Return of the Dining Plan?

[DSchiren]

Has anyone heard if/when the dining plan will be back?

 

[BDL]

I came here to ask the same thing.

 

[Narcoossee11]

Maybe 2023. Restaurants are in no way ready for a dining plan. You would want your money back if they did have one,

 

[LuthienDragon]

Maybe 2023. Restaurants are in no way ready for a dining plan. You would want your money back if they did have one,

I am leaning towards a "before November" comeback...if not, why put the DDP logo on the World Showcase's Food & Wine Festival posters this year?

 

[Tmholls42]

I am leaning towards a "before November" comeback...if not, why put the DDP logo on the World Showcase's Food & Wine Festival posters this year?

They had the DDP logos in on the signs last year for the Taste of the Food and Wine and for Festival of the Arts. Maybe they are just trying to mess with us at this point.

 

[Smugpugmug]

My guess is that the dining plan won't return until the majority of restaurants are adequately staffed. It would be a disaster if Disney had a dining plan with the staffing issues going on right now.

 

[maltdizzy]

I am leaning towards a "before November" comeback...if not, why put the DDP logo on the World Showcase's Food & Wine Festival posters this year?

One reason is Disney gives out food vouchers (for various reasons or events) which are good for DDP-marked snacks.

I would be surprised to see the DDP back before next year, and not surprised if it took longer. I expect whatever comes back will be unrecognizable.

 

[simonsayz]

My guess is that the dining plan won't return until the majority of restaurants are adequately staffed. It would be a disaster if Disney had a dining plan with the staffing issues going on right now.

maybe it is just me, but when I went every restaurant I went to looked pretty well staffed.

 

[kevtlas]

I expect whatever comes back will be unrecognizable.

Sadly, I agree 100%

 

[oceanmarina]

Maybe 2023. Restaurants are in no way ready for a dining plan. You would want your money back if they did have one,

Yes to that - we just returned from WDW and were very very unhappy with the food. Some of it was inedible. That bad. We were resorting to GrubHub during our stay.

 

[samsteele]

The Dining Plan will certainly be back in 2023 barring food supply chain issues and uncontrolled inflation. Labour issues are now easing thanks to the return of the cultural reps international program and the college program. But good 'Disney standard' food and maintaining affordable wholesale contracts in an inflation are the real short-term issues.

Menus were cut back when the parks re-opened and most big ticket foodie offerings like crab legs, shrimp and 'better quality' strip steak were either ditched completely or replaced with a cheaper substitute. While this may not be as obvious at signature restaurants, it is very obvious at one credit restaurants like Cape May. A large and lucrative customer like WDW should be at the top of the food chain with national wholesalers. Should WDW not launch the dining plan by January 2023, this signals an even deeper food security issue in the US and North America and will be concerning for us all as consumers and not just as WDW guests.

Don't confuse the free dining promotion with the dining plan. They are completely different beasts. The free dining promotion may not be back in 2023 or 2024. Not only is the return of the dining plan required for this promotion, free dining is a discretionary targeted measure to fill resort rooms at what were once historically low occupancy seasons. But low occupancy seasons aren't really that low anymore. Witness the huge popularity of Halloween and the Epcot F&W festival season in the once dead back to school hurricane season of September and October. WDW resorts also learned from covid and the housekeeping squeeze that they can shutter rooms, entire buildings and entire resorts and survive quite well thank you very much when they no longer have to pay staff to run empty resorts. It may take opening day of Universal's new park and the rush to Universal to experience that next new thing before we see a targeted drop of free dining again.

The dining plan itself is profitable for WDW. They weren't messing around last summer when they announced it would be back. Some time. In the future. No commitment. Most families can't eat the true price of the plan and leave credits on the table. Hot sticky Orlando weather and 10 mile daily park touring makes it hard to eat steak, steak and more steak every day so guests default to the cheaper chicken and salad. Bags of branded sugar candy on the flight home is money in Disney's pocket when snack credits aren't used. The dining plan also denies guests those tempting day trips to Universal or even special ticket events like Horror Nights. You won't leave the parks if you can't use your dining credits. Keeping guests a captive of the mouse and spending daily in the parks remains a priority. It will be the priority once Universal opens the new park.

Free Dining and the Dining Plan need to be teased apart. They are not the same thing. The Dining Plan will be back as long as WDW can continue to offer some acceptable protein on the menu at a wholesale price that yields profit. It's lucrative. It aggressively smacks back at rival parks and denies competing parks Disney's own guests. It's all about the food.

 

[babesboo99]

Maybe they will announce something at D23 about the dining plan

 

[marygrcevic]

Maybe they will announce something at D23 about the dining plan

I hope so.

 

[babesboo99]

I hope so.

Me too

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

Yes to that - we just returned from WDW and were very very unhappy with the food. Some of it was inedible. That bad. We were resorting to GrubHub during our stay.

Just wondering what restaurants you ate at? We were there the 26th to 2nd and all our meals were really good.

 

[Shellyred8]

Just wondering what restaurants you ate at? We were there the 26th to 2nd and all our meals were really good.

I was wondering this as well. We've been there a couple of times this year and none of our meals were so bad that they were inedible.

 

[3babiesmom]

Were there any updates during D23 on when the dining plan would be returning?

 

[vinotinto]

Were there any updates during D23 on when the dining plan would be returning?

None.

I honestly cannot imagine Disney bringing the dining plan back until the6 increase capacity. My trip is at the end of this month and I have not been able to get the meals I was hoping to get, even with reservation alerts services. If people purchase an expensive dining plan and they cannot get the reservations, the6 will be pissed (I would be)! I’ve had many visits to WDW and I’ve never had such difficulty getting reservations.

 

[pammyk22]

I agree they don’t seem ready to accommodate for more reservations based on our experience this past august

 

[bakerr6]

We went in May and only had issues with reservations running behind. The food was still as fantastic as usual.

I'm looking forward to the DDP coming back as we typically do a sit down character meal each day.