New Disney Dining Plan 2008

[Lisa_M]

I see this as a MAJOR issue.

Tipping should be based on the COST of the meal. So if the meal would have cost you $50 tip based on $50. You do not tip based on the 80% discount for DDE or some "mythical" flat rate (how would you know what the flat rate is? Disney doesn't disclose the "proration" of the cost between your various meals)

And it's not just guests from foreign countries.

On the DIS we have had the following

1. I don't tip because I will never see those servers again.
2. I don't tip because if I had to pay a 15% tip I could not afford resturant XYZ.

And my personal favorite occured when I was sitting at the Rose and Crown. 'You don't tip at resuturants in the UK so we don't need to tip' Well, yes, that is partially true. Service charge is often included in Europe, but the Rose and Crown is in FLORIDA!!! (And these folks had an accent just like mine. I think they were from East TN!)

I agree it should be based on the total. It's really unfortunate that Disney is tipping its servers on the prorated basis.

 

[SRUAlmn]

I agree it should be based on the total. It's really unfortunate that Disney is tipping its servers on the prorated basis.

That's where I was confused. We used to use those Hotwire Meal vouchers which were a base cost to purchase and you could get an appetizer, entree and dessert with them. The servers were tipped based on the value of what you consumed, not on the cost of the voucher. Therefore, they were SO nice and were always trying to get you the most for your money because it made their tip bigger. That's how I thought the DDP worked too.

 

[CarolA]

I agree it should be based on the total. It's really unfortunate that Disney is tipping its servers on the prorated basis.

Disney isn't. My understanding is that on the current DDP DISNEY servers are tipped at 18% of the total (which is one reason they push you to take desert even if you aren't hungry) Now at non-Disney owned resturants that may or may not be true.... (there appears to be some confusion on that, but servers have confirmed the 18% to guests who ask at Disney resturants. Plus I "believe" it shows on the check. Which means the servers are TAXED on it. So you can bet they are taking it! LOL!)

However, I am afraid that under the new plan, guests are going to "tip on the prorated basis" Since they have no idea what that is, I can bet it's going to be $20. So instead of 18% of $60 your server gets 18% of $20.... Not a good deal for them.

 

[DawnM]

My oldest will be 10 before we go again and quite frankly, my soon to be 8 year old can eat him under the table! My oldest doesn't eat all that much.

Not worth it to me!

Dawn

 

[Princess Minnie5]

It seems as if my family won't be using DDP in the future if these changes do take place. The real deal breaker for me is the exclusion of the tips. I like the convenience the current plan gives us. Food is budgeted for in advance so no need to worry about it when we're there. I also like not having to worry about the tip or seeing DH pull out his tip calculator, I cringe every time he brings it out . Next year, the new plan will cost my family over $1100.00 for 7 nights. I can feed my family for a lot less than that.

Concerning the proposed deluxe plan: Please, that is just way too much food! We go to Disney World to enjoy ourselves and unwind. I can't imagine having to make ADR's for all those meals. DH would go insane if I asked him "Do you think we'll be hungry by such-and-such time? Where should we plan to be at such-and-such hour?" Sounds like it would be a headache. Besides that's valuable park time and DS2 would go crazy sitting all that time. DDDP not good for us.

Concerning kids just over 9: For DD(now 12) it was not a good deal when she was 10. She was into Mickey-roni and Cheese and chicken strips so she wasn't happy unless we were at buffets where she ate from the kids station. It wasn't a great deal at $38.99. At other TS locations, a lot of food was wasted. By the time she turned 12 she was ready to order adult meals. She couldn't finish them, but at least DDP was worth it.
(Yes, I was one of those people who were upset when Disney changed the age cap from 11 to 9 for kids meals.)

 

[dobball23]

I see this as a MAJOR issue.

Tipping should be based on the COST of the meal. So if the meal would have cost you $50 tip based on $50. You do not tip based on the 80% discount for DDE or some "mythical" flat rate (how would you know what the flat rate is? Disney doesn't disclose the "proration" of the cost between your various meals)

And it's not just guests from foreign countries.

On the DIS we have had the following

1. I don't tip because I will never see those servers again.
2. I don't tip because if I had to pay a 15% tip I could not afford resturant XYZ.

And my personal favorite occured when I was sitting at the Rose and Crown. 'You don't tip at resuturants in the UK so we don't need to tip' Well, yes, that is partially true. Service charge is often included in Europe, but the Rose and Crown is in FLORIDA!!! (And these folks had an accent just like mine. I think they were from East TN!)

Why is/should tipping be based on the cost of the meal? Is the server doing more work if I order a steak for $25 than a chicken dinner for $12? Based on that, they would get an extra $1.50+ without doing any extra work.

I do tip, but things like that make me not understand why we do it the way it is done.

 

[ldbrown318]

We have used the DDP twice and have enjoyed it. Im not to concerned if they take out the appetizer. We rarely ordered them before, so its not to big of a deal for us. But having the tip included was a bug plus. The biggest part was the convenience of it all. Once you paid for the plan, it was all taken care of.

Now will this keep us from buying the new plan? Probably not. Its still a good deal if you eat your TS at night. IMHOP.

As for the deluxe plan.....you have got to be kidding me!!! There are not enough hours in the day to spend at 3 TS meals and still get to see things at WDW. When I go to WDW its for fun first and eating second.

But thats just my opinion....I could be wrong............

 

[disneyjunkie]

As for the deluxe plan.....you have got to be kidding me!!! There are not enough hours in the day to spend at 3 TS meals and still get to see things at WDW. When I go to WDW its for fun first and eating second.

But thats just my opinion....I could be wrong............

The deluxe plan will work great for us. Our 2008 trip is during Easter. At the time, with EMHs, the parks will be open from 7:00am or 8:00am until 12:00-3:00am. That leaves us plenty of time to do everything on our list(we're commandos)

If I use one of the following schedules, we'll have plenty of time for park fun and dining.

6:30 food court breakfast
11:30 TS lunch
6:30-7:00 TS dinner

or

10:30 TS brunch
6:30-7:00 TS dinner (signature)

or

8:00 TS breakfast
1:00 TS lunch
7:30-8:00 TS dinner

 

[LSchrow]

no tip = no DDP for us
we've used it 2x (& will again in oct), but removing the gratuity also removes the convenience (the major reason we use the DDP ~ tho, we still tip extra for good service ).
removing the appy's is fine; i would have preferred an increase in the plan cost, & inclusion of gratuity tho.
no biggie: we stay DVC & always have a car, so it's just a matter of more eating in room & off-site (since very few WDW restaurants WOW us anyway, we would be more selective with on-site, if we do any at all ).

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Our trips to Disney revolve around two things: 1) our resort and 2) restaurants. This is because we've visited Disney so many times over the years (around 50+) that we tour differently. Our TS meals are a welcome sanity break from the mayhem in the parks. And I refuse to do CS meals anywhere but at a Disney resort. The CS places in the parks remind me of a mosh pit at a concert.

I'm using the DDP (free) in less than 3 weeks and I realized a while back the plan doesn't really serve our eating pattern best. We like to eat very good meals and tend to go more for quality than quantity. We've got 7 TS credits but have ADRs for 13 TS meals (and the Brown Derby is 2TS). I hadn't planned on using the DDP for our trip next year but with the deluxe plan rolled out, I just might change my mind.

 

[SRUAlmn]

If I use one of the following schedules, we'll have plenty of time for park fun and dining.

6:30 food court breakfast
11:30 TS lunch
6:30-7:00 TS dinner

or

10:30 TS brunch
6:30-7:00 TS dinner (signature)

or

8:00 TS breakfast
1:00 TS lunch
7:30-8:00 TS dinner

I just still don't get it. We honestly consider ourselves to be pretty big eaters, and I cannot imagine eating 3 TS meals in a 12 hour time span It's not just the meals either, it's desserts, 2 snacks, and one app too!

 

[thelionqueen]

I just still don't get it. We honestly consider ourselves to be pretty big eaters, and I cannot imagine eating 3 TS meals in a 12 hour time span It's not just the meals either, it's desserts, 2 snacks, and one app too!

I agree with you on this! We have gone to Disney so many times, that we plan a lot of our activities around dining instead of the parks. Even having said that we are big eaters AND schedule around dining, the deluxe would still be a massive amount of food and time.

But, thanks to Disney, they make something for everyone! I'm glad others can use it, but for us, it's just way way way too much.

 

[LorieR]

Why is/should tipping be based on the cost of the meal? Is the server doing more work if I order a steak for $25 than a chicken dinner for $12? Based on that, they would get an extra $1.50+ without doing any extra work.

I do tip, but things like that make me not understand why we do it the way it is done.

I totally agree!!! The whole system makes absolutely no sense!! Tipping should be based somehow on how much is DONE by the server, i.e. the number plates, cups, refills that they serve/deliver to the table, not on the cost of what is in those dishes!!

 

[SRUAlmn]

I totally agree!!! The whole system makes absolutely no sense!! Tipping should be based somehow on how much is DONE by the server, i.e. the number plates, cups, refills that they serve/deliver to the table, not on the cost of what is in those dishes!!

Very good point!!! I was a server in college and would get so annoyed when a college group would come in and share 2 appetizers and then get water. I'd have to KEEP refilling their waters, KEEP bringing them more chips to refill the appetizer basket, and they sat there for an hour. Their bill ended up being around $20 for 4 people, so I'd get $4 for working my tail off.

 

[neatokimmo]

If I ate the deluxe package everyday for a week I'd be seriously ill. I'm one of those "I must max out the value of this plan" people

I would consider splitting up a trip - maybe 3 days on site with the deluxe plan and not go into the parks, just enjoy my time at the pool and eat all those fancy meals. It would give me the extra time I've always wanted to tour the resorts and to go to dinner shows. Then I'd move off site and start using my park tickets and spend the next several days trying to burn off what I ate those first three

 

[CarolA]

I travel a lot... and have to eat out a lot...

My experience has been after a few days of "nice food" three meals a day, I don't appreciate it. I just get "tired" of it. And I know most of my coworkers feel the same way so I am not alone. Unfortunately I have had some meals at "excellent" resturants where I was so sick of "eating out" and "fancy food" that they were really wasted. I guess on the Deluxe Plan that would really be an issue with me.

One nice meal a day, MAYBE. I "fancy breakfast" Full Lunch, plus a full dinner. By dinner I would be full and "waste" the food and the experience.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I just still don't get it. We honestly consider ourselves to be pretty big eaters, and I cannot imagine eating 3 TS meals in a 12 hour time span It's not just the meals either, it's desserts, 2 snacks, and one app too!

We eat three meals a day at home, why wouldn't we do the same while on vacation?

We don't try to max out the plan. We don't order based on what's included, we order based on what we'll eat. When we used the plan in 2005, we skipped plenty of desserts and appetizers. The drinks and entrees were more than enough for us.

Yes, the plan includes a ton of food, but we don't feel the need to order/eat everything that’s included just because we can.

 

[lesroi]

Tips are not mandatory, are they? At least not for a group less than say, 6? Although now that I think about it, when we went last September and I paid OOP for DD's kids meals on occasion, I remember them adding tip in automatically for just her.

Hmmm.... DOES Disney automatically force you to pay a tip regardless of the size of your party? If so, then THAT is bogus, if you ask me.

But if they DON'T force a particular tip amount and leave it to the discretion of the guest, I foresee a lot of guests either tipping very low or skipping out ont he tip entirely. THAT will be enough for the servers to be outraged about the change in the dining plan.

I agree! We don't participate in the Dining Plan as we live locally and have the DDE card. Last time we were at MGM, the waiter mentioned to us that the current plan was going to change to a "no gratuity included" and I wondered the very same thing as you... How many waiters are going to get stiffed by travelers who just don't realize the change or frankly just don't care about tipping? Could be bad news for servers!

Tracy

 

[higdonk]

I am bummed about the tip thing, but the Deluxe plan will work great for us next Spring! It will be our first family trip with dd5 and dd2.5. We had already planned to do a lot of character breakfasts, a few TS lunches and TS dinners every night. This will work great for us. As for it being too much food? We were planning on the character breakfasts already anyway so we will eat a normal amount of breakfast food. For sit down lunches we will probably order an entree salad or something light, maybe not even the appetizer or dessert, and then get all three courses for dinner. So what if we don't order all three courses at lunch? Even if we don't we will more than get our money's worth each day.

For an adult, most character breakfasts are at least $20-26, say get a drink and a nice sandwich or entree salad for lunch $15-20, and dinner for all three courses at a non-signature place would still be at least $55 (figuring $10 each for dessert and appetizer and a $30 entree, plus a drink).

We don't plan to be touring commandos though. We have little kids so we don't plan to "do the parks" at night, other than some light WS touring and MK for Wishes. Most of our park touring will be rope drop until 1 pm then back to the hotel for nap/swim.

Plus the deluxe plan works really well for people with food allergies who will have an easier time working with a chef to get the appropriate food rather than at a CS location. This will help us as dd5 and I can't eat gluten.

Anyway just some thoughts....

Kate

 

[Lexxiefern]

Count me in as one who will no longer be purchasing the DDP. I really enjoyed it too, so that stinks. I better enjoy my October trip using the DDP.