How to maximize DxDDP and segmented res.

[disneynutz]

With DVC the calculation is a little different since people have the option to eat in the villa. I'd still think segmented dining is a better option for Disney than nothing at all.

What makes the DDP a good deal for Disney is the "all must be on the plan for the length of stay". I have to guess that most people have eyes bigger than their stomachs and they start their vacation eating the most expensive meals and getting a good value. Later they are sick of eating and since they are only "credits" and not money, they are willing to use a TS credit for a $12 meal. More than one person has posted that they were excited that Disney let them use a TS credit at a QS location. Letting DVC Members use the DDP when and how they want to negates the design of the program that makes DDP a win, win for Disney.

Bill

 

[Wedgeh]

I agree they're not as profitable as other customers might be, but I still think it's better (from a bottom-line perspective) to have members on the DDP at all.

 

[Luv2trav]

Do you get mugs everytime you segment? If you do the Deluxe plan every other day does that mean you get mugs every other day? Not that I want that many mugs but I can't see how Disney would continue to let that happen.

I am considering doing quick service for the first 3 days and deluxe the last 4 days. Would this be complicated?

 

[csmommy]

I have a thread where I reported our success with segmenting & that we would do it again. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2782239 Below is what what we did & how it worked out for us. Good luck!



Hi all. You may remember us, we had the crazy idea of segmenting:

Day 1: DDxP
Day 2: DDP
Day 3: none
Day 4: DDxP
Day 5: DDP
Day 6: none
Day 7: DDxP
Day 8: DDP
Day 9: none

and really wished it would go smoothly. Well it did!!! Totally, completely, even with switching resorts & without having to go to the lobby to get new cards each day!

Not a hitch, not one issue that wasn't rectified in under 15 minutes, everyone at both AKV - Jambo House & BLT, along with each restaurant we ate at, were totally helpful & understood what we had planned. The only "blip" was transferring from AKV to BLT - they warned us that w/o being checked into a resort the dining plan might not work & that we should just charge our meal & they would reimburse us which they did.

As for getting new room keys, @ AK we needed to get keys each morning unless it was a no DP day. At BLT we did not need to go down each morning, they OFFERED to drop off new keys each morning & we took advantage of that.

As for credits - we got all we paid for & the snack credits did carry over past the "midnight of check out day". Can't speak for the QS or TS b/c we used them all before "midnight of check out day". .

As for mousekeeping, not a hiccup. We got it when it was due to us. Our trip had each day segmented & there was not a single mousekeeping issue.

So ask away. We were VERY happy we did this & will totally do it again!

 

[otterpop]

Thanks csmommy for posting a success story!

I just wanted to add a few bits of info as I think some of you that are following this post are thinking the same thing as I am....

I just got off the phone with member services (I'm trying to change my room) and I asked her a few questions about this situation:

- You can segment your reservation at anytime even if you have yet to purchase the dining plan.
- You can make your dining reservations even if you have yet to segment your reservation.
- You do have to check-in and check-out for every segment (so if I were to do what is listed in my OP, I would have to get a new key everyday!).
- You will get a new mug each time (so in my case it would be 4 mugs per person; that's a lot of mugs and would make great gifts as mentioned by another poster, but maybe a little bit overkill)!

Very tempting....

 

[csmommy]

Thanks csmommy for posting a success story!Your welcome!

I just wanted to add a few bits of info as I think some of you that are following this post are thinking the same thing as I am....

I just got off the phone with member services (I'm trying to change my room) and I asked her a few questions about this situation:

- You can segment your reservation at anytime even if you have yet to purchase the dining plan.
- You can make your dining reservations even if you have yet to segment your reservation.
- You do have to check-in and check-out for every segment (so if I were to do what is listed in my OP, I would have to get a new key everyday!). Where are you staying? As I mentioned BLT sent our new keys up each day, @ AK we had to go get them - but remember you only need new keys for DP changes, so non DP days should not require new keys.
- You will get a new mug each time (so in my case it would be 4 mugs per person; that's a lot of mugs and would make great gifts as mentioned by another poster, but maybe a little bit overkill)! We spread pixie dust to families who did not have mugs which was a great lesson for my kids.

Very tempting....

I added some info to your reply above.

Also, because I was concerned about the extra garbage my keys were creating so we asked if they could reprogram our existing cards. They told us no, but the benches in MK & Epcot are made from recycled keys.

 

[Dean]

I agree they're not as profitable as other customers might be, but I still think it's better (from a bottom-line perspective) to have members on the DDP at all.

I think much of the "profit" is in the lost or hastily used credits so allowing segmented reservations as being discussed here likely is a money losing option.

 

[Wedgeh]

I find that extremely unlikely. The raw materials and running costs for these restaurants surely cannot be such that someone making full use of their credits is actually a burden.

edit - which is not to say that I think some alterations to segmenting are impossible (minimum segment sizes or whatever). I just don't think it's going to go away entirely.

 

[carone0318]

We just returned from Disney yesterday and segmented our trip too. We stayed at AKV - Club level from 8/13-8/17 and then went over to the BWV from 8/17-8/22.

This is what our dining plan looked like:

8/13 - DxDP
8/14 - nothing
8/15 - DxDP
8/16 - nothing
8/17 - DxDP
8/18 - nothing
8/19 - DxDP
8/20 - nothing
8/21 - DDP

We did get new keys everyday, but this wasn't a problem for me or my family because I tend to get up & ready before everyone else and was able to get the keys.

While we were at AKL, my name, the primary on the reservation kept falling off and they had to re-create the reservation each time. This easily took about 20 minutes for them to do. I did not have a problem with this because we were club level and I would just go get my breakfast, sit, eat and watch TV while they were workin out the details. I was more concerned about when we switched to BWV because we would not have the luxury of the club room to occupy our time while they worked everything out.

When we switched to BWV, it was awesome - they really know how to deal with folks who choose to segment like we did. Everyday they would print out our tickets and deliver them to our room (slip them under the door) and they would be there waiting for us. I never had to go down to the desk! The one thing I will say though is that the delivery would be before 9am, but on some days it was right before 9am. Now maybe it was because of the location of our room - we were room 4001, which is the very last room down by Jellyrolls, maybe keys would be delivered earlier if you're closer to the desk!

We never experienced any problems. We had Sharpie markers with us for other reasons and I would always label our keys with either "Door" or "Food" so that it would not be confusing to us.

 

[disneynutz]

One thing is certain, Disney is watching the segmenting issue and if it isn't making Disney money, it will be modified until it does. The next year additional modifications to increase their profit. This is their pattern with everything they do and it is very successful.

Remember when the DDP first came out? Low price, tax and tip included, appetizer or desert choice. Jump forward to today, the food has changed, service has changed, tax and tip not included, desert only, higher price, La Cellier signature dinner, take away a drink at breakfast. Next year take away a snack, add a mug, increase the price.

I'm not saying this is bad and I don't fault Disney, I just think that if you like the DDP, take advantage of segmenting now before it is modified.

Bill

 

[Dean]

I find that extremely unlikely. The raw materials and running costs for these restaurants surely cannot be such that someone making full use of their credits is actually a burden.

edit - which is not to say that I think some alterations to segmenting are impossible (minimum segment sizes or whatever). I just don't think it's going to go away entirely.

Remember that the there are far more costs than just raw materials including personnel and the fact that every person in a seat with a discount MIGHT be someone that's not there paying full price. My info suggests that Disney pays the restaurants around or just over half the full price value of the meals in question, I know that's been the case for Pepper Market in the past. When the tip was included, I'm told they paid that at full price. Regardless, it's not so much about what the costs are but what the profit potential is. As noted above, Disney has a LONG history of introducing good to decent programs, getting people to use them and seeing how far they can tweak them and still get enough people to bite. Never say never where Disney is concerned but I think one can come pretty close on the free dining. A discount on the dining wouldn't surprise me though and there already is a small one at times since there are no seasonal upcharges.