/ each).
5. If you do a little research, you can get the most for your QSD dollar (ie: you can get a Dole Whip Float MK for a snack....$5). I never bought a $2 coffee with a snack credit.
6. any un-used snacks can be used at the cafeteria/ gift shop for snacks to go. Bought a lot of cotton candy and bags of candy home for souvenirs (the receipt said if I had paid for it, it would have been $75 worth of candy). And we never deprived ourselves of snacks on the trip.
remember:
-you can get water at the drink stations at your resort. Ours was a little button beside the lemonade...ask a workstation CM, they will show you.
-If you buy a coffee off-site (or pop)...there are always free refills at places where you serve yourself (ie: the Land pavilion cafeteria). So when I bought a coffee at a park, I tried to find a refillable place so my husband could fix himself up one when I was done! Kinda cheating, but I saw a lot of people using their resort mugs at the parks...which you are not supposed to do.
We were going to do the quick service for next week when we're there, but it didn't work for us. Review the menu's, see what you would order and compare the costs. We generally get the DDP and love it. This trip was last minute and we are trying to see how little we can spend. We went through and each picked out what we would order, quick service only. (This will be the first trip in many years without O'hana) Many of the items we each wanted weren't on the dining plan. So, for this trip at least, it was an easy decision.
We'll be back on the dining plan next trip. Oh, wait, next trip is a cruise. Is that considered a built in dining plan????? What I need there is a DRINKING plan!
We have enjoyed the QSDP on our last 3 trips. As Sean said above, (1) there is security in knowing that you have the meals to count on even if something comes up that bankrupts your trip savings; and (2) you are liberated from feeling like you have to economize by selecting less expensive entrees. We have found that CMs are usually flexible about substituting a side salad or soup for the dessert; some even suggested it when we asked to use a snack credit for the soup or salad. We often share a meal credit for breakfast and one for lunch and then get separate meals for supper. When I caught a cold and for a few days wanted just soup and hot tea, I could use snack credits for my soup and we had meal credits to use later in the trip for trying out more exotic entrees (that we weren't so sure we'd like) and meals for the trip home.
Sean was right about another suggestion: Our 15-month old DGD had a KTTW in her name that we could use for meals & snacks while her grandpa had all of the others on fastpass runs.
We know that the QSDP doesn't really save you anything, but my husband glumly settled for burgers for most meals, grumbling about the prices, until we got the QS plan two years ago. Suddenly, meal times became pleasant, as he was liberated from fretting over the cost. It was already paid for!
We normally did not spend the extra money for desserts, so it is a pleasure to get fruit, a big cookie, or similar item to use as a snack in the room--or even enjoy an ice cream sundae once or twice per trip. Having the option to take a bottled beverage for our meal means we don't shell out for Diet Cokes, orange juice or bottled water to take to the parks; we use our refillable mugs at the resort and save the bottles for later. And many real food items are available for snack credits, like oatmeal or soup. All in all, it works well for us primarily from a psychological standpoint and that's worth a lot when you're traveling with Mr. Gloom and Doom.
We always budgeted about $35 per adult/big kid and $15 per little kid for 2 meals and snacks per day when at Disney (we bring breakfast items to eat in the room). We never bought the QSDP since it was pretty much a wash for us. However, when we went last June, we got free dining so we were able to try the dining plan (it was a bigger savings than any room discounts at that time). We really liked having the dining plan simply because we didn't have to worry about how much something cost. Our teens/tweens always seem to want the most expensive thing on the menu and on this trip, DH wasn't calculating in his head and making sure everyone stayed on budget (even though he would never tell someone they couldn't get what they wanted to eat -- he would just adjust *his* choices to keep the family on budget.). We aren't big dessert eaters but found out very quickly that many places will substitute fruit or a bottled drink for dessert which worked out well for us (I really wish they would eliminate the dessert and add back another snack.). We also tried different counter service restaurants on that trip because we didn't have to worry about staying on budget. DH already said he wants to get the QSDP again the next time we go. I'm sure cost-wise it will be a break-even for us, but psychologically it will be a win and will make our trip less stressful. We aren't big eaters so I don't think I could make either of the other dining plans work for us financially, but the QSDP works for us.
We know that the QSDP doesn't really save you anything, but my husband glumly settled for burgers for most meals, grumbling about the prices, until we got the QS plan two years ago. Suddenly, meal times became pleasant, as he was liberated from fretting over the cost. It was already paid for!
Quote:
Originally Posted by allgiggles
Our teens/tweens always seem to want the most expensive thing on the menu and on this trip, DH wasn't calculating in his head and making sure everyone stayed on budget (even though he would never tell someone they couldn't get what they wanted to eat -- he would just adjust *his* choices to keep the family on budget.).
Two very good examples of non-monetary benefits provided by the various dining plans.
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I always do the quick service plan..Although I don't think it's a hugh savings..I just like having everything paid in full when we get there...I say it is worth it for sure...
) Many of the items we each wanted weren't on the dining plan. So, for this trip at least, it was an easy decision.
Always studying for my next WDW trip!
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