New Proposed Dining Plan is a Ripoff!

[hopelea]

Where are the changes listed??? I want to read them.


Thanks

 

[Praying Colonel]

Latest rumors are here...

http://www.allearsnet.com/blogs/debwills/2007/07/2008_dining_plan_changes_1.html

 

[caroline1851]

Though i never used the ddp, i was planning to for my trip in 08, not sure if i will now. It seemed almost too good to be true-it seemed like an endless amount of food for a cheap price. And then add to that, all the ways people seemed to work the system by, for example, sharing a meal, etc. You can see how they weren't very profitable. Also, maybe now restaurants won't be so crowded and i won't have to pre-plan my trip so much with having to make reservations 180 days in advance. Perhaps it will add some spontaneity to the trip.

 

[jdb0822]

We normally use our TS credits on Character buffets, which you don't get an appetizer anyway. Losing the tip hurts though. puts us very close to the breakeven point.

We also drove ourselves nuts last time, trying to plan our day around our ADR's for the TS's. Perhaps more CS's are in our future....

As for the price, Disney is doing the same as many companies, especially food companies, with the price. You get less for the same price. Look at ice cream, same price as 3 years ago, but the cartons are not half-gallon anymore, they are smaller.

I am sure if Disney raised the plan to 40.99 half the people would still be up in arms over that price, even if it still included appetizer and tip.

Of course, the DDP will still appeal to those 1st timers that never got to experience the DDP prior to the change.

Probably the big plus is this will kill the notion that DDP equals bad service. Now since we are paying the tip, service should improve in those cases.

 

[hopelea]

We doing DDP this November. I don't think we would use it in 2008. That is a lot of money to spend on two teenage girls who don't eat much. I think we are going to enjoy the DDP this year. But, won't purchase it again. The way the DDP is right now, there is a lot of food to consume. I can't imagine eating 3 TS every day. It has been nice experiencing the different restaurants, but it looks like I will go back to eating a hot dog and refilling my water bottles!!

Can't wait till November!!

 

[bicker]

There will always be people who will be "up in arms" about any change that isn't explicitly to their personal benefit. I think we've gotten to a point where hyperbole is often used to gain more attention for a personal perspective than is perhaps appropriate for a personal perspective. That's life.

 

[HockeyMomR]

I am disappointed to hear about the potential changes to DDP. We have used the plan for our past 2 trips and found it to be a very good plan for us (2 adults and 2 older sons). Even before the plan we would go to TS restuarants for 90% of our dinners.

The appetizer is not as big as a loss to us as the elimination of tip included. We had excellent service during our July stay at all restuarants except 1 (LeCellier), typically we tip extra on top of the 18% to bring the tip to 20% or more for good service.

A typical bill for our TS meals was $120 for the 4 of us, which is approximately $22 in gratuities included in our prepaid plan. Looks like we will go back to paying as we eat!

 

[mom2my3kids]

We are going this year during free dining, the first year on the DDP for us. I don't think we will buy it next year its just not a good deal for us. I think the sharing and people getting adult meals for kids meals hurt the DDP. I know its a lot of food, but the point of the plan was for the restaurants to get the money for each person not one person splitting that takes the profits away. I would not mind the app gone, but I think they should of given you a choice off a app or a desert just not both.

 

[kidsister]

While I found that the service was EXCELLENT on the DDP, those who complained about the service may now tip as you see fit. Maybe DIsney heard those of you who complained, tho I also think it had a lot to do with the union.

I never liked having desserts included because God knows that few of us can afford desserts re our waistlines, but loved the appetizer.

I thought that people using kid credits for adult food were scamming, but I don't think sharing a meal or parts of a meal hurts the system at all...the food is the food, either way. (A few bucks more for tip was always appreciated.)

While the old plan could be great savings, the new plan ...not so much. I can go to the parks and spend less than $5 a day for food without any problem. I'll eat breakfast in my DVC and then a snack is all I crave in the parks)
At the same time, ON the plan I enjoyed trying out new restaurants. I especially liked the appetizers. So the new plan isn't going to work for me.
If Disney is listening, I MIGHT consider the new plan IF one could have EITHER dessert OR appetizer on the plan.

The delux plan would work IF I could share it, meaning you could just buy as many days as you want, and when /if you ran out, buy some more. I'd do more 2TS signature restaurants and I'd probably share a TS lunch with someone. Oh well...it was good while it lasted

 

[mickey2000]

:

There will always be people who will be "up in arms" about any change that isn't explicitly to their personal benefit. I think we've gotten to a point where hyperbole is often used to gain more attention for a personal perspective than is perhaps appropriate for a personal perspective. That's life.

 

[ExtinctDino]

Though i never used the ddp, i was planning to for my trip in 08, not sure if i will now. It seemed almost too good to be true-it seemed like an endless amount of food for a cheap price. And then add to that, all the ways people seemed to work the system by, for example, sharing a meal, etc. You can see how they weren't very profitable. Also, maybe now restaurants won't be so crowded and i won't have to pre-plan my trip so much with having to make reservations 180 days in advance. Perhaps it will add some spontaneity to the trip.

So whichi is worse, sharing a meal or ordering a lot of food you know will get thrown away? In any case I think a lot more meal sharing occurs when guests pay OOP instead of through DDP.

 

[yngsj]

I'm glad to see tips off the plan, I'd rather pay the server what his or her service deserves. I'm a little disapppointed about the removal of the appetizers but I don't need that much food anyway. Will I buy the plan after these changes? I don't know but it still doesn't sound like a bad deal to me, just not the deal it used to be.

 

[Tink3Belle]

The prices they charge at the restaurants aren't really normal to begin with given the so-so quality they put out for the price. If you are on the dining plan you might say at least I am not paying for this (full price) and look the other way. Can you imagine getting a $200. bill for rubbery meat and a so so dinner? I would be outraged but when it happens on the current dining plan I say you get what you pay for and maybe you enjoyed the appetizer more then the entree. They should offer a choice of appetizer or dessert they are about the same price and most people are too full for dessert. Wouldn't that make sense? Maybe too much sense. And tipping on the overinflated price, forget about it.

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

I don't think it is a ripoff. It just won't be the great deal that it was. If you normally eat in a TS restaurant or eat a character meal on an average of once a day, in most cases you will save a tiny bit of money or break even. The thing I am concerned about is that the CM's won't receive the tips that are due to them since the gratutities will no longer be included in the plan. People who have already paid for their meals ahead (DDP) won't always be compelled to pull out that cash to leave a tip. That will be a shame for the hard working CM's.

 

[HockeyMomR]

I don't think it is a ripoff. It just won't be the great deal that it was. If you normally eat in a TS restaurant or eat a character meal on an average of once a day, in most cases you will save a tiny bit of money or break even. The thing I am concerned about is that the CM's won't receive the tips that are due to them since the gratutities will no longer be included in the plan. People who have already paid for their meals ahead (DDP) won't always be compelled to pull out that cash to leave a tip. That will be a shame for the hard working CM's.

I agree w/ you. As my earlier post states, we had great service for 5 out of our 6 TS meals a few weeks ago and had no problem tipping extra to assure the servers were receiving what we typically tip of 20% or more, but at least with the plan the servers were receiving 18%.

Our family of 4 pays adult prices for all on dining plan, so, DDP will not be as good of a deal as it was and I wouldn't miss the appetizer as it really is a lot of food. Letting the customers choose between appetizer OR dessert would be a great idea, but cost effective wise, I think the plan will no longer be a deal for us.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

There will always be people who will be "up in arms" about any change that isn't explicitly to their personal benefit. I think we've gotten to a point where hyperbole is often used to gain more attention for a personal perspective than is perhaps appropriate for a personal perspective. That's life.

I assume that's your personal opinion?

 

[Momof2J's]

Well, I just did the math (roughly) and it's not too bad. If we do DDP it will be $430 (2A/1C/<3). I figured what we would roughly spend by not ordering the most expensive items and it came to about $540. There is some savings there. I then figured the DxDDP which would be $800 for us and the amount we'd spend (2TS/1CS/2SN) would be about $1050. This is mostly character meals and no signature dining.

The question is if paying OOP would we eat that much? Probably not, however, we probably won't be back after our Jan 08 trip until 2011-12 so I don't think I'd mind trying to get the kids to do some extra character meals. I could see us doing an early breakfast, CS for lunch and a TS for a late dinner. We could use the snacks for any candy/treats/drinks we wanted during the day or for the room. Our kids are still young, so spending some time sitting down to eat would give them a nice break.

Also, regarding not being able to get a room discount if you have either of the dining plan, this may not be an issue for us. We are staying in a family suite at ASMu and so far I don't believe that discounts have ever been accepted for that type of room.

So, for us, the new plan is under consideration.

 

[KevGuy]

Please, receive less and pay more. Where I come from that is a ripoff!!

Pretty funny the unions complained about the tip and got it removed, but I think it will haunt them in the end. So now when I get horrible service I can leave a shiny new penny for the tip!!! Disney is already expensive, removing the tip will definately cost the servers to lose more money IMO. With tip included they always got something. You know there is an old saying, "be careful of what you ask for, you just might get it."

 

[NMW]

I agree that the new 2008 DDP is not a great deal-no tip/no appetizer. It wasn't a great deal for our family BEFORE the changes though. We are not big CS people. We like TS breakfast and dinner with a couple TS lunches at some of our favorite spots. The new Deluxe dining plan is a great deal and a perfect fit for our family. I do wish the tip was included, so we didn't have to think about that and just sign. However we always have an alcohol bill at dinner we have to pay seperately for anyway, so I guess it's not that big a deal to pay the tip at that time too.

I really think if people looked closer at this plan, more people might think it's a great way to do Disney.

 

[rkwells]

I never liked having desserts included because God knows that few of us can afford desserts re our waistlines, but loved the appetizer.

If Disney is listening, I MIGHT consider the new plan IF one could have EITHER dessert OR appetizer on the plan.

ITA...I was thinking the same thing!