Is the dining plan going to change in 2011

[bmoc_ny]

I would like to see them go back to the plan I used in 2002, you got 2 magic wishes per night of your stay. These could be used for dining Most TS were 1 wish while some were 2 so you could easily do two meals a day we would do a breakfast and a dinner most days. at the time my kids were under 10 but there wishes had the same value as the adult ones. we would pay OOP for their meals and then you could use there wishes for other things or a 2 wish meal. some of the other things you could get was a framed animation cell from a shop on Main St USA. I would easily see that being worth 70 per person per day.......

 

[Lewisc]

Get rid of included dessert and some (many?) dining plan guests may decide to skip dessert and coffee. That means the tables will turnover faster. Restaurants will be able to serve more guests. I suspect that's one reason why the deluxe dining plan doesn't offer dessert. Disney wants cash from guests who want to spend more time in the restaurant.

Free dining guests will still be getting a good deal. Prior dining plans didn't really save money. They were a way to budget your trip. It's starting to sound like the 2011 dining plan may be a step back.

 

[TDC Nala]

If they do eliminate the dessert, I'd bet it's also to do with Disney's attempt to claim healthier offerings - giving guests the chance to prepay a dessert with every meal sort of belied their attempt to convince whoever they've been trying to convince that they are trying to get guests to eat healthy.

With extra snacks, I would bet we will see a push toward "healthy" snacks next year.

 

[catne]

If they do eliminate the dessert, I'd bet it's also to do with Disney's attempt to claim healthier offerings - giving guests the chance to prepay a dessert with every meal sort of belied their attempt to convince whoever they've been trying to convince that they are trying to get guests to eat healthy.

With extra snacks, I would bet we will see a push toward "healthy" snacks next year.

Now, darn it, where's the magic in that! Guess this is what comes from all the complaints about "I wish they'd change the plan - we don't want dessert every meal"...so the Suits with the sharp pencils said, "OK, we can take away the dessert since people obviously don't want it."

If/when these changes come to pass -- no dessert, "healthy" snacks instead of the usual goodies...well, that could very well be the end of staying on-site & dining plan usage for us. This would significantly cut down on the $$$ Disney makes from us. We're now annual passholders so we don't even need the Package deals anymore...for that matter, we can skip the hotel entirely & just make it a day trip from Tampa.

RIP, dining plan

 

[TDC Nala]

"I wish they'd change the plan - we don't want dessert every meal"

Usually when folks said that, what they meant is they would rather have an appetizer. Once you figure out why they removed the appetizers in the first place, it's also easy to figure out why you don't get a choice on the basic between a dessert and an appetizer. To get an appetizer you need to go deluxe. What's interesting here is that they also appear to be removing the dessert from the deluxe plan (leaving the appetizer though).

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Come on people, removing the desserts has nothing to do with Disney wanting people to be more heathly, its all about their bottom line!!!!!!!

 

[TDC Nala]

Maybe it's about the bottom line - but it will sound better for WDW to say it's about health, or they did it because guests complained about too many desserts.

Kind of like WDW saying they closed PI because it wasn't family-friendly. Sounds better than to say they made a business decision to outsource the area to third parties.

 

[Lewisc]

I'm not sure even Disney would try to claim dropping dessert was a health issue. I don't think people would buy it.

No reason why dessert couldn't include fruit or even cheese. Maybe even lower fat sugar free ice cream.

Disney could change the plan and give guests a dessert sampler featuring healthy items. Include fruit and maybe some cheese. I suspect fresh fruit is more expensive then "traditional" dessert items.

Encouraging guests into skipping dessert will probably get guests out of the restaurant quicker--maybe as much as 30 minutes. Increase capacity.

 

[TDC Nala]

If WDW is asked to explain the cuts, they're going to put it on guest preference or how much they care about the guests, not about the bottom line. That's how they do it. They're not going to say "we did it to save money" or "we did it to get guests out of the restaurant faster" even if that's true.

If they were to just offer fruit, they would have to do that for everyone, not just the dining plan people - Disney's already proved they are not willing to put menu restrictions on the dining plan. If the restaurants stopped serving traditional desserts it wouldn't be good. This way they can say the DDP people have the choice - they can buy dessert or not buy dessert, they don't have to get dessert every time. Desserts at many TS restaurants already include cheese, fruit or sugar free options.

 

[dixonsontour]

The appetiser isn't there for deluxe for 2011 in the Virgin brochure I got today. Deluxe is just described as 3 QS or TS a day, 2 snacks and mug.

Defintion of QS is one main course and a drink and definition TS is one main course or a full buffet and a drink.

I could see the advantage of this for disney - no need for servers to check which plan you are on, a TS is the same on either plan. Also no appetiser like no dessert would turn tables faster.

 

[TDC Nala]

Nobody's going to pay for the deluxe plan if it doesn't include the appetizer. That would make it the same as the basic plan only with a mug and one more meal a night. This may be interesting.

 

[Tricia1972]

Wow, if they remove the appetizer from the DxDDP, that could completely devalue all of the plans for everyone.

So, so far it looks like....

DINING PLAN - Entitlements (per night)
QSDP - 2 CS (no dessert), 2 Snacks
DDP - 1 CS (no dessert), 1 TS (no dessert), 2 snacks
DxDDP - 3 Meal Credits (no appetizer, no dessert), 2 snacks, 1 mug/length of stay

 

[mickey2000]

2011 Disney Dessert. If we get lucky they will be the chocolate
ones !

 

[sandym718]

Wow, that's interesting - no appetizers either for Deluxe, either. They're really changing a lot (assuming this all comes to pass of course). I was thinking about this today...of course everything depends on the cost, of which we really have no info yet. But I'm starting to wonder if MAYBE the QS plan would be good for us. I never in a million years thought I'd say that, as we love doing TS dinners. And maybe financially it won't be of benefit. But maybe do the QS plan and then pay for some TS dinners OOP. Wouldn't necessarily be every night, though. We'd use QS for lunch every day and maybe breakfasts some days and dinner 1 or 2 nights. Sunshine Seasons would probably be just fine for us for dinner! I don't know...just rambling thoughts here...but I have a feeling I'll be pricing out several different options!!

 

[dixonsontour]

I can see how it is still sellable to the UK market.

For only £15 ($22) a day more you can have an extra sit down meal a day (potentially 3 TS a day, not one like on the DDP).

I paid £40 ($58) a day at Disneyland Paris last year for ONE meal a day. That was the only plan that included character meals.

So for £47 ($68) I can have 3 character meals a day on the DxDDP in Walt Disney world, that is still very sellable to the UK market.

How everything will translate when US disney releases 2011 dining will be very interesting to see.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Wow, that's interesting - no appetizers either for Deluxe, either. They're really changing a lot (assuming this all comes to pass of course). I was thinking about this today...of course everything depends on the cost, of which we really have no info yet. But I'm starting to wonder if MAYBE the QS plan would be good for us. I never in a million years thought I'd say that, as we love doing TS dinners. And maybe financially it won't be of benefit. But maybe do the QS plan and then pay for some TS dinners OOP. Wouldn't necessarily be every night, though. We'd use QS for lunch every day and maybe breakfasts some days and dinner 1 or 2 nights. Sunshine Seasons would probably be just fine for us for dinner! I don't know...just rambling thoughts here...but I have a feeling I'll be pricing out several different options!!

I was debating the samething. Then I asked DH and he still wants 1 TS per day so that thought went out the window.

 

[3lilpiggies]

Lets just be honest people...how many times have we heard, "its just too much food" or "I feel stuffed" or "we didnt even use all of our credits." I think maybe Disney may be trying to think about the customer. I know last year we did the DDP and we were stuffed. I actually threw up I ate so much food and we still had credits at the end of our stay.
By removing the dessert, it eliminates people feeling like they may have just wasted food. I know I felt like alot of it was a waste because there is no way I would have ordered dessert at every meal especially after having a large entree.
It may not be as bad as you think.

 

[Cafeen]

Lets just be honest people...how many times have we heard, "its just too much food" or "I feel stuffed" or "we didnt even use all of our credits." I think maybe Disney may be trying to think about the customer. I know last year we did the DDP and we were stuffed. I actually threw up I ate so much food and we still had credits at the end of our stay.
By removing the dessert, it eliminates people feeling like they may have just wasted food. I know I felt like alot of it was a waste because there is no way I would have ordered dessert at every meal especially after having a large entree.
It may not be as bad as you think.

Dropping the dessert (and app) is one thing. Dropping both while maintaining or even raising prices is a different monster entirely.

The DDP is the lowest value of the 3 as it stands, and we're looking at a sizable (say, 9$ per night average between the CS and TS dessert) loss of value with a possible rise in cost. Unless you aim for the really high cost locations, this will make it very difficult to break even. You may gain a snack (only one of the two sites mentioned in this thread offer 2 snacks), pushing the loss to about 6$, but that's still a sizable gap.

The QSDP is also losing some value (roughly 6$/night, and 14$ over the entire length) and rising slightly in price.

The DxDDP would be losing the most, while only offering a slight decrease (roughly 42$ per night loss of value, max. Using a 2TS 1CS (roughly the current break even point, you're still getting a 31$ per night loss).

(Note: the numbers above were derived from a rough estimate of 3$ per snack and cs dessert, 6$ per TS dessert, and 8$ per TS appetizer).

I just don't see it working out nearly as well as the current one does. It would push the emphasis on ordering the high cost items even moreso than it already does, and that's just to break even.

 

[2Tiggies]

Nobody's going to pay for the deluxe plan if it doesn't include the appetizer. That would make it the same as the basic plan only with a mug and one more meal a night. This may be interesting.

You would then be better of with the regular plan and just buy the mug for length of stay if you were staying for a reasonable length of time. I agree, very interesting.

 

[2Tiggies]

Dropping the dessert (and app) is one thing. Dropping both while maintaining or even raising prices is a different monster entirely.

The DDP is the lowest value of the 3 as it stands, and we're looking at a sizable (say, 9$ per night average between the CS and TS dessert) loss of value with a possible rise in cost. Unless you aim for the really high cost locations, this will make it very difficult to break even. You may gain a snack (only one of the two sites mentioned in this thread offer 2 snacks), pushing the loss to about 6$, but that's still a sizable gap.

The QSDP is also losing some value (roughly 6$/night, and 14$ over the entire length) and rising slightly in price.

The DxDDP would be losing the most, while only offering a slight decrease (roughly 42$ per night loss of value, max. Using a 2TS 1CS (roughly the current break even point, you're still getting a 31$ per night loss).

(Note: the numbers above were derived from a rough estimate of 3$ per snack and cs dessert, 6$ per TS dessert, and 8$ per TS appetizer).

I just don't see it working out nearly as well as the current one does. It would push the emphasis on ordering the high cost items even moreso than it already does, and that's just to break even.

I agree with what you say here. In fact, it is pretty obvious that most DISers will agree. But Disney is marketing their plans to the general public and we make up a tiny proportion of this target market. In reality, the vast majority of folk don't research, don't do the math and are blissfully unaware that menus and pricing lists are available for comparison. These are the folk who go ahead and book to go to Disney and have the DDP recommended by their TA or a CM at Disney and they believe they have a great deal. An astonishing number of people purchase dining plans with no idea of the components or how it works. Disney will milk this to the maximum if they can get away with it.