DisneyMusician2
Well-Known Member
Does anyone knowany real financials on the profits of the dining plan? I would be interested to know some before and after profit lines for the resorts.
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Dining Plan no more?
- Thread starter typhoonguy
- Start date
Actually, the $38.99 is per night of hotel stay, so a 4 night/5 day stay gives 4 sets of dining credits.
My previous example math was direct from Mousesavers at http://www.mousesavers.com/diningplantips2007.html
-Joe
$38.99.
The way I look at it is: if you are the type that eats lavishly then DDP will save you money. It's like a big coupon. If you are budget-conscious then DDP allows to upgrade in a way. But still, I don't think it saves you money over your regular budget, because I doubt you'd be spending $80 per day per couple anyway. And if you did you could certainly afford to eat at nice TS, at least on some days. We do.
Example. One day we might go to AK and because of the early closing zip over to DD. So we'll have lunch at Flame Tree, which he like because of the setting, and then a pizza at Puck Express, which we love, while we're shopping. Together, because we share due to the huge portions, it will probably set us back $30. That means that the next day we have $130 to spend (using the same budget as DDP). So we can go to Citricos or an EPCOT spot and dig in. The DDP works I guess if you plan to eat TS everyday, but we don't because some days we like to snack or eat light or maybe are at a water park or canoeing in Ft. W. So it really depends on your intentions. But it will raise the budget for most planners I think, which I guess is what Disney wants.
The way I look at it is: if you are the type that eats lavishly then DDP will save you money. It's like a big coupon. If you are budget-conscious then DDP allows to upgrade in a way. But still, I don't think it saves you money over your regular budget, because I doubt you'd be spending $80 per day per couple anyway. And if you did you could certainly afford to eat at nice TS, at least on some days. We do.
Example. One day we might go to AK and because of the early closing zip over to DD. So we'll have lunch at Flame Tree, which he like because of the setting, and then a pizza at Puck Express, which we love, while we're shopping. Together, because we share due to the huge portions, it will probably set us back $30. That means that the next day we have $130 to spend (using the same budget as DDP). So we can go to Citricos or an EPCOT spot and dig in. The DDP works I guess if you plan to eat TS everyday, but we don't because some days we like to snack or eat light or maybe are at a water park or canoeing in Ft. W. So it really depends on your intentions. But it will raise the budget for most planners I think, which I guess is what Disney wants.
DisneyMusician2
Well-Known Member
I LOVE to eat TS every night I'm at Disney, so the DDP ended up saving me quite a bit! I really enjoyed it and would miss it. It was also great from the standpoint that I didn't have to count pennies to go eat. I knew everything was paid for in advance, and so I simply didn't worry about it! It was a great feeling to know that everything, including my meals, was taken care of in advance.
bugsbunny
Well-Known Member
I've gone in the first week of December, which is historically one of the slowest times of the year at WDW. Every year we go, we have to juggle our ADR times in order to find an opening. I actually had two years in a row when I was told that Liberty Tree was sold out for the day I picked.
And here's an interesting fact I didn't know (and any CM please feel free to correct me). When you book your ADR, you are assigned a table number. So when the day comes for your reservation, you don't get the next table for 4 around your time. Your table for 4 was chosen for you a LONG time ago.
If the people before you decide to just hang out and drink coffee for 45 minutes, you are SOL. They are basically just sitting at YOUR table while YOU wait.
I was explained this policy by the manager of Le Cellier on my last trip in December. We had 2 seatings for our 2 groups of 8 at 730 and 745. So when 830 rolled around, we wanted to know what the deal was. The manager explained that the tables werent ready because the previous guests were still there. As he explains this, a group of 8 that had arrived about 2 minutes before us had their table called!
So we flipped out and wanted to know why we had ADR and aited an hour with no table ready, but this same size party waited 2 minutes? So explained the stupid seating policy about being assigned tables. And judging by the pile up behind us, these people were probably waiting on my table which I had yet to even sit at!!
Long story short, we all missed the fireworks and didn't leave until 1030!!! The only salvation was that we got to basically walk around Epcot by ourselves during Xmas. Nobody even asked us what we were still doing there an hour after the park closed. We took the long way around from Canada counter clockwise around the lake. Got great pics of the arch all lit up at Xmax.
So it wasnt a total loss, but I just wanted to tell you all about how I was told the table seatings work. Any CM's want to confirm this? Or is this ONLY how Le Cellier does it?
And here's an interesting fact I didn't know (and any CM please feel free to correct me). When you book your ADR, you are assigned a table number. So when the day comes for your reservation, you don't get the next table for 4 around your time. Your table for 4 was chosen for you a LONG time ago.
If the people before you decide to just hang out and drink coffee for 45 minutes, you are SOL. They are basically just sitting at YOUR table while YOU wait.
I was explained this policy by the manager of Le Cellier on my last trip in December. We had 2 seatings for our 2 groups of 8 at 730 and 745. So when 830 rolled around, we wanted to know what the deal was. The manager explained that the tables werent ready because the previous guests were still there. As he explains this, a group of 8 that had arrived about 2 minutes before us had their table called!
So we flipped out and wanted to know why we had ADR and aited an hour with no table ready, but this same size party waited 2 minutes? So explained the stupid seating policy about being assigned tables. And judging by the pile up behind us, these people were probably waiting on my table which I had yet to even sit at!!
Long story short, we all missed the fireworks and didn't leave until 1030!!! The only salvation was that we got to basically walk around Epcot by ourselves during Xmas. Nobody even asked us what we were still doing there an hour after the park closed. We took the long way around from Canada counter clockwise around the lake. Got great pics of the arch all lit up at Xmax.
So it wasnt a total loss, but I just wanted to tell you all about how I was told the table seatings work. Any CM's want to confirm this? Or is this ONLY how Le Cellier does it?
ImaYoyo
Active Member
If you are two groups of 8 and they are 1 group of 8, they will almost ALWAYS get a table before you will because your two tables will be side-by-side and they only need one. So if 1 table for 8 is next to a table for six, then yes, they'll get a table before you. If you ever have an issue with this, let them know you don't mind being seated seperately, and you should get your tables in less time.
To answer the first part, no, your table number is not assigned in advance.
What is the difference between priority seating and advanced dinner reservations? Has anyone noticed a difference? Did the change have anything to do with DDP (keeping this on topic!)?
(and isn't 'advanced' implied in the world 'reservation'?)
There might be something different behind the scenes from my perspective as a guest it was a change in name only.
jasondiff
Member
This makes sense. I think your table # is assigned when you check in at the restaurant.
I for one am glad the free dining plan isn't being offered. I believe those of you who visited during a free dining plan and claim they were able to eat whereever they wanted. I've been going to Disney for years and have always been able to eat where i've wanted at a variety of times. But this last trip during labor day weekend, which was a 7 day trip, was difficult. We were there b4 and after the weekend so you can't blame the crowds. Actually, the parks were quite empty and we had no problem in any of the 4 parks with crowds - they were light to moderate during that time. But dining was another story.
I booked Ohanas and Cali grill about ...a little under 2 months in advance. And it was difficult. Especially Ohanas. I checked every night we were there and Ohanas only had dinner available after 9:30 pm. At Epcot, there were no walk ups other than at Germany and Morocco. Mexico, Italy, France, Canada, UK were all booked. We didn't check China or Japan. We did manage to get same day reservations at Flying Fish. But as i discovered we were one of the last to be seated. And i'm glad we didn't just show up without calling earlier that afternoon, b.c. when we showed up they were turning away walk ups.
Next I noticed that there were fewer choices at many restaurants and that service was often hurried. The food and service at Cali were still excellent, but there were much fewer choices than years past.
I really do believe that the downturn in quality this past year is due directly to the free dining plan. And i for one will avoid ever booking during a free dining plan again.
There was a great discussion of all these issues recently over at Miceage.com and also on a MiceCast podcast. But Disney needs to change some aspects of dining. Its ridiculous that you have to now overplan your vacations months in advance. I'm a planner but not to that extent. I will plan at least one or 2 dining experiences ahead of time. However, having to plan your dining every night of a trip defeats the purpose of being on a vacation. Also if Disney is going to continue to offer the free dining plan and sacrifice dining quality, then I'll just stick to sandwiches, salads and burgers my whole trip rather than spend a lot of money for something that isn't what it used to be and is bound to disappoint. Anyone who was at Ohanas at least 3 years ago will agree that Ohanas now is nowhere near what it used to be.
I booked Ohanas and Cali grill about ...a little under 2 months in advance. And it was difficult. Especially Ohanas. I checked every night we were there and Ohanas only had dinner available after 9:30 pm. At Epcot, there were no walk ups other than at Germany and Morocco. Mexico, Italy, France, Canada, UK were all booked. We didn't check China or Japan. We did manage to get same day reservations at Flying Fish. But as i discovered we were one of the last to be seated. And i'm glad we didn't just show up without calling earlier that afternoon, b.c. when we showed up they were turning away walk ups.
Next I noticed that there were fewer choices at many restaurants and that service was often hurried. The food and service at Cali were still excellent, but there were much fewer choices than years past.
I really do believe that the downturn in quality this past year is due directly to the free dining plan. And i for one will avoid ever booking during a free dining plan again.
There was a great discussion of all these issues recently over at Miceage.com and also on a MiceCast podcast. But Disney needs to change some aspects of dining. Its ridiculous that you have to now overplan your vacations months in advance. I'm a planner but not to that extent. I will plan at least one or 2 dining experiences ahead of time. However, having to plan your dining every night of a trip defeats the purpose of being on a vacation. Also if Disney is going to continue to offer the free dining plan and sacrifice dining quality, then I'll just stick to sandwiches, salads and burgers my whole trip rather than spend a lot of money for something that isn't what it used to be and is bound to disappoint. Anyone who was at Ohanas at least 3 years ago will agree that Ohanas now is nowhere near what it used to be.
And whats odd about it is that we're not talking about a fancy gourmet meal. But those cheesy potatoes were not that good and just didn't fit with the meal. The wings have become so overly gooey and syrupy. Yeck. The only constant remains the excellent Grilled Turkey. MMMMMMMM
One of the solutions that have been proposed on a variety of podcasts i listen to, including MiceCast, is that Disney maintain a certain amount of spots for same day reservations and for reservations within a week.
OLDDISNEYLOVER
New Member
dining plan
I hope disney doesn't get rid of it we are going in november and signed up for the dining plan, seems like a great deal.. Maybe they will revamp it they may be losing money on it....
I hope disney doesn't get rid of it we are going in november and signed up for the dining plan, seems like a great deal.. Maybe they will revamp it they may be losing money on it....
JikoMarie
New Member
My apologies. I had understood that 1 TS was equivalent to $38.99. Even still though, an average meal at Le Cellier wouldn't run near to $61 a person.
ETA: Also, I would like to point out that not all restaurants participate in DDP. Upon a quick glance, at least two that we have booked for our upcoming trip do not.