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I'd rather them let you build your dining plan yourself and give you a charge at the end.

Base Plan per night of occupancy:
Quick Service Credit (1) ($X)
Snack Credit (1) ($Y)

Table Service Option
Table Service Credit (1) ($Z)

Full Table Service Option
New Full Table Service Credit (1) ($D)
- Includes App, Meal, Desert

Signature Service Option
Table Service Credit (2) ($A)

Adult Beverage Option
Adult Beverage Credit (1) ($B)

Snack Option
Snack Credit (1) ($C)

You get the idea. You can buy the base plan and add on to it to cater to your style of eating. You can run deals to promote different credits etc. Hell you could create two other base plans based on JUST stacks or JUST drinking credits for food and wine festivals etc.

Not sure why they don't do this already. Especially with the alcohol. You make so much margin on alcohol that if you can guarantee profit.

I would be interested in the Full Table Service Option or the Signature Service Option. That would be in between standard and Deluxe.


interesting idea - almost like just getting a pre-paid gift card but with "credits" vs $ ... and perhaps then can allow people to add credits in the middle of their trip if they think they are going to need more

and like you said, can run promotions that comes with set things int he bundle that you can add to, etc.


My guess is they make more profits off of the way things are currently vs this
 
Nope, sorry, it’s still throwing money out the window. I have a lot of Disney stock, though, so by all means, keep that reckless cash flowing my way.
My children love character meals. We use all our TS meal credits for character dinners and us adults have alcoholic beverages, we definitely spent less on the DDP than if we didn’t have it. We are doing those character meals either way as they are the highlight for my girls. You can’t assume everyone has the same priorities as you.
 
interesting idea - almost like just getting a pre-paid gift card but with "credits" vs $ ... and perhaps then can allow people to add credits in the middle of their trip if they think they are going to need more

and like you said, can run promotions that comes with set things int he bundle that you can add to, etc.


My guess is they make more profits off of the way things are currently vs this

Most likely because they are banking on people not using snack credits and using table service credits on cheap quick service meals. I'm sure a vast majority of people using the dining plan are because they got it for free? Or just bought it without looking. They might not even be aware of what they have.

If that were the case, and that's how they want to make a profit, just bump up the base package with 2 snack credits and you're close to the QS DP package anyway.
 
Most likely because they are banking on people not using snack credits and using table service credits on cheap quick service meals. I'm sure a vast majority of people using the dining plan are because they got it for free? Or just bought it without looking. They might not even be aware of what they have.

If that were the case, and that's how they want to make a profit, just bump up the base package with 2 snack credits and you're close to the QS DP package anyway.

i think a lot of people get it because it sounds easier and they get it as part of a package (so they just see one lump cost)
 


Maybe. I would love to see data on unused credits or average credits spent on the last day of your stay.
 
I'd rather them let you build your dining plan yourself and give you a charge at the end.

Base Plan per night of occupancy:
Quick Service Credit (1) ($X)
Snack Credit (1) ($Y)

Table Service Option
Table Service Credit (1) ($Z)

Full Table Service Option
New Full Table Service Credit (1) ($D)
- Includes App, Meal, Desert

Signature Service Option
Table Service Credit (2) ($A)

Adult Beverage Option
Adult Beverage Credit (1) ($B)

Snack Option
Snack Credit (1) ($C)

You get the idea. You can buy the base plan and add on to it to cater to your style of eating. You can run deals to promote different credits etc. Hell you could create two other base plans based on JUST stacks or JUST drinking credits for food and wine festivals etc.

Not sure why they don't do this already. Especially with the alcohol. You make so much margin on alcohol that if you can guarantee profit.

I would be interested in the Full Table Service Option or the Signature Service Option. That would be in between standard and Deluxe.


I would love a plan like that where it could be customized. Our ideal plan would be 2 TS credits per day and snacks. We never have an actual lunch at WDW (TS or QS). We prefer an early (PPO) TS breakfast, a snack or two in the late morning or early afternoon and then a fairly early TS dinner (5-6pm, which is early for us compared to the 7-8pm we usually eat dinner at home). Then, if we are still at the parks late, maybe some ice cream or other sweet snack.
 
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I've commented on most of your points up thread already, but I do want to point out that your points of the "DDP provides less flexibility, because you have to make reservations" is a challenge most planners like me enjoy the most. :)

I like a plan, but I don’t enjoy being forced to eat so I don’t waste credits and limited to ordering what is included when I use a DDP credit. DDP is not an all inclusive plan that allows you to eat what you want and when you want to eat it. I meant reservations are necessary for making full use of your plan, which takes away flexibility to skip a meal because your just not hungry or you would rather spend more time enjoying the rest of wdw or any other thing that may come up. I would recommend to anyone to buy Disney gift cards for the same value of your DDP and eat about the same amount of meals. You will likely end up with money on the gift cards at then end of your vacation.
 


I like a plan, but I don’t enjoy being forced to eat so I don’t waste credits and limited to ordering what is included when I use a DDP credit. DDP is not an all inclusive plan that allows you to eat what you want and when you want to eat it. I meant reservations are necessary for making full use of your plan, which takes away flexibility to skip a meal because your just not hungry or you would rather spend more time enjoying the rest of wdw or any other thing that may come up. I would recommend to anyone to buy Disney gift cards for the same value of your DDP and eat about the same amount of meals. You will likely end up with money on the gift cards at then end of your vacation.

Everyone is different right? So I'm not going to argue personal tastes and habits, but I'll argue how I approach those points of concern. In my experience, all inclusive resorts still require reservations even if you make them in the morning of or day before. Disney is the same except you have to make reservations for the most popular places months in advance. You can still find reservations for a lot of restaurants on property the day or week before, you're just not getting in to the most popular ones unless you're lucky and snag a last minute cancellation. Even then if I wanted to cancel a reservation and do something else, I'll do it and have done it.

To me it seems people put artificial barriers around the DDP and force themselves to adhere to them to get the value out of them. If you have to do that, then it's not worth it at all. Personally, with my eating and dining habits with my family the dining plan makes sense most of the time right now.

And on the gift card thing, that's the same as cash to me. If I'm going to budget my food by meal I don't need a gift card to do it. But some people need those barriers or guides to help them with spending while on vacation. Everyone is different.
 
I like a plan, but I don’t enjoy being forced to eat so I don’t waste credits and limited to ordering what is included when I use a DDP credit. DDP is not an all inclusive plan that allows you to eat what you want and when you want to eat it. I meant reservations are necessary for making full use of your plan, which takes away flexibility to skip a meal because your just not hungry or you would rather spend more time enjoying the rest of wdw or any other thing that may come up. I would recommend to anyone to buy Disney gift cards for the same value of your DDP and eat about the same amount of meals. You will likely end up with money on the gift cards at then end of your vacation.

I agree with this and get where you are coming from ... only thing to add is, at least for table service options, if you don't cancel 24 hours in advance you get charged a $10/person no-show fee - so even if not being on the plan some of your flexibility is lost with that penalty

But even during the meal, I like having flexibility to just order an appetizer or split an entree, share dessert (or not get dessert), etc. - so overall the dining plan doesn't work for us, but I know it works well for many other families ... it definitely is something that there isn't one set answer for every family
 
I'm out numbered on the dessert thing. My wife and kids love it, I don't need it. So they get more dessert. I'll just order another beer.
 
I went through the painstaking process of crunching the numbers for our entire upcoming trip, fully expecting the DDP to be a poor value for our family of 7 (no kids under 10). I was surprised to discover that we were going to save over $425 by using the DDP.

I was not expecting to see any kind of savings, and the non-DDP calculations were minus a lot of desserts and appetizers that a few of my girls probably won't eat. Yes, my kids still love character meals so we have a few of those planned, and we don't skip meals, but we do use our snacks for breakfast when we're there.

So, don't ever assume that it is 100% of the time a losing proposition to use the DDP. Yes, I love the convenience and being able to skip the guilt of ordering what I really want regardless of the price, but it CAN be a value.
 
I went through the painstaking process of crunching the numbers for our entire upcoming trip, fully expecting the DDP to be a poor value for our family of 7 (no kids under 10). I was surprised to discover that we were going to save over $425 by using the DDP.

I was not expecting to see any kind of savings, and the non-DDP calculations were minus a lot of desserts and appetizers that a few of my girls probably won't eat. Yes, my kids still love character meals so we have a few of those planned, and we don't skip meals, but we do use our snacks for breakfast when we're there.

So, don't ever assume that it is 100% of the time a losing proposition to use the DDP. Yes, I love the convenience and being able to skip the guilt of ordering what I really want regardless of the price, but it CAN be a value.

Mind sharing those numbers? I'd be curious.
 
Mind sharing those numbers? I'd be curious.

It will be an 8 night stay with us arriving mid-morning so our snacks for the first day will be used on the last day for breakfast, and the numbers I crunched were for a party of 5 (we had two add-ons later, but I think adding two more people won't affect the value %).

We had an average of $9 per person per morning for breakfast ($45, pastry and juice or soft drink)
$18 per person per day QS for lunch ($90, calculated from a sampling of QS locations including Pecos Bill, Sunshine Seasons, Woody's lunchbox, Flame Tree BBQ, etc)
Dinner ran anywhere from $250 to $300 minus tip (1900 Park Fare, Whispering Canyon, Beirgarten, Mama Melrose, Homecomin', 'Ohana, TRex, Chef Mickey)

So without DDP, Breakfasts ($360), Lunches ($810) and Dinners ($2200, and this is no cocktails, fewer apps and desserts, and at an average of $275 per night which 6 out of the 8 nights were more than this)
So this equaled: $3370 for the five of us

DDP per person/per night is $75.49 which equals: $3019.60

So I guess my savings were a little off, but still $350. I'm pretty good with this.
 
I went through the painstaking process of crunching the numbers for our entire upcoming trip, fully expecting the DDP to be a poor value for our family of 7 (no kids under 10). I was surprised to discover that we were going to save over $425 by using the DDP.

I was not expecting to see any kind of savings, and the non-DDP calculations were minus a lot of desserts and appetizers that a few of my girls probably won't eat. Yes, my kids still love character meals so we have a few of those planned, and we don't skip meals, but we do use our snacks for breakfast when we're there.

So, don't ever assume that it is 100% of the time a losing proposition to use the DDP. Yes, I love the convenience and being able to skip the guilt of ordering what I really want regardless of the price, but it CAN be a value.
It can be a value, if you use all your credits and eat at expensive locations. However...Did you compare that to paying for Tables in Wonderland card? For a family of seven at $75 per person for regular DDP that’s $525 per day. Over a seven day period, that’s over $3500 dollars. Without accounting for the possibility that you won’t eat everything included in every meal and you won’t buy extra snacks or drinks, TIW then saves you 20%($700) on the $3500. Yes, I know one party member has to get annual pass and pay $150 annual fee, but you would still save and get a discount on anything you order on the menu.
 
It can be a value, if you use all your credits and eat at expensive locations. However...Did you compare that to paying for Tables in Wonderland card? For a family of seven at $75 per person for regular DDP that’s $525 per day. Over a seven day period, that’s over $3500 dollars. Without accounting for the possibility that you won’t eat everything included in every meal and you won’t buy extra snacks or drinks, TIW then saves you 20%($700) on the $3500. Yes, I know one party member has to get annual pass and pay $150 annual fee, but you would still save and get a discount on anything you order on the menu.


We're a once every five years family for WDW but if we were closer (or in a higher tax bracket) I could definitely see the value. Haha.

and yeah... we leave no credits on the table..
 
i think a lot of people get it because it sounds easier and they get it as part of a package (so they just see one lump cost)
I think that's exactly why people do it. I know many podcasts talk about using tables in wonderland or annual pass discounts instead of getting the dining plan or putting money on gift cards. Some of those options aren't available to everyone. For example, a family that is planning to only go down once in a year it makes no sense for them to get an annual pass and tables in wonderland card no matter how much they might save in discounts, if there isn't benefit after the trip then why bother with it. Also, some people may not be able to get Disney gift cards as easily where they live, up until only recently you couldn't use Disney gift cards bought in Canada outside of the Canadian Disney stores.
 
It will be an 8 night stay ... (1900 Park Fare, Whispering Canyon, Beirgarten, Mama Melrose, Homecomin', 'Ohana, TRex, Chef Mickey)

So without DDP, Breakfasts ($360), Lunches ($810) and Dinners ($2200, and this is no cocktails, fewer apps and desserts, and at an average of $275 per night which 6 out of the 8 nights were more than this)
So this equaled: $3370 for the five of us

Jim - thanks for sharing this. That’s an amazing and inspiring week of dining. I didn’t think $3370 worth of food in 8 days was possible. I’m curious - What percentage of your days are devoted to dining? And how much time do you get to spend in the parks?
 
On our last trip the DDP worked out to be cheaper than paying OOP. I am crunching numbers for our next trip (literally looking at every menu and the price of what we would order), and paying out of pocket breaks even with the DDP. We do at least 4 character meals each trip, and our kids are under 10.
 
Everyone loves Disney's "I was there" merchandise for special events. I think i'm gonna make shirts for our next trip... "Free Dining 2005, I was there...TIP INCLUDED!" Maybe have a graphic of whoever was the President of WDW at the time crying.
 
Jim - thanks for sharing this. That’s an amazing and inspiring week of dining. I didn’t think $3370 worth of food in 8 days was possible. I’m curious - What percentage of your days are devoted to dining? And how much time do you get to spend in the parks?

It's not that bad. His breakfasts seem simple and on the go. QS is just like you would expect, all in the park. The dinners seemed mostly in park, on the monorail or at Disney Springs. I assume he spent the majority of the time in the parks, if not all of it.
 

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