Sign of free dining plans to come?

[kennygman]

According to mousesavers.com, UK vacationers are being offered a tiered approach to Aug-Sept 2009 dining plans. It looks like they are no longer offering the free plan for values, you'll get Quick Service at Moderates and Regular Dining for Deluxe. I'd guess that is what they are going to do next year for "Free dining period" for US residents.

http://www.mousesavers.com/ukvisitors.html
Current UK-Specific Discount Offers

Enjoy a Disney Dining Plan at no cost for your 2009 holiday!
Book five nights or more at a selected Disney Resort for arrivals between 2nd August - 3rd October 2009, and you'll receive FREE dining for the duration of your stay for everyone in your party. (Note: this is the very slowest season at Walt Disney World due to school schedules, heat/humidity and peak hurricane season.)

• Choose a Moderate Resort and receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for FREE
• Choose a Deluxe Resort or a select Deluxe Villa Resort (Old Key West or Saratoga Springs) and receive the regular Dining Plan for FREE
• Also includes a 14-Day Ultimate Ticket for the price of a 7-Day

 

[disneytopdog]

If this is any indication of what they will offer in the U.S. in April 2009, in my opinion, it wont get me to WDW in late Aug/Sep. Fast Food is not Dining even if it is FREE

 

[DisneyGigi]

I have been really wondering about this since they announced the quick plan. I like going at that time because it is our anniversary and it is not crowded. We are going to book regardless so I guess we will stay at a moderate. I hope you can pay the difference though for the table service plan though. We'll see next week.

 

[DivineMadness7]

I know people are going to be upset, but I guess it makes sense. The free dining was a promotion, there wasn't a guarantee it would go on forever. Disney offers you something for free, gets you hooked and then you'll buy it on your trips after that. This promo is still good, you get what you pay for, right? Really if you think about it, the extra you pay for a moderate would almost be equivalent to staying at a Value and paying for the dining. Maybe cheaper. Someone wanna run the numbers on that?

We'll be doing the dining plan for the first time in October, just to try it out. We don't usually eat table service every day so it will be different for us. Could've gone in September, but decided to stay away for fear that free dining would cause crowding.

 

[kjd469]

I have been really wondering about this since they announced the quick plan. I like going at that time because it is our anniversary and it is not crowded. We are going to book regardless so I guess we will stay at a moderate. I hope you can pay the difference though for the table service plan though. We'll see next week.

I checked out the U.K. site to see the details of the offer, and you can upgrade the counter service to table service, when staying at a moderate - for a charge of course, but it was in pounds so I couldn't really tell how much it would cost the rest of us.

 

[wdwmagic]

The sooner "free" dining goes and the dining plan goes the better in my opinion. Ever since its introduction, availability, choice and quality has suffered. I would even go as far as to say food has become greatly devalued by the plan. People order food willy nilly and dont really give care whether they eat it or not - because it's "free" or "included".

 

[WI DISNEY FAN]

Perhaps this is one of the reasons they made the Fort Wilderness cabins a "moderate" resort.

 

[djkidkaz]

Its not even free since you have to pay rack rate on the room.

 

[PoutyFace]

The sooner "free" dining goes and the dining plan goes the better in my opinion. Ever since its introduction, availability, choice and quality has suffered. I would even go as far as to say food has become greatly devalued by the plan. People order food willy nilly and dont really give care whether they eat it or not - because it's "free" or "included".

I wholly agree - I'm planning a trip for early next year, and have basically given up entirely on the idea of eating on property because I don't want to make reservations 6 months in advance - I have no idea when I'm going to be hungry 6 months from now! And even those who do make reservations must feel a certain amount of stress in counting down to when they're going to eat?

Or maybe I'm just too relaxed/disorganised in this regard.

 

[Computer Magic]

The sooner "free" dining goes and the dining plan goes the better in my opinion. Ever since its introduction, availability, choice and quality has suffered. I would even go as far as to say food has become greatly devalued by the plan..

Some version of the dinning plan has been around since 2000, remember the Silver, Gold, Plat plan. Disney gave you points and you could use them on a table service or a collectable item. Did you see an issue back them, because I thought that was great?

There has to be some form of dining plan. Some people like to budget and have every thing paid for before arriving. I agree the "free" dining has caused some issues, but I think quality would go down even if Disney didn't offer dining. The plan keeps getting water downd as the 2008 plan took away the tip included.Food prices are increasing forcing Disney to do something. I do like to have my meals included in my trip. I become concerned when I hear people say the dining plan needs to go, because it did have value pre 2005.

As for ADR, hasn't that been around forever? Again, I guess I look at pre 2005 when the plan seem to work better.

. People order food willy nilly and dont really give care whether they eat it or not - because it's "free" or "included".

That part is so true. People are wasting food because it "free" or "included". The CM's don't help by saying go ahead and get it since it included. However, I think the CM's tips were based on the bill back when they said that to us. That was around 2000. I know I try to order what I can eat and not order everything because I can.

 

[Computer Magic]

And even those who do make reservations must feel a certain amount of stress in counting down to when they're going to eat?

No not really

Some people are planners and some people are not :shrug: Nither one is bad, just the planners get a table:ROFLOL:

 

[Laura]

Some version of the dinning plan has been around since 2000, remember the Silver, Gold, Plat plan. Disney gave you points and you could use them on a table service or a collectable item. Did you see an issue back them, because I thought that was great?

Yeah but the last few years is the only time a dining plan has been a value, rather than simply a convenience. Of course when something is a convenience AND it saves money, people are going to go nuts for it.

And I have not been the least bit impressed with Disney's sit down service since the "Disney Dining Plan" came about. Some of the lesser known places (like Kona Cafe) still seem to be great, but the popular places are suffering in quality big time.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I like the dining plan because it allows me to prepay for that aspect of the vacation. I get tired of the implications that those that choose to use the DDP are out to make a buck on Disney or that those that use the DDP are not worthy of eating at the same establishments as those that are paying as they go. Whether you pay before the trip or during the trip, one thing is for certain - you are PAYING (unless you are on free dining).

 

[Computer Magic]

Yeah but the last few years is the only time a dining plan has been a value, rather than simply a convenience. Of course when something is a convenience AND it saves money, people are going to go nuts for it.

And I have not been the least bit impressed with Disney's sit down service since the "Disney Dining Plan" came about. Some of the lesser known places (like Kona Cafe) still seem to be great, but the popular places are suffering in quality big time.

Okay raise the prices and improve the quality :shrug: I think people are blaming Disney for having a pre paid food package. What I'm saying is that is not the issue as the problems started in 2005. Disney has decided to exploit the plan by trying to get quantity of people rather then quality of food. But Disney is doing that with merchandise as well. How many unique stores are left :shrug:

So I think we agree :lookaroun I think hell just froze over, I just saw Gary with a winter coat :lookaroun

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

Just a thought...even if the DDP goes away, the days of walk-ups are done. Disney pushes ADRs. They are going to launch an online reservation system.

 

[Laura]

Okay raise the prices and improve the quality :shrug:

I'd be thrilled with that!

I mean I don't want them to raise the prices on the menus, but raise the prices for the convenience plans back to where they were before - unaffordable for most people. :lol:

 

[Computer Magic]

I'd be thrilled with that!

I mean I don't want them to raise the prices on the menus, but raise the prices for the convenience plans back to where they were before - unaffordable for most people. :lol:

Does this make us Dinning Plan Snob cuz I have been called a Deluxe Snob by some :ROFLOL: I'm sure we will hear it from the "equal treament for all people" :lookaroun

 

[disneytopdog]

As someone said in an earlier post. If you stay in a Moderate you get the Quick Service Plan for free and can upgrade it to the Regular Plan. Right now isn't the price difference between the Quick Service and Regular Plan about $10 a day?

Since you no longer get anything free for staying in a value. You would have to add in the difference of the price of a value room to a moderate room and then add $10 per day to get what you used to get for free.

It really looks like the attendance for late August/ September will go back to pre-free dining levels.

 

[imamouse]

The sooner "free" dining goes and the dining plan goes the better in my opinion. Ever since its introduction, availability, choice and quality has suffered. I would even go as far as to say food has become greatly devalued by the plan. People order food willy nilly and dont really give care whether they eat it or not - because it's "free" or "included".

I agree 100% - plus the service had gone downhill due to the guaranteed tip.

I miss the days of being able to decide at noon which WS restaurant you might want to try for dinner and making either a walk-up or phone ADR the same day. I still think that WDW should reserve a percentage of table for walk-ups. I have seen so many people turned away at the door. That's just wrong! It's a theme park - you are supposed to be spontaneous. Those days are gone (but not forgotten).

 

[kverdon]

AHA!!!!!!!!! NOW it all comes into focus! Earlier it was announced that Ft. Wilderness Cabins would be classified as a "moderate resort" but were still priced the same as before. It would appear that Disney put the Ft. Wilderness in the Moderate category so they could offer the counter service free meal plan instead of the table service dining plan. We have stayed at Ft. Wilderness Cabins before and enjoyed them but THIS change is going to make rethink our plans for 2009. Not quite happy about this but it is what it is.

Kevin and Mona