The horse is dead!

[minnie61650]

I think it is classic that people here think that the potential "exploitation" of one of the biggest and greediest corporations in the country is the best example of the problems in society today! I'm sure it would be heartwarming to the folks in Disney upper management to know the degree to which the people here at the DIS are constantly looking out for the best interests and making sure that the shareholders and executives' profits are maximized to the fullest dollar.

I do not feel that Disney is greedy and I do not blame the problems in society today on Disney.
But that is just my opinion.

I do love WDW and all the great memories of our vacations there.

But that was not why I wrote this thread.
I was just trying to understand why some people even when they are aware of rules choose not to follow them.

It is that simple.

JMHO

 

[disney2d2]

I think it is classic that people here think that the potential "exploitation" of one of the biggest and greediest corporations in the country is the best example of the problems in society today! I'm sure it would be heartwarming to the folks in Disney upper management to know the degree to which the people here at the DIS are constantly looking out for the best interests and making sure that the shareholders and executives' profits are maximized to the fullest dollar.

Finely put.

I was just trying to understand why some people even when they are aware of rules choose not to follow them.

Personally, I am only concerned with sharing adult TS credits between adults. I don't have any kids, yet.

So my question both sides here is this... do your cards seperately state the number of adult and child credits, like 2A / 2C. If that is the case, and say two adults and one child are dining at the same time (the other is sleeping, or something) then is it wrong for them to order 1 adult and 1 child credit meals? It's not like the child is not going to eat anything... so is it wrong for a parent to share with the child? Don't almost all parents do that? I know my parents did... they knew I could never finish a whole order and it would go to waste.

I understand that Disney has a one liner about this in their brochure, but unless they actively enforce it, it's just like the speed limit... 98% vehicles travelling on the interstate system at any time are breaking the speed limit. Do they all deserve a ticket? No, because even cops with radar don't bother with those doing 72 on a 65 mile/hour limit.

 

[hmp2z]

I have never used the new dining plan (and don't plan on using it, so please don't say I'm trying to cheat the system), but this thread raised a question for me:

Don't people on the plan get X number of, say, table service meals per person for their stay? Suppose, for example, that I had a total of 5 table service meals, and I chose to take my 4 friends, who've been camping in the Ocala National Forest, out to dinner at Cape May Cafe.

Wouldn't I then just have to pay for my own table service meals for the rest of the trip? Why would that be considered cheating, since I'd paid for the 5 meals and then used 5 meals? Or would it - maybe you all are talking about something else when you mention sharing meals with people who aren't on the plan?

Just curious - thanks,
Heather W

 

[DoleWhipMom]

People, people,

Let's gain a little perspective. There are places in the world where people are starving and/or are being bombed all the time. How foolish is it to get so up a tree about something like this? I came to this site to learn more about the dinning plan since it will be free for my family on our upcoming trip. Chill. There are bigger moral issues in the world than this.

I do think it is funny how some are so up a tree about child/adult meals... please remember, Disney considers a 10 year as an adult and charges full boat for them for both meal plans and tickets.

 

[salmoneous]

Is it exploiting a loophole or gaming, yes, is it illegal or cheating, no.

Don't be ridiculous. There is a rule. It is very simple - meal entitlements cannot be shared between adults and children. The fact that Disney doesn't have an effective enforcement mechanism doesn't change the rule. Disney doesn't have an effective enforcement mechanism to keep parents from buying a child's ticked for their 10 year old kids, but that doesn't change the rule that only kids 9 and under get the child's price.

Look, I don't care what you do with your credits. And I'm not about to pass judgement on somebody for how they use a dining plan. But I do have a problem with somebody claiming that a rule magically goes away when there isn't an effective enforcement mechanism. It's not exploiting a loophole. It isn't gaming the system. It is cheating.

 

[DoleWhipMom]

I am not proposing, in any way, to cheat. I am new here. I was told by a Disney Rep that I could use the credits as I wish. If that's the rule then fine, I'll follow it but really, Disney needs to clarify this better. It is sometimes hard to figure out someone's real intent in a post. Mine is, being new to this forum, reading through these posts the amount of outrage seemed out of proporation to the ills of the world and second, maybe not as clear, Disney makes the rules, but we are the customers.

 

[Pedler]

Completely OT, but the taxi drivers and limo owners were complaining that ME is driving them out of business. I have a feeling that as soon as there is no alternative to ME other than rental cars, Disney will start charging for the service.

Getting a bit off the OP's topic but I think that the recently renewed contract with MCO has the service being free until at least 2010 or 2011. This is a case where I don't think Disney was trying to target taxi drivers or limo owners to get them out of the market so they could make money by charging later on. The goal was to get you on site without a rental car so you couldn't go elsewhere. That increases the per capita spending and on site occupancy. The limo drivers and taxis were just a side effect but not the target. They really couldn't put them out of business and then raise the prices without things reverting back to the way there were prior to ME pretty quickly. Aside from the whole predatory pricing issues if they were to start charging for ME after giving it away for free to put companies out of business it doesn't take a lot to start up a limo or taxi service so they would have the competition back pretty quick. The real goal is to keep you from, dare I say it, go off site for food or, gasp, going to another attraction. Without a rental car and by have you get the DDP for the entire stay for everyone (essentially pre paid food) and the lower ticket cost for those 5th, 6th & 7th days they just made to cost of going off site to Universal for a day as opposed to staying at Disney very expensive. In our case if we had wanted to go off site for a family of 4 to Universal it would have cost over $200 by the time we got tickets, transportation and food. On the other hand the extra day on the park hopper ticket was only $4 for all four of us.

I honestly think that ME, the DDP and MYW Ticket pricing is all about getting people on site and not having them leave. As I have said before the mouse is intent on getting every single dollar you spend in Florida. Free transportation, lower cost extra park days and a afforable dinning plan are all part of the scheme, em... I mean marketing plan.

Somewhere Scrooge McDuck has a smile on his face.

 

[TimKeenan]

Do you all think that Disney is this dumb? No..... In addition, they routinely encourage guest to make the most of their credits. Do you think Disney frowns on this practice? No....... Could they put a stop to it quickly if they wanted to? Yes. Then why haven't they? How hard is it to reprogram a computer system to separate the credits? My gosh, give it a rest.

 

[minnie61650]

Thanks to all for your replies and your thoughts.

I wish all of you a safe and funfilled vacation at Disney.

I am now declaring my thread a dead horse since this thread has gotten way off topic. I understand now That I posted my questions all wrong because
many really do not understand what I was asking in my first post on this thread.

I apologize to all for not being able to communicate my concerns very well.

Poor horse.
Please stop beating him.

 

[JimMIA]

So my question both sides here is this... do your cards seperately state the number of adult and child credits, like 2A / 2C. If that is the case, and say two adults and one child are dining at the same time (the other is sleeping, or something) then is it wrong for them to order 1 adult and 1 child credit meals? It's not like the child is not going to eat anything... so is it wrong for a parent to share with the child? Don't almost all parents do that? I know my parents did... they knew I could never finish a whole order and it would go to waste.

To answer your question, yes, your room key says 2A/2C. The problem Disney has (which is self-inflicted and they choose not to fix it) is that they have no way in their computer system to segregate the child and adult credits. So they know what you bought, but they have no way of telling what you've used. When you eat a meal, they simply deduct X TS or CS credits. They don't know which category of credit they are subtracting. That's what people are talking about when they say "pooled credits."

Disney is definitely worried about one form of sharing, and possibly (or probably) worried about another form of sharing.

They have prohibited (but can't enforce) using child credits (@$10.99 per day) for adult meals (@ $37.99 per day). With typical Disney precision, they have explained that by making the poorly worded statement that credits can't be shared between children and adults -- but the only sensible interpretation of that is that they don't want you to buy an expensive meal with a cheap ticket.

The other form of sharing, which they are probably concerned about, is using any dining plan credits to purchase meals for people who are not participating in the dining plan. We have to remember that the primary purpose of the dining plan (and DME, and free parking in the theme parks, and...) is to encourage people to stay onsite in Disney resorts. So Disney doesn't like this type of sharing. This would be a pretty straightforward type of sharing to control, but so far, Disney has chosen not to control it.

 

[JimMIA]

I have never used the new dining plan (and don't plan on using it, so please don't say I'm trying to cheat the system), but this thread raised a question for me:

Don't people on the plan get X number of, say, table service meals per person for their stay? Suppose, for example, that I had a total of 5 table service meals, and I chose to take my 4 friends, who've been camping in the Ocala National Forest, out to dinner at Cape May Cafe.

Wouldn't I then just have to pay for my own table service meals for the rest of the trip? Why would that be considered cheating, since I'd paid for the 5 meals and then used 5 meals? Or would it - maybe you all are talking about something else when you mention sharing meals with people who aren't on the plan?

Just curious - thanks,
Heather W

No, your example is exactly what we're talking about. I agree with your logic, but Disney does not.

Don't forget, the dining plan is primarily designed to get people to stay onsite in Disney hotels. For that reason, Disney doesn't want people staying off-site to benefit from the plan. We have to remember it IS their plan, and they have the right to set whatever parameters they choose on their plan.

 

[!@#$%]

The impression I have been getting is that there are a LOT of REALLY confused people out there.
It looks like about 75% of the posting I see here is by ppl who have never did the DDP before. They are worried that they wont have enough to eat. (Boy are THEY in for a shock!!!) I know last year I was thinking the same thing.
It sounds too good to be true, but it isnt.

There are 2 sides to this story, and both have their points. On one hand Disney has overcharged us for years on food. To the extent that many people simply dont go because they hear stories of $10 hamburgers.
YES, $2.50 for a small bottle of CocaCola is RIDICULOUS!
At home I rarely EVER eat out, but when I do, I wouldnt spend half what Disney charges. YES the food at WDW is overpriced (unless you live in NYC or such, then its not that bad) but for people who live off $1.00 menus its absurd to pay this much for food. So when they get a chance to "stick it to the man" they pounce on it.
But at the same time, overeating is a poor idea and unhealthy.
bending the rules (or far worse... ARGUING HATEFULLY to the waiter to TRY to bend the rules) could possibly be the death blow to this great plan.
They expect you to take "full" advantage of the plan, just dont abuse it. JMHO.

 

[tlmdisney]

Corporations are so lucky for people like the ones on this thread who fall hook line and sinker for the reasons for price hikes is that is all the theving customers out there who want to "cheat the system" Not the CEOs who want millions of dollars in bonuses each year.

 

[!@#$%]

On one of my trips BEFORE the dining plan I watched some typical snobs (I say that because of how they were acting) as they waited for Fantasmic. The dad brought back 4 bottles of Pepsi or Coke, 4 pretzels, and 4 cookies.
This was when there was no DDP or no free food. He paid $2.50 (or was it $2.75?) each for the drinks, like $3.50 each for the pretzels, and about $2.00 each for the cookies. Thats $32.00 in "snacks" for a family of 4. I then watched in disbelief as they took a few sips from each drink (literally... not even 1/4 of the drink), nibbled at the pretzels (one kid didnt eat hers at all, and she just left it there for cleaning crews) and they ate about 1/2 of the cookies. I think the dad actually ate most of his pretzel. He was the hungryest I guess!

This was the first year of my self employment. I went in the hole by about $15,000 that year, and we were hungry all week. We were there because we have an autistic child, and my wife was on the verge of Suicide. We love WDW and had to get away. The financial stresses were enormous. We ate french fries for lunch, and brought in peanut butter sandwiches.
The fact is they threw about $20.00 of food in the trash. worse yet, they didnt even do that, they just left it on the bleachers for someone else to clean up.
What gripes my butt so bad is that these are the some of the ones who will try to milk the system most!
They are the ones who need it the least.

I can halfway understand those who have never had the money to eat at the fancier restaurants trying to eat the BEST they can get.
Its the others I have real problems with. JMHO again.

 

[english rose 47]

We will be 2 adults 2 adult kids and 1 child, We plan on using DDP for all 5 of us for TS (4 adult meals & 1 child)if DGS wants to share some of our foodI don't see any problem with that. We do plan on saving cs credits by sharingto save some for last day I think we are planning on using the plan correctly not trying to use adult credits for kids meals and if it's to much food so what. We can either take it with us for later or not. I think the DDP will give us all a chance to eat at restaurants that we wouldn,t have done otherwise and try some different appetizers and desserts. I think it's great I have better things to do than worry about chil? adult meaals and sharing. If Disney wants they can send all our leftovers to China. Remember thatone our parents threw at us to get us to eat our food.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I believe that the term "beating a dead horse' was originated on the DIS boards. (darn smilies won't work, trust me I am smiling)

I have all I can do to take care of my own morals to have time to worry about others. Sometimes I succeed. (grin)

Go, enjoy yourselves!! Don't sweat the small stuff!! (pixie dust for you all)

Slightly Goofy

 

[english rose 47]

Goofy I agree completely The dining plan is great . I'm so excited about being able to take the kids to lots of Character meals that without the plan we couldnt afford.I 'm there to enjoy the pixie dust

 

[!@#$%]

HAHA I just spotted the smiley faces beting the dead horse. Somehow I missed that before. ThATs the best smiley Ive seen yet. (aside from one I once seen used to show what happens after you drink "Beverly" at Cool Station in Epcot)

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

english rose, good for you all and I hope you are able to check out the Garden Grill in EPCOT. It has great character interaction, you might even get tired of them.

I am surprised that no one has noticed another hidden cost of the free dining plan, the highly inflated costs of the food at DW.

It is worth it to me though not to have to go off site and waste valuable park time though.

Slightly Goofy

 

[Lewisc]

I understand, and agree with, the points you're making. You can PM a moderator and ask to have this thread closed.

I agree food in Disney is expensive BUT not really any more expensive than food in any place that has a captive audience. Look at the prices in a ball park, movie theater or even something like the circus. The meal plan really does make food a lot more affordable.

Thanks to all for your replies and your thoughts.

I wish all of you a safe and funfilled vacation at Disney.

I am now declaring my thread a dead horse since this thread has gotten way off topic. I understand now That I posted my questions all wrong because
many really do not understand what I was asking in my first post on this thread.

I apologize to all for not being able to communicate my concerns very well.

Poor horse.
Please stop beating him.