Tusker House is now 2 dining credits!

[Poohbug]

I don't think I would eat at Chef Mickey's if they gave me dining credits.

 

[skier_pete]

Well - back to 1 TS credit - making the use of the DDP back to being a reasonable deal. I'm still not buying the DDP - but that's more like it.

 

[Tom P.]

On today's podcast, @WebmasterPete seemed *very* certain that this "glitch" was as a result of Disney loading this new pricing into their system. His take, from what he described as a very reliable source, is that these price increases (and, therefore, increases in the dining plan credits needed as well) are coming in October to all of the character buffets. The only glitch, if this source is to be believed, is that it was shown on the web site now, as Disney is not yet ready to announce the change. Pete also seemed to say that he would be very surprised if Disney honored the old pricing/dining credits for people who had already booked that time frame.

Personally, I hope Pete is wrong, but I've found that his sources rarely are. The question then becomes whether or not these restaurants will stay packed, as they are now, or whether this will be the tipping point where people decide it's not worth the money. I can sympathize with Pete's desire that people refuse to pay those prices so that Disney gets the message, but I'm not sure that's the decision I would make, quite honestly. As a father of several young children who love the character meals, I gotta be honest... if this price increase happens, we'll probably still do the character meals when we go later this year.

It's one thing to say we're not going to pay for early morning entry. The kids don't miss out on anything other than a less crowded park for an hour. But to take a Disney vacation and then decide not to give the kids one of their favorite experiences at all because of price increases? I don't see us doing that. Perhaps Disney's increases will get to the point where we decide we can't afford to go at all. But if we're going, we'll probably grin and bear it because those experiences are important to us. And you know what? I suspect a lot of parents will feel the same way, and I'm sure that's what Disney is banking on. And even if their bookings for those restaurants drop by, say, 25%... if they've jacked the prices up by 40%, they're still coming out ahead.

I'm not defending Disney's decision -- if it's true, that is -- by any means. I'm just saying that I think the reality of this situation, and how the public reacts to it, may be different than, say, what happened with the after hours event or even what's happening right now with the slower than normal resort bookings. Only time will tell, I suppose.

 

[ChipnDale79]

On today's podcast, @WebmasterPete seemed *very* certain that this "glitch" was as a result of Disney loading this new pricing into their system. His take, from what he described as a very reliable source, is that these price increases (and, therefore, increases in the dining plan credits needed as well) are coming in October to all of the character buffets. The only glitch, if this source is to be believed, is that it was shown on the web site now, as Disney is not yet ready to announce the change. Pete also seemed to say that he would be very surprised if Disney honored the old pricing/dining credits for people who had already booked that time frame.

Personally, I hope Pete is wrong, but I've found that his sources rarely are. The question then becomes whether or not these restaurants will stay packed, as they are now, or whether this will be the tipping point where people decide it's not worth the money. I can sympathize with Pete's desire that people refuse to pay those prices so that Disney gets the message, but I'm not sure that's the decision I would make, quite honestly. As a father of several young children who love the character meals, I gotta be honest... if this price increase happens, we'll probably still do the character meals when we go later this year.

It's one thing to say we're not going to pay for early morning entry. The kids don't miss out on anything other than a less crowded park for an hour. But to take a Disney vacation and then decide not to give the kids one of their favorite experiences at all because of price increases? I don't see us doing that. Perhaps Disney's increases will get to the point where we decide we can't afford to go at all. But if we're going, we'll probably grin and bear it because those experiences are important to us. And you know what? I suspect a lot of parents will feel the same way, and I'm sure that's what Disney is banking on. And even if their bookings for those restaurants drop by, say, 25%... if they've jacked the prices up by 40%, they're still coming out ahead.

I'm not defending Disney's decision -- if it's true, that is -- by any means. I'm just saying that I think the reality of this situation, and how the public reacts to it, may be different than, say, what happened with the after hours event or even what's happening right now with the slower than normal resort bookings. Only time will tell, I suppose.

Sigh, so he thinks a price increase is on the way.

As a parent of 2 young ones, they will want to do these. I honestly already feel like I'm justifying the high price of these restaurants because of the characters. $150 before tip, for a family of four for a dinner buffet is already inflated IMO.

What about breakfast? Should we expect an increase there?

So instead of offering more character meals to help spread the crowd out, lets follow the Disney model, just charge more, weed the guests out that way.

 

[circus4u]

If it's all character meals, that would also include the Garden Grill in Epcot as well as the Crystal Palace?!

 

[Grym]

The question then becomes whether or not these restaurants will stay packed, as they are now, or whether this will be the tipping point where people decide it's not worth the money. I can sympathize with Pete's desire that people refuse to pay those prices so that Disney gets the message, but I'm not sure that's the decision I would make, quite honestly. As a father of several young children who love the character meals, I gotta be honest... if this price increase happens, we'll probably still do the character meals when we go later this year.

Well if we are suddenly charged 2 credits for our already planned out and booked week in mid-October, our lunchtime Tusker House reservation will be opening up. We'll be cancelling and eating elsewhere. We won't have the credits left for it in our plan and paying out of pocket in addition to paying for the dining plan means the DDP was officially a scam and lost us money in the end.

EDIT - Honestly, it just makes me angry. We did our due diligence on this thing. Before booking anything, we figured out where we were going, where we'd prefer to eat, we looked at menus and figured out what we would like to eat there. I calculated price and included tip. I compared the dining plans vs. OOP costs and came up with the best solution. We booked the best solution. And luckily we were able to get ADRs for that plan at 180 days. And now the rules may be changing. I understand there are disclaimers and things can change at any point. But after putting in the time and effort, it will really leave a bad taste in my mouth. Just the suggestion that is MAY be happening does to be honest.

 

[rteetz]

On today's podcast, @WebmasterPete seemed *very* certain that this "glitch" was as a result of Disney loading this new pricing into their system. His take, from what he described as a very reliable source, is that these price increases (and, therefore, increases in the dining plan credits needed as well) are coming in October to all of the character buffets. The only glitch, if this source is to be believed, is that it was shown on the web site now, as Disney is not yet ready to announce the change. Pete also seemed to say that he would be very surprised if Disney honored the old pricing/dining credits for people who had already booked that time frame.

Personally, I hope Pete is wrong, but I've found that his sources rarely are. The question then becomes whether or not these restaurants will stay packed, as they are now, or whether this will be the tipping point where people decide it's not worth the money. I can sympathize with Pete's desire that people refuse to pay those prices so that Disney gets the message, but I'm not sure that's the decision I would make, quite honestly. As a father of several young children who love the character meals, I gotta be honest... if this price increase happens, we'll probably still do the character meals when we go later this year.

It's one thing to say we're not going to pay for early morning entry. The kids don't miss out on anything other than a less crowded park for an hour. But to take a Disney vacation and then decide not to give the kids one of their favorite experiences at all because of price increases? I don't see us doing that. Perhaps Disney's increases will get to the point where we decide we can't afford to go at all. But if we're going, we'll probably grin and bear it because those experiences are important to us. And you know what? I suspect a lot of parents will feel the same way, and I'm sure that's what Disney is banking on. And even if their bookings for those restaurants drop by, say, 25%... if they've jacked the prices up by 40%, they're still coming out ahead.

I'm not defending Disney's decision -- if it's true, that is -- by any means. I'm just saying that I think the reality of this situation, and how the public reacts to it, may be different than, say, what happened with the after hours event or even what's happening right now with the slower than normal resort bookings. Only time will tell, I suppose.

I watched the podcast live today. The current 2 credit thing was a glitch and was fixed. However I think Pete may be onto something with that we may see a price increase and possible up in credits for character dining in 2017.

 

[Tom P.]

I watched the podcast live today. The current 2 credit thing was a glitch and was fixed. However I think Pete may be onto something with that we may see a price increase and possible up in credits for character dining in 2017.

You may be right, but that's not what Pete said. He specifically said "this was not a glitch" and that the new, increased pricing was coming this year in October.

 

[glvsav37]

as I've said in a few comments about this...this to me is more then just the credit bump for some of my favorite restaurants, but also about what restartuants i WONT visit on my next trip (if there was a credit/price increase).

Looking at it, I am there for 12 days on average, and with all of the locations disney offers—and knowing that I need to eat at least 1x per day—my TS credits are most likely going to 1 TS locations. So bye bye Chef Mickey, Later Tusker house. There are/will be other options for me. Now some would say, why don't I step up to the next level dining plan? Ok, but if a few of my favorite locations are 2 but others are still 1, why do I need 2x the amount of credits over the course of my entire vacation? Then i'm leaving credits on the table.

So is Disney shooting themselves in the foot by doing something like this, where as people like me will just choose not to eat at those increased locations?

 

[glvsav37]

also...with all the 'up-charge' and 'money grab' things WDW is doing are in the end option experiences. But this s food...meals. People need to eat. And if you are looking to lock people into the resort with DME and such, now you are gouging them for food.

Prices they are talking, I'm better off renting a car and going offsite for my meals. Heck, most DVC has full kitchens. I think its time to go down to orlando and opening another grocery delivery service. Business will be booming.

 

[AnnaKat]

On today's podcast, @WebmasterPete seemed *very* certain that this "glitch" was as a result of Disney loading this new pricing into their system. His take, from what he described as a very reliable source, is that these price increases (and, therefore, increases in the dining plan credits needed as well) are coming in October to all of the character buffets. The only glitch, if this source is to be believed, is that it was shown on the web site now, as Disney is not yet ready to announce the change. Pete also seemed to say that he would be very surprised if Disney honored the old pricing/dining credits for people who had already booked that time frame.

Personally, I hope Pete is wrong, but I've found that his sources rarely are. The question then becomes whether or not these restaurants will stay packed, as they are now, or whether this will be the tipping point where people decide it's not worth the money. I can sympathize with Pete's desire that people refuse to pay those prices so that Disney gets the message, but I'm not sure that's the decision I would make, quite honestly. As a father of several young children who love the character meals, I gotta be honest... if this price increase happens, we'll probably still do the character meals when we go later this year.

It's one thing to say we're not going to pay for early morning entry. The kids don't miss out on anything other than a less crowded park for an hour. But to take a Disney vacation and then decide not to give the kids one of their favorite experiences at all because of price increases? I don't see us doing that. Perhaps Disney's increases will get to the point where we decide we can't afford to go at all. But if we're going, we'll probably grin and bear it because those experiences are important to us. And you know what? I suspect a lot of parents will feel the same way, and I'm sure that's what Disney is banking on. And even if their bookings for those restaurants drop by, say, 25%... if they've jacked the prices up by 40%, they're still coming out ahead.

I'm not defending Disney's decision -- if it's true, that is -- by any means. I'm just saying that I think the reality of this situation, and how the public reacts to it, may be different than, say, what happened with the after hours event or even what's happening right now with the slower than normal resort bookings. Only time will tell, I suppose.

For some time now, the buffet/AYCTE thread at the top of the Dis restaurants threads shows NEW prices for the beginning of Oct. 2016. Chef Mickey's will be over $50 for dinner!; Akerhus will be close to $70!; TH lunch & dinner will bump up to the JB dining package price!
As such, the increase to 2 TS credits would be in line with the upcoming prices.

NEXT they will probably raise Crystal Palace(which recently had the lunch buffet raised to the dinner price) to $50, and bump CP up to 2 TS credits. The bean counters are continually looking for ways to ever increase profit.

 

[rteetz]

You may be right, but that's not what Pete said. He specifically said "this was not a glitch" and that the new, increased pricing was coming this year in October.

I know but the credits were changed back in the computer for now. So it was a glitch in that it isn't happening yet.

 

[LeeAndRobin]

I know but the credits were changed back in the computer for now. So it was a glitch in that it isn't happening yet.

Let's all get the definition of "glitch" straight as it relates to computers. A "glitch" is when something happens without direct user interaction (it's a bug in the hardware or program, in other words). In order for these table service credits to change value, I'm pretty sure there had to be user (or programmer) interaction that caused it. Thus, it is not a glitch as traditionally defined. It is an error.

 

[AnnaKat]

Correction. Ahershus shows $57.51 effective Oct. 2, 2016. CM's dinner shows $51.12. Tusker House lunch & dinner show almost $45. That is an almost doubling of TH lunch price in a mere 5 years!!! ALSO, TH used to have the Nemo Musical dining package back then( no characters for lunch then).

 

[cjbcam]

I thought Disney contracts for restaurants went from January to the end of December. Wouldn't it make more sense since they don't have dining (which restaurants will accept DDP etc) until 2017 to just change it for 2017 instead of messing with 2016 dining plan? I hope that's the case or I will be cancelling some reservations I have in November.

 

[Mac30188]

On today's podcast, @WebmasterPete seemed *very* certain that this "glitch" was as a result of Disney loading this new pricing into their system. His take, from what he described as a very reliable source, is that these price increases (and, therefore, increases in the dining plan credits needed as well) are coming in October to all of the character buffets. The only glitch, if this source is to be believed, is that it was shown on the web site now, as Disney is not yet ready to announce the change. Pete also seemed to say that he would be very surprised if Disney honored the old pricing/dining credits for people who had already booked .

I will continue to follow, but that would still be a very sleezy, underhanded business practice and would push me away from ever returning. I can take price increases, but bait and switch is just not ethical. The difference between OOP and DDP is you just do not have options. OOP you have no restrictions or prepayment. DDP is trapped into a pre set restaurant. Since Free Dining is released, it is just not as simple as choosing another restaurant for those on DDP. They have you and know it at this point. You likely are trapped into opening your wallet. I would probably keep resies but fight it out as I went.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am never going to use two credits for TH or CM, and I rather doubt I would consider it for Akershus. If I find that taking the kids to a character meal, or having to pay for most of the experiences I have enjoyed for free in the past, is going to break my budget, I will stop. I am not at the point yet, but this is the first time I am planning a trip that I feel may be the last in a very long time.

 

[AnnaKat]

If it's all character meals, that would also include the Garden Grill in Epcot as well as the Crystal Palace?!

The Dis Character Meals/Buffet/AYCTE thread @ the top of the Dis restaurants threads shows
Garden Grill as $44.73
for both lunch & dinner, effective October 2nd, 2016.
This is the same as Tusker House lunch & dinner, and also the same as the ROL dining package.

Crystal Palace is showing as $44.73 ALSO for lunch & dinner, effective October 2nd, 2016.

 

[speeb]

I'm still sticking to my theory that this was just a glitch (by definition) because of the Thanksgiving Day meals being 2 credits for now.

Upping all the character meals to 2 credits just seems to make the dining plan way less useful in ANY way, even if you're a "for convenience" person. What they should probably do is change it so that you can choose how many meal credits to buy - don't base it on stay except that they expire when you check out.

 

[ChipnDale79]

What they should probably do is change it so that you can choose how many meal credits to buy - don't base it on stay except that they expire when you check out

That's an interesting idea, I could see them keeping the amount of credits per night, but adding an option to purchase more. That would make a lot of sense for them. They could charge more for character dining, therefore people have the option to purchase the additional TS credit to cover that meal, without the consumer having to take a credit from another meal.