2008 DDP discussion, questions, rants and vents

[CNDKangaroo]

I may not save as much money (or rather eat as much food) on the new plan but I will save some money for our family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children). I did the math and saved about $200 for our 12 days in Walt Disney World. For me, paying for most of our meals and snacks prior to leaving is a huge incentive. If I just broke even I'd be happy it is just one less thing to worry about money wise while on holiday.

 

[marvel]

I just don't know if a saving between $50 - $200 is worth the hassle of maintaining how many credits are left. Maybe it was too good of a deal previously but if it is borderline in terms of savings what's the point. Maintaining all the snack, ts and cs credits seems a hassle.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I just don't know if a saving between $50 - $200 is worth the hassle of maintaining how many credits are left. Maybe it was too good of a deal previously but if it is borderline in terms of savings what's the point. Maintaining all the snack, ts and cs credits seems a hassle.

How is it a hassle? The number of remain credits is listed on the bottom of your receipt

 

[apostolic4life]

I just don't know if a saving between $50 - $200 is worth the hassle of maintaining how many credits are left. Maybe it was too good of a deal previously but if it is borderline in terms of savings what's the point. Maintaining all the snack, ts and cs credits seems a hassle.

$50-$200 is a lot of money for some and I am sure it could be enough of a savings for many (even those who have plenty of money) to deal with the "hassle" of keeping track of your credits. How much of a hassle is it to look at the bottom of your receipt after you eat??? Just a question.

 

[tomandrobin]

$50-$200 is a lot of money for some and I am sure it could be enough of a savings for many (even those who have plenty of money) to deal with the "hassle" of keeping track of your credits. How much of a hassle is it to look at the bottom of your receipt after you eat??? Just a question.

And yet people will drive an extra 5 miles out of their way to save 5 cents on a gallon of gas.

We are all about the best deal for us.

 

[marvel]

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone by suggesting that any amount of money shouldn't be saved. We have to travel half way around the world to get to WDW, so just not sure if keeping track that we use up all the credits during the stay would be too much of a hassle for us.

In fact I envy people that sit down and calculate all the costs of a trip. I just don't have the time to do that sort of thing. So rely on the good people on DIS for advice, knowing others do go to the trouble to work it all out.

 

[bicker]

In fact I envy people that sit down and calculate all the costs of a trip. I just don't have the time to do that sort of thing. So rely on the good people on DIS for advice, knowing others do go to the trouble to work it all out.

We're glad to have helped clear this one up for you!

 

[Lewisc]

You're looking at the DDP from the prospective of a DVC member staying on points.

The rest of us may be forgoing a room discount, paying for tickets we might not need and are forced to book a package. A package has pre-payment requirements and different cancellation polices then a room only reservation. I'd expect a discount of 20-25% in exchange for agreeing to the package terms, and for making a "quantity purchase".

I'll agree the DDP was under priced at the offering price to DDP but I'm not as sure for "regular guests". I haven't done the arithmetic, I don't have a pending trip, but I suspect the 2008 DDP may not meet my 25% threshold.

I don't completely understand the logic behind offering the DDP, at regular price, to DVC members but not offering it at all to guests who use an AP, FL resident or other discounted room rates.

It would have been irresponsible to continue selling the Dining Plan given that it was so badly underpriced. Since you're having trouble deciding whether it is worth it or not, then they've done a remarkably excellent job at pricing this time.

Here's an analysis showing how the 2008 Dining Plan can still be worth it.

http://brianandrobbie.com/DiningPlanEstimatedCostsNoAppyNoDessert.htm

The numbers come from my analysis of the Dining Plan last year, and as you can see, without any appetizers and without any desserts either, the Dining Plan still represented a $142.70 savings. Now $92.58 of the value was gratuities, so if we would have had to pay that in cash, our savings would have been $50.12. So even without appetizer, desserts or gratuities included, the Dining Plan is still a good value.

 

[JediTim]

After reading through 38 pages...that was painful...I realized I needed make some points.

1a - The main reason, IMO, for the complaints is that Disney took away two items (appetizer & tips) and reduced the price by only $1. This is probably an effective reduction of $10 - $15 per day...per person. If the current 2008 plan had always been this way they complaints would be small.

1b - I am fine that they removed the tips from the plan as I noticed a difference between 2006 and 2007...the service while good was not as good as it had previously been. I always attributed this to the fact that they asked you before your TS if you were on the DDP. I am sure they would tell you that it was to ensure that you received your full benefit.

1c - The removal of the appetizer as well is the real stinker. I usually enjoy the appetizer and rarely ever have a dessert. I wish (and want to believe) that Disney will change this policy and all guests to have a choice of appetizer or dessert. I actually thought this was always too much food anyway.

2 - I think the big issue is going to be the people that have used the DDP in the past and are going back to Disney in 2008. I am sure there are a lot of people that do not read any of the Disney boards and are going to book their vacation as usual...they probably will not read the 2008 Dining PDF and realize that the appetizer and tips are removed until they get to their first TS and the waiter lets them know what has changed...then they will be really upset and probably not leave a tip.

3 - As for the comments about abusing the system...I am sure there are a percentage of people that look to take advantage of the system but at the same time I am sure there is a percentage (probably large) of people that book with the DDP and don't book a TS before they get to Disney and they wind up not using the benefit...and losing a lot of money.

4 - I have paid for my DDP in our 2006 and 2007. Yes, I did use every allotment of CS, TS and S. I don't feel like I cheated the system and am glad that I booked a reservation in advance for all of the places I wanted to eat...usually trying to maximizing my benefit...but not always.

5 - I really do not like the idea of being forced to pay an 18% gratuity for parties of six or more. I will be going back in Summer '08 with more than six people using separate bills and will now be forced to pay...it is the same philosophy as before...why give Excellent Service if I know I am going to get a tip...I like to tip according to the service received.

6 - Last night my wife and I sat down and reviewed where we ate in '07, what we ate, and what the cost was, added the tax and removed the appetizer and tips and determined that we probably spent $37.40 per day. Close to the value but I liked paying in advance and not having to calculate out a tip.

7 - There is no way I can justify the deluxe plan and it isn't about the cost. I just cannot eat that much food over ten days...I gain weight now with the basic plan...forget out the Deluxe plan.

8 - We have not decided yet about getting the plan for 2008. There are two issues...one; the restaurants that I would go to are not all on the list (Disney Westside and several in Epcot.) Two, I would like to see a change in the appetizer v. dessert...if they allowed me to switch between the two I would take it.

Right now I can't justify telling the rest of the family that is going with us that this is a good plan. The plan was great before but now the value has really been lost.

 

[huey578]

Has there been any new restaurant additions to DDP 2008??

 

[sparklemom]

I apologize if I missed the explanation for this somewhere, but what is the DDE? Several people have compared the DDP against getting a discounted room rate in conjunction with the DDE. I've booked two Tower rooms at the CR and found that I could save several hundred dollars with the AAA rate, so I wasn't going to buy the DDP, especially since I have very small children and am likely to do a lot of counter service meals. However, if there's an alternate discount out there that I can use, I'm very interested!

 

[rogerram]

I don't completely understand the logic behind offering the DDP, at regular price, to DVC members but not offering it at all to guests who use an AP, FL resident or other discounted room rates.

I'm not sure if you mean DVC members get a better deal. If you are, you also need to factor in that no DVC member staying on points can get the free ddp that is offered at other times of year to guests paying for rooms oop, so if anything, DVC members are not treated equally. Disney figures they already have us, so why offer more.

 

[bicker]

You're looking at the DDP from the prospective of a DVC member staying on points.

I sure am. If you're actually paying more for your room or for admission, solely to qualify for the Dining Plan, you should subtract that difference from your savings.

The rest of us may be forgoing a room discount

Don't do that.

 

[bicker]

1a - The main reason, IMO, for the complaints is that Disney took away two items (appetizer & tips) and reduced the price by only $1. This is probably an effective reduction of $10 - $15 per day...per person.

I'm not sure I know what you mean by "effective reduction". What it is is a price increase, of approximately 13%. I did the math for that earlier in the thread.

If the current 2008 plan had always been this way they complaints would be small.

Indeed: People will always complain about change. It is in their nature.

1c - The removal of the appetizer as well is the real stinker. I usually enjoy the appetizer and rarely ever have a dessert.

I believe I mentioned earlier that that is probably exactly why they removed the appetizer and not the dessert.

3 - As for the comments about abusing the system...I am sure there are a percentage of people that look to take advantage of the system but at the same time I am sure there is a percentage (probably large) of people that book with the DDP and don't book a TS before they get to Disney and they wind up not using the benefit...and losing a lot of money.

The two don't cancel each other out.

5 - I really do not like the idea of being forced to pay an 18% gratuity for parties of six or more.

It bears repeating: This is not related to the Dining Plan. That shall be the case regardless of how you pay for your meal.

 

[bicker]

Has there been any new restaurant additions to DDP 2008??

Expect to see the additions to the list made before the end of December.

 

[Lewisc]

I sure am. If you're actually paying more for your room or for admission, solely to qualify for the Dining Plan, you should subtract that difference from your savings.

Don't do that.

I do, which is why I don't agree with your "overly generous" description of the 2006 plan. I'm excluding use of the child/adult loopholes and credit stretching techniques which made the plan overly generous for those guests who used those techniques.

Once Disney decided to offer the DDP to DVC guests (at the same price) the idea that the DDP was priced low to encourage resort packages disappeared.

 

[JediTim]

I'm not sure I know what you mean by "effective reduction". What it is is a price increase, of approximately 13%. I did the math for that earlier in the thread.

Indeed: People will always complain about change. It is in their nature.

I believe I mentioned earlier that that is probably exactly why they removed the appetizer and not the dessert.

The two don't cancel each other out.

It bears repeating: This is not related to the Dining Plan. That shall be the case regardless of how you pay for your meal.

Bicker,
I guess what I meant by "effective reduction" was the benefits we will receive under the new plan versus the old plan. The DDP is taking $10 - $15 in food / tips and reducing the price by $1

I agree with you on why they removed the appetizer v. the dessert...and someone else also pointed out that people would probably share the appetizer and dessert...probably what I would end up doing.

I didn't mean to say that they would cancel each other out...however, no matter what someone offers there is a percentage that gains from it and a percentage that loses...they are now making us all pay.

I know the 18% is not because of the DDP...I just don't like it...my opinion.

My point is Disney has taken the value out of the plan for whatever reason...I just don't like that they took so much at one time...regardless if the plan was originally designed to get people to Disney or to stay on property.
Tim

 

[bicker]

I do, which is why I don't agree with your "overly generous" description of the 2006 plan.

The reason why I say, "overly-generous" is because I saved money even without any appetizers and without any desserts. I can't fathom how getting appetizers and desserts free is anything other than overly-generous. YMMV.

 

[Lewisc]

You're doing your analysis from the prospective of a DVC member. As long as you save a few dollars the DDP makes sense.

I had to book a package, with cancellation penalties and prepayment. I wound up purchasing tickets I didn't need, at some point I'll wind up using my extra tickets but Disney got $$$ up front, and I paid more for my hotel. A savings of 25-30%, in exchange for what I gave up, isn't overly generous but YMMV.

How many local restaurants would be happy to give customers free appetizers and desserts, if those customers paid in full for their meals 45 days in advance, had to purchase meals for several consecutive nights, and got no refunds if the customer didn't use all the meals they pre-paid for?

I'll agree offering the DDP to DVC members, at the same cost as it's offered to hotel guests is overly generous. DVC guests don't have to purchase park passes, don't have to pre-pay and aren't contributing one dollar of additional hotel revenue. DVC guests are getting a discount but aren't giving Disney anything extra in return.

The reason why I say, "overly-generous" is because I saved money even without any appetizers and without any desserts. I can't fathom how getting appetizers and desserts free is anything other than overly-generous. YMMV.

 

[bicker]

I think you're picking nits there, but have at it.