New Proposed Dining Plan is a Ripoff!

[Diznut84]

Let's examine the proposed changes to the DDP for 2008:

Based on my family's typical use of the DDP (over the past several years), here are the net effects of the proposed 2008 changes for us:
Removal of Appetizer: Typically $7.50 per person (loss of benefit)
Removal of Tip: Dinners average $40 per person: Tip at 18% is $7.20 per person (loss of benefit)
Total Loss of Benefits: $14.70 per person

Net Effect after Lowering $1: $13.70

% Change in Cost from previous DDP: Over 35% Increase!

Disney is acting in a very greedy manner with these proposed changes!

 

[Praying Colonel]

Can't you see the price of the plan has been lowered a dollar? That's a great deal!

...Just ignore that man--er, I mean tip and no appetizer--behind the curtain. Nothing to see here, just move along.

 

[jlx2]

I agree. It looks like this year will be the last that we will purchase the dining plan too. Maybe so many people will not get it in 2008 thsat they will and go back to the way it is currently. I really loved the DDP, and I'm so sad we won't be using it any more.

 

[Lewisc]

Disney is acting in a very greedy manner with these proposed changes!

As opposed to the "greedy" guests who continue to try to find ways to use child credits to get adult meals?

You got it right, the plan has an effective price increase of 30-35%. If the plan doesn't make sense for your family don't buy it. I doubt I will. The plan was too popular and strained the restaurant capacity. Guests who "stretched" credits didn't help.

 

[Brian Noble]

The more I think about this, the more I think Disney is intentionally trying to reduce the uptake for DDP, especially amongst the more bargain-minded. The Deluxe plan is a significant value, but for a smaller and higher-end market. The regular plan is now really aimed at the guest looking for convenience, as opposed to the guest looking for value--it's still a discount, but now a much smaller one, and much closer to the break-even point.

In other words, the people who spent a lot of time trying to figure out ways to stretch their DDP the farthest are exactly the people most likely to abandon the plan now. The people who just walk into their local travel agency and say "Send us to Disney; you figure it out." are still likely to sign up..

I doubt that's accidental.

 

[magicmouse2]

Why didnt they just leave it and increase the price ?
I wouldnt buy it now. Probably many others will feel the same. One of the best features was not having to work out how much to tip at the end of your meal. And as for the proposed Premium plan - 3 ts per day ! when would you fit in the time to do the parks ! I know you can have counter options instead of ts on that plan but if I were to do that I wouldnt be subbing many ts for cs meals I think whoever is thinkinging up these proposed changes needs to listen to a little more guest feedback. I know a lot of food gets wasted on the dining plan, but to remove the appetizer ? (btw I am not a credit stretcher) Well without a dining plan I will put on less weight !!

 

[smjj]

Maybe guest like us that do not use the DDP can now get a seat at the restaurants without having to do the "180 day mad rush" just to get a place at the resort we are staying at. That has always been a pet peeve our ours. The allowed 100% of all tables to be reserved without taking into acct. folks staying at that resort having very limited places to have a nice meal unless you called at 180 days or so. We travel now without the kids and many times just like to wing it and the DDP has now taken that kind of spontanious away from people like us. But you know how it works, if it makes a lot of money, then go for it and the heck with how if affect people who have been going for 20 years now and just don't want to do DDP...smjj

 

[JimMIA]

I don't think the plan is a ripoff.

I just think they have changed DDP in ways that make it no longer useful for my family.

We drive up from Miami twice a year, so we always have a car. We'll just eat offsite. (We'll still stay onsite in DVC.) Since we will no longer be eating onsite, we will have the "freedom" to visit other Orlando attractions -- which is actually a plus for us, we wouldn't have done that before.

OTOH, even with the changes, I am sure there are a lot of people who will benefit from DDP, and would be wise to use it. In particular, I think families with multiple kids <10 will still find the math attractive, especially if they don't have a car.

DDP is no longer attractive for us (and that will affect far more than where we eat), but it will still work for many.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

I'm thrilled to see Disney shying away from the Cruise ship mentality regarding food. I applaud any move that could in any way bring them back to a quality over quantity POV.

It is now obvious (to me) that the extreme dining plans (the free dining) for example was in fact just another test program for Disney to see what would happen. I suspect Disney has found in the long run that the guests filling their rooms and using the plans were not as profitable as they'd hoped, perhaps realizing the high price they (Disney) have paid to woo them (the destruction of the carefully planned out signature fine dining venues) wasn't really what they want to do.

There will always be a place for dining plans as Lewis pointed out. But it may be a specific type of traveler that benifits from them in the future rather than the broad spectrum we've see these past few years.

Anyway way to go Disney now bring back a bit more diversity in your offerings and for goodness sake let the Chef's do their jobs!

 

[yellowfish78]

I'm thrilled to see Disney shying away from the Cruise ship mentality regarding food. I applaud any move that could in any way bring them back to a quality over quantity POV.

It is now obvious (to me) that the extreme dining plans (the free dining) for example was in fact just another test program for Disney to see what would happen. I suspect Disney has found in the long run that the guests filling their rooms and using the plans were not as profitable as they'd hoped, perhaps realizing the high price they (Disney) have paid to woo them (the destruction of the carefully planned out signature fine dining venues) wasn't really what they want to do.

There will always be a place for dining plans as Lewis pointed out. But it may be a specific type of traveler that benifits from them in the future rather than the broad spectrum we've see these past few years.

Anyway way to go Disney now bring back a bit more diversity in your offerings and for goodness sake let the Chef's do their jobs!

Well said! I'm one of the few that's glad that tips are being removed (even if it does mean that my budgeting mentality will have to change). Though not all my servers in 2006 were terrible, some did not deserve the tip that they received. I'm curious to see if the removal of tips will improve quality at the restaruants.
...and is it just me, or does the Deluxe Dining Plan sound mighty similar to the food portion of the old Silver Plan??

 

[tfc3rid]

Agreed that overall Disney lost $$ by selling the plan... Food costs are rising tremendously and they need to balance costs versus profits... From a business perspective, even havign the dining rooms full isn't necessarily a sign of something doing very 'well'.

In addition, a lot of loyal WDW folks have been very critical of the quality of the food at WDW since the DDP and the centralized kitchens became a reality... Perhaps this is a means to address that as well...

 

[Brian Noble]

It is now obvious (to me) that the extreme dining plans (the free dining) for example was in fact just another test program for Disney to see what would happen. I suspect Disney has found in the long run that the guests filling their rooms and using the plans were not as profitable as they'd hoped,

Seeing as how this is the third year running they've offered Free Dining, and expanded the marketing of it, by offering early to UK and bounceback guests, I'm afraid you may have mistaken your rose-colored glasses for your reading pair.

 

[mickey2000]

:

Maybe guest like us that do not use the DDP can now get a seat at the restaurants without having to do the "180 day mad rush" just to get a place at the resort we are staying at.

It's not just the price! You will ALSO have less on the menu with food that has slowly gone down hill in quality...........

" THERE IS LIFE AFTER DI$NEY"

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I wanted to like the Deluxe DDP, but until DS eats enough to justify adult portions then we won't buy the plan. At $70 per day for the plan plus about $20 per day in tips (per person) we're looking at $90 per day for each of us. On the trips we have done without DDP we ate when and where we wanted and we didn't spend anywhere NEAR $270 per day on food! We love TS, and we sometimes do a buffet breakfast and a TS dinner on the same day, but we still couldn't make it worth paying $90 per day.

 

[JimMIA]

... Food costs are rising tremendously and they need to balance costs versus profits...

In addition, a lot of loyal WDW folks have been very critical of the quality of the food at WDW since the DDP and the centralized kitchens became a reality... Perhaps this is a means to address that as well...

I've never believed that DDP was the driving force behind the standardization of food, and I do not believe changes in the DDP will have any effect on the quality of food. The standardization is an attempt to offset rising costs (of many types, not just food costs) and I see that expanding, not going away.

One way to deal with rising costs is to maximize capacity, and that means making sure everyone can find something they'll eat in every restaurant. The foodies will hate it, but the masses will eat there. In that sense, DDP and standardization sort of work together, but I don't think one is driving the other.

 

[canluvpooh]

We were probably not going to use the DDP for our upcoming trip as our child has turned 10 and now has become an adult

It was wonderful for our family in the past - but all good things must come to an end.

 

[JimMIA]

Seeing as how this is the third year running they've offered Free Dining, and expanded the marketing of it, by offering early to UK and bounceback guests

Actually, I think the UK and Bounce Back promotions were a reduction of Free DDP. They WAY oversold Free DDP in 2006, and they made a significant correction this year.

Instead of making Free DDP available to everyone for a long period of time, they made it available to two select groups who they know are their best customers. Then, they made it available to the general public, but for a reduced time period with much reduced availability. What they made available to the general public was basically table scraps, and many were not able to get it this year.

 

[Lewisc]

The plan will be a "rip off" IF Disney continues to suggest a 40% savings.

I agree with Jim. The bean counters decided to make the restaurants more profitable by streamlining and standardizing the menus and then adjusting the pricing to make the restaurants more popular. DDP was a result of this philosophy not the cause.

 

[Tam1067]

We loved the convenience of the DDP on our last two trips. Not having to worry about a tip was great. That said, since the tip is removed, and the value is less now that appetizers are removed, we will not be using the DDP on our next trip. I just can't justify paying in advance for something that has little or no monetary benefit for me and my family and offers no extra convience either. We will continue to eat a TS dinner each night, but we'll just pay OOP for it. I'm not sure we'll be back in 2008; the changesin DDP are one of the factors there, though not the only one.

I do feel that overall, Disney is trying to increase their profits. I can't blame them as that's what businesses do, but really, it stinks for my family and for the servers who will end up paying the price of people not tipping them appropriately.

 

[thunderbird1]

Why didnt they just leave it and increase the price?

Because a price increase looks like a price increase. Removing the gratuity sounds like removing something trivial from the plan. Many people (who are not Diznuts like us ) just call a travel agent and book it without doing the math, so they don't realize. . .

% Change in Cost from previous DDP: Over 35% Increase!

I'm not sure I'd call it a rip-off, but it's certainly not the bargain it was. And it will likely reduce the number of people using it and/or dining on property, so those non-Diznuts will be able to get into more restaurants without ADR's (which they also don't research and plan ahead for).