First I will share the bad then the good!

[Feelslikeadream]

After planning for 1 year this is what happened to us:


Before you read on these are just my experiences...please do not bash or flame me for feeling the way I do!














I made my itenary so we basically covered all the parks and made time for all of the parades. Our plans for the twins 10th b'day was to see spectro at Mk, I made early ADRS so we could find a great seat on MS. Well guess what I picked up the week schedule to see the times .(READY TO SEE SPECTRO Mon NOV 6)
As it has been posted on the schedule for 3 months. NO SPECTRO!!!! the next veiwing of Spectro was Thursday the day we leave. I proceeded to have a melt down and ball like a child. MY DMIL was looking forward to it in a huge way,this was her first time. I ranted and raved about it for a year and now she won't see it.

SOOOOO......with that said does WDW understand that when they provide their schedules on the website, that people make plans accordingly to that. I GUESS NOT!!!!!

Next... THE DINING PLAN NEEDS WORK!!!!!!!
It became very confusing at times to the extent of frustration.
I was a bit confused on our second day there. I was trying to get breakfast, when the CM told me to take my card to con. and learn how to do this the right way. ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME!!!! Was not a great way to start the day.

Did not know nor did my TA tell me that someplaces in EPCOT do not participate in the DP. I stopped for muffins and drinks. Was going to use my snack credits, hand her my card and say snacks please. "We do not do the dining plan." OK so that was 20$ unplanned. NOT GOOD!!!!!

Back to the Resort..... MIL AND FIL went downtown, they came back for dinner to the resort. She went to the CM and wanted to bring back some snacks for the kids. She was told she couldn't get this or that. Then he proceeded to tell her...... HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS!!!! " There are more things you can get,but I can't tell you what they are."
AGAIN ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!

So at this point I have had enough I went back up there and spoke to a
food court MANAGER... explained the situation.....we talked she told me she was sorry. Then gave me 4 small mugs for the kids... sent me on my way....

Being our last day ...we had to use up some counter services.... so we decided to trade them in for snack credits.... this was a mess as well...you had to trade them in for the snack credits back at the coolers...not at the registers. SOOOO.....I had to find room in my carry ons for 6 bags of the big bags of chips.....5 boxes of donuts.....6 drinks.......5 bowls of fruit.....the list goes on......in reality all I wanted was some candy bars small bags of pretzels and small things of popcorn....etc.... This does not make a sort of sense...if they would of let me use the snack credits on the smaller things they would of been saving money!!!!!!


This is all for now.....need to start with unpacking!!!! Right more later......

 

[DisneyDivaMom]

YIKES! Sorry you had trouble on your trip.

 

[cybrkitn]

I'm sorry to hear that your trip wasn't as good as you had hoped. Here's some to help chear you up .

It sounds like maybe the TA you used wasn't familiar with the DDP or neglected to explain it to you. It can be a bit difficult to understand.

We used it for the first time 2 weeks ago when we went (it was highly recommeded by friends of ours). Even though I downloaded the guide from Disney's web site (to find out what places were participating) and printed out the DDP thread on the DIS boards, I was still a bit confused on how it worked.

The one thing we didn't know was that the DDP is based on the number of nights you stay and not days. So I had taken care of making our ADRs after DH and I discussed our dining options. I then call Disney Dining to make sure that we didn't go over (and didn't have any unexpected oop expenses). I was told we were fine. Then two days before we leave I find out that we were indeed over and one character breakfast would have to be oop. Yeah, I was a bit miffed. However, the DDP was definately worth it for us since we used a lot of table service credits. The cost of the DDP was $712 for all three of us and we definately went over that! Two days alone we spent close to, if not over, $300.

Our DS4 had a great time in Disney for his first visit to The World.

 

[OhMari]

I"m sorry you had problems with the dining plan. I know your trip is over, and I guess we have to learn for next time. The DIS has participating resturants, for TS, CS and snacks. It was put up about in August and it is being worked on all the time.

Plus Deb Willis, from Allears.net has an excellent site. The dining plan is always changing. Menu'e I printed up this summer, just all changed November 1. There were not major changes, but alot of favorites that people talked about were.

I think with the Dining plan, many of us focus on the TS, and forget about the C.S. and snacks.
Where did you end up eating some of your TS and CS meals.

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

Right more later......

No, probably wrong more later, but I look forward to the show.

 

[marivaid]

Being our last day ...we had to use up some counter services.... so we decided to trade them in for snack credits.... this was a mess as well...you had to trade them in for the snack credits back at the coolers...not at the registers. SOOOO.....I had to find room in my carry ons for 6 bags of the big bags of chips.....5 boxes of donuts.....6 drinks.......5 bowls of fruit.....the list goes on......in reality all I wanted was some candy bars small bags of pretzels and small things of popcorn....etc.... This does not make a sort of sense...if they would of let me use the snack credits on the smaller things they would of been saving money!!!!!!

I'm not sure where you read or who told you that you'd be able to trade CS for snack credits. You were lucky that they even let you do that at all because a lot of people here were simply told it was not possible. It looks like a lot of your problems were due to the fact that you didnt understand how the dining plan works. It can be confusing.

 

[mkpat]

Don't see where anyone would flame you for posting this; it sounds pretty reasonable; except maybe the Spectro part. That is why I never "plan" to do anything in particular. I go with the flow and, knowing that i am going again, try to catch it the next time. Do you have more to report???

 

[Minniespal]

Hope it improves for you.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I was a bit confused on our second day there. I was trying to get breakfast, when the CM told me to take my card to con. and learn how to do this the right way

What is "con."?

Did not know nor did my TA tell me that someplaces in EPCOT do not participate in the DP. I stopped for muffins and drinks. Was going to use my snack credits, hand her my card and say snacks please. "We do not do the dining plan." OK so that was 20$ unplanned. NOT GOOD!!!!!

Yeah, I encountered some carts in Epcot (and in Animal Kingdom) that do not participate in the Disney Dining Plan. Every one of 'em had an engraved plastic sign by the register at about eye level, stating this information.

Then he proceeded to tell her...... HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS!!!! " There are more things you can get,but I can't tell you what they are."
AGAIN ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!

What, that a CM knows what's not eligible for the DDP, but is unable to inform Guests exactly what is? EVERYTHING for which a snack credit can be used is marked by a small square purple and white sign, either right on the shelf (for food courts) or on the menu sign. It's a lot more sensible for any one person to know chocolate bars are not included than to know the forty five items that are.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

How much information did you read up on before leaving for your trip? Did you understand how the plan worked?

 

[Step]

Ok right off the bat I am saying I am in no way intending to bash or flame you, just sharing my opinion on the following situations. You are still entitled to feel how you want and I respect that.

I made my itenary so we basically covered all the parks and made time for all of the parades. Our plans for the twins 10th b'day was to see spectro at Mk, I made early ADRS so we could find a great seat on MS. Well guess what I picked up the week schedule to see the times .(READY TO SEE SPECTRO Mon NOV 6)
As it has been posted on the schedule for 3 months. NO SPECTRO!!!! the next veiwing of Spectro was Thursday the day we leave. I proceeded to have a melt down and ball like a child. MY DMIL was looking forward to it in a huge way,this was her first time. I ranted and raved about it for a year and now she won't see it.

SOOOOO......with that said does WDW understand that when they provide their schedules on the website, that people make plans accordingly to that. I GUESS NOT!!!!!

I can understand that you misunderstood, but I believe disney does state that plans can change right up to the week you are there for whatever reason. When I first arrived I made sure to double check all the times and rearrange my schedule accordingly. I undersatnd how important this was to you, and I would still be upset in your situation, but more at myself for not checking than at disney.

Next... THE DINING PLAN NEEDS WORK!!!!!!!
It became very confusing at times to the extent of frustration.
I was a bit confused on our second day there. I was trying to get breakfast, when the CM told me to take my card to con. and learn how to do this the right way. ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME!!!! Was not a great way to start the day.

That was rude if she stated it using exactly that way. She probably hsould have said "Perhaps you should speak with Con. if you need some help as I am busy serving customers right now" Sometimes people don't know how to state things without being rude.

Did not know nor did my TA tell me that someplaces in EPCOT do not participate in the DP. I stopped for muffins and drinks. Was going to use my snack credits, hand her my card and say snacks please. "We do not do the dining plan." OK so that was 20$ unplanned. NOT GOOD!!!!!

Sorry that your TA was misinformed. It is the case that some places aren't covered. there are many resources on these boards and online that can help with that for future reference. If your TA is a disney one, than this is their fault, if not you should talk with your TA.

Back to the Resort..... MIL AND FIL went downtown, they came back for dinner to the resort. She went to the CM and wanted to bring back some snacks for the kids. She was told she couldn't get this or that. Then he proceeded to tell her...... HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS!!!! " There are more things you can get,but I can't tell you what they are."
AGAIN ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!

So at this point I have had enough I went back up there and spoke to a
food court MANAGER... explained the situation.....we talked she told me she was sorry. Then gave me 4 small mugs for the kids... sent me on my way....

Being our last day ...we had to use up some counter services.... so we decided to trade them in for snack credits.... this was a mess as well...you had to trade them in for the snack credits back at the coolers...not at the registers. SOOOO.....I had to find room in my carry ons for 6 bags of the big bags of chips.....5 boxes of donuts.....6 drinks.......5 bowls of fruit.....the list goes on......in reality all I wanted was some candy bars small bags of pretzels and small things of popcorn....etc.... This does not make a sort of sense...if they would of let me use the snack credits on the smaller things they would of been saving money!!!!!!


This is all for now.....need to start with unpacking!!!! Right more later......[/B]

I think this last thing is a case of you being upset over many things to start with and then getting more easily upset over a small thing. (I know I had one doozy of a day at Typhoon Lagoon that ruined my perspective for teh rest of the day). I for one was happy to spend my snack credits on large itmes to get my through the afternoon waiting at the airport. I can see where buying the smaller snacks would have saved disney money, but this isn't that huge an issue.


I hope the rest of your trip was magical. Can't wait to hear the good stuff.

 

[lookingforward]

I feel you pain about the dining plan. It IS confusing and some of the rules are different depending on who you ask. I am a disney obsessed fan who researches everything and I had a hard time....so I can't imagine how a disney newcomer who just shows up for their vacation must feel trying to navigate through the confusion.

Sorry about Spectro...that would have made me sad too. Thanks for posting!

 

[tinawv]

Sorry you had such a difficult time with the Dining Plan. We have used the Dining Plan two years in a row with great success. Did you stay on WDW's property. If so, you should have received a brochure explaining how the Dining Plan works, and what resturaunts participate in the Dining Plan.

 

[deltachi8]

Dining plan is not difficult to understand if you take the time to read the information before hand.