People Angry Over Disney Dinning Plan

[DisneyMusician2]

I don't mean to sound angry in that last post, it just seems to come across that way, and I can't seem to get my computer to edit it.

I just don't enjoy that sort of experience at the chain restaurants.

 

[Kashyyyk]

I agree....it should be our choice between an appetizer or dessert.

There are many reasons why some can't choose dessert and thus would not get the full value of their plan.

I actually mentioned this to Disney last September when we booked for 2008. Hopefully our united voices will be heard. It worked for the change in the plan with regard to not getting the value of dessert with CS breakfast (they now allow you to get an additional drink) and the limitations of the snack options (was changed to include most things under $4....has this changed back?).

While I feel bad if the wait staff are getting wary of hearing about it, they are on the front line and the only ones we can really voice our opinions to. They will take our concerns to their managers and if enough people bring it up....well...I can dream.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I am just hoping this is the beginning of the end. Let's just go back to paying for what food you want, when you want, and where you want it. The end of the DDP might also mean its possible to visit restaurants without making a reservation 180 days in advance. We might also get back to the point where people actually respect the finer restaurants again, instead of using them as a coutner service.

While I think this would be nice... I think those days are gone for good.

There's been two years of a wildly popular dining plan, and two years of people learning they've got to plan dinner reservations way ahead to get seating at TS spots. Pavlov's theory, basically. People have been trained. And as long as a moderate percentage of people continue to do it, others will follow along and plan way ahead too, for fear of getting on vacation and not being able to get in anywhere. They'll still plan ahead like crazy, even if they don't have the dining plan, because they think they HAVE to.

And who knows... Maybe getting people "trained" like this was part of Disney's motivation for making the DDP look so attractive with regard to price for a couple years. They know weeks, if not months, ahead how booked their restaurants are going to be at any given minute of pretty much any given day. It makes forcasting and preparation much easier for them.

I'm not a fan of the commando-style rezzies either. But count me as one that thinks I'll have to make them from now on, just to make sure I don't get shut out of where I want to eat on my trips.

 

[Dwarful]

We went in August of last summer with 36 people. Pam worked very hard to get us every restaurant we wanted from Le Cellier to CInderella's Castle. Most of our meals were great, service wonderful except one meal and we had a 3 hour wait! However, our group size would have had tip included regardless due to the size. Everyone in our group noticed the great big 'sandwich board' at the entrance to MK and other parks that stated something along these lines (should have photographed but I didn't):
"Due to the popularity of the Disney Dining Plan, the only table service availability today is lunch or dinner at ____________)*at MK it was that small restaurant around the corner from the ice cream shop, the name escapes me.

Now we are getting very near to our 180 day mark for this summer's vacation. I don't know yet which parks have EMH's on which days (it's not up on the disney website). I don't care to hop all over the place for meals. I do miss the days of being able to walk up and have a meal.

 

[DougK]

i guess i just dont understand the problem with actually planning your dining reservations like you do everything else in your vacation. some people actually reserve they're rooms 499 days in advance. you wouldnt expect to just walk up to an airline and tell them you want to fly to orlando, so why would any expect to eat at nice restaurant at magic kingdom without planning?

I don't mind doing a little planning but if I have to book Le Cellier for instance 6 months out, then I am committed to EPCOT that evening. Maybe due to other things, special events, weather, etc. I might want to do MK instead. If I plan all 7 of my TS meals each night that far in advance I lose alot of flexibility.

Also someone said you have to wait at least an hour at a chain restaurant without a reservation, that may be true, but at Disney it is not an hour, there is no guarantee you will get to eat at a particular restaurant AT ALL without a reservation one so it is not feasable to choose to wait even if you want to.

Anyway reserving a room in advance is not the same concept to me as deciding where to eat.

Sorry but I don't like what the DDP has done to the dining experience at Disney. It's even worse at the Food Courts and places like that when you have to wait extra time in line while the cashier explains to the people in front of me what a snack is.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Years ago, at Disney World, if you were hungry when you walked by any restaurant, sit down or otherwise, you could just walk up and get seated. Now you have to call and make reservations 180 days in advance.

....before the DDP, Disney's sit down restaurants used to be like that.

The DDP was launched January 2, 2005. Years ago (before 2005), Disney wasn't setting attendance records. Tourism was down, Magic Your Way started the comeback, at least for WDW.

Let's use the Magic Kingdom yearly attendance figures - for example:

2007 - probably close to, or over 17 million
2006 - 16.64 million visitors
2005 - 16.1 million visitors
2004 - 15.2 million visitors
2003 - 14 million
2002 - 14 million
2001 - 14.7 million
2000 - 15.4 million
1999 - 15.2 million

With this increase in attendance, and with the advent of DME and its effect of keeping more people on property, more and more people need to eat - on the DDP or not.

I personally do not believe, that even if the DDP was completely eliminated, that this problem would be resolved - there are just too many people.

 

[TinkerBell9988]

I have never used the DDP because I am an annual passholder. The DDE works nicely for us but I am miffed that they ADDED the automatic 18% gratuity this year to the DDE after getting RID of it on the DDP. That made absolutely no sense to me except of course that WE pay the DDE tip and DISNEY "paid" (indirectly) the DDP tip.

So to be honest I am hoping this will be the death of the DDP. I miss the days of being able to make reservations a day or two in advance like we can do in the rest of the world. WDW is supposed to be a BETTER experience than everyday life, that's why it costs so much!

Here, here! I miss those days, as well... I just hope they iron out these kinks, because I know that many people will send complaints about the new DDE rule. I know my mom wasn't too happy... :lol:

To add to what DougK said, before being an annual passholder, I am a local. As a local, my family and I have the option of driving to WDW whenever we have some free time or days off from school. A few years back, I remember making dining reservations for popular EPCOT restaurants such as the Garden Grill, Le Cellier, San Angel, and Coral Reef for the same day I made my phone call to DD. Granted, not many reservations were available, but we were usually able to get a reservation at a restaurant 95% of the time. Also like DougK, we NEVER plan anything far in advance... :lol:. I guess we don't take planning too seriously, since we are fortunate to visit WDW at least 10-12 times a year, and my family does live by the seat of their pants, so to speak...

In the past year or so, we've had no luck with reservations, even if I call two months before the specified date. In my opinion, this is a little uncalled for. We've eaten in more quick service restaurants for dinner than table service restaurants in the past two years. Not that I'm complaining (I love me a Soup and Sandwich combo at the Columbia Harbour House for dinner), but for some special events like birthdays and anniversaries that my family celebrates at WDW, it would be nice to actually sit down to a fancy meal every once in a while.

 

[bayoutinkbelle]

When my son and I now go during the summer, it's for two weeks. The first time, I paid for meals as we went along. For me, that was a hassle. I just didn't want to deal with the food budget every day of my vacation. I used the DDP last summer and came out ahead by a few hundred dollars (I mean, my son is an eating machine and we ate TS almost every day.). A good deal for me and didn't have to think about paying for (most) of my food.

I've got a three-day trip coming up next month and I signed up for DDP. I figured I'd use a short trip to test drive the new plan. I certainly wasn't happy about the appetizer and gratuity changes, but I'll give it a shot.

 

[Craig & Lisa]

The one thing I think that some have overlooked is that some resturants were not having alot of people going to because out of pocket for some was too much. For instance, The steakhouse in Canada, would be out of our reach if not for the DDP. Now we can go, and not have to save alot to eat in some places we would have never even tried. I for one don't mind not getting the appertiser, I can still eat in places that I could not afford before. And maybe the service, which by the way has never been bad for us at least, can get better now that they have to work for the money.

 

[RiversideBunny]

The original intent of the DDP, from a business standpoint, was to keep the table service restaurants more consistently full.
It costs a restaurant a lot of money when there are slack periods, when the wait staff is being paid but is not busy and unsold food is being discarded.

To get guests to buy into the DDP, it had to be attractive, either from a money-saving view or from having things preplanned, or both.
It looks like the savings angle is slipping a little now, except if the DDP is offered as a free incentive at certain times or to certain groups.

How a person wants to eat while at WDW can influence whether they use the DDP or not, also.

In our case we tried the DDP (in 2007) just to see how it would work out.
For us, it turned out to be too many table service meals. We don't normally eat so heavily.
We will go back to using mainly counter service, which, in addition to being a more desirable amount of food per day, also increases the flexibility and spontaneity of the WDW visit since no reservations are needed.

We will still do one character meal during the visit, though.
Tks.

 

[RHeath2]

Vacations are known well in advance, therefor you can book a vacation destination months before you arrive.

How far is "well in advance"? Like several of the other AP members have posted, we might book everything a month to two weeks ahead of arriving. Where does that leave us?:shrug:

 

[Master Yoda]

How far is "well in advance"? Like several of the other AP members have posted, we might book everything a month to two weeks ahead of arriving. Where does that leave us?:shrug:

Either Pecos Bills, Flame Tree, Back lot or Sunshine Seasons....at least that is where we seem to end up.:lol:

 

[shoppingnut]

Vacations are known well in advance, therefor you can book a vacation destination months before you arrive.

I don't, however, know when I'll be hungry or what I'll be craving months in advance. Years ago, at Disney World, if you were hungry when you walked by any restaurant, sit down or otherwise, you could just walk up and get seated. Now you have to call and make reservations 180 days in advance. In my eyes, this is rediculous. I don't even know which PARK I will be in 180 days in advance, let alone what I will be hungry for. I don't go to restaurants here at home where I have to make reservations days in advance, so I really don't enjoy making reservations 180 days in advance.

Around here we have Applebees, TGIFs, Chili's, Bennigans, etc to have a nice sit down steak dinner. I have never waited more than 20 minutes to be seated at any given time of the day or night. before the DDP, Disney's sit down restaurants used to be like that.

My wife and I prefer to eat when we're hungry, not when we have assigned places and food. At home, when we are out driving and we pass a nice place we say..."Hey, I'm hungry, this looks like a nice place, let's eat here!" We used to do that at Disney World, but not anymore...and I miss that.

There was a time that the food in most of the disney restaurants was horrible, they made golden corral and olive garden look like a 5 star establishments. So, as they improved the food in the restaurants, they were probably finding people still were not coming and needed to do something about it to change their minds and eat in the parks/resorts. One of the first things I recall was the book a 3 day vacation and get a sit down meal for free in the mid 90's during december.

Where I live any of the chain restaurants you will wait at least an hour during prime time. Even at the Outback/TGIF/Carrabba's you will wait for 15 mins and that is during the week at 9p, so you are lucky to have such a short wait.

 

[TinkerBell9988]

Either Pecos Bills, Flame Tree, Back lot or Sunshine Seasons....at least that is where we seem to end up.:lol:

Oh, how I am sick of the Seasons! :lol:

Man, that seems to be our back-up place to eat for EPCOT, and I think we've eaten there for dinner 10/12 times last year. Oh well. :shrug: But their Cuban vegetable sandwich is the best.

 

[tomm4004]

DDP saves money?

To get it, you have to buy a package, right? I looked at them quickly. From $475 for 3 nights/4 days at a value. That's $950 for two people. 4-day basic is $225 - $450 total. Value is no more than $100 per night. So that's $750 - and you're paying $950 for the package. Where'd the $200 go? Disney profit. Then they sell you the meal plan on top. But I don't see how you come out ahead. Book separately, take the $200 and use that for food.

As for planning, I may book my flight to Europe far in advance. I may even book my hotel in Paris or Rome, but I'm not going to book restaurants every night. I'm going to wander the streets and find a nice cafe or trattoria depending on how I'm (we're) feeling, or exactly where we are.

Maybe EPCOT and MK need more restaurants. In December at MK the Plaza had a one-hour wait while the Tomorrowland Terrace next door was closed - because the park wasn't busy enough! I also found this to be a problem at Disney-owned Disneyland Paris, but not at non-Disney owned Tokyo Disneyland. Eating there is a total joy. The selection of restaurants is awesome and they were all always open, even if not busy.

 

[Master Yoda]

Oh, how I am sick of the Seasons! :lol:

Man, that seems to be our back-up place to eat for EPCOT, and I think we've eaten there for dinner 10/12 times last year. Oh well. :shrug: But their Cuban vegetable sandwich is the best.

We have actually had pretty good luck with walk ups at garden grill. We have only been turned away once but we do travel in the off seasons which does not hurt our chances.

 

[IWorkWTeeth]

With the cost of the DDP dropping only $1.00 and the loss of the appetizer and tip is rediculus. The is a huge increase to the guest.

I really feel sorry for the wait staff. It must be tough right now during the changeover. As said by the OP they are most likely being shorted tips from people not knowing or trying to pretend they don't know.



Does anyone know if any signs have been put up in the restaurants explaining the new tipping changes??



Another note is that in 08' the DDE members using the card are now automatically paying 18% tip. The tip is shown on your receipts. We started seeing this in November. We were not aware of this and I wrote in a tip on the receipt and then noticed it was already added. It was no in all locations that we dined, but it did catch me off guard a couple of times.

I'm glad that someone mentioned this........one reason why I didn't buy it this year. Not worth it anymore!!! As far as I am concerned, a tip is for good-excellent service. I hate the fact that to ge the 20% discount, I am forced to pay an 18% tip even if the service stunk!​

 

[ypcat]

To get it, you have to buy a package, right? I looked at them quickly. From $475 for 3 nights/4 days at a value. That's $950 for two people. 4-day basic is $225 - $450 total. Value is no more than $100 per night. So that's $750 - and you're paying $950 for the package. Where'd the $200 go? Disney profit. Then they sell you the meal plan on top. But I don't see how you come out ahead. Book separately, take the $200 and use that for food.

I think your numbers are low, but lets go with your assumption. That is $200 for 2 people for 3 days (To give fair comparison to DDP which is based on nights stayed). So each person has $33/day. You can eat well with that, and probably get a fair amount of TS in too. But for $5 more per day, you can get a lot more value. Instead of eating at Plaza, you could go to Chef Mickey. That's were the savings comes in.

That said, we most likely will not be getting DDP again unless it is offered for free. The biggest draw for me was having it prepaid. If I have to carry money for tip, I might as well carry it for the meal itself...and I probably won't order the more expensive entrees either.

 

[wannabeBelle]

A question on the package price assumptions made above..Did anyone factor in the ticket price for the person as well? I have run packages both ways and it has never been that far off, usually a few dollars at most. Belle

 

[Disney MDACK]

I too miss the impulse of going to a restaurant without a reservation. It seems as though my vacation revolves around what place we are going to eat next becuase their is that window when you have to be there. Which has it good points and bad. When I am on any other vacation dinners are certainly not planned like WDW. It all comes down to if you want to eat at a certain place then you have to fall in line and reserve it if not then your out of luck.