Dining Plan: I have to vent.

[Vickie46]

don't waste your time worrying about what someone else is doing! Life is too short.. spend it with your family instead of debating about what someone else did.. comeon!!

Disney is a happy magical place.. lets keep it that way!

 

[Anjelica]

Seems to cause nothing but heartache and doesn't seem to provide much benefit other than a forum to "disagree".

 

[liquid]

We just got home yesterday and we had the free dining plan for 4 adults, 2 children. So - here are some of my experiences!

At Le Cellier we asked if we could order 3 adult meals (my husband and I would share) and 1 kids meal, which we would pay for out of pocket. No problem, said our lovely server.

We asked to do the same thing at the Prime Time and our lovely server said oh no - we can't do that. We told her no problem. And after this, we didn't try it again, as we realized that we had enough credits to cover the 12 TS meals we wanted just by sharing at a few more.

As the Biergarten is a buffet I didn't think we would have any problem of any sort - they would just charge us 6 credits, right? Nope. Our lovely server (really, they were all lovely, thoughtful, helpful waitresses!) had a problem! We wanted to put all the meals on my husband's card but he had 1 adult, 2 children on his. My card had 3 adults. (That's how the hotel had us split, for our 2 rooms.) We couldn't really understand how this was a problem as we had eaten at a few other buffets before this and just used one card, but we just smiled, gave her both cards and told her to charge us in whatever way was right. She was happy so we were happy!

I won't mention all our meals here; I just wanted to give a sample of the different policies we saw.... We just went with whatever the individual resturant wanted and everything was copacetic

Bottom line - there didn't seem to be a set policy! I agree with the poster (pedler?) who said:

Second. Forget the whole idea of the dinning plan being free as somehow costing Disney dinning money. The free dinning plan came from the resort division as a way to sell rooms. I am sure that they are internally compensating the dinning division for the plan they are giving people to sell rooms. I don't think that it would fly all that well if the resort division said:"You know, that whole discount off of the room thing isn't working for us. Lets give away the dinning plan and have it come of of dinnings budget. That way we sell rooms and dinning takes in on the chin for us."

I don't think so. Its just another promotional cost that the resort folk have to pony up for to sell rooms. Since I think the dinning division is compensated for the plan I would believe that they don't view it as free. The resort divsion is just an internal customer.

I don't want to get involved in a big nasty debate! I just wanted to share some of my experiences!

 

[Brygida]

At Le Cellier we asked if we could order 3 adult meals (my husband and I would share) and 1 kids meal, which we would pay for out of pocket. No problem, said our lovely server.

We asked to do the same thing at the Prime Time and our lovely server said oh no - we can't do that. We told her no problem.

As the Biergarten is a buffet I didn't think we would have any problem of any sort - they would just charge us 6 credits, right? Nope. Our lovely server (really, they were all lovely, thoughtful, helpful waitresses!) had a problem! We wanted to put all the meals on my husband's card but he had 1 adult, 2 children on his. My card had 3 adults. (That's how the hotel had us split, for our 2 rooms.) We couldn't really understand how this was a problem as we had eaten at a few other buffets before this and just used one card, but we just smiled, gave her both cards and told her to charge us in whatever way was right. She was happy so we were happy!

I won't mention all our meals here; I just wanted to give a sample of the different policies we saw.... We just went with whatever the individual resturant wanted and everything was copacetic

Copacetic... love that word... had not heard it used in a while... thanks for the memories!

When we used the *free* dining plan, we went with what the restaurant thought was right too. It did amaze us how different they could be!

At Charkranadi Chicken Shop (where we tried to use a CS credit), they only allowed us to choose between 2 tiny entrees, appetizers were not allowed, no desserts were allowed, and the drinks we wanted weren't allowed... I asked to speak to the CM's supervisor and then the manager of the whole shop, to no avail. My DH walked off in disgust refusing to have anything from them at all! He called it the "Can't Do Chicken Shop".

On the other hand, at Tomorrowland Noodle Station (also a CS credit), when I ordered our entree, dessert, and drink, the CM insisted I also choose an appetizer.... so I did.... she insisted! Now I know that table service did not include an extra appetizer (according to the brochure).... I guess I was "stealing".

Brygida

 

[buddy&wooz]

I still think this is a little different. Your card had 3A 1C and you were trying to pay for four adults with the card. While the CM can't tell whose credit is whose, they can at least see that 4 adults does not equal 3A 1C. In all the other cases, it is 3 adults using credits and 1 paying out of pocket. Who knows, perhaps junior used his credit for the day earlier when he had breakfast with his grandparents who also happen to be onsite as part of the grand gatherings program. The CM has no way to know that because of the pooling and shouldn't object to paying OOP for junior's meal.

My only point was that people are saying you can use your credits anyway you like, and there are no adult or child credits. My experience was that wasn't the case. Like just posted by liquid- there's no set policy that everyone follows. It seems to be each restaurant figuring out their own way.

Man, tough crowd on this board .

 

[freakylick]

So it seems that the popular opinion of the "pro-pooling" (for lack of a better term) crowd is that if there is no expressed restriction/rule/law, then do whatever you want. Do I have that right?!

 

[Bumbles]

At Charkranadi Chicken Shop (where we tried to use a TS credit), they only allowed us to choose between 2 tiny entrees, appetizers were not allowed, no desserts were allowed, and the drinks we wanted weren't allowed... I asked to speak to the CM's supervisor and then the manager of the whole shop, to no avail. My DH walked off in disgust refusing to have anything from them at all! He called it the "Can't Do Chicken Shop".

On the other hand, at Tomorrowland Noodle Station (also a TS credit), when I ordered our entree, dessert, and drink, the CM insisted I also choose an appetizer.... so I did.... she insisted! Now I know that table service did not include an extra appetizer (according to the brochure).... I guess I was "stealing".

I didn't think either one of those were Table Service (TS) but rather Counter Service (CS)

The Chicken Shop people were enforcing the policy whereas the Noodle Station folks were not. As far as the no dessert goes, I don't remember there being a dessert option there......they can't give you what they don't have.

Of course, when people don't enforce the policy, it makes those who do look like bad guys .

 

[unixadm]

So it seems that the popular opinion of the "pro-pooling" (for lack of a better term) crowd is that if there is no expressed restriction/rule/law, then do whatever you want. Do I have that right?!

No...The popular opinion of the "people that understand that DISNEY pools the credits and there are no adult or child credit classifications" is that we should do what the Disney Restaurant allows us to do. We are free to maximize the value of the plan using the Terms of the plan.

At ALL restaurants, I told them BEFORE we ordered that we were on the dining plan, but also had the DDE card. I told them that I planned on using the dining plan for my wife and myself and paying OOP using the DDE discount for the kid's meals as well as the additional things that weren't covered (alcholic beverages).

None of the CM Wait Staff had a problem with that. If they did, then I would let them handle it as they saw fit as far as credits, and wouldn't have complained or been upset (except if they charged me OOP AND used credits, of course )

 

[bstnsprts]

So it seems that the popular opinion of the "pro-pooling" (for lack of a better term) crowd is that if there is no expressed restriction/rule/law, then do whatever you want. Do I have that right?!

Let's try again............ all together now.

IT IS DISNEY THAT POOLS THE CREDITS!
IT IS DISNEY THAT POOLS THE CREDITS!
IT IS DISNEY THAT POOLS THE CREDITS!
IT IS DISNEY THAT POOLS THE CREDITS!
IT IS DISNEY THAT POOLS THE CREDITS!

Now for all the "anti-poolers." Don't let me catch you sneaking into MNSSHP or MVMCP at 4PM. Party doesn't start until 7PM, entry at 6PM, anything else would be stealing time from Disney. LOL!

 

[Frantasmic]

That's what we need:

The AP crowd who are anti-pooling and the PP crowd who are.. well that won't work, we'll get confused with the pool hopping (PH) crowd who will think others are trying to hop AND pee in their pool.

 

[liquid]

Quote:
Originally Posted by freakylick
So it seems that the popular opinion of the "pro-pooling" (for lack of a better term) crowd is that if there is no expressed restriction/rule/law, then do whatever you want. Do I have that right?!


No...I think it is to do whatever the Disney Restaurant allows you to do.

That's right - we can't do whatever we want! And I should make it clear that, when we checked in, we asked the CM and she told us that the credits were just credits - not adult or child. My card had 30 TS, 30 CS and 30 Snacks and my husband's card had the same. She specifically told us that the credits were per card (or room, I guess), not per person.

We still explained to our servers exactly what we wanted to do before every meal, as I had read here that some restaurants handled things differently.

When the waitress at the PT told us that we couldn't buy the kids meal OOP we could have argued and told her to call the CBR and otherwise made a stink but we had already decided to just ask for what we wanted and then abide by the decision of each individual restaurant. I didn't feel that we were taking advantage of the meal plan when we ate at Le C and I didn't feel cheated when we ate at the PT.

I can't know for sure if Disney does have a clear policy and several restaurants just ignore it so I figured that I would leave it up to the *authority* at each meal - the restaurant!

I'm not trying to imply that everyone out there needs to do it the way we did! We just didn't want a *fight* at any meal so this way worked for us.

Hmmm, I guess you could say that I just did what I wanted, which was to leave it up to the restaurant!!

 

[Brygida]

That's what we need:

The AP crowd who are anti-pooling and the PP crowd who are.. well that won't work, we'll get confused with the pool hopping (PH) crowd who will think others are trying to hop AND pee in their pool.

 

[Nancyg56]

That's what we need:

The AP crowd who are anti-pooling and the PP crowd who are.. well that won't work, we'll get confused with the pool hopping (PH) crowd who will think others are trying to hop AND pee in their pool.

 

[afcgirl]

I know I shouldn't do this, but here goes:

IMHO, the fact that WDW specifically charges less for children and specifically states that children must eat off the childrens menu if available STRONGLY suggests that each credit purchased at the lower children's price is not to be used for adult meals.

This is supported by the fact that some have been told this by CMs at check-in.

The fact that others have been told otherwise means that either 1) not all CMs know all of the facts regarding the dining plan, or (2) they simply want a bigger tip.

The fact that Disney currently does not distinguish between adult and child credits is a glitch that will probably be fixed in the near future. Disney may not have foreseen that people would pay out of pocket, since the one advantage to the dining plan is not having to carry a lot of extra cash.

I plan on using the dining plan next summer and I will not use child credits for adult meals. For all who do, I do not begrudge you but take advantage while you can I think this will change soon.

BTW, I hope I am wrong. I will gladly eat my words (and my children's credits).

 

[Gillian]

When the waitress at the PT told us that we couldn't buy the kids meal OOP we could have argued and told her to call the CBR and otherwise made a stink but we had already decided to just ask for what we wanted and then abide by the decision of each individual restaurant.

I might have asked the server to please double check on this for me. I don't see how they can force you to use your credits if you want to pay cash.

 

[lucincia]

The fact that Disney currently does not distinguish between adult and child credits is a glitch that will probably be fixed in the near future. Disney may not have foreseen that people would pay out of pocket, since the one advantage to the dining plan is not having to carry a lot of extra cash.
QUOTE]

Why would you have to carry cash? Actually, carrying lot's of cash on vacation anywhere is silly idea. CREDIT CARD!

And I thought you can charge back to your room and pay it all at the end of the stay?

I think the "mistake" Disney made was this free dining thing. It makes the people like me who wants to buy dining plan and abuse it look guilty

The goody two shoes of the bunch will go to heaven. The rest of us heathens will go to heck. I hope they have air conditioning down there.

 

[Nini]

We are using the dining plan and are going to use it however each restaurant allows. If they allow us to do a couple of oop's for my dd3.5, then so be it. We don't feel we will need much extra in the way of meals anyway.

By the way, a mere "Suggestion" is not an "Enforcable Rule". Some individuals are not as open to "suggestion" as others. I feel that WDW knows fully well what they are doing and where the "loopholes" are. They are a large corporation for goodness sakes!!!!



I'm going to have fun...besides, they have had my money (paid in full for 30 days now) and have been accruing interest on the monies paid for the dining plan. They're golden and I'm not worrying one bit.

Flame away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Harmony]

There is no 'loophole' that Disney is NOT aware of. This 'loophole' has always existed only is was called Dreammaker Gold/Silver/Plat. Either way, one paid less for a child's wishes but adults could use them for their meals. Disney isn't stupid, they know how people use them.

Now it's called TS credits, CS credits or snack credits but it's all basically the samething. (with changes here and there) Still, it is even recommened by most CM's to use credits to their fullest, which often means paying OOP for a child's meal.

I still don't get why some people get all "high and mighty" about something so trivial.

Personally, I don't care how others use their dining plan. I'm there to have fun, not nit-pik how others are spending their vacation.

 

[afcgirl]

The fact that Disney currently does not distinguish between adult and child credits is a glitch that will probably be fixed in the near future. Disney may not have foreseen that people would pay out of pocket, since the one advantage to the dining plan is not having to carry a lot of extra cash.
QUOTE]

Why would you have to carry cash? Actually, carrying lot's of cash on vacation anywhere is silly idea. CREDIT CARD!

And I thought you can charge back to your room and pay it all at the end of the stay?

I think the "mistake" Disney made was this free dining thing. It makes the people like me who wants to buy dining plan and abuse it look guilty

The goody two shoes of the bunch will go to heaven. The rest of us heathens will go to heck. I hope they have air conditioning down there.

A goody two shoes like me would never use a credit card, but I do use my debit card . Still, your post supports my point, people don't like to and shouldn't carry extra cash on vacation and with the dining plan you don't have to. And even if someone does have a credit card, a benefit of the dining plan is that you know how much your food expenses will be in advance so that you don't have large unexpected bills when you check out or get home.

Like I said before, I hope I am wrong and that I find that out before July....

 

[lucincia]

A goody two shoes like me would never use a credit card, but I do use my debit card . Still, your post supports my point, people don't like to and shouldn't carry extra cash on vacation and with the dining plan you don't have to. And even if someone does have a credit card, a benefit of the dining plan is that you know how much your food expenses will be in advance so that you don't have large unexpected bills when you check out or get home.

I use credit card like Disney Visa so we can get more reward cash to buy more crap next time we are in WDW! It's a vicious cycle!

It's a scam.

Actually, dining plan is not for everyone. If we didn't have 2 littel girls who want to do every freaking princess character meals in the park, this would not have been worth it. We would have eaten mostly CS.

Kids .... When are they leaving home for college?