Dining Plan dropping food quality??

[Ciciwoowoo]

I don't see how the paid dining plan can make the quality go down. Unless you're going to the more "upscale" places, you're just about breaking even and maybe saving a few bucks. I can see where they'd be taking a hit with the free dining plan and quality possibly going down during that time to cut costs. I'm up for learning if I'm wrong. Does anyone know when the free dining is supposed to end?

I'm just speculating here, but I believe it there was no dining plan, servers would do their best to earn the biggest tip they could. It wouldn't be about pushing "quantity", although a bigger bill would probably add up to a bigger tip.

Now, servers know they are going to get 18%, no matter what. There is no incentive to do better. And, to be honest, 18% isn't that great. I always try to tip 20%.

Also, I wonder what impact the dining plan has made on alcohol consumption. I'm thinking that it may be decreasing the amount of drinks purchased, and that will also impact a server's tip.

 

[Senderella]

I'm just speculating here, but I believe it there was no dining plan, servers would do their best to earn the biggest tip they could. It wouldn't be about pushing "quantity", although a bigger bill would probably add up to a bigger tip.

Now, servers know they are going to get 18%, no matter what. There is no incentive to do better. And, to be honest, 18% isn't that great. I always try to tip 20%.

Also, I wonder what impact the dining plan has made on alcohol consumption. I'm thinking that it may be decreasing the amount of drinks purchased, and that will also impact a server's tip.

Well, see... I see what you're getting at, but with the non-buffet restaurants, the more a person orders that they're entitled to (the appetizer, entree & dessert) the servers tip is going to go up.. whereas many people wouldn't normally order those things if they were paying out of pocket. I know for a fact, being a server, dh & I try to take full advantage of everything we're entitled to on the plan just to bump up that 18% even more (and tip a little extra since 99% of all our servers at WDW in the history of OUR vacations have been outstanding). It's like I've told people before.. just because you order it doesn't mean you have to feel the need to devour it all. I like to sample everything and going in with that mindframe, I don't feel stuffed.

As far as alcohol goes, personally speaking (yet again) dh & I have ordered more alcohol at restaurants than we ever have. When we used the dining plan in May of 05, we didn't except for an ice wine at Le Cellier. This past trip however, most of the restaurants that offered alcohol, we got and paid for it seperately. It made US personally more likely to order the alcohol because 1- since the plan is prepaid and you're not thinking about paying for that, we're more likely to order a couple of drinks and pay another 10-15 dollars (plus a tip on the drinks) and 2- LOL we're usually so tired and stove up, the drink at the meal really relaxes us and we're able to push through the day a little more. :lookaroun

:isclaimer:: LOL These are my personal observations based on my family.

 

[kennyj29]

I disagree with the tip thing. From what I've heard from people who get tips, because everything is prepaid a lot of people will throw extra tip money on the table because to them, it's like everything is free. I think they make more money now then they do when tips are given with a full paid meal. So being nice is to their benefit now. When we go down and we find that a waiter or waitress is very good, we will always throw a little something extra to go along with what's included. They also try to push the most expensive meal because it's to their benefit. Their tip is bigger, the more expensive the meal.

 

[Lucky]

That was our experience. The servers are happy to help you get full value out of the dining plan - whether free or paid - because it increases the bill from which their 18% is computed. There's a commonality of interest between the server and guest in that respect.

 

[imagineer99]

My family has never used the dining plan--being "forced" to eat isn't something we necessarily like. We enjoy the freedom of having only one large meal a day (usually dinner) and packing snacks from home for breakfast and lunch.

That said, as a non-disney dining plan user, I'd have to say that the quality of food at Disney restaurants as a whole has been slipping. Maybe it's just me, but I feel the menu options are not only less in number, but also less interesting. I used to consider both Flying Fish and Spoodles as true menu innovators. As of late, they seem to offer either the same old thing, or more generic options to a suit a conventional palette.

The same goes for other places as well. The "buffet" environment has really steamrolled it's way across various resorts and the themeparks. I understand the appeal of the buffet, but sometimes it's nice to sit down and truly be served. And, some sit-down places I used to really like (such as Tony's and San Angel) just feel less stellar.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that the decline in Disney dining quality has less to do with the dining plan itself, but more to do with an overcrowded and "picky" guest population. Disney isn't stupid--the more people they manage to serve in their restaurants, the more money they make. That's simply economics. How do they accomplish this goal? They provide less menu options (so everything can be made easily, quickly, and ingredients can be standardized to a core, cheaper set) and they provide less adventurous/blander menu options (to cater to a generic population that "knows what they like").

I'm one of those people that considers a good meal as one of the highlights of a vacation. Nothing beats quality service and quality food in a pleasant setting. But, as of late, I feel as if the restuarants feel more crowded (even the ultra-chic California Grill ), less intuitive, and less enjoyable.

--end long-winded rant--:wave:

 

[AEfx]

As of late, they seem to offer either the same old thing, or "Americanized" options to a suit a conventional palette.

Here we go with that offensive term again...

Americanization is a very serious thing that happens when our mass media culture is exposed and changes a native, closed culture.

Using the term anywhere at WDW is silly. WDW is quintessential America. You cannot "Americanize" something that is already "American". It would be like making escargot more French.

I'll direct you to the Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot, page 94 :

...Disney is a quintessentially American company...

So if you want to rag on the food at WDW, that's completely your perogative. But when you use terms like "Americanized" it's not only offensive because you are using it for a synonym for "bland" (I'm American but I'm not bland...it's a generalization), but simply incorrect and redundant. It's like saying a Japanese car is too Japanese...what else would one expect?

Use your own words to describe the changes you feel are occuring; don't use buzz-words that aren't being used properly in the first place.

End rant.

AEfx

 

[wannab@dis]

I believe a distinction should be made between the Dining Plan and the FREE dining plan.

We utilized the Dining Plan last December... paid the $35/person/day and GREATLY enjoyed it. The food was great, service was wonderful with a single exception and the plan afforded us the ability to eat more expensive items at a fixed rate. I would NEVER agree that the quality of food OR service was down in December, Dining plan or not.

As for the FREE dining plan, that could be a different story. I personally don't feel it's some conspiracy, but rather simply due to logistics. For one, they have seen a major increase in the traffic at the table service restaurants. I don't think they are "cutting" corners because it's "free" but are having difficulties due to scale. If they cut the quality of food or did anything to cause the FREE dining to be sub-par, they would be killing their chances of successfully launching the marketing campaign in the future.

It's also amazing to read some of the complaints versus what's said in other threads... "Too much food" -- "Portion sizes smaller" That's rather ironic that we're seeing complaints about the portion sizes when the biggest complaint about the dining plan used to be that people felt bad they wasted food since there was so much. It's also annoying to see people complain about waiting for 30 minutes at the table service locations. When was the last time you went to an average restaurant such as Outback, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc on a Friday night and didn't wait for an hour with no complaint?

Our experience has been that a PS wait time was rarely longer than 15 minutes or so, but if they were crowded and the wait time was 30, it was no big deal since we do that (and more) for much less quality and theme at home.

 

[imagineer99]

Here we go with that offensive term again...

Americanization is a very serious thing that happens when our mass media culture is exposed and changes a native, closed culture.

Using the term anywhere at WDW is silly. WDW is quintessential America. You cannot "Americanize" something that is already "American". It would be like making escargot more French.

I'll direct you to the Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot, page 94 :


So if you want to rag on the food at WDW, that's completely your perogative. But when you use terms like "Americanized" it's not only offensive because you are using it for a synonym for "bland" (I'm American but I'm not bland...it's a generalization), but simply incorrect and redundant. It's like saying a Japanese car is too Japanese...what else would one expect?

Use your own words to describe the changes you feel are occuring; don't use buzz-words that aren't being used properly in the first place.

End rant.

AEfx

I'm an American...

However, since you find the term offensive, it has been changed. I apologize as I was not aware of the term's sensitive connotations. My fault.

 

[donnahead]

Well, Mexican (San Angel Inn), Italain (Alfedo's), French, German, etc., etc. food can be "Americanized".

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Personally I had two occasions where wait times were longer but not worthy of comment and not in my original post, but at Crystal Palace there were a number of guests who were complaining about waiting over an hour, sorry but if it is now called a reservation then thats what it should be.

Having heard the comments of the server IMHO what was happening is that at some buffet meals the management are trying to speed up dinners so that they can fit in more dinning plan punters who have not made ressies. Sad thing is that if that is the case it is impacting those of us who have planned.

As for Americanisation (or adaptation, to use a less volatile word), it is no different to Chinese and Indian food in the UK which has been Anglicised to better fit the British pallet. With Spoodles I dont think dishes have been changed rather that they have been removed. Which was the point of my original post.

 

[imagineer99]

I think this goes back to my original point...

The less entrees you offer, the quicker and easier it is to accomodate guests. However, this also indirectly hurts the consumer who wants to be able to choose from a larger and more varied selection

 

[davewasbaloo]

The menu reductions are hitting restaurants as a whole. More and more restaurants are being told across the globe to cut the numbers of offerings down. Sadly, Disney is following this theme.

 

[KnK]

The Dining Plan itself has been around for various years, just called different names. I remember back in 1999 we went on the 'Grand Plan.' It includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, with very little restrictions. We id this a couple years, then realized it was way to much food. We had liked it because it meant the most of vacation was paid for before we got there.

Over the years they still had this option, but it doesn't seem to really have caught on until Magic You Way came along, and free dining was introduced last year.

We've not used any plan, including the free option for many years. (We travel in September every year.) I admit over the years that I have had new favorites and my taste have changed. So places I might have enjoyed before I don't any more. Is is due to service or food quality? I can't really say.

 

[PaulaB]

There was an article on one of the british papers that reported that an organistion (CDC?) had told resteraunts to reduce portion size because of obesity, so I don't think you can blame the dining plan for that one.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

There was an article on one of the british papers that reported that an organistion (CDC?) had told resteraunts to reduce portion size because of obesity, so I don't think you can blame the dining plan for that one.

Id have thought it would have more likely been the banks so that resturants margins are better.:drevil:

 

[wdw12574]

seems like a lot of the complaints are coming in the summer when the parks are the busiest . Just a thought it could be from the high volume in the parks at the time . I know the service at most restuarants decline at peak times of the year I would imagine Disney would be no different although I'm sure they would try not to be overwelmed.

 

[toothfairy]

Hi All,
Just came back from Disney and had a wonderful time. Never took advantage of table dining before so can't compare it, but my family enjoyed the food very much. We ate at Crystal Palace, Liberty Tree, and Boma and felt we had way enough food and weren't rushed or treated poorly. It was our first time staying in the park also and we are now believers and would definately do this all again. The crowd level was so low that the wait for rides was only 5 to 15 mins so that may have been why we didn't have long waits. If Disney didn't offer this package deal of free dining we wouldn't have tried staying at the parks and enjoying a whole new level of Disney Magic.

 

[kennyj29]

I totally agree with toothfairy, she had no crowds, why? Because the summer is basically over and everyone will be back at school. I chose to go on September 30th through October 8th because luckily, I don't have school age kids and we can go whatever time of year we want, we are very lucky. Everyone will be back at school and I don't expect the crowds to be high and with the free food plan, I don't forsee any waits longer than 5 or 10 minutes. I honestly think we will have no problems. I have always thought that some restaurants had great food and some didn't and I still beleive it will be the same way now. Saving $1400.00 on the food plan will make the food even taste better than it did when I bought the food plan.

 

[MouseearsDeb]

I totally agree with toothfairy, she had no crowds, why? Because the summer is basically over and everyone will be back at school. I chose to go on September 30th through October 8th because luckily, I don't have school age kids and we can go whatever time of year we want, we are very lucky. Everyone will be back at school and I don't expect the crowds to be high and with the free food plan, I don't forsee any waits longer than 5 or 10 minutes. I honestly think we will have no problems. I have always thought that some restaurants had great food and some didn't and I still beleive it will be the same way now. Saving $1400.00 on the food plan will make the food even taste better than it did when I bought the food plan.

We are going 9/30-10/8 as well and it is because our kids are starting there 2 week break. I'm hoping that not too many school systems will be breaking at the same time. I really like the lower crowds.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I totally agree with toothfairy, she had no crowds, why? Because the summer is basically over and everyone will be back at school. I chose to go on September 30th through October 8th because luckily, I don't have school age kids and we can go whatever time of year we want,

The only down side to this is that rehabs etc start to kick in. If I delay my holiday by 1 week next year I save £1000 on air fair, trouble is my youngest would miss two days of school and Mr Blairs storm troopers will be locking me up.