I was also thinking that it had to be a mistake. I wonder what problems will result for Disney now that people are aware of the mistake. Surely there is fine print somewhere that protects them in cases like this.
Worst case scenario, to keep things legal, each restaurant may have to do something similar to what most supermarkets or retail chains have to do when there's a mistake in a weekly ad - clearly post a correction somewhere on the premises that stipulates that there was a mistake in the brochure, only the deluxe dining plan includes an appetizer, sorry for any inconvenience.
What I still don't get is why the regular dining plan DOESN'T include an appetizer. After all, the dining credit works for buffets, which includes various appetizers and soups and salads, and I'm sure that no matter how adequately they prepare and anticipate demand, lots of buffet food gets thrown out every day (unless Disney partakes in a "give uneaten prepared food to homeless shelters" programs many cities offer). I'm sure many people on the regular dining plan choose buffets for that reason, why not get the most options for the money? Besides, one of the reason Disney keeps offering the free dining plan promotion is because they by food so inexpensively, it's totally worth it if they can rack rates on the hotel rooms.
So I find it hard to believe they'd save so much money on the dining plan that they couldn't give people both an appetizer and a dessert. And if for some reason they do, they could, in theory, make their ginormous portion sizes smaller but keep them at the same price, money saved by cutting down the size of the entree and/or side dishes could be put towards the appetizers. Heck, they might sell MORE appetizers that way to people who AREN'T on the dining plan!
At the very least, they could make it a choice of an appetizer OR a dessert. I'm sure many couples would opt to get one of each and split with their partners.
