Confused about all this Dining Plan talk.

[lunarsquid]

thanks for the advice... after doing some calculating, it seems like the Dining Plan is a pretty good deal, especially if you want to eat at nice places.

I'll be sure to go ahead and try to get reservations now.

 

[Ghostdog]

We used the dining plan for the first time this past January; a family member told us it was the way to go. We loved it. I made reservations (early) for places we hadn't tried before. We also saved receipts and tracked how much the meal was, totalled everything up when we got home, subtracted the cost of the Dining Plan and came out roughly $300 ahead.

Two of our dinners (Wolf Gang Pucks and O'hana) were actually $40-$50 more in total of what it cost for one day for the dining plan for a family of four. It's like having extra free money.

We loved the dining plan and are using it again on our August trip.:sohappy:

 

[erasure fan1]

We did the dinning plan for the first time last week. The best I can say is it was nice to try a few new things but I dont think we would do it again. For us it was hard, we have a daughter and the kids option is one of the worst things in Disney, its that bad. I can see how for some they say its a great deal but for us we dont normaly eat that much food. We dont order an apatizer and desert for each person so yea the bill says $130 but thats not how we normaly eat. Again my proplem with the plan is it doesnt fit us, for a lot of people Im sure its great. I think the bigger problem is the dumbing down of the food and service. This trip we had very below average service at every place we went to except the 50s PTC. Maybe it was bad luck, I dont know. They could do a lot to enhace this plan, I just think that any change will be for the benefit of the company not us.

 

[slappy magoo]

I think an explanation for part of the increase in using the ddp has been Disney opening it up to DVC members. I think it was only a year or two ago when we first heard we could now use it. So you are talking thousands of families who had never been allowed to purchase a dining plan suddenly having the ability to also use it. I know we jumped on that train and I'm sure most DVC members also did, and almost all at the same time. Could also explain why the sudden increase in attendance at restuarants.

Not sure I'd agree with you that DVC members getting on the Dining Plan makes a BIG difference. First of all, bear in mind, DDP is still pretty new, they're halfway through their third year. Because it was new, not everyone understood it at first, and many people thought they could eat for less money than what they'd pay on the Dining Plan, which is true, but it requires eating more counter service and less table-service. Once people gradually realized that the Dining Plan afforded them a chance to eat at restaurants they might otherwise chalk up as too expensive, the number of reservations went up accordingly.

Now, my memory may be faulty, but I'm pretty sure before the plan was a year old, they were allowing DVC members to use it, so it happened during the same "breaking in" period I described above.

And because of the annual pass discount, I'm sure many DVC members opt to become Passholders and then get the DDE discount. In my opinion, allowing annual passholders (whether or not they're DVC) to buy into the Disney Dining Experience probably has more to do with restaurants being crowded, then DVC members being on the DDP.


And with all due respect to "Scooter," when I pick restaurants for my ADRs, I check out the menus, and if I see at least one or two things on the menu I think I'll dig, I make my ADRs. When I'm home, maybe I get all Winnie-the-Pooh-esque and think "now what does my tummy want today?" But if I go out to dinner, anywhere, it's with the realization of "hey, they'll probably have something with chicken, they'll probably have something with steak, they'll probably have some pasta dishes, some fish..." in other words, there will be SOMETHING I'll want to eat, and in my 37 years on this planet, I'm rarely wrong. Maybe it comes from, oh, I don't know, once being a child and having to eat whatever the hell it was Mom decided to make that night whether or not she asked for my input. But if I'm walking into a restaurant where there are options, I rarely get my nipples in a twist about "but I absolutely have to have chicken fandango, and nothing else will suffice! This restaurant does not serve the one delicacy I must have today, this second, or the terrorists win! This place is evil! EVIL!LLLLLLLL!"

 

[ThinkTink721]

We booked our ADRs 5 mos. in advance for Sept. & had no problems.
The free DDP is great for our family of 5.
It was still great when we used it last summer when it was not free.
As long as you have ADRs, it's usually O.K.
:wave:

 

[AEfx]

The free DDP is great for our family of 5.

Just wait until they hand you a receipt for $200 for a single meal and then at the bottom you see that it was "free".

It's an incredible feeling.

AEfx

 

[mary219]

Just wait until they hand you a receipt for $200 for a single meal and then at the bottom you see that it was "free".

It's an incredible feeling.

AEfx

I cant wait to feel it!!!:slurp:

 

[beachclubbasics]

Just wait until they hand you a receipt for $200 for a single meal and then at the bottom you see that it was "free".

It's an incredible feeling.

AEfx

We used it in 2005 for the first time (was this the first year that the current incarnation was available?).At that time not many people knew about it or used it and we actually felt funny about it (I felt cheap if you know what I mean...lol). We still made our ADRs 180 days in advance and had some great meals (Coral Reef as a signature restaurant well, that wasn't the best value though my oldest son had a $64 lobster dinner that made it worthwhile). At that time the Castle restaurant was only 1 TS credit. The DDP snacks were not as all encompassing as they are now, but even still we were able to save alot of money and have some really great meals (we don't eat out more than 3x per year if not on vacation). As a widow, I was able to take my kids to some really great restaurants and give them some great experiences (my youngest learned to like Japanese food at Teppanyaki and this year he is going to try Marrekesh) that I might not have been able to afford if we went without DDP.

The day we returned from WDW I booked last years trip and immediately addded the dining plan again..and did so last year as well.

I wouldn't go to WDW without it and I'm sure there are many others who feel the same way. I'll be less likely to return every year if DDP goes away.

 

[Astro_Digital]

Well I said it before ... sigh same old threads.

I agree prior to the Dining Plan you can eat anywhere. You may of need to be flexiable about time early or late lunch or supper but just about everywhere.

Prior to the Plan I could do this the busiest days of the year like Christmas and New Years Day. Can not tell me the last two year the park has been busier that time of the year. Capacity is Capacity...

That restaurant at Canada people like?
Had a meal there twice before the dining plan was not special.

Some people think it is a threat to Disney cancel the dining plan I will not be back. I doubt it first of all and I wonder what the majority says when the come home and remember the meals a Disney were only bad cheese burgers and chicken fingers day after day.

My new thing is to leave the parks to eat... waste of time but the food is cheaper and better.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Maybe we were unlucky, but in my experience in both May and August visits as far back as 98 we had problems getting into resturaunts without lengthy waits. Since that time I have made PSs and ADRs.

Last year even with ADRs we had extended waits at Bomas Le Cellier and Crystal Palace.

As my old Sergeant said, Prior Planning Prevents ________ Poor Performance. at the risk of actually agreeing with AEfx for once, the system is there to be used for guests benefits. We actually enjpoy as a family planning months ahead it adds to the build up.

 

[beachclubbasics]

I can agree that DDP has placed some demands upon guests that were not there before (like having to get ADRs for sit down meals) and placed some strain on Disney food service...but for someone like me, a widow with 4 children,. it has made my visits to WDW with them more memorable and special. Before DDP we may have eaten mainly counter service (and there is some wonderful counter service to be had, especially in Epcot..the Land is one example), the plan now allows me to afford to take them to some really great restaurants where they can try healthy and exotic fare that they couldn't get in our Southern NJ area.

Also, after working all year and cooking for 350 days a year (probably a little less because we do take out ocassionally), sitting down, ordering, and having someone else cook for and serve you on vacation is priceless...lol.

We actually like having to make our ADRs so far in advance. We make it a part of our trip planning process. We find out where the EMHs are for each day of our stay, print out restaurant menus, and decide which restaurants to make ADRs at based upon food choices and EMH ( we are late eaters on vacation). To some people this may be work and a pain in the bum, but for us it adds to our trip planning experience. And, since much of this falls to my youngest (he is a disneyphile, our pickiest eater, and his job is to find out about EMHs, print menus,etc) he is excited about the trip from January till we actually leave in the summer and it gives him a way to contribute to vacation planning.