Does anyone else dislike the Dining Plan?

[imatoad]

Does anyone but me dislike the dining plan?
*Complaint Over*

Nope, love it, love it, love it.

 

[dolcezena]

You are not required to eat one TS, one CS and one snack PER DAY. You are alloted that many credits for each night on your reservation. You can mix and match the credits. On your first day you can have one TS meal, on the second day a snack for breakfast, a CS lunch and a two credit TS dinner, on the third day a CS breakfast, snack and CS dinner, and so on until you've used all your credits.

Thanks for clearing that up for me! That was my initial understanding too, but then I started reading this thread & got confused!

I can't wait to use the DDP - another obssessive planner here - and I'm pretty sure it's not just at WDW that you have to make reservations far in advance if it's a vacation hotspot & a trendy restaurant. Think Vegas at New Years, or Banff during peak ski season! Also, we'll still be paying plenty OOP for drinks & wine - what's a great dinner without a great wine? Or, alternatively, a great wine can make a bad dinner worth it!

 

[DznyLvr2005]

DDP is the best thing Ive ever done in Disney!
First year I used it was last year and I couldn't believe how much food you get and how easy it all was to use. There was actually *too much food*.
I barely could eat all the desserts at the end!
Last year we happened to pay for dining, then the free dining came out so we were 100X happier about it when we called Disney and they refunded us!
This year we got the 40% off the room thing so we paid for dining for this upcoming trip.
I tell my parents now "how did we even do without this all the years that we've gone?!"

 

[HGD24]

I don't like the fact that with the DDP you're given a set number of TS, CS and snacks per stay and are forced to use them in that manner only. Why can't I use a TS at a CS restuarant if I so choose?

I like the old "Food & Fun" plan where you prepaid a set amount of money for each day of your stay and spent the money as you pleased. If you wanted to buy 10 bottles of water with your money, you were free to do so...it was your money to buy what you wanted, when you wanted.

With the F&F plan, we loved being able to walk into a park and decide what type of meal we felt like at that time. DDP has taken the freedom out of our vacations. We've never used it and never will. We're just "go with the moment" kind of people and don't like being forced into making dining ressies months in advance.

 

[jjk1107]

You said it! This is my problem with DDP too. We are 2 TS, 1 CS people too. And I've noticed the portion change as well. Ditto the menu "dumbdown" that others have commented on. I'm not saying DDP is all bad, but there could be improvement. One, don't mess with our menus! Keep what was unique about dining at disney. Two, more flexibility - have the option of being able to purchase more TS/CS credits, maybe. Part of what makes me nervous about booking DDP is having to analyze which meals are better paid for OOP and which to use the plan for. And the decision of whether to go with DDE instead. I guess I just got lazy. I've been to disney so many times that I know where I want to eat, so I could make ADRs for a week long vacation in no time flat (yes, well in advance) and finish the spreadsheet to match. But now I have to analyze which go in DDP, which are OOP, etc. Too much work!

Hi,

If you are doing a package, have you thought about doing the Premium package so that it would cover 3 meals a day including the signature restaurants? I wish they had this without the extra stuff like La Nouba, but it still may be a better value if you want to have the B,L, and D any way that you want it. I think it also includes the tours. I have not reallly priced it out to determine what the price difference is between the 2 different packages though, it is just a thought.

 

[kimberh]

We have done the DDP 3 times and its a no brainer for us. We ate at places that we have never experienced...some of the meals, for two were $119.00. I'm sorry, I do not see all the confusion on the plan. I have wasted more time in the past, trying to decide where to eat, then get there and no availability. Once, I found out about PS, I started booking that. It's just not that hard to decide which park to be in on which day, then pick a restaurant. If your plans change...make a phone call and see if the restaurant can accept you. For those saying you do not qualify, you must already be receiving a discount on your trip. Disney will give one discount per trip,(unless AAA) they consider the DDP a discount. You cannot book a AP room and get the DDP. I am a AP holder too. I get the plan when I use my DVC points. Once, I booked 3 rooms at AKL Savannah view with the AP discount. My discount was so large that it was worth it to me to buy our food. We ate at the buffets, and family style restaurants, they are cost effective if you have a large group. You have to look at the menus and prices and weigh it all out. I booked for that trip, Bomas, LTT, Mama Mel Rose's Fantasmic Package. I would have had MAJOR stress if we had ate at a TS a la carte menu.
The bottom line is everyone has to do what is best for them. The restaurants are FULL. I cannot stress this! On my last two trips, I have seen numerous families turned away after a long day with a dismayed look on their face.

 

[leanan]

I dislike that it is not available to all resort guests. AS a pass holder I do not need tickets so if I am staying at the resorts just because I love to do so I can not have the meal plan.

I live 20 minutes away but for certain events like Pirate and Princess Night I get a room to enhance the fun. Alright lets be honest I just love Disney and I am a freak.

I think it is unfair that I can not buy the meal plan. Even a slightly more expensive version of the meal plan would be nice. I do not want to see Disney destroy a good thing and follow the way of universal who has a cheap meal plan for the fast food restaurants only. Now their food quality completely sucks and the lines at the fast food areas SUCK! I love what Disney has done but if I am comming in for just the pirate and princess party or one of the holiday events I would still like to be able to purchase some level of discounted meal plan as long as I am staying in a hotel.

 

[TDC Nala]

You passholders...you CAN book packages with one-day base tickets, hold onto the tickets and use them when you renew your passes.

But I think for a package it has to be a 3-night minimum stay. And you'd be giving up AP rates.

 

[bicker]

I don't like the fact that with the DDP you're given a set number of TS, CS and snacks per stay and are forced to use them in that manner only. Why can't I use a TS at a CS restuarant if I so choose?

I suspect that, if they allowed that, people would insist on also being able to use CS at TS restaurants, and of course that's not practical. Also, currently there is only one button for the Dining Plan at CS eateries. It took months to retrofit and reprogram the TS cash registers to have two buttons (one for adults and one for children) -- I think people sometimes underestimate what it really takes to make a change like that.

 

[HGD24]

I suspect that, if they allowed that, people would insist on also being able to use CS at TS restaurants, and of course that's not practical.

I understand that we would not be able to use CS at a TS (for obvious reasons) and I didn't mean to infer that people should be able to do that. What I meant was that I'd like to be able to use a TS at a CS. I would do this knowing that TS's are more expensive and that I would be getting a less expensive meal, but the flexibility it would give me in allowing for more options for choosing when and what I wanted to eat would be worth it to me.

 

[leanan]

You passholders...you CAN book packages with one-day base tickets, hold onto the tickets and use them when you renew your passes.

But I think for a package it has to be a 3-night minimum stay. And you'd be giving up AP rates.

Sometimes the AP rates are not as good as you think. We save maybe a couple of dollars per night. I did check with the ressie line and they said yes I could do as you said do next time I stay overnight I will do that. Thanks for the idea. You are clever.

 

[pmtaylor]

The Dining Plan worked great for us. It was our first trip and it was nice for us to be able to use the meals for "special" events like character meals, Hoop-Dee-Doo, etc. We always had more than enough food to eat and ended up using a lot of our snacks for the trip home. I would do the dining plan again in a heartbeat!

 

[bicker]

I understand that we would not be able to use CS at a TS (for obvious reasons) and I didn't mean to infer that people should be able to do that. What I meant was that I'd like to be able to use a TS at a CS.

Sorry for the confusion. I understood that that's what you meant. My point is that other people wouldn't understand what you understand: They would insist that if the exchange goes one way it must go "back" the other way. The only way to avoid a nasty scene with people like that is to just avoid the issue altogether.

There is another possibility: There is only one button on the cash registers for CS. It took months to retrofit and reprogram the POS systems at TS restaurants to support two buttons for the Dining Plan. In this case, they'd have to figure out a way to update the CS cash registers from one button to three or four buttons. It's not clear to me that this is important enough to warrant all that work.

 

[HGD24]

Bicker - I agree that the retrofitting is a lot of work, I just miss the old days of the flexible Food & Fun plan and hope that they one day come up with another plan that is just as flexible.

 

[bicker]

Well, of course, there are plans that are just as flexible as Food and Fun was. They're just a lot more expensive.

 

[mabenoab]

Are you all saying that if my family (travelling to WDW in the first week of July this year) wants to go to a sit down restaurant for dinner, we have to make Priority Seating arrangements now because if we don't we can pretty much be assured that we won't be able to eat at a sit down restaurant?

I think thats just awful...not everyone wants to plan way in advance, and I would think Disney would keep some tables available for same week PS arrangements.

Does anyone know if a guest is staying concierge, can the concierge perhaps arrange seating during the trip?

Wow. Now I'm feeling like I have to get the DP, and I'm not yet convinced that its worth the $. I'd appreciate any clarity anyone can offer.

Thanks so much,
Beth

 

[Sk8Leigh]

Wow. Now I'm feeling like I have to get the DP, and I'm not yet convinced that its worth the $. I'd appreciate any clarity anyone can offer.

You don't have to get the DP to make reservations. I don't think the DP is worth the money for me, but I do have two ADRs.

 

[bicker]

Are you all saying that if my family (travelling to WDW in the first week of July this year) wants to go to a sit down restaurant for dinner, we have to make Priority Seating arrangements now because if we don't we can pretty much be assured that we won't be able to eat at a sit down restaurant?

No. As far as I know, there has never been a meal where you couldn't get accommodated at some table-service restaurant somewhere on property. The issue is only a matter of whether or not you want your choice of restaurant, and/or whether you want to avoid possibly having to take a bus to one of the more remote Disney resorts where they would almost surely still have availability at the last minute.

I think thats just awful...not everyone wants to plan way in advance, and I would think Disney would keep some tables available for same week PS arrangements.

That's just a shell game. So if they hold back until the week prior, then just before that some guests hit the brick wall. If they hold back until the month prior, then just before that some guests hit the brick wall. First come, first served is a time-tested and time-honored method of fair allocation of scarce resources.

Does anyone know if a guest is staying concierge, can the concierge perhaps arrange seating during the trip?

Yes, that's possible, though not assured.

Wow. Now I'm feeling like I have to get the DP, and I'm not yet convinced that its worth the $.

The fact that people are filling the restaurants so completely is a compelling indication that they consider Disney dining, if not the Dining Plan itself, worth the money. YMMV. Regardless, you can make dining reservations without getting the Dining Plan (or even before you decide one way or the other).

 

[mabenoab]

Thank you bicker & sk8Leigh for your responses. I think I understand now that DP doesn't mean you HAVE to have ADRs, that TS may or may not be available (just not necessarily when/where we want it). Actually, the DP may or may not have anything to do with the popularity of the restaurants (I think its the food!!).

We're picking out two absolutely must have while we're there TS restaurants and making ADRs there, and then the rest of the time we'll just wing it, I think. We're pretty easy to please, and there's always counter service.

I did a spreadsheet last night comparing the DP pricing, projected out of pocket meals expenses, and the project savings if we got concierge and took all breakfasts/snacks there. It turns out the out of pocket & DP pricing came pretty darn close to each other, and since we don't like limitations of any kind (real or imagined), we've decided to just out of pocket it. I think if my kids were younger we would benefit from the DP, but not at this stage.

You are all so awesome, thank you for your helpful responses!!

Beth

 

[cottontail]

Hi Beth:

I am glad to hear that you did a spreadsheet comparing prices of out of pocket or dining plan. I think I will try that as well. For my family the diningplan forces us to do more tableservice meals, but also allows us to eat at more expensive restaurants/character meals than we probably would have paying out of pocket.

Bye,

Deb.