Changes To Dining Plans May-June 2015

[aaarcher86]

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.

Eh, if someone emailed back saying you could put 5 people over 2 years old in a value standard it wouldn't force the resort to adhere to it.

In a company this big everyone won't get it right. It's annoying, but that's why there's printed publications. Hopefully changes are announced when the package rates come out so we can get more solid information on what to expect.

 

[ontheuptick]

Question - I know that I want the Dining Plan added to my DVC trip in December. Should I go ahead and get it bought now, in case prices go up?

If Disney announces on June 22 that prices are going up, do they go up immediately for any new bookings, or do you have some time to add it at current prices for a December 2015 trip? Anyone know..?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If your trip is in 2015 you will pay the 2015 price, unless they specifically raise prices on DDP for the same year, which they did last March. When that happened, anyone booking a dining plan in 2014 after the change date paid the new prices. They have never done that before or since.

June 22 is being kicked around as the date for 2016 packages, so that shouldn't have an impact on 2015 trips unless they also decide to raise DDP prices for the rest of 2015.

 

[12disneybee]

I would add it now just in case you can always remove it
it may go up

 

[supersnoop]

If your trip is in 2015 you will pay the 2015 price, unless they specifically raise prices on DDP for the same year, which they did last March. When that happened, anyone booking a dining plan in 2014 after the change date paid the new prices. They have never done that before or since.

That's not accurate for DVC, at least not last year.

Question - I know that I want the Dining Plan added to my DVC trip in December. Should I go ahead and get it bought now, in case prices go up?

If Disney announces on June 22 that prices are going up, do they go up immediately for any new bookings, or do you have some time to add it at current prices for a December 2015 trip? Anyone know..?

In the past, DVC's price for the dining plan has been locked in for the year. The mid-year price increase did not affect DVC members at all. You could continue to book the dining plan at the original price through the end of the year.

 

[javaj]

We are back home. To wrap up the last couple of days:

Rainforest Cafe - kids could only order entrees from kids menu, no appetizers for kids, kids could order from adult dessert menu

Chef Mickeys - this was on our 2nd to last day, but the last day for the 2nd reservation. They allowed us to use up the remaining credits from the 2nd reservation which used up more than the number of people on that reservation

To answer a question in a previous post - all people in our dining party were on the dining plan, but to check on the policy, we would first ask "We have 5 people on this reservation with the deluxe plan, can we pay for everyone's meals using credits from this plan?". Either way whether told yes/no, we then mentioned we'd prefer to split up the charges between reservations.

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]

Just saw the menu updates Josh put up yesterday on EasyWDW at the end of the HS Frozen Fun post! Great, current information there. Looks like Disney is still in the process of figuring out and updating some of the menus, but some of the snack credit stuff looks fully implemented.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

I think that the snack stays the same, unless you change dining plans.

What counts as a snack is the same across all dining plans...Some plans receive more snack credits per day, but the DDP logos on menus tell you what is considered a snack credit for anyone who has any Disney dining plan. And there are lots of reports (and pictures!) showing that items that did not count as snacks before are now listed as snack credit items.

 

[jon18uk]

Some changes are confirmed!

The PDF guide for the Dining Plan for 2016 lists that dessert or drink can be switched for a snack at a Quick service restaurant https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/me...ing-plans/january-2016-disney-dining-plan.pdf

 

[elaine amj]

Good news! Waiting to hear more confirmations

 

[sharonabe]

Some changes are confirmed!

The PDF guide for the Dining Plan for 2016 lists that dessert or drink can be switched for a snack at a Quick service restaurant https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/me...ing-plans/january-2016-disney-dining-plan.pdf

But the PDF does still state that children must order from a kid's menu where one is available, and I didn't see anything about "paying" for someone else's meal or being able to switch dessert for soup/salad at a TS. Are these things just going to be word-of-mouth and subject to each restaurant's decision? How can people make plans without things spelled out?

 

[Enter User Name]

Does this mean I have to order dessert at table service restaurants?

 

[jon18uk]

But the PDF does still state that children must order from a kid's menu where one is available, and I didn't see anything about "paying" for someone else's meal or being able to switch dessert for soup/salad at a TS. Are these things just going to be word-of-mouth and subject to each restaurant's decision? How can people make plans without things spelled out?

Personally I would just plan based upon what is on the Disney guidance. Snack usage is clear because of the DDP logo on items. It also seems clear now that any snack counts as dessert when ordered alongside an entree.

I thought the Kids credits and adult credits being interchangeable only applies to the Deluxe plan, but the PDF for deluxue still states children to order from kids menu https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/me...ing-plans/january-2016-deluxe-dining-plan.pdf but others report on the deluxe plan they have always been interchangeable.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

Does this mean I have to order dessert at table service restaurants?

Although not officially listed on the pdf info above, reports indicate that dessert substitutes will be available at TS restaurants. I'm guessing since it is not being officially listed like the QS substitutions, that Disney may not require the non-Disney-owned restaurants that participate in the plan to offer substitutes. Whether T-Rex, Via Napoli, etc. will offer them remains to be seen, but I think at most restaurants there will be some option other than traditional dessert with no guarantee it'll be an option that you want. It appears to be up to the individual restaurants how many and what substitutes are available.

Edited to add: Anyone else notice that the Deluxe Plan pdf is highlighting the area about indicating which meals are for adults and kids, but the regular plan does not? Could mean something...or nothing.

 

[Andysol]

Personally I would just plan based upon what is on the Disney guidance. Snack usage is clear because of the DDP logo on items. It also seems clear now that any snack counts as dessert when ordered alongside an entree.

I thought the Kids credits and adult credits being interchangeable only applies to the Deluxe plan, but the PDF for deluxue still states children to order from kids menu https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/me...ing-plans/january-2016-deluxe-dining-plan.pdf but others report on the deluxe plan they have always been interchangeable.

The not spelling out of being able to use credits for those not on the plan and making kids order from kids menus (not interchangeable for TS on DxDP) is making me a little nervous. I was planning on getting Deluxe for one of our DVC studio rooms, but not the other- but now I'm curious if I should just go TiW and call it a day.

 

[senadler]

I did notice that they took out the wording from prior brochures that specifically stated you could not use the plan for meals or snacks for those not on the dining plan.

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

The not spelling out of being able to use credits for those not on the plan and making kids order from kids menus (not interchangeable for TS on DxDP) is making me a little nervous. I was planning on getting Deluxe for one of our DVC studio rooms, but not the other- but now I'm curious if I should just go TiW and call it a day.

The new brochure removed the line in Redeeming Your Meals that specified "You may not redeem meals or snacks for any Guests who are not on your Disney Deluxe Dining Plan." It does still specify "Guests ages 3-9 must order from a children’s menu where available." and the fine print still specifies that meals and snacks may not be transferred, though. Were I you, I'd either hold out for clarification if you've got time until your trip or go with TiW.

 

[lwc]

The Deluxe Dining brochure linked above DOES NOT INCLUDE APPETIZERS...

That is a HUGE loss of value if accurate!

 

[jenjersnap]

The Deluxe Dining brochure linked above DOES NOT INCLUDE APPETIZERS...

That is a HUGE loss of value if accurate!

Oh no.

 

[aaarcher86]

The Deluxe Dining brochure linked above DOES NOT INCLUDE APPETIZERS...

That is a HUGE loss of value if accurate!

Nice