NO MORE Dining Plan for us..my reasons

[calypso*a*go-go]

I think the reason is that 2 appys and 2 desserts means that you are taking up a table longer than 0 appys and 4 desserts. I would bet that the new plan squeezes an extra seating in per table, making even more money for Disney.

This is one case where I'm sad to say I think we are both correct.

 

[igitur]

I think the reason is that 2 appys and 2 desserts means that you are taking up a table longer than 0 appys and 4 desserts. I would bet that the new plan squeezes an extra seating in per table, making even more money for Disney.

hmmm...never even thought of it that way but you might be right!

Silly, if they're thinking that way...people tend to linger over dessert more than they do over appetizers. In that case, take away all desserts and only allow appetizers!

 

[robinb]

Silly, if they're thinking that way...people tend to linger over dessert more than they do over appetizers.

Not if they have the "right" server .

In that case, take away all desserts and only allow appetizers!

I'm with you. I prefer appys to desserts but I think we are in a minority. Especially at WDW where people are ready to "treat" themselves. For a lot of people "treat" and "chocolate" are synonymous, LOL.

When my DH and I go out to dinner we almost always share an appetizer and a dessert. I was on the DDP over New Years and it was the first time I thought I was going to burst with so much food! I left most desserts only half eaten expect for Almond-crusted cheesecake at Narcoossee's. I just about licked the plate clean!

 

[igitur]

When my DH and I go out to dinner we almost always share an appetizer and a dessert.

Same here! We actually had DDP several years ago and while we loved it for the most part, we ended up taking our desserts "home" everynight because we were just too full! By the end of the trip, we had a refrigerator full of desserts! Didn't do a thing for us but some people would have been in 7th heaven I'm sure!

 

[Melrosgirl]

No more DDP for us either. Have used it twice now and it's nice - or it WAS nice - the new changes are totally not for us (especially now that ds is considered a big boy now and dd is considered an adult! I think not. Those two eat like birds.)

 

[StayFLA]

I went last year (Sept 07) with the wife, two teenagers (17 Yrs), DS 12, DD 7. The DDP let the teenagers explore on their own and eat when hungary, CS or walk up TS if available. We planned for character meals (some for all, and some without the teens (CRT breakfast)) and made some ADRs, but didn't plan the vacation around meals. We had a sick mom and DD midweek and didn't eat out then (I did use snack credits for a dozen doughnuts and milk for the ill in my party). I'm sure we lost money by using the plan, but these things happen. We didn't use some TS, CS, and snack credits. The key point I want to make about this trip is that the teens could eat anywhere on the plan and just use their KTTW room card. They have the room card, give them map, and give them DDP participants list and let them roam. Any problems, call on the cell phone. This may be a unique situation, but it worked for me due to convienence. 2008 DDP doesn't offer this.

Ralph

 

[Chuck S]

The key point I want to make about this trip is that the teens could eat anywhere on the plan and just use their KTTW room card. They have the room card, give them map, and give them DDP participants list and let them roam. Any problems, call on the cell phone. This may be a unique situation, but it worked for me due to convienence. 2008 DDP doesn't offer this.

Ralph

Just give the teens the ability to room charge, they can bill the gratuity back to the room.

 

[CarolA]

I think the reason is that 2 appys and 2 desserts means that you are taking up a table longer than 0 appys and 4 desserts. I would bet that the new plan squeezes an extra seating in per table, making even more money for Disney.

I think the reason was probably the "sharing" that was occuring.

You know two adult get ONE appetizer and ONE meal and split it then then they can eat at TS resturants twice as often for half the cost. Don't believe me, there were WHOLE threads on the Resturant board on "the best way to STRECH your meals" and "the best appetizers to split" . (Titles invented by me, point of threads was not!)

 

[BCV23]

I went last year (Sept 07) with the wife, two teenagers (17 Yrs), DS 12, DD 7. The DDP let the teenagers explore on their own and eat when hungary, CS or walk up TS if available. We planned for character meals (some for all, and some without the teens (CRT breakfast)) and made some ADRs, but didn't plan the vacation around meals. We had a sick mom and DD midweek and didn't eat out then (I did use snack credits for a dozen doughnuts and milk for the ill in my party). I'm sure we lost money by using the plan, but these things happen. We didn't use some TS, CS, and snack credits. The key point I want to make about this trip is that the teens could eat anywhere on the plan and just use their KTTW room card. They have the room card, give them map, and give them DDP participants list and let them roam. Any problems, call on the cell phone. This may be a unique situation, but it worked for me due to convienence. 2008 DDP doesn't offer this.

Ralph

I'm confused. Why wouldn't the DDP afford the teens the same convenience? Of course, it sounds as if you could no longer get a box of donuts for a snack credit which makes complete sense to me.

But your situation with illness brings me to one of the reasons I'll won't book the current DDP. Although I still think it's easy to save a bit on the plan if everyone stays healthy, if illness strikes it would be so easy to lose value.

The loss of appetizer is also a deal breaker. Loss of dessert, no problem but don't take those appetizers.

And we don't like CS unless it's breakfast to take back to the villa or sandwiches for the plane.

 

[kindra657]

i didn't read throught he 11 pages of posts on this topic so someone else may have already mentioned this but:
i LOVED the ddp before! now i am a bit disappointed! i would have preferred the ddp to stay the same & the price per person increase
anyways, after speaking with some of my disney friends we were thinking that maybe the ddp was a very good marketing plan to attract more people into staying on property & a way to get people into a habit of dining every day on disney property.
our first trip was spent off property and we only dined at 1 disney restaurant. on our 2nd trip, we had the ddp & we LOVED the restaurants in disney! my dh & i both agreed that disney has succeeded in their marketing plan! if the ddp was done away with completely, we would still dine on property every single day & pay full price for every meal. i have a feeling that in a few years or so, disney may do away with the ddp because they know that so many people have grown accustomed to dining in disney!

 

[Nikisha421]

I am so nervous I am going to Disney for the second time ever in August 2008. My daughter had a great time we had everything. I am so scared about going back this second time and have to limit what it is she can and can not have.

So sad

 

[KevGuy]

I love the DDP, especially now that I know the CS meals for kids and adults are pooled lol. Used it last year and will be using it this year.

 

[Peepster]

Okay, I'm putting my flame suit on. Please know I mean no disrespect to anyone else's viewpoint but here is my take on the dining plan.

We used to love dining at Disney. The different restaurants each had something on the menu that made them special. We were on vacation and we knew dining would cost more. We're not rich, but didn't mind because good dining was something we enjoy.

But Disney is about families and it was very expensive to feed the family at TS so many tried to make do at CS, leaving a lot of restaurants on property empty.

Disney implemented the Dining Plan which catered to the families at a reasonable price but Disney had to cut costs to be able to do this...in my opinion, by having to order food in bulk for all restaurants. This was confirmed by a Disney chef. Therefore, you began seeing chicken, fish, pasta, beef on all menus, in different forms, but still the same product in all the restaurants and the restaurants slowly lost the menu items that made them "different". And, again just my opinion, slightly boring.

So we don't use the DDP, but only because we're ridiculously stubborn and feel that it's our way of protesting the loss of truly creative dining. It's my hope that someday Disney can find a way to cater to both customers...those willing to pay more for a few more menu choices and those who love to visit but have to stay within their budget.

It's been a few years since the DDP was put in place and Disney has discovered that they may have full restaurants but because the success of the plan was so overwhelming they are actually losing money. That's why I think the changes to the 2008 plan have happened and while they may tweak the changes, I think they'll remain and probably expanded.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Okay, I'm putting my flame suit on. Please know I mean no disrespect to anyone else's viewpoint but here is my take on the dining plan.

I think many would agree with this post...so no flames from me.

 

[dsquarednz]

Okay, I'm putting my flame suit on. Please know I mean no disrespect to anyone else's viewpoint but here is my take on the dining plan.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.

No flame here either!

 

[BCV23]

No flames from me either although I disagree with your assessment. We still find a great deal of variety at the WDW restaurants we frequent.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Okay, I'm putting my flame suit on. Please know I mean no disrespect to anyone else's viewpoint but here is my take on the dining plan.

We used to love dining at Disney. The different restaurants each had something on the menu that made them special. We were on vacation and we knew dining would cost more. We're not rich, but didn't mind because good dining was something we enjoy.

But Disney is about families and it was very expensive to feed the family at TS so many tried to make do at CS, leaving a lot of restaurants on property empty.

Disney implemented the Dining Plan which catered to the families at a reasonable price but Disney had to cut costs to be able to do this...in my opinion, by having to order food in bulk for all restaurants. This was confirmed by a Disney chef. Therefore, you began seeing chicken, fish, pasta, beef on all menus, in different forms, but still the same product in all the restaurants and the restaurants slowly lost the menu items that made them "different". And, again just my opinion, slightly boring.

So we don't use the DDP, but only because we're ridiculously stubborn and feel that it's our way of protesting the loss of truly creative dining. It's my hope that someday Disney can find a way to cater to both customers...those willing to pay more for a few more menu choices and those who love to visit but have to stay within their budget.

It's been a few years since the DDP was put in place and Disney has discovered that they may have full restaurants but because the success of the plan was so overwhelming they are actually losing money. That's why I think the changes to the 2008 plan have happened and while they may tweak the changes, I think they'll remain and probably expanded.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.

I agree...except for a few menu items at each restaurant, the menus are no longer unique. We still frequent Disney restaurants, but they aren't what they used to be.

 

[Prinny27]

Okay, I'm just back from a quick weekend to the world. DH and I did NOT use the DDP, as we worked out what we'd most likely eat and realized while we'd only save $7 on the DDP, if we paid out of pocket and used our DDE card, we'd save over $45 - that made the choice a no-brainer. I understand that not everyone loves to plan and will sit down with menus months in advance to decide what they'd like to eat, which makes the DDP and the minimal savings attractive.

But I had to report on our experience with the plan this past Sunday night, 2/10. We met up with friends for dinner at Chefs de France. They had the plan, and they also ordered two glasses of wine and an appetizer - neither which are included on the DDP. When our receipts came out, there's was VERY messed up. The waitress applied their DDE discount to the wine and appetizer, but then wound up adding the automatic gratuity to the ENTIRE bill (including DDP items). What she was supposed to bring were two separate checks - one for the DDP and one for any additional items, but instead everything was grouped onto one check. The 20% discount was applied to the WHOLE bill, and then the 18% tip was added to the WHOLE bill. It took 25 minutes for the waitress to sort this out, and in the end, she still didn't remove the total gratuity - she only suceeded in splitting up the bills. So all the theory of the 'convenience' of the plan did not apply in this case. Not only did our friends have to carry around extra money and other cards to pay for their dinner in addition to the KTTW card, but we all had to sit and wait for the restaurant to figure out how it should be billed.

I want to point out that this had no effect whatsoever on our dining experience - the food was great and the service was excellent - it's just another little annoyance of the new DDP.

 

[dianeschlicht]

But your situation with illness brings me to one of the reasons I'll won't book the current DDP. Although I still think it's easy to save a bit on the plan if everyone stays healthy, if illness strikes it would be so easy to lose value.

The loss of appetizer is also a deal breaker. Loss of dessert, no problem but don't take those appetizers.

And we don't like CS unless it's breakfast to take back to the villa or sandwiches for the plane.

We too find the loss of appetizers and pre-paid tips to be the deal breaker for us. We have used the DDP 4 times, and while I'm sure we saved with it, we NEVER were able to use everything on the plan, and that seemed like such a waste. We always had many CS credits left, but we could have used more TS. We never eat breakfast anywhere but in the villa, and rarely do counter service other than an occational Starrying Rolls lunch at the Studios or Flame tree BBQ at AK. Our main focus is the TS credits, and then the places we prefer take 2 each, so we ended up eating more CS than usual. We wont likely even book TS ADRs this trip before we get there, and we'll just "take our chances". I HATE having to plan my whole trip; around meal times. I want to go back to being more spontaneous about when and where we eat. So if I can't get what I want this trip, I'll just go back to the villa and fix something for myself.

 

[BCV23]

Okay, I'm just back from a quick weekend to the world. DH and I did NOT use the DDP, as we worked out what we'd most likely eat and realized while we'd only save $7 on the DDP, if we paid out of pocket and used our DDE card, we'd save over $45 - that made the choice a no-brainer. I understand that not everyone loves to plan and will sit down with menus months in advance to decide what they'd like to eat, which makes the DDP and the minimal savings attractive.

But I had to report on our experience with the plan this past Sunday night, 2/10. We met up with friends for dinner at Chefs de France. They had the plan, and they also ordered two glasses of wine and an appetizer - neither which are included on the DDP. When our receipts came out, there's was VERY messed up. The waitress applied their DDE discount to the wine and appetizer, but then wound up adding the automatic gratuity to the ENTIRE bill (including DDP items). What she was supposed to bring were two separate checks - one for the DDP and one for any additional items, but instead everything was grouped onto one check. The 20% discount was applied to the WHOLE bill, and then the 18% tip was added to the WHOLE bill. It took 25 minutes for the waitress to sort this out, and in the end, she still didn't remove the total gratuity - she only suceeded in splitting up the bills. So all the theory of the 'convenience' of the plan did not apply in this case. Not only did our friends have to carry around extra money and other cards to pay for their dinner in addition to the KTTW card, but we all had to sit and wait for the restaurant to figure out how it should be billed.

I want to point out that this had no effect whatsoever on our dining experience - the food was great and the service was excellent - it's just another little annoyance of the new DDP.

That sounds like a real hassle but it was the server's error. There is no need to carry any additional cards with the DDP. Everything can be charged to your room card.