Dining Plan Changes

[Lewisc]

Disney has priced the current plan assuming some credits will go unused and not all guests will be ordering appetizers and desserts for all meals.

It look like Disney may be implementing rules and procedures to prevent guests from paying out of pocket for some family members and using the plan for others at the same meal. They may be trying to make it harder to treat people not on the plan. Some parents don't like the options for older kids on the Menu.

The question is do quests want the flexibility to do whatever they want. Giving a dining account of $50/ adult and $16 /child would give guests approximately a 25% discount. Under that scenario Disney wouldn't care if kids were getting adult meals, if you were just ordering an appetizer etc.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I voted to keep it the same as I feel my family could stay within the boundaries of any restrictions they would make. I think an easy solution would be to have the server check the resort I.D.'s of everyone at the table to see if they are all on the dining plan (and if they are listed as Adult or Child). If there are more adults seated than the resort I.D.'s indicate...then ask which entrees the guest would like to pay for OOP. That simple step would only take a minute or two and would eliminate the abuse of adults using child credits and it would also be helpful with adults trying to share entrees with friends/family that are not included on the plan.

Now another important thing to remember is that the abuse may not be a wide spread as indicated here. The percentage of people posting on the DISboard is relatively small compared to the total number of guests visiting WDW...many people on the plan haven't learned all the different ways to maximize the benefits and probably end their stay with lots of unused credits (which is just what Disney wants!).

 

[sistertrip]

I voted to keep it the same. What I like about the plan as it stands is that you don't have to pay any attention at all to meal prices. Just order what you want and enjoy it!

 

[p2oh]

I voted to keep it the same too, we are two adults so there is no child credit issue for us, and while I would like to share every once in awhile, if we can't no big deal!

 

[polyk]

I liked the packages they offered during 2002 for the 100yrs of Magic Celebration. If I recall they were the Silver, Gold, and Platinum. On the silver plan you were given two flex features per day/per person. With these you could use them for almost everything. We choose to use most of them for our meals which were full service meals. You could use them however you wanted - breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The plan also included your dinner shows and fine dining/w the exception that you might have to use 2 flex features for a signature restaurant or a Dinner show. These also included your tip and tax. I wish they would bring this plan back.
Anyone else remember how good these plans were?

 

[Lewisc]

I liked the packages they offered during 2002 for the 100yrs of Magic Celebration. If I recall they were the Silver, Gold, and Platinum. On the silver plan you were given two flex features per day/per person. With these you could use them for almost everything. We choose to use most of them for our meals which were full service meals. You could use them however you wanted - breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The plan also included your dinner shows and fine dining/w the exception that you might have to use 2 flex features for a signature restaurant or a Dinner show. These also included your tip and tax. I wish they would bring this plan back.
Anyone else remember how good these plans were?

Do you remember how much the Silver plan cost? My memory is the cost of the plan, combined with the required LOS pass purchase,wasn't that attractive.

The present dining plan gives guests a great deal.

 

[jjohnson]

I'm in the minority so far. I would rather have a dollar amount. My family prefers TS lunch and dinner. CS didn't work out too well for us.

 

[polyk]

Do you remember how much the Silver plan cost? My memory is the cost of the plan, combined with the required LOS pass purchase,wasn't that attractive.

The present dining plan gives guests a great deal.

Dear Lewisc It took me awhile to find my res. for 2002 but I found it. THe total cost for my 10n/11day trip at the poly was approx $6,800.00. But one thing you have to understand this package was not for food only. You could use your flex features for anything Boat rentals, spa treatments, golf, tennis, parasailing, horseback riding, tours, etc. So I'm not quite sure you can compare packages based on dining.

 

[bluejasmine]

Honestly I think all these discussions are ridiculous! The plan may not work for everyone, if your a small eater or have a child under 9 that is a big eatter but other than that I dont see what the problem is. I dont understand all the sharing, pooling and all. When we use the plan we stuck by it (before the snacks were upgraded) and it was great! Everyone had their fill, most of the time got what they wanted and it was so nice not to have to pay at the end of each meal. I dont understand why ppl complicate everything with subsitutions, add ons and such. Would you expect these things free if you were paying OOP? My one worry is that dishonest ppl will cause WDW to do away with or change the DDP to something totally different and not as good.

 

[Pedler]

I voted for keep it the same. The current plan works well for us and I would be concerned that if Disney were to start to treat the plan just as pre paid credits then that would mean they would start to view the plan as just a dinning plan and not part of an integrated set of offerings such as the free ME and the low cost extra days park admission for the 6th and greater days. All of those things make a week long vacation at Disney much more appealing. I have always said you can't look at the DDP just in the context of dinning. Its part of a much larger strategy and I would hate to see that change.

 

[TruBlu]

My only change would be...
Give the kids something decent to eat! The choices are very limited for children.

 

[Denise Thies]

Keep it the same!!!! Give kids more options though!

 

[minnie61650]

I voted to keep it the same.
It worked fine for us last year.
We use the plan as it was designed to be used.

 

[HaleyB]

I have no problems with the dining plan rules, I love the plan just the way it is.

I think a $ value would make it very hard to plan. I also think part of the profit for Disney is getting guests to eat TS everyday, because lots of us will order wine with dinner. I also do not see Disney making it so you can not have a mixed group (some on plan some off) because this would be horrible for Grand Gatherings.

A rather simple way to solve the 'problem' of child and adult credits being pooled (low tec) would be to use a punch card. It wouldn't really take that long and would solve most of the problem. Each person on the plan would have a punch card, each CS, TS, or snack used they punch the card in the proper place. Parents could carry these for young children and/or give them to older kids if they were not staying as a group. It would not solve the 'transfer' problem, but I think that is really a lesser problem for Disney.

 

[aubriee]

I voted to keep it the same. I do hope we'll be able to share though. My mom goes with me some and is a diabetic who must eat frequently. She doesn't eat much, but must eat frequently. No way we could use 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts at one sitting, but sharing 2 TS meals a day would be perfect. My elder son has a new fiancee who had lap band surgery last year and she too must eat frequent small meals. (She can't even finish a child's meal). If we can't share, no biggie though. We'll just have to pay a little more OOP.

 

[seven dwarfs]

I vote to seperate child/adult if there is concern for abuse. But sharing credit should not matter. We have purchased the plan once and not purchased it once. Have had good things and bad things about it. We have it Free in Sept so can't complain about that at all. (Yes, I know I paid rack rate for the room so it is not totaly free)

 

[Lewisc]

I vote to seperate child/adult if there is concern for abuse. But sharing credit should not matter. We have purchased the plan once and not purchased it once. Have had good things and bad things about it. We have it Free in Sept so can't complain about that at all. (Yes, I know I paid rack rate for the room so it is not totaly free)

Sharing might matter. Disney may have priced the plan the same as a buffet. They might have assumed some guests won't be ordering appetizers and desserts at every meal. It's possible the plan is designed so a family of 4 staying 3 nights gets 3 TS meals without the opportunity to stretch it to 6 TS meals by ordering the largest menu items and sharing. The restaurants have twice the business with the same revenue. A few extra dollars if the customers pay for drinks.

A drink and almost any entree more than breaks even. If a drink and entree cost $20 (over $25 with tax and tip) and you use your CS and snack credit you'll more than break even.

I guess my question is if the choice was a reasonably strict interpertation or a cash based plan which would you prefer? Disney may think seperating the credits will be enough or they may do more.

 

[sigillaria]

My one worry is that dishonest ppl will cause WDW to do away with or change the DDP to something totally different and not as good.

This is exactly what I've been thinking.
All these "loopholes" and fraudulent use of the plan will ruin it for everyone.
Bottom line: Cheating is cheating.

 

[Pedler]

This is exactly what I've been thinking.
All these "loopholes" and fraudulent use of the plan will ruin it for everyone.
Bottom line: Cheating is cheating.

I wouldn't worry too much about any drastic changes. The problems are relatively small and at worst Disney just puts in some stronger enforcement mechanisms. They already changed the wording on the brochure to clarify the use of credits. Another step would be enforcing the policy of not buying more adult meals at one time than it says on the card. That would help eliminate people buying meals for others not on the plan. If they did separate credits by child / adult it wouldn't have any real impact on people that use the plan as it is intended. Actually none of these changes would have any impact on people using the plan as intended.

The DDP along with the other changes made last year are having too good an impact on the bottom line for them to make any drastic changes.

 

[Lewisc]

A prior, lower cost, meal plan become a pre-paid discount plan similar to what I outlined in my poll. The speculation is this was due to guests cherry picking the restaurants and menu items. Disney can try to stop "abuses". This may include the child credits for adult meal issue, guests treating people not on the plan and even providing more meals than anticipated due to excessive sharing. Disney could also just raise the cost of the plan to cover the "over utilization". They could change it to a dollar based discount.

The cost of the food is only a part of the cost of running a restaurant. I doubt Disney assumed all guests would be ordering appetizers and desserts every meal. A family of 4 can double their TS meals by ordering the larger portion menu items and sharing. I doubt this is how the plan was priced. I've been in restaurants that had special price fixed menus but required that everyone in the party order that menu.

I think the plan would lose a lot if restaurants like Le Cellier and Chefs De France dropped out.

I wouldn't worry too much about any drastic changes. The problems are relatively small and at worst Disney just puts in some stronger enforcement mechanisms. They already changed the wording on the brochure to clarify the use of credits. Another step would be enforcing the policy of not buying more adult meals at one time than it says on the card. That would help eliminate people buying meals for others not on the plan. If they did separate credits by child / adult it wouldn't have any real impact on people that use the plan as it is intended. Actually none of these changes would have any impact on people using the plan as intended.

The DDP along with the other changes made last year are having too good an impact on the bottom line for them to make any drastic changes.