When Will The Dining Plan Return?

[sullivan.kscott]

I believe that's an unrealistic and incredibly cynical viewpoint. Not everything Disney does is focused on solely increasing operating profits. They're not a charity, but they do a lot of things to enhance the guest experience which will indirectly make them money.

Also, your comment doesn't really make sense. If the table service restaurants are profitable (which I believe they are), then they will increase overall operating profits.

Plus they keep you in the gates longer. I can’t count the times we had planned on a break but after a TS lunch feel recharged and stick around in the parks, spending more money, as opposed to heading back to the “free” room and pool.

 

[ford91exploder]

I don't know how they could stop it. On our last trip, we had Giordanos Pizza delivered to our room; it was the best meal we had our entire trip.

That's a perfect example of a QS item a pizza

 

[ford91exploder]

The only buffet at WDW I’d really like to see back is Tusker House. Other than that meal, the conversion to family style is very appealing. Maybe Biergarten.
To think TS is out of Disney’s plans is ridiculous. If that was in the plan they wouldn’t have opened the restaurants they did in the reopening phase. At least not in their TS capacity.
Sure they’re making $$ decisions like consolidating kitchens and bakeries (looking at you, nasty Mickey head sugar cookies at HS), but there’s no way shuttering TS is a plan on the foreseeable future. Before COVID, DDP+ was added to increase profitability further by adding an additional TS meal to standard DDP.

What's open now is not a good predictor for the future, A table service restaurant at Disney requires several hundred FTE's chefs/busboys/managers/servers/greeters etc all specialized roles, A QS restaurant requires 1/4-1/3 the staff and they can be trained to do all the jobs.

 

[Farro]

What's open now is not a good predictor for the future, A table service restaurant at Disney requires several hundred FTE's chefs/busboys/managers/servers/greeters etc all specialized roles, A QS restaurant requires 1/4-1/3 the staff and they can be trained to do all the jobs.

Disney is not going to continue to try and raise prices, charge what they charge at resorts and not give people the option for a table-service experience. Epcot and Disney Springs are practically built on the idea of sit down dinners with alcohol.

The idea is ludicrous and even you don't believe it.

 

[ford91exploder]

Plus they keep you in the gates longer. I can’t count the times we had planned on a break but after a TS lunch feel recharged and stick around in the parks, spending more money, as opposed to heading back to the “free” room and pool.

Look I like TS meals too two of my favorites are Tusker House and Biergarten not to mention Jiko and Sann'a I'm looking at it the way the Disney 'Accountaneers' seem to be looking at things how do I make the maximum profit from the smallest possible number of dollars invested.

In my town there is a excellent 'italian' TS restaurant great food reasonable prices. I know the owner pretty well, He's converting to counter service as he notes he'll make 3x the profit at half the operating cost and instead of needing 10 people per shift he'll need 4. See where this is going?

 

[ford91exploder]

Plus they keep you in the gates longer. I can’t count the times we had planned on a break but after a TS lunch feel recharged and stick around in the parks, spending more money, as opposed to heading back to the “free” room and pool.

Look I like TS meals too two of my favorites are Tusker House and Biergarten not to mention Jiko and Sann'a I'm looking at it the way the Disney 'Accountaneers' seem to be looking at things how do I make the maximum profit from the smallest possible number of dollars invested.

In my town there is a excellent 'italian' TS restaurant great food reasonable prices. I know the owner pretty well, He's converting to counter service as he notes he'll make 3x the profit at half the operating cost and instead of needing 10 people per shift he'll need 4. See where this is going?

 

[sullivan.kscott]

What's open now is not a good predictor for the future, A table service restaurant at Disney requires several hundred FTE's chefs/busboys/managers/servers/greeters etc all specialized roles, A QS restaurant requires 1/4-1/3 the staff and they can be trained to do all the jobs.

I certainly don't disagree with the premise of staffing. I waited tables through school and know all too well the numbers required to run your run of the mill neighborhood chain steakhouse. Perhaps WDW transitions to a model more like DCL. Servers are also bus staff. Most restaurants outside of higher end places have already adopted that model even outside of Disney. As Disney "digitizes" shopping and QS, they no doubt have plans for modifying the TS experience, as well. Maybe it eventually converts to something more like Buffalo Wild Wings, where you see a server at your table and they refill the kids' Coke and offer another adult refreshment, but they are cut from the traditional experience via mobile ordering. Honestly, "prebuilding" a meal and telling MDE what table number my party was given by the greeter would save a big chunk of time.
But DDP is profitable BECAUSE of the "Disney adult" model at 10 years old, when a lot of kids that age order a mix of kids and adult meals at TS (and QS, too, no doubt). So, no, I don't see the more elaborate and longer meals of the TS experience disappearing completely. And, back to the thread topic, I absolutely see DDP in multiple tiers returning ASAP when capacity returns.

 

[ford91exploder]

Disney is not going to continue to try and raise prices, charge what they charge at resorts and not give people the option for a table-service experience. Epcot and Disney Springs are practically built on the idea of sit down dinners with alcohol.

The idea is ludicrous and even you don't believe it.

I don't think anything will change at Disney Springs as most if not all those restaurants are national chains paying Disney rent. At EPCOT the 'alco-dollars' will continue to flow because there is no rule that at a CS restaurant you cannot sell alcohol. Just expect a few more pop up bars to make up the delta. And even in EPCOT many of the restaurants are operated by third parties so I don't expect a change there. It's just at Disney owned and operated restaurants that I expect will become QS only.

 

[AvidDisReader]

I don't think anything will change at Disney Springs as most if not all those restaurants are national chains paying Disney rent. At EPCOT the 'alco-dollars' will continue to flow because there is no rule that at a CS restaurant you cannot sell alcohol. Just expect a few more pop up bars to make up the delta. And even in EPCOT many of the restaurants are operated by third parties so I don't expect a change there. It's just at Disney owned and operated restaurants that I expect will become QS only.

Your thoughts are well thought out, but the idea is to keep people in the bubble. If there is NO table service available, a significant portion of their guests will be going off property to eat and drink. This is a big no no to Disney. So for better or worse table service is here to say (I say for better or worse as I for one believe the qualify of TS has really gone down in recent years, but that is just my opinion).

 

[ford91exploder]

I certainly don't disagree with the premise of staffing. I waited tables through school and know all too well the numbers required to run your run of the mill neighborhood chain steakhouse. Perhaps WDW transitions to a model more like DCL. Servers are also bus staff. Most restaurants outside of higher end places have already adopted that model even outside of Disney. As Disney "digitizes" shopping and QS, they no doubt have plans for modifying the TS experience, as well. Maybe it eventually converts to something more like Buffalo Wild Wings, where you see a server at your table and they refill the kids' Coke and offer another adult refreshment, but they are cut from the traditional experience via mobile ordering. Honestly, "prebuilding" a meal and telling MDE what table number my party was given by the greeter would save a big chunk of time.
But DDP is profitable BECAUSE of the "Disney adult" model at 10 years old, when a lot of kids that age order a mix of kids and adult meals at TS (and QS, too, no doubt). So, no, I don't see the more elaborate and longer meals of the TS experience disappearing completely. And, back to the thread topic, I absolutely see DDP in multiple tiers returning ASAP when capacity returns.

Good thoughts in your note,


First most people do not realize how many people are needed to make a large restaurant operate having 'been there' you do. We have friends in maine who operate a popular seaside restaurant and more than once have been pressed into service to help out when they were short on staff.

I do expect the 'Traditional' Disney TS meal to be going to Yesterland, Your point about redefining the server role especially with the mobile ordering app a Buffalo Wild WIngs model is very very possible, Pizzaria Uno is also doing the same thing you order and pay from a tableside device and someone may show up to refill drinks...


I also expect that the DDP will be back as you forgot one important source of revenue from DDP, The 'float' on the probably hundreds of millions of dollars when you buy the DDP.

its bought when you book package which is usually multiple months in advance. Remember years ago you could buy it when you checked in now you need to buy it at time of booking.

 

[Eric Smith]

Good thoughts in your note,


First most people do not realize how many people are needed to make a large restaurant operate having 'been there' you do. We have friends in maine who operate a popular seaside restaurant and more than once have been pressed into service to help out when they were short on staff.

I do expect the 'Traditional' Disney TS meal to be going to Yesterland, Your point about redefining the server role especially with the mobile ordering app a Buffalo Wild WIngs model is very very possible, Pizzaria Uno is also doing the same thing you order and pay from a tableside device and someone may show up to refill drinks...


I also expect that the DDP will be back as you forgot one important source of revenue from DDP, The 'float' on the probably hundreds of millions of dollars when you buy the DDP.

its bought when you book package which is usually multiple months in advance. Remember years ago you could buy it when you checked in now you need to buy it at time of booking.

They're not going to be able to sell the dining plan without table service restaurants. Disney is also able to charge prices that normal restaurants can only dream of. Table service isn't going anywhere.

 

[ford91exploder]

They're not going to be able to sell the dining plan without table service restaurants. Disney is also able to charge prices that normal restaurants can only dream of. Table service isn't going anywhere.

Sure they will, A lot of people purchase the dining plan so they don't have to think about what they are spending on meals. For a 1 week stay for a family of 4 a TIW card and gift cards with preloaded with the amount you would have spent on DDP will usually work out better, But it's 'i don't want to think about it' factor which really sells DDP. Back in the early days we used to buy the 'Deluxe Dining Plan' and it was not hard to come out ahead of OOP, Now its a struggle and generally not worth the effort so last few visits were OOP+TIW.

 

[ford91exploder]

Alright, guys. I did the calculations. It only makes sense if were eating at a buffet every single day, which isnt going to happen. Hard pass, haha. Doesnt need to come back after all

There was a time when the buffet meals were the low priced option for TS dining. Unfortunately now WDW is run as a unrelated group of business units all competing with each other for the guest dollar. So the menus and food quality will continue to decline I’ve posited that all restaurants will switch to some type of CS/QS dining except perhaps V&A and CRT. So that F+B can run with thousands fewer CM’s. Dining plan will be back so Disney can capture that float income again.

 

[disneyseniors]

Sure they will, A lot of people purchase the dining plan so they don't have to think about what they are spending on meals. For a 1 week stay for a family of 4 a TIW card and gift cards with preloaded with the amount you would have spent on DDP will usually work out better, But it's 'i don't want to think about it' factor which really sells DDP. Back in the early days we used to buy the 'Deluxe Dining Plan' and it was not hard to come out ahead of OOP, Now its a struggle and generally not worth the effort so last few visits were OOP+TIW.

When we quit the DP's, we just had our credit card linked to our magic band for all our purchases at WDW. It worked great. We didn't have to think about it at all while there. we just made sure we paid it off when the CC bill came in.
works for us with no hassle!

 

[PaulaSB12]

I have used the dining plan every trip so far, the next time I want to calculate the cost of the deluxe dining plan put it on a pre paid card and do it that way so I can choose where and where and not have to eat three meals a day

 

[kitkat4622]

We always did the dining plan just for the ease of it. Our next trip we are not. Buying and paying as we go

 

[mkb3]

I get the draw of the dining plan and the all inclusive feeling. I did the dining plan my first visit, Sun-Friday 5 park days. Ate at Be our Guest, Chef Mickey, 1900 park fare and Askershus (sp?). The rest were random QS meals. The next time we opted to skip the dining plan and stayed a full week. We ate CA Grill, Chef Mickey's, Ohana, Cinderella's Royal Table and then Quick Service and still came out cheaper than the dining plan.

 

[AvidDisReader]

Did everyone hear about the job posting on Disney's web site. Senior Dining Plan analyst. That screams the DP will be back, we just do not know when and what it will look like.

 

[randumb0]

Hopefully never so that we can have better food choices at restaurants

 

[Feberin]

To think TS is out of Disney’s plans is ridiculous. If that was in the plan they wouldn’t have opened the restaurants they did in the reopening phase. At least not in their TS capacity.

Also switching Be Our Guest from QS to TS seems an odd move if you're trying to get rid of TS.