News Disney Dining Plan Returns in 2024

[england1]

We used to have 2 rooms but 5 would all sit together for dinner and at the end we just put 2 on one room and 3 on other, you had a sign two receipts but there was never a problem.
One time I was ill and we had loads of credits left over and we offered to pay for the table next to us to use them up but were told we could not transfer to other people, but could spend the meal credits in the gift store.

 

[JD80]

We used to have 2 rooms but 5 would all sit together for dinner and at the end we just put 2 on one room and 3 on other, you had a sign to receipts but there was never a problem.
One time I was ill and we had loads of credits left over and we offered to pay for the table next to us to use them up but were told we could not transfer to other people, but could spend the meal credits in the gift store.

Last time I had the dining plan I had extra snack credits and noticed a bunch of kids behind me getting candy at the resort. I was able to use my credits to buy whatever they had behind me.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

"Meals and snacks are nontransferable between party members."

Has this rule always been part of the dining plan? I don't recall seeing that before and when we have ordered food it was never associated with any specific member of our party. All of the credits were lumped into one bucket for the room, IIRC.

That's odd. Are they asking for ID for each person? Writing up single tickets at a TS meal?

It refers to the dining party, not the resort party.

If you're a family of 4 staying for 6 nights, you get 24 credits applied to your package, they're not assigned to individuals.

But if you go out to dinner with another family and there's a table of 8 but only 4 of you are on the dining plan, you're not supposed to be able to use your credits to pay for the other family's meal.

 

[tpoly88]

Tables in Wonderland, please. Then, it does not matter who orders what or who chooses to imbibe.

On the dining plan, you will not want another cupcake/brownie/cookie, because by day 3, the novelty is completely gone. Many quick service locations will allow a yogurt, a fruit cup, or an actual piece of fruit. It never hurts to ask nicely.

yes love Tables!! made it so easy.

 

[nicb88]

It refers to the dining party, not the resort party.

If you're a family of 4 staying for 6 nights, you get 24 credits applied to your package, they're not assigned to individuals.

But if you go out to dinner with another family and there's a table of 8 but only 4 of you are on the dining plan, you're not supposed to be able to use your credits to pay for the other family's meal.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but at one point they did relax the rules to allow sharing of payment with dining credits. But evidently they’ve decided to be stricter again to make more money.

 

[HauntedPirate]

People always forget the "But would I really buy that awful, pre-packaged dessert with my quick service meal if I had to pay for it?" when doing the calculations. I'd bet that 6 meals out of 7, the answer would have been "No". Same with what they ordered for a meal - Would you have ordered the exact same things if you were handing over cash instead of being on a dining plan? Believe it or not, human psychology changes when you have to actually pay for something rather than simply handing over a card for a "prepaid" option.

 

[JD80]

People always forget the "But would I really buy that awful, pre-packaged dessert with my quick service meal if I had to pay for it?" when doing the calculations. I'd bet that 6 meals out of 7, the answer would have been "No". Same with what they ordered for a meal - Would you have ordered the exact same things if you were handing over cash instead of being on a dining plan? Believe it or not, human psychology changes when you have to actually pay for something rather than simply handing over a card for a "prepaid" option.

Of course - that's why people like the pre-paid option because they can make those decisions ahead of time and budget for it. The less decisions you can make on a vacation - the less you have to pull our your credit card - the more enjoyable your vacation will be.

Why is this even a discussion? Of course I would eat less most of the time while at Disney because I hate having to pay for more stuff while there regardless of whether or not I actually want a thing. My kids would get the dessert and I'd be ok sitting there watching them enjoy it.

 

[dmw]

It refers to the dining party, not the resort party.

If you're a family of 4 staying for 6 nights, you get 24 credits applied to your package, they're not assigned to individuals.

But if you go out to dinner with another family and there's a table of 8 but only 4 of you are on the dining plan, you're not supposed to be able to use your credits to pay for the other family's meal.

In the past there was no restriction on how the credits could be used. You could bring guests and use all of the credits on a single meal, if you wanted.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

In the past there was no restriction on how the credits could be used. You could bring guests and use all of the credits on a single meal, if you wanted.

That is not correct.

The policy has always been in place, it was just never enforced. I expect that will continue to be the case.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I would rather have Magical Express…

Me, too!

Free ground transportation (which helps me) is objectively better than the "option" to pay 30% more for my Disney dining (which only helps Disney),* which of course explains why Disney was more eager to bring it back. I'm among the minority who greeted the DDP news with a shrug, and wished for something better. Not that the plan would even be available for our only planned WDW trip, since it's in August 2023, but the impending return of the DDP does explain why WDW is already paring down its menus to remove or replace the items that use pricier ingredients. (Farewell, Grand Floridian Cafe's Lobster Thermidor burger! I never got the chance to know you.)

I am very interested to see how the "rules" of the DDP might change, if at all, when it lurches back, and whether Disney might opt to add a whole new raft of restaurants to the "2-credit" list, or remove some of the kinds of snacks and beverages that used to be included. So far, like the reanimated corpses from Stephen King's Pet Sematary, Disney's resurrection of pre-COVID offerings (e.g., EMH becoming Early Entry, FP+ becoming ILL/G+, all-day parkhopping becoming half-day parkhopping) has produced things that don't come back the same: they might resemble their former form, but they are fundamentally diminished and unsatisfying.

*NOTE: My "30% more" statistic refers to the fact that when we did the math for our Disney trips pre-COVID, my family found that when we pay out of pocket to eat wherever we want to eat (including at MORE table service restaurants than the DDP covers), and order whatever we want to eat (including specialty beverages, appetizers, and other items the DDP doesn't include), without regard to the menu prices (which in my case generally means that if it has shrimp or scallops, it will be mine!), we still SAVE OVER 30% over the cost of the Disney Dining Plan for the 4 of us, and it's no more inconvenient to scan a MagicBand to pay for our meal with invisible dollars than it is to scan a MagicBand to pay for a meal with invisible credits. Obviously this calculus will be different for every family (and I'm not talking about scenarios where people get it for free), but buying the DDP would force us to spend way more, while inhibiting our ability to eat where we want, and what we want, on vacation.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Every time I crunched the numbers I always concluded the Dining Plan wasn't designed to save money at all like so many happy customers make it out to be. If anything it is just prepaying for your food, at times even prepaying for food you might not want.

So I'll just continuing using my own method of prepaying. I just use my various credit card rewards points to purchase Disney gift cards before a trip and just set our own food budget. The great thing is if we don't use all of it we can just roll it over to the next trip, or use it for some merch, etc. We do the same for Disneyland, so whatever we don't use on one trip will definitely be used toward the next Disney trip, and so on. No need for a Dining Plan for us. But if it makes others happy, I wouldn't want to take that away. I'll just keep using my method.

It’s absolutely not designed to save anything out of your pockets…

Here’s what it does:
1. Locks a set spending amount in long in advance that they can bank. Whether you end up using it or not.
2. Allows them to overbook restaurants and create “demand” to push other products and not waste one nickel of their cheap labor
3. Nobody pays a bill at the time…so it allows cover for quality/portion size reductions to slash more overhead

Quiz on this tomorrow

 

[nickys]

"Meals and snacks are nontransferable between party members."

Has this rule always been part of the dining plan? I don't recall seeing that before and when we have ordered food it was never associated with any specific member of our party. All of the credits were lumped into one bucket for the room, IIRC.

Maybe to stop Mom & Dad getting two alcoholic drinks with their meal and just paying OOP for the children’s drinks?

 

[nickys]

That is not correct.

The policy has always been in place, it was just never enforced. I expect that will continue to be the case.

It was specifically changed at some point, 2019 maybe, to allow you to share with guests.

Maybe they realised a lot of people were doing this, especially with the Deluxe Plan, and decided to stop the practice again.

 

[GCTales]

It was specifically changed at some point, 2019 maybe, to allow you to share with guests.

Maybe they realised a lot of people were doing this, especially with the Deluxe Plan, and decided to stop the practice again.

It may have changed in 2019, but when we were there in Dec of 2018, it was not being enforced.

We took my Dad and step-mother (who were staying off property) to Cali Grill and the waiter (on his own initiative) went so far as to put the more expensive meals on our Deluxe DDP and charge us for the less expensive meals, regardless of who ordered them. Same with alcohol.

So the CMs were supporting using dining plan points that way.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

it was not being enforced.

It still won't be.

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

It’s absolutely not designed to save anything out of your pockets…

Here’s what it does:
1. Locks a set spending amount in long in advance that they can bank. Whether you end up using it or not.
2. Allows them to overbook restaurants and create “demand” to push other products and not waste one nickel of their cheap labor
3. Nobody pays a bill at the time…so it allow cover for quality/portion size reductions to slash more overhead

Quiz on this tomorrow

Anyone who has a different experience with the Dining plan is wrong.

No quiz needed.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Anyone who has a different experience with the Dining plan is wrong.

No quiz needed.

You’re still gonna have to take the quiz, Rocket

 

[HauntedPirate]

Of course - that's why people like the pre-paid option because they can make those decisions ahead of time and budget for it. The less decisions you can make on a vacation - the less you have to pull our your credit card - the more enjoyable your vacation will be.

Why is this even a discussion? Of course I would eat less most of the time while at Disney because I hate having to pay for more stuff while there regardless of whether or not I actually want a thing. My kids would get the dessert and I'd be ok sitting there watching them enjoy it.

So you're willing to pay for the dessert even though you don't want it. You're willing to pay more for fewer options, because restaurants have reduced menu options under DDP. You're willing to pay more so you "don't have to think" while on vacation.

Just wanted to make sure that was clear.

 

[Minthorne]

The Dining Plan is a promise that is really a lie.

 

[JD80]

So you're willing to pay for the dessert even though you don't want it. You're willing to pay more for fewer options, because restaurants have reduced menu options under DDP. You're willing to pay more so you "don't have to think" while on vacation.

Just wanted to make sure that was clear.

Many Disney restaurants have moved to buffets, pre-fixe menus, family style where selection is pretty limited already and this is with the DDP gone for years. You'll have to blame something else at corporate because this has been the trend for years now without the DDP around.

When I went the last time with DDP (2019) I came out basically even if not a few dollars ahead when they added beer/wine to the list of options. Even if I didn't get full value and break even with a full accounting of food costs not having to think on vacation and worry about food costs has an intrinsic value to me.

So please don't pretend like you know me. Just so we're clear.