I hate the Free Dining Plan

[Patsfan28]

I have been going to Disney for 25+ years. Never in Mid September has it been so difficult to find a decent place to eat. There is ZERO availability at any halfway decent restaurants. This frustrates me so much as I know half the people who made the reservations back when free dining was originally offered wont even go to their restaurant. For those of you who do keep your reservations let me be the first to thank you for being considerate! I think Disney should punish those who do not keep to their reservations by deducting dining credits from their card( with a few emergency exceptions). If that wont work make it like it used to be without advanced dining reservations. I remember my dad making a sprint to Cinderellas Castle to make a lunch reservation for King Stefans Palace! Enough of my rant i still cant wait to have a great time again at the World... just may be a bit less fulfilling :fork:

 

[Patsfan28]

I take it back I saw all your locations u all are lucky living in the place i wanna live. But still hold to my statement that Disney should hold some kind of reservations for walk ins and locals

And i like that idea For us close ones it really sucks.... like the previous poster said we really have no chance if its a spur of the moment thing.

 

[RebeccaMA]

I only wish my DH could get his vacation time planned 180 days in advance. LOL!

That being said, I did not know about Free Dining, and we aren't staying onsite so couldn't use it anyway. Still, I was able to get our APRs done about 4-8 weeks ago (took a few phone calls etc). I didn't get everything I wanted, but at least I know we won't have to eat fast food all week long.

 

[Patsfan28]

I only wish my DH could get his vacation time planned 180 days in advance. LOL!

That being said, I did not know about Free Dining, and we aren't staying onsite so couldn't use it anyway. Still, I was able to get our APRs done about 4-8 weeks ago (took a few phone calls etc). I didn't get everything I wanted, but at least I know we won't have to eat fast food all week long.

Ditto on that! Im a corporate trainer who travels at anytime and my wife is a RN in the operating room. She has to plan hers... but me unfortunately cant b/c i dont know which city i will be in from week to week.

 

[RebeccaMA]

They were trying to push Diamond Horseshoe on me can you give me your opinion of the place?

There is a whole section of reviews and restaurant menus etc. Just poke around.

 

[nibblesandbits]

They were trying to push Diamond Horseshoe on me can you give me your opinion of the place?

Well, the Diamond Horseshoe is usually not open. They opened it up for free dining this year. From what I've read, it's going to be a family style buffet where they serve some of the same stuff they serve at Liberty Tree Tavern, including carved meats, mashed potatoes, etc. I honestly thought about making a ressie here, but opted for 50s instead. It will close again when free dining is over.

 

[MacRtst]

Its only going to get worse when people start having the ability to book online.

Actually (i believe from what I've been hearing) the on-line system is supposed to alleviate double booking, because you will have to use your reservation number to book. You will only be able to book one slot for that reservation/time/restaurant.

 

[Patsfan28]

Actually (i believe from what I've been hearing) the on-line system is supposed to alleviate double booking, because you will have to use your reservation number to book. You will only be able to book one slot for that reservation/time/restaurant.

I love this idea... I hope they do it:sohappy:

 

[November Girl]

Why not just require people to show up within 5 minutes plus or minus reservation time or lose it? (Obviously this would have to be made crystal-clear to those with reservations!) Wouldn't this automatically make more room for walk ups?

Also, Disney offers the dining plan as an incentive to fill rooms, fill the parks, and reap the rewards of ancillary income from stores and other add-ons. Having booked-up reservations is a plus for them, not a negative. Wait and kitchen staff are kept busy and they get their tips, food turns over quickly alllowing Disney to buy more volume at lower prices. The dining plan is just good marketing/business practice, even though it can be annoying for those who don't like planning ahead.

 

[nibblesandbits]

Why not just require people to show up within 5 minutes plus or minus reservation time or lose it? (Obviously this would have to be made crystal-clear to those with reservations!) Wouldn't this automatically make more room for walk ups?

Also, Disney offers the dining plan as an incentive to fill rooms, fill the parks, and reap the rewards of ancillary income from stores and other add-ons. Having booked-up reservations is a plus for them, not a negative. Wait and kitchen staff are kept busy and they get their tips, food turns over quickly alllowing Disney to buy more volume at lower prices. The dining plan is just good marketing/business practice, even though it can be annoying for those who don't like planning ahead.

I know I've been posting a lot in this thread, but I know this answer...:lol:


Disney (especially in times like these) overbooks their restaurants. They know people are just gonna no-show, so they book extra tables and they then get filled by the people on the list (much like how airlines overbook their planes).

I know this because I had a ressie last year during free dining for Tony's and went in to cancel as we had dinner elsewhere that night. A couple was next to us and they were trying to see if they could get a walk up. We were just going to give our ressie to them, but Disney said no...they couldn't. They're were already other people waiting for our table. And that even though we were canceling, there were no walk up tables at all.

So, Disney expects no shows...they just have a back up list and don't do anything about it for walk ups.

 

[jennc2001]

I also hate knowing some people make multiple ADRs for the same date/time frame when they intend on only going to one.

they keep a record of your reservation so you can't make a reservation for different places at the same time!

 

[RiversideBunny]

This problem should get a little better starting next year, 2009. There will be less people with free Table Service dining.

If they offer free dining in 2009, it looks like it will be tiered toward the resort level. There are some related threads on that.

Looks like 2009 Free Dining would be:

Value resort- None
Moderate resort - The new Counter Service dining plan.
Deluxe resort- The regular Table Service dining plan.

WDW seems to have figured out that they were giving away the store in many cases, particularly with the Value resorts and free dining.
Regular Table Service Free Dining for 4 people in a Value room could be worth more than the price of the room.

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

Although I understand that Disney does free dining to boost reservations, unfortunately it causes problems for those of us who take several last minute trips a year. We have AP's, live in FL, purchased DDE and usually go to WDW at least every 6-8 weeks and rarely can get decent ADR for any restaurants. I wish there was a better way, but I honestly don't see how - or if Disney even cares about guests like us.

 

[November Girl]

On ADR's, what is the time spread before you can make another reservation? Not that I would actually do this , but for instance, could I make a 5pm for say Sci-Fi Dine-In, and a 6pm for Artist Point?

 

[jjgoo]

We had trouble last year with the free dining and getting the places that we really wanted. I would like to make a suggestion that many of you probably already realize.

Try again for the reservation at your favorite restaurant two to three days before and try earlier in the morning around 8:30/9:00 am. We did this during the free dining promotion and got Le Cellier for lunch and Chefs De France for dinner a couple of days ahead of time.

Whatever happened, on the fly trys worked out very well for us.

All that said, I agree with most of the posters that all this intense dining reservations and having to have your fingers on the dialing pad first thing at 180 days has really gotten out of hand. I know Disney wants to have their restaurants packed every night, but I really enjoy being a little spontaneous sometimes.

 

[RebeccaMA]

I don't know about all this as far as giving things away etc. I have a coworker who stays at the Value resorts. She didn't do free dining this year because she said it would have cost her more $ than not doing it. She was able to get a great rate for the All Star hotel of her choice (not sure through who/how), and it would have cost her $700 more to tack on the Dining Plan for her and her dd because she would have had to pay a higher rate for her room. Not free at all.

This problem should get a little better starting next year, 2009. There will be less people with free Table Service dining.

If they offer free dining in 2009, it looks like it will be tiered toward the resort level. There are some related threads on that.

Looks like 2009 Free Dining would be:

Value resort- None
Moderate resort - The new Counter Service dining plan.
Deluxe resort- The regular Table Service dining plan.

WDW seems to have figured out that they were giving away the store in many cases, particularly with the Value resorts and free dining.
Regular Table Service Free Dining for 4 people in a Value room could be worth more than the price of the room.

 

[Boray]

they keep a record of your reservation so you can't make a reservation for different places at the same time!

Not true. Back when I originally made reservations for our upcoming trip, I made a few phone calls to book our ADRs. A few days later, I thought about our ADRs and realized that what I originally booked may or may not work, so I called (because I wanted to make sure there were openings for the time and places we were considering) and made double reservations for 2 restaurants. This was not a problem, 2 restaurants in the same park (50s Prime Time and Mama Melrose's) at the same time on the same day. I discussed with my husband that evening what restaurant we wanted, then called and cancelled the extra reservation that evening. I was able to have duplicate reservations for a few hours at least. The reservation agent didn't even mind that I was making duplicate reservations, she actually understood why I was doing it and didn't seem to care.

By the way, this is NOT during free dining. We are paying out of our own pocket and not using the DDP.

I agree though, that they should not allow duplicate reservations. I've been unable to get reservations too and I get angered by this too. There needs to be a better process for reservations.

 

[Computer Magic]

Its only going to get worse when people start having the ability to book online.

You don't know that. Maybe it will keep people from booking multiple places for the same timeframe.

 

[Patsfan28]

Although I understand that Disney does free dining to boost reservations, unfortunately it causes problems for those of us who take several last minute trips a year. We have AP's, live in FL, purchased DDE and usually go to WDW at least every 6-8 weeks and rarely can get decent ADR for any restaurants. I wish there was a better way, but I honestly don't see how - or if Disney even cares about guests like us.

I couldnt agree with this more...on Jan 1, I added up how much we spent at WDW and it came between 20-25k last yr . I personally feel Disney has stopped worrying about their "home" base which is a mistake b/c we are the ones who come 10+ times a year. Common no more Room discounts on the weekends :fork:

 

[Conrad3000]

Speaking as someone who does not have a lot of money and has to scrape pennies together to make a trip out there, I can say that I and many others would not be able to make a trip to WDW were it not for the free dining offer. I realised during my last trip, that the entire package cost about $60 a day, which was about how much of a tab we racked up in free dining each day, even for the food and wine festival? This meant that i was getting my trip for about half the cost I would have had without the plan. Also, both times I have gone to WDW i have gotten the free plan and had no probloms switching resturaunts when needed. I even showed up at the wrong time for one meal, several hours late, and they still go us in. As you said, a lot of people don't show up so you can use this as an advantage. If that's not an issue then you should be booking resturaunts months in advance anyways.

realise that the plan is not as much value as it was before and if you are not staying on property, it doesn't help you much, but it is the diference between going to WDW or not for many of us.

 

[jennc2001]

Not true. Back when I originally made reservations for our upcoming trip, I made a few phone calls to book our ADRs. A few days later, I thought about our ADRs and realized that what I originally booked may or may not work, so I called (because I wanted to make sure there were openings for the time and places we were considering) and made double reservations for 2 restaurants. This was not a problem, 2 restaurants in the same park (50s Prime Time and Mama Melrose's) at the same time on the same day. I discussed with my husband that evening what restaurant we wanted, then called and cancelled the extra reservation that evening. I was able to have duplicate reservations for a few hours at least. The reservation agent didn't even mind that I was making duplicate reservations, she actually understood why I was doing it and didn't seem to care.

By the way, this is NOT during free dining. We are paying out of our own pocket and not using the DDP.

I agree though, that they should not allow duplicate reservations. I've been unable to get reservations too and I get angered by this too. There needs to be a better process for reservations.

well, maybe you could do that because you weren't on the dining plan. my sister in law and her husband took my other sister in laws kids just 2 weeks ago, and they bought the dining plan and tried to make 2 reservations at one time and they wouldn't let her. the trip was a surprise for the kids, so they were trying to make 2 reservations and let them pick which one they wanted to go to when they told them about it....but they wouldn't let them do it