NEVER AGAIN - our DDP experience

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I am a bit confused with your review.

We have DDP this weekend and are looking forward to it. We got the lowest plan due to the extreme amount of food and hope that we can do the TS and CS and not be stuffed.

In any case--I am lost as to how this was the fault of the DDP for your two experiences at Olivia's and the Contemporary.

It seems these could have happened without the Dining plan. I agree the service was poor, but I am trying to understand if this was b/c you had the dining plan--or if it was just poor service.

Not wanting the plan due to too much food is one thing.

Not wanting the plan b/c they treated you that way b/c you were on plan would be something that I would want to know and cannot figure out by your post.

We got the dining plan to save money and enjoy some of our favorite restaurants without worry for the bill.

From some of the issues--are DDP guests stuck ordering only specific items on the menu.

We have Le Celier and Spoodles as 2 of our restaurants (the other two are buffet). I had presumed that we could order anything off of the menu within the rules (meal, appetizer or dessert, plus non-alcoholic beverage and kids plan orders kids menu). Is this not true? No chocolate moose?

We have a non-paying toddler--so he will use up our snack allocations and share meals.


Thanks.

 

[Chuck S]

We have Le Celier and Spoodles as 2 of our restaurants (the other two are buffet). I had presumed that we could order anything off of the menu within the rules (meal, appetizer or dessert, plus non-alcoholic beverage and kids plan orders kids menu). Is this not true? No chocolate moose?

We have a non-paying toddler--so he will use up our snack allocations and share meals.


Thanks.

Actually, it is not "appetizer or dessert" it is dessert only. Appetizers are not included on the standard plan, and they will not substitute an appetizer for a dessert.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I am a bit confused with your review.

We have DDP this weekend and are looking forward to it. We got the lowest plan due to the extreme amount of food and hope that we can do the TS and CS and not be stuffed.

In any case--I am lost as to how this was the fault of the DDP for your two experiences at Olivia's and the Contemporary.

It seems these could have happened without the Dining plan. I agree the service was poor, but I am trying to understand if this was b/c you had the dining plan--or if it was just poor service.

Not wanting the plan due to too much food is one thing.

Not wanting the plan b/c they treated you that way b/c you were on plan would be something that I would want to know and cannot figure out by your post.

We got the dining plan to save money and enjoy some of our favorite restaurants without worry for the bill.

From some of the issues--are DDP guests stuck ordering only specific items on the menu.

We have Le Celier and Spoodles as 2 of our restaurants (the other two are buffet). I had presumed that we could order anything off of the menu within the rules (meal, appetizer or dessert, plus non-alcoholic beverage and kids plan orders kids menu). Is this not true? No chocolate moose?

We have a non-paying toddler--so he will use up our snack allocations and share meals.


Thanks.

My brother, an OKW owner, went to Olivia's in Dec. He was not happy with the food or service. I think the Cali Grill was just a happening. I know someone who just got back from eating at Cali Grill, and it was fabulous as usual. I see no fault of the DDP for any of these experiences.

 

[Dean]

I am a bit confused with your review.

We have DDP this weekend and are looking forward to it. We got the lowest plan due to the extreme amount of food and hope that we can do the TS and CS and not be stuffed.

In any case--I am lost as to how this was the fault of the DDP for your two experiences at Olivia's and the Contemporary.

It seems these could have happened without the Dining plan. I agree the service was poor, but I am trying to understand if this was b/c you had the dining plan--or if it was just poor service.

Not wanting the plan due to too much food is one thing.

Not wanting the plan b/c they treated you that way b/c you were on plan would be something that I would want to know and cannot figure out by your post.

We got the dining plan to save money and enjoy some of our favorite restaurants without worry for the bill.

From some of the issues--are DDP guests stuck ordering only specific items on the menu.

We have Le Celier and Spoodles as 2 of our restaurants (the other two are buffet). I had presumed that we could order anything off of the menu within the rules (meal, appetizer or dessert, plus non-alcoholic beverage and kids plan orders kids menu). Is this not true? No chocolate moose?

We have a non-paying toddler--so he will use up our snack allocations and share meals.


Thanks.

There are essentially no exclusions to what you can order as an entree. Your choices of restaurants should give you better than average value esp if you also get good value from your CS options which are actually more variable in my book. As noted, they will not sub the appy for a dessert though I think they should consider it. For the buffet's your under 3 y/o can also eat for free and get his own. One thing to think about is that at Le Cellier they have been having special meals lately where you get BOTH appy and dessert. They often don't tell you so you should ask. It was the prime rib, fish and a couple of others. You could get the Beer Cheese soup and the a choice of 3 or 4 desserts. The Filet of Beef was not on this list so we passed it up first stop but took advantage second time since we were going to get the prime rib anyway. Again, you may have to ask if they're still doing it, we did the second time around when they gave us the regular menu instead of the DDP menu.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I went and reread the plan--it looks like the kids meal includes an appetizer and dessert (as long as the source is correct)--they had the adult meal listed correctly.

That's okay--I prefer dessert over appetizers.

We will consider the cheese soup--thanks for the heads up.

And I completely forgot about under-3's being free at the buffets anyway.

Cool beans!

Too bad about the sub-par experiences. I have heard in general of a decline in service across the board, but good to know that other folks are having some positive experiences elsewhere.

 

[RobDoc]

I am a bit confused with your review.

We have DDP this weekend and are looking forward to it. We got the lowest plan due to the extreme amount of food and hope that we can do the TS and CS and not be stuffed.

In any case--I am lost as to how this was the fault of the DDP for your two experiences at Olivia's and the Contemporary.

It seems these could have happened without the Dining plan. I agree the service was poor, but I am trying to understand if this was b/c you had the dining plan--or if it was just poor service.

Not wanting the plan due to too much food is one thing.

Not wanting the plan b/c they treated you that way b/c you were on plan would be something that I would want to know and cannot figure out by your post.

We got the dining plan to save money and enjoy some of our favorite restaurants without worry for the bill.

From some of the issues--are DDP guests stuck ordering only specific items on the menu.

We have Le Celier and Spoodles as 2 of our restaurants (the other two are buffet). I had presumed that we could order anything off of the menu within the rules (meal, appetizer or dessert, plus non-alcoholic beverage and kids plan orders kids menu). Is this not true? No chocolate moose?

We have a non-paying toddler--so he will use up our snack allocations and share meals.


Thanks.

Sorry for the confusion. I did not mean to suggest that the DDP was the problem for anything. In our case, the value was not there for my wife and I - it was fine with 2 children using the plan. We will not use it again ourselves, but will the next time we have grandchildren with us. On this trip we had to participate since we were all staying in a 2BR villa and everyone had to be on the plan. Next time we will have separate villas.

Our extreme disappointment with 2 meals had nothing to do with the DP. Those issues were the fault of the CMs at those restaurants. We have dined at both locations many, many times without problem but were still very disappointed with the treatment we received at both on this trip. With the Olivia's meal, the manager removed the charge for the one meal - which did not benefit us at all since we were on the DDP and the pre-paid credit still went unused - so in that one instance we would have been better off had we not been on the DP.

Regardless, the DDP holds no value for the way we enjoy dining at WDW - especially since we also have the TIW card. With the children on this trip we felt it would be easier to have all meals planned out in advance with no need for anyone to spend time preparing meals throughout the day. That was the only benefit we found with using the DP on this trip. The other issues were just frustrating.

Your meals will include an entree, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage. Appetizers would be extra, as would adult beverages. The kids DP allows them to order from the children's menu which usually includes an entree and 2 sides (appetizer and dessert - or even 2 desserts if desired).

 

[Dean]

I went and reread the plan--it looks like the kids meal includes an appetizer and dessert (as long as the source is correct)--they had the adult meal listed correctly.

That's okay--I prefer dessert over appetizers.

We will consider the cheese soup--thanks for the heads up.

And I completely forgot about under-3's being free at the buffets anyway.

Cool beans!

Too bad about the sub-par experiences. I have heard in general of a decline in service across the board, but good to know that other folks are having some positive experiences elsewhere.

Even if you don't order or they don't have the special meals that include the soup, we find it wonderful and couldn't go without it. We did the DDP 2 a week ago and we had good service and good food though I do think there have been declines overall.

 

[toocherie]

I went to Calif. Grill in late March using TiW and had a terrible experience with service. So it's not the DP that is causing the problem.

 

[Sammie]

I wouldn't surpise me at all if casserole dishes and large items are prepared elsewhere, in fact, I think the prime rib that used to be served at almost every Disney restaurant years ago was prepared in a central location. But I don't see how they can get by without some sort of trained person to deal with allergies, plating the food, assembling sandwiches, and cooking steaks. So there would have to be someone, maybe not a Le Cordon Bleu chef, but at least a short order cook, back there in the kitchen.

You would be right, for example the roasted chicken at Cosmic Ray's is the same as the very expensive roasted chicken at the Grand Floridian cafe.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I went to Calif. Grill in late March using TiW and had a terrible experience with service. So it's not the DP that is causing the problem.

We use to LOVE the CA Grill. Infact we loved it so much we had our wedding reception there.

We've not been back to the CA for 2 or 3 years we felt the food quality had slipped so much.

johno

 

[DonnaL]

We also have decided not to use DDP again....we last used it January 2008. On that trip, we had 3 adults and while we did enjoy the plan, we also felt it was too much food and we ate an uncomfortable amount. We also have used TIW (before it was TIW, feel it is a better value for us and will probably purchase it again for future trips. Our last few trips have included some days spent offsite doing other things and we didn't dine onsite all that much so felt it wouldn't be worth it for those trips.

 

[M5ward]

We've never used the DDP and probably never will. We like an appetizer with our dinner (even if we split one), and I like a drink or two (alcoholic drink, that is) with my meal. I also don't want to feel pressured to use up a bunch of credits. TiW has served us well the last two trips, and we will continue to buy it.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I wish the TIW card was offered to all DVC members and not just annual passholders. We rarely get an annual passholder's ticket because we are rarely at WDW twice in one year. Normally, we go about every 13 to 14 months for about 10 days each trip. We live farther away. We live closer to DL so we tend to use our points there more often.

For those that are reading this and thinking that DDP is too much food, don't worry it isn't if you really plan out your day. Some of the things we do is split CS at breakfast and Lunch for the adults. So, we'll order one meal and my husband I would split it and do the same at lunch. We make sure we don't do too many buffets as that is really where you'll fill up. We make sure we space the meals appropriately. For example, if we do a buffet around 8 am we'll do a early dinner at 5 pm and have a snack in between. Or we'll do a later buffet around 10 am. We save the desserts for breakfast. I find WDW has smaller portion sizes compared to Chillis or Chevys. We also share a lot of food with our kids. It is a great way to have them try something new without actually ordering it. It has gotten our 8 year old to like Salmon. Oh, the other thing we do is not save our snack credits for a the best value. I think people are so hung up on getting the best value it works against them. We'll use 2 snack credits for waters and 2 for an actual snack and share among us. You still come out ahead but you don't fill up on junk between meals.

So, while the DDP plan didn't work for the OP it isn't all doom and gloom for everyone else. I like the plan. In fact, TIW has some disadvantages as well too. So, don't worry too much.

 

[mopee3]

WOW where to start.
This missive is about the DDP not about how food, service, or how the restaurants in general have gone up or down since DVC started, if fact it is about the Deluxe DP (DDDP) not the regular DDP. We also have a TIW card and I love it because I love Valet service.
We have found that after 10 days of the DDDP we are starting to become a bit jaded with all the rich food. But then when we get home because we have no places like CG, Artist Point, Jiko, Yachtsman Steakhouse, etc., we find ourselves yearning for these places. If you have not eaten at the Grande Floridian Cafe in the morning, well can you say "Lobster Benedict", then you need to try it out. Have you ever seen the NASA Shuttle leave this earth from your table in the Wine Room at the Cal Grill, while sipping on a wonderful dark red California Zin? One might say, "but you said this is about the DDDP" and it is because without this plan I would never spend $100 for breakfast (Grand Floridian) and $450 at the Cal Grill for dinner, or $550 a day. But I would spend $280 for 4 adults on the DDDP for that meal and many others like it.
We ate on the regular DDP on our first trip and found it to be just fine but we ended up spending money in addition to the cost to the plan mainly on breakfast.
So for us it is the DDDP and planning for when, where, and what we eat at the World. This planning takes out all the guess work about “where are we going to eat tonight”? We eat a good sit down breakfast: Boma, Captains Grill, Grand Floridian, etc, then do the parks or just sit around the pool until dinner at 5:30. The early dinner gives us time to walk off a bunch of the wonderful food.
Another funny part about this plan is not being able to utilize a bunch of the 1-credit restaurants. We have done this but, talk about a bloated piggy boy!!
Remember the DDDP includes appetizer, entrée, drink, and desert. You don’t have to choose between the app and desert. Oh and those deserts!!:yay

And it is not about being made of money, because we are not, but when I take my bride on a vacation she doesn't like to cook!!

Last Feburary my wife and our two much older daughters, ages 33 and 38, went on a ten day trip. I saved the slips and compared them to using the TIW card. The DDDP won out but only by about $200. This included adult beverages, tips and those little cubes they put in the drinks.

So for us it is the DDDP and full speed ahead to the Tree houses!

 

[disneynutz]

We ate dinner for the first time at Olivia's a couple of months ago. The food was average and in our opinion, priced too high for the ambiance of the restaurant.

With the dumbing down of the menus more food is being prepared by vendors ready to heat. Disney specifies the recipes and since they buy in such large quantity, the food purveyors prepare the food in ready to heat bags and containers. That's why a BBQ rib at Cape May tastes the same as the BBQ ribs at Hoop-Dee-Doo.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Like others, I'm a bit envious that you were spend 10 wonderful nights at OKW, and how great that you didn't have to move!

We'll use the DDP in December always because it includes the Candlelight Processional as well as the Fantasmic package and TiW doesn't. Le Cellier did have the 3 course meal on the DDP but we didn't use it because it didn't include the filet. Thank heavens that dessert was included that night or I never would have tasted the wonderful Whiskey Chocolate Cake! Usually I don't order dessert, but did sort of feel I "had" to!

We're trying the Counter service plan when we go in June.

Bobbi

 

[Geyser Gazer]

Doing DDP just once has saved us thousands of dollars. I always thought that we would be avid DCLiners but by day 3 of a 5 day DDP feeding we had had enough. On our last night at the Coral Reef we joked about what a relief it was that we had used our last credit. Somehow though, after settling up our bill said that we each had one TS left. I asked my wife if she could stuff another steak in before Epcot closed, she smiled (kind of). Ironically, one of our favorite meals was using those credits for a late breakfast at Whispering Canyon after packing and cleaning our villa. This was because we were actually hungry for the first time since we had arrived.

 

[circhead]

Doc - I'm sorry two of your meals were less than hoped for.

I have never done the DDP but have (when possible) gotten the DDE card.

I live 20 minutes from NYC ( for those not from the area that means the island of Manhattan not any of the other boroughs.) I can get any type of food I want, when I want it.

There are restaurants at WDW I will not eat at again because IMO they are just trying too hard to fill a stereotype and I can get better at home. However, there are several restaurants at the World that I enjoy and tend to go back to. Le Bistro is among my favorites. I love French food and this restaurant is spectacular. I have eaten at 5 star French restaurants in NY and Le Bistro is comparable.

For me the DDP will never be in my plans. I don't want anyone telling me where or what to eat. I want to see a whole menu not a specialized, reduced version. I want to eat the food I want - if that means I skip the appetizer or dessert that's my choice ( Unfortunately - I must say Disney's desserts are goooood and I have the hips to prove it.)

I hope that Disney reconsiders and allows DVC members to buy a TIW card without an annual pass because I for sure would get one. One of my last times with the card my husband and I saved enough on 2 dinners to make it wortwhile.

Again, I'm sorry you had bad dining experiences - but since Ca Grill is one of your favorites I hope you chalk it up to a bad server and give it another try.

Pat

 

[disneynutz]

Like others, I'm a bit envious that you were spend 10 wonderful nights at OKW, and how great that you didn't have to move!

We'll use the DDP in December always because it includes the Candlelight Processional as well as the Fantasmic package and TiW doesn't. Le Cellier did have the 3 course meal on the DDP but we didn't use it because it didn't include the filet. Thank heavens that dessert was included that night or I never would have tasted the wonderful Whiskey Chocolate Cake! Usually I don't order dessert, but did sort of feel I "had" to!

We're trying the Counter service plan when we go in June.

Bobbi

We tried the Quick Service Dining Plan during our last visit. There really isn't much $ savings but convenience is a factor. The real hidden gem is Wolfgang Puck Express. Very good food and a very good value.

 

[FindTheMickeys]

I think it's kind of ironic that one of the reasons I bought into DVC was for the kitchens. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to eat out, but much prefer CS for lunch and then a nice dinner in my room. Saves tons of money and when I get the munchies at 10 p.m. I can raid the refrigerator just like at home That being said, I wondered once (barely) about DDP and when I was told that DVC memebers weren't eligible, huh, well, there's another plus to DVC. Still saving me money