DDP Rant

[donaldtutter]

I love Disneyworld. I have been over ten times. My favorite thing to do at WDW was to eat at different restaurants and try different foods. This is no longer possible beacause almost every restaurant has the same menu due to the DDP.
I did the dining plan in May. While I got good "value" for the money spent, there was very little quality or excitement with the food.
Dinner at Tutto Italia was the perfect example. The DDP costs $37.99. I had a $30 entree and a $9 dessert. It looks like I got a great deal. Unfortunately the entree was average at best and the dessert , while good, wasn't worth $9. I live just outside of Boston, not an area with an inexpensive cost of living. I could get the same entree and dessert for $25 and it would be immeasurably better.
I have no problem paying $$$$ for good food. Over the last few years at WDW the food selection and quality has been going down and the prices way up. I feel it is mostly due to the DDP.
As a result, I have decided that next year, I will not be returning to Disneyworld.
I have been considering posting this rant since I returned in May, but waited to see if any changes would occur with the 2009 DDP. It seems the downward spiral will continue. I can no longer pay exorbitant prices for passable food.

 

[Tricia1972]

I don't know if it's all the DDP's fault, but I do agree with you about food at Disney World in general. I thought most meals were fine, but not fantastic. We stayed for two weeks in October 2007 and were pretty tired of the same entrees re-done over and over again.

Some notable exceptions, for us, were Jiko, Victoria & Albert's and Mama Melrose (Gorgonzola steak and a chef who came out to talk to me personally about my allergy options ). LeCellier, while serving the usual suspects, also was a cut above the others.

For me though when I eat at Disney I am no longer expecting great food. I am paying a lot of money to eat in the parks and get the atmosphere. When I want good food I go to a signature or go off site.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

In my opinion...

Most of the DDP - 1 TS restaurants are about equal to your run of the mill chain restaurant. Some are a little better then others, but on average, they are not any better. To many people, this is fine, acceptable or even excellent.

On the flip side though, most of the DDP - 2 TS restaurants are above average and offer a far greater option in terms of food quality, options and service.

 

[Cookie Princess]

It is true...there are pros and cons to the DDP. One of the cons appears to be the food quality and variety of menu options.

 

[SnowWitch]

This is funny, just the other night my best friend and I were having a somewhat similiar conversation about Disney dining. We were tossing around the idea of a last minute trip in Oct and she commented about ADR's. After some disscussion we decided if we make the trip we will do counter serive at the Food and Wine festival and venture off site for the rest. Our general consenus is alot of your choices are so similiar, after you've been there a week everything almost tastes the same. And this comment may upset some but many of the 1 TS choices are lower in quality and flavor when I compare them to a chain like Long Horn's and more expensive.

Our group as a whole is pretty much done with the dining plan. We have done it on our last 6 trips over 2 years and we have seen a downward trend in quality and flavor and we refuse to spend $300 plus per meal for Jiko, CG, etc every night for our group of 6. So bye-bye Disney Dining for us.

 

[TDC Nala]

I think the DDP was part of the entire plan. They would have standardized the restaurants anyhow. What the DDP does that gets to me is the overcrowding and overbooking in the restaurants. That's probably great for Disney, but it means no spontenaity possible in dining and appears to result in things like the possible elimination of some traditional food & wine festival events because they need the space in the restaurants to accommodate the influx of customers.

Right now sticking with the signature restaurants is working for me (I do not do the dining plan, I understand signatures are not a good deal on the basic dining plan) - I had a good piece of grouper at Brown Derby yesterday (and a really excellent chocolate martini). It was overpriced, but what isn't here.

 

[imthatgirl]

i also live right outside of boston, and its true we have some amazing restaurants. we have many fine dining and 4 star restaurants.
but, i think its important to remember what disney is, its a theme park. they arent in the business of 4 star restaurants. in fact i think the only fine dining restaurant in the entire park is victoria and alberts, which has never been on the DDP.
the rest of the restaurants are not expensive because of what they serve, but rather where they are, and i dont think thats changed over the years. the food there has always been decent, but not over the top, food.
now there are different teirs of food, buffet, table service and signature. personally i dont even find the signatures in a 4 star catagory. but they dont have to be, they will always have a captive audience.
we also have to remember that the cost of a meal, isnt about the food you are getting. and thats true anywhere you eat. a very small percentage of what you pay goes to food costs. you are indeed paying for everything else, atmosphere(plates, silvereware,lighting,heating,entertainment,ect etc..) and in disney, those costs are high.

 

[TDC Nala]

Not so, the restaurants have definitely changed over this decade. I have been visiting WDW regularly (multiple visits per year) since 2000.

 

[PEANUT1]

I think that Disney is about way more than food. I would never not go because of restaurant quality and prices. I would just eat somewhere else if I felt the need.

 

[septbaby]

Disney does have restaurants that are worth going to for either the food or atmosphere, for you Tutto isn't one of them. In fact your review/experience at Tutto is very consistent with what has been reported on the boards so I'm so sorry that you were a bit surprised there.

Personally: Narcoossee's and Boma were wonderful on both fronts. Boma more because it was at AKL than the actual inside of the restaurant, but it is a restaurant worth anticipating for foood up arrival at WDW. I thought the food, service and atmosphere at Narcoossee's was excellent. I've traveled both domestically and internationally on a company account, so trust me, I've been to a few places.

Other places are more about the show than the food, but I still found something really good or somewhat unique there. Coral Reef: loved the bread served there and my bbq salmon sandwich was really good and I'm not a bbq fan. Chef Mickey's breakfast: loved the three cheee omlette and my mom loved the Goofy's lasagna. I also enjoyed plenty of other food on the buffet as well, but those are the unique items that stand out.

Finally, the cost of food has really gone up in the last year. The combination of the rising cost of ingredients and minimum wage hikes leave restaurant operators little choice but to raise prices and rework recipes and menus. At the end of the day these are businesses s if they don't make money is isn't worth doing.

Hope still find magical dining experiences at WDW, even it its just a 'ol sloppy burger in the park!

 

[Jubilee]

I think that Disney is about way more than food. I would never not go because of restaurant quality and prices. I would just eat somewhere else if I felt the need.

I agree....I love the food and it is high on my list of favorite things to do at WDW but if I was going solely for the food, I would just go to New York City or Paris instead

 

[Lzylitnin]

IMHO, Disney food has always just been mediocre. I've been going to WDW since 1981, and the food has always been just ok. I'm sure it's challenging to prepare that much food, consistently and regularly.

 

[Rlbren]

We've been visiting Disney since the 70's and have noticed a "dumbing" down of the menus at the resturants over the years. I believe it has gotten worse since the DDP. My dh and I are going in 3 weeks by ourselves w/ free dining and have really tried to find menus that offered unique dishes. It was difficult. I believe this will be the last time that we use the TS DDP. Our teenagers want the quick service meals and we'll probably go with that next year when we return with them. If dh and I want a nice quiet meal by ourselves, then we'll just be choosey and pay out of pocket. I actually believe that there is more variety in CS meals

Now that we are older, dining is a big thing for us. especially for my dh, that man loves to eat

 

[melancholywings]

It is better at DL, the food plan doesn't have that large of a presence so the resturants have to work to be better than the Dennys, Ihop and other things at the enterence. We do DDP for it's ease and we've found many things we like. After this trip though we're taking a few year break and unless it gets better I don't see us doing DDP again.

 

[DVC Sadie]

i also live right outside of boston, and its true we have some amazing restaurants. we have many fine dining and 4 star restaurants.
but, i think its important to remember what disney is, its a theme park. they arent in the business of 4 star restaurants. in fact i think the only fine dining restaurant in the entire park is victoria and alberts, which has never been on the DDP.
the rest of the restaurants are not expensive because of what they serve, but rather where they are, and i dont think thats changed over the years. the food there has always been decent, but not over the top, food.
now there are different teirs of food, buffet, table service and signature. personally i dont even find the signatures in a 4 star catagory. but they dont have to be, they will always have a captive audience.
we also have to remember that the cost of a meal, isnt about the food you are getting. and thats true anywhere you eat. a very small percentage of what you pay goes to food costs. you are indeed paying for everything else, atmosphere(plates, silvereware,lighting,heating,entertainment,ect etc..) and in disney, those costs are high.

I totally disagree!

We have been dining in WDW for many, many years and they were once known for their "Worldclass Dining".

Since the evolution of the DDP all the restaurants (other than V&A, signature) started dropping menu selections to the point where there is absolutely no difference in menu selection and the quality of the food leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Rlbren]

I totally disagree!

We have been dining in WDW for many, many years and they were once known for their "Worldclass Dining".

Since the evolution of the DDP all the restaurants (other than V&A, signature) started dropping menu selections to the point where there is absolutely no difference in menu selection and the quality of the food leaves a lot to be desired.

I completely agree!!

 

[donaldtutter]

i also live right outside of boston, and its true we have some amazing restaurants. we have many fine dining and 4 star restaurants.
but, i think its important to remember what disney is, its a theme park. they arent in the business of 4 star restaurants. in fact i think the only fine dining restaurant in the entire park is victoria and alberts, which has never been on the DDP.
the rest of the restaurants are not expensive because of what they serve, but rather where they are, and i dont think thats changed over the years. the food there has always been decent, but not over the top, food.
now there are different teirs of food, buffet, table service and signature. personally i dont even find the signatures in a 4 star catagory. but they dont have to be, they will always have a captive audience.
we also have to remember that the cost of a meal, isnt about the food you are getting. and thats true anywhere you eat. a very small percentage of what you pay goes to food costs. you are indeed paying for everything else, atmosphere(plates, silvereware,lighting,heating,entertainment,ect etc..) and in disney, those costs are high.

5-7 years ago the food quality and diversity was much better than it is now and I know many, many people that actually went to WDW mainly for the dining.

 

[Disneyhappy]

5-7 years ago the food quality and diversity was much better than it is now and I know many, many people that actually went to WDW mainly for the dining.

Ditto We have been visiting WDW since the year the park opened, many times more than once per year. Restaurants and menus have changed over the years but dining was still a major part of our vacation experience that was pleasurable. I know some disagree, but we noticed a direct correlation in the quality and value of WDW dining declining shortly after the DDP was introducted. This was Disney's choice because they would rather have the restaurants full with mediocre offerings than the empy seats that often prevailed prior to the dining plan. Dinsey has to answer to their stockholders who are happy because of the increase in profits. Guests also wanted an all-inclusive type of vacation and the DDP was the answer. Disney is making huge $ on their marketing changes in the last few years. I think the only ones who are bothered by it are the many long time, die hard guests who only make up a small % of visitors so I don't expect any changes in the near future. We dine off site more and more. We dine more frequently at Universal restaurants. Their quality and value are what we used to experience at WDW.

I believe I read a post that indicated quality at WDW restaurants is expected to be lower because they are an theme park.(Paraphrased!) It did not used to be that way. I never felt WDW offered theme park quality food until the last few years. What I find most interesting is that Mythos in Universal's Islands of Adventure has been named the best theme park restuant in the country for at least the last three years. (I think it is acutally longer but I and not completely sure.) Quite a feat considering WDW restaurants in the running. It was only within the last 18 months that we decided to try it and it is now our #1 must do restaurant whenever we are in the Orlando area. The chef is wonderful, helpings are huge and entree items are below $20. (My favorite is the risotto of the day for $15.99.) Plus delicious homemade bread is included which is an item we now have to apy for at most WDW restaurants. WDW - Please don't take away the breads at LeCellier too!

So in summary, I agree with the OP. We now choose to often eat off site f WDW. No complaints for us, it is just the way it is and we are flexible.Andlike I said, Disney is not going to change anything as long as they are making huge profits off of the guests who think the the DDP is a a great value and quality.

 

[LisaInNc]

Disney has been about more than just the theme parks. When the World Showcase opened the different restaurants were a big deal.

For me it's about the parks, the service, the restaurants and the resorts. I want all of it.

I have rarely ever gone off site during a Disney trip but if this trend continues I will start.

 

[JimMIA]

I don't think DDP is exclusively responsible for the menu standardization, but I do agree dining at Disney has definitely gone steeply downhill in the last five years or so. Disney food is okay, but nothing to write home about. I would compare most onsite, non-character meal TS restaurants to Cheesecake Factory or similar. I certainly would not compare any of them to the better national chains. We ate offsite except for a Norway Princess breakfast in May and didn't miss Disney cuisine a bit.

The better onsite restaurants -- Narcoosee's, V&A, CG, etc. -- are good, but they really don't compare favorably with offsite restaurants in the same price range. They're better than Le Chefs certainly, but they're actually 25% or so overpriced for the quality of food they offer.

DDP has some benefits to offer, but I don't think great dining is one of them.