2008 DDP discussion, questions, rants and vents

[Pumbaa_]

Joyce is going to start a new Snack thread for 2008 and we will stick it to the top of the boards. We will release the old sticky, but link to it in the popular links thread (make sense?)

Hope that helps!

 

[HaleyB]

Joyce is going to start a new Snack thread for 2008 and we will stick it to the top of the boards. We will release the old sticky, but link to it in the popular links thread (make sense?)

Hope that helps!

Makes perfect sense. Thanks!

 

[HaleyB]

Unless....you have a family of 5....two parents, and three children 17, 14, and 7. Which makes the cost of the dining plan and the cost of the room at POR almost equilavent.

But I agree that "free dining" is not such an awesome deal for couples without children and couples with small children. Room-only discounts might be a better deal in those cases.

Same is true for the values, even with just 2 adults it amounts to around 50% off. More if you have two kids over 10.

 

[Jets fan]

I have just returned and have to rant.

Think it was much easier when the snacks on the DDP were most things under $4. Much, much less confusion of what you can and cannot have. What we have this year is:

No gratuity
No appetiser
Snacks that Disney want you to have and differ from place to place

No other company in the world would get away with this!

Will not be doing DDP again as it was not enough fun this last time.

 

[kritter]

I have just returned and have to rant.

Think it was much easier when the snacks on the DDP were most things under $4. Much, much less confusion of what you can and cannot have. What we have this year is:

No gratuity
No appetiser
Snacks that Disney want you to have and differ from place to place

No other company in the world would get away with this!

Will not be doing DDP again as it was not enough fun this last time.

What were the snacks this time??

 

[Jets fan]

It was confusing. You used to be able to judge by anthing under $4 but this is not the case now. There is no rhyme or reason as to whats included and whats not. The list is posted in another thread and is pretty accurate.

 

[kritter]

It was confusing. You used to be able to judge by anthing under $4 but this is not the case now. There is no rhyme or reason as to whats included and whats not. The list is posted in another thread and is pretty accurate.

I saw that thread not all resorts are listed does that not mean they have snacks now????????????

 

[disneyfan2kids]

FYI... snack credit make no sense anymore.

I brought up to the register (in SSR) a tiny single serving of pre-packaged "peaches." They cost $1.70 cash.

CM told me they're not a "snack" and directed me an area that I could choose from. I chose a package of cookies that cost a little over $3.

She looked at me and realized that these cost more...and she said "I know, it makes no sense...but they're a snack and the peaches aren't."

 

[kritter]

FYI... snack credit make no sense anymore.

I brought up to the register (in SSR) a tiny single serving of pre-packaged "peaches." They cost $1.70 cash.

CM told me they're not a "snack" and directed me an area that I could choose from. I chose a package of cookies that cost a little over $3.

She looked at me and realized that these cost more...and she said "I know, it makes no sense...but they're a snack and the peaches aren't."

Can you tell me what types of things were snacks at SSR ??? Thanks,!!!!!

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Mickey pretzels, packages of Nutter Butter cookies, single-serving cereals, and drinks.

When in AP, there's a middle "tower" filled with things that have DDP SNACK CREDIT written all over the tower.

Then, there's a few items on the shelves too. They're also labeled. It should be fairly easy to figure it out with the labels.

Any specific items you're wondering about? I'd be happy to answer!

 

[kritter]

Mickey pretzels, packages of Nutter Butter cookies, single-serving cereals, and drinks.

When in AP, there's a middle "tower" filled with things that have DDP SNACK CREDIT written all over the tower.

Then, there's a few items on the shelves too. They're also labeled. It should be fairly easy to figure it out with the labels.

Any specific items you're wondering about? I'd be happy to answer!

Thanks,

Last time, I was able to get a loaf of bread, how about a can of pringles or a bag of cheetos...??????

 

[Pumbaa_]

I saw that thread not all resorts are listed does that not mean they have snacks now????????????

It is more people have not come back and reported what they were successfully able to use a snack credit for. The list will grow as people return. Joyce will update the list as time goes on

Hope that helps.

 

[kritter]

It is more people have not come back and reported what they were successfully able to use a snack credit for. The list will grow as people return. Joyce will update the list as time goes on

Hope that helps.

Thanks soo much.. Where can I find the list???

 

[jjohnson]

Based on what I've been reading, I believe loaves of bread and bags of chips will no longer be included as a snack option.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Thanks,

Last time, I was able to get a loaf of bread, how about a can of pringles or a bag of cheetos...??????

Nope... none of the above. Think "teeny-tiny bags of pretzels/chips/cookies."

That was pretty much it. Sorry!

 

[jjohnson]

Does anyone else think the parks just haven't "caught up" with the resorts yet in eliminating most of their snack options. There is such a wide discrepancy between them.

 

[apostolic4life]

Nope... none of the above. Think "teeny-tiny bags of pretzels/chips/cookies."

That was pretty much it. Sorry!

They still allow you to get single serving bags of those items, but they have clamped down on allowing a family to buy an 8 pack of donuts from the sundry shop to feed the entire clan for breakfast. Every year the brochure always specified single serving snacks, but it seems the POS system was allowing anything under $4 which included large multi-serving items. I think what has happened is simple......Disney has clamped down on the multi-serving purchases and now expects the people on DDP to get single serve items as set out in the dining plan literature. My family even took advantage of this loop-hole on several occasions, but I can't blame WDW for closing the loop-hole if it was costing more than they had planned.

 

[englishrose47]

I don't blame them for closing the loophole but they hv to do it when they made all the other changes. They are really making ddp less and less of a deal ,then the restaurants will suffer as people will eat mors cs and order cheap when they do go to restaurants. I really think the no tip is going to blow up in Disneys face as the poor servers get stiffed and quit!!

 

[apostolic4life]

I don't blame them for closing the loophole but they hv to do it when they made all the other changes. They are really making ddp less and less of a deal ,then the restaurants will suffer as people will eat mors cs and order cheap when they do go to restaurants. I really think the no tip is going to blow up in Disneys face as the poor servers get stiffed and quit!!

Yes, they are making it less of a deal.......that is their intention. The rooms are booked solid during the peak seasons and it is getting harder to get rooms in the traditionally slower times. The restaurants are so crowded now you have to get your ADR's 180+10 days out almost year round. Now WDW wants to shave the overly generous nature of the DDP from a 30-35% savings to a more modest 15-20% savings to sure up the bottom line. They have not done away with it entirely because it is so popular and it keeps the rooms full at rack rates. They are probably banking that it will still be enough of a savings to fill the resorts, while also keeping the masses satisfied with the savings. If resort bookings go down look for the DDP to be adjusted next year to compensate, and if the resorts stay full and the number of DDP users drop off signifigantly, they could decide to eliminate it altogether. Of course this is all speculation and based on nothing more than the mutiplicity of possibilities.

As for the servers suffering, I do not agree. Will some people "stiff" servers or tip inappropriately, sure, but I would bet most people will tip as they should. The servers will be fine since they now will be getting the automatic 18% from all DDE participants. It will all even out in the long run.

 

[bicker]

That's really it, in a nutshell. While some folks might not like the changes, they appear to have been made with deliberate intent.