Why can't there be a happy medium???

[Brian Noble]

Why can't there be a happy medium? Because these plans are not offered so that guests can save money. These plans are offered because, on average they are expected to generate more revenue (and profit) for the Mouse. In short---they aren't discount programs, they are upsell programs.

Take my family, for example. When we visit with our kids, we eat breakfast in our room, and lunch and dinner are usually in a park or resort location. We often eat about 2TS meals every three days, but not quite one per day. Some of these are less expensive---character breakfasts, lunch at Sci Fi, that sort of thing. We don't often order dessert at lunch (TS or CS), but we do sometimes order appetizers at either lunch or dinner TS.

We always spend less out of pocket on food for lunch/dinner/snacks each trip than DDP would cost. This is true even though some things (appetizers) aren't covered, and even though we usually get a couple snacks over the course of each day. True, we'd get a few extra TS meals, but since we don't particularly want them, they're just "more", not really a savings.

As another example, we recently took a four-night no-kids trip. Over the course of that trip, we used 6 TS credits---more time dining, less time running from ride to ride . We spent a bit more on food than the regular plan costs but buying that plan wouldn't have saved us anything---we'd've had to pay OOP for a couple of those credits, and that puts us back in the red. We spent quite a bit less than the Deluxe plan costs.

A lot of DISers plan carefully to maximize their Plan usage, and get good value from the Plan. Some DISers fit the Plan's requirements perfectly, and for them the Plan represents a real savings. But, I'm convinced that such people are the exception rather than the rule compared to guests generally. Disney would not be doing this if it didn't somehow make them more money in the end.

 

[septbaby]

We've only done the DP once, in 2007 when it had more food than in 2008. We spent about $50 over the plan price because we chose to pay OOP for a character meal becasue we had a 2TS meal. We paid cash for the child at the 2TS place so we could have his credit for the character meal ($6 for the 2TS child meal).

We did save money over paying OOP for those meals, had enough to eat and drink, ate and drank healthily and treated ourselves to junk and snacks too. It was nice to simply grab the snacks we wanted when we wanted and every meal, TS or CS was a full meal. We did a lot of sharing of CS meals and did not waste much food. We got one really bad CS meal and I have to admit on the DP I just let it go. Had I paid OOP I probably would have gone back for a do over or refund. I also felt no pressure for the little one to eat this or that because I'd paid X amount for that food. Picky as he is he ate and made some healthy choices w/o us guiding him. It was fun taking him to the Grab & Go and say pick what you want. I didn't have a lot of those moments as a child as it was either eat what I put in front of you(which was usually really good food) or find something in the fridge.

For us the Basic DP and paying OOP for extras is that medium. We chose to book the "extra meal" or the 2TS meal and regret neither choice. We knew in advance that we'd have to pay for a TS meal and had targeted the character meal. In fact we'd booked two character meals over and above the plan, but the plan is so generous with food we just couldn't face another TS meal, let alone one we'd have to pay OOP for. We had plenty of CS credits and used those instead for that meal.

The nice thing about having the meals planned and paid for with the DP was we knew before the trip to budget for those over planned meals. It was a few weeks ahead of our trip and I was making sure I had that extra cash set aside when a sly smile crept across my face. If I went down to Orlando pretty much broke I'd still have a great time, airfare, airport transfers, park tickets, party tickets, room and food were all pre paid. That was really good feeling I had not planned on but boy was it awesome! I didn't travel "broke" and had booked a golf outing so I had to be sure there was some money in my pocket. However, imagine a single parent of 2 or 3 who has made payments for a yr or more to take the family to Disney, got it all paid for and now has the car go out. They can do what's needed to fix the car without worrying about choosing that over the vacation: the kids will still get to eat and have a great time, mom/dad won't have to say no to snacks or treats because the extra money is now gone for the repair. I am not that single parent, but was raised by one and I get how these things happen and choices have to be made. The DP can add that element of magic for a family and I'm all for that.

The DP definitely isn't for everyone, but was a good choice for my family. Next time we go I'll know to carry tip money, but the rest will be pretty much the same.