ok, i think i can clear the confusion about changes w/dining plan

[EmmaAndQuinnsMommy]

For us, this would definitely make us upset as this was a major deciding factor in the dining plan for us. We are vegetarian, so a lot of the time there isn't much for us to get, we won't get appetizers at times etc but could still be okay if we had a dessert. If this happens, will I be able to delete this from my reservation? My 45 day mark is March 21 ... which is when my final payment is due. I think AAA would charge me a change fee too. That would not make me happy! I hope it just isn't going to change at all since we purchased it based on what was stated at the time.

 

[bicker]

Generally, if some add-on's details change substantially, Disney has been pretty lenient about providing refunds (as long as you haven't actually used it yet, of course ). The only time you could get into trouble with something like this is if the add-on was a requirement for some other discount you still want to take advantage of.

 

[Gillian]

Regardless, my wife figures that with the plan I'd be driven to eat things that I wouldn't normally eat, just because I was brought up to focus on the money instead of focusing on the quality of the experience. Wife knows best. We'll probably steer clear of this quagmire.

She sounds like a smart woman.

I am enjoying planning our meals, but sometimes I think that we might be better off just ordering what we want and paying for what it costs. If DD wasn't free but a big eater, we would think about not adding it.

 

[maggiew]

Just curious - would people really cancel the dining plan over a change like this? (If it were true) It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Am I missing something?

Well, it might make a difference for our family. We were on the fence about getting it or not. My two girls are 14 and 11, so they are "adults" for dining purposes. My girls could probably share a childs counter service meal and be full. Anyway, I kind of added up what I thought we would order with no plan and what we would order with the plan. It came out to be a wash - no big difference. So, I decided to go with the plan and eat at places we normally do not go because of the cost. For example, we normally eat at "order of the menu" type places so that we can share. We tend to avoid places like Garden Grill (set price places) because I can't see paying $27.99 per girl. There is no way they can eat anywhere near enough to justify the price. But I was planning on trying a few new places this trip, and counting in the cost of any desserts we would order made us save money. If you include a snack instead of dessert, we would probably break even again. So, I would rather have the flexibility of no plan if that's the case. PLus I could pay as we go rather than have to pay 45 days ahead.

We are not trying to order the most expensive items and MAXIMIZE the plan, we just want to at least get out what we paid. With my 2 "adult" children, dessert or no dessert might make a difference.

Maggie

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I totally agree. My DDs are also 11 and 14 when we travel this year. They can't eat the most expensive menu items like huge steaks, but they really enjoy desserts. It's not an issue for the 8 year old DS, but the beauty of this thing in our eyes was getting to eat whatever on the menu, plus tax and tip, and have it paid for before we leave, not still getting begged for desserts.
Robin M.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

As much as I enjoyed the desserts on the DP, I can't say that this change would bother me. We were really too full to eat them with dinner, and took them with us most meals. I'm sure they lost some of their taste being eaten the next morning.

I would love it if they changed the CS dessert to another snack - I don't think we had a decent one all week!

 

[maggiew]

Well, to get around the fact of having "too much food" and "being too full to eat the dessert anyway" we were planning on sharing a few meals. I plan to share 3 meals at Coral Reef (for the 4 of us - 2 DDS 14 & 11) and share 3 meals at Chefs de France. That would provide enough food for us and leave us with 2 extra credits that we plan to use at Nine Dragons for lunch. If we are still hungry after sharing (which I do not think we will be), we could just get 1 or 2 CS (depending on how hungry) to get full. I do not expect that to happen though based on our prior experience. We used to share 2 of the Vacation Kingdom lunch vouchers when they were available and were full every time. But now the DDs are a little older, I thought we would try the 3 meals to share instead of 2. So in this case, the desserts WILL play a big role since we are sharing.

Maggie

 

[Cinderella]

Not good news for me - i put on too much weight on our trips to begin with.

 

[bicker]

Well, to get around the fact of having "too much food" and "being too full to eat the dessert anyway" we were planning on sharing a few meals.

I suspect that if there was any truth to this rumor, it was based on this.

 

[pinchy]

I would be reasonably content if they dropped desserts and included a breakfast meal instead

but I think I'd rather keep the desserts

 

[bicker]

As I mentioned a few days ago, my wife is actively discouraging me from considering the dining plan. I think I've hit on the main reaon why she feels it just isn't worth the bother: What we want is a one-TS per day dining plan. We really don't need Disney to smooth-over our purchases of burgers-and-fries and Mickey bars. All we really need is a week-long prix fix for dinner.