NO MORE Dining Plan for us..my reasons

[JMLBrats]

I think the whole concept of the DDP was to trick people into thinking they would be saving money...but then something terrible happened: they actually were! So Disney rectified the situation as soon as they could.

I think everyone can agree that the DDP has done more harm than good -- menus were pretty much standardized throughout the parks and resorts, portion sizes changed, and a lot of server's attitudes/performance went downhill (not all...but definitely some!). At this point the only purpose it serves is to allow the convenience of having meals prepaid.

Have to completely agree w/this. We've used it a couple of times and it was a "good deal" but too much food, wayyy to much planning involved and I definetly feel that quality has gone down it many places. Plus, I would guess that morale of a lot of servers and chefs has gone down as well.

 

[MarieA]

We won't be using the DDP anymore either. We've opted for the DDE card for our next 2 trips to WDW.

I might have considered it again if we had a choice of appetizer or dessert. My family prefers appetizers and rarely orders dessert at dinner. They should have eliminated the dessert with the CS meal.

 

[veenstra56]

Interesting comments.

As for us, we no longer plan to use the dining plan. No longer the bargain it once was.

 

[CarolA]

]
4. Snacks. You can no longer use snacks for bags of pretzels/mickey goldfish etc....you can only get single serving sizes, not the larger sizes you might take home if you have extra snacks.

We are at Boardwalk now, and are using it this trip, but I'll never do it again. Disney Greed is really driving me away.

I am sorry but calling Disney Greedy because a SNACK n longer includes family size bags of food that you could take home........

When you sit down to eat a SNACK is it the ENTIRE 12 box of donuts??? So why is that a SNACK at Disney? I think this was loophole that was abused by greedy folks and Disney shut it down. The Snack was never advertised as the LARGE bag of chips, the BOX of donuts etc.....It was advertised as a bottle of water, ice cream bar etc....

 

[UConnJack]

I don't blame Disney for making changes, it was way underpriced, however I think the changes they made were mistakes.

My biggest issue is getting rid of the tip. It basically just kills the convenience of the plan entirely. If I am going to buy into an all inclusive plan for anything, I don't want to think about money and reach into my wallet at all once the plans are made. That's the whole point of an all-inclusive plan.

Getting rid of the appetizer make sense, but I really think they should give it as an option vs. dessert as many have indicated. I am not a dessert eater and would rather have the app.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Don't worry, I'm sure Dis will institute the 18% service charge across the board. There are so many people that don't want any part in deciding how much they want to tip their server. This is why some servers are telling patrons what their tip should be. Oh, wait a minute...that's why Dis said they removed the auto grat....people wanted to make that decision themselves. People, make up your minds!

 

[pycees312]

I think the whole concept of the DDP was to trick people into thinking they would be saving money...but then something terrible happened: they actually were! So Disney rectified the situation as soon as they could.

:

I agree with you... lol lol. My family used the DDP last april for half of our stay and let me tell you we paid cash for the first half and when the DDP kicked in i was sooo happy.. and we split the plan this was to see if this was soemthign we would use in the future. Answer for us is yes even with the tip thing we still would use DDP. im also a planner by nature so having that portion figured out means more to me than the price. and yes last year we ended up with candy etc using snacks but we also knew when we did it that was kinda cheating but hey they allowed us to do it.. So now you can't disney has learned and i think the plans are priced appropriately for what you get.

 

[irishbacker92]

Overall, we felt more like we were on a health insurance PPO than the dining plan. We paid our co-pay ($38.99 per day) and after that we split things 80/20 (including tip). Next trip we're on our own

Now that is one of the funniest things I have ever read on this board!!!!!!!!

 

[abeyst]

We won't be using it this year, either. Partly for the cost, but among other things my kids don't like 90% of the food on the kids menu. So this year we'll be paying OOP and sharing 1 adult meal and an appy or dessert among the 3 of us.

So this July for the very first time I'm not making any ADR's. We're going to fly by the seat of our pants. We're fine with going to OKW and eating at Olivia's every night if we have the urge to eat out. We've tried all the restaurants we care to try, and thankfully my kids are fine with PB&J every day for lunch! I'm just happy I'm free from the ADR Death Grip!

But I agree with the other posters. Yes, it was too cheap. But it's less convenient now than it was before, and now it's just more convenient to pay cash for our meals.

What I'd really like is if they could get a better kids menu.

 

[StayFLA]

I had DP Sept 07. Pre pay with older teens made it good. "Meals are on your card, just bring me receipt so I know the # of meals left". I think it was a great deal if you maximize it, it was a good deal if you 'just use it'. I only made ADRs for CRT and Mickeys BBQ. We waited at the restaurant and ate when our belly's said feed me. We didn't use all the credits by the end. 2 days down for illness and you will not catch up to use them all! I will not do this again. If I go with the wife only, I may consider the deluxe and hit the Signatures. I do believe it books the restaurants full as people have to make ADRs for all the meals they buy with the plan. For us, we probably would book 2 TS meals on a 5-6 night stay and walk up one or two more. I'll share CS at the parks and make the TS meal an event.

Ralph

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

I just finished giving myself a headache with the math for the DDP for May. Some of our party is staying less time and we would have to get it for the whole stay for them, and it just worked out to be too much money or too many meals. Anyway, the DDE would be far better for that stay and we have AP's already, so we are going with that. I did my own math, I just use the menus and know pretty much what these guys eat, and we do alot of breakfasts, so it is not too hard to determine the value.

Now I have a question about DDP/DDE that is somewhat on topic

For our anniversary trip in July, we are doing the Deluxe Plan, and the math on that, even after DDE, worked in our favor. My question is this...if we have a DDE card, but are on the deluxe dining plan, can we use our DDE for our alcohol or extras?

Like at Artist's Point, if I am using 2 DDP credits for the meal and also order the three course wine flight, can I use my DDE card for the 20% for just the alcohol bill? (I do know that we are then subject to the mandatory 18% tip, but we tip that much anyway unless the server pretty much spits at us )

 

[BCV23]

Yes, you can use DDE for the things you order that aren't covered by the DDP. We've done that for alcohol as well as for meals for those at our table who aren't on the DDP.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Overall, we felt more like we were on a health insurance PPO than the dining plan. We paid our co-pay ($38.99 per day) and after that we split things 80/20 (including tip). Next trip we're on our own

If only insurance companies paid that good.

 

[jpeka65844]

Okay....read the thread....head now spinning....don't understand.....

How will the following situation work?

DH, DS and I are taking 8 other family members in June. We're doing the DDP. We're divided into two 2 bdrm units. When we eat, who will get the check? Should we request to divide it by room? Will we all have credits on our cards for the entire party of 11?

We do not put charging priveleges on our room keys; I will need cash to pay tips, correct?

 

[TLSnell1981]

Okay....read the thread....head now spinning....don't understand.....

How will the following situation work?

DH, DS and I are taking 8 other family members in June. We're doing the DDP. We're divided into two 2 bdrm units. When we eat, who will get the check? Should we request to divide it by room? Will we all have credits on our cards for the entire party of 11?

We do not put charging priveleges on our room keys; I will need cash to pay tips, correct?

If you are dining together, yes, they can split the charges and divide them accordingly to each villa. I would think you could set up the credits to correspond to their respective rooms. You can pay for you service charge either by a CC or cash.

 

[Disney_Daddy]

My reason for not selecting the DDP is the lack of availability at the TS restaurants. We typically book inside of 90 days and trying to make ADR's is brutal. Inside of 30 days is nearly impossible. While on-site is a wasted effort...even in January or September.

I know it is partially my fault for booking inside of 90 days, but my typical experience is something like this:

Me: I'd like to check availability at xxxxxx in the Magic Kingdom on x day. Table of 5 and I'll take anything between 4:30pm and 7pm.

MS: Nothing available in the whole park for the whole night. Would you like me to check Epcot?

Me: No thanks...How about a hotel connected to the MK by Monorail?

MS: Nothing. I do have a 9:40pm at the Turf Club at Saratoga Springs. You can take the bus.

Me: No thanks. Guess we'll get a dog at Casey's Corner.

MS: Have a magical day!

 

[TLSnell1981]

My reason for not selecting the DDP is the lack of availability at the TS restaurants. We typically book inside of 90 days and trying to make ADR's is brutal. Inside of 30 days is nearly impossible. While on-site is a wasted effort...even in January or September.

I know it is partially my fault for booking inside of 90 days, but my typical experience is something like this:

Me: I'd like to check availability at xxxxxx in the Magic Kingdom on x day. Table of 5 and I'll take anything between 4:30pm and 7pm.

MS: Nothing available in the whole park for the whole night. Would you like me to check Epcot?

Me: No thanks...How about a hotel connected to the MK by Monorail?

MS: Nothing. I do have a 9:40pm at the Turf Club at Saratoga Springs. You can take the bus.

Me: No thanks. Guess we'll get a dog at Casey's Corner.

MS: Have a magical day!

Poor Daddy.

 

[Hibernians]

Wow ! I have to disagree with the notion that Disney is becoming greedy with respect to the Dining Plan - this is sort of like saying the Magical Express is greedy because they make so many stops before arriving at your hotel !
Sure, Disney reduced the $$ benefit but let's be honest, the dining plan was a real bargain and now maybe its not such a good bargain - it may still be a bargain, depending how you dine. But the reality is that it is offered as an option and you do not have to buy it. To say that it is greedy simply makes no sense; if its not worth the hassle, then don't buy it and dine as you please.
Now if you want to tallk about greed; lets talk about the cost of a bottle of water in the parks or the cost of a Mickey Mouse t-shirt; there's the real Greed !!

why it simply doesn't make sense

We are at Boardwalk now, and are using it this trip, but I'll never do it again. Disney Greed is really driving me away.

 

[Kurby]

we did the math when we heard about it and started planning our next trip.

what i did was take an average day's worth of meals and times the days. here's how we worked it out

DDP cost - 2 adults 1 child over 3 1 infant no charge

$37.99 x 2 + 9.99 x 12 $1031.64


Lunch
34.51 plus tax = 36.58x 12 days = 438.96

Dinner
61.45 plus tax = 65.13 x 12 = 781.64

Snacks

$6 x 12 = 72
I'll guess $2 each since i'm not exactly sure just what you can buy

For a total of

$1292.60 cash

Savings $260.96 on the plan

except - our daughter doesn't eat hardly anything and paying cash we wouldn't have to purchase anything for her since she could eat off our plate. so that would save us approx $16.48 x 12 = 196.90

for an actual savings of $64

however we would be able to buy 1 appy and 1 dessert instead of 2 desserts which we don't need or do now so if you add the cost of buying just 1 appy to split between us at every dinner there goes the savings even if we buy the cheapest appy (onion rings) at 4.99 x 12 nights = 60 bucks.

i'm 99% sure we won't be doing the DDP anymore and opt for concerige level, save on breakfast and if we happen to be back at the resort we'll get a snack in the afternoon.

$4 savings isn't worth having to go through the hastle of bringing extra cash just for the tip when we can put the entire bill on cc.

Also

 

[DisneyOrBust2006]

Don't worry, I'm sure Dis will institute the 18% service charge across the board. There are so many people that don't want any part in deciding how much they want to tip their server. This is why some servers are telling patrons what their tip should be. Oh, wait a minute...that's why Dis said they removed the auto grat....people wanted to make that decision themselves. People, make up your minds!

Much as I feel for the attentive and concientious CMs who may be getting shorted on tips this month during the transition from "18% included" plan, an across the board service charge would be a HUGE mistake. Already, there has been a real decline in the quality of service offered to DDP plan patrons. Seems that at least a few servers had discovered that the tip was 18% no matter what the level of service.

Last time we dined at Boma (in 2007), our service declined precipitously after we revealed that we were on the plan. Seemed like she wrote us off after confirming that her 18% was in the bag. Perhaps we just had a bad server that night, but there were other instances of neglect that I just don't recall from past visits.

Anyway, we've considered keeping any DDP or other status that might suggest an 18% "entitlement" to ourselves until it's time for the check? Anyone else have similar experiences/thoughts?