Is Free Dining dumbing down the menus?

[SauceBoss]

There are no special menu's printed for the 8 week free dining period. Just because it's free to you, doesn't mean the restaurant's don't get their cut. The cost of the package is just reduced, very much like a sale item at a store. Menu's change all the time, this has been happening long before the DDP. Sometimes the changes make sense, sometimes products are no longer available, sometimes items begin to cost too much to produce and ther could be a host of other reasons. Though. it's obvious that people do not like change, everyone seems to wish that restaurants never change their menu at all. In most cases menu's will change every 3-4 months which, if you do the math will add up to less than 180 days. So beware when you make your ADR's.

 

[1000thhappyhaunt]

Free dining doesn't have a substantial impact on menu choices -- the menu choices are very similar the whole year 'round. The way menus are now are a reflection of guests, these days, wanting affordable dining options, where in the "golden age" of dining at WDW, generally only the more affluent guests had table service meals every day. Now, the meals are affordable, and some of the same restaurants which languished practically empty 10-20 years ago are almost full every night. Disney has listened to its guests -- ALL of us -- and did what a greater portion of us wanted.

Although great logic like this is hard to argue with... I'll give it a shot.

I have to disagree. Have to.

Maybe the menu choices are pretty similar the whole year round B/C the Free dining and DDP have had a great effect ACROSS the board.

I don't think that the majority of people really DO want the same pasta and chicken dish everywhere.

Also the same caesar salad and pork tenderloin. Everywhere.

Especially for the prices you pay to eat at Disney. You pay, and sometimes outrageously, through the nose for often mediocre entrees.

I realize that prices go up all the time. But now... there seems to me to be an inverse relationship between price and quality.

 

[Lewisc]

The hotel bars don't participate with the dining plan. The change in the hotel bars suggests Disney decided to fine tune the menu and pricing of the restaurants to appeal to a greater number of guests. The dining plan is the result of that change not the cause.

Free dining is offered instead of resort discounts that were traditionally offered during the hurricane season. The restaurants are certainly crowded but there isn't any evidence they're paid less during free dining.

Foodies still have V&A, three restaurants in S/D, Bistro in EPCOT and several restaurants in DTD.

I completely agree...the special touches....the detail... the options are significantly reduced. I have yet to see a menu change to reflect something costlier....but most are clearly to reduce the cost of producing the meal...

The hotel bars across the WDW resort have gone to a highly unified menu....lost some of the uniqueness they once had.It is the right of Disney to find ways to make more money....

But to me, i can clearly see a direct link between quality and the advent and popularity of the dining plan. We are self proclaimed foodies, so we do have very high standards, so our opinion may be skewed by this perspective. I do believe the selections are fine and even considered very nice for the masses.

It appears to be here for a while....so we are making do...

Maybe someday in the future, there will be a different choice....but I dont see it on the horizon right now....the DP is tooooo popular and successful.

We still love it....

Michelle

 

[cabanafrau]

I can accept that certain items may only be offered at certain times of the year, especially when it comes to seafood selections & I even applaud any restaurant that does so to ensure they're providing diners something only when it's peak quality, in-season. In spite of some eye-popping pricing, I'm not looking for much of that philosophy pretty much anywhere at Disney anytime soon.

Yep, DDP is pretty much the budget-conscious/nutrition-conscious way to eat at Disney. Sure, you can economize w/ utilizing CS, but the nutrition end of things tends to be a bit harder to balance day after day. Now that you've got such huge traffic flowing steadily through the TS restaurants, taking away selections & homogenizing menus has become the new standard. Isn't O'hana largely the same as the one @ AKL (name escapes me), simply w/ different flavorings? How many times has it been discussed that ribs taste the same, no matter where you order them? (WCC & Cosmic Rays, etc.)

Now it's not very "special" to eat at the standard TS anymore, so neither is the food or the service. It's also becoming a huge burden to select where & when to make ADRs & then choose between keeping the ressie or walking past the pixie-dusted, magical opportunity that falls at your feet.

Next trip, I'm thinking it might be back to the menus for us. Maybe w/ an obsessive amt of planning, it might be possible to eat CS w/o packing on the tonnage & ruining the trip when the body convinces you that pre-packaged carrot cake doesn't qualify as a veggie serving.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Now it's not very "special" to eat at the standard TS anymore, so neither is the food or the service . . .

I agree.

 

[Figment*Fan]

I guess I am in the minority, because I like the dining plan. I think that the selections at the restaurants are pretty good, but then, I am far from being a foodie, so what would I know I do however think it is great the Disney is giving those of us who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford the table service restaurants every day a chance to do so {shrug, that's just me though}.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

I wouldn't say the cause is Free Dining, but rather a conscious effort by management to minimize their overhead. Lessening the number of choices (and intricate preparation) maximize potential profit. It's generally a bad move for a normal restaurant, but these restaurants are run to maximize Disney profitablity.

 

[JMLBrats]

Yes, I agree w/other posters that it's not the FREE dining plan it's simply the dining plan in general that's changing Disney dining. During the free dining, Disney is basically making the same money as always due to booking rooms at rack rates and drawing people to the parks when they otherwise may not come. I would guess that the chef's have just about the same money to spend during the rest of the year as they do during "free" dining.-however, they possibly have to make it stretch a little more due to the craziness of the ADR's.

 

[ogreenlee]

This thread has a slight scent of elitism.


You don't have to visit fine dining establishments to be a "foodie".

 

[1000thhappyhaunt]

This thread has a slight scent of elitism.


You don't have to visit fine dining establishments to be a "foodie".

You're right though!

We're actually NOT foodies... we're gourmands!

I like good food and I don't care who knows it!!!

 

[ogreenlee]

Really? 'Cause I like bad food. I like my food to be rotten and smell of feet.

 

[disneynutz]

There are no special menu's printed for the 8 week free dining period. Just because it's free to you, doesn't mean the restaurant's don't get their cut. The cost of the package is just reduced, very much like a sale item at a store. Menu's change all the time, this has been happening long before the DDP. Sometimes the changes make sense, sometimes products are no longer available, sometimes items begin to cost too much to produce and ther could be a host of other reasons. Though. it's obvious that people do not like change, everyone seems to wish that restaurants never change their menu at all. In most cases menu's will change every 3-4 months which, if you do the math will add up to less than 180 days. So beware when you make your ADR's.

This has been discussed at great length before. The overall consensus is that the DDP has changed the restaurants. The quality of the food and the number of menu items have been reduced. Presentation has also suffered. Several menu items are repeated at multiple restaurants. Food prepared at the commissary has increased. Even restaurants that were known as a steak restaurants have fewer steak selections on the menu.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Yes, we think dining has definitely taken a turn for the worse. Someone has to pay for all that "free" food during the free DDP promotion. We are all paying for it with lower quality and a lesser experience overall.

I couldn't of said it better!

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I guess I am in the minority, because I like the dining plan. I think that the selections at the restaurants are pretty good, but then, I am far from being a foodie, so what would I know I do however think it is great the Disney is giving those of us who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford the table service restaurants every day a chance to do so {shrug, that's just me though}.

My point is also that Disney is trying to entice new TS guests, it might be good business but they are doing the people that frequent the upper end restaurants without free dining or dining plans the short end of the stick.

 

[jazznms]

The quality of the food and the number of menu items have been reduced. Several menu items are repeated at multiple restaurants. Food prepared at the commissary has increased. Even restaurants that were known as a steak restaurants have fewer steak selections on the menu.

First off we have to consider the price of gas and shipping price have gone up and some of the upper management want more money out of the food and beverage department so the chef have to cut price some. Where standardized your menus cut down on your staff, limit your menu u get the pic. and I think that where we are at now. Or raise price how many people would be yelling then?I have to agree with you that quality and presentation has gotten way out of hand. Many off sight company have taken over the work that the commissary did in the past it is now farmed out to other company
The commissary staff has been cut in ½ they basically a warehouse now to farm out the products specked out for Disney they don’t make any thing any more pra bake rolls pre cut veggies washed in a presevative and pre packaged desserts pressed steaks all the same size are come from sysco specked out to disney coast and standard so commissary is basically a transportations center for products received to be framed out to each venue. From there its is easy to assume that instead of making a different cake for this place and this place witch they did in the past at a central commissary lets buy one cake and farm it out to every venue that had that cake Bamm we loose the bake shop at the commissary and only those place whit there own bakery has fresh baked items.
Both me and my husbands are chefs at major casino’s running multiple venues and are face some of the same costing issuers they are having plus my Dh was a chef went threw Disney culinary program back in the early 80’s and still has friends he keeps in contact with some of his old friends in f&b department we hired the head bakers of the commissary to work in Miss. 2 years ago when they cut the bakery staff. she the best

 

[Figment*Fan]

Does anyone think that Disney would have "dumbed down" (which is sort of a mean way to put it, imho) the menu in order to cut costs regardless of the DDP?

Is it the overall view that Disney should have maintained the previous menus and still implemented the DDP? Or no DDP at all?

Would the DDP be seen in a more favorable light if the menus didn't change?

Is Disney motivated by profit, or are they making changes simply to more easily accomodate the increase in patrons?

I sort of got the impression from reading this thread and on others (here and on other boards) regarding the dining plan that some people think that the "dining plan crowd" doesn't belong in certain restaurants, or that the restaurants are cutting the costs by getting "cheaper" items because we po' folk don't appreciate the "good" food I think that is a bit of an extreme attitude to have, and perhaps I totally misconstrued some of the statements (but some were plainly worded though).

Is it that there is a missed sense of "upper end" that folks feel are being "dragged down" to a "lower" level? Or is it really a longing for a shrimp appetizer that may have been taken away? Because as just a simple gal from a small town, reading through some of these discussions, it really comes off at times as though it is a "gourmands" versus "those who don't belong" and how dare Disney let us in

I think it would be great if Disney chose to keep some of the great things that you all are mentioning and seem to love and miss, while at the same time having the DDP. Am I totally off base here, or COULD they have maintained the same menus and still implemented the DDP? I would think that they would still be making a decent profit if they kept the menus as-is and still had the ddp.

 

[PoohHappens]

I do not think the FREE DDP has anything to do with it. That is just the form of discount they found most effective for the low season. The year prior to the first free ddp we went on the purchase 4 get 7 deal.

The DDP has increased restaurant attendence and that may effect offerings as it is harder to serve more people.

I really strongly feel that the increased cost of everything has directly effected the restaurants at Disney as well as other places.
Just considering our budget at home, our gas costs are double what they were 3 years ago, our electric is at least 20% more and our food is %10-20 more. The only one of those I can greatly control is what food I buy. I have to pay what the others charge. Yes i can adjust the thermostat and try not to drive more, however if I were a restaurant my patrons may not appreciate being hot or cold or eating in the dark. The ovens still must run. Shipping is more so all my goods are going to cost more, so I can save by buying bulk, lesser quality items, or less specialty items. Here at home we eat more chicken, less steak....more talapia, less salmon. We are foodies at heart but our pocketbooks are not. If my goal is the bottom line, something has got to give and sadly food is one of the easiest bent.

I may be totally off base, but I can't imagine that overhead cost is not effecting what is being offered.

 

[Sammie]

Free dining doesn't have a substantial impact on menu choices -- the menu choices are very similar the whole year 'round. The way menus are now are a reflection of guests, these days, wanting affordable dining options, where in the "golden age" of dining at WDW, generally only the more affluent guests had table service meals every day. Now, the meals are affordable, and some of the same restaurants which languished practically empty 10-20 years ago are almost full every night. Disney has listened to its guests -- ALL of us -- and did what a greater portion of us wanted.

Very well, said. and so were Pooh Happens' comments.

And to the OP, what is with the term "dumbing down".

I think there is more to the changes in menus than the DDP, but it is an easy scapegoat for those that don't like the changes. However as long as Disney can keep the restuarants full with patrons that like what is offered; what caused the change is truly a moot point.

 

[1000thhappyhaunt]

Does anyone think that Disney would have "dumbed down" (which is sort of a mean way to put it, imho) the menu in order to cut costs regardless of the DDP?

Is it the overall view that Disney should have maintained the previous menus and still implemented the DDP? Or no DDP at all?

Would the DDP be seen in a more favorable light if the menus didn't change?

Is Disney motivated by profit, or are they making changes simply to more easily accomodate the increase in patrons?

I sort of got the impression from reading this thread and on others (here and on other boards) regarding the dining plan that some people think that the "dining plan crowd" doesn't belong in certain restaurants, or that the restaurants are cutting the costs by getting "cheaper" items because we po' folk don't appreciate the "good" food I think that is a bit of an extreme attitude to have, and perhaps I totally misconstrued some of the statements (but some were plainly worded though).

Is it that there is a missed sense of "upper end" that folks feel are being "dragged down" to a "lower" level? Or is it really a longing for a shrimp appetizer that may have been taken away? Because as just a simple gal from a small town, reading through some of these discussions, it really comes off at times as though it is a "gourmands" versus "those who don't belong" and how dare Disney let us in

I think it would be great if Disney chose to keep some of the great things that you all are mentioning and seem to love and miss, while at the same time having the DDP. Am I totally off base here, or COULD they have maintained the same menus and still implemented the DDP? I would think that they would still be making a decent profit if they kept the menus as-is and still had the ddp.

And, truth be told, I LOVE a good Big Mac. And mac and cheese. And cheese doodles. As much as the next guy.

I am, frankly, surprised that Disney allows US in as well!

Heh heh.

But... "dumbed down" is not insulting. In any way. It means: over simplified.

And "gourmand" isn't really hoity toity either. It means: glutton.

Maybe if I had said "gourmet"... I might've been sayin' something different.

Now then... glad I set ya straight!!!

Cheers.

 

[MissionMouse]

This has been discussed at great length before. The overall consensus is that the DDP has changed the restaurants. The quality of the food and the number of menu items have been reduced. Presentation has also suffered. Several menu items are repeated at multiple restaurants. Food prepared at the commissary has increased. Even restaurants that were known as a steak restaurants have fewer steak selections on the menu.

Agree. Disney is a business, so profit is a definate motive and their trend continues to impact quality, presentation and service. Disney is transforming itself into a reactive organization, controlling and cutting cost while responding to complaints when they reach a desinated level which appears to start to impact their profit projections. If you did not dine TS prior to all the dining programs, designed to entice more people to eat TS, you won't have an idea of what is being strategically removed. You should also watch how the chefs are leaving and moving around too. Downward price alignments are warrented.