I hate the Free Dining Plan

[Patsfan28]

I have been going to Disney for 25+ years. Never in Mid September has it been so difficult to find a decent place to eat. There is ZERO availability at any halfway decent restaurants. This frustrates me so much as I know half the people who made the reservations back when free dining was originally offered wont even go to their restaurant. For those of you who do keep your reservations let me be the first to thank you for being considerate! I think Disney should punish those who do not keep to their reservations by deducting dining credits from their card( with a few emergency exceptions). If that wont work make it like it used to be without advanced dining reservations. I remember my dad making a sprint to Cinderellas Castle to make a lunch reservation for King Stefans Palace! Enough of my rant i still cant wait to have a great time again at the World... just may be a bit less fulfilling :fork:

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

If I go anywhere else on vacation, I'm not "corralled" into dining in limited venues. But I do plan and research the resort/city /area.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Here is something that bothered me. On my last trip ended up changing a few of my reservations, but always canceled my other reservation for that day. I am betting there are a few people that hold more than one reservation per day, knowing they won't make both, and never cancel the one they don't go to. Disney needs to be able to control this abuse.

For that reason, Disney really ought to hold at least a quarter of the tables for walk ins, and should have another of the quarter of tables be reservable only on the day of.

 

[RogueHabit]

I didn't know about the Free Dining Plan. We're staying offsite so knew nothing of it.

So I went to book Chef Mickey's, 5 weeks out, as I have done for several years now, can't get a thing. Every day of our vecation is fully booked.

Also, it's really frustrating that they can't just tell you that it's booked. Had to go through the whole Give them a date, they check it, nope, fully booked thing for every day of our trip, which is 10 days long.

I guess this will have to be the first trip in 8 years where we don't eat at Chef Mickey's. Shame really, but it's a last minute trip...

 

[nibblesandbits]

:lookaroun TGM forums... It's really nice to have someone who's part of a young couple on the podcast - most things Disney-related are very child-focussed and while that'll be useful someday, I like hearing your perspective. Although you are soooo wrong about HM - I was dragged, kicking and screaming onto that ride age 5 and it still terrifies me now!

I guess they just need many more restaurants. They can't expect to build that many more hotel rooms (SSR, AKV, and soon VCR), offer special incentives to dine on-property, and then only add a couple of new restaurants - it's a bit daft.

Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it!!! I'll have more to report on in a few days! :sohappy: And you're right...so much of touring Disney is focused on the family. Not that me and my DH aren't a family in our own right. Because we most certainly are.

And the HM isn't that bad. :lol: (It's actually one of my favorites now...love it!) Now it's fun and I quote from that ride all the time!!! However, I feel your pain, as you well know, I won't ride Dinosaur because of the "trauma" I experienced with what used to sit in Ellen's Energy Adventure, as a kid. I'm terrified of Dinosaur!

You're right though...Disney really does need to build more restaurants...and I guess that's what they're doing with DTD...but they need more in the parks too.

 

[daliseurat]

I didn't know about the Free Dining Plan. We're staying offsite so knew nothing of it.

So I went to book Chef Mickey's, 5 weeks out, as I have done for several years now, can't get a thing. Every day of our vecation is fully booked.

Also, it's really frustrating that they can't just tell you that it's booked. Had to go through the whole Give them a date, they check it, nope, fully booked thing for every day of our trip, which is 10 days long.

I guess this will have to be the first trip in 8 years where we don't eat at Chef Mickey's. Shame really, but it's a last minute trip...

Are you trying breakfast lunch and dinner? Honestly, Lunch ad dinner are better values if you haven't already tried them. If you are flexible and can keep trying for all three you have 30 opportunities.

Good luck!

 

[RiversideBunny]

What does WDW say to first time visitors in the official Vacation Planning DVD that they send out?
Do they warn people that they better make their reservations 180 days in advance?

It is very disappointing to a child to be going to WDW for the first time and then find out that they really can't have a meal with Mickey, or Pooh, or Goofy, or Donald, or anybody.

 

[aurora1982]

You're right though...Disney really does need to build more restaurants...and I guess that's what they're doing with DTD...but they need more in the parks too.

I'm thinking maybe a little less focus on these pirate-themed bedrooms (who spends any time in their room at Disney?) and a bit more on a pirate-themed restaurant...

 

[nibblesandbits]

What does WDW say to first time visitors in the official Vacation Planning DVD that they send out?
Do they warn people that they better make their reservations 180 days in advance?

It is very disappointing to a child to be going to WDW for the first time and then find out that they really can't have a meal with Mickey, or Pooh, or Goofy, or Donald, or anybody.

No...Disney in no way, at least from what I've seen, sends any info to anyone, first timer or not, letting them know that hey...you might want to make some ADRs if you want to eat.

 

[nibblesandbits]

I'm thinking maybe a little less focus on these pirate-themed bedrooms (who spends any time in their room at Disney?) and a bit more on a pirate-themed restaurant...

:lol:

That might be kinda cool...

Basically though...any food option would suffice. They need more food on property. Although, with the introduction of the Quick Service Dining Plan, we might see a bit of a decrease in the number of people in table service restaurants...but I don't think it will be a real noticable decrease.

 

[imamouse]

I would also like to post another perspective. Most people who are on these boards have either been to WDW multiple times or at the very least know the ins and outs of WDW such as you should at least make a few ADRs and really try to make all during free dining.

However, there has to be a large group of the population that does not have this knowledge. Think about it, when you go on vacation to <gasp> somewhere other than WDW do you make dinner reservations months or even weeks in advance? I know for me I might make a reservation early in the morning if I think it is a busy time of the year elsewhere or maybe a few days in advance if it is a special occasion.

It's really in recent years that anything other than CRT or one of the dinner shows has gotten so cutthroat to get reservations. So my point is there could be people who did not get to take advantage of free dining and have no idea about making reservations so far in advance. This could be their first time or several years since they visited and things have changed.

I feel bad for those people. I remember seeing one couple walk up to a restaurant while we were waiting for a table and just seem to be bewildered by the fact that they could not even wait for a table, there was no room at all for that night. The obviously did not know.

I think reserving some walk up spaces and quite frankly WDW opening more restaurants would do a lot to make it a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

Great post. The only thing I'd like to add is Disney figuring out a way of curtailing the abuse created by people who book multiple ADRs for the same date/time and then select the one that suits their fancy, but don't bother to cancel the others. It is my understanding that those tables do not go back into inventory for walk-ups, so lots of people are losing out.

Other than WDW, the only time I made an advance dining reservation was for a luau in Hawaii.

 

[raven]

This is the reason why we made ressies for this Monday night at Boma while we were here last April. Knowing that we would be living here by then and that the Free Dining offer was going on, we wanted to be able to eat at least once at the World during our first month in Florida.

 

[WildLodgeFan]

Wooopppee great marketing average food and reduced menu choice. Speaking as a paying customer that frequents this site, a view frequently expressed on here is that as its free who cares that the quality has dropped. Not great for those of us who are paying.

And yes I will be eating some meals off site this Nov

It's tough to balance the marketer hat with the consumer hat Pumbaas. :ROFLOL: As I was simply trying to point out, from a marketing side of the house, it's a successful campaign in pulling in guests, but everyone is right, there is definitely a flip side if you are not maintaining the quality of your product/service, because then you are hurting your reputation. With the internet, the old adage about a person telling 10 people about a bad experience compared to telling 1 or 2 people about a good experience multiplies!

Now on to the consumer side, I'm missing the free dining by a few days and paying out of pocket for the DDP, so I'm hoping that I don't find mediocrity with my meal choices. Otherwise I'm not shy and I'll be sure to share my opinion.

 

[RogueHabit]

What does WDW say to first time visitors in the official Vacation Planning DVD that they send out?
Do they warn people that they better make their reservations 180 days in advance?

It is very disappointing to a child to be going to WDW for the first time and then find out that they really can't have a meal with Mickey, or Pooh, or Goofy, or Donald, or anybody.

It does say it on the Website, alongside every busy restaurant location.

 

[lilfritzy]

I just got back on sunday from my trip. I had the same problem getting ressies but I just went to the restaurants that I wanted and asked for a table and had no trouble getting in I just had to wait a little bit. You might want to try that if you really have your heart set on a particular place. I was told that O'hana was completely booked so I stoped by there in the morning on my way to MK, they were able to get my in by "so called double booking me" and told me I would have to wait about 45 min which was ok with me so long as I could eat there. Anyway I ended up waiting about 25 min we hadn't even finished our drinks at the bar before the pager went off. I'm not the type of person that you say no to. i just could'nt accept that there was apsolutely no way that I couldn't eat at a particular restaurant. My brain just wouldn.t allow it. LOL:ROFLOL:And yes I totaly agree with all of you the free DDP is VERY annoying!!!

 

[constee]

It's tough to balance the marketer hat

Now on to the consumer side, I'm missing the free dining by a few days and paying out of pocket for the DDP, so I'm hoping that I don't find mediocrity with my meal choices. Otherwise I'm not shy and I'll be sure to share my opinion.

My husband and I were at Disney in April and paid for our DDP. We then went back a few weeks ago for the free DDP. We visited a few of our favorite restaurants from our previous trip and as well tried out some new ones. The only difference we noticed was that the filet mignon was no longer on the menu at the Kona Cafe. However my husband loved the steak they replced it with. So from someone who paid and then less than five months later did the same thing without paying I can tell you that we were not disappointed at all. We noticed no difference in the quality of our meals or service. So there's perhaps an answer to your marketing question :animwink:

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I hope your daughter enjoys her dinner . I cant wait to have kids to do that with them!

Ditto on both accounts.

 

[scottnj1966]

I agree no place to get in to get a decent meal.

I now take a walk around and count the empty table then speak to a manager to get a table.

They need a new reservation policy and system.

 

[Computer Magic]

Well I will be enjoying my free dining starting Tuesday Sept 16th. :slurp: I made all my ADR only Le Celllier wasn't available :shrug: I bet the ADR system changes once online. I will let you know cuz come March I will be planning and completing ADR for my next free dining meals :lookaroun

I will add they should hold tables for walkwalks. People should cancel ADR if they are not planning on using the table.

 

[Conrad3000]

By revamped, I mean new chef, better menu and improved quality of food which Tony's desparately needs. Sorry I wasn't clear on that. As far as new, TRex isn't new or exciting, it's a chain restaurant the same as rain forest and planet hollywood who's food is not great.

Your talking about your own perspective there. Trex is new to me and I am very excited about it :ROFLOL:

 

[Conrad3000]

While I understand your point, I don't agree with you. Not everyone books their WDW over 6 months out. Some (many I am sure) book 3 months out or less - so are they to penalized for not being able to plan farther out?

Yes I believe so! Everyone who plans ahead gets a reward for it in any field. As was mentioned before, Florida residents shouldn't get so much preferential treatment over people who have to fly out there. The 180 day mark isn't just to help people plan out their meal, it also serves to help WDW plan accordingly. I worked in a theme park for 7 years and things always have to be set up ahead of time. I have been involved in many customer complaints when something is just simply thrown at them with little warning (IE: Construction and Refurb.) Disney World really is a vacation where people should have some what of a game plan. If making a meal plan is too much of a comitment, or detrement to spontinayaty, then you should probably vacation somewhere else.