Dining plan for DVC

[Dean]

I agree. They should be able to tie in the dining plan to the MYW tickets.

I'm sure they could if they wanted, it appears they don't want to. They are obviously using this plan as a spur to resort room sales, something that offering it to DVC doesn't provide them.

I would disagree that this is a good plan. If might be for some but I don't think it is for most, especially if one has the DDE already. Still, it's good to have options.

 

[debm]

I've made ADRs twice in the past 2 days and both times I've been asked if I am on the plan. Each time I tell them I'm staying on my DVC points and they act like "SO WHAT??" So then when I say that I didn't know I could get it they say, "Sure. I've helped other people with DVC." So now I'm really confused. I did try calling Boardwalk which is what one of the CMs said to do---call your resort. But they did say that I needed to talk to MS on Monday which I know what the answer will be. I would love to have this plan. Then I wouldn't worry each day about spending money on food!

 

[jjbescher]

I would love to have Some type of plan. I e-mailed DVC in May about and got this response:
"Yes, we are actually currently looking into being able to offer Members some sort of dining plan that they would be able to add to their reservations."

So hopefully they are close and the next time we go, we will be able to get a Dining Plan. We are going on the cruise because we do not have to worry about paying for food.

jon

 

[keishashadow]

Even though MS emailed me that the plan would not be offered this year, I'm still holding out until the last minute on purchasing AP's & DDE for this Dec - you never know .

Typically, we only spend half of our time @ WDW (horrors!) and the rest @ other parks & attractions. MYW tix w/dining option works fine for us. I think Disney's intent is to offer the PAP/AP's @ discount, along with the DDE, attempting to keep DVC'ers & their dollars on-site.

We used the plan in Feb and really liked it (of course I don't cook on vacation either) thought it was a great convenience & value. Got to sample a lot of different restaurants on the plan, have some new favorites.

Hope they'll announce something around the time of member meetings this year.

 

[TiggerStac]

When we were doing our paperwork for DVC last week, we were told that they were working on being able to make reservations via the website. We were, also, told that hopefully it will be available w/in a year.

 

[Dean]

I guess I simply don't understand the draw of these plans if they don't save money. IMO, I would need to save me an additional 10-15% above what I'd spend otherwise to make it worth fooling with. If you know how many meals and people you have, you can get a very good idea of what you will spend. Or you can use the guidelines in place with the plans to go by even if you are not using a plan. You simply have to put the charges on a credit card at each meal or on your room card and credit card at the end. If one wants to prepay, they can do that also on any credit card.

 

[keishashadow]

I think it's a matter of what you're used to...it was nice to have our room, tix & meals paid for in advance of trip; along the lines of a cruise. My party had 2 adults & 1 child, plan cost us $85/day. Our average CS meals were near $40, Snacks/Bottled Water @ least $5, many of our TS meal receipts were in excess of $150 (approximately $200 in food/day, including tax & tip for the price of $85) and most of the food was great!

If you don't spend enough time @ WDW, the AP's & DDE are not cost effective. Even though we'll be visiting 3 times in a year, this is a fluke for us. Typically, we'll only spend 14-18 days a year in Orlando. We're used to splitting our time between WDW & other attractions. We'd purchase the longest tix we could & save the days for the next trip, using plus attractions some days only. I still have a supply of PH & MYW; hate to set them aside to buy AP's.

If I do decide to purchase an AP/DDE, then we'll be probably be "captives". I'm sure this is the general intent..can't have tourist dollars spent elsewhere.

 

[NMW]

I guess I simply don't understand the draw of these plans if they don't save money. IMO, I would need to save me an additional 10-15% above what I'd spend otherwise to make it worth fooling with. If you know how many meals and people you have, you can get a very good idea of what you will spend. Or you can use the guidelines in place with the plans to go by even if you are not using a plan. You simply have to put the charges on a credit card at each meal or on your room card and credit card at the end. If one wants to prepay, they can do that also on any credit card.

LOL, I think I've tried to argue the dining plan's merit with you before. Since then, I've actually looked at what we have/will spend on food. We have 2 adults, 3 kids, and do a character or resort breakfast every day- around $85. We grab counter service lunch and/or snacks and sodas during the day. This varies in price, but can still be a chunk of change over the course of 9 days if we all eat at places like Tusker House or Pecos bill. Then we do a sit down dinner every night. Some of the ones we are doing this trip-San Angel, Ohanas, House of Blues, Rose and Crown, Cape May Cafe, Brown Derby and 2 others I can't think of at the moment. Some of these dinners can easily cost my family $200 with tax and tip. How could it NOT be worth it for my family to be on this plan? We did get the DDE card and maybe that will work well for us, I hope so.


Keishashadow, most of the CM's at dining tried to tell me to get the dining plan when they went over all my ADR's. When I told them I was DVC, they really didn't seem to know that we couldn't get it. One of them even said that she thought they made the plan available to DVC now! When I told her that we still couldn't get it, she said it was a shame because I'd save a lot of money. I was like yes, I realize that!

 

[Dean]

LOL, I think I've tried to argue the dining plan's merit with you before. Since then, I've actually looked at what we have/will spend on food. We have 2 adults, 3 kids, and do a character or resort breakfast every day- around $85. We grab counter service lunch and/or snacks and sodas during the day. This varies in price, but can still be a chunk of change over the course of 9 days if we all eat at places like Tusker House or Pecos bill. Then we do a sit down dinner every night. Some of the ones we are doing this trip-San Angel, Ohanas, House of Blues, Rose and Crown, Cape May Cafe, Brown Derby and 2 others I can't think of at the moment. Some of these dinners can easily cost my family $200 with tax and tip. How could it NOT be worth it for my family to be on this plan? We did get the DDE card and maybe that will work well for us, I hope so.

LOL, not argue, discuss. If everyone makes an informed decision, regardless of what it is, I feel we've all been successfl. I’ve said many times there are ways to try to show a value, it simply depends on how you use it. But the question is would you have made the same or similar choices otherwise and is it worth the difference. I can just as easily show you where you can have two sit down meals per day for adults for the same price or cheaper for many of the restaurants assuming the DDE. There’s no question the margin on the kids creates value for those that have several of them, even if Disney sticks to the wording of only ordering from the kids meal. Of course if one is dishonest or even honestly has more than one room, the value can be enhanced significantly there as well. The value of any all inclusive plan is questionable for extended purchases. Studies show that people tend to slow down their usage after about 3 days. I would certainly not own DVC and eat out two meals every day for 9 days with desert, etc but maybe I’m the only one who thinks this way. I’m sure you can look at the menus and plan certain choices and restaurants that would give you the most value for my choices and anyone who buys the plan should do at least some of that type of planning. Thus just like anything else, one should look at their situation and decide what is best. And in terms of the MYW dining, it is not an automatic decision, esp for longer stays and adult charges which start at 10 y/o for WDW.

 

[keishashadow]

NMW - yes, I ran into the same thing when I made my 90+10 ADR's, CM kept asking me if I was sure I couldn't purchase the plan (doesn't speak well for the employee training on new products).

Additionally, my Dec. cruise is somewhat up in the air due to an issue w/my Mom's health...might be uncomfortable going out of the country for a few days. Anyway, I called CRO to book a "emergeny contingency" reservation to cover the days we'd be on the cruise. When discussing discounts with the CM, he insisted that AP rates booked over the phone were not subject to the Best Rate restrictions (i.e. non-refundable deposit); only the internet rates were????? Since I don't have an AP voucher, the point is moot for me.

It disturbs me that I find myself called WDW repeatedly for an answer to the same question (usually, they reverse themselves based on info I've gleemed from this board). WDW needs to get on the ball. Misinformation is worse than no information, IMO.

 

[beattyfamily]

I have a BUNCH of ADRs for my November trip on points and when I was making them, the CM kept saying maybe I should consider the dining plan. I told her I was DVC and she didn't seem to understand why I couldn't still do it and said it might be worth it to me to buy a MYW ticket and get the dining plan.

I sure hope they come up with something soon.

 

[NMW]

I would certainly not own DVC and eat out two meals every day for 9 days with desert, etc but maybe I’m the only one who thinks this way.

I'm sure you are not the only DVC member who thinks this way. I just don't want to cook on my vacation. My kids are little and the character breakfasts are part of the fun for them. I have to admit, I love them too. As for DH and I, eating out is part of our vacation! While we may not order dessert with every dinner, we always do order an appetizer or 2 and love the big breakfasts. We don't eat like that every other day of the year, trust me.

Maybe it would be better for our family with the DDE card. We do order beer/wine/mixed drinks with dinner and the card covers those, so maybe it will be better. I hope so.

 

[agotta]

I also agree that the dining plan should be added. Dh and I really wanted to try it out so we rented our points and are staying at POP. I would love to take advantage of the dining plan and stay at a DVC resort. We love to do sit-down dinners/lunches and the dining plan let's us do that affordably. I also like practically everything being paid for before we leave.

 

[dcibrando]

well I always thought they should have added the dining plan option to their tickets rather than the resort package... but I see why they did it this way to try to get people to stay on site.. HOWEVER this is leaving DVC out (unfortunately) and I think if you're a card holding member of DVC, you should be able to add this to your tickets once you checkin for the same price as other on site guests

 

[jamzots]

Why can't they just offer us the same dining plan thats in place for non dvc members and perhaps maybe a 10% discount. I don't understand why we can't buy the dining plan as of right now, I mean we are paying for it anyway. It seems like we are being punished because we are DVC'ers!!!

 

[jamzots]

To add to this....... I recently purchased MYW tickets-10 day hopper-no expiration, does anyone know if maybe I could add the dining plan to this for our trip in October? Even if I am staying at BWV using my points?

 

[agotta]

To add to this....... I recently purchased MYW tickets-10 day hopper-no expiration, does anyone know if maybe I could add the dining plan to this for our trip in October? Even if I am staying at BWV using my points?

Not yet. That is what this thread is about.

 

[Laurajean1014]

topics that came up in our group (there were 14 of us total including Jim and his wife) was a dining plan for DVC Members. Jim told us he knows that this is a very important issue for DVC Members. It is something they are working on and he said that by the annual meetings he will be able to give firmer details as to what they have planned. Trust me when I say DVC does listen to us Members!

He didn't say much of anything!

When our leaders act like politicians, who's going to act like leaders?????

 

[ratfam]

NMW, I totally agree with you, glad as I am to have the DVC kitchen for some things if this is my one vacation of the year we will be eating out a lot and based on the posts I've read on the Disney Restaurants thread and menus on allearsnet it doesn't seem like you have to work very hard to make back your money quickly on the dining plan.

This thread has raised a question for me about DDE--I thought that it was only an option for annual passholders, which we are not (we only go to WDW every third year or so, I've done the math and there is really no scenario under which annual passes make sense for us now) so I haven't paid too much attention to it. Can DVC members who are not annual passholders use DDE, and how much is it?

 

[DebbieB]

Why can't they just offer us the same dining plan thats in place for non dvc members and perhaps maybe a 10% discount. I don't understand why we can't buy the dining plan as of right now, I mean we are paying for it anyway. It seems like we are being punished because we are DVC'ers!!!

I really think the sticking point for DVC is not having an overpriced room subsidizing the cost of the dining plan. Keep in mind you cannot get the dining plan with an AP or code discount room either. Most people get more then $35 per adult per night out of it. There's no room for them to make money on it, they would lose money. My bet is if DVC comes out with a dining plan it will be different than the MYW plan.

To add to this....... I recently purchased MYW tickets-10 day hopper-no expiration, does anyone know if maybe I could add the dining plan to this for our trip in October? Even if I am staying at BWV using my points?

At this time, you have to buy a room/ticket package to get dining. You can't get a package with a DVC point room, only through CRO.