Why Do So Many People Dislike the Dining Plan?

[Phonedave]

I think the DDP encourages more people to dine at table service restaurants, which has greatly impacted my ability to book a table.

And please, folks, "dining" is spelled with one "n". Otherwise it's dinning, which rhymes with winning, and it isn't a word.

/stepping carefully off of soapbox . . .

Pedantic man says that dining IS spelled with TWO Ns, and that dinning is spelled with THREE.




-dave

 

[xdan0920]

To confirm @xdan0920 is correct.

I was told directly by the owner of La Hacienda that the DDP effects what can be put on the menu. He stated that you simply can not put something like a fillet on the menu because the DDP will not pay enough for it. Every dish has to come under a price ceiling or the restaurant will lose money on it.

Of course I'm correct. I am a premium member. Our yellow banners give us free reign.

 

[Master Yoda]

Flank Steak has gone up in price quite a bit because it has been "discovered". I now buy it in 30+ pound Cryovac packages to get decent pricing.

-dave

That is has. The same thing happened with brisket a few years back along with chicken wings a few years prior to the brisket shooting up in price.

I can often buy good rib eye steaks for around the same, or sometimes less than brisket.

 

[Phonedave]

That is has. The same thing happened with brisket a few years back along with chicken wings a few years prior to the brisket shooting up in price.

I can often buy good rib eye steaks for around the same, or sometimes less than brisket.

About the only "cheap" meat that you can find anymore is London Broil. Sure you can can get tripe, and chicken paws, and tounge, but as far as "regular" cuts of meat are concerned, it has all skyrocketed - don't even get me started on short ribs.

Pork however, is still fairly reasonable.

-dave

 

[Master Yoda]

About the only "cheap" meat that you can find anymore is London Broil. Sure you can can get tripe, and chicken paws, and tounge, but as far as "regular" cuts of meat are concerned, it has all skyrocketed - don't even get me started on short ribs.

Pork however, is still fairly reasonable.

-dave

Quite correct, although I fully expect someone to come up with a great way to make a London broil better and it's price will shoot to the moon as well.

I do hear that beef prices are on their way down in the near future, but I will believe it when I see it.

 

[danyoung56]

Pedantic man says that dining IS spelled with TWO Ns, and that dinning is spelled with THREE.




-dave

I caught that after the fact, and was kinda hoping no one would notice . . .

 

[JillC LI]

Hey Gang, I am headed down to the World really soon on someone else's dime and they are including the dining plan. The wife and I (and now that we have twins) have never used it though. Any suggestions? We have the deluxe plan if that helps.

You might want to repost this in a NEW thread in the Dining forum because it completely got lost in this thread about another topic. With the Deluxe DDP you will have an enormous number of table service credits. Consider using them for some 2-credit signature meals. There are many great options. Using them for 1-credit places means that you will have 2 sit-down meals per day which is a lot of time to lose in the parks, but then again, it all depends on your priorities.

I use my red card to get the 5% THEN upload the cards to my DSA to take advantage of both Target's discount and the $20 from Disney

Can you explain how you use the gift cards you buy at Target to apply them to your Disney credit card? Or am I misunderstanding? I'd love to take advantage of this if possible since I have both.

 

[YozhikRoth]

Why do so many people not like the DDP? My family gets it every time we go, and I think it's great for what you get.

Also, why do some people think the DDP ruined Disney dining in general? Is it because the food prices are too high unless you're on the dining plan or something else?

I think some guests are unreasonable in their expectations, and don't properly plan out the cost and benefits. The DDP is designed for guests who are willing to make the investment in the meals. About a year ago I booked a trip with discounted DDP for President's week. As this would be my third trip with my kids, I knew what sit down restaurants they would like, and how to properly work 5 sit down, 5 QSR and 5 snacks into a six-day trip.

I have talked to more than a few families that didn't know the effort involved in reserving choice restaurants and character dining, and got frustrated when they arrived to find very few dining options available. Also they over-estimated their family's appetite during the stay, and felt they were throwing money away.

Bottom line, ask yourself if your family will be using the allotment, can you get the reservations you want, and can you get the DDP at a discount.

 

[Courtney6682]

Can you explain how you use the gift cards you buy at Target to apply them to your Disney credit card? Or am I misunderstanding? I'd love to take advantage of this if possible since I have both.

I use the disney gift cards purchased from Target and upload them to the Disney Savings Acct, not the disney credit card. With the saving acct, for every $1000 deposited, you earn a $20 disney gift card. There are stipulations on how long the acct has to be open for before earning the $20 tho, just google disney saving acct and it will walk you through it. It's very easy to use

 

[Tony the Tigger]

To confirm @xdan0920 is correct.

I was told directly by the owner of La Hacienda that the DDP effects what can be put on the menu. He stated that you simply can not put something like a fillet on the menu because the DDP will not pay enough for it. Every dish has to come under a price ceiling or the restaurant will lose money on it.

So from that, I take it we want to seek our restaurants that don't take the DDP.

Is there a list?

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I use my red card to get the 5% THEN upload the cards to my DSA to take advantage of both Target's discount and the $20 from Disney

oooooh I like that!

Can you only upload Disney cards to the DSA or, for example, a Visa gift card?

I don't have a Target red card, but can get the discounted Disney cards at BJ's and put those into our DSA. Hmmm...

 

[Master Yoda]

So from that, I take it we want to seek our restaurants that don't take the DDP.

Is there a list?

Not necessarily.

If you are paying cash, I would avoid the buffets and the character meals as the prices at all but Trails End are artificially inflated.

The restaurants that participate in the DDP are not bad per se, it is just that their menus have become rather limited and somewhat homogenized compared to the the times before the DDP was popular. If you like what you see, by all means eat there regardless if it is on the DDP or not.

 

[Courtney6682]

oooooh I like that!

Can you only upload Disney cards to the DSA or, for example, a Visa gift card?

I don't have a Target red card, but can get the discounted Disney cards at BJ's and put those into our DSA. Hmmm...

I'm not sure pal...possibly because you can use visa gift cards for online shopping...

 

[Ted Daggett]

I think the DDP encourages more people to dine at table service restaurants, which has greatly impacted my ability to book a table.

And please, folks, "dining" is spelled with one "n". Otherwise it's dinning, which rhymes with winning, and it isn't a word.

/stepping carefully off of soapbox . . .

Actually, "dining" is spelled with TWO "n"s. diNiNg. Not 3...

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

get off my lawn you kids!

LOL When you're spending top dollar at a restaurant I don't think I expect too much.

 

[Andrew C]

LOL When you're spending top dollar at a restaurant I don't think I expect too much.

hehe...I don't disagree with you. Just giving you a hard time.

 

[danyoung56]

Actually, "dining" is spelled with TWO "n"s. diNiNg. Not 3...

See post 106 above.

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

hehe...I don't disagree with you. Just giving you a hard time.

You can walk on my grass anytime just don't mess with me while I'm eating!

 

[Courtney6682]

oooooh I like that!

Can you only upload Disney cards to the DSA or, for example, a Visa gift card?

I don't have a Target red card, but can get the discounted Disney cards at BJ's and put those into our DSA. Hmmm...

IMHO the Target DEBIT card is a no brainer. If you're ever going to use your own debit card at target, you might as well have theirs and get the 5% off everything...

 

[ClassicMickeyFan]

Your parenthetical is very important -- and therein lies one of the reasons a lot of people think the DDP is a misleading waste of time and money.

If you ask yourself, "did we pay less than we would have if we'd bought the same items at the menu price?" the answer will be "yes" some of the time, as it was for you.

For many, however (myself included) the relevant question is not whether the DDP costs less than the same overpriced items OOP. I'd prefer to decide for myself what food options offer me a good value, and not let Disney attempt to convince me that one meal is better than another by virtue of Disney's otherworldly pricing. For me, the pertinent question concerning the DDP is, "did we pay less than we would have if we'd paid out of pocket FOR WHAT WE REALLY WANTED TO EAT, AND NOTHING MORE instead?" That is, if we booked at the restaurants at which we most preferred to eat (regardless of their menu cost or number of DDP credits), when we wanted to eat (not trying to eat only dinners, the most expensive meal at most places), and ordered the food we'd most enjoy (rather than what was priced the highest, or what "fit in" to our meal allotment), and didn't order things we didn't want (e.g., ate snacks only when we really wanted a snack, didn't overeat for the sake of "getting our money's worth," didn't order desserts and fountain drinks that we wouldn't otherwise care to have or for which we feel too full, skipped a meal or had a granola bar in our hotel room when we just didn't feel hungry). If that's the question we ask, and even considering that we still do our fair share of vacation-induced splurging and overeating, my family always comes out way ahead paying out of pocket...

This ^^^. Personally, I feel a Disney vacation already requires too much pre-planning and pre-scheduled components as it is. When I'm finally in the parks the last thing I want to stress out about is counting credits and comparing food prices to make sure I'm "getting my money's worth" every single time I want to have a meal or a snack. Or force myself to eat a dessert every night when I don't really want one because if I don't I feel like I'm wasting my money. Or worry about how to redeem any leftover credits when our stay is over, etc. I prefer to pay out of pocket and eat what I want, when and where I want, and also have the option to skip a meal or just have a snack if I don't happen to be hungry enough for anything more. Granted, it's just the two of us, so that works for us, I understand it might not for those with families or larger groups, or those who see the DDP as a way to treat themselves to restaurants they normally wouldn't dine at due to cost.
But I still don't understand the "convenience" aspect of the DDP, especially given the reduced benefits over the years. Wouldn't it be just as convenient (if not more so, as you wouldn't be so restricted) to just pre-purchase a Disney gift card in the amount you've budgeted to spend on food for the entire trip and use that? Then you could eat however you pleased and you wouldn't be out any money if you ended up spending less than you had anticipated, because you could use the balance left on the card for something else or save it for another trip. Not to mention you wouldn't have to carry cash to pay for the tips on the DDP.

On a side note, it might just be coincidence or perhaps my imagination, but virtually every time we had a sit down ADR and told the staff that we were NOT on the DDP (as that seems to be the first thing they ask after confirming your ADR), we were seated within 5-10 minutes even when the restaurant was packed. And our waitperson seemed pleased that we were not on the plan. Which makes me wonder if some guests on the DDP forget to tip (or still don't realize it's not included) or tip less generously because they are trying to stay within the "getting their money's worth" amount?