DIS Dads DDC XXXIV: The Original Home Of The DISDads!!!

[docsoliday1]

I am not a fan of the dining plan or dining in general at disney world.
we did the plan once before and it cost us more than when we pay out of pocket for our meals.this year just came down to economics,the offer with the plan saves us money in the long run over the room only discount.

That makes sense for you then. Cool!

Didn't mention it at first, but I guess for us, since we're typically staying at DVC resorts, then room discounts or rack rate with "free" dining doesn't factor in.

You took the right approach...weigh all options and pick best for you. Glad that ended up saving you some money. Score!

 

[AirGoofy]

Morning all. Traveling for work yesterday and today, which seems to suck a bit extra.

Evening boys from a glorious St Ives, with only 1 wife. Our EU elections were yesterday, which led me to the oft quoted thought
Empires were ran by Emperors.
Kingdoms were run by Kings.
We now have countries.

So, run by counts?

So....
If the maximum point is 113 and I've already got 113, I guess that means my work here is done. So, the upgrade is trying to get rid of me....sounds so familiar to me.

I'm not trying to get rid of you.

Top O the Mornin Dads! Had a pretty good weekend all in all. The inlaws are becoming more and more of a challenge both physically and mentally in that all they do is complain and argue with everyone especially themselves. I understand that it is hard to get old and physical challenges but for the love of Mike enjoy the life you have. Hey at least we got a head start on the week jumping in with a Tuesday start.

Prayers for you and them.

Ya' take a little bit of a sabbatical and decide to maybe check back in for a bit and find that y'all done gone and rearrange all the furniture again. At least you didn't nail everything to the ceiling like last time. I did have to search a bit to find the beer fridge, but now that that's located, the rest is fairly inconsequential.

So...

What's been going on 'round here?
(Silly question - I know - but I couldn't resist)

As for myself, well...
Let's just say there are a whole lot of things that are gonn'a need to be figured out and go on from there (don't wan'na be doin' too much complaining right off the bat, ya' know).

Do hope all are well here, and I'm hoping to be able to jump in just a mite more often. That'll do, for now I suppose.

I'm in layoff threats right now. Looks like you made it thru?

Everything's bigger in Texas!

That's not what she said.

Ashley, Kriss,and Haley from Hooters, Plano, Texas

A nice picture to get you up in the morning.

 

[pkondz]

Morning gents. My first day off in a while... except I'm at work.
So... next day off has to wait a bit.

 

[docsoliday1]

Morning gents. My first day off in a while... except I'm at work.
So... next day off has to wait a bit.

You keep using those words (day off)

I do not think they mean what you think they mean.

 

[pkondz]

You keep using those words (day off)

I do not think they mean what you think they mean.

<groan>

I know.

 

[declansdad]

Morning All,

A nice, overcast April day up here....if only it weren't late May.

Nothing big today, just work. Good times!

I did “free” dining last year. Made financial sense for a family of four in a value resort. But I’m not a fan of the dining plan overall.

I did the dining plan ONCE. Granted, it wasn't free, but I have no intentions of doing it again.

We've used the "free" plan once or twice. When we do the dining plan know we just use the QS plan and pay for one or two table service restaurants. We found with the table service plan we were planing more around restaurants than what we wanted to do in the parks.

 

[budamacdvcr]

Top O the Mornin Dads! Everyone have a good one! 16 more days, 16 more days..................................

Ya' take a little bit of a sabbatical and decide to maybe check back in for a bit and find that y'all done gone and rearrange all the furniture again. At least you didn't nail everything to the ceiling like last time. I did have to search a bit to find the beer fridge, but now that that's located, the rest is fairly inconsequential.

So...

What's been going on 'round here?
(Silly question - I know - but I couldn't resist)

As for myself, well...
Let's just say there are a whole lot of things that are gonn'a need to be figured out and go on from there (don't wan'na be doin' too much complaining right off the bat, ya' know).

Do hope all are well here, and I'm hoping to be able to jump in just a mite more often. That'll do, for now I suppose.




Points?
What points?
Is this a part of the new decor?

Welcome back and as always, good to hear from you Rob!

As for needs... Hummmmm...
I could use a job if you happen to have one of those sitting around spare.

I'm in layoff threats right now. Looks like you made it thru?

Sorry to hear guys. Seems like all the corporate consolidations, mismanagement and government nonsense is hitting everywhere.

 

[1911]

We've used the "free" plan once or twice. When we do the dining plan know we just use the QS plan and pay for one or two table service restaurants. We found with the table service plan we were planing more around restaurants than what we wanted to do in the parks.

THIS! for us quick service is liberating in that we aren't tied to adrs. We prefer to dine in the springs for sit down meals and will do those out of pocket.

I made our fast passes at 4 am today,got every thing we wanted except SDD. for what ever reason hollywood studios was exceptionally hard to get fast passes. as of 3 hours later the only major ride to show any availability for our day is ToT for the evening.
I will keep refreshing and checking,maybe I will luck into a slinky dog.

 

[londontime]

THIS! for us quick service is liberating in that we aren't tied to adrs. We prefer to dine in the springs for sit down meals and will do those out of pocket.

Yeah, we’ve never done the dining plan. I’ve always run that prediction thing on Touring plans and I’ve never come out ahead on the plan. Mostly because we eat once a day or so. Like everyone, I like the freedom rather than looking at everything on the menu to make sure I’m getting my money’s worth.

But then I see the porterhouse at Kona and think hmmmmmm.......

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

"Free" dining was great for us when we took advantage of it way back when since we have a big family and eat a lot of food. So it was nice to get a discount on it. On my last trip, I tried pricing out the dining plan to see if it would be worth adding. They wanted an extra $2,500 for it.

After about 10 minutes, I finally stopped laughing and declined the option.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

yes

Crap...
So what "class" do I have to pay for to get my driving privileges back?

Evening gents,tomorrow is our fast pass window.I now have to decide one way or another on which reservation to keep.currently have both the dark side and Disney booked for 8 nights.(I was able to get in on the “free” dining offer )

I've been AWOL for a spell, so we haven't met.
Time to correct that oversight and say welcome to the group.

Eight days at either one would be a serious bonus. Our stays have generally been much shorter, but at least there have been a good number of those stays (though not quite as many in recent years).
And free is always good...

But I'll come back to that in just a moment (after I say howdy to Doc)

I did the dining plan ONCE. Granted, it wasn't free, but I have no intentions of doing it again.

Howdy there Doc!

Your points are well taken and correctly reasoned.
But I'm actually one of those rare folks for whom the plan "can" work.
but only when its "free" (yeah, nothing at WDW is actually free, but still)

We've never been DVC members (or even been able to rent points for that matter) so our stays are generally and mods and values and are beholden to discounts and specials. We've done the dining plan several times but have never paid for it directly (and would not pay extra for it either). That said, it has allowed me to take my best girl to some good venues and order some of the high-end videls from Column-A while we were there. Mileage will certainly vary from group to group of course, but so long as it was part of the package, it's been useful to us.

We were even able to snag a bit of free dining and a room discount for this year in late August. But then fate reared it's ugly mug and that may well need to be called off, but it was nice to consider the possibilities (I'll talk more about that later on... maybe)

I'm in layoff threats right now. Looks like you made it thru?

Sorry to hear about that, and may it not ultimately be so.
How much longer until you can consider retiring (or can you?)

I wish I could say that I made it through, but alas...
Nope.

I've been declared surplus and been shifted over to death-row along with the other "transitional" folks. We were given a tentative six-months but it could be less or it could be a bit more, but unless something changes, I'm done.

Morning gents. My first day off in a while... except I'm at work.
So... next day off has to wait a bit.

You don't seem to get the concept of this here day off thingy...
Good thing they pay you well for all that there un-time-off you're generally taking.

Sorry to hear guys. Seems like all the corporate consolidations, mismanagement and government nonsense is hitting everywhere.

Appreciate that. The "recovery" is not quite as glorious as advertised nor near as wide spread as some would have us believe (but i digress...)

 

[londontime]

We were even able to snag a bit of free dining and a room discount for this year in late August.

If it does happen mate, I’m out there the same time. Here’s hoping.....

 

[AirGoofy]

Sorry to hear guys. Seems like all the corporate consolidations, mismanagement and government nonsense is hitting everywhere.

Yeah, there isn't a recovery issue. It's government mismanagement with no accountability.

Sorry to hear about that, and may it not ultimately be so.
How much longer until you can consider retiring (or can you?)

I wish I could say that I made it through, but alas...
Nope.

I've been declared surplus and been shifted over to death-row along with the other "transitional" folks. We were given a tentative six-months but it could be less or it could be a bit more, but unless something changes, I'm done.

Sorry to hear it. The contract ends June 30 unless the Republican Governor and Republican University President agree to care about employees. I'm 2 years away from retirement, less with accrued sick leave

 

[declansdad]

I'm 2 years away from retirement, less with accrued sick leave

You feeling OK? Do you need some time off? You might want to get that cough checked?

 

[rwalker1304]

Best of luck to everyone dealing with job issues. Been laid off before (in Calgary as an oil/energy city if you haven't been laid off or don't know someone personally who has, you haven't lived here long enough), it sucks.

 

[AirGoofy]

You feeling OK? Do you need some time off? You might want to get that cough checked?

I'll be sick the entire month of June once layoffs are announced. I have extra time as I just haven't been sick, and I can use it to retire earlier (service credit).

 

[pkondz]

Crap...
So what "class" do I have to pay for to get my driving privileges back?

I'll PM you the address to send the cheque to.

You don't seem to get the concept of this here day off thingy...
Good thing they pay you well for all that there un-time-off you're generally taking.

I wouldn't be doing it otherwise, but... I'm pushing the sane limits now.
Day 16 in a row and my 19th 8-hour shift in that time period. Five more to go with two short changes (less than 8 hours between shifts) thrown in.

 

[wasnotafan]

Crap...
So what "class" do I have to pay for to get my driving privileges back?



I've been AWOL for a spell, so we haven't met.
Time to correct that oversight and say welcome to the group.

Eight days at either one would be a serious bonus. Our stays have generally been much shorter, but at least there have been a good number of those stays (though not quite as many in recent years).
And free is always good...

But I'll come back to that in just a moment (after I say howdy to Doc)



Howdy there Doc!

Your points are well taken and correctly reasoned.
But I'm actually one of those rare folks for whom the plan "can" work.
but only when its "free" (yeah, nothing at WDW is actually free, but still)

We've never been DVC members (or even been able to rent points for that matter) so our stays are generally and mods and values and are beholden to discounts and specials. We've done the dining plan several times but have never paid for it directly (and would not pay extra for it either). That said, it has allowed me to take my best girl to some good venues and order some of the high-end videls from Column-A while we were there. Mileage will certainly vary from group to group of course, but so long as it was part of the package, it's been useful to us.

We were even able to snag a bit of free dining and a room discount for this year in late August. But then fate reared it's ugly mug and that may well need to be called off, but it was nice to consider the possibilities (I'll talk more about that later on... maybe)



Sorry to hear about that, and may it not ultimately be so.
How much longer until you can consider retiring (or can you?)

I wish I could say that I made it through, but alas...
Nope.

I've been declared surplus and been shifted over to death-row along with the other "transitional" folks. We were given a tentative six-months but it could be less or it could be a bit more, but unless something changes, I'm done.



You don't seem to get the concept of this here day off thingy...
Good thing they pay you well for all that there un-time-off you're generally taking.



Appreciate that. The "recovery" is not quite as glorious as advertised nor near as wide spread as some would have us believe (but i digress...)

prayers for a smooth transition for you. Not a nice position to be in speaking from experience.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

If it does happen mate, I’m out there the same time. Here’s hoping.....

I'd be right chuff about that possibility.
I've got about a month to figure out a way to save the trip, but it ain't lookin' good at the moment. I go ahead and explain it is a bit here...

Sorry to hear it. The contract ends June 30 unless the Republican Governor and Republican University President agree to care about employees. I'm 2 years away from retirement, less with accrued sick leave

Care?
About employees?

<<shudder>>

May pigs sprout wings.

Two years would still be rough depending on you other options. I've got five years before minimum legal retirement and ten before when I should. May have to take some drastic steps.

prayers for a smooth transition for you. Not a nice position to be in speaking from experience.

And you have had your share of trials to be sure.
Thanks for the thoughts.




OK...
Here's the story (rather than just dancing around it).
Do feel free to ignore this (stupid long) recounting of events.
I'm plenty used to being ignored so you can't hurt me that way.


Now I have a tenancy to be a bit scarce around here near the end of each year and into the beginning of the next. That's partly because of the heavy year-end process required by the employer and partly a function of recurring depression (a condition I highly recommend not acquiring if you have any say in the matter). Anyway, this time round the overlords through another spanner into the works by announcing that they will be selling off the remaining in-country manufacturing operations in the near future. That added bit of joy explains partly why I've been missing quite as long as I have (but again, I digress).

Now, I work for the financial reporting group, and I'm pretty certain that the new masters won't be in need of two complete reporting areas. That said, they are exclusively an importer and while they understand warehousing, they've never tried to run any type of manufacturing operation, so they'd be needing to keep at least a few folks until they get a handle on exactly what they'd gotten themselves into (basically, they've got a hold of the tiger and are currently trying to avoid the teeth).

Given that much information, we decide that the best option for now was to wait and see how things shake out and basically continue living life for the time being. That's why we went ahead and scheduled a trip down to WDW when we came across a crazy good deal on the outing (and also considering that I have enough points on my Dis-Visa to basically pay for the whole thing with spending money to spare).

So then the buyout actually occurs and the sentences are handed down. They do decide to keep a few folks that understand the business, but the fact that I basically supply the bulk of their reporting wasn't seen as particularly necessary so at first I was slated to be cut loose immediately. A rather massive outcry from the rest of the department stemmed that foolishness (for the time being and thanks to them for that). However, I was still relegated to the "transition team" and told that they'd like to be shed of me by mid September. If I agree to stay, however, I will get three months severance and can keep all by benefits in the mean time.

Well, if they don't expect to need me into September, then I ought to be able to go ahead and keep my scheduled trip to Da' World the last week of August, right?
I mean when I got let go about twelve years ago the first thing I did was take the trip to WDW that we'd already paid for (and the second thing I did was get hired back by a different area of the same company as they saw it as an incredible waste of resources). Given that precedent, I figured that luck favored staying with the schedule. Well... That probably ain't gonn'a pan out.

First off, the new owners use a different accounting calendar, so where I was in the clear at first, I'm now looking at a direct conflict with the month-end closing dates. Can't be out of the office during those weeks. I called up Dis-Travel and tried to move the resi, but doing so would cost me all of the discounts and raise the price of the trip by nearly two grand. Crap! Plan-B: if they intend to toss me out by September, then certainly they've already figured out how they'll be doing the reporting functions by then and my services won't be needed to close the August books, Right? Wrong... Well, maybe wrong, but no one can say. They'd like to be shed of me by then, but they're not sure they can pull that off and they may need to keep the "Transitions" folks a bit longer.

Being kept on means more pay checks so that's the option that will win out, Unless I find something else between here and there. Problems are, a new employer likely wouldn't offer me any time off in the first year or so (and likely will offer me far less compensation in general), just walking out on them could cost me any possible severance (and any possible unemployment benefits), and in the end, they could actually require my work for closing but still cut me off a week later. There's just no definitive decision, option's or time-line. Al of which means that I'll most likely be staying put and canceling the trip. Of course, the possibility of being able to hang on just a bit longer will override at least some of the disappointment (and it also won't be the wackiest or most misguided decision I've made in relation to this turn of events either).

 

[wasnotafan]

I'd be right chuff about that possibility.
I've got about a month to figure out a way to save the trip, but it ain't lookin' good at the moment. I go ahead and explain it is a bit here...



Care?
About employees?

<<shudder>>

May pigs sprout wings.

Two years would still be rough depending on you other options. I've got five years before minimum legal retirement and ten before when I should. May have to take some drastic steps.



And you have had your share of trials to be sure.
Thanks for the thoughts.




OK...
Here's the story (rather than just dancing around it).
Do feel free to ignore this (stupid long) recounting of events.
I'm plenty used to being ignored so you can't hurt me that way.


Now I have a tenancy to be a bit scarce around here near the end of each year and into the beginning of the next. That's partly because of the heavy year-end process required by the employer and partly a function of recurring depression (a condition I highly recommend not acquiring if you have any say in the matter). Anyway, this time round the overlords through another spanner into the works by announcing that they will be selling off the remaining in-country manufacturing operations in the near future. That added bit of joy explains partly why I've been missing quite as long as I have (but again, I digress).

Now, I work for the financial reporting group, and I'm pretty certain that the new masters won't be in need of two complete reporting areas. That said, they are exclusively an importer and while they understand warehousing, they've never tried to run any type of manufacturing operation, so they'd be needing to keep at least a few folks until they get a handle on exactly what they'd gotten themselves into (basically, they've got a hold of the tiger and are currently trying to avoid the teeth).

Given that much information, we decide that the best option for now was to wait and see how things shake out and basically continue living life for the time being. That's why we went ahead and scheduled a trip down to WDW when we came across a crazy good deal on the outing (and also considering that I have enough points on my Dis-Visa to basically pay for the whole thing with spending money to spare).

So then the buyout actually occurs and the sentences are handed down. They do decide to keep a few folks that understand the business, but the fact that I basically supply the bulk of their reporting wasn't seen as particularly necessary so at first I was slated to be cut loose immediately. A rather massive outcry from the rest of the department stemmed that foolishness (for the time being and thanks to them for that). However, I was still relegated to the "transition team" and told that they'd like to be shed of me by mid September. If I agree to stay, however, I will get three months severance and can keep all by benefits in the mean time.

Well, if they don't expect to need me into September, then I ought to be able to go ahead and keep my scheduled trip to Da' World the last week of August, right?
I mean when I got let go about twelve years ago the first thing I did was take the trip to WDW that we'd already paid for (and the second thing I did was get hired back by a different area of the same company as they saw it as an incredible waste of resources). Given that precedent, I figured that luck favored staying with the schedule. Well... That probably ain't gonn'a pan out.

First off, the new owners use a different accounting calendar, so where I was in the clear at first, I'm now looking at a direct conflict with the month-end closing dates. Can't be out of the office during those weeks. I called up Dis-Travel and tried to move the resi, but doing so would cost me all of the discounts and raise the price of the trip by nearly two grand. Crap! Plan-B: if they intend to toss me out by September, then certainly they've already figured out how they'll be doing the reporting functions by then and my services won't be needed to close the August books, Right? Wrong... Well, maybe wrong, but no one can say. They'd like to be shed of me by then, but they're not sure they can pull that off and they may need to keep the "Transitions" folks a bit longer.

Being kept on means more pay checks so that's the option that will win out, Unless I find something else between here and there. Problems are, a new employer likely wouldn't offer me any time off in the first year or so (and likely will offer me far less compensation in general), just walking out on them could cost me any possible severance (and any possible unemployment benefits), and in the end, they could actually require my work for closing but still cut me off a week later. There's just no definitive decision, option's or time-line. Al of which means that I'll most likely be staying put and canceling the trip. Of course, the possibility of being able to hang on just a bit longer will override at least some of the disappointment (and it also won't be the wackiest or most misguided decision I've made in relation to this turn of events either).

You are not forgotten by the rest of this motley crew. You definitely getting the short end from the evil overlords but I don't see a good option in any of it.