Who else is canceling reservations?

[lugnut33]

So, who else is canceling their dining reservations and eating at quick service restaurants in order to save money? I personally have canceled 3 out of the 6 I had made a couple of months ago for out trip coming up in August. The prices at the table service places is just outrageous and I figure we can save lots by not eating at them.

I've changed several of my reservations and have had no problem moving them around, even today. I bet the economy and the price increases is finally starting to hit home.

 

[Tricia1972]

We took two trips within 5 months of each other. October 2007 on the DDP and we'd planned on using the DDP in March 2008. My 180 days was before the October trip so I had all of my March reservations in place before our first trip.

We didn't like the DDP, felt it was too much pressure and too much food and just didn't fit our eating style. We canceled a bunch of our reservations, not just to save money but to have a trip that better fit our personal traveling style.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Food is one of the easiest places to trim the budget. Smart to keep your costs down. There are also some great CS places that offer nice variety

Let us know how it goes when you get back!

 

[disneywith4boys]

I cancelled our ADR with Teppan Edo for Oct. I really couldn't justify spending so much for the same food we eat at home at least once a month. Their prices are so high compared to the Japanese places around here. And probably due to the DDP, they don't have any lobster on the menu, and that is what DH likes best. We did book instead with Coral Reef. I know I'll probably spend around the same or a little less, but at least it won't be the same food as we always have.

 

[maj42169]

I wouldn't go without the Dining Plan..........in fact, next year I want to try the deluxe dining to hit several signature resturaunts........I just can't justify going without it because the meal costs at the TS are almost the amount you pay per day for the basic dining plan! And, the counter service credits are good at all of those same places that offer variety. My family enjoys a nice meal, and we want to eat 2-3 meals a day.......

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have only made TWO for our entire trip in Nov. We might eat one or two more places but those will likely be walk-ups only.

Our daily expenses are going up and not eating a big table service on property each day is easy to remove. I think the CS is just fine when we need to eat on property and quite frankly, the food off site is better and cheaper anyways. I'm good to dine elsewhere =)

Right now - we're just planning Boma on arrival day (staying at AKL) and Raglan Road one night.

(I may book a F&WF special event since we have cut back on dining expenses so much. I figure I can eat CS a few days in order to have a fantastic experience like that!)

 

[asmit4]

DDP is the way to go for us! 38 for adults, and 10 for kids is tough to beat, particularly if you want 1 TS meal each day. Even feeding 4 people twice per day at CS restaurants is gonna run about 80 bucks. That's close to the DDP cost for 2A2C and you haven't eaten any snacks.

 

[bettyann29]

Me and DH are headed to WDW on Saturday and staying for 3 days.. I decided to only do one sit down meal and then the rest will be counter service.. originally we were going to do 2, but I just decided to cancel the one and keep it to one..

Not just the money issue, but also time issue.. It takes so much time out of the day to be at a certain place at a certain time.. we usually get there 15 minutes early and then we are wasting several hours for a meal.. as it is we have limited time this trip so we decided to wing it as far as food goes.. I have looked at the menus on allears and have condensed my food list to 2 food places.. that way if we decide its time to eat we dont have to walk to the other side of the park..

 

[simonkodousek]

I have planned 12 TS restaurants for our 7 day trip next year, but I doubt we'll make all of them. Maybe 8 or 9 at the maximum.

 

[lugnut33]

I have planned 12 TS restaurants for our 7 day trip next year, but I doubt we'll make all of them. Maybe 8 or 9 at the maximum.

I have actually called and cancelled the ones I know I'm not going to use in case there's a family out there that needs that reservation. You know, I'm just sayin"

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

ADRs are necessary even for 1 or 2 meals. By the way, CS takes up as much time as TS. CS also get very old very fast, so on a longer trip one can become very bored and hungry for variety of foods. Going offsite can be expensive and gas costs should be considered in the cost.

 

[lugnut33]

DDP is the way to go for us! 38 for adults, and 10 for kids is tough to beat, particularly if you want 1 TS meal each day. Even feeding 4 people twice per day at CS restaurants is gonna run about 80 bucks. That's close to the DDP cost for 2A2C and you haven't eaten any snacks.

I've done it 2 times and yes I like the DDP also. However, since we are renting a car I can go off-site and eat.

 

[pruesmom]

Our family swears by the dining plan. If you are planning a TS or two, you should just go ahead and get it in my opinion. The cost seems to work out about the same or cheaper. I have so many TS ressies for Sept that I need to cancel several of them. I can't get what we actually want so I have numerous things scheduled and can hopefully narrow it down.

 

[disney's daughter]

My sister, niece and I will be using the Dining Plan for the first time this October. It will also be the first time we have puchased a Magic Your Way Package. We've been used to getting our Anuual Passes and purchasing the 20% off discount card...So, this should be interesting...We'll see how it works out...The rest of my family might go again on our yearly February trip...and I was thinking about utilizing the Magic Your Way with the Dining Plan...then...So many changes....So many decisions...

 

[krmlaw]

We have a bunch of ADRS because we are going during free dining! Can you switch your trip to then? Save some money?

 

[ParkPrincess]

We ALWAYS use the DDP. Disney dining is all part of the WDW experience for us. I wish there were more TS credits available.

 

[Cobbo]

For us it's not so much of a TS-ADR vs. CS issue. We enjoy our DDE discounts for the TS meals, but our "method" for "cutting" costs is just doing fewer overnight trips to the world as opposed to day trips. True, I just booked an overnight for next week, but otherwise I won't be staying on property again until the end of August, and then after that not until January (unless I get the bug, in which case we'll go for a night or two in October)...otherwise, we'll just be day-tripping and deal with the 2hr ride each way, rather than the extra $ to spend the night....

 

[Aimeedyan]

ADRs are necessary even for 1 or 2 meals. By the way, CS takes up as much time as TS. CS also get very old very fast, so on a longer trip one can become very bored and hungry for variety of foods. Going offsite can be expensive and gas costs should be considered in the cost.

Hmm.

I'm curious - how the heck does a CS meal take as long as a TS? We never spend more than 20 minutes in a CS restaurant (unless we want to sit and enjoy the AC!) and our average TS while on the DDP (so multiple courses) took an average of 1.5 hours start to finish. Heck, we usually wait 15-20 min just for a table even with a reservation and we could have eaten and moved on by then at a CS.

I've also found that WDW has a huge variety in CS meals and there is no need to eat the same stuff each day unless you just want to. Though we usually do eat a table service meal, there are thousands of Disney guests who never do and have a magical trip without it (some friends of mine took in sack lunches and their kid had the trip of his life!).

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

Hmm.

I'm curious - how the heck does a CS meal take as long as a TS? We never spend more than 20 minutes in a CS restaurant (unless we want to sit and enjoy the AC!) and our average TS while on the DDP (so multiple courses) took an average of 1.5 hours start to finish. Heck, we usually wait 15-20 min just for a table even with a reservation and we could have eaten and moved on by then at a CS.

I've also found that WDW has a huge variety in CS meals and there is no need to eat the same stuff each day unless you just want to. Though we usually do eat a table service meal, there are thousands of Disney guests who never do and have a magical trip without it (some friends of mine took in sack lunches and their kid had the trip of his life!).

I am just speaking from experience. If we go to a popular CS, such as Pinocchio's or Cosmic Rays, at a busy time, I wait in line for at least 20 minutes to order food, and then carry the food to the table we usually have to wait for (5-10 minutes). Then, I have to go back to another station and order the kids other food, since each area you only order certain foods (ie one station is burgers, one is salads and sandwiches, and one is chicken) and not everyone wants the same thing or same type of food. Add another 20 minutes. Walk back to the table with the newest food. Then we have to go to the condiment bar (add 10-15 minutes because everyone else has to go to the condiment bar). By the time we are all ready to eat our food together, it has been an hour (literally, an hour has passed, and we have our CS food, sit down to eat it, and it tastes good because we are so hungry and have waited an hour) then we have to take our restroom break after sitting and eating our meal for 20-30 minutes. Add 15 minutes for restroom break (yes, the restroom break counts as time in CS meal, we have 3 little girls - ages 8, 7 and 4 - part of the whole mealtime experience. CS meal has taken up 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Contrast all this to TS meal where even waiting 1 hour for seating we go into nice air conditioned restaurant, order our food, (mom is not wore out by standing in line and then carrying food to the table, then going to condiment bar, etc, etc) and we can sip out drinks and nibble on appys while waiting for our entrees. We can take restroom breaks (kids 8 &7 yr old can go by themselves in TS places). A very leisurely meal and it has taken 1 hour and 45 minutes and we are not all stressed out!!

Yes, CS can take shorter times but that is at less busy times, and less busy places in general. Food courts at hotels (POR for example) have the same issues as theme park cs placs. Just our experience, and we prefer the less stressful TS over CS.

 

[carol-lamb]

I have made eight ADR's for our upcoming trip in July - six lunches and two dinners - and I intend to keep them all!! Eating at table service restaurants is really one of the big highlights for us on our trips. We don't do the dining plan because we just don't eat that much food. We have figured it out that by usually eating table service lunches at restaurants that are not terribly expensive, it is cheaper for us to pay out of pocket for our meals.


When planning our trips to WDW, we always stay at a moderate resort. I have always wanted to stay at a deluxe, but I would rather put the saved money towards my food budget. Also, we usually fly in and out on weekdays in order to save some money. For this trip, when booking our flights, I looked at all the options and at the time it was about $65 per person cheaper to fly during the week. So, we are going on a tuesday to a monday. I would have loved to fly on the weekend, but with the savings on the airfare and the extra costs for the resort for the extra day or two, we decided that we would rather give up the extra one or two days and put that money towards table service meals. We had so much fun looking over all the menus and picking our restaurants. Like I said, I think we get the most excited about our table service meals each day!!