Just emailed MS suggesting a "perk"

[Sue's Mum]

We are visiting for two weeks in October (we are from the UK so nothing unusual there). We would really like to try the dining plan but I simply cannot make it work for us and feel that it would actually be a waste of our money. We do not plan anything but rather we like to take each day as it comes, depending on how we feel. Also, we have breakfast in our "villa" most days.

What would suit us would be to have, say, 7 days DDP with the credits being spread over the whole of our 14 day stay. Today I have emailed MS suggesting that this would be a good perk which would cost them nothing, on the face of it. I know my chances of this happening are probably zero but there's no harm in asking.

 

[ogguls22]

Good luck - I think that is a great idea. I hope MS takes your advice.

 

[happyann79]

I think that sounds like a great idea! I would love to have the option to use the dining plan on a day to day without feeling like I already spent the money so I have to use it each and every day. We also like to leave property occasionally to eat somewhere else. I think it would be a great perk!

 

[JasonDVC]

I think that sounds like a great idea! I would love to have the option to use the dining plan on a day to day without feeling like I already spent the money so I have to use it each and every day. We also like to leave property occasionally to eat somewhere else. I think it would be a great perk!

That's probably why they won't do it.

 

[DebbieB]

DVC pretty much follows the Disney Dining Plan rules, so they probably have no control over that. I doubt Disney will go for that because I think it's one of the keys to how Disney makes a profit on it, requiring all people in the room and for all days of the reservation. If you can spread it out, you would eat big on the days you have the plan and less on the days without, thus getting more $ value out of it (less profit for them).

 

[AlwaysDreamofDisney]

In the past we've gotten the normal DP for our entire stay. We may not use it evry day but on the days we haven't used it for TS we then have an excess of TS credits. Then we go to a Signature restaurant and still use all of the points but really don't pay anything more.

I think your idea would be better but I doubt they will change it. I'm sure they make a huge amount of $$ off of the forgotten snacks and meals!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Disney is banking on you not using all your credits, so they make money on the deal. They are not going to allow you to spread those credits out over a longer period of time so that you use them all. They hope you'll go home with lots of credits wasted.

 

[drusba]

That is exactly why Disney won't do it. Go back in time forever when they started dining plans as part of vacation packages and they have always been length of stay purposefully designed to make you buy more than you are likely to use. Many have previously suggested, going way back in time with Disney not even DVC, exactly what OP suggests and Disney has never changed. It is because it makes its most money off the plans by guests not using everything that is in them and it would lose that lack-of-use profit if it actually allowed you to spread the plan as OP suggests. In other words, doing what is suggested would cost Disney a lot of money.

 

[Sue's Mum]

DVC pretty much follows the Disney Dining Plan rules, so they probably have no control over that. I doubt Disney will go for that because I think it's one of the keys to how Disney makes a profit on it, requiring all people in the room and for all days of the reservation. If you can spread it out, you would eat big on the days you have the plan and less on the days without, thus getting more $ value out of it (less profit for them).

I understand what you saying. However, if there is no change in the present status, we will not be having the dining plan. So there would not be any profit at all.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I understand what you saying. However, if there is no change in the present status, we will not be having the dining plan. So there would not be any profit at all.

There will still be profit for Disney unless you don't eat onsite at all.

We never use the dining plan as it does not save us any money, nor do we find it to be a convenience. But the restaurants still take our money (KTTW card) and we are able to dine when and where we want.-- Suzanne

 

[Kidanifan08]

Sounds like a great idea! Eating all of that food every day is just too much food.

Since you are there for two weeks, and I assume you are using annual passes, you should consider looking into Tables in Wonderland. You would probably spend less $$ than on the regular DDP and eat less.

We are looking forward to our October trip as well!

 

[Rest&Relax]

Would love to see that but I don't think disney would go for that either. DH & I never buy DDP because it does not work for us. We use the Tables in Wonderland to get our discount.

 

[TDC Nala]

Not gonna happen.

It's probably enough that DVC members can now "segment" their reservations and get DDP for only parts of their stay.

I eat onsite plenty, and never use DDP. Unless you go offsite to eat or cook in your villa, Disney gets your food money whether you have DDP or not. Where Disney makes its DDP profit is with those who do not use all the credits, which happens more often than one would think. This means Disney gets to keep the money the guest paid for food, whereas the guest never even ordered the food they didn't claim.

 

[Sue's Mum]

Here is a copy of the email reply:-

We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us on the
Disney Dining Plan. The feedback we receive from our Members is very
important to us as it lets us know what we are doing right and what we
can do better. As we strive to improve the benefits and services we
provide to our Members, we are constantly evaluating our operation. You
may be assured your input will be taken seriously.

So just the standard wording, I imagine.

We have two days left on passes from years ago and have bought 7 day MYW tickets. We have been to Disney about 30 times in the past 25 years. Most days we eat breakfast in the room - cereal and milk, toast, that kind of thing. We have a small lunch, like something from the pool bar. And in the evening we eat only an entree, no starters or deserts. Last time we were there we bought Chinese meals from the supermarket twice. These only needed heating in the microwave in the studio. We opened the doors on to the balcony, pulled the table up to the opening and really enjoyed our "almost outdoor" dining!

I will look at what we could do with, say, 2 days of DDP. I think we should be able to work something out. But I think I will leave buying it until much, much nearer the time - just in case! LOL.

 

[Alex's Mummy]

What about segmenting your reservation? We did this on our last trip(7 nights) and had two nights of standard DDP. It worked fine for us, we didn't have to change rooms or anything and stayed at the same resort.

Just an idea- maybe it could work for you

 

[Kerchak]

Hi - hopefully I have a solution for you. We are also from the UK and have done this ourselves.

You can segment your stay into 14 individual days, even if you are staying at the same hotel for your entire trip. You can then add the DDP to any day you wish. For instance, we have the DDP every other day, as you can spread your dining over 2 days (i.e. If you buy DDP for Monday it is valid until Midnight on Tuesday). This way you can have a table service meal on day 1 and quick service meal and snack on day2 (and then you repeat the cycle) This is great for us as we struggle to eat so much food in 1 day.

Like you we used the think the DDP would be too restrictive, as we don't like to plan ahead. However, we gave it a try and haven't looked back. You can eat cheaper offsite, but we think it's worth paying a little extra. You save a good chunk of cash using the DDP and it's nice not having to dig into your pocket to pay on a daily basis whilst you're there. I can be a bit tight, so if we did pay daily we would almost certainly order cheaper things from the menu than we do using the DDP where the price is the same whatever you order

We now enjoy booking the restaurants in advance and look forward to some amazing meals. Our favorites are Le Cellier, Le Chef de France and Coral Reef, all of which you can get for 1 dining credit (only at lunch for Le Cellier). For a quick service meal Wolfgang Puck is great value and quality and is very filling.

Have fun

 

[Kerchak]

Hi again

This link gives more info on segmentation. It mentions some early kinks, but if you look at more recent posts it is working pretty well now.



http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2651745&page=8

 

[JWG]

It's a great idea, and only with recommendation would it happen. We should all make the same recommendation.

 

[TDC Nala]

Not gonna happen, recommendation or no recommendation.

You've already been given this option if you can segment your reservation.

 

[daisyduck123]

I understand what you saying. However, if there is no change in the present status, we will not be having the dining plan. So there would not be any profit at all.

But enough people are/do buy the dining plan with its present requirements, that they are making a profit.