**Updated 8/9/09** 2010 Dining Plans discussion, wishes, questions, rants and vents

[Tiger926]

I think it will be interesting to see if next year the restaurants become a little more open, a little less over-crowded. I, for one, would look forward to that.

I would as well, but for people to actually put their anger into practice and leave property, will take some doing. DISers always say that, but I bet when push comes to shove, it doesn't happen as often as they have planned due to traffic, kids' schedules, weather, crowds, etc. We've helped tons of people plan trips to WDW who had this thought, but once it came to actually implement going off-site, it never happened, for a multitude of reasons.

We are DVC members and stay and eat on property because we like to be right in the middle of the magic - going off property has no appeal to us. We don't care for the fast food type family restaurants that abound on I-Drive. Ponderosa, Denny's, etc. hold no appeal to us, nor does fighting with traffic, parking, waits at restaurants, etc.

It will be interesting to see what happens next year - we have made a committment to Disney in being DVC members, we can add different dining plans without having to buy a package, because we are AP holders we can do TIW, and we also qualify for AP and DVC dining discounts.

For us, we re-evaluate each trip on what our dining needs might be, but I can assure you that going off-site holds no appeal to us, and Disney knows that, or else they wouldn't have created the dining plans in the first place.

Tiger

 

[TDC Nala]

November is not included in dining plan peak at all. The higher cost periods for the dining plan are

February 12 - April 10
June 4 - August 14
December 17 - 31

Increase for basic dining plan only.

 

[Colleen27]

I would as well, but for people to actually put their anger into practice and leave property, will take some doing. DISers always say that, but I bet when push comes to shove, it doesn't happen as often as they have planned due to traffic, kids' schedules, weather, crowds, etc. We've helped tons of people plan trips to WDW who had this thought, but once it came to actually implement going off-site, it never happened, for a multitude of reasons.

I think at this point, it is less a question of leaving property than one of whether those families who wouldn't have eaten a TS meal every day before the dining plan will go back to their former eating habits, either on the quick service plan or paying OOP.

We all know from reading here over the years that a lot of families priced the dining plan and realized that for the cost of the 3 character meals they really wanted to do they could buy the DDP for a weeklong trip and have 6 TS credits, so they added extra ADRs and ate more TS than they would otherwise have. Those are the families that I think are going to drop the plan first. The question is whether Disney has pushed the price up enough for that to start happening in 2010, and if they have, will it make a noticeable difference in restaurant volume.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I would as well, but for people to actually put their anger into practice and leave property, will take some doing. DISers always say that, but I bet when push comes to shove, it doesn't happen as often as they have planned due to traffic, kids' schedules, weather, crowds, etc. We've helped tons of people plan trips to WDW who had this thought, but once it came to actually implement going off-site, it never happened, for a multitude of reasons.

We are DVC members and stay and eat on property because we like to be right in the middle of the magic - going off property has no appeal to us. We don't care for the fast food type family restaurants that abound on I-Drive. Ponderosa, Denny's, etc. hold no appeal to us, nor does fighting with traffic, parking, waits at restaurants, etc.

It will be interesting to see what happens next year - we have made a committment to Disney in being DVC members, we can add different dining plans without having to buy a package, because we are AP holders we can do TIW, and we also qualify for AP and DVC dining discounts.

For us, we re-evaluate each trip on what our dining needs might be, but I can assure you that going off-site holds no appeal to us, and Disney knows that, or else they wouldn't have created the dining plans in the first place.

Tiger

I agree with you in staying in the middle of the magic. At least that is what works for our family right now. My children are only 2 and 4 right now, and being in Disney World the whole time is the best thing for them, we feel. We are also DVC members, and so we have many years of trips to look forward to with our children, which means we are not going commando and rushing to do everything in Orlando in one trip. So we are holding off on Sea World at least until my little one is 5 years old, holding off on Universal until they are older, etc. That means that at least for our 2010 trip, we will only be going to Disney parks. So we prefer to stay and eat on property. I also do not want to compete with other families and wait to eat in a place like Denny's. It's just not worth a wait to me, and I don't want to risk it. To me, it's not the same thing to wait 20 minutes for a table at Denny's as it is to wait 20 minutes after you arrive at a Disney character dinner ADR to get seated at your table.

The types of meals we like to do at Disney are the themed meals (character meals, we are also trying Whispering Canyon on our next trip, etc.) and the restaurants at the WS in Epcot. We like to eat in places we can't eat in at home, and while our hometown (NYC) is not all that *rich* in the same chain restaurants as they have in Florida, we still don't feel like we are missing out on anything by not going to those chains. However, there are certain characters my children absolutely adore, and I will take them to dine with those characters. They and I would certainly rather do that than wait in a hot line in the middle of July for half an hour at a park just to take a picture. My kids are mesmerized when the characters walk over to our table, it truly is priceless!

Dining plan or no dining plan, we would still do a TS dinner every night of our vacation. That is just the way we do things, without a doubt!

 

[bicker]

I think Tony is probably right: Far fewer people will be driven to change their dining plans by the price increase that it seems.

 

[mic_KY_mouses]

Sorry to post this here, but I want to ask the experts. I am seeing conflicting info elsewhere.

We are at Boardwalk Villas on our DVC points Dec 16-23, 2009. We were planning on 10 people for the regular dining plan.

Does the seasonal upcharge start in 2010 only, or is this something we will have to pay as well? I don't remember seeing anything about it being in effect for 2009. Thanks.

 

[pilferk]

Sorry to post this here, but I want to ask the experts. I am seeing conflicting info elsewhere.

We are at Boardwalk Villas on our DVC points Dec 16-23, 2009. We were planning on 10 people for the regular dining plan.

Does the seasonal upcharge start in 2010 only, or is this something we will have to pay as well? I don't remember seeing anything about it being in effect for 2009. Thanks.

2010 only.

All changes to the dining plan being Jan 1, 2010. Everything prior to that is on the 2009 rules and pricing.

 

[Pumbaa_]

It is not anger that will drive people away from the dining plans tigger926, but price. Many families like the convenience of prepaying but at some point the budget ceiling is reached.

There are also the CS plans. Disney CS options have come along way from the days of burger and fries combos.

You can eat at Disney wihtout a dining plan or discount and pay less than the dining plans.

I don't know bicker, i still think this price increase will have people rethinking the DDP. Since we only have a slanted view here on the boards, will be hard to tell. Would be nice to be able to make ADRs same day or a couple days in advance again

 

[bicker]

I agree that, essentially, the QS DDP competes with the traditional DDP, and is basically like a new competitor in the marketplace, invariably stealing a good bit of the customer-base for the original offering. And since it is substantially more affordable, and a lot of folks were stretching already to afford the traditional DDP, the QS DDP has substantial competitive advantages. Not to mention that Disney makes profit either way, so not a bit loss for them, if any, if folks switch. My best guess is that enough folks will pay the extra amount, or start going back to TS eateries because the DDP-related crowding situation has subsided a bit, to more than make up for whatever they lose from people downgrading to QS DDP or making a more draconian choice.

 

[mousescrapper]

November is not included in dining plan peak at all. The higher cost periods for the dining plan are

February 12 - April 10
June 4 - August 14
December 17 - 31

Increase for basic dining plan only.

thank you, that was what I was thinking but just wanted to double check....

and to just chime in on the whole DDP debate....

we have traveled as adults only and then w/ children on no DDP (actually before DDP exisited too) and then have done both the reg DDP and the QS DDP.


the 2 inital appeals of the DDP were 1) all paid for, all done, don't have to 2nd guess your budget, etc....EASE!

2) as another poster mentioned the price factor especially for a child re to the characters meals. The single coast of one character meal on one day/night was more than the coast of the plan on that day/night...plus you still got one more meal and a snack.

In 08 we had 3 of our 4 children on the child price so it made sense and $ wise a good deal! We loved going to 4 diff character meals...something we would never had done w/out the DDP. Our previous trip w/ our then just 3 kids we did only 1 character meal and all our dining was OOP. It was enjoyable to dine TS and take time to sit and be served, but at the same time you do feel confined to that schedule of meals....

This yr 2009 we planned a last minute trip and decided that it would be hard to obtain many TS ADRs under 60 days so we opted for the QS DDP and we paid OOP for 3 TS meals (including 1 character). We enjoyed the QS plan very much as it was easy to just decide when to eat and where (even though we did have some pre-plans of which CS places we wanted). I also didn't feel like I had to stretch those CS credits to the max w/ having 2 a day/night and all those snacks were great...we did a few breakfasts on snack credits and had a few more treats and indulgences we normally wouldn't pay for.

Now I'm preparing and planning our next Disney Adventure and this time all 4 of our children will be on the plan and 2 will be in the adult pricing

We like the idea of using the QS plan, but still want a few TS meals...so we have considered paying OOP for those, but after doing the math...it actually appears the reg DDP would save us money:

if you care to know here's my tenative breakdown:

I have figured all the fuzzy math and for our family of 6 for 8 nights it would cost $1183.52 on the QS DDP that is $147.94 per night

that is 4 on the adult price of $31.99 and 2 on the child price of $9.99

The 3 main TS meals we'd like this trip are (CRT, CM, & for now O'Hana for Thanksgiving) it would cost us approximately $560.30 OOP. Which would bump our food budget up to $1743.82


Nowit would cost us $1535.52 to be on the reg DDP that is $191.94 per night

That is 4 on adult price of $41.99 and 2 on the child price of $11.99

Which means the QS plan plus 3 OOP meals would be approx $208 more than the reg DDP.

But I have gone one step further just to see what would it cost us to eat OOP if we did the reg DDP w/ what it would include (8 CS meals, 8 TS meals and 48 total snacks for the 6 of us)

I have approx priced out what 8 CS places we'd eat at, plus 2 CS for Breakfast (on plan would be using snack credits) and the 4 TS meals we'd want to eat at (1 sig meal=2 credits & 1 dinner show = 2 credits)

For about 16 meals it could cost us approximately $1818.98 vs the reg DDP plan that is $283.46 more.

So if I followed the DDP rules of my children in the adult menu pricing and my children in the children pricing range order off their specific menus...and all "adults" having a drink and dessert w/ every lunch or dinner...it actually does save us money on the DDP.

Now of course I can be more money concience and we'd not get as many deserts, split meals, use refillable water bottles, etc throughout the week to bring the costs down. Plus not do a dinner show or sig dining. But I just wanted to see or prove to myself for now the DDP is actually saving you (me)money.


I hope

We have yet to make a final decision on what we will do and we have more than enough time to decide, plus being DVC I can hold off till practically the last minute...but it is nice to have a budget range this far out to know how much $ we need to be setting aside for the trip.

not sure if this helps anyone but makes me feel good to put it out there and that is what the Dis is for right

FYI these are the dining places and my approx meal totals:

Contempo Cafe (CS) $61.93
Wave (TS)for dinner $175.37
CRT (sig TS) for lunch $268.42
Pecos Bill (CS) $69.60
Staring Rolls Cafe (CS) $26.58
Studio Catering Co. (CS) $61.64
Yakitori House/Japan (CS) $72.91
Chef Mickey's (TS) for breakfast $171.74
Cosmic Rays (CS) $68.44
Tusker House (TS) for breakfast $123.12
Yak & Yeti (CS) $88.77
basic CS meal $62.26
O'Hana (TS) for dinner w/ price increase for Thanksgiving buffet $191.66
Main Street Bakery (CS) approx $35.00
Hoop De Do Review (Dinner show) 2nd tier pricing $273.94
Yorkshire Fish Shop/UK (CS) $67.58

 

[TDC Nala]

Sorry to post this here, but I want to ask the experts. I am seeing conflicting info elsewhere.

We are at Boardwalk Villas on our DVC points Dec 16-23, 2009. We were planning on 10 people for the regular dining plan.

Does the seasonal upcharge start in 2010 only, or is this something we will have to pay as well? I don't remember seeing anything about it being in effect for 2009. Thanks.

2010 only. It is not effective in 2009. What IS effective in 2009 is the peak/holiday surcharge on buffets and family style all you can eat meals. On the dining plan, you do not have to worry about this surcharge.

There is a report that DVC members staying on points may not be subject to the seasonal basic dining plan upcharges. Waiting for DVC to post 2010 dining plan pricing on the member website.

 

[Tiger926]

It is not anger that will drive people away from the dining plans tigger926, but price. Many families like the convenience of prepaying but at some point the budget ceiling is reached.

There are also the CS plans. Disney CS options have come along way from the days of burger and fries combos.

You can eat at Disney wihtout a dining plan or discount and pay less than the dining plans.

I don't know bicker, i still think this price increase will have people rethinking the DDP. Since we only have a slanted view here on the boards, will be hard to tell. Would be nice to be able to make ADRs same day or a couple days in advance again

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree - I think people are angry about the surcharges and the seasonal increase for 2010 DP. DH and I were angry, but we feel our hands our tied as we have made a big committment to WDW, as I mentioned. So have many other families, and this is why I don't think most people will actually eat off-site. Sure there are many other dining options at WDW, as you and I both mentioned, but I was directly responding to the all of the DISers who contiually say that they are going to eat offsite. I still stand by my feeling that once push comes to shove, that might not happen, especially if young children are involved. Many different variables go into leaving WDW property, so I am suggesting that it's not as easy as some people think it might be.

Plus, most DISers who have said they are dining offsite, are doing so because they are ticked at the price increases and so they think Disney will feel the loss of them spending their dining dollars elsewhere. Not sure...we all have a threshold, of this I totally agree. 2010 will be an interesting year with the new changes and increases, but again, I firmly believe that Disney will be raising menu prices soon; therefore, it's all relative and will balance out in the end for most people, especially since most families book packages and probably won't notice the differences that much anyway. I believe that Disney will see a bit of a loss in respect to people who have opted out of the DP due to the new seasonal pricing, but many people are also upgrading to DxDP, and so Disney will probably come out ahead. Or, people might go for the QSDP, so I feel that many people will still get some sort of dining plan. for 2010. Just show first timers the cost of one character meal, and I'm sure they'll sign up for the dining plan as fast as can be!

Next year is going to be intersesting for Disney Dining, that's for sure.

Tiger

 

[catne]

thank you, that was what I was thinking but just wanted to double check....

and to just chime in on the whole DDP debate....

after doing the math...it actually appears the reg DDP would save us money:

if you care to know here's my tenative breakdown:

I have figured all the fuzzy math and for our family of 6 for 8 nights it would cost $1183.52 on the QS DDP that is $147.94 per night

that is 4 on the adult price of $31.99 and 2 on the child price of $9.99

The 3 main TS meals we'd like this trip are (CRT, CM, & for now O'Hana for Thanksgiving) it would cost us approximately $560.30 OOP. Which would bump our food budget up to $1743.82


Nowit would cost us $1535.52 to be on the reg DDP that is $191.94 per night

That is 4 on adult price of $41.99 and 2 on the child price of $11.99

Which means the QS plan plus 3 OOP meals would be approx $208 more than the reg DDP.

But I have gone one step further just to see what would it cost us to eat OOP if we did the reg DDP w/ what it would include (8 CS meals, 8 TS meals and 48 total snacks for the 6 of us)

I have approx priced out what 8 CS places we'd eat at, plus 2 CS for Breakfast (on plan would be using snack credits) and the 4 TS meals we'd want to eat at (1 sig meal=2 credits & 1 dinner show = 2 credits)

For about 16 meals it could cost us approximately $1818.98 vs the reg DDP plan that is $283.46 more.

So if I followed the DDP rules of my children in the adult menu pricing and my children in the children pricing range order off their specific menus...and all "adults" having a drink and dessert w/ every lunch or dinner...it actually does save us money on the DDP.

Now of course I can be more money concience and we'd not get as many deserts, split meals, use refillable water bottles, etc throughout the week to bring the costs down. Plus not do a dinner show or sig dining. But I just wanted to see or prove to myself for now the DDP is actually saving you (me)money.


I hope

We have yet to make a final decision on what we will do and we have more than enough time to decide, plus being DVC I can hold off till practically the last minute...but it is nice to have a budget range this far out to know how much $ we need to be setting aside for the trip.

not sure if this helps anyone but makes me feel good to put it out there and that is what the Dis is for right

FYI these are the dining places and my approx meal totals:

Contempo Cafe (CS) $61.93
Wave (TS)for dinner $175.37
CRT (sig TS) for lunch $268.42
Pecos Bill (CS) $69.60
Staring Rolls Cafe (CS) $26.58
Studio Catering Co. (CS) $61.64
Yakitori House/Japan (CS) $72.91
Chef Mickey's (TS) for breakfast $171.74
Cosmic Rays (CS) $68.44
Tusker House (TS) for breakfast $123.12
Yak & Yeti (CS) $88.77
basic CS meal $62.26
O'Hana (TS) for dinner w/ price increase for Thanksgiving buffet $191.66
Main Street Bakery (CS) approx $35.00
Hoop De Do Review (Dinner show) 2nd tier pricing $273.94
Yorkshire Fish Shop/UK (CS) $67.58

When you were figuring the diff between doing QSDP for 8 nights with 3 OOP TS, and doing DDP for 8 nights...did you add in the extra cost of tips at the 5 additional table service meals you would be doing? With mostly CS meals, you do not have tipping expense... But adding table service meals it's not just the difference in cost between counter service & table service...have to add in what could be a substantial amount on the the totals you have listed above...I believe with a party of 6 you're going to have the mandatory 18% added to your bill everywhere (well not at CRT or HDDR since those are all-inclusive pricing.) But everywhere else, including buffets. Just a thought (now your math will be even fuzzier, Sorry!)

 

[Tiger926]

When you were figuring the diff between doing QSDP for 8 nights with 3 OOP TS, and doing DDP for 8 nights...did you add in the extra cost of tips at the 5 additional table service meals you would be doing? With mostly CS meals, you do not have tipping expense... But adding table service meals it's not just the difference in cost between counter service & table service...have to add in what could be a substantial amount on the the totals you have listed above...I believe with a party of 6 you're going to have the mandatory 18% added to your bill everywhere (well not at CRT or HDDR since those are all-inclusive pricing.) But everywhere else, including buffets. Just a thought (now your math will be even fuzzier, Sorry!)

Excellent advice - I was going to mention the same thing as the upgrade plus the mandatory tip will add more money to those totals, but they still might be within his budget though.

Tiger

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

I'm definately one who is irritated at the price increase, but it's not unexpected!! I am a cheapskate, and I'll do extra work to save a few pennies, but we are a family who LOVES sit down meals and we LOVE Disney dining! We don't eat out much at home, so when we're on vaca, we like sit down meals. Last year when I went thru the menus, it came out pretty close in price (what we'd order OOP vs the price of DDP). So I did it again a few days ago, and OOP would cost about $30 MORE. If I added in the price of desserts (we wouldn't order them if we were paying OOP), that's an even bigger savings! And that's also considering one ADR's breakfast and ones lunch...if they'd be dinners, that would cost more too. So I guess it's another year of DDP for us!!

 

[bicker]

There is no way to cast this as anything other than a marginal change though. They haven't doubled the prices in one year. So as a marginal change, it will most likely have marginal impact. Yes, of course, sometimes a system has a price sensitivity profile such that a change in pricing by X yields a change in demand of 2X, but almost never is the change in demand X^2.

So Disney makes the change, based on their best market research (and they're pretty close to the best at that sort of thing) and sees what happens. If it shows that the market cannot withstand a similar price increase, next year, they formulate a smaller price increase, or they change the offering to offer more value, or if the reaction is extreme that can take even more extreme measures in response. The point is that Disney is practically the best in the world at this sort of thing. They don't screw up very often, if at all, and it is almost impossible to mess up so much with something as controllable as a marginal change in pricing such that they cannot readily recover from any over-extension the marginal change may represent.

 

[simba35217]

I love the dining plan. Part of my enjoyment at Disney is the food. Whether I'm on the dining plan or not I eat at their resturants. Of course I like to save money but I do that all year so I can have the vacation I deserve (food included) so here is a list of where I will probably eat on my next visit:
Day 1: Rosie's All American 14.77 / Sci-Fi 32.17
Day 2: Cantina D Angel 11.44 / Biergarten 31.18
Day 3: Flame Tree 20.26 Whispering Canyon 32.98
Day 4: Peppermarket 18.14 O'Hanna 30.99
Day 5: Tangierine Cafe 18.19 LeCellier 29.67
Day 6: Pinocchio Village Haus 13.47 / Liberty Tree Tavern 29.99
Day 7: Akershaus 28.99 Lotus Blossom 13.67
Total Cost 325.81+65.16 tip = 390.97 + Snacks not calculated
DDP 292.93+58.78 tip = 352.71 Snacks included
multiply by 3adults 1172.91 vs 1058.13 Save 114.78 + approx 150.00 snacks
I have figured this several ways and my family and I always come out better with the dining plan.

 

[mousescrapper]

When you were figuring the diff between doing QSDP for 8 nights with 3 OOP TS, and doing DDP for 8 nights...did you add in the extra cost of tips at the 5 additional table service meals you would be doing? With mostly CS meals, you do not have tipping expense... But adding table service meals it's not just the difference in cost between counter service & table service...have to add in what could be a substantial amount on the the totals you have listed above...I believe with a party of 6 you're going to have the mandatory 18% added to your bill everywhere (well not at CRT or HDDR since those are all-inclusive pricing.) But everywhere else, including buffets. Just a thought (now your math will be even fuzzier, Sorry!)

Excellent advice - I was going to mention the same thing as the upgrade plus the mandatory tip will add more money to those totals, but they still might be within his budget though.

Tiger

Ok you got me there...and now look.....

Ok I actually had the 18% gratuity figured in the 2nd set of figures when I was comparing the reg DDP to if you ate those meals OOP yes...that was my $1818.98 figure

but I didn't add the gratuity to the 3 TS meals OOP (CRT had it figured in already, but slipped my mind on CM & O'Hana.)

so now I re-added that and look.....

I was not expectating this:

so the QS DDP would cost us $1183.52

the 3 OOP TS meals (w/ tip) would actually cost us $631.82 (that is 71.52 more)

add the two together and the new total is: $1815.34

which is $279.82 more than the reg DDP....but here is the kicker


my total OOP cost following reg DDP rules is $1818.98...that is only $364 more that QS and 3 OOP TS meals....

how did that happen.

maybe I shouldn't have done that fuzzy math

 

[baj0505]

2010 only. It is not effective in 2009. What IS effective in 2009 is the peak/holiday surcharge on buffets and family style all you can eat meals. On the dining plan, you do not have to worry about this surcharge.

There is a report that DVC members staying on points may not be subject to the seasonal basic dining plan upcharges. Waiting for DVC to post 2010 dining plan pricing on the member website.

Anxiously awaiting if this report is accurate If so the DDP is back in for our June 2010 vacation.

 

[SoontobePrincess]

The restaurants that have been left off the 2010 list are the ones that are not owned or operated by Disney. They do not renew their contracts in time to be included in the August brochure. A new brochure will be released probably in December. By that time, you will probably find all those restaurants on the list again. In the history of the dining plan I think only one restaurant has ever dropped DDP (Fulton's in 2006).

I am planning on a possible early 2010 trip and wanted to use the deluxe plan but half of the restaurants I want to eat at are not yet in the brochure, how exactly does this work? They are not currently participating due to a contract renewal so am I out of luck?