Changes To Dining Plans May-June 2015

[javaj]

We are at Disney this week. We had multiple reservations and when the rumored changes were first released, I was about to add the dining plan to our room only reservations anyway. I considered adding deluxe dining only to 1 reservation but since the plan was not made official I went ahead and added deluxe to both reservations. We really had no need to share but I was curious for future planning purposes so checked on policies at each restaurant. Our personal experiences:

Fultons - without us asking, server explicitly explained the kids could order from the Adult menu and we could share credits with others not on our plan

Mama melrose - kids could only order from kids menu. Use credits only for the number of adults/kids in the reservation

Garden grill - use credits only for the number of adults/kids on the reservation

T-Rex - use credits only for the number of adults/kids on the reservation. Kids could only order from kids menu for entrees, no appetizer entitlement for kids, kids could order adult dessert

Yachtsman - use credits only for number of adults/kids on the reservation. kids could order from adult menu (my 8 year old had a filet and ate most of it!)

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

We are at Disney this week. We had multiple reservations and when the rumored changes were first released, I was about to add the dining plan to our room only reservations anyway. I considered adding deluxe dining only to 1 reservation but since the plan was not made official I went ahead and added deluxe to both reservations. We really had no need to share but I was curious for future planning purposes so checked on policies at each restaurant. Our personal experiences:

Fultons - without us asking, server explicitly explained the kids could order from the Adult menu and we could share credits with others not on our plan

Mama melrose - kids could only order from kids menu. Use credits only for the number of adults/kids in the reservation

Garden grill - use credits only for the number of adults/kids on the reservation

T-Rex - use credits only for the number of adults/kids on the reservation. Kids could only order from kids menu for entrees, no appetizer entitlement for kids, kids could order adult dessert

Yachtsman - use credits only for number of adults/kids on the reservation. kids could order from adult menu (my 8 year old had a filet and ate most of it!)

Thanks for clearing that up for us!

But seriously, thank you for the report. I think it was very smart of you to add deluxe for both reservations.

 

[senadler]

javaj - For those locations that you indicated you could only use the number of credits for those on the reservation, did you have others dining with you that were not on a dining plan? Were you told you could not cover their meals and they had to pay OOP?

 

[12disneybee]

Sounds like these servers aren't informed..realizing you had no need to share..did you question them?
I have 2 emails from Disney customer relations stating the opposite of what these restaurants are doing. These aren't my changes, these are Disney's so I'm holding them to it.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

Sounds like these servers aren't informed..realizing you had no need to share..did you question them?
I have 2 emails from Disney customer relations stating the opposite of what these restaurants are doing. These aren't my changes, these are Disney's so I'm holding them to it.

It is every bit as likely that the customer relations people you spoke with were the ones uninformed. In fact, more likely, as food service should clearly be the best educated on current dining plan information. You cannot hold Disney to changes that they have not announced when the plan information is readily available from them indicating no changes as of now. The fact is, you could lose some money trusting unofficial reports and the word of customer service.

 

[12disneybee]

I'm confident things will go as planned.
As for the food service knows best relating to dining plan...you are completely wrong.... I've been on the Premier and Platinum plans twice... the food service servers have no clue and they always need educated on the plan and they misquote the plan and it never fails that I spend 15 minutes educating them. the same with activities on premier and platinum. .. i always know I'm gonna have to explain the plan...I understand there is no official update but it's pretty evident changes have been made. Disney explained this very well in their response to me.. entitlements have not changed. The use of entitlements have changed due to inability to enforce...due to demands from "our guests" .. DxDP credits cannot be differentiated and never could, servers were encouraged to enforce child to order from child menu but is not mandated. I will not have to worry about a child ordering as an adult because I will be using those pooled credits for adult guests at times.. I can certainly hold Disney accountable when I email them with specific questions regarding a plan before buying it. We are ordering DXDP regardless. I've gone one step further, contacted each restaurant with my concerns and included Disney's written response to me... will update when I hear back... we will have a great time none the less. I've never had a problem using DxDP for guests...but we always had no more total guests than in our plan.. the children were just not at dinner..never told we couldn't do it. Always told credits were credits on DxDP and above. There is no way Disney can change what's already published for 2015 but they certainly can change things..which they have.. unfortunately it's not broadcasted and those who follow blogs/forums are the ones that know and I'm sure Disney counts on most being uninformed. No matter what, we will eat well and DxDP with free dining is a bargain#!!! The only change I'm concerned with is that it's now acceptable to use your credits on guests not on the plan.. we have always done it because I paid for them and when they were gone they were gone... never asked for more than I paid for...

 

[Alicatt]

I agree with you disneybee. If you ask a question through an official channel, they should be held to that response. I do wish that they would just put out something official and be done with it! Maybe when the new dining plan brochures come out for 2016, there will be some wording changes. I'm not going for a few months, so I'll see how it pans out. It will be the deciding factor between DDP and DxDP for me though, so any continuing info is truly appreciated.

 

[Supermom3]

I am interested in anyone's experience with how the DDP changes worked at BOG lunch. Specifically, I would like to order the onion soup instead of a dessert. As well, my DD8 would prefer something from the adult menu. I'm wondering if either of these are possible, and how they work with the pre-order system.
Thanks!

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

I'm confident things will go as planned.
As for the food service knows best relating to dining plan...you are completely wrong.... I've been on the Premier and Platinum plans twice... the food service servers have no clue and they always need educated on the plan and they misquote the plan and it never fails that I spend 15 minutes educating them. the same with activities on premier and platinum. .. i always know I'm gonna have to explain the plan...I understand there is no official update but it's pretty evident changes have been made. Disney explained this very well in their response to me.. entitlements have not changed. The use of entitlements have changed due to inability to enforce...due to demands from "our guests" .. DxDP credits cannot be differentiated and never could, servers were encouraged to enforce child to order from child menu but is not mandated. I will not have to worry about a child ordering as an adult because I will be using those pooled credits for adult guests at times.. I can certainly hold Disney accountable when I email them with specific questions regarding a plan before buying it. We are ordering DXDP regardless. I've gone one step further, contacted each restaurant with my concerns and included Disney's written response to me... will update when I hear back... we will have a great time none the less. I've never had a problem using DxDP for guests...but we always had no more total guests than in our plan.. the children were just not at dinner..never told we couldn't do it. Always told credits were credits on DxDP and above. There is no way Disney can change what's already published for 2015 but they certainly can change things..which they have.. unfortunately it's not broadcasted and those who follow blogs/forums are the ones that know and I'm sure Disney counts on most being uninformed. No matter what, we will eat well and DxDP with free dining is a bargain#!!! The only change I'm concerned with is that it's now acceptable to use your credits on guests not on the plan.. we have always done it because I paid for them and when they were gone they were gone... never asked for more than I paid for...

First, not saying anyone in food service must be correct, just saying they should know better than customer service who have been reported to give incorrect information quite frequently. Also, the servers in the restaurants are the people who will enforce the rules, regardless of what those rules are. You can ask for a manager, explain the situation, show them any chats/e-mails, but ESPECIALLY at non-Disney-owned establishments the fact remains you could be told no and they would have the official documentation to back them up at this point in time. You could complain to customer service after the fact and they might fix it for you, or they might hand you an extra FP+ or nothing and send you on your way.

Disney could certainly change what's being published. The Dining Plan pdfs on the website could easily be changed if they chose to. They're not going to recall brochures already given out, but they can pull ones with outdated information and supply updated ones.

Also, have to make the point that just because you were never told you couldn't do it, does not mean that it was allowed.

Good luck on your responses from the restaurants.

 

[brockash]

I'm confident things will go as planned.
As for the food service knows best relating to dining plan...you are completely wrong.... I've been on the Premier and Platinum plans twice... the food service servers have no clue and they always need educated on the plan and they misquote the plan and it never fails that I spend 15 minutes educating them. the same with activities on premier and platinum. .. i always know I'm gonna have to explain the plan...I understand there is no official update but it's pretty evident changes have been made. Disney explained this very well in their response to me.. entitlements have not changed. The use of entitlements have changed due to inability to enforce...due to demands from "our guests" .. DxDP credits cannot be differentiated and never could, servers were encouraged to enforce child to order from child menu but is not mandated. I will not have to worry about a child ordering as an adult because I will be using those pooled credits for adult guests at times.. I can certainly hold Disney accountable when I email them with specific questions regarding a plan before buying it. We are ordering DXDP regardless. I've gone one step further, contacted each restaurant with my concerns and included Disney's written response to me... will update when I hear back... we will have a great time none the less. I've never had a problem using DxDP for guests...but we always had no more total guests than in our plan.. the children were just not at dinner..never told we couldn't do it. Always told credits were credits on DxDP and above. There is no way Disney can change what's already published for 2015 but they certainly can change things..which they have.. unfortunately it's not broadcasted and those who follow blogs/forums are the ones that know and I'm sure Disney counts on most being uninformed. No matter what, we will eat well and DxDP with free dining is a bargain#!!! The only change I'm concerned with is that it's now acceptable to use your credits on guests not on the plan.. we have always done it because I paid for them and when they were gone they were gone... never asked for more than I paid for...

Thanks for doing a lot of the legwork. I'm looking forward to seeing what the individual restaurants tell you ahead of time. I agree that it's ridiculous that a company allows and seems to promote having so many misinformed CM's. It's very frustrating as a guest.

 

[Googilycub]

We are here now, on the regular dining plan. The wave offered us to switch out our deserts for either a side salad or an order of sautéed greenbeans and mushrooms. I have not asked at any other restaurants yet, I keep forgetting

 

[12disneybee]

Again..not looking to get over on Disney or get anything not paid for..we were doing DxDP anyways and have for years without exoectations..these changes have been made public vut not official but I will certainly investigate and nI will certainly benefit if i can without making a scene or arguments.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

I am interested in anyone's experience with how the DDP changes worked at BOG lunch. Specifically, I would like to order the onion soup instead of a dessert. As well, my DD8 would prefer something from the adult menu. I'm wondering if either of these are possible, and how they work with the pre-order system.
Thanks!

I'm with you, Supermom! I would love to get onion soup instead of a drink and have ice water! Both things you want to do should be possible according to all the unofficial information, but until there's confirmation I wouldn't pre-order. Here's hoping we get confirmation before our trips!

 

[Supermom3]

I'll be there in 26 days, and I'll report back my findings. I guess I won't pre-order.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

I'll be there in 26 days, and I'll report back my findings. I guess I won't pre-order.

Remember that you can pre-order up to a few minutes before the reservation! Hopefully we get some official confirmation or even just a few reports from people by then.

 

[disneypanda11]

The following are the NEW DDP rules set forth by Disney to be in effect May-June 2015:

SNACKS

The following are now considered DDP snacks:

• All single-serve non-alcoholic beverages, not in a souvenir container
• All soups served in Quick Service locations
• All items that were considered snacks, but had an additional option at a separate price, such as toppings, sauces, etc. For example, funnel cake with ice cream or a pretzel with cheese sauce.
• All ice cream novelties
• All hand-scooped ice cream, including sundaes. (Cannot exceed two scoops, nor can it be served in a souvenir container.)
• All items on Quick Service menus listed under the Sides option.
• Quick Service Restaurant breakfast items that can be considered part of an entree and also offered as a side. (For example, if a guest wants orange juice, a side of bacon, and a side of eggs, they can choose to use 1 Quick Service meal entitlement or 3 Snack entitlements.

Am I reading this correctly that a pretzel with cheese sauce is now considered a snack? This will make hubby's day if it's true! Also, where can you get a funnel cake for a snack credit?

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I am also interested to see how the snack options go. Is a Turkey Leg now a snack option? That's what will make my hubby swoon, lol. Or a funnel cake with strawberry topping--that's what I'll be having if it's a go. Wonder when we will know about those things?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

You can get funnel cake at Sleepy Hollow at MK and there is a kiosk at AK that has them. As far as I know the funnel cake kiosk at Epcot doesn't take dining credits.

Turkey leg is considered an entree, not a snack.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

As far as the snacks go...I would be surprised if Disney makes an official announcement specifying which items qualify as a snack credit. I think we'll have to rely on recent/current menu pictures (I have seen recent pictures of some items like caramel peanut apples with a DDP logo) and individual reports. I'm guessing in the case of the pretzel with cheese sauce, the menu will be updated to list them together at one price with a logo.

 

[RooRach0906]

I hope that this will be official and stay the same for our Sept 2016 trip. We would probably actually get the dining plan. We are a family of 3 but none of eats a ton at one time but all of us love to get snacks (of any kind lol) so it would allow us to go to a TS and get 1 kids meal and one adult meal skip the dessert for a salad split the entree and salad between the adults and probably eat some of DD kids meal (she never finishes it). We could do that 4 times and be able to try out 2 more table service restaurants and split the adults meal between the 3 of us for some lunches and the have extra QS for snacks(at one location of course) so excited!!!!!