Dining plans price has increased for 2013

[bluejasmine]

I have never seem Disney raise DDP prices mid year! I'm really surprised!

ASMU/POR Dec 16-22, 2012 & CR Sept 8-15, 2013

 

[sjs314]

I ran tests on the thread that popped up over in the DDP forums yesterday. (I linked to it up thread as well).

My test findings found that the pricing for Oct 19-20 and Dec 25-26 (Oct timing is solidly in "normal" time, Dec is solidly in "holiday" time) was identical. Unless... there is a bug where it's looking at the pricing for right now and applying that? It's still over by a couple dollars, but that would explain the lack of holiday upcharge for Dec? (Or, perhaps the prices did rise, and there's a bug that only determines the current season?)

As you can probably tell, I'm very skeptical that the holiday upcharge is going away .

I do have some free time tonight (a certain MMO keeps me busy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday nights from 7-10pm CST ), so I'll run some more test cases and see what I can see.

I looked at the other thread with your chart and I see what you are saying and I agree with you about the peak season pricing not going away, after all Disney already has their guests expecting peak season upcharges. Very confusing to say the least.

 

[Cakegirl]

Ahhhh, I was just going to book today a package that I had quoted a few days ago -- and it went up over $100. I was barely talking DH into going...now I have to talk him into an extra $100 (probably not going to happen).

I called Disney to see why the increase and the rep said that the prices didn't change, and that maybe I had mixed up on the room request or something (ummm, no - I spend lots of hours on the website...I know my room types! haha). He then said that if a travel agent quoted me, that they were just trying to make extra money for themselves! I then asked about the dining surcharge going up, and he denied it (maybe the reps haven't been filled in yet??). Ugh.

Man, I was --> THIS <-- close to going during my Fall Break!

 

[pigletto]

Ahhhh, I was just going to book today a package that I had quoted a few days ago -- and it went up over $100. I was barely talking DH into going...now I have to talk him into an extra $100 (probably not going to happen).

I called Disney to see why the increase and the rep said that the prices didn't change, and that maybe I had mixed up on the room request or something (ummm, no - I spend lots of hours on the website...I know my room types! haha). He then said that if a travel agent quoted me, that they were just trying to make extra money for themselves! I then asked about the dining surcharge going up, and he denied it (maybe the reps haven't been filled in yet??). Ugh.

Man, I was --> THIS <-- close to going during my Fall Break!

The Mousesavers update is just from yesterday so I think this is really new and many of the reps probably don't even know yet.
Have you thought of taking what the dining plan would have cost and putting it on a gift card and using that for food? I think (especially with these new prices) that many people can come out better dining out of pocket. Just avoid the more expensive places and buffets and you should be able to do better than the plan.
I know I've hit my no return point. I wasn't planning on paying for the DDP before but I sure as heck won't be doing it now.

 

[jenseib]

The phone cm's don't even have a clue how much the dining plan is.

 

[wdwfan22]

This is crazy. I have always been a DDP lover. But this is getting ridiculous. I never thought I would go oop, but now i may check off site hotel pricing since the dining plan is now really hard to make a value and magic hours have decreased. The value of staying onsite is really diminishing. I'm really disappointed with Disney.

 

[Mickeynutty]

This is crazy. I have always been a DDP lover. But this is getting ridiculous. I never thought I would go oop, but now i may check off site hotel pricing since the dining plan is now really hard to make a value and magic hours have decreased. The value of staying onsite is really diminishing. I'm really disappointed with Disney.

ITA! We are skipping the DP on our next trip. We used to love it, but I just cannot justify the cost anymore.

 

[Cakegirl]

Have you thought of taking what the dining plan would have cost and putting it on a gift card and using that for food? I think (especially with these new prices) that many people can come out better dining out of pocket. Just avoid the more expensive places and buffets and you should be able to do better than the plan.

Thank you! Yes, I think this is what we'll do. We figure that with doing quick service only (out of pocket), it'll save us money (and time not doing table service since October park hours are shorter anyways).

I've always been a big fan of the dining plan...but I can't justify the extra $100+ overnight. Okay, back to being excited and hoping that I can book this tomorrow.

 

[jenseib]

Just 6 years ago I paid about $40 something (on the low end of 40 something) per adult for the dining plan and it included appetizers and tips then too. This price is just ridiculous now. I will really have to do some hard core math to see if it works for us in the future. My daughter is approaching adult pricing and she won't eat adult portions. I have always been a big fan of the dining plan, but upping the price just 6 months after they upped it already is uncalled for.

 

[Cafeen]

I looked at the other thread with your chart and I see what you are saying and I agree with you about the peak season pricing not going away, after all Disney already has their guests expecting peak season upcharges. Very confusing to say the least.

I did run a bunch more tests early this morning (starting at 3am... I fell asleep at 9pm and woke up early ), but didn't get to finish before I got all sleepy again.

The listed prices certainly were consistent throughout 1, 3, and 5 night stays with 1-2 adults and 1-2 children over a timeframe in October. I ran out of steam after doing 1 day testing over Christmas, but the numbers weren't changing for then either.

However, I did see that Premium/Platinum packages did not change with this, so it looks limited to the dining plan only. I'm also expecting changes to come to light once 2014 packages are released that include a further seasonal upcharge. My thinking is now, since these are higher than the post upcharge before, they are the new base for 2014, then upcharge will then be additional to them for 2014 holiday periods.

The quiet increase in the middle of a year effective immediately is a really sneaky way to do this. Granted, tickets do the same, but it's announced AND they're the same price between increases. This was a fully off-schedule (schedule consisting of nearly 10 years worth of changes) and with absolutely zero announcement or anything. Even room rates typically have some announcement (since they also typically come with next year's package updates). The fact they're also on a record-setting year attendance-wise makes me think that it's more about milking the guests than anything else.

Sadly, I'm hearing signs of pure money grab more than anything else here.

(Also note, I'm in a cynical mood today.)

 

[sjs314]

I did run a bunch more tests early this morning (starting at 3am... I fell asleep at 9pm and woke up early ), but didn't get to finish before I got all sleepy again.

The listed prices certainly were consistent throughout 1, 3, and 5 night stays with 1-2 adults and 1-2 children over a timeframe in October. I ran out of steam after doing 1 day testing over Christmas, but the numbers weren't changing for then either.

However, I did see that Premium/Platinum packages did not change with this, so it looks limited to the dining plan only. I'm also expecting changes to come to light once 2014 packages are released that include a further seasonal upcharge. My thinking is now, since these are higher than the post upcharge before, they are the new base for 2014, then upcharge will then be additional to them for 2014 holiday periods.

The quiet increase in the middle of a year effective immediately is a really sneaky way to do this. Granted, tickets do the same, but it's announced AND they're the same price between increases. This was a fully off-schedule (schedule consisting of nearly 10 years worth of changes) and with absolutely zero announcement or anything. Even room rates typically have some announcement (since they also typically come with next year's package updates). The fact they're also on a record-setting year attendance-wise makes me think that it's more about milking the guests than anything else.

Sadly, I'm hearing signs of pure money grab more than anything else here.

(Also note, I'm in a cynical mood today.)

I also see this as a way for Disney to get a bigger chunk of the guests vacation money before they ever step foot on Dsney property.

Surely Disney knows what % of guests wait until after the 45 day mark to add a DP and considering that there is 6 months left to 2013 an increase now makes for a lot of extra revenue.

 

[disney-akj]

Add the tip to those prices too, and it really isn't worth it IMO when 2 out of my 3 kids are "adults". When we have gone and paid OOP we did save money. We only made 4 ADR for our week long trip. It was actual a little freeing to not have as many ADR times to stick to, and we didn't feel like our vacay was any different than before. Maybe more relaxing ordering pizza delivery in the room for the first time and enjoying it poolside.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Phew! Another reason I'm glad we abandoned the DDP. It's not nearly worth it for our family. We use TiW and that works perfectly for us!

 

[sharonabe]

I was curious, so went and priced out a vacation with the QS plan. Guess what? Those prices have increased as well.

Looks like the QS plan for adults is now $39.64 per night (up from $37.58). I didn't check to see what the kid prices are. So now if you use $4 as a price point for your snack, you need to spend almost $18 at each QS just to break even.

 

[Masonmj84]

Phew! Another reason I'm glad we abandoned the DDP. It's not nearly worth it for our family. We use TiW and that works perfectly for us!

We too are off the dining plans in favor of TIW.

 

[tarak]

I was curious, so went and priced out a vacation with the QS plan. Guess what? Those prices have increased as well.

Looks like the QS plan for adults is now $39.64 per night (up from $37.58). I didn't check to see what the kid prices are. So now if you use $4 as a price point for your snack, you need to spend almost $18 at each QS just to break even.

Now that my oldest is an "adult," even the QS dining plan makes no sense for us. Assuming a dollar increase for kids, we'd have to spend $150 per day on food just to break even. When I ran the numbers before, we'd spend at least $200 OOP, and that's adding in two TS meals during the week.

 

[Cafeen]

I was curious, so went and priced out a vacation with the QS plan. Guess what? Those prices have increased as well.

Looks like the QS plan for adults is now $39.64 per night (up from $37.58). I didn't check to see what the kid prices are. So now if you use $4 as a price point for your snack, you need to spend almost $18 at each QS just to break even.

Yes, all 3 dining plans have increased according to the site.

• QSDP New Price (Old Price/Seasonal) | Change: Amount changed
  • Adult: $39.64 ($37.58) | Change: +$2.06 (5.48%)
  • Child:$15.75 ($14.32) | Change: +$1.43 (9.98%)
• DDP
  • Adult: $58.66 ($55.59/$56.94) | Change: +$3.07 (5.52%)/+$1.72 (3.02%)
  • Child: $18.88 ($17.16/$18.16) | Change: +$1.72 (10.02%)/+$0.72 (3.96%)
• DxDDP
  • Adult: $104.94 ($99.97/$102.27) | Change: +$4.97 (4.97%) /+$2.67 (2.61%)
  • Child: $29.51 ($26.84/$28.91) | Change:+$2.67 (9.95%)/+$0.60 (2.08%)
• Premium*
  • Adult: $189.00 ($189.00) | Change: $0
  • Child: $139.00 ($139.00) | Change: $0
• Platinum*
  • Adult: $249.00 ($249.00) | Change: $0
  • Child: $179.01 ($179.00) | Change:+$0.01 (Most likely a difference in rounding)

*Premium and Platinum aren't really dining plans, but rather vacation packages and have their own requirements. They are included here for comparison and completion sake.

Looks like, with these numbers, it's about a 5% increase on base adult dining plans, and a 10% increase on the child.

I'd also expect those seasonal ones to change once the 2014 packages are released...

It may also be worthwhile to revisit the buffet/AYCE pricing list. With this stealth increase in here, I'm wondering if any of the restaurants are also raising their prices by roughly the same amount.

Edit: Per Credit Cost Math (Warning: Math!) (NSFPWDLM - Not Safe For People Who Don't Like Math)
This is figured using calculations that Faldred (who I haven't seen in ages around here) developed a couple years back. They seem to work nicely. Note that they are far from exact, but they'll give you a rough estimate of what to shoot for on a per-credit basis on order to break even.

You'll find the "Show your work" section below, but the results come out to:
QS: $18.07 / $6.13
TS (DDP): $37.09 / $9.25
Dx (DxDDP): $32.65 / $7.51

Given the following:
S (Snack) = 3.50 (note: we had previously been using 3.00 for snack)
QSDP = 2QS + 1S = 39.64
DDP = 1TS + 1QS + 1S = 58.66
DxDDP = 3Dx + 2S = 104.94

Finding Dx cost

Solve DxDDP for Dx
3Dx + 2S = 104.94
3Dx = 104.94 - 2S
3Dx = 104.94 - 2(3.50)
3Dx = 104.94 - 7
3Dx = 97.94
Dx = 97.94 / 3
Dx = 32.65

Finding QS cost, using value to find TS cost

Solve QSDP for QS
2QS + 1S = 39.64
2QS = 39.64 - 1S
2QS = 39.64 - 1(3.50)
2QS = 39.64 - 3.50
2QS = 36.14
QS = 36.14 / 2
QS = 18.07

1TS + 1QS + 1S = 58.66
1TS = 58.66 - 1QS - 1S
1TS = 58.66 - 18.07 - 3.5
1TS = 37.09
The same method is used to find kids costs, but I'm not showing my work here for those. Sorry.
(Mugs are excluded due to the difficulty in assigning daily value since it is a single cost over the length of the trip. As such, a 1 night trip's credit cost would be vastly different from a 14 night. Instead, we'll just say they're "free")

 

[Masonmj84]

Now that my oldest is an "adult," even the QS dining plan makes no sense for us. Assuming a dollar increase for kids, we'd have to spend $150 per day on food just to break even. When I ran the numbers before, we'd spend at least $200 OOP, and that's adding in two TS meals during the week.

Previously, we've done the DxDP but on our next trip, our oldest will have just turned 10 and our youngest (who barely picks at her food) will be 4. On that trip (which spans 12 nights and 13 days), I'm planning 15 table service meals at order off-the-menu places and 10 meals at fixed priced places (e.g., character breakfasts, 'Ohana, Boma, Biergarten, etc.).

At the order off-the-menu places, we plan to order a kid's meal for the 10 YO and share our food with the 4 YO. At the fixed priced places, we'll just have to bite the bullet and pay the adult price for the 10 YO and the child's price for the 4 YO who hardly eats anything.

Even with 10 fixed price meals, I ran the numbers and determined that OOP with TIW will be roughly $1000 less expensive than the DxDP (and this assumes that my wife and I will each order an appetizer, entree, and dessert at each order off-the-menu restaurant, as if we were on the DxDP - if we end up ordering less food, the savings will be even greater).

 

[Happy99]

He then said that if a travel agent quoted me, that they were just trying to make extra money for themselves!

boy he really didn't know what he was talking about. Some brick and mortar agencies charge a fee for booking airlines but not packages like you would at Disney. When I first started using a TA that did mostly Disney I asked how payments work if I paid the agency or Disney and they told me that our money is always with Disney and they don't accept payments directly in the form of a check / money order, etc. They take a credit card and my charge came through as Disney Travel Co. I don't see how they would be able to add on a charge due to how they accept payments

 

[sharonabe]

With the kids' QS coming to $15.75, the only thing you're saving is the tax (and they get the refillable mug as a souvenir). Kids' meals are $5.99 except in a few places, so that leaves you with $3.75 for a snack. Unless QS prices go up, I don't see how you save any money on the QS plan.