OK, it's time to start a thread for people who have used the new 2008 DDP!

[bless7ings]

O.K. I want the real deal. Post here your experiences with the 2008 DDP. (Make sure you say when you went in 2008.)

First, the reports come in saying the wait staff don't dare to ask for their tip, now I have heard quite a few say the wait staff is too pushy about getting their tip and of course I have heard good reports.

For all of us still trying to figure out if it is worth having the DDP this year, could you please fill is all in on the juicy information.

I think I will add a poll too. You can vote multiple times on this poll.(unlike my old one-please don't use that one)

 

[MomofCKJ]

We loved it in Dec 2006 and are using it in 26 (!!!) more days so I will come back to your poll then and share my thoughts!

Allyson

 

[bless7ings]

We loved it in Dec 2006 and are using it in 26 (!!!) more days so I will come back to your poll then and share my thoughts!

Allyson

We loved it in 2005! Thank you, I am glad you are going to share when you get back!

I thought it would be nice to have a thread that people could just see the poll results and see what peoples thoughts are about the new 2008 DDP. It seems that people who have shared their thoughts, they are scattered here and there all over. I believe there are quite a few people who would like to hear from you experienced ones of 2008, so that's why I started this thread.

 

[Melissa_E]

I just got back yesterday, the staff was terrific, explained things well and were very quick with the checks and explaining what to sign.

 

[Tricia1972]

I am interested in this thread too. Of the three who voted so far it looks like the one who has actually used it likes it and service was exceptional!

 

[Pumbaa_]

Moving to the DDP board

 

[My2Angels]

I am very interested in hearing from the DISers on this! On All Ears Net, the reviews of the DDP 2008 are terrible! Almost every person who reviewed said they would not recommend it again!

 

[gohogs34]

We used the DDP for 4 nights/five days and had no issues with it. We ate TS at: BOMA, Le Cellier, Coral reef and Hollywood & Vine. I paid the tip in cash and had no issues at all. I just told the waiter that I would pay in cash and no issues at all. The service at HWV was slllloooowwww and food just as plain as Ryan's. BOMA's food and service was great as well as Le Cellier. Coral Reef was packed and a little slow on service but OK. Food was great but the place is VERY LOUD inside. We had other places reserved at resorts but changed some as we go due to not wanting to leave the parks due to travel time. I will do something the next time we use DDP (if we do) at MGM. NO more HWV.

 

[Nicole721]

We did the DxDP last May, and we're doing the DxDDP in August.

I'm so excited to be able to try all the restaurants I couldn't try on our last trip! We did our ADR's yesterday and it just made the trip seem more "real."

And I'm so geeky that I'm excited to do a TR and a dining report with pics.

 

[minniekissedme]

My family just returned from the Riverside 2/2-2/9. May have been the best week ever...weather was perfect and the dining plan worked well. We have been to Disney the last four years using the dining plan for the first time last year. Tremendous deal, no doubt, and too much food. In researching chats about the plan I had reservations about the changes for '08 and the impacts they would have for us (3 adults, 2 children).

First...we saved $508 compared to menu pricing.

We utilized our table service meals for dinner which provides the most value. We had six dinners (one was a double at Narcoossee's w/fireworks!) and enjoyed every meal. Either I was extremely fortunate or just dumb luck but we had zero problems w/servers regarding tips, service, anything that they are supposed to do. In fact, I personally think that now that they have to work for their tips the service is better.

We share three or four counter service meals among the five of us which allows us to bank some of those meals and not waste food ordering five meals everytime we eat. It's too much food for everyone. Some counters were breakfast, some were lunch. Knowing that we always had dinner later in the day we were careful to not stuff ourselves and not have room for the outstanding meals.

This plan can work if you want it to work. From various chats about this I get the feeling that many want something for nothing. I also would like to have a choice of appetizer or dessert. I personally perfer apps but ice cream in the park versus the key lime pie, almond crusted cheesecake, and the other delicious offerings, come on.

Using the dining plan requires some effort in planning and acquiring reservations. You must want to eat dinner at these fabulous restaurants. If you can survive on quick service meals than by all means don't get the dining plan. But you'll find me again at Narcoossee's for fireworks and surf and turn, Kona Cafe for the unbelievable Tuna Oscar, Coral Reef with it's incredible aquarium wall and the blackened catfish using the dining plan on my next visit...

I'm not much of smiley or abbreviation kinda guy so apologies if it gets too lengthy.

 

[ssaa]

We've been debating whether to get the DDP for our upcoming visit, and its good to hear everyone's opinions. Also good to hear positive feedback.

I've done the spreadsheet - OOP with what we would buy since it would be OOP vs. DDP with what we'll get + tips...end result: for a 6 night stay our difference for OOP vs. DDP is $20. ( Note: we love desserts, so losing the appy is not a big deal for us.) So for an extra $20 we get to eat 6 TS meals instead of 2 OOP. That is a good deal for us. Plus we enjoy our sit down meals at WDW, and food is big part of our vacation experience.

I have ADR's for 1900 Park Fare dinner/Chef Mickey's late b'fast/Tuskers Dinner/Le Cellier dinner/Chefs de France dinner/ Tokyo dining lunch.

My biggest concern is confusion/delays regarding bills and bad service. This was a problem with the previous versions of the DDP as well, so one shouldn't demonize the 2008 incarnation. Service is never a guarantee, OOP or DDP, unfortunately!

Looking forward to hearing from from folks that have used the 08 DDP!

Great thread/poll!

 

[lazydoxy66]

Subscibing!! Excellent thread!! I want to hear it all!!! I've never had the pleasure of using the DDP before. I'll be using it in Sept. This thread will be a great help.

 

[irene_dsc]

Well, this was our 1st trip, and not sure if/when we'll go back. I will say we had good service in general, with some excellent service, and I didn't have any issues with the whole tipping thing other than a little bit of general confusion, since everyone was learning the new process. (We were there Jan. 2-8) I keep thinking that if we go back, we might rent a condo and stay off-site, so then we wouldn't do DDP, but who knows. We saved some money, had some bits of confusion, and might have cancelled my last day ADR if we hadn't been on the plan.

 

[klynn]

We just got back from 15 days on the DDP. It was wonderful as always! No complaints whatsoever!

 

[jenjersnap]

We had no complaints with our experience a couple weeks ago. I am not sure why anyone wouldn't prefer the old plan; as a consumer, it was simply a better deal but we still saved some money according to my spreadsheet.

I would not pay rack rate for a hotel room to get this version of the dining plan, but would happily do it if the room was discounted (which it was for this trip and will be for the bounceback we booked for the fall)

We're doing the deluxe plan next trip.

 

[Tricia1972]

O.K. I want the real deal. Post here your experiences with the 2008 DDP. (Make sure you say when you went in 2008.)

First, the reports come in saying the wait staff don't dare to ask for their tip, now I have heard quite a few say the wait staff is too pushy about getting their tip and of course I have heard good reports.

For all of us still trying to figure out if it is worth having the DDP this year, could you please fill is all in on the juicy information.

I think I will add a poll too. You can vote multiple times on this poll.(unlike my old one-please don't use that one)

I love the idea of this poll, but it looks like lots of people voting haven't even been there yet in 2008. I think I'll stick to the commentaries in this thread for accuracy.

 

[acourtwdw]

We used the DDP for two days this week. It was a quick trip to WDW. At Crystal Palace the service was horrible and the tip reflected that. At the new place in Italy ( I still don't know the name of it) the service was excellent and again the tip reflected it. We used the room charge for the tip and the only time it was confusing was in Italy. I had trouble understanding what the waiter was saying about what to sign. I would recommend the DDP to anyone. Our bill for Italy was $115 for three adults, so the plan paid for itself.

 

[jenjersnap]

First, the reports come in saying the wait staff don't dare to ask for their tip, now I have heard quite a few say the wait staff is too pushy about getting their tip and of course I have heard good reports.

Those initial bumps were completely worked out by the time we arrived at the end of January. The tip never became a situation, no server ever mentioned the tip directly to me. I paid them in cash. I did post that the method changed about halfway through the trip - I was given one less piece of paper to sign - but no one answered or seemed to know if that was further streamlining of the process or what. It was very simple!

I have now traveled to WDW using the old Silver plan (sigh, my favorite), DDE, no meal plan or card, DDP tip included and tip not included ... service has averaged "very good" no matter which card or plan we have used with certain servers stellar and others not so much, of course. Just like anywhere else.

 

[TDC Nala]

There's also no mention on the poll about the deluxe plan. Some folks who are no longer interested in the standard might decide to do the deluxe plan.

 

[duffy]

We were there from Feb 1st through the 8th. We never used any dining plan before, and we loved the dining plan. No pushy wait staff, we did not miss appetizers.

We switched from the Wilderness Lodge to the Dolphin on the 6th and that was the end of our dining plan. We ended up going to Norway and France and loading up on counter service meals of various sandwiches and staggering to the Dolphin with our arms loaded down with bags of food! The next day we ate them and it was great.