Splitting meals on DDP?

[Belle4mygrl]

Just booked our free dining trip Now I'm working on ADRs.

Say we want to go to Planet Hollywood for dinner. We both want ribs but the portions are huge.

What if we order 2 drinks, 1 meal, and 1 dessert. Can we pay for the drink OOP, along with the tip and use only 1 credit?

My family has shared 2 plates of ribs at Planet Hollywood and was not given any hassle. We have also shared at San Angel Inn, Coral Reef, and the Italian Restaurant (sorry I can't remember the name). No one said "order a plate or you have to leave." I think Disney is too wise for that.


For the previous poster, I am curious how Disney was being robbed blind by the dining plan. Unless people were sharing buffets or the family style.

 

[JimMIA]

For the previous poster, I am curious how Disney was being robbed blind by the dining plan. Unless people were sharing buffets or the family style.

No, I think they were talking about people "passing on the magic," as another thread talks about.

Prior to 1/1/2008, a LOT of people were treating or sharing with friends/relatives who were not on the dining plan -- in many cases people who were staying offsite. The guest's perspective on that is often "I paid for the food, who's to tell me who eats it?"

But Disney doesn't look at it that way at all. Their view is that DDP is one part of a package -- room at a certain rate, park tickets, and DDP. Therefore, they look at using DDP for people who have not bought the package as cheating.

The other area where they got hammered was snacks. For years, there was no clear determination as to what was a snack and what was not. In fact, the only place to get accurate info on snacks was right here on the DIS -- nobody at Disney could tell you! Eventually, rather than make a sensible decision, they used a ballpark figure of anything valued at less than $4. Needless to say, many guests decided that a box of donuts was a better value than a bottle of water. That's hardly the guest's fault, and it's very hard to feel sorry for the Mouse for that kind of mismanagement.

I personally think most of their problems with DDP were self-inflicted. If they'd done a better job of implementing DDP, they would have had a much better program for a much longer period of time. As it was, they were so sloppy that many CM's actually encouraged and abetted what management considered "cheating."

We just got back Friday night from our first trip in three years (5 trips) where we were not on the DDP. We will NEVER go back to DDP, and we'll eat all of our main meals (except one character meal per trip) offsite. The food offsite is SO much better than onsite...and it's less expensive.

*****
All that said, OP's original question was whether they could share between people who were all participating in the DDP. The answer to that is yes -- that's legitimate, within the rules, allowed, etc.

Except where it's not. I learned long ago never to use the words "consistency" and "Disney" in the same sentence!

 

[asmit4]

Both my mom and I will be on the DDP, so we might share now and then to save credits. I agree that a tip should be perhaps a bit larger and will tip accordingly.

As for people robbing the system? I'll go on a limb here and be honest. We were there last October. My mom, dad and I had 1 room, my 2 other sisters, 1 child and 1 husband were in another at another onsite resort.

We were on the DDP, they were not. Did we cheat? Per the DIS and DW rules? I think we did! On our last day we had 4 snacks left. I treated my nephew, not on the DDP, to a soda and an icecream and got myself the same, using up the 4 credits.

In addition- perhaps A HUGE sin, we went to Narcoossees for dinner- those on the DDP, ordered 3 appetizers (1 each), we split them all as a family. Also, my dad wanted a cheaper meal, but was told by my mother to order the surf/turf, which my sister wanted who was not on the DDP. The staff knew what we were doing and said they would just put the highest priced items as DDP items and charge us for the cheapest. It was a LIE...I realize that....

With that said- our bill, due to high end bottles of wine and the sheer large amount of food, even with 3 of the 7 of us on the DDP, was over 700 which my dad paid for with a CC. He tipped her about 200 bucks, knowing the REAL bill was much more than that.

Was it 'cheating' probably yes per DW rules. We still spent a fortune on the meal and our waiter was THRILLED with our table. She probably made one of the biggest tips of the night from us.

I am sure that MANY MANY other people did what we did, as our server immediately told us to 'order what we wanted, and they would DDP the most expensive items'. It seemed to us that this was par for the course as we didn't even have to lie, since she brought this up before we ordered. I don't deny that it was cheating, but people will do what they are allowed to get away with.

With that said, I am not surprised the plan has changed and cracked down. What's fair is fair. Perhaps in some small way, it's OUR fault, we along with 1000's of other families found ways to scrimp and cheat the system to create more value.

I do have to say though that the DDP is 1 reason why my mom and I are going again this year and my sister and her family thought our 'free food' was so awesome, that she is now a convert and has booked it since then too. So they lost $$$, on our Narcoossees dinner and snacks due to our lying, but they gained $$ due to our entire family of 7 booked again less than a year later due to the value of the DDP being a huge plus.

Me and my family are guilty as charged. I'm sure this will get lots of flames from people, but I don't think our family is alone, not that it makes it right.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Both my mom and I will be on the DDP, so we might share now and then to save credits. I agree that a tip should be perhaps a bit larger and will tip accordingly.

Due respect, a tip that is "perhaps a bit larger" is not the same as "tipping accordingly".

The appropriate tip for diners who share a meal is twice the amount that would be tipped for that single meal. After all, your server does at LEAST as much work, if not more, to provide you with your order.

 

[aubriee]

What did you split at WCC? I'd like to order the skillet but don't think I could eat all of that and hate to waste so could I split it with one of my children?

The skillet is an 'all you can eat' item, so no it can not be shared. They have other items on the menu though and those may be shared. I know you wouldn't do it and agree that one skillet is alot of food, but if another family saw you ordering it and sharing it, can you see a family of four coming in and trying to do the same thing ordering skillet after skillet and trying to use just one credit to do so. I know a couple of years ago we were there and I gave my husband a drink of my 'all you can drink shake' and the waiter came by, shook his finger at us, and told us that was a no, no.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What did you split at WCC? I'd like to order the skillet but don't think I could eat all of that and hate to waste so could I split it with one of my children?

No.

You absolutely, 100% can NOT "split" a skillet with anyone.

It is an "all you care to eat" menu item and, as such, each person eating food from the skillet must pay for it individually.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Was it 'cheating' probably yes per DW rules.

Not probably; it was. Remember too, that some parties completely on the DDP may have (or want to use) only two credits instead of four at a Signature Restaurant - so the practice of billing the more/most expensive item to the DDP and paying for the other out-of-pocket would be typical knowledge for all servers (also note that the DIS does not promote posting information about 'getting around' the rules)