Rather disappointed in the disney dining plan :(

[larathydo]

Hey all,

Just wondered if anyone else feels a bit "nickel and dimed" lately with the DDP?

My girlfriend and I have been coming yearly to the world and each time look forward to the dining plan. We arrived lat Sunday night and decided to get a meal before going to bed, so we went to get a quick service meal. The entree was good as always (love their pizzas lol) but when I went to go get my desert, three items were axed from the DDP. The chocolate brownie sundae, the hand scooped waffle cone and something else I can't recall was axed. This disappointed me

Anyway, the next day I went to breakfast and I found out that you are now only aloud to have one drink instead of two like it used to be. This is what really annoys me the most, because we often eat at the resorts before going to the parks each day. That means Disney is getting away with taking away an item from breakfast. When you consider breakfast to likely be the cheapest meal of the day to produce and lunch/supper more expensive, the fact you get a desert / drink and meal with supper and less with breakfast is definitely a cost-saving move at our expense. Further more, when I found out about this a cast member working the kitchen told me that the extra drink was axed and a snack was ADDED. This was awesome, so we both went and grabbed a cinnamon bun and went to pay. The cashier told us that wasn't true and pulled out a garbage bag and told us to throw them out if we wouldn't pay for them. Seriously?!? Why don't the employees themselves know what is included and what not? Anyway...

Also, Perhaps I'm more bitter because I can only drink a few types of drinks I can only really drink water / apple juice / milk. Water is too plain, drinking apple juice all day also gets a little annoying so i opt for milk (my favorite drink) during breakfast. Disney only sells the tiny kids-milk for meals, so it was at least tolerable the last few years (cuz you could have two drinks). Now you can only have one. Bah!

(by the way, why is it they don't have larger milks? I wouldn't complain if I could at least give white milk out the size of chocolate milks, but they don't. It's odd considering the wide selection of drinks they offer... Only white milk). Guess I'm the minority, lol.

(hops off my soapbox)

Ok, done ranting lol. Just curious if anyone else has had similar experiences lately. The table service meals are as excellent as always, though.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

The ddp used to be a good value. We went without it in December and felt a little weird at first because we'd always used it in the past. However, the TiW is much better. We will not be using ddp anymore because it is restricting and more costly than it is a savings.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

The dining plan has become too restrictive for us. We used it in Oct because it was free. I wont be using it this trip. I prefer to eat what I want and would rather an appetiser than a pudding. Taking things just to get moneys worth is a bit pointless.

If they included margaritas I would however be prepared to change my mind

 

[Brandon.]

The breakfast really upset me too! The first day I acted like it was last year, went on my way with 2 drinks(charged with a snack too.) Breakfast is by far the cheapest meal I don't see why they dropped the other drink. I just decided to use a snack everyday instead, then just eat lunch and dinner. It's seriously becoming not cost-effective anymore.

I don't think I'll get it anymore, it's just not as beneficial as it should be with the restrictions it holds.

 

[ctosh]

My DH and I agree... It's not worth the money.. We will not be using it again

 

[plaz10]

we used the dining plan last may because we got a pin code for it and upgraded and i felt it was totally worth it and loved eating expensive sit downs w/o the expensive bill. But I would never buy the dining plan right out. There are many times that my boyfriend and I will split a counter service (turkey leg!) and he doesn't really eat big on breakfast so we ended up with 3 unused counter service meals that we just used on snacks later. Plus with all the desserts on the table services I never got to eat a mickey ice cream sandwich because I was always so full!

A part of me (not the bank account part) looks forward to not having free dining this trip. We can split meals and eat lots of snacks and desserts at other places instead of at one place. I also always wanted to order a more expensive entree since it was paid for..but not anymore!

if it's free - i'll certainly take it. But if not, I would never buy the full plan right out of pocket, would be a waste

 

[blackthidot]

Buying it, no. Free, how can you argue?

If they still did apps with it then buying it would PROBABLY be worth it. They need to lower the price of it by $5-$7 a day. It's too much money to buy.

I wonder how many people do actually pay for it out of pocket...:shrug:

 

[MaxsDad]

I so want to get the Quick Service plan on my next trip, but it just doesn't add up. 35 a night per person? Really? Plus a 12% tax on top of that (compare to 6% at the counter).

Say 6 bucks for the two snacks. That leaves about 29 dollars. So 14.50 for one quick service meal. You would have to go to the very few places that carry higher end QS prices to make that advantageous.

I don't see the value.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Buying it, no. Free, how can you argue?

If they still did apps with it then buying it would PROBABLY be worth it. They need to lower the price of it by $5-$7 a day. It's too much money to buy.

I wonder how many people do actually pay for it out of pocket...:shrug:

Quite a few people. For someone who isn't quite as familiar with the plan as most of us are here, it sounds like a good deal. That in addition to the added convenience of not having to pay for the meals once you are there, and Disney has a nice marketing gimmick for those casual visitors.

 

[DisDadWoz]

DDP worked for our dining habits in the past along with the kids. Saved us lots of money actually. As we continue to go to WDW those habits are changing and we are going with the TiW in March. We actually sat down one night (well the actuarial science major wife sat down one night) and we calculated out exactly where we normally eat, what we eat and the prices and figured DDP just was not quite the savings we wanted.

However, my idea is to come up with the DDP (Disney Drinking Plan) that's my kind of plan!

 

[btk2333]

My wife and I always pay for it out of pocket. It works about as perfectly for us as it possible could (maybe because we've been using it whenever we go for awhile now so we've gotten used to it). We never eat breakfast, usually use a snack on something small if we're hungry, use the counter service for lunch, and the table service for dinner. When we did the math before our trip this year, we figured out we'd save about $5-$10 per day.

Granted, this is less of a savings then it has been in past years when we've gone, but it is still pretty substantial, and keeps us from going overboard on dining which we have a tendency to do on vacations.

All this being said, I completely understand why it isn't worth it for some people, and I think it takes research and knowledge of your own dining habits to make a good decision about the dining plan.

 

[Disneykidder]

We paid for it once and got it for free the second time. When we paid for it, it was when the appetizer, tip and dessert were included. Now that was a value!! The rumor mill I heard said the tip was taken away due to quality of service. Some said that since Disney was paying the servers tips already that the service wasn't great. We never found this to be true. In fact, I 'd say we had mostly exceptional service. But some peoples complaints left the rest of us with having to pay for the tip. Then the appetizer was taken away and that lessened the value. Bringing the appetizer back or maybe even giving the option of a choice between the app or dessert would really bring in more buyers of the plan. That's just my opinion, though.
Hopefully when we have the plan this summer, which will be free, we will not have some of our favorite items excluded. We usually eat cereal in our rooms for breakfast and sometimes throw in a snack item, have a QS for lunch and then use a TS for dinner. By the end of the day we want that sit down time to chillax. We always have a TS for breakfast on our last day. This works for us but to each his/her own.

 

[wolf359]

I think the value depends on a lot a variables, and it also depends a lot on the plan you choose.

We're using the Deluxe Dining Plan on this next trip, and after crunching the numbers we're paying significantly less than paying as we go.

For seven nights the dining plan is $504. Adding up the cost of the appetizer, entree, dessert, and drink at the actual restaurants we're booked to eat, plus an average of $5 a day in snacks and the refillable mug we're totaling up to a little over $665.

So it can work in your favor, but it depends a lot on how and where you use it.

 

[WDWmazprty]

I think the value depends on a lot a variables, and it also depends a lot on the plan you choose.

We're using the Deluxe Dining Plan on this next trip, and after crunching the numbers we're paying significantly less than paying as we go.

For seven nights the dining plan is $504. Adding up the cost of the appetizer, entree, dessert, and drink at the actual restaurants we're booked to eat, plus an average of $5 a day in snacks and the refillable mug we're totaling up to a little over $665.

So it can work in your favor, but it depends a lot on how and where you use it.

This. for some it works,for some it doesnt. For us, it always works!

 

[quirkle]

I have paid for it out of pocket and we brought our own breakfast since none of us wanted to waste a QS on eggs. Cereal paks easy and we bought big milk at the gift shop and they gave us dishes and spoons.

We used our QS for lunch and mostly did character meals (35-50 pp) or expensive TS. We saved a lot of money - like 40-50%

I do miss the app and wish they would let us chose app or dessert since I dont always want it. Tip is a pain too - but some places still incuded tip - they told me when I booked everything and I put it right on my spreadsheet!!

 

[steamboat wil]

So I have used the regular dining plan in the past. Both with and without appetizers (don't remember when it was dropped). Anyway my question would be is the appetizer still included in the deluxe dining plan or did that get taken off too. I know it is alot of food but the appetizer section would either sway us to move up to the deluxe plan or stay with the original dining plan. Dining plan service isn't what it used to be. Of course nothing ever is!

 

[wolf359]

Deluxe includes the appetizer...

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Quite a few people. For someone who isn't quite as familiar with the plan as most of us are here, it sounds like a good deal. That in addition to the added convenience of not having to pay for the meals once you are there, and Disney has a nice marketing gimmick for those casual visitors.

Yes, and people like the all-in-one feature when they have a key to the world card. Everything is taken care of for them and they feel special.

 

[steamboat wil]

Thanx!

 

[deb4him40]

We have always used the dining plan since it first came out, whether it was free or we paid for it. It's nice to not have to calculate out how much money we need to bring with us for food, more relaxing for us to have it paid for before we go. The service we have had has always been great too. I don't think we've ever had a bad experience at WDW and have been going every year since 2003.