Disney Dining Rumors

[Suzabella]

I've priced the dining plan several times and it just never made sense for us. It was for far more food than we would/could eat so we felt it was wasteful. We've actually had people let us use their snack credits for something, complete strangers, rather than let it go unused. My calculations always showed we saved money by not using the dining plan.

 

[mithdolls]

I see that Crystal Palace has brought back the buffet. Now it just needs Eeyore to be complete.

I heard someone say a cast member told them "soon" for characters at CP. I sure wish they would. We planned for Nov, I was hoping. (a dream is a wish your heart makes?)

 

[shawthorne44]

I heard someone say a cast member told them "soon" for characters at CP. I sure wish they would. We planned for Nov, I was hoping. (a dream is a wish your heart makes?)

Squeals with happiness.
This will be a surprise for DD. She is a huge Eeyore fan ever since she played Eeyore in a play. Well, must have been before that since she requested him.

 

[bookgirl]

I've used it a few times, because it was part of a package deal. On it's own, I probably wouldn't ever buy it.

Never really works for me when I'm solo for sure, and the one time I used it as a family it was okay, but we actually did sit down meals when we probably would have been just as happy to do a CS or snack, and we had to do the conversion of CS to snacks at Goofy's because we didn't use all the meals anyway.

 

[mousestruck]

I’m fairly certain the dining plans will be back, given how profitable they were for Disney. Based on all of the other recent changes, prices will be substantially higher and benefits diminished. I’m guessing we’ll see a reduction in snack credits and that mugs and alcoholic/specialty drinks will become add-ons.

We have done the dining plan on occasion, when it benefits us. I make our plans and do the math. Sometimes it works great when we have a split stay, allowing us to use it for a part of our stay. The mugs alone were big perks, and the included alcoholic drinks were not wasted.

i’m more interested in the return of TIW. That was usually more beneficial for our family. We really like the flexibility of eating when, where and what we want. Sometimes that means two appetizers instead of an entree, no desserts, or skipping a meal altogether. And we really like the 20 percent discount on alcohol, since we tend to enjoy wine or a cocktail with dinner. I am less optimistic about TIW coming back, as I’m not sure it’s a big money maker.

We should have answers soon!

 

[Lewisc]

Yeah, that's the issue. I think they should offer a plan that includes alcohol and one that doesn't. I know that complicates the offering, but alcohol adds so much to the price of anything and if someone doesn't plan to partake, it would be a great option.

You need to look at Disney's cost for alcohol, not the menu price.

That was the Deluxe Dining plan. We used it often. But it was pricey.

The first year or 2 the regular DDP included all those items. How can a price fixed dinner not at least include choice of soup or salad? Grub plan or food plan.

The dining plan lead to a slow decline of both food quality (and choice - standardized lunch and dinner menus, for instance). I wish it never existed in the first place. Even though the dining plan more often than not costs more than OOP, people love it and then you throw in the free dining promotions and that has just meant Disney has been cramming every restaurant full of people all day long, which just makes it harder to provide high levels of quality.

I don't agree. Disney standardized bar menus, both food and drinks. Resort specific gift shop items are limited. Many of the gift shop items are Disney Parks, not even WDW. Attraction specific items are a fraction of what they were.

JMO The DDP was the result of the trend to standardize and simplify not the cause

 

[cgattis]

I heard someone say a cast member told them "soon" for characters at CP. I sure wish they would. We planned for Nov, I was hoping. (a dream is a wish your heart makes?)

I’ll be hacked if I make a res for Crystal Palace for November and they add back the characters and jack up the price once it’s too late to book anything else……no offense to Pooh lovers, but if I only get to meet one character on our trip, I want Mickey not Pooh! But after 8 or 9 trips, I don’t want to pay extra for either.

 

[shawthorne44]

I’ll be hacked if I make a res for Crystal Palace for November and they add back the characters and jack up the price once it’s too late to book anything else……no offense to Pooh lovers, but if I only get to meet one character on our trip, I want Mickey not Pooh! But after 8 or 9 trips, I don’t want to pay extra for either.

Maybe get a backup reservation now?

 

[DidneyWorlLover77]

With the removal of ALL of the perks of staying onsite, plus the recent price increases in APs, additional cost of transportation to and from the airport and the addition of Genie+, I can only guess that the dining plan is the next target for an overhaul.

So what do we think it will be?

A price increase is a given. Probably in the range of 20-30%.

I'm thinking the inclusion of the resort mugs will be gone, snacks will be reduced and beverages will no longer be included with meals.

And they will probably change the names of the plans to something cheesy. Deluxe dining will be Enchanted Dining. Disney Dining Plus will be Magical Dining. The standard plan will be Ohana Dining and the quick service plan will be Fun Dining or something along those lines.

All I know is we use the dining plan every trip and love it, because it saves us money. We've calculated it and we end up getting more when we use the Disney Dining Plan. Never needed a bigger dining plan for our family. However, I fully agree that they will likely be upping the price. I'm fine with this as long as they don't scale down everything and reduce what you get with each dining plan. I like the convenience of not having to budget and worry about how much I spend on my trip, since my meals are already paid for.

Does anyone speculate it'll be back by my trip in December? I'm really praying it will be back!!

 

[wolfawk]

For us, we stopped using saving money as a determining factor for getting the deluxe dining plan. It simply became a qualitative calculation. I want to enjoy my vacation. I want to eat where I want, order what I want, and not have to worry about the cost. When I am on the dining plan, mentally yes I know paid for all of that, but when I'm there I only have to worry about tips. In the end, that make the vacation more enjoyable. Having a food budget and then making sure we stay within it makes vacations less fun. In addition, everyone enjoys trying new things, something that is mentally harder to do when you have to deal with seeing the bill at the end. For me, I treat the dining plan as if I am getting an all inclusive vacation, and to me that makes it all that much more valuable and worth it.

Edit: In my normal life I am a coupon user. I sign up for all the restaurant rewards, and tend not to go to expensive restaurants. The dining plan allows me to just be free to relax and know that it's already covered. I generally bring a few hundred dollars for tips, the more signature restaurants (on the deluxe plan we do one signature a night), the more tips I budget.

 

[Pyxie]

I wouldn't mind if they got rid of the alcohol included. The problem with it being included is that the 10-20 year-olds basically pay for alcohol that they can't drink. Because it isn't free, it is just included in the price.

Also, while we drink, we don't at parks. The last thing I need is something to dehydrate me more. And DH doesn't drink alone.

Except the problem with this is that if they did remove it, they likely wouldn't reduce the cost to make up for it. So, you'd still be paying for it but then NO ONE could use the benefit.

 

[wolfawk]

Except the problem with this is that if they did remove it, they likely wouldn't reduce the cost to make up for it. So, you'd still be paying for it but then NO ONE could use the benefit.

To be fair, for those under 21 a specialty drink is included, that was not included previously. Usually this is like the light up cup or a non-alcoholic cocktail.

 

[BrianL]

To be fair, for those under 21 a specialty drink is included, that was not included previously. Usually this is like the light up cup or a non-alcoholic cocktail.

Oh, I did not know this. I am they type who would like mocktails, but I never want to pay for them!