Free dining

[HauntedPirate]

Free dining is absolutely related to it. I've talked with the managers, and they absolutely hate the dining plans. They only get a portion from each person, and for the more expensive dishes, they barely break even. Some have had to go to lesser cuts, and some, like LeCellier, had to go to 2 credits.

It's not even free dining. Ever since the advent of the Disney Dining Plan, food quality (both TS and QS) and portions (TS) have declined while prices have increased at a not-proportional rate.

Remember when the Dining Plan included gratuities, plus an appetizer and dessert? And there were slow times at the parks? Ahh... the good ol' days...

My neighbor used free dining on his existing AKL reservation this morning. He had to pay for park hoppers and rack rate, but that was $820 additional compared with the $2200 he'd have paid for the dining plan, so he came out ahead.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

It's not even free dining. Ever since the advent of the Disney Dining Plan, food quality (both TS and QS) and portions (TS) have declined while prices have increased at a not-proportional rate.

Remember when the Dining Plan included gratuities, plus an appetizer and dessert? And there were slow times at the parks? Ahh... the good ol' days...

Yes, I remember all of that. And you're right - it isn't just free dining, but the dining plans in general that have contributed to it. People want to think they're getting a deal, so the jack the prices up, to make it look like a good deal.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Yes, I remember all of that. And you're right - it isn't just free dining, but the dining plans in general that have contributed to it. People want to think they're getting a deal, so the jack the prices up, to make it look like a good deal.

Yup. And, as you mentioned, DDP has been the bane of restaurant manager's existence since it's introduction. It's cut into their bottom lines, and to compensate they've had to raise prices and cut costs. Gotta love it when the left hand does something that hurts the right hand, but since the left hand doesn't feel any pain it doesn't care.

 

[Master Yoda]

Yes, I remember all of that. And you're right - it isn't just free dining, but the dining plans in general that have contributed to it. People want to think they're getting a deal, so the jack the prices up, to make it look like a good deal.

If we want to be absolutely correct, the popularity of the dining plan is the problem. WDW has had dining plan of one form or another since the 90's, if I am not mistaken, as part of the old Dream Maker Packages. It never caused an issue as most people did not even know about it and it was not even slightly pushed by the marketing.

All hell broke loose when Disney started including it in promotions. Suddenly restaurants had to pay attention to it as a sizable chunk of their clientele were suddenly using it and ordering the most expensive items on the menu to get the most bang for their buck. Fast forward 12 years and we have what we have now where pretty much every restaurant serves some version of the same thing and you can not get a decent cut of meat at anything less than a signature restaurant.

 

[Tom P.]

On the flip side, hopefully this will be enough to keep lower income people out of the nicer dining areas.

Really?

 

[Patrick G.]

I have an existing reservation there for the first week of September as well, but I have a standard view room, and I don't want to pay to upgrade it because I know I will be upgraded for free upon check-in (long story). Do you have a standard view room reserved? Was there anything specific you said that you believe prompted them to give you the discount?

Okay, I was just able to get an upgraded room (Courtyard w/bunk beds) + $20 knocked off my existing reservation price, and there's still the possibility of the dining plan becoming available to me at some point between now and September. Much better than nothing.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

If we want to be absolutely correct, the popularity of the dining plan is the problem. WDW has had dining plan of one form or another since the 90's if I am not mistaken as part of the old Dream Maker Packages. It never caused an issue as most people did not even know about it and it was not even slightly pushed by the marketing.

All hell broke loose when Disney started including it in promotions. Suddenly restaurants had pay attention to it as a sizable chunk of their clientele were suddenly using it and ordering the most expensive items on the menu to get the most bang for their buck. Fast forward 12 years and we have what we have now where pretty much every restaurant serves some version of the same thing and you can not get a decent cut of meat at anything less than a signature restaurant.

Excellent points and all very true!

 

[ev01]

I have an existing reservation there for the first week of September as well, but I have a standard view room, and I don't want to pay to upgrade it because I know I will be upgraded for free upon check-in (long story). Do you have a standard view room reserved? Was there anything specific you said that you believe prompted them to give you the discount?

I have the standard room too.. wonder if they just sold out right after I called or something..

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Yes, I remember all of that. And you're right - it isn't just free dining, but the dining plans in general that have contributed to it. People want to think they're getting a deal, so the jack the prices up, to make it look like a good deal.

That theory only works if people weren't also willing to pay cash prices at these restaurants. The vast majority of guests are still cash guests and if Disney were simply "jacking prices up to make the DDP look like a good deal," they'd have a ton of empty restaurants. I'm not a fan of the dining plan as a consumer but I don't buy the argument that it's responsible for increased prices or decline in quality for cash guests. If cash guests got price-sensitive all of a sudden, you'd see those trends reverse with or without the dining plan.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

That theory only works if people weren't also willing to pay cash prices at these restaurants. The vast majority of guests are still cash guests and if Disney were simply "jacking prices up to make the DDP look like a good deal," they'd have a ton of empty restaurants. I'm not a fan of the dining plan as a consumer but I don't buy the argument that it's responsible for increased prices or decline in quality for cash guests. If cash guests got price-sensitive all of a sudden, you'd see those trends reverse with or without the dining plan.

Nobody said that we aren't willing to pay it, but in some cases, we have changed the way we visit some of the restaurants. At some, we only order apps and drinks without an entree. At others, we just bite the bullet and pay it. We have the TiW, so that shaves off 20% for us.

 

[DisneyJoe]

If we want to be absolutely correct, the popularity of the dining plan is the problem. WDW has had dining plan of one form or another since the 90's if I am not mistaken as part of the old Dream Maker Packages. It never caused an issue as most people did not even know about it and it was not even slightly pushed by the marketing.

The Dream Maker Packages had Silver and Gold add-ons, very similar to the Premium and Platinum MYW add-ons that were just discontinued, and just as (very) expensive, and I believe that is why they weren't used. There was much recreation included too.

They had another dining plan in the late 90's that they did promote, the Food and Fun Package, because I used it in 1997 and again in 1999, that had a monetary value to it. I believe I remember paying $50 per adult per night and receiving $55 per adult per night, for kids we paid $20 and we got $25. We could exchange dollar for dollar at the restaurants or at recreation locations. In looking back, I believe this was a better deal for the management of restaurants as they didn't need to accept Table Service credits or Counter Service credits, it was a dollar for dollar exchange.

 

[Master Yoda]

The Dream Maker Packages had Silver and Gold add-ons, very similar to the Premium and Platinum MYW add-ons that were just discontinued, and just as (very) expensive, and I believe that is why they weren't used.

They had another dining plan in the late 90's that they did promote, the Food and Fun Package, because I used it in 1997 and again in 1999, that had a monetary value to it. I remember paying $50 per adult per night and receiving $55 per adult per night, for kids we paid $20 and we got $25. We could exchange dollar for dollar at the restaurants or at recreation locations. In looking back, I believe this was a better deal for the management of restaurants as they didn't need to accept Table Service credits or Counter Service credits, it was a dollar for dollar exchange.

I used the same package complete with a "Length of Stay" pass for my first real 7 day trip to WDW back in 1998.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I used the same package complete with a "Length of Stay" pass for my first real 7 day trip to WDW back in 1998.

I remember those! That was the only type of pass that you could buy.

 

[Master Yoda]

I remember those! That was the only type of pass that you could buy.

It was an awesome thing. It got you into absolutely everything, even the resort guest only preview of AK was included.

 

[Capsin4]

Can you explain a little more? First time going to Disney in 9 years, and I've never used a dining plan. Is this open to any value (minus the AoA Ariel rooms)? We're looking at staying at Pop Century.

Sorry for the deay. Had to run to work.

Can you explain a little more? First time going to Disney in 9 years, and I've never used a dining plan. Is this open to any value (minus the AoA Ariel rooms)? We're looking at staying at Pop Century.

Sorry for the delay. Had to run to work. It was available for Pop this morning. You get an alottment of credits based on your stay per person, but the credits are lumped together under the room. So, if you have four people qualifying for 5 days of quick service, you're room will have 40 quick service meal credits (2 meals x 4 people x 5 days) and 40 snack credits. You can use the credits whenever you want over the course of your stay until they're gone. Unused credits expire at midnight on the day you check out. So you could use more or fewer than your daily allottment on any given day. If you'll be offsite for a day, you could use those credits for extra meals before or after your offisite. The downside is they aren't linked to individuals so people could use more than their share if they're in the same room. Hope that helps!

 

[matt9112]

Be nice if they just dropped the charade.

I for one am happy they are reducing this offer, I'll be even happier if it disappears completely. Disney Dining has suffered as a direct result of the dining plan, and free dining.

True....But they won't go backwards....if it ended tommorow your high end dishes wouldn't return. It's still saving cash so if DDP ended you would just be stuck with what there is now IMHO. We used it twice and God ate like kings....paid tips higher than I pay for dinner period at a regular place bahahaha

 

[Master Yoda]

True....But they won't go backwards....if it ended tommorow your high end dishes wouldn't return. It's still saving cash so if DDP ended you would just be stuck with what there is now IMHO. We used it twice and God ate like kings....paid tips higher than I pay for dinner period at a regular place bahahaha

It would not change overnight, but it would change as restaurants could add or modify items that would sell without the constraint of having to be under a certain cost.

 

[HauntedPirate]

That theory only works if people weren't also willing to pay cash prices at these restaurants. The vast majority of guests are still cash guests and if Disney were simply "jacking prices up to make the DDP look like a good deal," they'd have a ton of empty restaurants. I'm not a fan of the dining plan as a consumer but I don't buy the argument that it's responsible for increased prices or decline in quality for cash guests. If cash guests got price-sensitive all of a sudden, you'd see those trends reverse with or without the dining plan.

Thanks to DME, the vast majority of guests don't have an alternative except to dine on-property, so either they are paying at a TS restaurant or they are paying at a QS location.

So, introduction of the Dining Plan and the reduction in food options, the blandification of menus, and a rapid rate of increase in food prices is purely coincidence? Well, that's one way to look at things I guess, but it isn't based on reality.

 

[HauntedPirate]

It would not change overnight, but it would change as restaurants could add or modify items that would sell without the constraint of having to be under a certain cost.

Can you imagine the outcry if there were suddenly only 3-4 entree's per TS (and possibly QS, but not as likely) restaurant that were DDP-eligible? And they weren't the highest priced items on a given menu??

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Can you imagine the outcry if there were suddenly only 3-4 entree's per TS (and possibly QS, but not as likely) restaurant that were DDP-eligible? And they weren't the highest priced items on a given menu??

Except that's how it should have been all along. Not everything is a snack credit, why should all of the entrees be included? Have a small upcharge for the highest priced menu items, and the restaurant can keep the quality level.