How has DDP affected you if you are a Fla Resident or a local??

[wolverine2010]

How has DDP affected you if you are a Fla Resident or a local??

 

[cherylp3]

Well I use counter service more. I also use Swan/Dolphin since they are not on the plan. I did use the plan on a trip for 1 day and it does make sense.

 

[Irishhockey]

I'm not a local... but several are not happy about the DDP...

The DDP has not only (whats the word I'm looking for) "dumbed" up menus of some great places... but it has also led them to be booked solid for most nights of the year.

Could a resident still get a meal on property... sure... but usually by calling in advance and setting a time like the rest of us do while on vacation. Rarely are you able to just walk up and be seated in 10mins. Does it happen though? Yup.. but would I risk the possibility of a 2hr wait or turn-away... nope! Like vacationers, locals could find a table at the spur of the moment... but maybe not with %100 success.

Imagine some of your favorite places around town and how it would effect you? For instance I was able to hit Target (Tar-jay for us ) and then get a decent meal at Longhorn Texas Steak House. We weren't planning on that, just a spur of the moment idea. Not only do you risk not even getting seated, but the menu rivals that of a TGIFridays now... still good food, but your paying the same price for the difference in quality (poorer.)

The DDP effects everyone differently...

 

[princessgirl2238]

being a local is sort of hard cause we don't decide 180 days out that we want to splurge on a nice place to go (actually it was fun when my boyfriends would decide that we were going to go to a hotel or park for dinner a few days before the date and suprise me with it, but now that doesn't happen ), also as a cast member when i go to make reservations, i don't mention that i work for wdw (that then usually cancels out the discount), because if i do mention it, they always tell me it's completely full when there might be one or two tables open. i understand how the ddp makes things easier for the guests, but it's really frusterating to live down there and not eat something that comes out of a deep fryer or at a counter service and sometimes we also just want to have a nice (special), quite sit down dinner (or a suprise celebration dinner with characters)

 

[dlnsmmy1]

I'm with princessgirl, my family also does not make the decision to go to disney 180 days out. As a matter of fact my husband said this week, "why don't we go to Epcot for your (my) birthday" which happens to be only a week away. Luckily we were able to find a reservation, but quite often that is not the case for our little get aways. I know it is a great deal for many families, so when I call to get the reservation for my favorite restaurant, like ohanas and they tell me they are booked, I just remind myself that I can always try again next time I go. For some this is their one and only chance to go to Disney.

 

[tink22]

It is frustrating to decide suddenly that I want to take my mom to a certain restaurant for her December birthday and remember that the restaurant is booked so far in advance. It used to be Boma but last year I called about a month and a half early for the first week of December and it was already full. I also HATE it at Earl of Sandwich when I just want to get something there quick before work or whatever and the line is SO SO long! I understand Disney does not give good info on what's available on the plan, but it's so annoying waiting forever in line for people who get to the register before asking what they can get for their credits. I can honestly say the dining plan affects this because I have lived in Orlando my whole life and seen the change in eating at Disney.
I know it's great for some people but it's really trying and frustrating to others. But you can't please everyone I guess.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Well, first, I'd like to point out some positives. I'm not so sure they're because of the DDP specifically, but I think DDP has contributed.

Tourists are returning to my state! After 9/11, no one was vacationing here. I was personally and professionally feeling the effects of this. Tourism was down after 9/11 -- then, low and behold, a dozen hurricanes slammed into FL over the course of two years! Who in their right mind wanted to bring their children, their loved ones, their family, directly into the path of a hurricane?

So in those respects, I applaud any FL business, at that time, for being able to get tourists back here, spending their money, paying sales and hotel taxes, just generally buying here again, etc. Tourism is our industry here, and it took an awful hard hit. And this affected ME when the State of Florida couldn't pay my bills for services as a court reporter because that part of the govt. was literally bankrupt. This affected ME when I started hearing the State might impose a state income tax to make up the difference it was losing from the tourist $$$. So I'm real glad tourists have made their way back -- particularly during the hurricane/slow months of the year.

I feel the same as others with regard to the negative effects for locals and FL residents with the DDP. I think most of the TS menus have gone downhill. Eating TS generally now reminds me of a meal I might get at Bennigan's or Applebee's. I'm looking at menus right now for our anniversary in September, and even DH said that they're all the same. Maybe a sauce or herb changes, but it seems like in a few years, there will be just one "main" Disney menu to pick from at all the TS. Considering these mainstreamed menus started appearing right around the same time as the DDP was introduced, I feel they're connected. Plus, it makes sense to me. When I go to Applebee's or Bennigan's and take part in their "meal deal," my options are very homogenized, i.e., salmon, cheap cut of steak or a baked chicken dish.

The packed restaurants and the having to call so far out for a ressie, yes, is a bummer in some respects, but then I go back to my "positives" of the DDP. The restaurants are packed because tourists are back. This is good for me as a resident of FL; not so good as a frequent visitor of WDW.

Along this point, the packed restaurants and declining menus have helped me decide to try other things in Orlando when I visit for work or pleasure. A few years ago, I'd never DREAM of leaving WDW and trying any of the other parks of Orlando. Not anymore. So in a way, the effects of the DDP has helped our family expand our fun on vacation by spending less time at WDW and enjoying US, IOA and SW. And it all started over our meals at WDW.

So those are the pros and cons for this Fl resident.

 

[PrincessV]

I definitely miss being able to get into a TS restaurant without prior reservations on day trips. But, that's often been the case for more years then the DDP's been around. I moved down here and started my frequent day trips to WDW during a recession - crowds, in general, have steadily increased since then.

More than the DDP, I'm not thrilled with the 180 days out rule, as I often don't know if we'll be going at all, let alone where we'll be staying, that far out. I miss the 60 day reservation window!