Deceptive Dining:lesson learned

[Jennyvelaz]

When I purchased the 4/3 trip it had said,
"Save up to 40% on Disney dining with the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan ! This great plan includes three meals and two snacks per person per night, and the flexibility to choose any combination of participating table-service and quick-service restaurants."
I thought it was dining plan on sale. Nope. Regular daily price.
I chose the Dining, not delux. I thought I received mugs. Nope.
I thought I paid attention, but man EVERY detail has to be accounted for. It is puzzling at times!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

They mean the savings with the deluxe dining can be up to 40% over purchasing the same meals on your own. (And that isn't true in all circumstances - the guest would have to completely maximize the value of the plan to realize those savings - probably meaning all credits spent at 1 TS non-buffet restaurants and the most expensive menu items ordered every time, plus variables such as the number of people on the reservation, the number of children, type of snacks purchased, etc.)

 

[aubriee]

Last Sept during the free dining time, we were one of the ones who paid the difference and upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan. For us it was a big mistake. My mom is a diabetic and must eat three meals/day, plus my husband loves to eat, so we thought we would maximize it and eat three TS meals/day. #1 they were a pain to plan and make ADRs for, #2 we spent the entire trip running from TS to TS. We were so sick of food by the end of the week that we skipped several ADRs. Now, to be fair, we probably easily saved over 40% of what those meals would have cost, if we had paid OOP for them. However, even though we normally love and do TS at least every day if not twice, we never do TS three times a day with appetizers, entrees, and desserts. No way any human could possibly eat that much. If you get the DDP and do 2 CS and 1 TS/day, which is much more maneable then you would still save money with it, but no where near as much if you do what we tried to do. It was definitely not a wise plan on our part. We obviously didn't touch a single one of our snack credits that week and at the end of the week had to run to Goofy's to get rid of 42 snack credits.

Now last May I did the DxDDP and ate a late breakfast/early lunch TS and then did a 2 credit Signature restaurant every night. I did not maximize the credits out, but had a great time with it and didn't always feel stuffed.

 

[mbanks21]

and thats why it says UP TO. That it very true. And why would you think the mug was included in the regular dining plan? Its never been included

 

[Luv2Roam]

Agree, it can be puzzling. However I think others have explained very well already in previous posts. Best to never assume on anything. Although I don't see why the word deceptive was used.

 

[NMW]

It can be confusing. Especially stuff with the dining plans. Your best bet is downloading the brochures from Disney's site. You will get it at check-in too.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Deceptive, no, but most definitely detailed!

 

[Luv2Roam]

WDW (and any Disney park) is detailed. I wouldn't consider them deceptive.
I think there are a lot of options. Hence the confusion.
No offense to the OP. I think they just assumed and did not read or understand thoroughly. And we occasionally read posts where someone did not know, or take advantage of options, etc, for the same reasons.
There's a lot to remember about a Disney vacation with or without dining, if you want to fully enjoy yourself. It's very overwhelming at first and we all are learning all the time.

 

[Girly_Qs]

Deceptive, no, but most definitely detailed!

Well put!

I suppose it can be confusing, because there are so many details to outline, and now so many differing options. But, deceptive? No.

"Save 40% on Disney Dining with the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan!"
Not "save 40% on the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan."

I'm sorry you felt misled, but IMO they try to include all those details to avoid confusion like this!