Rant: The DDP is ruining everything!

[BluOrchid2]

I completely agree with OogieBoogie. Here is an excerpt from my review of LeCellier this year, versus last year.

I was greatly disappointed with the Asian shrimp cocktail, which is no longer being served in the same presentation as last year. Last year, it was served on a rectangular platter, with a Chinese food-to-go box made to appear as if it had spilled out on the plate with the Wasabi slaw forming a bed beneath the shrimp, and I think there was a sauce of some kind drizzled over it all. Very nice presentation. Last night, it arrived thrown into a very deep bowl. It was not a very big serving, so it was all at the bottom of this very deep bowl, and you could not see it very well to appreciate all the colors and textures. The shrimp were smaller, too, than last year......

.....I was looking SO forward to having the same dessert I had there last year, a warm apple crumb cobbler served with a scoop of ice cream. Last year, it was served in a single-serving sized cast iron skillet that was about 6 inches across and about 1.5 inches deep. Well, they didn’t have that, but the menu offered a Double Berry Buckle with a scoop of blueberry ice cream so I ordered that. What a huge letdown. The portion size was about 1/3 that of last year’s. It came in something like a custard cup and was mostly the biscuit-y crust stuff, with just a little bit of berry stuff down in the bottom that you had to dig for. And not at all juicy. The scoop of ice cream was about 1.5 inches in diameter, compared to the 2.5” scoop that came with the apple crumb cobbler last year.

 

[ntsammy5]

It's always interesting to read these. I won't get DDP again because it's simply too much food and the whole trip centers around eating. We had 9 TS meals (relatively free) in September and they were all very good. I've eaten at WDW for years and I saw no decline in either service or quality. Just my experience and opinion.

 

[marivaid]

They should just get rid of the appetizer for the TS. It's not needed and would save them $$. Even if they've made the portions a little smaller they are still huge,judging by the photos. Entree + Dessert is more than enough.

 

[honeymo78]

They should just get rid of the appetizer for the TS. It's not needed and would save them $$. Even if they've made the portions a little smaller they are still huge,judging by the photos. Entree + Dessert is more than enough.

Maybe on the DDP (but even then I'm not convinced) but definitely not on the other packages with dining. I want my appy

 

[gina2000]

We're going back to eating off-site. I've never been on the DDP and I won't pay OOP prices for dumbed down, homogenized food. People can talk about cost effectiveness and profitability all they want to but I can't eat that and while I own stock, I won't sacrifice quality dining for price.....stock price, entree price or otherwise.

 

[PaulaSB12]

They should just get rid of the appetizer for the TS. It's not needed and would save them $$. Even if they've made the portions a little smaller they are still huge,judging by the photos. Entree + Dessert is more than enough.

No way I love the appitizer and why shouldn't I have it just because you don't think I should eat one?

 

[almburr]

we have used the DDP 2x now and love it. It is nice to carry so much money. If you look anywhere (grocery store, restaurants) at their prices and think back prices are going up! Beef items are expensive, Im from cattle country. look back over the years how much was bread and milk. prices and the size of food will always change.

 

[MiamiBeach]

I agree that Disney food wallowed in mediocrity for so many years. We were thrilled when what we considered "real" restaurants emerged. I'm interested to see if we notice changes when we're there in a few weeks.

For those paying regular retail/not on The Plan and concerned about not getting the bells and whistles, at least head over to the non-DDP restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin. Todd English's BlueZoo, Shula's, Il Mulino (not open yet but replacing Palio), etc. At least you won't feel ripped off by Disney's downsizing there as they are neither Disney nor DDP but really great dining establishments.

 

[deltachi8]

I find this amusing - some say there is too much food on the DDP others say they are tored of portions being cut...interesting debate.

 

[MiamiBeach]

What's that old joke... "The food is really bad. And the portions are So SMALL!"

 

[piglet's parents]

We were on the dining plan 2 yrs ago, and the quality of the food was still pretty good then. However appetizer entree, desert was just too much food for us and we dine out often.Most of the people around us were too busy trying to max out their credits ordering only the most expensive combos, and making complete glutens of themselves. Think of the food that is gorged or wasted, Disney could just give a choice of appetizer or desert with the entree, probably still too much food. I could see splurging one or two meals but if you are on this plan for days what a waste, and I know it forces people to make pigs of themselves, you book all your seatings and basically your whole vacation revolves around these meals, kind of takes the fun away. From now on we dine oop and we eat what we like and as much or as little as we want to and make ADR's for the restaraunts we realy enjoy and we still come out ahead price wise. Going in December and a little nervous about the menu changes as there are some things we realy enjoy having, a nice filet mignon hopefully not a cheaper quality cut of meat now.

 

[Sammie]

What's that old joke... "The food is really bad. And the portions are So SMALL!"

Yep kinda like,
you can please some of the people all of the time,
all of the people some of the time,
but never all of the people all of the time.

 

[oogieboogie]

I find this amusing - some say there is too much food on the DDP others say they are tored of portions being cut...interesting debate.

1. There is too much food when you're on DDP - because you're ordering an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. In many cases, the app and entree alone is very filling. For one person, it's a lot of food to eat at one sitting. Many people who aren't on DDP don't eat a three course meal each time they eat dinner. Most will skip the app or dessert and just have the entree. Some will just do the app and dessert. People on DDP will order the three course because it maximizes their DDP value. So yes, that could potentially be too much food.

2. The portions are being cut. That is also true. If you've gone enough times to see the difference you will see that the portions of each item have been scaled down slightly, regardless if you're on DDP or not. If you're on DDP, you might not notice it too much because of no. 1 up above.

There's really no debate here. The DDP is good for the consumers who use the program. The DDP isn't that great when you're not using it because directly and indirectly it causes quality to go down while prices stay the same or even increase in which case the end result is that the customer's dining experience suffers.

 

[honeymo78]

I personally don't think its too much food but I mainly feel like I'm in the minority. Actually we eat a lot more food than the DDP provides (cause we get 3 TS a day on prem or plat)and we always get app, entree and dessert. Do I always clean my plate, no, but I rarely leave enough that I could really share and the other person would be full. On the rare trips where we use the DDP or no plan at all, we still eat 3 meals a day although sometimes lunch will be CS, but again I couldn't dream of sharing.

So count me in as one of those people that disagrees when people complain about it being too much food. Maybe if I wasn't used ot eating 3 TS meals a day when I'm at disney (we've been on some full meal package since I was a kid) then it would seem like a lot of food. I've just become accustomed to eating that way at disney I don't think it's too much.

 

[S.Poppins]

The DDP is ruining the dining experience.
Scooters and strollers are ruining the parks.
The bus system is ruining the ride back to the hotel.
The hot weather is ruining the summah vacation.

Thats it I'm not going to Disney any more. Its ruined.

 

[everest]

Disney has been trying for a long time to try to keep their guest to stay onsite to enjoy and to spend their money on table service meals. They had to offer exceptional dinning choices and a unique top quality product to guest to stay and dine with Disney. They have through the years tried to offer various dinning plans to entice more guest to partake in the table service type meals. Most of the plans were 2 tiered and guest said that they didn’t’ want to go to restaurant’s and be limited to select choices and felt it would take away from there dinning experience for them. Also travel agents and internet information sites did not endorse those plans because of the limitations, therefore guest mostly stayed away from the dinning plans. So Disney recognized the guest wants and decided to offer up a 1 menu plan at a fare price and as we can see it is a huge hit. Now I believe that Disney is getting the guest to stay on property for their dinning needs but are starting to adjust the menu to maximizing their costs and bottom line. So the long time diners and non DDP guest are seeing the changes and cuts, which they really enjoyed in the past. So most likely they will start to leave the Disney area to seek what they have come to enjoy in their dinning experiences.

What’s Disney to do?

IMHO; I think that Disney is trying to find that balance in that they can please the most amount of guest as possible and retaining them for their dinning choices. But they will probably lose some guest for awhile to other restaurant’s while Disney Dinning tries to figure how to please all guest with their Dinning Plan, basically giving a unique top quality product with an open menu for all who come for a fare price for all parties including themselves. I don’t think as it stands now is the perfect fit for all concerned, but I do think that Disney is getting closer to it.

 

[CPer'sMom]

This is the key right here: Many don't notice - because they have no comparisons to go by. Only people who go enough times and dine at these places multiple times start to notice the differences.

Unfortunately I think many of the people on DDP are first timers, every other year visitors, and people who generally wouldn't notice there was a difference.

What they'll see is that the price of the meal proportionate to DDP cost is a great savings to them. They'll think that the size of the meal is what is the norm from year to year and what a great deal they're getting on the DDP. Unfortunately, they don't see what it used to be.[/QUOTE]

I so totally agree with the points you make here (especially the ones I highlighted) and in your other posts on this thread. I've once again booked some of our favorite restaurants for our upcoming Christmas trip, but I have to say that I'm not expecting them to be "the way they used to be". I'm hoping that we'll be pleasantly surprised though ..... maybe at a couple anyway?

This board has been SO full of negative dining experiences over the past few months. Honestly, I don't think that was ever the case before the onset of the *free* DDP. Yes, there would be some bad reviews, but nothing like we see now.

Oh, and about that idea of 2 menus ~~ Here's a Yes! vote for that idea. Sure, I know it'll never happen, but it's nice to think about. The 'all-you-can-eat (or not)' menu for the DDP and then the 'way-it-used-to-be' menu for those who chose to pay OOP for those selections.

 

[marivaid]

No way I love the appitizer and why shouldn't I have it just because you don't think I should eat one?

I couldnt care less what you "should" eat. People keep saying that the food at Disney is lacking in quality because of the DDP.Seems pretty simple to me to get rid of the appy,they save $8-$10 right there. Instead of giving you MORE food that is not good,why not give you less and better quality?

 

[LeesyUD]

I just have to say that I think it is pretty crazy that some people think that Disney should stop doing the Dining plan. Do you know how many vacation resorts have all inclusive plans in mexico and the carribbean? Do you know most of the time people want the all inclusive? I do bc I work for a tour operator and 9 times out of 10 the travelers want an all inclusive. One of the best things about Disney dining is that they give OPTIONS to people. It is vacation! Alot of people do not want to have to worry about taking out their wallet so much when they are on vacation. That is why cruises are so popular and the all inclusive resorts are so popular, bc you don't have to worry about how much you are spending. I think its odd that people are opposed to others having that option even if it is not for them. And yes maybe Disney has made some cutbacks on the meals and raised some prices. But at the same time, maybe Disney is doing there research. That is what you pay for convenience alot of times. Just like if you go to a football game you pay $5 for one slice of pizza. You need to remember Disney is still a business and they are going to crunch the numbers when it comes down to it. Unfortunately it seems some people feel that quality is being affected. I for one will say when I was on the dining plan on my last trip, I had some of the best service I ever had and food quality as well. Also I am really starting to think that people are feeding off of other peoples opinions on these boards. It has also been mentioned that it is difficult to get ADR's bc of the dining plan now. Before it wasn't as hard bc so many people were eating off site to save money. Now there are people eating onsite to save money. If it is not working for you than maybe consider eating off site, and leaving the ADR's to people that do still enjoy dining in Disney.

 

[midge3426]

How to begin? Some people are getting way too upset over this topic. So I will simply state In My Opinion the restaurants at WDW are on a decline because of Disney's business decision to bring in more business. We have been going to Disney for the past thirteen years and we are not wealthy by any means. My husband is a sheriffs deputy so a whole lot of money does not roll into this house. I work a part time job and he also has a second job. We forego a lot of things during the year to enjoy our one week at Disney World. So I am not being elitist by saying that the Dining Plan is gradually destroying the table service experience at WDW.

The food at Disney World has always been outrageously high, but we have always planned for that expense. In the past, we have always enjoyed every table service dinner. The food and service has always been superb. Now it is not. It is okay. Do not get me wrong, I will always go with the free Dining Plan or pay for it, but I actually prefer the additional discounts on the room that exsisted in September.

A CM told me that Disney was trying to go with a Prix Fixe menu for all their table service restaurants. I say that is so boring. It is fine if they have a special prix fixe menu for those on the dining plan and for those who want to pay a set price, but provide alternatives. Have other things on the menu and if you are on the DDP, you can order those other things for an additional charge. Bring back the quality! Ditch the mediocrity!