Quality of DDP?

[ngchiro]

I have a question for those that have recently used DDP. I'll start by stating that we've Disney'd 4 of the past 5 years. We do enjoy the TS meals just about every night. We take the attitude that we're on vacation and want to enjoy someone else cooking nice meals like some of you. I grew up with a father who cooks like a chef, very nice and great flavor. Somehow eating CS at Pecos Bills or Cosmic Rays for dinner just doesn't seem right when there is so much other good food around. Also at Epcot there are so many nice restaurants to eat at, it just seems right to go TS. We kind of have the attitude of "live to eat, not eat to live".

All that being said, the first time we actually used DDP was late 2005. We had been eating places like Alfredo's, Le Cellier, Crystal Palace, Ohana's, Liberty Tree Tavern, Nifty Fifties, Le Chefs, Spoodles, etc even before the DDP. By going in Sept/Oct 2005 we were offered DDP for "free" with our tickets and resort package. At that time we noticed no real difference in quality of service or food. We went to DisneyLand this past summer, and made no WDW trip for 2006. However, sometime in 2006 I start seeing reviews for DDP complaining that the quality of service and food had really started to slip. Some of the menus had been somewhat stripped down, specifically Spoodles that I remember. Service had gotten just downright NON-Disney quality. Also some would report food good like they always remembered, while others reported bad quality. At least to say inconsistent from day to day maybe?

So what kind of changes have people from the past 3-6 months noticed in quality of DDP as discussed above? Thanks for your input.

Neil

 

[bicker]

I recently ate at Spoodles, and didn't notice a radical difference over five six years ago in terms of service, with the exception of one server. The rest of the folks seemed capable and professional, and seemed to be doing a good job for their guests.

 

[Lesleyluvsdisney]

Hi Neil,

We purchased the DDP in Sept/October last year and felt it was excellent value for money!!

We ate in places we wouldn't normally as the cost to eat there everynight eats into our 16night budget! There are no restrictions of what you can order in most places, and you get a full 3 course (which is most of the time too much), whether we actually spent less I'm not sure, 'cause if we didn't have the DDP, we wouldn't have ordered a starter entree and dessert EVERY time. But it was a good feeling that the $-200- 250 a day we had didn't have go on food.

I do agree that you are on vacation and eating in all the fab places is part of the experience!

Well worth it - although we were a little disappointed in Wolfgang Puck Cafe. Loved Le Cellier!

 

[TaraPA]

We used the DPP in December & felt it was a great value for our family of big eaters. We would have easily spent more per day off the DDP (and probably ended up eating more CS than TS). As far as the quality of food/servers - I have noticed a decline in both in the past few years. I cannot say for sure that the widespread use of the DDP has caused this, but I could see how it has contributed. Yes the menus seem stripped down since the start of the DDP, but I'm sure Disney would never admit to doing it specifically because everyone is using the DDP. We had both good & bad dining experiences in December. The one difference I feel does have to do with the DDP as well as the mere fact that more & more people go to WDW each year, is that you must have ADRs if you expect to have a TS meal. While down there we tried unsuccessfully to re-book LTT for another night. We had one unused TS credit & pretty much had to settle for the one place that had a seating for 4 on the evening we wanted. We had never encountered that in the past years when DDP wasn't an option.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

We used DDP in Dec 05 - May 06 and Oct 06.

We have generally had really great service. I never felt looked down upon or rushed because we had the DDP. Most servers went out of their way to ensure that we knew every in and out of the plan and made recommendations about their favourite dishes (and they weren't always the *most* expensive).

Although the selection has decreased somewhat I don't buy that all the menus are suddenly becoming homogenised. Yes, each menu has a chicken, beef, fish (usually salmon), and vegetarian entree but they are not all the same from restaurant to restaurant.

You still get chinese food in China and Morracan food in Morraco - from the way some people lamente, you think that everywhere is serving the exact same menu (entree, sides, etc.) - We're not quite at the solent green stage yet.

 

[All Morganic]

We just got back yesterday after 8 days on the DDP. By reading your post, I would say that the DDP would be a good value for you. The problems that we had were 1) it was just too much food for us - we don't normally eat that much and if we were dining OOP we would have split meals, just ordered apps etc. 2) there wasn't enough flexibility for the childrens meals. The options for them were pretty limited. 3) It took huge chunks of time away from our time in the parks.

I think since you said that eating out in nice places is a big part of your vacation experience, then you would still be happy doing the DDP. I thought the service was okay. I figured since the waitstaff deal with a huge amount of people this was the norm. I don't have any real complaints. The only complaint with food quality was a steak I had at WHispering Canyon Cafe - it tasted like it had been frozen and had freezer burn - yuck! My DH had the skillet and was very happy with that though.

Have a fun trip! Cheers

 

[The Sweetness]

Since your fam is big on the TS meals, you could get the DDP, have a CS breakfast, and TS lunch/ Dinners. Would be way too much time and food for me, personally, but to each his own