Disney News, Discussion & an Element of Fun - 2023 Edition

[BrianL]

not imo. over 40 yrs ago we got a plan that on paper was a good value. the next year we got a 3 meal/day plan and we spent all our time eating instead of riding attractions.

Oh, well, yeah, 40 years ago maybe. That's a bit before my time.

 

[artesian]

Disney Dining Plan pricing unveiled as bookings open for 2024 vacations at Walt Disney World

2024 Disney Dining Plan Pricing​

• Adult $94.28 per day
• Child 3-9 $29.69 per day

2024 Disney Quick Service Dining Plan Pricing​

• Adult $57.01 per day
• Child 3-9 $23.83 per day

**Quick service was $55/$26 in 2020, Standard Plan was $78/$30.50 in 2020

I might get flamed for saying this but this is right inline with G+ and ILL. Disney can charge whatever they want and people will absolutely pay it. People pay for the convenience of these. Most Dis veterans break these down and look at the value and quite frankly there has been none to me personally. I stop doing any DDP long ago as I think the quality has suffered since. I also now in 3 trips and have not purchased G+ nor any ILL. I do have the ability to take trip with my grown kids on off peak and haven't skipped a beat on not not getting on any rides. Not bashing people for making the choices to purchase these but to me since covid Dis has instilled FOMO with add ons just like the airlines nickle and diming us on everything. My $.02

 

[HokieRaven5]

Annual Passholder lounge opens at EPCOT with phone chargers and snacks



The reserved area is located near the Living with the Land boat ride entrance and uses a section of the Sunshine Seasons restaurant seating area.

A scan of your MagicBand or ticket controls provides entry to the lounge. Once inside, you will find decorated tables, including Figment, Mickey, and Orange Bird.

There are complimentary snacks, M&M's, toffee peanuts, and ice water.

There is also a phone charging area, with lockers to secure the phone, and each is equipped with Lightning, USB-C, and Micro USB connectors.

The area will be available from May 31 through June 30 2023, from park open to park close.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Was the dining plan ever a good value for the price though? The value was when you could get the "free dining" packages and such, right?

Absolutely not. I think this new plan is especially not a good value if you don't drink alcohol. But this is coming from one of the "unfavorable guests" that brings their own snacks into the park, so lol

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Was the dining plan ever a good value for the price though? The value was when you could get the "free dining" packages and such, right?

If your 3-9 age kids outnumbered adults and you were doing at least a couple of character meals, yes.

For our trip in 2019, I did out all of the math and out of pocket with two character meals assuming limited snacks and drinks would have cost us the same as just doing the DDP and going hog wild on character meals, ordering drinks, getting whatever snacks we wanted, etc. The cost of one character meal was higher than the child's full DDP for a day.

That's a very limited use case, though, as it requires both a certain travel party configuration and type of dining planned.

 

[ak517]

Absolutely not. I think this new plan is especially not a good value if you don't drink alcohol. But this is coming from one of the "unfavorable guests" that brings their own snacks into the park, so lol

Strongly agree. Looking at the adult prices, it's about what I spend on an average Disney day. But when I priced out meals based on the structure, even with an alcoholic beverage at lunch and dinner, I still couldn't hit $94 with tax.

 

[Brocktoon]

Was the dining plan ever a good value for the price though? The value was when you could get the "free dining" packages and such, right?

I think it started losing value ~ 2010, but that could have been due to pulling out of The Great Recession. I remember back in the day running the numbers and the value was pretty good ... but this was back when the Concourse Steakhouse was around and there wasn't so much 'Signature' dining (Le Cellier was still a regular). I did feel like I was spending most of my day eating though

 

[dd316]

Was the dining plan ever a good value for the price though? The value was when you could get the "free dining" packages and such, right?

Nope. In rare instances, maybe. We're a quick service family, and $57 a day is a lot. Most meals are generally like $20 with a drink, so that's only $40 for two meals. A snack is like $6-8, so even then I'm not even at $50. But let's say I did hit $50, what am I paying an extra $7 for?

Even the one time we went and had the free dining, I feel like I spent more time figuring out how it worked that it was just a huge headache at every meal. And it made food lines ridiculous because nobody understood it so things had to be explained to every person in line - "You can get this, but not this." "But what about this?"....

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disneyland Paris:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1663911372520931329

 

[SkyGuy]

Nope. In rare instances, maybe. We're a quick service family, and $57 a day is a lot. Most meals are generally like $20 with a drink, so that's only $40 for two meals. A snack is like $6-8, so even then I'm not even at $50. But let's say I did hit $50, what am I paying an extra $7 for?

Even the one time we went and had the free dining, I feel like I spent more time figuring out how it worked that it was just a huge headache at every meal. And it made food lines ridiculous because nobody understood it so things had to be explained to every person in line - "You can get this, but not this." "But what about this?"....

Yeessss. And I’m standing behind this poor, confused person just wanting to buy a bottle of water.

 

[HopperFan]

Am I reading the restaurant list for dining plan wrong or is it possible that all of the food spots in France at Epcot are no longer taking part? Hoping it’s just a case of them being added in soon as Les Halles and Chefs de France are two of my favourite places

I think it was similar in previous years where a portion of the restaurants were added at a later date. It may be that they are negotiating how they are reimbursed on the DDP, but eventually most of the non-signature places should be listed

Brocktoon is correct. Disney and the non-disney operated restaurants need to negotiate an agreement each year as to what guest benefits are applicable. They will likely be added by the time the new year comes around.

THIS

Disney has to negotiate with non-Disney restaurants and since DDP is an annual calendar contract they have until the end of the year to complete negotiations.

ALSO each Disney restaurant is its own profit center so negotiations are also made with them as to how much they will reimburse the restaurant for each menu item. This is why we sometimes see things disappear that we thought were popular like that "ham leg shank thing" at Gaston's. Word was Dining Plan was not going to reimburse a sufficient amount so the restaurant pulled it from the menu. When an item is popular but they see their profits disappear it makes no sense to keep it on the menu.

It is a complicated process. I wonder if at some point we see more items exempt from DDP on menus. I
remember at Epcot Marakesh they had 2 prix fixe meals they offered. The DDP we could use on the least expensive one but not the more expensive one.

 

[HopperFan]

Annual Passholder lounge opens at EPCOT with phone chargers and snacks

View attachment 764261

The reserved area is located near the Living with the Land boat ride entrance and uses a section of the Sunshine Seasons restaurant seating area.

A scan of your MagicBand or ticket controls provides entry to the lounge. Once inside, you will find decorated tables, including Figment, Mickey, and Orange Bird.

There are complimentary snacks, M&M's, toffee peanuts, and ice water.

There is also a phone charging area, with lockers to secure the phone, and each is equipped with Lightning, USB-C, and Micro USB connectors.

The area will be available from May 31 through June 30 2023, from park open to park close.

Oooooo M&Ms and Toffee Peanuts might get me to visit! plus I need a Figment table.

 

[Jrb1979]

THIS

Disney has to negotiate with non-Disney restaurants and since DDP is an annual calendar contract they have until the end of the year to complete negotiations.

ALSO each Disney restaurant is its own profit center so negotiations are also made with them as to how much they will reimburse the restaurant for each menu item. This is why we sometimes see things disappear that we thought were popular like that "ham leg shank thing" at Gaston's. Word was Dining Plan was not going to reimburse a sufficient amount so the restaurant pulled it from the menu. When an item is popular but they see their profits disappear it makes no sense to keep it on the menu.

It is a complicated process. I wonder if at some point we see more items exempt from DDP on menus. I
remember at Disney Marakesh they had 2 prix fixe meals they offered. The DDP we could use on the least expensive one but not the more expensive one.

I'm surprised they never did that from the beginning.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Oooooo M&Ms and Toffee Peanuts might get me to visit! plus I need a Figment table.

If we want to go on technical product names it’s Zarg Nuts

 

[HopperFan]

If we want to go on technical names it’s Zarg Nuts

View attachment 764279

View attachment 764280

OH MY, I had no idea. I watched him munch all the time but never picked up on that.

Well .... this is now a #mustdo.

 

[HokieRaven5]

OH MY, I had no idea. I watched him munch all the time but never picked up on that.

Well .... this is now a #mustdo.

Only things it needs to add are Cake and Toast

 

[BrianL]

If we want to go on technical product names it’s Zarg Nuts

View attachment 764279

View attachment 764280

"Sorry, there are no more."
...
*crunch*crunch*

 

[HokieRaven5]

‘Elemental’ Limited-Time Water Short Coming to “World of Color – ONE“

Disney has just announced that beginning June 2, 2023, for a limited time, a new two-minute water short titled Elemental Connection highlighting the story and characters from Disney and Pixar’s latest film, Elemental, will be presented ahead of “World of Color — ONE” in Disney California Adventure park.

 

[1lilspark]

And in the most surprising development ever, Disney IT has paused bookings for 2024.

View attachment 764232

This is why I’m waiting till tomorrow to book my room only placeholder for April

 

[Brian Noble]

Was the dining plan ever a good value for the price though?

It was possible to "save" money on the plan, but the only way to do it was to plan to hit the most expensive restaurants and purposefully order the very most expensive items on the menu. There used to be "how to maximize the dining plan" threads telling people which locations were the "best values" on the plan.

Of course, you're going to those restaurants and ordering those items whether that's what you want to eat or not. You'll be eating a lot of red meat and doing a fair bit of day drinking at that point. Not hungry for dessert? Too bad, you have to order it or you won't "save money." The chicken sounds good? Can't order it or you won't "save money." Don't want a TS meal every day, or want more than one some days? You can't do that or you won't "save money."

The vast majority of guests will spend less just eating what, where, and when they want.