How long before they stop letting people share?

[Jenna319]

So me and my fiance will be doing the dining plan for our honeymoon and we are not big eaters.... For the table service, we can share and only order one meal and therefore, save a credit that way for say, a Disney dinner show?

 

[bicker]

Well, the dinner shows would require 2TS per person (no sharing), but effectively you could share meals at meals, and save up enough credits for a dinner show. Just be sure to provide the server an additional gratuity in each case: The gratuities included in the Dining Plan cover the diner who orders a meal; it is expected that when you share meals, on the Dining Plan or otherwise, that you provide an additional tip to cover the service provided to the extra diner.

 

[disneymom06]

When I called and asked the CM about reservations for just dessert the ADR was not discouraged in fact the CM was pleasant and said that it was OK.

Plate sharing may be coming but if it does than it would have to be minimal. If there is a minimum per person it would have to be less than the value of a child's meal because that would seriously impact families.

IMO, Stopping the cheating, is what was really hurting the bottom line, not plate sharing.

 

[jodifla]

When I called and asked the CM about reservations for just dessert the ADR was not discouraged in fact the CM was pleasant and said that it was OK.

Plate sharing may be coming but if it does than it would have to be minimal. If there is a minimum per person it would have to be less than the value of a child's meal because that would seriously impact families.

IMO, Stopping the cheating, is what was really hurting the bottom line, not plate sharing.

Why? They could have adult minimums, and child minimums quite easily.

Frankly, IMO it looks absolutely pathetic with all the people coming on the boards and asking if they can "share" a meal.

 

[minniebeth]

Why? They could have adult minimums, and child minimums quite easily.

Frankly, IMO it looks absolutely pathetic with all the people coming on the boards and asking if they can "share" a meal.

I think that is pretty judgemental...my impression was that the DisBoards was here to offer information to people who ask, not to judge why they are asking. Not everyone wants to pinch pennies. (Maybe some people really NEED to pinch pennies...) But the point is not everyone wants to stuff themselves to the gills with the disproportionate amount of food Disney serves. Maybe some people are conscious to the fact that to waste a lot of food that they know they will not eat if they order their own meal is just ridiculous.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Why? They could have adult minimums, and child minimums quite easily.

Frankly, IMO it looks absolutely pathetic with all the people coming on the boards and asking if they can "share" a meal.

I don't see why. WIth all the food that is given in a single meal (app, entree and dessert) that is a lot of food for one person to eat. By sharing a meal, less food is wasted and everyone is happy.

I don't see anything wrong with it at all. Just MHO

 

[mom2my3kids]

I can see why they would charge a extra charge on a extra plate. It would not upset me if they did not allow sharing on ts on meal plans. I mean the whole deal to Disney is if they make a profit on the meal plan. If people are sharing and stretching there meals then that is less that they will spend at the parks and on meals. You have people sharing, then giving some of their meals to people not on the meal plan. That in turn cuts profits to Disney, normally these people would purchase something at the parks instead of getting it free. You had people in the past, use child credits and get adult meals in turn hurting the restaurants revenue. They were only getting paid a child price not a adult price. I mean really I know its a lot of food, but you don't have to be on the meal plan. Pay OOP if you feel bad about leaving or having to order that much food.:confused

 

[minniebeth]

I can see why they would charge a extra charge on a extra plate. It would not upset me if they did not allow sharing on ts on meal plans. I mean the whole deal to Disney is if they make a profit on the meal plan. If people are sharing and stretching there meals then that is less that they will spend at the parks and on meals. You have people sharing, then giving some of their meals to people not on the meal plan. That in turn cuts profits to Disney, normally these people would purchase something at the parks instead of getting it free. You had people in the past, use child credits and get adult meals in turn hurting the restaurants revenue. They were only getting paid a child price not a adult price. I mean really I know its a lot of food, but you don't have to be on the meal plan. Pay OOP if you feel bad about leaving or having to order that much food.:confused

It is just a lot of food, even if you are not on the DDP. Disney's entrees overall are large. In my opinion, it is not the money necessarily, it is just the amount of waste of food. Also, Disney is going to get my money one way or another. If they want my money through dining or from a sharing plate fee, they'll get it, but then it's less I'll be spending on buying other stuff. If I can share my meals, eat senibly, I'll spend my money on pins, popcorn, pirates, princesses, parties, Plutos, etc....

 

[jodifla]

It is just a lot of food, even if you are not on the DDP. Disney's entrees overall are large. In my opinion, it is not the money necessarily, it is just the amount of waste of food. Also, Disney is going to get my money one way or another. If they want my money through dining or from a sharing plate fee, they'll get it, but then it's less I'll be spending on buying other stuff. If I can share my meals, eat senibly, I'll spend my money on pins, popcorn, pirates, princesses, parties, Plutos, etc....

But if you're not saddled with the DDP, you can just order what you'll eat. You don't have to get an appetizer, entree AND dessert at EACH TS meal.

That's one of the MANY MANY flaws with the DDP IMO. It's a truckload of food, so people feel obligated to stuff themselves. And then it creates this accounting mania, where people try to get the max out of it by "sharing." That in turn stuffs the restaurants too full, and people have to plan where they want to eat 180 days in advance.

It's all crazy in my book.

 

[Tink3Belle]

I think they would get a backlash from people I don't see them adding a sharing charge its family friendly.

 

[junglejoy]

I've been away from here for awhile, so this using child credits for children and adult credits for adults is news to me.

We have the opposite problem of many of you. Our 10 yr old is charged as an adult but usually eats a kids meal. We would pay for her kids meal OOP (they graciously allowed us to order from the kids menu - sometimes she wanted adult food but usually wanted the kids choices) and then one night DH and I went to Calif Grill and used her unused credits. They were adult credits, used by adults - no kids getting adult meals. But we did have an adult (age 10) getting a kid meal. We always asked if it was okay, we explained our DD was 10. They were always fine with it. In fact at every restaurant she was given the kids menu even though they knew (from the adult/child credit on the reservation) that she should be considered an adult.

I was always grateful they let us order from the kids menu. It wouldn't have been bad to use an adult credit to pay for her kids meal, but it was nice we didn't have to. Of course when it was a buffet (Boma, Chef Mickey's, etc.), she was charged the adult credit.

Not that this comment belongs here, but we won't do the dining plan again. I think the only way you can get what you pay for is if you completely stuff yourself always order the most expensive thing or eat at the most expensive places. I like the freedom of not having to worry about if I'm getting my $$$ worth. Next time we will pay for what we eat and only order what we can consume (or maybe a little more ). The DDP, for us, was just too much food. And we really didn't get our $$$ worth. We wasted a LOT of food and overate way too much.

 

[akrake]

This is in my opinion stealing. You know full well when you pay $11 for the kids DDP and are getting the same food as the $40 adult plan thats wrong. I had a 3YO with me on my last trip and knowing I could get the adult meal because of a loophole did not let my concious do it.

LONG LIVE THE DDP and SHARING!!!!

When I went in December...I was ordering off the adult menu for my 10 yr old and at TS with menus I was always asked to clarify who the 2nd adult was. I was there with 4 kids and don't think I could have gotten away with ordering 4 adult meals. jmo.

 

[akrake]

The DDP, for us, was just too much food. And we really didn't get our $$$ worth. We wasted a LOT of food and overate way too much.

It was just the opposite for us...since my kids really didn't like the kids meals that were offered, we shared appies & desserts...also, I think we at a lots less in between meals....I stuck to just using our S credits for the snacks (I think we only got an OOP snack 2x and just for 1 one us). We mostly bought Water with the S credits...only had popcorn one day & ice cream another. In a way, we really ate less.

 

[bicker]

I apologize in advance for the wording of this message. It is very carefully worded to make it clear that I'm not insulting anyone or saying anyone is necessarily doing anything wrong. If I wrote it more plainly, some people may more readily misinterpret it.

I don't see why. WIth all the food that is given in a single meal (app, entree and dessert) that is a lot of food for one person to eat. By sharing a meal, less food is wasted and everyone is happy. I don't see anything wrong with it at all. Just MHO

Well, I do see Jodi's point to some extent.

Generally speaking, it is a reasonable assumption that Disney's intent is for each diner at a restaurant to order a meal. This is consistent with the restaurant industry in general, and consistent with how Disney presents this menus. Disney does offer some "family style" meals, but Disney clearly promotes them as such; the others are almost surely intended as single servings, even though there is no prohibition against, nor penalty for, sharing.
Where portion sizes are large, it is likely to be to better accommodate the fact that some guests have large appetites while others have small appetites, rather than any attempt to secretly offer family style meals. (For one indicator of that: If their intent was that every menu item was a family meal, then each Dining Plan credit would come with one beverage for each diner, rather than just one beverage.)

Now if nothing ever changes, then perhaps there wouldn't be a reason for concern about sharing. However, Jodi, and the rest of us, have seen the effect of people using Disney's offerings counter to reasonable assumptions of Disney's intent: Disney does change things, and, from Jodi's perspective, changes that have been in response to usage counter to reasonable intent have generally been negative for the guests who do use the offerings in accordance with that reasonable intent.

 

[disneymom06]

It is just a lot of food, even if you are not on the DDP. Disney's entrees overall are large. In my opinion, it is not the money necessarily, it is just the amount of waste of food. Also, Disney is going to get my money one way or another. If they want my money through dining or from a sharing plate fee, they'll get it, but then it's less I'll be spending on buying other stuff. If I can share my meals, eat senibly, I'll spend my money on pins, popcorn, pirates, princesses, parties, Plutos, etc....

Some of us don't want to waste food.

We are not scamming or pathetic if we share the app, entree and dessert . A Disney vacation is a large outlay. We pay rack rate room prices for the eligibility to purchase the DDP. My family with the intention that we have the ability to share if someone wants a light meal.

And Disney is AWARE at the many other items that I purchased that normally I don't. In the end I spent more on the rooms , less on the food , and more in the extras .

A sharing charge may be coming but the math must work for Disney.

 

[bicker]

I think the only way you can get what you pay for is if you completely stuff yourself always order the most expensive thing or eat at the most expensive places.

I thought so, too, initially, and then I checked. Actually, you can do better than break-even with the Dining Plan even if you don't ever order any appetizers or desserts! The key is simply to make sure you use up your TS credits.

Here's a link to the calculations that show this.

 

[bicker]

Some of us don't want to waste food.

I feel that the "wasting food" concerns are based on myths, or perhaps facts that are simply no longer true. Our nation lets a great amount of food whither in the field; we've got more than enough food -- so much food, in fact, that many small farmers have trouble making ends meet because the glut of available food causes prices to be so low.

A sharing charge may be coming but the math must work for Disney.

Perhaps, but I think we've already seen Disney, and many other restaurants, begin working this issue from another direction: Reducing portion sizes.

 

[disneymom06]

While I understand bickers comment about wasting food, I was not speaking of food shortages. When food is not finished and discarded it is a waste to throw it away.

 

[The Sweetness]

The way I see it, if we have dinner at a buffet, or fam stlye TS with drink and tip inc, and I get a basic burger basket from a CS, I am already covered. Not counting that I get an extra snack, dessert w my CS, and also that I will likely spend more at places like Le Cellier and PT50s (still just 1 credit) So I think its well worth it

 

[fakereadhed]

I would have a problem with plate sharing fees only because Disney considers children over nine to be "adults". There is no way I can eat an entire TS credit all by myself- why can't my two kids share one between them? I know this has been brought up before, but I wish they had a junior menu/DDP option. If DS and I share, I would cough up the fee. If my two spindly, eat-like-birds kids that are considered adults get charged for sharing I would have a problem with it.

Sorry kids if you are reading this, but you could stand to put on a few more pounds.