Disappointing Changes to 2008 Disney Dining

[Norm The Skull]

Bad Idea

Well if they want to discourage people in taking it!

Good Job

Because I won't be taking it next trip.

So Disney just lost about $600.00.

 

[fngoofy]

Well if they want to discourage people in taking it!
Good Job
Because I won't be taking it next trip.
So Disney just lost about $600.00.

So you won't be eating on site at all during your stay?

 

[fngoofy]

Well it was fun while it lasted. I just read that the Disney Dining Plan will not include gratuities or appetizers for 2008 bookings. But there is a silver lining...the price has been reduced by $1 per person :veryconfu

The plus optioin does include the appetizer. Also, with the 3 sit-downs per day, helps to fill in for any special dining you wish to do or for room service options.

 

[beachclubbasics]

Can anyone get the DDE or do you have to be an annual passholder?

 

[daliseurat]

OK, I'm going to break out the devil's advocate routine here about a couple of things in this thread. First off, the above math only proves that the dining plan was a great deal before, not that it is a bad deal now. To see if it really is a deal or not, let's do some math shall we? Thanks to AllEarsNet.com's menus and prices, here's a rundown of what you could expect to spend at Disney's Hollywood Studios for a day's worth of items covered by the dining plan:

Lunch at the ABC Commissary:
Cuban Sandwich - $6.69
Chocolate Mousse - $3.59
Soda - $2.09

Snack at Min and Bill's Dockside:
Apple Cinnamon Stuffed Dessert Pretzel - $3.79

Dinner at the 50's Primetime Café:
Old Fashioned Pot Roast - $15.79
S'mores - $4.79
Soda - $2.00

Total - $38.74

So, obviously not a huge savings per se, however I deliberately selected items that were not at the top of the pricing scheme. I could have selected Sirloin Steak and a Sundae and pushed my tab for the day up by another $6+. So, you can still save money with the dining plan. I did not include taxes with my figuring as I am not sure what the going sales tax for dining is in FL, nor am I sure if the dining plan price of $37.99 also might get taxed at the time of purchasing the package. Depending on that information, even more money could be potentially saved.

Personally, I feel that depending on how you use it, the dining plan can still definitely save you money. The problem is comparing what you get and how much things cost for 2008 vs. how the plan was priced in the past. To me, the dining plan when we went earlier this year was a HUGE savings. With the appetizer and gratuity, we easily saved $10-15 per person, per day of the trip. It boggled my mind before that people would think that the dining plan was not a good deal for what you got. Now, after using the plan last April, I did have some complaints about the plan, namely that there was too much food. While, it is a bummer that we are getting less for our money than before, an appetizer, entrée, and dessert per person was, quite frankly, more food than I wanted to eat. So, in some ways, I actually like the fact that there will be less food...if that makes any sense.

Now that is an astute useful post. I'm sure this is Disney's position. And you are right, many, many people said they ate to much with the plan. And when you do the math using the other plan, if you utilize it fully, you did get an unbelievable deal. I do think Disney should allow the guest to choose between an appetizer or dessert for the table service. And no matter how you do the math, it's just not a deal so great. Removing the TIP is for me the biggest offense. It's pricey, and more importantly it means I have to figure it out and it will take longer to setle the bill. I loved handing my card and being done. Now it will take a few minutes longer. And, being an impatient person, I'd like those mintes back. ;-)

 

[dizzney]

Disney Dining Plan Changes

We just returned from 9 nights at the Boardwalk and being DVC, this was the first time we had used the DIning Plan. As usual I had my DDE card also which we used for wine and cocktails not coverd by the DDP.

We found the plan to be a great deal over the DDE. We always eat nice dinners at WDW as it would not be a vacation without that and found we actually save more with the DDP, Since I had made 2 reservations with my DVC I only did 7 nights on the DDP which cost us about $960.00 for 3 adults and 2 children. When we reviewed the bills we saved about $450.00 by using the plan. We ate at all the World SHowcase restaurants for either lunch or dinner except Italy and Morroco using the quick serve or dinners as well as Mama Melrose - Spoodles (one of our Favorites) and the California Grill (2 dining credits per person) There was alot of food, I would even suggest removing the lunch dessert as we found we weren't in the mood then for dessert and usually took cookies when we could for a later snack for my younger kids.

If they change it, you should be able to choose either appetizer or dessert as we have in the past shared them and would easiliy do so again. It was so convienent though as my teenager did not have to ask what his meal "budget" was, he could just order as well as get a snack (usually a powerade) whenever he wanted.

DDE works well, but this was easier being prepaid.:wave:

 

[beachclubbasics]

Now that is an astute useful post. I'm sure this is Disney's position. And you are right, many, many people said they ate to much with the plan. And when you do the math using the other plan, if you utilize it fully, you did get an unbelievable deal. I do think Disney should allow the guest to choose between an appetizer or dessert for the table service. And no matter how you do the math, it's just not a deal so great. Removing the TIP is for me the biggest offense. It's pricey, and more importantly it means I have to figure it out and it will take longer to setle the bill. I loved handing my card and being done. Now it will take a few minutes longer. And, being an impatient person, I'd like those mintes back. ;-)

Exactly. when you think about it, just by removing the tip from the plan disney has decreased the value 18%. When you add in the now removed appetizer, the value has decreased further.

Had they left the tip in and just removed the appetizer, I'd have still gone for the plan. Now, nope. I rent a car and there are many off-site restaurants that my family enjoys as much if not more than WDW restaurants, and they are less expensive as well, so they will get the majority of my TS business until the DDP is chnaged again to be a better value. There's also enough CS variety that my family can eat healthy and have different cuisines and not have to pay TS prices (or the tip). Unfortunately I am not able to visit when the free DDP is available so that 18% is an extra hit on me and families like ours who pay extra for their DDP. Belive me, if I could get the free DDP you wouldn't hear me complain.

I think the final slap in the face was Disney acting like they did us all a favor by reducing the plan price by $1. After reducing the value of the plan anywhere from 18 -30+%, that's a lot of nerve in my book. I think this is what bothers me the most...hiding a heafty price increase by omitting items that are included in the plan.

If I do end up booking the BC again this year, I will not be taking the dining plan. I'll add it if they change it back to include the tip. if not, then my TS business will go elsewhere. Actually, after thiking about it, perhaps WDC did me a favor....TS probably wasted 2 hours of each day that I spent in the parks (between planning when we had to leave to get to our ADR, the travel time, wait time, and then dining time). If we do all CS maybe we'll save an hour or so each day to be abkle to do more attractions.

I love WDW as much as the next person. In fact, WDW is the only place my family ever went on vacation (Dad worked for a corporate sponsor and got fantastic deals in the 70s and 80s). I even have my own line of beauty and skin care based on the Beach Club that I sell on ocassion. However, this nickel and dime stuff that Disney is pulling is really starting to get on my nerves (example $10 a day for Internet in a $400+ per night room...you've got to be kidding, Hapton Inn and Holiday Inn Express give you free wireless internet AND a nice breakfast too, usually for under $100). It is getting to the point where it's obvious that the WDC is just operating in pure greed mode. Having been an annual guest almost every year since opening day, it is disheartening to see the changes in how WDW is now being run.

My kids actually do not want to return to WDW next year (they want to rent a vacation home and go other places and Fla) and at this point, between the problems we had a week ago with parking personnel (actually had to get the parking mamanger out who gave us preferred parking and VIP ride certs. due to blocked off handicapped parking that even the manager said should have been and was open), monorail issues (examples:2 monorails breaking down within 5 minutes on the same line causing express to the TTC to take 45 minutes, one trip from the Poly to MK took over 20 minutes due to being held twice on the track for traffic issues..happened at least 1x per day every day we were there) and the overall crowds (example:1 hour to get our food at Pecos Bill's), I'm inclined to agree. I can rent a vacation home for a month for what I pay for a room for a week at WDW.

I'm sure I'll be back to WDW (after 30+ vacations AND my honeynmoon there in 1987) I'm too much of a fan (eventhinking of purchasing DVC). However, if they keep nickel and diming their guests they'll certainly see less of me.

 

[MiduraMagic4]

Wow thats quite a string of misfortune. Im sure youll next visit will be more magical.

 

[dave2822]

Personally the Dining Plan never appealed to me because (a) I can't eat that much food and (B) I don't want to have to break up my park days with TS meals. I throw in a couple of buffets and TS dining, but I couldn't do that everyday.

So for me:

Breakfast (either brought from home or a bagel) ... $0-$3
Lunch (counter service) ... $10
Snack ... $4
Dinner (usually counter service, sometimes TS, no appetizer, no dessert) ... $10-$20

So for me, I spend anywhere from $24-$37 a day on food, and the Dining Plan was never a good deal for me. Of course I throw in a few buffets in there every vacation, so that throws off the budget a bit :lookaroun But who cares? Food and drink is overpriced everywhere, and WDW is no exception. Everyone needs to work out there own budget, figure out what they need, and go from there. So the Dining Plan may not be as good of a deal anymore ... just don't get it then

 

[beachclubbasics]

We just returned from 9 nights at the Boardwalk and being DVC, this was the first time we had used the DIning Plan. As usual I had my DDE card also which we used for wine and cocktails not coverd by the DDP.

We found the plan to be a great deal over the DDE. We always eat nice dinners at WDW as it would not be a vacation without that and found we actually save more with the DDP, Since I had made 2 reservations with my DVC I only did 7 nights on the DDP which cost us about $960.00 for 3 adults and 2 children. When we reviewed the bills we saved about $450.00 by using the plan. We ate at all the World SHowcase restaurants for either lunch or dinner except Italy and Morroco using the quick serve or dinners as well as Mama Melrose - Spoodles (one of our Favorites) and the California Grill (2 dining credits per person) There was alot of food, I would even suggest removing the lunch dessert as we found we weren't in the mood then for dessert and usually took cookies when we could for a later snack for my younger kids.

If they change it, you should be able to choose either appetizer or dessert as we have in the past shared them and would easiliy do so again. It was so convienent though as my teenager did not have to ask what his meal "budget" was, he could just order as well as get a snack (usually a powerade) whenever he wanted.

DDE works well, but this was easier being prepaid.:wave:

I agree that as the plan stands now it was a great deal. Now with the tip and appetizer excluded the value has greatly diminished. If they removed the desert at CS (let's face it, a lot of the CS dessert choices are just plain awful anyway) and dropped the plan by $1 it would be fine. However, to take away $10-20+ in value and drop the plan by $1....unacceptable in my view ( and it appears that many others are not happy either). Had they done this and dropped the price by at least $5-7 dollars I wouldn't feel as adamantly as I do that this is just another way for WDW to nickel and dime you.


for a family of 5, my DDP has just been raised from $200 per day to $227 per day (assuming that our TS meals only run about $150 each..usually they run $200-300 per meal). That's almost a 9% increase even before factoring in the loss of appetizer.

Let's face it, WDW makes plenty of money. This nickel and diming is pure greed, nothing more. If they really wanted to limit availablity of the DDP they could have by simply limiting the amount of DDPs they allow for sale in a given period of time. if it is true that the union wanted the tips removed from the plan, then I think a good marketing strategy would have been for the DDP to be dropped in price by a larger amount of money to make up for the exclusion of the tip (you could still remove the appetizer as well..no great loss there or offer a choice of app or dessert). Again, this is just a way for WDC to hide a hefty increase in plan price and blame it on everyone else.

I'm even wondering if the union was actually the entitiy that insisted the tip be removed from the plan. if so, I hope the wait staff got a hefty base wgae increase.

How are they going to inform the guest that tipping is expected and what an appropriate tip should be? There are so many visitors from other countries who do not tip on a regular basis because tip is included in their bills at home. Will these guests know to tip or be told what to tip, or will waitstaff get stiffed? If this was a union move I'd insist on a change in union leadership....


if WDW contracts run like other union contracts, I'll suspect that we'll be stuck with the 2008 dining plan incarnation till 2011.

 

[dave2822]

Ok, I'm going to play out an example, see how you like it:

This guest spent the day at MK (I hope they saw Wishes!)

Guest not on dining plan :

Bacon cheeseburger and coke at Peco Bills: $10.04
Mickey ice cream bar: $2.50
Chicken Florentine at Tony's for dinner: $22.49
w/ coke: $2.19
w/ dessert: $5.69
w/ tax dinner total: $32.19
20% tip: $6.44
Total Dinner: $38.63
Grand total for the day for the guest: $51.17

Guest on dining plan:
$37.99 + $6.44 out of pocket for tip: $44.43

So is the Dining Plan less of a deal - yes, in this case by about $6.50 if you tip well - but it saved you $7, it's still a deal.

And again, if you don't think so ... don't ... get ... the DDP

 

[imamouse]

Can anyone get the DDE or do you have to be an annual passholder?

DDE is available to FL residents and AP holders. I'm not sure about DVC members, but since they get a good discount on an AP, my bet is that most DVC members also have APs, and are therefore eligible for DDE.

 

[DisneyJoe]

just by removing the tip from the plan disney has decreased the value 18%

Only if you tipped for snack, counter service and table service; most people only tip for the table service meal, so the decrease in value was not 18%, more like 10-12%.

 

[erasure fan1]

OK, I'm going to break out the devil's advocate routine here about a couple of things in this thread. First off, the above math only proves that the dining plan was a great deal before, not that it is a bad deal now. To see if it really is a deal or not, let's do some math shall we? Thanks to AllEarsNet.com's menus and prices, here's a rundown of what you could expect to spend at Disney's Hollywood Studios for a day's worth of items covered by the dining plan.

I dont personally know anyone on these boards (except my wife) so I wont speak for any of you, just myself and the people I do know. The dining plan only was/is a great deal if thats your eating habits. The dining plan was all about convenience not saving. I know, yea you save if you add up everything in the plan. I added up the receipts on what we spent on food the year before with no plan and guess what, we spent $130 less. Hmmm, why? We dont order an appatizer and dessert for every person in the party. We also dont eat at table service everyday. Why did we do it then? Convenience. We didnt have to worry about bringing money for tips or snacks and we got to try some new places. Now we would be spending even more money because we have to front the tip. The convenience is diminished, the cost will be more, and that kills it for me.

 

[RiversideBunny]

So is the Dining Plan less of a deal - yes, in this case by about $6.50 if you tip well - but it saved you $7, it's still a deal.

Thanks. Good layout and analysis.

It looks like the new 2008 DDP could save some people some money but only if:
You eat a table service meal each day.
You order desert.
You order an entre that costs over about $18.

Otherwise using the 2008 DDD could be a break even situation at best.

There is also the big danger to the waiters that people might not tip so well since it will be out of pocket in 2008.

I think that Disney fully expected the use of the DDP to drop off somewhat under the new 2008 rules. That frees up a little room for guests making and changing ADR's.

For our personal normal eating pattern at WDW, we won't be using the DDP in 2008.
Tks.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I think that Disney fully expected the use of the DDP to drop off somewhat under the new 2008 rules. That frees up a little room for guests making and changing ADR's.

You would think so, if you just look at the basic DDP - however, I believe there was another segment of the guest population that was looking for a more all-inclusive package, one that included 3 meals per day, and complained when the basic DDP didn't include that.

These guests could be eating at 3 table service meals per nights stay - possibly taking up that slack the changes in the basic DDP opens...

Time will tell.

 

[RiversideBunny]

These guests could be eating at 3 table service meals per nights stay - possibly taking up that slack the changes in the basic DDP opens...

Does the ground shake when they walk?

:lol: :lol:

 

[Justin Jones]

We've used the Dining plan for a few years and love it. With that said, I'm still not upset that they are changing things. First of all, my party has always thought that our service was inadequate because the 18% gratuity was guarunteed. Now, the waiters are going to have to work for their tip, and we will gladly tip well (maybe even more than 18%) if the service is fantastic. Also, we've always felt that everyone receiving an appetizer is a little ridiculous. It's just too much food. If everyone ate his or her own appetizer, entree, and dessert at every meal, then we would all have to be rolled around Disney World... ...IMHO

 

[Justin Jones]

Ok, I'm going to play out an example, see how you like it:

This guest spent the day at MK (I hope they saw Wishes!)

Guest not on dining plan :

Bacon cheeseburger and coke at Peco Bills: $10.04
Mickey ice cream bar: $2.50
Chicken Florentine at Tony's for dinner: $22.49
w/ coke: $2.19
w/ dessert: $5.69
w/ tax dinner total: $32.19
20% tip: $6.44
Total Dinner: $38.63
Grand total for the day for the guest: $51.17

Guest on dining plan:
$37.99 + $6.44 out of pocket for tip: $44.43

So is the Dining Plan less of a deal - yes, in this case by about $6.50 if you tip well - but it saved you $7, it's still a deal.

And again, if you don't think so ... don't ... get ... the DDP

I think the Dining plan is even a better deal than you showed here. For example, the fixed price for Dinner at Boma is $25.99, not including drinks. With tax, the price of this meal would be over $30. Include a counter service restaurant and a snack and anyone can easily see how the dining plan is a good deal.

 

[erasure fan1]

I think the Dining plan is even a better deal than you showed here. For example, the fixed price for Dinner at Boma is $25.99, not including drinks. With tax, the price of this meal would be over $30. Include a counter service restaurant and a snack and anyone can easily see how the dining plan is a good deal.

Or lets just say that one day you are in the magic kingdom and you go to Pacos Bills for:
1/4lb cheese burger and fries $5.89
Sprite $2.09

I then go get dessert over at Aloha Isle and get a
Dole whipe $2.89

Later in the Day I go to Cosmic rays for dinner and get:
1/2 roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies $7.99
Sprite $2.09

For dessert again I find a cart selling:
Nestle Toll House ice cream sandwich $3.00

Total for the day $23.95
Thats a savings of $21.05 a day over the dining plan. $171.00 per person savings for a 7 night trip isnt bad.
Everyone seems to point out how much you can save, but I havent seen anyone compare it this way. The dining plan doesnt look like such a great deal anymore. It can go from good deal to rip off in a hurry.