Am I doing the 2008 dining plan right?

[ruthie]

Hi
We're over from the UK in Apr 2008. We have 2 adults and 2 children under 9.
We are there for 14 nights including 1 night at Universal. Usually we eat a table service dinner(sometimes character others not), counter lunch and a few character breakfasts. We never split meals and order one per person. I have priced out the dining plan and even with apppetizers gone(buffets it doesn't matter and we probably wouldn't always order them) and allowing my oop tip at 20%, my bill for table service restaurants and snacks(allowing 1 per person per day) came to a similar price to the cost of the dining plan, so in effect I am getting 14xcounter meals per person for free(56 extra counter meals).
To me this seems a wonderful deal!
I can't understand why so many people are saying that the plan doesn't work for them regarding tipping and appetizers.
Do I need to factor in any other costs or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks

 

[Mr. Pig]

I don't think you are missing anything. I think most people are just disappointed that they eliminated the tip and appetizer from the plan. In my opinion, if you did eat all the meals, that the current (old) dining plan was a GREAT deal. The new plan is probably only a GOOD deal for most. I know we wouldn't eat as many TS Disney meals if we weren't on the plan and would end up spending less money on food but the plan does give the value for what it offers.

Have a great trip next April. We will be going back in Oct.

 

[hematite153]

I think it depends where you plan to eat.

For instance, if you are planning to eat dinner at Spoodles and order the following:

Oak Fired Steak Kabobs: 22.99
White Chocolate Orange Cake: 6.99
drink: 2.99

your table service total would be $32.97. So, you are getting a CS meal (note: this no longer includes a drink) and a snack for $5. (The tip is irrelevant from a comparison perspective since you'd have to pay it both ways.)

But, if I were paying OOP, I would never order a dessert--I might order an appetizer--and I would rarely order a drink. (Even when I get the dessert for free I don't usually finish it and I rarely eat the CS desserts.) So, from my perspective it would be like paying for the CS meal, the snack and the entree and getting the extra dessert. If they had made it appetizer OR dessert, I might consider the DDP again since the extra would be something I am actually interested in eating.

But, if you used your TS for a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's the OOP cost is only 18.99. So, in this case, you'd be paying $19 for your CS meal and snack. I can definitely do better than this by paying OOP!

I'm glad that it works out as a savings for you and your family. However, the changes to the DDP mean that I can eat better for less money by paying OOP given my preferred eating habits.

 

[OnMedic]

The breeze blew in and I just caught wind of the new DDP!

OUCH!

Doing the math for a family of 4, with an average TS meal bill being $85 and a tip of 18%, this represents a 31% $$$ increase over the same product/service you can buy on Dec. 31st.

Only Disney can get away with a 31% increase!

 

[OnMedic]

I think it depends where you plan to eat.

your table service total would be $32.97. So, you are getting a CS meal (note: this no longer includes a drink)

Are you sure the CS no longer includes a drink? It appears to by looking at:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

 

[Luv2Roam]

On the Disney web site the 2008 brochure shows including a non-alcoholic beverage for CS.

 

[dreamn_Disney]

Oops

 

[faindrops27]

Wait it no longer includes a drink at cs meals, or the snack per day?? Let me go check into this

​

 

[kaytieeldr]

To me this seems a wonderful deal!
I can't understand why so many people are saying that the plan doesn't work for them regarding tipping and appetizers.
Do I need to factor in any other costs or am I doing something wrong?

I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. I think people are focusing on the table service changes and forgetting about the counter service meal and the snack. The DDP may not be the fabulously amazing deal it was before, but it’s still not bad.

your table service total would be $32.97. So, you are getting a CS meal (note: this no longer includes a drink)

note: Yes, it does.

 

[hematite153]

On the Disney web site the 2008 brochure shows including a non-alcoholic beverage for CS.

Hmmn...yes, you're correct. When I go look there, there is a drink included.

I got my prior information from Dreams Unlimited. They start out by saying to read the descriptions of the packages closely because of changes from 2007 to 2008. The 2007 description includes a counter service drink and the 2008 description does not.

I assume that this means there was a typo on one site or the other. But, I would confirm before booking.

Either way, the DDP is still not a worthwhile purchase if you plan to eat Character Breakfasts with it.

And, it is no longer worthwhile to me because I will end up paying (automatically) for desserts that I won't eat and have to pay OOP if I want an appetizer. If I run the OOP costs of just ordering an entree (at least the ones that I would choose) it is much cheaper than the DDP. So, if the included extras are things I'm not interested in, then there is no point spending the greater amount of money.

 

[ruthie]

Thanks everyone for your comments!
We will still use the dining plan, as it works and is still a good deal for us!

Ruthie