2017 Dining Plan Changes: Is the QS now officially overpriced?

[Pumbas Nakasak]

As a DVC prisoner myself- I would recommend you rent your points before you use them on a cruise cindy. The exchange is terrible. Aulani, HHI, Vero are all great resorts. But instead of a non-DVC resort or cruise for your points- just rent them instead and pocket the cash and go stay on-site at Royal Pacific at Universal. You'll come out way ahead on $.
I know Davids and DVC rental store are options to rent easily. And Mouseowners if you want to rent private for a little more. I rented almost 300 of my points between this and next year- I'm not headed back to WDW until 2018 at the earliest (I am going to the free DVC DAK event in Sept though during my Universal trip over labor day).

I may do that next year as we plan on going back to Vegas and California. Dont rate the DL hotels at all. Its something to bare in mind. I think the eraliset we will go back to Florida after this trip will be 2019 so I will have to do something about the points or lose them.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I'm planning on using my DVC points to book cruises and off site properties going forward for a while. At least you get fed on the cruise.
I don't know if I will renew my AP's after this year. I will have to see. It may be time to spend more time at Universal and Sea World.

The current Mrs Sak refuses point blank to do a cruise, and we already spend 3 - 4 days at Uni on a trip. I really quite fancy doing the cruise, but Im currently working on a plan to visit some of the southern states and fit in a trip to Jack Daniels. Love driving in the US.

 

[sxeensweet]

You do the regular dining plan. You don't do character meals. And you spend it on signature meals- and you're saying you save money? Hahaha. Stop trolling.

The dining plan almost never makes sense. Only:
-If you're doing all character- it barely does.
-If you're doing sub-par New York strips every night, and spend hours researching what to order where. And you HAVE to eat sub-par New York strip. And even then, you still usually lose $.
-You're a single parent with 4 kids in a room.
-You're on a split stay and get the deluxe plan for one or two nights and tear up those 3-6 TS Credits/pp
-If you're with a large group/family and don't want to split checks. You're paying more, but it's convenient.

I don't know if I pity or envy those who think Disney's food is great. It's pretty good. But their steaks can't hold a candle to 1000s of restaurants across the US. Maybe ignorance truly is bliss in those cases.


I agree. The "prepaid" propaganda is also ridiculous. You want "prepaid"? Buy a gift card before you go with what you'd spend on the dining plan, and you'll have money on it leftover for whatever you want. Guaranteed. Of course, you'd have to tip out of pocket like you would with dining plan- but even if you topped with card most people would still come or ahead because they could order what they wanted instead of the "best value".


Basically- this is a public service announcement. Don't listen to those who say it's a good value. They're pixie snorters.

First of all NEVER said it was a good value , we break even at least or save a little but no mention of any "value". Also I said I like our food to be pre paid so it feels more all inclusive etc. Also said TIW did not save us more overall or if it did it was not enough extra savings to make it worth not pre paying for our food and using the plan. Also never said we did all signatures I said we did signatures and 1 credit places a good mixture of them. And never said we didn't do ANY character meals we do do some on occasion. Also we mainly did the regular plan and to add and clarify we also have done deluxe too on occasion but mostly do the regular plan. And at the end I said for now we don't care for TIW and rather the dining plan but that could change in the future but for now we will stick with the dining plan. We never lose money from the plan so as long as I don't lose money we don't mind using the plan and pre paying for our food.
And frankly the only one trolling if anyone is you! Lol

 

[asianway]

Find me a post about a dining plan where you aren't on the first page rushing to defend it, and I'll agree with you.

Secondly- you're just straight up wrong- even after you edit your posts. So when you make posts like below, that has nothing to do with what the OP mentioned- Quick service plan taking away food- not Regular plan- just to spin it to where you mention yourself and the value you get from the regular plan and arguing that "Your not losing anything" (not You're). It is, indeed, trolling.

I think if youre on the DDP they put $%@#$ in your food to brainwash you

 

[sxeensweet]

Find me a post about a dining plan where you aren't on the first page rushing to defend it, and I'll agree with you.

Secondly- you're just straight up wrong- even after you edit your posts. So when you make posts like below, that has nothing to do with what the OP mentioned- Quick service plan taking away food- not Regular plan- just to spin it to where you mention yourself and the value you get from the regular plan and arguing that "Your not losing anything" (not You're). It is, indeed, trolling.

I also brought that vs. issue up once others brought up TIW! I was not the first to bring TIW issue vs. plan up. I didn't change the post you commented to as you can see I last edited probably yesterday (you can see the time etc) sometime if I did which usually is to correct misspellings and grammar anyway. Have a nice day and have fun! I'm out and you won't change my opinions etc and I won't change yours so no worth arguing. Frankly nothing or nobody is worth my time to argue on here or anywhere online. Although some like you enjoy it. Haha!

 

[sxeensweet]

Knew I would need my popcorn ready for this thread...Never disappoints.

 

[sxeensweet]

Yours was the first comment in the thread- so uh? I also mentioned nothing about TiW. Isn't it too early to start drinking?

And I must note: You mention you edit to correct spelling and grammar yet still say "Your" instead of "You're" two times in 2 sentences?

Yeah it's called autocorrect when I did put in you're initially. Thanks for reminding me to fix it. Haha!

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Convenience does not mean getting ripped off.

I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off when I purchase the DDP, but I'm sorry if you feel that way.

 

[sxeensweet]

I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off when I purchase the DDP, but I'm sorry if you feel that way.

Yes agree same here. To each their own.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Been over priced for a long time now.

In 2005 it was $36.99 for DDP. Yes, I expect the price to increase. It only increased $28.00 over 11 years which is only about 75%. Now take in consideration that in that in 2005 the DDP TS meal included an appetizer and even the tip for your server along with your entrée, dessert and drink.

It is truly amazing that Disney has been able to garner such insane increases when giving you so much less. You can only snort so much pixie dust.

 

[WDWVolFan]

If you're paying $64 per person per day, I can guarantee you you'll spend more per person for two meals if you were to eat at a TS and QS place plus snacks.
Casey's Corner last year for 3 people, hot dog, fries and drink had I not used the meal plan would have been $50 for 3...add a Be Our Guest meal and you're way over the daily cost.

 

[R W B]

For 2017, the DDP has a significant change that may alter the way you eat. Combined with the steadily increasing prices, has the QS dining plan officially become overpriced for its value?

The biggest change is that quick service meals no longer include dessert. Disney has added one additional snack to the QS and regular DDPs to "compensate" for the dessert, but this really means that guests are still out one side item.

If you haven't used the DDP in years, you may think this isn't a big deal because you didn't eat the questionable theme park QS desserts anyway. However, at some locations such as resort dining and Be Our Guest, this is a significant loss. Plus, Disney had become VERY flexible over the last few years, and you could frequently exchange your dessert for a side salad or large fruit cup.

A few years ago, the QS plan included a refillable mug, two snacks, and two meals with an entrèe, drink, and dessert. Then the DDP dropped one of the snacks. Now they've dropped both desserts but restored the lost snack.

The QS DDP is currently about $45/day, and table service is $64.

Unvelievably, some guests are thanking Disney in their comments because the previous plans had "too much food anyway." The dining plans have almost doubled prices within 8 years, folks. If Disney had lowered the 2017 prices to account for less food compared to the 2009 QS plan, you could thank them. For now, there's no reason to thank Disney except for proving the public can be bamboozled.

I can justify the TS plan because a character meal can be almost $60 on its own, but QS is looking less appealing.

So they took away the dessert but gave us an extra snack..... that we can use to buy a dessert with one of the meals. I see your point but you worded it wrong in this post, you don't loose a side item, you loose a single dessert.

Personaly though, I'm fine with this because I pretty much never ate the dessert anyway so this way I can get an extra snack at a different time instead and get more use out of it.

 

[WDWVolFan]

Hot Dog w/ Fries- $8.79
Large Drink- $3.69
Most Expensive thing at Be Our Guest is a Strip Steak- $35
Dessert- $5
Large Drink- $3.69
Total- $56.17

So nope, try again. People often try to justify their decisions, even bad ones. Not to mention, yet again, thats even if you force yourself to order the most expensive (and crappy) steak. The Lamb Chop ($32) and Shrimp/Scallops ($29) are what I would have likely ordered making the DDP even worse. Take into account a 10% annual pass or DVC discount and its even worse yet for me. More like $45 OOP. So 2 snack credits I likely wouldn't have gotten anyways aren't worth $19 to me. Maybe to others they are.
The fact there are webpages setup to try their best to make you even get within a couple bucks of "winning" just prove how much you have to work with the dining plan to barely come out ahead- and it doesn't give you any flexibility to order what you want- because it might be less, so you lose money. And if pre-paying makes you feel more "in control" of spending- buy a Disney Gift Card and then come home with a balance.

Sources:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/caseys-corner/menus/
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/be-our-guest-restaurant/menus/dinner/

Add as snack and you're there.
You also left taxes out.

 

[WDWVolFan]

No- a snack isn't $9. And your $64 is taxed as well- so tax is a wash. And again- thats if you order the most expensive thing- any other thing on the menu and its an even bigger waste.

Trust me, you lost money. The fact @sxeensweet likes your post proves it.

Even if I did. A few hundred dollars are very much worth my peace of mind on vacation instead of keeping up with receipts and checking the budget.

 

[COProgressFan]

The problem is that it is not only over priced but the quality is terrible as well. In the past you could justify the prices that it was part of a quality Disney vacation. Now it feels like a giant ripoff. Ive been on the Disboards for 18 years and never read dining reviews complaining about portion sizes until the past year. It's not just a few reviews that you could say are outliers it has become a consistent complaint.

Disboards apparently packed with fattys.

Probably true about the Pooh-sized folk, but it's definitely significant when these sorts of complaints have hit Disboards, of all places, en masse. If the self-avowed pixie snorters are actively complaining in a public forum, you know you've got a problem on your hands.

 

[DznyGrlSD]

I talked a co-worker out of the DPP for their upcoming November trip. They're spending 1-2 days off-site (at Uni) and it make zero sense for them to do the DDP. Plus their travel agent said the refillable mugs were good everywhere...

 

[Andrew C]

As most know...there is a tool available to calculate if it is worth it based on how you would like to dine. Sometimes it will be worth it...sometimes it won't....

For me personally...
I would still book DDP if I wanted to do a bunch of character dining with my family....
I would also take advantage of it if Disney offers it for free...

And I would imagine any type of DDP shaming isn't going to change my mind...

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

No- a snack isn't $9. And your $64 is taxed as well- so tax is a wash. And again- thats if you order the most expensive thing- any other thing on the menu and its an even bigger waste.

Trust me, you lost money. The fact @sxeensweet likes your post proves it.

Certain restaurants are not good choices if you plan on using the DDP. If you're going to use the DDP, you have to go to the more expensive restaurants to truly make it worth it.

In the example above...it's not worth it at all. But if you do BOG for lunch (Prime Roast Beef Sandwish $16.99, Drink $3.29 and a Dessert $5 - just over $25 for lunch) and then go somewhere like Akershus for dinner, which the last time we went was around $55/person I believe...you're already well over that $64 mark.

Not every lunch/dinner combo is worth it...but if you do a bit of research...you can definitely enjoy some great meals and actually come out ahead.

 

[JenniferS]

As most know...there is a tool available to calculate if it is worth it based on how you would like to dine. Sometimes it will be worth it...sometimes it won't....

For me personally...
I would still book DDP if I wanted to do a bunch of character dining with my family....
I would also take advantage of it if Disney offers it for free...

And I would imagine any type of DDP shaming isn't going to change my mind...

Apparently there are "tools" everywhere on the Internet - most especially in DDP threads.

 

[flynnibus]

If you're paying $64 per person per day, I can guarantee you you'll spend more per person for two meals if you were to eat at a TS and QS place plus snacks.

Ergo the model.. make sure you are paying to eat every meal as a full meal each day. The system helps encourage the thinking that you take 2-3 meals a day... and then if you use the DDP you save! As opposed to hitting the restaurants less frequently.