The slow decay of the DDP . . .

[Chuck S]

Disney has evolved into a typical greedy corporation. Increase prices and cut quality. Make decisions based upon profit not upon the Guest experience. Net income was still $954 million for the 3rd quarter but that's not good enough.

I am sure that Walt would not be happy if he was alive today.

“Disneyland is a work of love. We didn’t go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money. -Walt Disney ”

Bill

Walt may not be happy, but there'd be little he could do about it, given the current state of mind of the Wall Street fund managers. Today it IS all about profit, no matter which company you're talking about.

 

[hlyntunstl]

This is my biggest issue. Remember the days when you could make an ADR for the following day while on vacation? Now, I almost have to plan my park visits 90 (now 180) days in advance. I would rather DDP go away so I can once again enjoy a leisurely vacation that I don't have to schedule 6 months in advance.

I've been thisclose to switching full-time to TIW where I can get 20% off on my entire meal including appetizers and adult beverages (I always enjoy wine on vacay) and I think I may make the move next trip to Disney.

We, too, remember the old days, making ADRs the day before, but, like everything else, change is a constant.

We now plan our vacations at the 11 month window, target our restaurant experiences, make the calls as soon as we are allowed, and cancel the reservations on the day specified if we change our minds, that way we at least have somewhere to sit down if we want to eat a nice dinner.

ADRs are what they are. Switching to TIW doesn't change how we get a chair at the table.

Actually, my final comment was based the overall benefit of DDP and not just based on seating as with my first comment. I do realize that TiW still requires ADR and was just adding another issue I had with DDP to the discussion.

For me, if I have the DDP, it's difficult to justify cancelling a table service when it may be impossible to get another reservation leading to a potentially lost table service at the end of your stay that you already paid for. I'll add this to my list of TiW plusses because a change in plans wouldn't impact your pocket the same way since you don't prepay for a full meal.

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . I'll add this to my list of TiW plusses because a change in plans wouldn't impact your pocket the same way since you don't prepay for a full meal.

I agree. Although we do not normally cancel reservations for dinner, just knowing that we have better control on the purse strings makes us feel better if something would come up.

 

[Brian Noble]

“Disneyland is a work of love. We didn’t go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money. -Walt Disney ”

That's a nice quote. But, if you read any competent biography of the man, you'll realize that that quote might not reflect his thinking entirely accurately.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Exactly! The DDP has been TERRIBLE for the quality of Disney dining.

We've used some form of Disney's dining plan for years. They've finally broken us of that habit.

The cost is one issue, but the quality...or lack of it....is the sticking point. I never thought we would eat the majority of our meals in the Villa.

Oh, and the "holiday pricing" really cooks my last grit. It now devours almost half the calendar year.

 

[Mtnman44]

I don't understand. Should we want Disney not to make a profit? What about our own companies that we get paychecks from? Should they not make money either? What is wrong with doing everything possible to succeed in business? If you don't like something, don't buy it. If a company makes a "wrong" decision with regard to pricing or product, they soon learn about through failure. If they are successful, then they were correct.

It seems many people are under the illusion that the DDP's purpose is to save them money.

I'm not so sure the CEOs have a lot of choice in the matter these days, the fund managers and brokers demand profit. That is why Eisner received the no confidence votes from those managers, not because he "lost the Disney dream."

 

[stopher1]

It seems many people are under the illusion that the DDP's purpose is to save them money.

That's often the case because of the way that Disney markets it in the first place. Especially whenever they attach the buzz word "Free" into their campaign...

When we've used any of the plans offered, we recognize the whole scheme is more about convenience than savings. Convenient for us not having to have lots of cash or a credit card on hand at the restuarant - but also convenient for Disney if we don't play the game well and maximize our meal's "cost". When we've been on the plan, you would definitely be able to find my DW, at every single meal, calculating out what it would be OOP if we had not had the plan - and then comparing what we "would have" ordered if not on the plan (i.e. no dessert, or counter vs. table, etc). "Maximizing" was much easier back in the days when appetizer and tip were included - since we would easily walk away having eaten some of the most expensive items on the menu, and felt good about what we got for our money.

Conversely though, just as we tried to maximize our plan dollars on the plan - Disney certainly did the same thing over the past couple of years by switching out various cuts of meat, reduced portions, etc. They have recognized that the cost of the plan to the consumer wasn't necessarily covering the total cost of the ingredients, labor, overhead and profit margin desired and have merely done their part in "rectifying" that. Personally I think they've gone a bit too far, but that's just MHO.

We will be on the plan for a portion of our stay in January, simply because our guests (my folks) are very much into the convienence mindset & would rather just know it's all taken care of up front - oh and did I mention, they are paying for it too? Since I'm giving them the accomodations, I don't mind them giving us the dining plan. Share and share alike, you know. But when it's just my own family going to the world - each trip is unique and what gets included or not depends on variety of factors. But my bet is the next time head down there alone, the DDP won't be included.

 

[Chellymouse]

DH and I have decided that we were not going to use DDP on our big trip next Oct, one due to F&W, but the other due to the cost increase. We've used DDP for the last couple of years and this past trip this summer, we found that the value has significantly decreased. We plan to order more groceries and go back to our old ways of planning and budgeting for our meals. It's just not worth it anymore and I have to say that the quality of the meals has gone down drastically especially in the last year.

 

[d-r]

Well, I for one wish they would never have implemented the DDP! I feel like it has been the total downfall of what used to be one of the things we loved about Disney...the unique table service spots. Now everything is becoming standardized and boring, even at the signature restaurants, and I feel it is the fault of the DDP.

I agree. And every time they jack up the dining plan prices, you can be sure they will jack up the menu prices, so that people will think they have a great deal. The seasonal character meal pricing the last few years, where they are paying for the free dining in september by charging more for the holidays (and then summer) was already on my nerves; this is just an extension of that. Charge more for the dining plan during busy times, charge medium for it during medium times, give it away during slow times.

I hate to say this - we used to say that the kitchen was a play room for young kids that like to open up the cabinets - but Disney is teaching us that it is less of a hassle to have some dinners in the room.

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

When we travel to Disney we fly down and take the Magical Express. This kind of limits you to being onsite and even though we have a kitchen in our room, the last thing we want to do on vacation is cook and clean. I usually try to book many of the buffet resurants so our kids (6 year old twins), don't have to eat pizza or hamburgers off the kids meal all week.I don't like the cutbacks you've mentioned but i'm sure i'll always get the plan unless it gets ridiculous.

 

[daisyduck123]

I don't like the cutbacks you've mentioned but i'm sure i'll always get the plan unless it gets ridiculous.

Same with us. We like a nice sit down dinner each night & it works for my family.

 

[mikeandkarla]

Walt may not be happy, but there'd be little he could do about it, given the current state of mind of the Wall Street fund managers. Today it IS all about profit, no matter which company you're talking about.

That is the exact problem. GREED. I didn't notice Disney increased the price of EVERYTHING yearly, until I became a DVC member. Price increase happen, I am aware of that. When you raise the price of services and goods and the quality of such diminishes at the same time--eventually people will stop buying.

 

[crisi]

I don't think there is anything to feel guilty about. For a lot of people its still a great value. The food is still decent and edible. If you aren't a food snob and don't do a lot of fine dining - its even good more often than not (we've unfortunately become food snobs - ate at Applebee's last night - yeah....not good. But not bad either. And that's where we are with Disney).

 

[jamstew]

If I remember correctly (and don't count on it) it was a service charge for the holiday periods. Ok not so bad. Now it's for the entire summer when the large majority of us with school age kids go.

Summer became a "season," and the "seasonal" surcharge went into effect this year, at least for character meals.

 

[Gowahoowa]

I don't think there is anything to feel guilty about. For a lot of people its still a great value. The food is still decent and edible. If you aren't a food snob and don't do a lot of fine dining - its even good more often than not (we've unfortunately become food snobs - ate at Applebee's last night - yeah....not good. But not bad either. And that's where we are with Disney).

Agree. We really enjoy eating at Disney and we haven't had many bad meals there. We do the DDP on every trip and plan to continue to do so. For our family, it works. It does "save" us money when you compare it to paying OOP for eating the same way without DDP. We are on vacation and besides snacks and light breakfasts in the room we are not into cooking in the villa.

We are happy that at least for now us DVC'ers won't have to pay the extra price....

 

[jarestel]

Just another slow decay of the magic . . . . .

I don't know that I ever saw much of anything magical in the DDP... Mediocre food served in chow hall ambience but at a "bargain" price.

Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. Still, I'm always glad to see another WDW visitor swearing off the DDP.

 

[Muushka]

We've used some form of Disney's dining plan for years. They've finally broken us of that habit.

The cost is one issue, but the quality...or lack of it....is the sticking point. I never thought we would eat the majority of our meals in the Villa.

Oh, and the "holiday pricing" really cooks my last grit. It now devours almost half the calendar year.

Great saying! Can I steal it??

PS I totally agree with your post. We too will be eating the majority of our meals in the villa.