2008 DDP discussion, questions, rants and vents

[LoveMyLAP-BAND]

Hi all,

I think I like the changes to the 2008 plan. I think an appetizer, entree AND dessert for the TS meal was way too much food. However, I would have liked if they offered a choice between appetizer and dessert. I guess they are hoping you're too full after the entree to order dessert!

The deluxe plan is A LOT of food. They only way I would choose that option is if I had plans for a lot of the places that require 2 TS (Luau, Hoop De Doo, etc).

And, lastly, I never like when gratuity is included. I like to control how much I give and I usually tip well when the service is good. I think that is the whole purpose of a tip. The answer to whether the "no gratuity included" is good will answered several months into 2008. Will guests tip enough? I hope this will be win-win for the guests and the servers.

 

[smartestnumber5]

I can't blame anybody for wanting to use everything in their package. I'll definitely be doing that for my "free" dining packages.

Seriously, I don't understand all this talk about how people using all of the credits to which they are entitled is "taking advantage" or that this is what caused changes. How in the world did it become "taking advantage" to actually use the credits for which you've bought? If Disney raises its prices on the "waterpark and more" tickets, will that be the fault of the people who actually used all of the options on their ticket to visit both waterparks, downtown disney, and disneyquest? If the price at Ohana goes up, can I blame people who ask for a second helping of dessert when really they were full after the first helping? I understand about creative child/adult credit uses and even about sharing meals, but to blaming people who are actually using all of the credits for which they have paid?

Personally I'm not happy with the changes. I've crunched the numbers and there is no way we could save money with the new basic DDP; it would cost us money to buy it and so we won't be getting it.

 

[drakethib]

Unless they cut the price, I won't be using it again.

I think they have ruined a good thing.

JMHO

 

[newbydisney]

..think it would be worth changing resrvation to 12/31 even tho we arrive 1/1... I think it would be worth paying for the extra night to get the 2007 DDP ....we arrive at 8 am anyway and I am nervous about waiting for the room for hours...what do you all think? Think they would honor the fact that we reserved 12/31 but checked in late (1/1) or would the computer maybe over-ride any thing they tried to put in anyway>???

 

[Miss Park Avenue]

The way I figured it, Correct me if I am wrong it works out to

Regular Plan
$37.99 per adult per day
1 Snack
1 CS
1 TS
per day, no appetizer with TS

Deluxe Plan
$69.99 per adult per day
2 Snacks
3 Meals
per day, includes appetizers with breakfast or lunch

Does Tinksmagic have it right??? If so, what are the cost per child??

I haven't decided if I like the changes yet. But I will say this; why why WHY can't they make a price for "tweeners" kids 10-15???? My ten year old barely finishes a meal from the child's menu!! That is my number one obsticle to either plan now. Frankly I was on the fence about the 2007 plan now that she's ten. I guess I was holding out hope that when this new plan was officially announced, it would include a better price for 10-15 year olds.

I don't think I like the changes. And since we stay on DVC points, we never get it free. I bet we've seen our last trip on any dining plan.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I am intrigued with the deluxe plan. there are many signature places that I would like to try, but hasn't been worth the $$ so far.

I am thinking if we did a split stay and had the deluxe plan for part of the stay and did the signature dining we are interested in, that the plan short term could work for us. (We are also DVC so have the option (maybe!) of adding the DDP onto a DVC stay without buying the tickets too)

I don't think I could do the deluxe plan for an entire week. I think I would burst

 

[XQIXX]

Does Tinksmagic have it right??? If so, what are the cost per child??

I haven't decided if I like the changes yet. But I will say this; why why WHY can't they make a price for "tweeners" kids 10-15???? My ten year old barely finishes a meal from the child's menu!! That is my number one obsticle to either plan now. Frankly I was on the fence about the 2007 plan now that she's ten. I guess I was holding out hope that when this new plan was officially announced, it would include a better price for 10-15 year olds.

I don't think I like the changes. And since we stay on DVC points, we never get it free. I bet we've seen our last trip on any dining plan.

I agree.As DVC'ers it doesn't seem to be any savings.Besides, the food was becoming a major part of the planning.Time to “Eat to live, not live to eat”!

 

[SonicGuy]

I think a lot of times people forget that Disney is a for-profit, capitalist organization. Basic economic factors drive these decisions - supply and demand being one of them. The fact that on many other parts of this board you can find people wanting to trade dinner reservations as if they are on the New York Stock Exchange tells you that the DDP is near capacity. Disney is only doing what any capitalist organization SHOULD do if it wants to stay in business - find that point where supply and demand are equal.

In addition, I doubt Disney was making much on the current plan. When you consider the increased costs that most businesses in this country have undergone this year - fuel costs for commodity shipping, dairy prices are at all time highs, phase one of the three phase minimum wage increase - and Disney is doing what just about any business that sells food in this country is in the process of doing - RAISING PRICES. In the company I work for, our restaurants are taking anywhere from 5%-15% price increases because of all those factors I already mentioned. Disney has to continue to make money - how else will they have the funds to close down and refurbish my favorite ride (RNR) during my next vacation, but I digress.....

 

[kaytieeldr]

Think they would honor the fact that we reserved 12/31 but checked in late (1/1) or would the computer maybe over-ride any thing they tried to put in anyway>???

Wouldn't work. Your reservation is guaranteed through 6 AM the following morning.

 

[newbydisney]

If Disney wants the retired folks to still come to the resorts and use the DDP they should consider an either or approach on the dessert/appetizer ....a lot of people just don't eat sugar anymore.....personally I would rather have an appetizer and either skip dessert or oop one and split it with others...anyone think its worth suggesting this to Disney?...anyone think they are monitoring this thread ...maybe they are listening...??

 

[Praying Colonel]

When I described the changes to DW tonight, she said that she thinks we should go back to how we did things pre-DDP: stay offsite, eat breakfast at the condo, CS lunch and a snack at the parks and TS offsite.

Not giving us a choice of app/dessert is a very big deal to her, as I thought it would be. She definitely wants a salad with her meal, and we'll have to go OOP on that if we do the 2008 version of the DDP. But we can eat someplace like Carraba's, where the salad's included with the entree, and have a decent meal and not pay nearly as much. When you add that in with the $ we can save staying offsite vs. paying for a resort room onsite (and the extra room we'll have, to boot) and the choice is pretty clear to us. More money will go to the local economy.

 

[chrismb22]

1) I just booked a package for my boyfriend and I and a package for my best friend/her husband/her son. We each have separate reservation numbers. Will our plan be linked together?

2) Will we each be able to put our credit cards in to charge things to our room?

THANKS, for any help you can give me!

 

[mickey2000]

If Disney wants the retired folks to still come to the resorts and use the DDP they should consider an either or approach on the dessert/appetizer ....a lot of people just don't eat sugar anymore.....personally I would rather have an appetizer and either skip dessert or oop one and split it with others...anyone think its worth suggesting this to Disney?...anyone think they are monitoring this thread ...maybe they are listening...??

An appetizer cost more than a desert in Disneys eyes! Its all about the money $

 

[tinaluis]

When I described the changes to DW tonight, she said that she thinks we should go back to how we did things pre-DDP: stay offsite, eat breakfast at the condo, CS lunch and a snack at the parks and TS offsite.

Not giving us a choice of app/dessert is a very big deal to her, as I thought it would be. She definitely wants a salad with her meal, and we'll have to go OOP on that if we do the 2008 version of the DDP. But we can eat someplace like Carraba's, where the salad's included with the entree, and have a decent meal and not pay nearly as much. When you add that in with the $ we can save staying offsite vs. paying for a resort room onsite (and the extra room we'll have, to boot) and the choice is pretty clear to us. More money will go to the local economy.

That's exactly how we feel. The DDP is what lured us to stay onsite. We've been visiting since 1993, at least 1x a year, most years 2x. We'd always stayed offsite until WDW offered free dining last year. We gave onsite a try and were willing to pay substantially more $$ for our room (for substantially less space) in exchange for free dining. Even if they offered the free DDP in 2008, having to pay for a tip OOP would make it far less of a value for us. In fact, we had a trip scheduled for free dining this September which we've canceled. We're still going, but we're staying offsite in a 3 bedroom condo for SUBSTANTIALLY less. Even when we add our meals in, I think we'll still come out ahead.

 

[txaggie94gigem]

i understand raising the price or decreasing the amount of food for the same price idea due to the rising costs of everything...i think we all can agree on that....BUT they are decreasing the amount of services and excluding the tips too!!! depending on where you eat and which plan you choose you could pay $20+ more per day per person just on tips alone!

i think Disney will lose some people on this one! It may still be worth it to us since we have to get 2 rooms for all of us and could simply get the meal plan on one of the rooms and share but that is not how it is supposed to work!

 

[Snow_White]

If Disney wants the retired folks to still come to the resorts and use the DDP they should consider an either or approach on the dessert/appetizer ....a lot of people just don't eat sugar anymore.....personally I would rather have an appetizer and either skip dessert or oop one and split it with others...anyone think its worth suggesting this to Disney?...anyone think they are monitoring this thread ...maybe they are listening...??

Well my husband isn't retired (he's 33 ), but he is on a very limited diet due to severe allergies and basically cannot eat any desserts (no sugar, no chocolate, no citric acid, no dairy...I could go on and on). This new DDP just screws him royally. Thanks a lot for making his food situation even more uncomfortable, Disney It would be 100 times better if Disney let us choose between appies and desserts. We won't be utilizing the DDP after this year (even if we can get it for "free"....it's not really free anyway when you are paying rack rate on your room).

 

[Lesleyluvsdisney]

Am I missing a page on the DDP brochure?

I don't see any listing for Downtown Disney area?

Sorry, also wanted to ask, as I've never booked direct with Disney before, I went on to website this morning, and it wont let me price for more than 14 nights - is this correct? Also when I added the Deluxe DDP it seemed to add 3 x $69.99, but DD6 is under 9! Surely there is still a child price!!

Ive already booked with Virgin Holidays, but as it stands they are charging £28 per adult ($56), £11 ($22) for DD6, and that looks to be the basic plan!! (booked it couple of months ago before changes announced).

So possibly thinking of cancelling with Virgin, and trying to go with Disney Direct. What is the best way to do it, as I always see posts asking about discount codes etc!!??

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sparkie]

Really Confused???

How much for basic 2008 dining plan?
How much for Deluxe 2008 dining plan?

I'm with some of you others: We enjoyed the dining plan on our 7/07 trip and ate at alot of places that we wouldnt have normally. It was a plus having the gratuity included and that I will miss. Although the table services was an enourmous amount of food. My family and I could have shared appetizers on a few occasions and we could have shared deserts and sometimes we did but sometimes we just wanted to taste it all. Depending on the price it may be more economical for us to pay for the few meals that we really enjoyed, do counter service during the day, or eat off site.

I also noticed that the beverage isnt included with the counter service on the basic plan - correct?

Maybe someone could do a side by side comparison table for us- one of you really savy computer people-

thanks for the info

 

[Mickey-4-Me]

When I described the changes to DW tonight, she said that she thinks we should go back to how we did things pre-DDP: stay offsite, eat breakfast at the condo, CS lunch and a snack at the parks and TS offsite.

Not giving us a choice of app/dessert is a very big deal to her, as I thought it would be. She definitely wants a salad with her meal, and we'll have to go OOP on that if we do the 2008 version of the DDP. But we can eat someplace like Carraba's, where the salad's included with the entree, and have a decent meal and not pay nearly as much. When you add that in with the $ we can save staying offsite vs. paying for a resort room onsite (and the extra room we'll have, to boot) and the choice is pretty clear to us. More money will go to the local economy.

OMG! Great minds really DO think alike or is it the southern connection? We have decided on the same plan - stay offsite, eat breakfast at the condo, CS lunch in the parks, perhaps a shared snack in the parks, and all TS meals offsite with the exception of one character meal on property.

It's not the appetizer versus dessert dilemma for us. It is the gratuity. I loved looking at the menu and ordering what I wanted without looking at the price.

Plus, We always fly down, use Magical Express (not renting a car has limited us to only WDW), stay onsite, and get the DDP. We enjoy the all-inclusive aspect of it. Planning a vacation, paying for it in advance, and showing up with only souvenir money in hand is incredible. The "old" DDP made Disney a no-brainer. Now, the allure is gone. Will we ever visit Disney again? Of course! Annually? Doubtful.

I'm actually excited about returning to Florida and visiting all of those places that we never have before (Sea World, Universal, Kennedy Space Center, etc.). We will still fly down, but instead rent a car. No more 7 night, 8 day WDW only trips. We will probably stay longer (for less money) devoting approximately 3 days to WDW parks.

An appetizer cost more than a desert in Disneys eyes! Its all about the money $

Well... they won't be seeing very much of mine in the future. The allure is gone and with it went the trap of staying on property to achieve it.

 

[mello]

they should consider an either or approach on the dessert/appetizer ....a lot of people just don't eat sugar anymore.....personally I would rather have an appetizer and either skip dessert or oop one and split it with others...anyone think its worth suggesting this to Disney?...anyone think they are monitoring this thread ...maybe they are listening...??

I had really hoped this would be an option. They may still listen and offer substitutions informally, I guess time will tell on that. I have no idea where one would send a suggestion, but I think the fact that many people don't eat sweets is a very valid consideration. We'll have a couple of diabetics with us on our next trip, as well as some folks who do weight watchers and like to choose salads or soups as starters, and we had planned to do the DDP, but it will be worth nothing to those who can't/don't eat desserts. I can't imagine that they didn't consider this, with the overall trend toward healthier eating; the only thing left to think is that they must be actually wanting to drastically reduce the number of people who use the plan in 08.