Discounts on dining?

[slcmkh]

Are there any current / upcoming discounts on dining for DVC members besides the 10% discounts at several restaurants?

I understand the dining plan is becoming available to DVC members but as much as people seem to like the plan, it doesn't make sense for us because we eat in our room quite a bit -- going out to eat for nearly every meal gets old after a few days and tends to be kind of unhealthy (especially for the kids who eat chicken nuggets and hot dogs off the kids menu practically every meal.)

We are not annual pass holders -- we are from out of state and only go every other year.

Are there any other discounts?

 

[Coastie]

We called on the dinning plan... its $37.99 per person, >10 YOA. 3-9 YOA, $10.99. This includes one lunch, 1 snack and 1 sit down dinner (table service) per day. However, there is no limitation on how you use the combinations. I don't think this will be available until April 1, 2006 for DVC members.

There is a catch... every member staying with you MUST purchase the plan for the ENTIRE length of stay. When checking in, each member will receive a encoded key with the DDP.

Be prepared to gain a few extra pounds!

Hope this helps!

 

[susieh]

Because we have booked our vacation in 2 blocks this time with a cruise in the middle we have purchased the Dining Plan for one of the reservations. We'll eat in our room and offsite for the other part of the trip. I wonder if we'll be allowed to split the reservation in the future so we can do that even if we are staying at the same resort for the whole trip?

 

[bicker]

Perhaps, but I'm not sure enough guests split their stay between different resorts to warrant special accommodations within the dining plan.

 

[BCV23]

Because we have booked our vacation in 2 blocks this time with a cruise in the middle we have purchased the Dining Plan for one of the reservations. We'll eat in our room and offsite for the other part of the trip. I wonder if we'll be allowed to split the reservation in the future so we can do that even if we are staying at the same resort for the whole trip?

Just a guess on my part but I would think that you could do so. It would have to be two seperate reservations though so you would have to checkin a second time and might risk having to move. I guess you could find out for sure after 1/3. For short stays in doesn't seem woth the bother/risk but since you're coming from the UK, I imagine you're having a nice long holiday.

bicker, from being on the resorts forum quite a bit, I think many people split stays. We never did when our children were young but now usually split Polynesian/BCV. Next trip is a GF/Polynesian split.

To the OP, I can't think of any other discounts other than the ones you know of but don't rule out the dining plan without checking out the menus. There appear to be many more healthy choices for children at CS spots these days and the TS restaurants have had some good choices for years. With some planning you could still enjoy meals in your villa and still branch out a bit. Some people are saving 40% on the plan.

 

[bicker]

It would have to be two seperate reservations though so you would have to checkin a second time and might risk having to move.

I think this concern was with regard to paying for the dining plan twice on the day you check out from the first resort and check into the second resort. That is the case, as things are today.

bicker, from being on the resorts forum quite a bit, I think many people split stays.

The DIS presents a very distorted view of the general WDW guest -- more passionate and more informed. In general practice, the vast majority of WDW guests check into a specific hotel and stay there the entire week.

Think of how you'd address most any other vacation. Paris has literally hundreds of wonderful hotels, yet most people visiting Paris book their stay at one hotel, only.

 

[BCV23]

I think this concern was with regard to paying for the dining plan twice on the day you check out from the first resort and check into the second resort. That is the case, as things are today.

The DIS presents a very distorted view of the general WDW guest -- more passionate and more informed. In general practice, the vast majority of WDW guests check into a specific hotel and stay there the entire week.

Think of how you'd address most any other vacation. Paris has literally hundreds of wonderful hotels, yet most people visiting Paris book their stay at one hotel, only.

susuieh was asking about staying at the same resort.

And if I understand the point you are trying to make, I disagree because the plan is per night not per day so there is no duplication involved.

I agree that the DIS represents a different pool of guests at least among those of us who post. But many read posts and do research here. Who knows what the breakdown is of split stays? But I don't think it is as rare as you seem to think. The first time I heard of luggage transfer was about 15 years ago when neighbors of ours were doing there first and as far as I know last WDW trip. They split Epcot/MK resorts for convenience. Point being we can both guess but without hard facts who knows.

As far as Paris, I don't think that is a fair comparison since the hotel is not usually a primary focus of such a trip. But even there, I will say my DH and daughter did a split stay with a quaint hotel on the Left Bank with a Best Western near DLP....not Paris proper of course.

 

[bicker]

the plan is per night not per day so there is no duplication involved.

Yup, you're correct.

I agree that the DIS represents a different pool of guests at least among those of us who post. But many read posts and do research here.

Approximately 1% of all WDW guests, by the most generous interpretations of the numbers.

As far as Paris, I don't think that is a fair comparison since the hotel is not usually a primary focus of such a trip.

I believe that is the case for most WDW guests, as well.

 

[BCV23]

I think hotels matter quite a bit to guests at WDW but I suspect we are each looking at this with our own particular bias. The choice of resort is our most important decision each trip. Of course, it is also a pretty easy decision for us as well as we have our own particular lovely rut.

Where did you find your 1% figure? But even if it is accurate, WDW seems to cover the bases by offering luggage transfer and the ability to book the dining plan for split stays.

 

[bicker]

Where did you find your 1% figure?

You'll love the information here:
http://www.big-boards.com/board/18/

But even if it is accurate, WDW seems to cover the bases by offering luggage transfer and the ability to book the dining plan for split stays.

Surely, but that's not a special product they have to put into their reservations system.

 

[BCV23]

Thank you for the link. Looks like fun. But how accurate would you guess the info is since the Disney Co. seems to hold info so tightly?

Sorry, you've lost me with your last point. I though we were talking about using the dining plan for split stays and that is already in the CRO system apparently.

But as susie was talking about the same resort, the situation isn't covered. I do imagine she could book seperate reservations though. We did some years ago. The first part of the stay was with the last days of our APs with an AP rate. We then switched to a Gold Plan or whatever the name was that year. We had to check in twice but didn't need to change rooms. This was at the Polynesian not DVC but as I first said I would guess it would be allowed with DVC as well.

 

[bicker]

But how accurate would you guess the info is since the Disney Co. seems to hold info so tightly?

Very accurate. Disney doesn't publish the exact numbers, but industry experts' estimates are surely within any reasonable margin-of-error. Any variance in Disney's favor would be made up by the several users here who have multiple user IDs.

Sorry, you've lost me with your last point. I though we were talking about using the dining plan for split stays and that is already in the CRO system apparently.

You already addressed that with the no duplication comment, which I acknowledged in message #8, above. It sounded like you were still following up on my earlier comments about that, though, i.e., if there was duplication, then addressing the duplication would require a special product put into their reservations system. This was all tied-up with my misinterpretation of susieh's intent -- thinking she wanted to split her stay between two resorts.

I do imagine she could book seperate reservations though.

That was the source of my confusion about susieh's intent -- you can surely do that today.

 

[BCV23]

Any variance in Disney's favor would be made up by the several users here who have multiple user IDs.

Lost me again! How would different IDs contribute to Disney's variance and in which direction do you consider Disney's favor?

Off topic but I've wondered about different IDs. There is one banned user on the resorts board who appears to come and go with different ids and I once though I detected one on the DVC board but was obviously wrong as I though Richyams also posted under another name. Sadly Rich is gone but the other poster is alive and well. So much for my detective skills. Could you PM me with hints?

 

[bicker]

Lost me again! How would different IDs contribute to Disney's variance and in which direction do you consider Disney's favor?

I'll try to type v e r y s l o w l y.

Seriously, what I meant was that even if the attendance estimates were a little high (which seems unlikely), that that wouldn't mean the 1% number was low, because the number of members reporting on big-boards.com is inflated by the number of members with multiple IDs.

Could you PM me with hints?

If I knew, I'd immediately forget it.

 

[BCV23]

If I knew, I'd immediately forget it.

Ok, if you're talking multiple ids on big boards I sort of see your point except aren't you still using Disney fanactics which you've argued present a skewed number?

But since you said "several users HERE" I though you were talking about the DIS.

Anyway, fun bickering with you as always.

 

[bicker]

Big Boards just collects and presents data about discussion boards. The page I linked to is the page for The DIS. I was talking about multiple IDs here. At the least, there are several folks who have had problems with their IDs and have gotten new ones. You'll occasionally see some notation to that effect in their tags under their (new) ID, such as "1723 previous posts" or something like that.

 

[susieh]

Yes I did mean a split stay at the same resort. We've done that in the past when we paid for the weekends with dollars and the rest of the time with points and ended up with 4 reservations but stayed in the same 2 bed villa the whole 2 weeks. We've never split it when we were just on points.

Depending on how well we get on with the dining plan this time we will definitely consider it for the future.

 

[JimMIA]

Are there any current / upcoming discounts on dining for DVC members besides the 10% discounts at several restaurants?

I understand the dining plan is becoming available to DVC members but as much as people seem to like the plan, it doesn't make sense for us because we eat in our room quite a bit -- going out to eat for nearly every meal gets old after a few days and tends to be kind of unhealthy (especially for the kids who eat chicken nuggets and hot dogs off the kids menu practically every meal.)

We are not annual pass holders -- we are from out of state and only go every other year.

Are there any other discounts?

To answer your ORIGINAL question, there are three discount plans that you can take advantage of.

One is the DVC Member discount which gives you 10% off at most restaurants at WDW. There are a few places which will give more than that, but generally it's 10%.

The second is the dining plan which others have already described. If it fits in with your dining pattern, it's a great plan. If it doesn't fit your family, it doesn't fit.

The third is the Disney Dining Experience (DDE). DDE is not a DVC benefit, it's available only to AP holders ($50) and Florida residents ($75). It gives you 20% off at most restaurants. The card is good for 13 months, so depending on how often you visit and how long you stay, it may be your best option. You only need ONE DDE card, because it's good for up to 10 people per meal...therefore, you only have to buy one AP. Depending on the size of your party, you may recoup the added cost of an AP and the card very quickly. (With four adults and one child on a recent trip, we broke even on our third meal.) If you buy the DDE, allow 3-4 weeks for delivery or plan to pick it up at Guest Services at Epcot. You'll actually get two cards, so if your party is separated for the day, both can use the card.

 

[bicker]

One is the DVC Member discount which gives you 10% off at most restaurants at WDW.

I didn't find this to be the case, and even for those restaurants offering the DVC Member discount, some restricted the discount to lunch-only. All-in-all, only one of the 6 FS and 6 CS restaurants we plan on visiting apparently give the DVC Member discount.

 

[Dean]

Because we have booked our vacation in 2 blocks this time with a cruise in the middle we have purchased the Dining Plan for one of the reservations. We'll eat in our room and offsite for the other part of the trip. I wonder if we'll be allowed to split the reservation in the future so we can do that even if we are staying at the same resort for the whole trip?

Disney is nothing but inconsistent. With the old FnF card, the rule was any stay of consecutive days at a single resorts was regarded as one stay. Even if you checked out then back in, even if you were in a different unit or even unit type the second portion. They were not good at enforcing it, but this was the rule. I would assume the same rule this time as well and the same inconsistencies.