Is the dining plan going to change in 2011

[stephielela]

The first time I used the dining plan at WDW was in 2006. After that trip I swore I would never go back to Disney without it. But that was when it
A. was cheaper than it is now but several dollars a day
B. included an app and a dessert
c. included the 18% gratuity!

The second time they had dropped the gratuity and raised the price, but it was still worth it.

I love Disney, and I understand raising hotel prices every year (all hotels do this) and even ticket prices, but to offer less food for more money?? That's just bad business. Sure, maybe we are all a little full after our meals, and maybe we don't finish everything, but the solution isn't to make it less of a value! As it is now, I've run pricing scenarios by picking out the items I am most likely to order and IF I ordered everything, the amount of money I would save on the plan is not very much, and would probably be outweighed by the fact that if I was paying out of pocket, I simply wouldn't order that much food! This time around we are planning on the DXDP, mainly because there are a lot of signature dining we want to try that requires 2 credits, but also because I have a 2 year old DS who eats as much as I do, so even though it would be too much food for the 4 adults, he will eat some of everyone's food, and it won't cost me extra.

 

[earthelves]

I note that from the Complete Orlando site that a TS meal is now being referred to as "Waiter Service Meal"..Personally i do think that we will see the dessert being removed from the "Waiter Service Meal" but only time will tell

 

[dixonsontour]

Yes the Virgin wording is Quick service or waiter service meal aswell.

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

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.

Exactly. Most people will not know whats going down with these changes unless the are here on the Dis or possibly DVC members who go every year. And other Florida locals.

 

[Lewisc]

Many local restaurants offer a price fixed dinner. In every case the meal includes an appetizer (sometimes just a house salad) an entree and a dessert. Drinks vary. Some places include soda, some a glass of house wine and some don't include any drink.

I've never seen a restaurant offer a "dinner" consisting of just an entree and a beverage.

Sorry but the plan isn't offer a meal, it's a food plan.

 

[ksumn1]

Well, I've ran the #'s a few different ways and it looks like the DDP won't be for us next trip. Not just because of the no desserts. we looked at the cost of the plan against what we would most likely order and we would still break even, but barely. The main reason is that we're trying to be more budget friendly next time. From the resort to the dining. In the end, we're most likely going to book a 1 bedroom at Bonnet Creek, buy 7 day PH's from an online ticket broker, try to work in a trip to Universal to see Harry Potter and scale back our dining.

Only 2 ts meals at 'Ohana and PSB for DD's birthday. The rest CS and most dinners in the late afternoon at the the room. We always take a break anyway around lunchtime. Not much of a hardship to throw together some past, pizza, sandwiches or salad before we leave.

Of course, there's every chance that if DD gets alot of overtime, we get a great pin code or some other discount offer, that we'll change our minds. But at this point, the DDP's not for us.

It will be very interesting to see the effect these changes have.

 

[TDC Nala]

You still can't completely assume these possible changes will be in place across the board for 2011. Not sure I would make definite trip changes based only on this yet.

 

[ksumn1]

You still can't completely assume these possible changes will be in place across the board for 2011. Not sure I would make definite trip changes based only on this yet.

i can't really book anything until we get our 1st time homebuyer's credit money back, which at this point looks like August. August is also when DH will start getting overtime, so I do have a while to decide. But for us, the chances are something to consider, but the bottom line is that the DDP is going to be too big of a chunk of our trip budget. I like to plan for the worst and hope for the best instead of vice versa. Since dd 7 and I aren't big eaters, we normally share something that's not allowed on the DDP. When we realistically looked at the cost of us splitting a meal for example a 1/2 rotisserie chicken at Cosmic Rays vs paying for the DDP for both of us, money wise it makes more sense to share meals instead of purchasing the DDP for us both.

I'm trying to be budget conciuos but also realistic about our dining habits. Just because we can pay for a TS and a CS each day doesn't mean we should. Especially keeping our budget in mind.

As a side note, we are putting back enough money to do a 7 nite, 7 day PH DDP trip but are trying to get the most bang for our buck. Less money on food is more souvenier $ or a longer stay at the hotel.

 

[sandym718]

Well, I've ran the #'s a few different ways and it looks like the DDP won't be for us next trip. Not just because of the no desserts. we looked at the cost of the plan against what we would most likely order and we would still break even, but barely. The main reason is that we're trying to be more budget friendly next time. From the resort to the dining. In the end, we're most likely going to book a 1 bedroom at Bonnet Creek, buy 7 day PH's from an online ticket broker, try to work in a trip to Universal to see Harry Potter and scale back our dining.

Only 2 ts meals at 'Ohana and PSB for DD's birthday. The rest CS and most dinners in the late afternoon at the the room. We always take a break anyway around lunchtime. Not much of a hardship to throw together some past, pizza, sandwiches or salad before we leave.

Of course, there's every chance that if DD gets alot of overtime, we get a great pin code or some other discount offer, that we'll change our minds. But at this point, the DDP's not for us.

It will be very interesting to see the effect these changes have.

What numbers did you use for the plan cost, can I ask? Did you just do a few more $$'s than this year's?

 

[sandym718]

Ok, had some time, so I ran some numbers. Our TS meals, I know pretty much for sure, only one might change. They are (all for dinner): Chef Mickey's, Mama Melrose (F! pkg), CP, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Ohana, LeCellier and WCC. WCC may instead be Biergarten - but looks like cost would be VERY similar, so I think that's safe to calculate. LeCellier -who knows what's happening with that TS-credit wise, so I left it alone (we love it!). I used Seasonal pricing for CM, CP, and Ohana since we are likely going in April. I also calculated our CS meals (all lunches), those could easily change, but the prices don't very Too much. (in case you're wondering, I used 2 Captain Cook's lunches, Sunshine Seasons, EoS, Lottawatta Lodge, Pecos Bill's and Cosmic Ray's). For all of the above, I calculated entree and beverages (specialty where they've been included and we like them - like LeCellier) - NO Desserts. Or, of course, buffet or fixed price at those places. Added 6.5% tax to all of the above. I figured 2 snacks per person/per day at a cost of $3.20 per snack (rounded this total). We don't buy drinks with our snack credits (bring our own), so I tend to use a bit higher number than others might for that.

Came up with the following for our family of 4 (me, DH, DS 8 and DD 6) - Table Service: $698.81; QS: $245.64; Snacks: $180 for a grand total of $1124.45.

Current seasonal DDP pricing for our family would be: $853.72, so even without the desserts, with the addition of 1 snack and AT TODAY'S PRICES (from AllEArs at least), we could still save $270.73.

We would definitely order and eat all this food anyways, the CS desserts were always our "well, would we really buy that?" thing. This is how we would eat OOP....well, hopefully, I could see DH have a stroke over paying $122.45 OOP for Chef Mickey's Dinner!!! We would use our 2nd snack to "replace" the CS dessert by having ice cream or other treats mid-afternoon. Some snacks to "replace" the TS dinner desserts on our non-buffet/fixed price days, and still a lot of snacks leftover. I like to use them for breakfast (pastries from Captain Cook's), we also bring breakfast items for our room. The only things I think I'd pay OOP for are the Cheese soup and Whiskey cake at LeCellier -not a big deal.

So, to sum it up.... IF the 2011 DDP drops both desserts and adds a snack, there would have to be a Significant price increase for us to lose the value. Even if the price goes up by $4/adult, $2/child, we'd still save $186. They'd have to raise the adult price by $10 and the child price by 7 for us to almost lose the savings (only $32 at that point). I think we still save for two reasons: 2 kids on the plan and then character meals and fixed price meals (chose b/c we WANT them, not to maximize value). It seems that some CAN still save IF the plan changes in this way - it STILL depends on your family composition and restaurant/meal choices.

**Also this is Seasonal DDP (and some meal) pricing. Our family (and others like ours) would save even more at another time of year. Ran that difference quickly and we would save an additional $58.83 if we had a non-peak trip, so savings would be $329.56. NOT shabby at all.


ETA: Just looked at our 2009 data - We save $266 last year!! So, basically, even at peak time (2009 we went in May), we still stand to save just as much. I'm honestly shocked at this. I guess entree/buffet prices have increased so much that even less food on the plan still equates to a savings (for us).

 

[TDC Nala]

This is the reasoning put forward by this thread - if you are calculating for 2011 you have to try it two ways - with desserts, without desserts. If you are looking at DXDDP or QS plan you have to calculate in different ways (possibly no mug or dessert with QS, possibly no appetizer or dessert with DX). If it still comes out that you think you will save money with a dining plan, you'll probably still anticipate that you will book a dining plan (or if you value the convenience of prepayment more than you value monetary savings).

 

[Lewisc]

A couple of knowledgeable posters in the News and Rumors forum indicate Le Cellier will be changing to Signature States by the beginning of next year. That suggests some other restaurants may do the same thing.

We don't know if the 2011 plan will include desserts or what it will cost. Now assume some of your favorite restaurants may change to 2 credit.

Too many variables to even make a guess.

 

[sandym718]

A couple of knowledgeable posters in the News and Rumors forum indicate Le Cellier will be changing to Signature States by the beginning of next year. That suggests some other restaurants may do the same thing.

We don't know if the 2011 plan will include desserts or what it will cost. Now assume some of your favorite restaurants may change to 2 credit.

Too many variables to even make a guess.

Yep, that will change things a lot for us. We love LeCellier and I can't imagine skipping it. Crazy thing is - doing my calculations yesterday, LeC was actually our second CHEAPEST meal! Chef Mickey's was most expensive, followed by Crystal Palace, Ohana, Mama Melrose (F! Pkg), WCC, LeCellier and then Wolfgang Puck Cafe. And I figured a Filet for myself at LeC!! Guessing prices would have to go way up to make it a Signature.

 

[javaj]

I didn't get a chance to read the whole thread so I apologize if this has been asked and answered.

If check-in is Dec 31st (DVC), how does the dining plan work? Do you a pay different price for the first night, and I assume you would be subject to the 2010 plan rules only for the 31st, and the rest of the trip would be subject to 2011 rules?

Thanks!

 

[angelmav]

LewisC hit it on the head, an entree and drink is hardly what most would consider a meal plan. Frankly, should this come to passs it will have the opposite effect that the plan originally intended, to keep people on sight. If I were looking at a trip to Disney for the first time and saw that they wanted $ for just that portion of the meal upfront, well the budget concerns would be immediate.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

If anything changes, I would only hope it goes back to the old dining plan where tips are included. I loved not having to take out my wallet to pay for anything. It was just so nice.

 

[sandym718]

I didn't get a chance to read the whole thread so I apologize if this has been asked and answered.

If check-in is Dec 31st (DVC), how does the dining plan work? Do you a pay different price for the first night, and I assume you would be subject to the 2010 plan rules only for the 31st, and the rest of the trip would be subject to 2011 rules?

Thanks!

I believe the plan doesn't usually change until the 10th or 11th of January. So many people do New Year's trips, it would be so confusing. So you'll likely be using the 2010 plan for the entire trip.

If anything changes, I would only hope it goes back to the old dining plan where tips are included. I loved not having to take out my wallet to pay for anything. It was just so nice.

Wasn't it great?? Wishful thinking, probably, though....

 

[javaj]

I believe the plan doesn't usually change until the 10th or 11th of January. So many people do New Year's trips, it would be so confusing. So you'll likely be using the 2010 plan for the entire trip.

Oh that would make it simpler. I hope that's the case.

 

[CathieArms]

Okay, I've been through as much of the superthread as I could handle regarding The Virgin Holidays information about the supposed changes to the dining plan. But I still haven't found the answer I'm looking for.

It LOOKS like the changes are only to the QSDP and the DDP. Is that correct? I can't see anything that seems to indicate that the DxDP would have any changes, if the Virgin Holidays information is correct.

*IF* the Virgin Holidays information is correct, does that then mean that they WON'T take away the appetizer and dessert on the DxDP?

I realize this is all speculation at this point and that we won't know anything until probably August...I'm just a planner and like to pre-worry.

 

[Cafeen]

Okay, I've been through as much of the superthread as I could handle regarding The Virgin Holidays information about the supposed changes to the dining plan. But I still haven't found the answer I'm looking for.

It LOOKS like the changes are only to the QSDP and the DDP. Is that correct? I can't see anything that seems to indicate that the DxDP would have any changes, if the Virgin Holidays information is correct.

*IF* the Virgin Holidays information is correct, does that then mean that they WON'T take away the appetizer and dessert on the DxDP?

I realize this is all speculation at this point and that we won't know anything until probably August...I'm just a planner and like to pre-worry.

It's tough to say, but the wording of the brochure is that all "Waiter Service" (what we know as Table Service) meals would include entree and drink. The changes are actually more related to what you get at each meal being dropped down to this than the individual plans. So, in reading what information we have, yes, it would be considerably affected.