Not a DD fan

[disneydizzy2]

I am gonna be a downer and just say IMHO the free dining plan is not a good thing.

Yes it is bringing in people. It helped us decided to go for two weeks Dec 7-17. BUT, the menus are dumbed down, as I heard on the DIS podcast so to speak. We still spent more than $ 600 above for food etc because we wanted things that were not included.

The choices are restricted. I noticed a definite differnece from my visit in 2004 to now. The desserts were less than enticing. They are forced on you at the begining of the meal. They want you to order everything before hand, and I felt like the service suffered because they knew we had gotten it for free at times.

At times I felt like Charlie off Willy Wonka at the candy store. Hey Charlie, you are lucky to even be here, so enjoy this chocolate bar that is incuded with your plan, but if you want a Wonka Bar, well that will cost you. Can't have this, but you can have that.

I would gladly have paid for better food than gotten the DP plan free. I mean that, I truly do. It was alot of food, but quality suffered over quantity to me. Again just MHO. OK let the tongue lashing commence.

[squirrel]

I like the DDP. I wouldn't pay for it, but I enjoy going during Free Dining. It's easy to use, I can choose whatever I would like on the menu and not worry about the price.

[serene56]

can you explain what you mean by the menus are dummied down.

[squirrel]

The menus changed more because of the DDP not because of Free Dining.

[TDC Nala]

Some years ago, Disney began streamlining and standardizing its restaurant and lounge menus. Not just at WDW, Disneyland did it too. Some guests consider this what they call "dumbing down" because part of the process appears to have been replacing some more expensive ingredients with less expensive ones and eliminating more complicated menu items (at least at the non-signature restaurants -some say even at the signatures).

WDW has an added complication because restaurants on the dining plan can expect to reap a fixed payment amount per diner on the plan, and it's thought many of them have adjusted their menus to accommodate that because the plans are very popular.

[DoctorK]

The desserts were less than enticing. They are forced on you at the begining of the meal. They want you to order everything before hand, and I felt like the service suffered because they knew we had gotten it for free at times.

We did the free DDP in 2008 and again for 10 days in August of this year. We never once were required or even asked to place our dessert order at the beginning of a TS meal.

Maybe this is a new procedure to turn tables faster during the busy holiday period?

I also like to be able to control the gratuity, and since it's not included, the waitstaff is still required to provide an appropriate level of service. Of course, just like at any other restaurant, your experience with individual servers will vary.

[PearlySwan]

The only criticism I would have regarding the regular dining plan is that it locks you into a counter service meal and a table service meal per day. Some people would prefer not to do CS meals while others prefer not to do TS meals. Why not allow 2 table service meals instead to be used any which way? That way people can choose to use their 2 meal credits whichever way they want. The deluxe dining plan allows people the flexibility of having 3 meals (either CS or TS) per day (way too much for most people). If the concept of allowing flexibility is there for the deluxe plan, why not the 'regular' dining plan?

[TDC Nala]

But even on the deluxe plan you don't HAVE to have three meals a day - you can use some of those for 2-credit meals or room service or pizza delivery. Even the basic dining plan doesn't lock you into one TS and one CS per day if you choose to book some two-credit meals, so all the plans are very flexible within their own framework. Apparently the existing 3 dining plans cover all the contingencies that Disney cares to cover.

The dining plans do, however, lock you into participating restaurants, much of the time they lock you into having to make and keep restaurant reservations, and into ordering certain courses if you don't want to pay out of pocket for some items. If these are objectionable, there is always the option of using no prepaid dining plan at all and deciding entirely for yourselves where to eat and what to order.

Please avoid making this thread into a discussion about gratuities - if it becomes a "tipping" thread it will be closed and referred to the Tipping Information Thread.

[pooch]

Our Free DDP trip is an annual tradition for DD and me and we have been doing it since 2006. Do I miss the appies? Yes and if there's one on the menu we particularly want, we order it. Do we always want dessert? No, and if we don't want it we don't order it (never had to order in advance either). If we have a problem with the service, we call the manager (never had to do that although we did ask one waiter to stop rushing us). For the 2 of us for 6-7 days and not counting tips & alcoholic beverages, we probably spend $50 OOP, not much IMHO.

We've enjoyed the food for the most part. Any time you try new things, there's bound to be something you don't like but this is not unique to WDW. I agree the DP is not for everyone but it certainly is good for us.

[PearlySwan]

^^^ I agree there is some flexibility in both dining plans. However, my point regarding DDP vs. DxDP is that the first only allows for one CS and one TS per day whereas the second allows for 3 meals/day (regardless of venue). People on either plan can use their meal credits any which way they want. For example if a person on DDP wants to use all their TS credits for 2 credit signature restaurants they can, but they'll run out of TS credits before their stay is over. Also people on the DDP can't trade CS meals for TS meals whereas people on the DxDP can. That's what I meant to say earlier. It would be great if there was the option of a dining plan with 2 meals/day (regardless of venue) without the qualification of them being one type (TS) vs. another (CS). Even with all other restrictions (no appetizers, and only certain courses, etc), some of us would be more opt to purchasing the DDP if it allowed that type of trade. Some food for thoughts.... pun intended. ;)

[TDC Nala]

People on the DDP can't trade CS meals for TS meals. For the higher price they purchase a different type of credit that is good for either CS or TS, their choice. Disney makes the point that if you want the extra flexibility you need to pay for it. Plus, you don't have to spend ALL your credits on one TS meals or two TS meals, you can pace those out over your vacation, so I don't see the problem with the flexibilty of the deluxe plan if you like using a dining plan. On the deluxe you can use those credits exactly as you defined (two meals per day, either CS or TS), if you plan the meals that way. The problem most guests have when considering the deluxe plan is its price, not the amount of credits offered - but that's Disney's tradeoff to get the extra flexibility. They're not going to offer a price plan between the two with that kind of flexibility as much as people might want it. They want you to pay the $71.99 per night.

Now, they might consider downgrading the deluxe plan to two credits per person per night and charge the same price for it.

[KevGuy]

The dining plan is awesome, saves you money and there are no restrictions that I care about other than some sushi stuff. :banana:

[PearlySwan]

They're not going to offer a price plan between the two with that kind of flexibility as much as people might want it. They want you to pay the $71.99 per night.

^^^ Precisely!!! I wish they would allow the flexibility for the regular DDP, but you are right they will probably never do this.





Now, they might consider downgrading the deluxe plan to two credits per person per night and charge the same price for it.

^^^ Oh no! That would be a calamity for those who love to do the DxDP! :sad1:

[TillyMarigold]

I ate 10 TS meals on my last trip and not one of them asked us to order dessert at the beginning. In fact, only Kona even mentioned dessert before the meal, and that was because we had to walk past the big dessert display to get to our table (and the host explained the desserts to us then). But we weren't asked what we wanted until after the meal (and we were brought a dessert menu, and I assume we could have gotten back up and looked again if we wanted).

[msce2]

We really enjoyed the dining plan and paid for it. :rotfl: Because we are DVC members we don't get the opportunity for free dining. But it saved us a lot of money. Akershus breakfast alone was 17.99 per child if we had paid OOP, however with the DDP we were only charged 10.99 and still got a CS and a snack. I'm just not sure how you dispute that it can be beneficial for some families. As far as the food going downhill? I really can't comment other then we enjoyed all of our meals. No complaints about the food from anyone.

[Mickey country]

OP, I am with you. My family has enjoyed the dining plan on many occasions. Only once did we pay for it, the rest were free dining. Certainly I liked it better when apps. and tip were included, but the food was also better. I do not even want to go to some of the restaurants even with free dining, the food has suffered and become worse than a chain buffets offerings. Then I have to pay a tip, for food that was not tasty, and okay service.