Won't Do Dining Plan Again

[smidgy]

SPD is the Stay, Play, Dine discount they had last year (can't remember if they offered it this year, too). It's not as nice as FD - adults pay the child price for the dining plan, but the upgrade cost is the difference between the adult plans.

We did figure the difference between the room discount vs SPD. We were 3a and 2c in a POR room - it was a no brainer. Even at full price dining rates we would have come within $100 versus OOP.

oh yeah! stay, play and dine. I forget how that one worked. I think it didn't work for us because we are just 2 adults.

 

[busymommy2pink]

Devil's Advocate here...
We have done DDP on our last three WDW vacations and felt it's worth every penny. (not the Deluxe DDP though.... so not worth it for us.)

Not only did we not worry about food prices, we actually saved over $800 on our last trip (10 days). Yes, I did the math!

Being a stickler for the rules, I'm ok with the 24 hr cancellation notice. Perhaps more people will be less inclined to make ADR's that they have no intention of keeping, which opens up more tables for us who do plan on dining at that establishment.

As for sick party members.... it happens unfortunately, and our experience has been positive. One evening DH was not well so the kids and I kept our ADR. The CM suggested a broth based soup "to go" for DH, so that way we weren't off in our DDP credits. He even bagged up extra breads and desserts for us, not to mention a huge Sprite in a "to go" cup.

Perhaps it depends on the restaurant or the CM?

Well, only time will tell if I'm going to join your band wagon... Another DDP paid for this coming October...

This has been our personal experience as well. Why have saved significant amounts on the dining plan and much prefer it being all paid in advance as we are a cash only family and don't have credit cards it allows for stress free and easy vacation, and I prefer our planned breaks. Reservations here at home have the same penalties, I think keeping them and allowing the curtesy of another to be able to book instead of each family flying by the seat of their pants and cancellingwhenver they feel, helps business and other customers alike. Just a common courtesy practice. T each their own we had to cancel due to illness and they didn't charge us, but this was only once.

 

[Wef]

This has been our personal experience as well. Why have saved significant amounts on the dining plan and much prefer it being all paid in advance as we are a cash only family and don't have credit cards it allows for stress free and easy vacation, and I prefer our planned breaks. Reservations here at home have the same penalties, I think keeping them and allowing the curtesy of another to be able to book instead of each family flying by the seat of their pants and cancellingwhenver they feel, helps business and other customers alike. Just a common courtesy practice. T each their own we had to cancel due to illness and they didn't charge us, but this was only once.

I understand that abuse of system led to the policy change, however, I think the window for being penalized is too great. How about by noon that same day? By then, most people have a fairly good idea of where they are going to be for dinner. Let's face it--Disney has no problem filling restaurant seats. The real problem is people simply not showing up for a reservation. 4-5 hours lead time is PLENTY of notification for most restaurants.

 

[Deanie1]

We were lucky enough to get free dining twice but it was before the 24 hr cancellation window, although, we only had to cancel on our last trip once as one sister was very sick. I always tried to cancel ASAP anyhow but 95% of the time, we kept what we booked. Free dining, obviously, was great but it does affect how your day goes as we were always watching the clock and wasted about 45 mins before each ADR as we were afraid we would run late. For us, it was a no-brainer to give up the AAA discount for free DDP. For one sister, the dining plan was great as she has severe allergies and she was able to visit many nice restaurants without worry. I would not, however, pay for the dining plan as 1) I don't NEED to eat that much food (ie. 2 desserts a day!) and 2) it is so difficult to manage the ADR's and the FP+ that was booked months ago. That said, I fully enjoyed it when I had it!