Being forced onto the DDP.

[DISNEY FIX]

Forced might be a little strong but...........I don't know about you guys but we are agoing to be at Disney (Easter & Thanksgiving), for 2 trips when they have the holday pricing in effect. We also tend to eat at buffets and family style places. This is forcing us to the DDP. Anyone else feel this way?

 

[Tricia1972]

I don't feel forced at all. We are going the week after Easter and are opting not to do the dining plan. I dropped my buffet/family style ADR's at all but one place. I would have still paid less money paying OOP if I had kept these restaurants, but I chose not to encourage (what I feel is) unfair pricing and am voicing my opinion with my dollars. That's a personal choice that I made, and it certainly isn't right for everyone.

For us, if it were that close between DDP vs OOP ($4 per person per day) then I probably would have been doing the DDP anyway. We are choosing to not do the DDP because we're saving much more than $4 per person per day by paying OOP with our DDE.

 

[TDC Nala]

I wouldn't call it forced. It's a better deal if you use it. You can accept the better deal or not accept the better deal because you want to trade off for something else (offsite room, more flexibility to decide where to eat, etc)

I am there over Easter weekend and will not be using it either, although I couldn't use it while staying at the Dolphin anyway.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I would not consider it forced either. It's always the guest's option. I don't think any plan was made to be a catch all that works for everyone all the time.

 

[patsal]

Not so much being forced, as you have choices. If your choice is to eat at buffets and family style venues and you have to pay the upcharge, and it is more economical to use the DDP then you're just doing what works best for your family's style and eating habits as well as your wallet. You could choose to pay OOP and spend more money!

 

[Allison]

No, we went during holiday pricing too and didn't feel forced to use it.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We're going over Thanksgiving, and I know it will benefit us to use the ddp, but I don't feel forced. If we didn't do the ddp, we would limit the meals with the upcharge to probably one, but that would be our choice. However, we're 2A and 2C, so the extra charge would be, what, about $12 per meal? Not that big of a deal at WDW, but we'd probably do breakfast.

 

[JimMIA]

Disney obviously does everything they can do to keep you onsite -- free theme park parking for onsite guests, Disney transportation, DME, DDP, EMH, etc, etc, etc. The Mouse dearly loves a captive audience...and we all know why!

You might want to take a look at the relative costs of renting a car and eating offsite. Keep in mind if you do that, you don't have to pay "rack rate" during peak season for your room in addition to the cost of DDP. You may find you save money by getting a better price for your room, skipping DDP, and just paying cash for all of your meals...either onsite or offsite.

We're eating almost exclusively offsite on our May trip, after three years of DDP, and we're really looking forward to trying some of the excellent offsite restaurants (Charley's, Columbia, etc.).

 

[ElizabethB]

Frankly, I think we're all being forced onto DDP because the OOP value at 1TS restaurants simply isn't there anymore. One pays a ridiculous OOP price for an entree which is much more of a quality that is in alignment with the effective amount that DDP users are paying.

 

[TDC Nala]

Frankly, I think we're all being forced onto DDP because the OOP value at 1TS restaurants simply isn't there anymore. One pays a ridiculous OOP price for an entree which is much more of a quality that is in alignment with the effective amount that DDP users are paying.

I get around that by avoiding the 1 TS restaurants

While it isn't cost-effective for me to get a car the way it is for others, and I'm not interested in driving offsite because if I do that I can't have wine with dinner, I found I do well eating at CS, at 2 TS restaurants, at many of the Disney bars and lounges, and at restaurants that don't take the dining plan. And it's kind of fun to work out how to avoid the 1 TS places...

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Yes is the word forced in the title a little strong, yes, do we have to do it no. I understand that, it was a little atterntion grabber. I am not looking to squeeze every dollar out of every meal but I don't like being Holiday charged to death either.

I get around that by avoiding the 1 TS restaurants

This is a learned behavior. I guess I better learn.
I have felt is that eating at a LTT is part of the fun..am I wrong? Does it come at a premium, oh yes. But now (holiday pricing, wich isn't released at time of booking adr's) seems to really go a litle bit too far.


[/QUOTE]While it isn't cost-effective for me to get a car the way it is for others, and I'm not interested in driving offsite because if I do that I can't have wine with dinner, I found I do well eating at CS, at 2 TS restaurants, at many of the Disney bars and lounges, and at restaurants that don't take the dining plan. And it's kind of fun to work out how to avoid the 1 TS places...[/QUOTE]


I can't do the offsite thing dragging 2 kids in tow, either. And I unfortunatly feel that the CS can't hold a candel to the TS as far as quality and digestability.
So the 2TS restaurants do have value for you? How do you like them?

 

[JimMIA]

I can't do the offsite thing dragging 2 kids in tow, either.

I guess it depends a lot on the ages and the kids themselves. We have a 5 year old who's been traveling 5-6 times a year (both air and car) since she was a baby, and she's no trouble to pack up and go anywhere with. In fact, we always drive to and from the theme parks at WDW because that's so much easier than bussing for us. But two kids, especially if they're younger, is very different from one.

 

[TDC Nala]

2 TS restaurants are great for me, as are the bars and lounges. But I don't have kids. I don't do character meals at all and don't generally eat at buffets (I like Boma and Tusker House), I don't eat breakfast, and I'm not in the parks all that much anymore (mostly resorts and DTD/PI).