Who else hates the Dining Plan

[Peter Pirate]

I hate the plan because of what it has done to the restaurants. They're more crowded, more like an assembly line with less thought and care put into the preperation (IMO) and have generated service issues.

I had never thought of the gluttony angle and this is in and of itself very relevent. While I do not expect Disney to be responsible for whether guests eat "properly" while at WDW, I do feel it's a step in the wrong direction for America in general. We're an extremely obese Country because of what we eat and (naturally) how much we eat and in looking at the success of buffets, obviously, how much we get for our money is often more important that what we get for our money. This isn't the indicator of a good trend, IMO.

 

[OctDisney]

My wife and I looked at the dining plan and fortunately since we are splitting our stay between resorts, it was not going to work.

What I did do though is cost it out with the dining plan and compared it to the ADR's we made. We will save about $200 without the plan. The reasons - we are not heavy eaters, our 11 year old does not eat like an adult, and we like to have the flexibility to have ice cream or something like that later.

Most of our ADR's are lunches and my wife and I will probably split or the boys will as well. As an example, when we eat lunch at Prime Time 50's Cafe, we will probably order just two meals and split among the 4 of us, especially if the boys want a pb&j milkshake.

For us, it will not make sense.

I do not see any positives with the dining plan. I think it may work against Disney in the future. The reasons I feel this way:
1. Have to plan too far out in advance. I think character meals should be planned and the most elegant TS, such as Artist Point, but for TS's like Whispering Canyon, Beirgarten, etc. it would be nice to have the ability to chose on that day.
2. It encourages unhealthy eating - who eats out everyday at a TS at home.
3. Tipping is regulated, thus discouraging excellent service.
4. Lack of just being able to walk into a restaurant
5. Overbooking and thus long waits will discourage people

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I just want to say here, I think this is a really good discussion of why people like or do not like the dining plan and I am enjoying this discussion.. I participated with my thoughts and thank you all for keeping it going in a good Disney spirit..

 

[MICKEEP]

1. Have to plan too far out in advance. I think character meals should be planned and the most elegant TS, such as Artist Point, but for TS's like Whispering Canyon, Beirgarten, etc. it would be nice to have the ability to chose on that day.
2. It encourages unhealthy eating - who eats out everyday at a TS at home.
3. Tipping is regulated, thus discouraging excellent service.
4. Lack of just being able to walk into a restaurant
5. Overbooking and thus long waits will discourage people

My original intent in posting this question was to see if people remember how things used to be in the "Old Days", when you were able to get a PS (Remember PS's?) for a restaurant on the day you planned to eat there. At most times of the year, you could get into almost any restaurant you wanted, at almost any time you wanted, with little or no prior planning.

BUT

OctDisney, You have come up with four very good additional reasons not to like the DP that I gave very little thought to.

 

[richard_andmel]

I hate the plan because of what it has done to the restaurants. They're more crowded, more like an assembly line with less thought and care put into the preperation (IMO) and have generated service issues.

This is also why I don't like it. I also see the trend of dumbing down the menus to appeal to people who wouldn't have gone out of their way to eat at some of the slightly unusual or more gormet (for the lack of a better word) choices. The sad part of this is that some people are using the plan to try places they didn't feel they could fit in their budget before and are getting robbed of the original experience...

We plan our ADR's anyway. But due to not wanting to feel locked into appetizer & dessert and the fact we are AP holders we wouldn't consider doing the plan.

 

[Quinn222]

I don't use it since I'm a passholder. My only problem with it is that it seems to have had a negative impact on the TS restaurants. Menus are changing to more limited choces and less interesting choices and special items are pretty much eliminated.

 

[mytwotinks]

We are using it for the first time in September. I agree that it is way way way too much food, so I am planning on us sharing a bunch of meals ( I assume that I just pay for one drink oop) and then using the extra credits to splurge at the CG, HBD & CRT. I just don't see us all eating a 3 course meal in the heat every day!

I think it will work out for us if we do this. I really think that after a few days you would be sick of looking at food if you did a full ts and cs every day.

 

[DisneyDotty]

I liked the DDP because:
1. It allowed me to put away the wallet for our trip. No looking at prices on the menus. No worrying about staying in budget.
2. My family was able to try all kinds of new foods we might otherwise have skipped,
3. Desserts!
4. We had enough food that we were able to treat our friends to dinner one night.

My concerns with the DDP:
1. Too much food. We felt compelled to order everything. And CM's often added dessert at the CS meals without our even mentioning it. Hated to waste the food, but also didn't want the food to go to my waist!
2. Restaurants are crowded. Waits are increasing. Some of the magic is decreasing.
3. Even though we ate a lot, we still left with some credits on our account. (Ran out of time--rushed to catch ME.) In a sense, our money wasted. (Next time I'd buy meals for strangers or hand out snacks!)

We're not on the plan for our next trip, but I feel like having already done it, I could be so much more efficient with it and use it better now.

 

[mrsltg]

I haven't experienced the dining plan one way or another - yet. My last trip was January when crownds were low to begin with so restaurants weren't super-busy anyway. However, I am going in August and they happen to be offering free dining. I took it. I'll see how it works.

My concern is some of the responses to this thread. The dining plan does not encourage gluttony. People actually do have free will. You can actually push that plate away. You can actually order an appetizer, entree, and dessert, per person, and eat comfortably from each without stuffing yourself. Indeed, it is possible and Disney is not responsible for people overeating. I have never gone to Disney and gained weight. In fact, each and every time I have lost weight. And, I eat like it's going out of style while I'm there! Perhaps it's the 6-8 miles I'm walking per day while in the parks? But, when I get hungry, I eat. It may be 1/2 of a Mickey Bar, or some popcorn, or half a cookie, but nothing is denied. I really don't see how anyone can blame Disney for gluttony? People need to guage themselves.

 

[DukeStreetKing]

My original intent in posting this question was to see if people remember how things used to be in the "Old Days", when you were able to get a PS (Remember PS's?) for a restaurant on the day you planned to eat there. At most times of the year, you could get into almost any restaurant you wanted, at almost any time you wanted, with little or no prior planning.

BUT

OctDisney, You have come up with four very good additional reasons not to like the DP that I gave very little thought to.

I remember entering Epcot and picking up a telephone by Spaceship Earth where you could talk to someone and book a reservation at one of the restaurants. GF and I are in the spontaneous group when it comes to dining at Disney. Last New Year's Eve we got shut out of everything for dinner at Epcot, but we tried Alfredo's just as they were changing over from lunch to dinner and we got in after only a five minute wait. It would have been counter service for us otherwise.

 

[DisneyDotty]

My only problem with it is that it seems to have had a negative impact on the TS restaurants. Menus are changing to more limited choces and less interesting choices and special items are pretty much eliminated.

ITA!

I used to LOVE eating TS at WDW--looked forward to it as much as anything else there.
Now, eh, not so much. I'm searching out restaurants we've never tried before and I'm afraid to go to old favorites 'cause they keep messing with the menu.

 

[CharmedLife]

This is a great discussion. I haven't used the DDP in the past, but am planning to for our trip in December. My mom would be really upset if we didn't, she's excited about the "savings" that we might see.

My understanding is that at a lot of restaurants, they have a salad or soup as an appetizer, correct? We would probably have that in addition to our entree, anyway. Hopefully not all of the appetizers are necessarily deep-fried things. I think there has to be a lot of self-control involved, you don't HAVE to order the food just because you could. Of course that brings down your "value" a bit, but you'll feel better when you look in the mirror.

One other BIG reason that we are using the DP. We are travelling with my parents and sister for the next trip. Whenever we are together, and the bill arrives, there is this awkward moment when we wonder who's going to pick up the tab this time... It will be so nice not to have to worry about that. I'd say for me, this is actually my biggest reason for doing the DP on this upcoming trip. I guess our experience will let us know if we want to do it again if it was just us and our kids (we are in DVC so have access to a kitchen and usually eat breakfast in the room).

As for the planning, I don't mind - I'm a spreadsheet kind of girl anyway, and come up with these big elaborate plans months in advance as soon as I know the park hours. For me, planning is half the fun and gets me excited about the trip. So, I don't mind having to plan out your meals in advance.

That said, I do remember the old PS days, and do miss the option of being spontaneous. But, even with PS's I have MANY memories of checking in at the podium and then waiting for a while (up to 1/2 hour) to be seated. These memories go back many, many years, so I'm not sure that the DPP has changed the wait that much.

I do agree with a poster above about the service - there is less incentive to provide good service when you know you're getting an automatic 18% tip. I do also think that eliminating bus staff has tremendously impacted the service in the restaurants.

Anyway, I guess the issue of the pre-planning 180 days in advance could be a bummer if you don't like to plan, but I think having the DDP option is nice - you can use it if you want, but not necessary. You can still make ADR's regardless of whether or not you're on the plan - there is no "bonus" for DDP people. To each his (or her) own!

 

[Shana]

I can't say that I love/hate it since we are trying it for the first time on our upcoming trip. My comment is about the 'gluttony' aspect, I am a mostly healthy person in my normal life, I eat well, exercise, etc. However when we go on vacation we go all out and eat whatever we want. So for us the dining plan seems to be a very economical way of eating at WDW while allowing us to try different apps, entrees, desserts at the resturants we enjoy. So I think we will like it, but it does seem like *a lot* of food. But I tend to enjoy a little gluttony on my vacations lol )

 

[reggiemcp]

Hi

Have to say to we love the DDP. Enjoying a nice table service meal enhances our vacation. For me, planning is half of the fun and I love choosing which restaurants to revisit or try for the first time each trip. I love that my meals are paid for ahead of time and we don't have to stress about money while on vacation. Sometimes we finish all the food and sometimes we don't, I don't worry about it. We are staying at BCV this September, so we still have to pay for the DDP but it still beats paying out of pocket. . We plan on so many table service meals this trip that we have both DDP and DDE card. My only problem is forcing myself not to change my ADR's a million times before getting there.

 

[Lewisc]

Most of my trips are planned less than 180 days out, sometimes less than 90. It would be nice if the restaurants would hold back some tables for later reservations or even walkups.

I had a 6:00 reservation at MM in December, they weren't accepting any walkups but the restaurant was half empty and never filled up. I don't know if they had that many no-shows or if they weren't staffed for a full restaurant but I though that was crazy.

 

[MomofCKJ]

We are using it for the first time in December and I am looking forward to it. I am a total planner so I already have my restaurants lined up waiting for June 18th to make my ressies. I like being able to know where we are going to be. That is just me though, I'm not much for spontaneity! And when DH and I go out we always do apps and dessert so it is not like we would just be doing it because we have the plan. We do it anyways! I love to eat out, it is one of my favorite things, esp on vacation. This plan will allow us to eat how we like (I am a filet type girl!) and save some money doing it.

Allyson

 

[HACAM]

Just my thoughts on the DDP. We used the plan in March when we were there, and our family thought it was wonderful.

You do not have to have the appetizer and the dessert if you can not eat it, and there is absolutley no reason to stuff yourself til you can not move...that is just crazy.
If take into consideration the cost of just your entree, and then whatever else you eat in the day, does it come to more than the $37.99, if what you normally eat comes to less in a day then the dining plan is not for you and if you are eating more than the amount (TS,CS,snack) then the plan is for you. I know for us with 3 children and it was only $10.99 for each of the kids per day...it was a bargain, my family did not overeat or overstuff, we just ate as we normally would, and at most of the TS restuarants our entree was $20-30(not the kids), so once you add into the fact that you ate your lunch at a CS for anywhere from $7-15, and then had a snack of an ice cream/drink whatever...it makes it worth it for us.

We really never waited very long for our table, actually with the exception of Boma (40 minute wait with an ADR), we never waited at all...got to our table right away.

We are going again in September for the free DDP, and we are bringing our friends with us this time, we are looking forward to enjoying TS meals, and the freedom to be able to eat in places we generally would not, because it is a little more than our budgets can afford. We will always use the DDP, as long as it is available.

 

[DISUNC]

The only aspect about the DP that I 'hate' is, I find unless you make a ADR well in advance (along with all the planning around that) We NO longer get into any of the better restaurants! Sometimes I just dont know what I want till I want it!

The DP does not really work for us. I have a 12 year old who eats like a 7 year old on most days, so $$ wise it is not worth it!

I HAVE to be in the MOOD for a certain type of food when I eat it. I have no idea months out what my mood will be. For instance if I do make a ADR for Alfredo's 3 months before...and the on the day of my ADR I dont feel like Italian...I am in a steak mood. Then I really wont enjoy my meal.

I have made many ADR's in the past, with about a 50% average of actually getting there on time. Due to this, the more I go the less we plan the food part of the vacation. We do have a few 'MUST' do's....but I will admit for the most part, these ADR's are for ambience/experience more than the food.

And a BIG part of why DP dont work for us is that we usually go in July...and it is way toooooooooo HOT to eat! I am one of the rare few who go to WDW and loose weight!

NOW IF THEY HAD PARK REFILLABLE MUGS! WHOOOHOOOO

 

[cristbaby]

The value you get from the DP is wonderful along with the ability to try different foods. But it is also way to much food for my husband and I so we won't be doing the DP on our trip in Sept. The one thing that I totally disliked was that the TS places were so crowded and sometimes the wait was way to long even with ADR's. We drive so we will probably to a few meals off property along with making a few ADR's. I really wish they would discontinue it and go back to the old days when it didn't seem like you were so rushed through your meal.

 

[Christine]

Most of my trips are planned less than 180 days out, sometimes less than 90. It would be nice if the restaurants would hold back some tables for later reservations or even walkups.

Yep, this is my biggest gripe. You can't get a ressie anymore at the 90 day mark.

Now I am a planner, big time. I go to WDW with my spreadsheet--my days planned out and timed. But, even for me, 180 days out is just too much.