2008 Ddp

[MinnieNurse]

I am just venting so no one flame me!

First let me say that my family has used the dining plan three times and we have not abused or misused it in any way. In fact on 2 of those trips we had snacks and counter service credit left over.

I am really disappointed in the changes to the dining plan for 2008. My main problem is with the gratuties part, and that is because it really takes the whole point of not having to carry cash or credit card around with you and doing to 2 transactions to charge the food to your ddp and your gratuties to your room key or credit card just asks for a mistake to be made in my opinion.

I really dont care about the other changes, however, DH would prefer an appetizer to a dessert (not me).

So anyway my main complaint is that the DDP is part of the reason we chose WDW for our family vacation every year. DH would prefer to go somewhere else (he does love Disney though). So I finally talked him into going to WDW in March 2008 for our 15th Anniversary and I could not wait for the rates to come out. Now I am thinking maybe I should make my DH happy and plan a trip somewhere besides Disney.

I know people abused this plan and that makes the rest of us suffer , but I am really thinking there will be no more yearly trips for us to Disney and maybe we will try other vacations and only go to Disney occasionally.

 

[chrismb22]

No flames here. I booked the deluxe plan this morning for my Jan trip but I wish it still included the tip. Would make life much easier but I'll deal with it. It's still cheaper for us to do it this way -- I am FINALLY going to get to eat at California Grill (yeah) and our friends that are traveling with an infant don't have to worry about using all their TS credits on room service.

I just have to remember the extra $$ for tips -- but it's the boyfriend's job to calculate that so I'm off the hook NO MATH FOR ME!!!

 

[JoyceDB]

We (DH, DS & Me) are also disappointed with new DDP. We also had extra snack credits on our plan each time we used the plan (Dec 05 & May 07). The major factor for us is also the gratuity change - I liked not having to carry cash or other card with us & it was nice to just sign the paper & walk away from the table owing nothing. It's disappointing but, maybe the waiters/waitresses were not getting very good tips with the DDP the way they had it.

Oh, well nothing we can do about it - just need to check to see if the DDP will really be worth it for next trip or not.

 

[G8r4evr]

No flames here either. With the subsequent increase in ticket prices, resort rates and now the DDP (I consider it a price increase as they lowered the benefit much more than they lowered the price), it seems that Disney is slowly pricing themselves out of many people's budgets. It really is a shame.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

I agree with the OP. Although we did not have any meal credits left over we enjoyed not worrying about the tip and would rather have an appetizer than desert. It seems like it's costing the same, yet we will be paying more out of our pockets. We are still undecided about purchasing the DDP for our trip in April.

 

[Hannahsmom]

no flames, I feel the same way. Although I don't quite think this change has anything to do with abuse of the systems. I think they are taking advantage of the popularity of the DP, and seeing how much more money they can get out of the consumer. Combine this with the change in resort price structure, rising ticket prices, changes to the menus and portion sizes, I'm afraid it stinks of corporate greed. Especially after they just announced their profits were up last quarter.

 

[DisneyTabby]

I noticed some restaurants missing on the 2008 list like, Wolfgang Puck, San Angel. Also some others in Epcot. Anyone else check it out?

 

[jess20k]

no flames, I feel the same way. Although I don't quite think this change has anything to do with abuse of the systems. I think they are taking advantage of the popularity of the DP, and seeing how much more money they can get out of the consumer. Combine this with the change in resort price structure, rising ticket prices, changes to the menus and portion sizes, I'm afraid it stinks of corporate greed. Especially after they just announced their profits were up last quarter.

I agree!!!!!

 

[maxaroni]

I agree with the OP.....for us, we have used the DDP the last 2 yrs and we happened to get the free DDP. Both years, we were going to WDW anyway and this made it a nice bonus. While I agree, it isn't as much of a savings since we had to give up our AAA discount - we still saved money, didn't abuse the plan, didn't eat all the food but it was free, so we ordered what we wanted and if we couldn't finish it all...fine. It was so easy to not have to have the cash and it gave us many nice opportunities to try various restaurants. While we were not going to go this summer anyway, opting for someplace else, the free dining wouldn't have been available for our dates. As a matter of fact, when going last year, before the free dining came about, we were toying with not buying the DDP and just winging it with CS meals - which isn't much of a hardship as there are so many places that you can get a nice variety and not eat burgers all the time. At any rate, with the changes, I know we wouldn't purchase the plan. I'd prefer an appetizer over dessert but the biggest thing is the gratuities. I could live with the other changes but the gratuities just seem to put it over the top for wanting to use it. I may choose to have a couple of ADR's for dinners that we enjoy and the rest CS meals. There aren't many restaurants that we feel are even that wonderful - don't get me wrong, they are good but not outstanding.

 

[huey578]

I noticed some restaurants missing on the 2008 list like, Wolfgang Puck, San Angel. Also some others in Epcot. Anyone else check it out?

I noticed that too at EPCOT. No more France,Morroco,Italy,Mexico,Japan,China. Also noticed the Coronado Springs Resort was left out of DDP.

 

[InstImpres]

I liked not having to carry cash or other card with us & it was nice to just sign the paper & walk away from the table owing nothing. It's disappointing but, maybe the waiters/waitresses were not getting very good tips with the DDP the way they had it.

Just the opposite, the wait staff was guaranteed an 18% gratuity and your bill was large since it included an appetizer. Now, I think they will end up with much less, especially those at a buffet. If you figure that got $7 an adult at Crystal Palace for refilling your drinks, I don't think the average person will leave that much but I could be wrong.

 

[MinnieNurse]

I noticed some restaurants missing on the 2008 list like, Wolfgang Puck, San Angel. Also some others in Epcot. Anyone else check it out?

I did not even notice that-now I am really mad

 

[hollieplus2]

Some of my favorites are no longer on the plan. Raglan Road, San Angel, Marrakesh, Nine Dragons etc. Will they be added???

 

[Luv2Roam]

This plan went through the very same last year. I would be surprised if eventually more are not added. COntracts are probably not yet finalized.

 

[LizinSTL]

No flames here either. With the subsequent increase in ticket prices, resort rates and now the DDP (I consider it a price increase as they lowered the benefit much more than they lowered the price), it seems that Disney is slowly pricing themselves out of many people's budgets. It really is a shame.

The funny thing is that with the advent of the "Magic your Way" vacation packages they just brought themselves into many families vacation budgets! I love the idea of the deluxe DDP, but I'm not sure I can justify the cost since one of my kids is a disney adult now. (Well, maybe if I leave my husband at home )

Plenty of value resort rooms, more affordable MYW tickets, the DDP, all combined to make Disney a relatively affordable destination. It'll be hard to advertise a family of 4 for under $1500 now! The tickets didn't go up that much- approx 5% but the dining plan, just increased about 18% in cost. For our family, our TS meals were about equal to the cost of the plan so adding the tip, well, we need to plan an additional 18-20% in the budget.

 

[Buzz2001]

I noticed that too at EPCOT. No more France,Morroco,Italy,Mexico,Japan,China. Also noticed the Coronado Springs Resort was left out of DDP.

If it's anything like what happened last year, CSR was added late in the year. Oct/Nov time frame.

 

[JoyceDB]

Just the opposite, the wait staff was guaranteed an 18% gratuity and your bill was large since it included an appetizer. Now, I think they will end up with much less, especially those at a buffet. If you figure that got $7 an adult at Crystal Palace for refilling your drinks, I don't think the average person will leave that much but I could be wrong.

I didn't realize they received a guaranteed 18% tip - we usually tip between 18-30% anyway (depending on service) but I still wish we didn't have to deal with that at all - it was great to just sign and walk away!

 

[hoosll]

I am going to need the one-syllable explanation to get the new plans straight ....

I think the official Disney brochure do nothing to clearly explain the difference between deluxe and regular.

I think it stinks about the tip - we always have drinks so we would do a separate tip anyway but by dropping the tip they have now raised the price of the plan 18-20% and that's a major increase.

I think I will just skip the plan (never used the snack credits), budget my meals in advance based on the menus. We will go to fewer of the nice restaurants (2 TS credits needed).

 

[Tam1067]

I'm also very disappointed. We've used the DDP the last two years and enjoyed the convenience of tips being covered. The value was decent for us but not great because we ended up with more food than we would normally order if not on the DDP.

That said, we loved Coral Reef a few weeks ago, but DH said there was no way he would have paid nearly $200 for us to eat there (as it would have cost without the DDP).

Here's my prediction: the TS restaurants will see a drop in popularity because fewer people will get the DDP, and they'll eat fewer TS meals. That will make it easier to get ADRs (a good thing). Some current on-site guests will no longer stay on-site or will travel off-site for dinners (a bad thing for Disney and the servers).

The servers will suffer because they will get stiffed from many guests. Eventually, Disney will add an automatic 18% gratuity to all bills, but we'll be paying for it separately instead of having it magically covered in the DDP.

Then in a few years, after the TS restaurants are not so crowded, Disney will come up with a new promotion or plan to get us back to dining at all those places.

I have two beefs with this new system. First, families who save all year to go on vacation are being squeezed even more. I could understand it if Disney were hurting financially, but we all know that's not the case.

Second, I am pretty irritated at Disney management for doing this to the servers. Disney management is showing itself to be a typical corporate entity worried about nothing than their bottom line. We all know there's a shortage of good CMs, and Disney responds by cutting the CMs even more.

 

[JimMIA]

The servers will suffer because they will get stiffed from many guests.

I don't think there is any question about that. There are winners and losers in this. Disney and cheap guests are winners; the servers are losers -- BIG time.

Eventually, Disney will add an automatic 18% gratuity to all bills, but we'll be paying for it separately instead of having it magically covered in the DDP.

Maybe. I'd personally prefer that. Having a tip added at a resort restaurant is pretty much standard throughout the industry, and we usually tip 20%, so it wouldn't bother me a bit.

Second, I am pretty irritated at Disney management for doing this to the servers. Disney management is showing itself to be a typical corporate entity worried about nothing than their bottom line. We all know there's a shortage of good CMs, and Disney responds by cutting the CMs even more.

I have no doubt that the decision to eliminate the gratuity from DDP was purely a money question, and the purpose was solely to increase Disney's bottom line. That said, in fairness to Disney management, included tips are a "term and condition of employment" and are therefore must be, and were, negotiated with the servers' union. The elimination of included gratuities in DDP was specifically included in the contract which was ratified by the union.

I think the servers (who comprise a very small minority of the bargaining unit) have a valid beef with their union. I think they should go to the National Labor Relations Board and argue that the bargaining unit does NOT represent their interests and unfairly favors Disney. But the fact is -- that is their problem.

The structure of the bargaining unit may not be fair to this particular segment of the 65,000 employees at WDW, but Disney followed the rules and negotiated the contract with the union, and the union ratified it. That's not Disney's bad.