Disney needs to have a dining plan for day visitors

[kwitcherkicken99]

Non-resort guests (and resort guests) also pack lunches... either way you slice it, it's still not going to make that much of a difference.

Besides... with park tickets already at $80/adult... if you added another $30 for food, who in the heck would be willing to pay $110 for a park day?

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

And the dining plan is really only a "perk" when they offer it for "free." All Disney is really doing is giving you food in exchange for paying rack rate. Either way you pay...

Not if you can eat your money's worth.

Le Cellier, Coral Reef, etc... it's easy to eat your money's worth. Now if you were to go to a TS place and get a sandwich or burger... then no, it's not worth it. But if I can go somewhere and order a filet and DH orders salmon and our DDP expense is negligible to what it would be out of pocket... it's worth it.

When I think that a CS meal for 4 people (3 of which were kid's meals) was regularly $35, it's not that bad in the long run.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

It might actually decrease the sales for Disney's existing dining plans if people can choose to pay day by day that they are in the parks.

At Epcot if I want to eat at Sunshine Seasons for lunch and Morocco for dinner, I could purchase the plan for that day. but going to DHS where I may eat less expensive meals, I may choose not to purchase and just pay cash.

If you need to purchase the dining plan for each night you stay, at the end of the week, for most people, the combination of more and less expensive meals have balanced out. Paying day by day would let you purchase only for those days were you are planning your more expensive meals.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Why? Because they want to encourage people to stay on-site. The Dining Plan is ingeneous, from a marketing perspective. Heck, it got me to stay on-site not once but twice. Free dining (when offered) plus Magical Express is cheaper than most off-site options + a rental car. And it keeps me from buying tickets to Sea World or Universal. I'm sure I'm not the only one!

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Not if you can eat your money's worth.

Le Cellier, Coral Reef, etc... it's easy to eat your money's worth. Now if you were to go to a TS place and get a sandwich or burger... then no, it's not worth it. But if I can go somewhere and order a filet and DH orders salmon and our DDP expense is negligible to what it would be out of pocket... it's worth it.

When I think that a CS meal for 4 people (3 of which were kid's meals) was regularly $35, it's not that bad in the long run.

Not to mention, for families interested in character meals, it is very easy to come out ahead with DDP. The daily cost for a kid under 10 for regular DDP is significantly less than the cost of a character meal for kids.

Families with kids easily come out ahead with DDP - 1 QS lunch for kids ($5) + 1 TS kids dinner ($9, unless it is a character meal or buffet, which is a lot more money) + 1 snack ($2.50) easily exceeds the cost of the plan.

 

[TenderDonkey]

Not to mention, for families interested in character meals, it is very easy to come out ahead with DDP. The daily cost for a kid under 10 for regular DDP is significantly less than the cost of a character meal for kids.

Families with kids easily come out ahead with DDP - 1 QS lunch for kids ($5) + 1 TS kids dinner ($9, unless it is a character meal or buffet, which is a lot more money) + 1 snack ($2.50) easily exceeds the cost of the plan.

Apply the same logic to non-resort guests. For $X I get to have two meals a day or whatever it may be. If I prepaid for two meals I would be more inclined to stay later. It doesn’t diminish the resort option, it is just a different option.

 

[sissy_ib]

The point would be to keep non-resort guests in the park. A lot of people leave to eat off-site. Not a bad idea OP.

To me it sounds like a huge waste. I'm sure some people do but to go off site for all meals would take a huge chuck of time out of the park day. Even if you eat breakfast before the parks open you are leaving property for two meals. Even if you just go get fast food that would take at least two hours for each meal, by the time you get to your car, drive off property, drive back and park and get back in to the park. And CS is not that much more than fast food.

And the dining plan is really only a "perk" when they offer it for "free." All Disney is really doing is giving you food in exchange for paying rack rate. Either way you pay...

I disagree here. Many people chose to get a room discount and pay full price for the DP. This works out better depending on where you are staying and how many people you have in you group. And what DP you chose. If you do the regular DP you can save a ton at TS restaurants. Like someone else pointed out, the character meals alone are around $35 and adult. And at $47(is that the current price?) and you still have another meal and two snacks. The DP can save some families a lot of money. Not for everyone but great for those is does work for.

 

[nytimez]

Disney makes a huge profit on dining plans, disguised as an incentive to stay on-site. It's a moneymaker, not a money loser. They COULD easily do this for off-site guests.

But do they "need" to as the title of this post suggests? No, I don't think so.

I think the illusion of the dining plan as an advantage for on-site guests is too important to maintain.

 

[TenderDonkey]

To me it sounds like a huge waste. I'm sure some people do but to go off site for all meals would take a huge chuck of time out of the park day. Even if you eat breakfast before the parks open you are leaving property for two meals. Even if you just go get fast food that would take at least two hours for each meal, by the time you get to your car, drive off property, drive back and park and get back in to the park. And CS is not that much more than fast food.


I disagree here. Many people chose to get a room discount and pay full price for the DP. This works out better depending on where you are staying and how many people you have in you group. And what DP you chose. If you do the regular DP you can save a ton at TS restaurants. Like someone else pointed out, the character meals alone are around $35 and adult. And at $47(is that the current price?) and you still have another meal and two snacks. The DP can save some families a lot of money. Not for everyone but great for those is does work for.

If Disney can eek out an extra $.05 they will do it. I'm not arguing the room discount vs. dining plan. A perk is something you get as an extra. There is no extra here. A true perk would be the 40% pin AND free dining. Then it really is a perk for staying onsite.

 

[sissy_ib]

If Disney can eek out an extra $.05 they will do it. I'm not arguing the room discount vs. dining plan. A perk is something you get as an extra. There is no extra here. A true perk would be the 40% pin AND free dining. Then it really is a perk for staying onsite.

I was not one of the people making the argument it was a perk for staying onsite, although having used it, it was a perk for us and saved us money. I have also stayed onsite without the DP and it will be a trip by trip basis if I use it or not. I was simply countering your point. It is a deal for some people even if they don't get free dining and pay for it. Most people on the dining plan don't get it for free. And yes, there are people who pay rack rate and pay for the dining plan and they still save money by using it

 

[bytheblood]

I look at any sort of dining plan being an incentive to stay on property. I think if you start adding a "day package", it takes away that incentive. That's just my two cents.

 

[Satchmo128]

Just my $0.02 about the dining plans in general.....

When we go to WDW, we stay with friends who live in Kissimmee. I would love it if we could buy a dining plan for our trips, but it isn't an option for us since we don't stay at a resort.

I understand WHY dining plans are only available to resort guests, it would just be a nice way for us to budget for food.....and might actually get us to eat in the parks MORE.

 

[Sassagoula Billy]

More cheetos dining plans will drive me even further away than I already am.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Apply the same logic to non-resort guests. For $X I get to have two meals a day or whatever it may be. If I prepaid for two meals I would be more inclined to stay later. It doesn’t diminish the resort option, it is just a different option.

This comment was in response to whether or not DDP is truly a perk/benefit.

Anyhow, this is exactly Disney's logic for WHY it is offered only to on-site guests. They want people to stay on-site and the dining plan makes it easier for people to do so. Again, using myself as an example, when booking on site, we compare what we would pay to stay off-site. With Free Dining at a Mod, we are paying $2300 approx. for a family of 5 (4 tickets) for 7 nights. This includes room, park tickets, and all meals (other than tips), plus transportation to and from the airport. It is hard for off-site to match that (unless we're at a Best Western, which is not as nice as POFQ). If you stay off site, you'd likely eat lunch and dinner on-site most days, you'd have to get a rental car, and you'd have to pay $13/day for parking. That really ads up. Disney's free dining really makes the numbers work and it gets people hooked on staying on-site. If I could get a DDP and stay offsite - especially if free dining isn't available - it might make me stay offsite.

 

[KellyNY]

I do not care much for any sort of dining plan, I save more when I eat out of pocket. However I would not mind if they offered park mugs like Six Flags when all refills are free on day you purchased it and the rest of the season is $1 refill. With Disney I would make those mugs refillable for 14 days like tickets.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Non-resort guests (and resort guests) also pack lunches... either way you slice it, it's still not going to make that much of a difference.

Besides... with park tickets already at $80/adult... if you added another $30 for food, who in the heck would be willing to pay $110 for a park day?

A 1 day ticket is $82. Most people go multiple days and pay less. I usually go for 7, so my average day costs $35.29. Park tickets are not $80 a day for most. Makes any point you are trying to make moot.

 

[GalDisney]

I was thinking more for the local day guests, like me. Say i have an annual pass and visit the MK once a month (live in central Fl)...arrive in the morning and leave to go home at park closing. I am not going to want to waste time to go off property for food and not want to bother preparing sandwiches and bringing snakcs and such with me (maybe a couple bottlesof water). If i am going to be here anyway, all day, especially on a day in summer when they are open over 12 hrs, i am going to want luch, dinner and some snacks. If they would offer some kind of meal plan like Sea world and universal do, i would take advantage of it. Again mainly playing to local guests, not out of town vacationers staying in disney resorts or off prop/ hotels..

 

[GalDisney]

<<Besides... with park tickets already at $80/adult... if you added another $30 for food, who in the heck would be willing to pay $110 for a park day?>>
But you will most likely spend that much anyway on food for the day so what is the difference?

 

[KellyNY]

I was thinking more for the local day guests, like me. Say i have an annual pass and visit the MK once a month (live in central Fl)...arrive in the morning and leave to go home at park closing. I am not going to want to waste time to go off property for food and not want to bother preparing sandwiches and bringing snakcs and such with me (maybe a couple bottlesof water). If i am going to be here anyway, all day, especially on a day in summer when they are open over 12 hrs, i am going to want luch, dinner and some snacks. If they would offer some kind of meal plan like Sea world and universal do, i would take advantage of it. Again mainly playing to local guests, not out of town vacationers staying in disney resorts or off prop/ hotels..

If I am not mistaken Universal does not include breakfast hours in food deal so if Disney does the same and you will be able to eat from noon till lets say 10 pm during summer time, how many times you can actually eat to make those $30 worth?

 

[TxAnn]

I remember reading a thread several months ago about a board member who was surveyed about different ticket options. One of the options was a ticket with dining for non-resort guests. After searching the following is the thread I found. It seems to me there was another with more detail but of course I can't find that particular one . . .

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2531362&highlight=survey+dining