How would you revamp the Dining Plan?

[Dean]

I would change it to a points (or credits) system -

1 point = snack or kid's meal
2 points = quick service meal
4 points = table service meal
8 points = Signature meal

Then have packages of points that can be purchased to be used as you wish during your stay?

Your thoughts?

I've said the same thing many times, that way you only have to have one dining plan, but variable numbers of points or credits. I've also said that a plan in between the Basic and Dlx plan with 2 sit downs would be a good choice. The other option for the Basic plan or even the dlx plan would be appy or dessert as a choice. I'm not naive enough to miss that Disney does it the way they do for a reason. They expect people to lose value here and there, that's the basic margin of profit on the plan. So it might really be a case of careful what you wish for with any changes in a positive direction. Disney has a long hx of introducing an option then squeezing it down to where it doesn't work for many. Then when enough people quit using it, they get rid of the plan.

 

[longrf01]

I'm pretty happy with the DxDDP as it is. We usually skip breakfast and do a 2 TS dinner. If we don't want dessert or an app that day, we just don't order it. Sometimes we might just eat half our app and dessert, depending upon our appetites.

Now, if tips were included, that would be nice. I wonder what WDW's logic was in discontinuing that. Was it simply profit, or was there some operational challenge? Maybe an issue at EPCOT where many of the restaurants are handled by Operating Partners not WDW?

 

[MadameMim]

I am always surprised to see the people at resort counter service who have a mug yet get a can or bottled drink which is allowed on the dining plan. I see Disney giving away tons on a daily basis and cannot believe they do not stop this.
At breakfast you are allowed 2 drinks--that means a family of 4 can fill their mug with soda or coffee and grab 8 $4.00 monster drinks.

We were one of those families. The bottled drinks (water, orange juice, and milk in our case) kept our room fridge stocked. The milk filled the toddler's bedtime bottle. Worked great for us and was completely within Disney's "rules". Why do you have an issue with it?

 

[Princess on the Run]

It seems like all these ideas are geared towards making it more cost effective or convenient for the guests (which I get). Disney doesn't want to do that. The way it is now, Disney makes money on the plan, especially due to unused credits.

If they allowed you to purchase points, most people would only buy what they need and Disney wouldn't want that.

Right. How many of us don't ever use the snacks? Our last visit, we had 28 snack credits left on the last day and we ended up making a make-shift lunch with a drink, piece of fruit, and bag of trail mix each. And we still ended up at the Confectionery at closing time looking to spend the rest. If we had the option to substitute those points for additional TS or QS meals or drinks or whatever, we wouldn't have spent actual money on those things and Disney wouldn't have made that money.

I would, however, love for them to revamp the kids menu. My kids aren't chicken nuggets and PB&J eaters. I mean, they eat them sometimes, but they like fish and veggies and all sorts of good things. My oldest gets upset when over and over his options are cheeseburger, corn dog or chicken nuggets ordering off a kids menu. Adult meals are too much food for him so that would be a waste. Maybe just offer half portions of the adult meals for kids. That's my only suggestion. If my kid wants salmon or mahi mahi and all I can offer him is chicken nuggets, it doesn't teach the right choices, IMHO.

 

[Princess on the Run]

Although, as a follow-up to my critique of the kids menu, I have to say that we were very pleased that we always had an option for fruit or veggies instead of chips or fries for the kids meals. That helps a ton!

 

[topmonkeygirl]

I think Disney should let you buy the credits you need. The DDP is $85 per person per night. Divide that by 3 and it's $28. They could sell the amount of credits you need for the trip. If you're going to a couple of signature meals then that eats up some of your credits for your other meals. On our up coming trip I need 4 more credits, Disney could have made an extra $224 on the meal plan.

I also agree that you should be able to choose between an appy and a desert, who wants desert everynight? Who wants to get an appy everynight? Being able to choose whould be nice.

 

[mcd2745]

I think Disney should let you buy the credits you need. The DDP is $85 per person per night. Divide that by 3 and it's $28. They could sell the amount of credits you need for the trip. If you're going to a couple of signature meals then that eats up some of your credits for your other meals. On our up coming trip I need 4 more credits, Disney could have made an extra $224 on the meal plan.

I also agree that you should be able to choose between an appy and a desert, who wants desert everynight? Who wants to get an appy everynight? Being able to choose whould be nice.

The main problem Disney would have with this, IMO, is that it will slow down the turnover rate. If they gave each person the choice, a lot of people would end up having one or two people in their party order an appetizer and the others ordering a dessert and everyone shares both - making each meal a 3 course meal. Without the choice, most people will not order appetizers since it's not included. This eliminates an entire course and shortens your time occupying your table and they can get the next party in quicker. Perhaps, they could give the choice for appy or dessert, but only if it applied to the table as a whole and not for each individual.

 

[Mcert01]

II'd give the option of dessert or appetizer with regular table service.

 

[jenf22]

I agree with those who have said they wish they could choose an appetizer instead of dessert.

Me too! I also have issue with the "sharing" rules. Why can't I use my credits however I see fit? I did pay for them. It's not like Disney is somehow out money if I use a credit for someone not on the plan. Just my opinion.

 

[maxiesmom]

Me too! I also have issue with the "sharing" rules. Why can't I use my credits however I see fit? I did pay for them. It's not like Disney is somehow out money if I use a credit for someone not on the plan. Just my opinion.

You are either on the plan or you are not. Letting people share who were not on the plan would be the death of Free Dining. Remember too that only people who stay on property are allowed to buy the plan, or get it for free. It is a benefit of staying on-site. How would they keep it an on site benefit if everyone was allowed free food by sharing?

All this thread really shows is that no plan Disney could come up with would make everyone happy. I think a plan with an app, main course, and dessert is waaaay to much food. I would just like one with the main course only.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I agree with many of the previous ideas. The ability to add an appetizer or dessert to the menu.

I would also like the option to "add alcohol" to my DDP, but I'm not sure if this would be problematic if you needed to verify people's ages?

I'm worried that included gratuity, as some have suggested, would cause a decline in quality of service (many people with discounts that include gratuity note a drop in quality of service once their server knows they're gratuity is already guaranteed).

 

[KimberlyE]

I would hate being told that I had to choose only one - dessert or appetizer. Many times, I want both at my meal. I may choose a salad entree and enjoy both an appetizer and dessert. If I'm not in the mood for sweets, I order the sugar free dessert or the fruit. We also use the appetizers to try new things that aren't on our regular food radar. That way if we don't like it, we still have our entree.

I love the previous ideas of a "tween" tier. I can't imagine that it would be too hard to set up. Many fast food places already have 2 sizes of kids meals. Disney could simply offer the option of a half/adult size option or the kids meal.

We normally are die hard deluxe diners but now that we have added a 1 year old to the mix, we had a hard time this last trip with 3 TS meals a day. We tried a CS meal and I was sorely disappointed in the quality for the price. My TS was just a few dollars more but loads more in quality! I would LOVE to see a plan that had 2 TS meals a day.

 

[boxiedryluvsdisney]

basic would be 1ts,2 cs no snacks but refillable mug. since snacks are cheap to buy oop. I like having a teen plan 8-13. that would be great.

 

[CraigInPA]

basic would be 1ts,2 cs no snacks but refillable mug. since snacks are cheap to buy oop. I like having a teen plan 8-13. that would be great.

Don't know about your tweens, but the 13 year twins of my sister-in-law have been eating more than I do for years. And, they grew out of "kids dining" by the time they were 9, and wanted adult food.

I don't really see Disney creating a tween tier. But, I could see them creating something between DxDP and DDP, now that there's a $40+ difference for 2013. I'd prefer it to be 2 TS + 2 snacks, but it could just as easily be 2 CS + 1 TS for about the same price.

Craig

 

[tmrose03]

My family likes 3 meals a day, So i wish they offered a plan that was 2qs, 1ts, and 1 snack. I understand why they don't, but would be better for us.

 

[Dean]

Don't know about your tweens, but the 13 year twins of my sister-in-law have been eating more than I do for years. And, they grew out of "kids dining" by the time they were 9, and wanted adult food.

I don't really see Disney creating a tween tier. But, I could see them creating something between DxDP and DDP, now that there's a $40+ difference for 2013. I'd prefer it to be 2 TS + 2 snacks, but it could just as easily be 2 CS + 1 TS for about the same price.

Craig

I was thinking about these very issues around 5 am this morning. I think the "careful what you wish for" mantra is applicable here. For a 2 TS version of the basic DP, I'd expect the price to be somewhere in the $71-73 non peak price and a 2 TS plan along the lines of the Dlx Plan to be in the $90-93 range all else being equal. For a basic plan with pick and chose appy vs dessert, add about $7-10 pp/pd to the cost. Like former plans, Disney is getting close to the point where they price themselves out of the market, they already have for many people. Also, it's likely that many of the versions I mentioned would actually replace the deluxe plan or else the deluxe plan would increase more with added benefits. My preference is a credit system that's more broken down where say 1 credit is a snack, 3-4 a QS, 6-8 a TS and 10-12 a Signature. Of course they could then have some restaurant's that were higher or lower evening out the "value" for different locations. I'd also like to see the flexibility to drop a day at the beginning or end (or maybe even both) as they evolved to with the Food n Fun option.