About the Disney Dining Plan...

[CaptainAmerica]

Hopefully the DDP is dead and will never return and then maybe we can go back to getting some half decent food and options at the restaurants.

I've very rarely had a bad meal at Disney. Where are you eating and what are you ordering?

 

[Prince-1]

I marvel at people thinking that’s how this would go.

Keep on marveling. You did notice I used the word maybe?

 

[drizgirl]

Keep on marveling. You did notice I used the word maybe?

Disney never gives back.

 

[Grumpy4196]

I predict DDP will return once current demand wanes. Disney will use it to incentivize guests to return.

 

[Phonedave]

I've very rarely had a bad meal at Disney. Where are you eating and what are you ordering?

I also have rarely had a good meal at WDW, since the DDP came into play.

Pre-DDP there was a LOT more variety and a LOT more options.

Restaurants are now forced to take the DPP or basically risk going out of business. Under the DDP a restaurant if given a specific amount of money for each credit spent there. This means that they have to design every dish on their menu to be below this cost.

But they also have to make it seem like a bargain for the people who bought the plan. So they take a low cost chicken breast with sauce, starch, and veg, and put it on the menu for $45. The DDP people think they are getting a great deal, since its a $45 dish, but it reality is low cost run of the mill food.

The people who do not use the DDP, who like to actually eat what they are in the mood for when they are in the mood for it, end up paying $45 for meh chicken.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Restaurants are now forced to take the DPP or basically risk going out of business. Under the DDP a restaurant if given a specific amount of money for each credit spent there.

That is false. It's a myth that began on message boards and persists on message boards.

Each restaurant's P&L is credited for the menu price of each item ordered. The difference between the menu price and the assigned value of each credit is accounted for elsewhere. It doesn't ding the restaurant GM's books.

 

[Phonedave]

That is false. It's a myth that began on message boards and persists on message boards.

Each restaurant's P&L is credited for the menu price of each item ordered. The difference between the menu price and the assigned value of each credit is accounted for elsewhere. It doesn't ding the restaurant GM's books.

If that is the case, then it worsens the problem. Because now there is even more of an incentive for restaurants to overcharge. If the majority of your customers are on DDP, then they do not care about prices. Put whatever exorbitant price you want on your menu. Those fake sales only make the GM look better.

The incentive for the DDP is to make the perceived value look better to the consumer, as opposed to the actual value.

Food quality at WDW has consistently gone down since I have been attending. And while dining costs were always high, the current pricing levels exceed that which is normally expected for captive audiences.

Also, for your explanation, that would work for WDW owned restaurants. How are privately managed places compensated under DDP?

 

[Hockey89]

If that is the case, then it worsens the problem. Because now there is even more of an incentive for restaurants to overcharge. If the majority of your customers are on DDP, then they do not care about prices. Put whatever exorbitant price you want on your menu. Those fake sales only make the GM look better.

The incentive for the DDP is to make the perceived value look better to the consumer, as opposed to the actual value.

Food quality at WDW has consistently gone down since I have been attending. And while dining costs were always high, the current pricing levels exceed that which is normally expected for captive audiences.

Also, for your explanation, that would work for WDW owned restaurants. How are privately managed places compensated under DDP?

You have nailed this....100%

 

[Hockey89]

I've very rarely had a bad meal at Disney. Where are you eating and what are you ordering?

The food at Disney has got worse and worse since DDP hast started.... You want me to name bad places now that used to be great... Simple stuff..... The yachtsman steakhouse.... This used to be a nice steakhouse... Now it is the Longhorn..... Nothing better at 3 times the place.... Cal Grill.... The Sushi I received last time was not even prepared from Whole foods.... The chicken my wife got was so dry it was terrible home cooking... Also, we ordered a nice bottle of wine... They came with the bottle and then moved us to a nicer table as we were eating apps.... I could go on an on..... the DDP has destroyed the food.....

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If the majority of your customers are on DDP, then they do not care about prices. Put whatever exorbitant price you want on your menu. Those fake sales only make the GM look better.

I agree with the incentive structure, but I disagree with the magnitude of the problem. Nowhere near "the majority of your customers" are on DDP. It's a fraction of on-site resort guests, who make up a fraction of total WDW guests. Even during Free Dine promotions, dining plan guests don't make up the majority of a dining room. They can only "get away with" menu prices that cash guests are willing to pay, because most of their guests are still cash.

The incentive for the DDP is to make the perceived value look better to the consumer, as opposed to the actual value.

Correct.

Food quality at WDW has consistently gone down since I have been attending.

My experience is that it has some places, and not at others. Quick service in particular. Satu'li Canteen and Docking Bay 7 are, in my opinion, the highest quality quick service they've ever done. Be Our Guest breakfast is the worst.

the current pricing levels exceed that which is normally expected for captive audiences.

Chicken strips with fries at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut are $14.99
Chicken strips with fries at Cosmic Ray's in the Magic Kingdom are $10.29

How are privately managed places compensated under DDP?

My understanding is that they are also paid out according to menu price.

 

[Phonedave]

I agree with the incentive structure, but I disagree with the magnitude of the problem. Nowhere near "the majority of your customers" are on DDP. It's a fraction of on-site resort guests, who make up a fraction of total WDW guests. Even during Free Dine promotions, dining plan guests don't make up the majority of a dining room. They can only "get away with" menu prices that cash guests are willing to pay, because most of their guests are still cash.


Chicken strips with fries at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut are $14.99
Chicken strips with fries at Cosmic Ray's in the Magic Kingdom are $10.29

It is true that I do not have any hard data to indicate how many people are using the DDP in a particular restaurant, I do see the popularity of the plan here, and I also see (or hear) it being used quite often in restaurants.

As for pricing, I was referring to table service dining, not quick service.