HRHPrincessAriel
Well-Known Member
This is what I can never figure out either.
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Why Do So Many People Dislike the Dining Plan?
- Thread starter TheOrangeBird01
- Start date
HRHPrincessAriel
Well-Known Member
We always use our Disney credit card at Kroger to buy Disney GC when they are 4x fuel points. $100 gets me 400 fuel points which can be .40 off per gallon. That equals $10 minimum off DH's fill up. If we get $500 that gives us $1off for two fillups!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
I'll probably do the same thing next time and do a Disney savings account as well.
That also doesn't include the $ we get back from using the CC
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Gojira ゴジラ
Well-Known Member
I agree with others that said it would be different from one family to the other.
The time to get on a ride, to line up in a very long queue, is over for us. We only go there to enjoy the sight and sound at both the park and the resort hotel (yeah a few rides here and there don't hurt). So naturally for us dining plan is more attractive because we love the dining experience that Epcot has to offer. We always take it easy with the lunch, but we like to get a good dinner.
It's definitely a convenience for us more than anything, on our last trip in December I did not even plan where and how much we should eat to get ROI, but going through the receipts I notice we made some saving. Not a significant one, but still quite good considering we made no plans whatsoever.
The time to get on a ride, to line up in a very long queue, is over for us. We only go there to enjoy the sight and sound at both the park and the resort hotel (yeah a few rides here and there don't hurt
). So naturally for us dining plan is more attractive because we love the dining experience that Epcot has to offer. We always take it easy with the lunch, but we like to get a good dinner. It's definitely a convenience for us more than anything, on our last trip in December I did not even plan where and how much we should eat to get ROI, but going through the receipts I notice we made some saving. Not a significant one, but still quite good considering we made no plans whatsoever.
donaldtoo
Well-Known Member
Hahaaa...!
Before you do, do some research. I think some of those discounts may have been eliminated or reduced. My merch discount was 20% until I reached the 3 year mark. So on our '12 trip, the resort and DDP discounts were the same, but, my merch discount went up 35% by the time of our '13 trip.
Trying to make a long story short, I applied and was hired by them (and worked as many as 2 other retail jobs at a time) after I was laid off from an architectural firm that I had been with for 20+ years (that I've now been back with full time since '13) in '09, after the economic downturn.
I was a Lead Manager at the Disney Store for over a year, and they were talkin' to me about moving up to ASM (Assistant Store Manager)
But, at the time, I was already working contract from my home for my old firm, and with the fact that the ASM position would have only netted me another coupla' bucks an hour over the peanuts they were already paying me, I declined. They don't like that there, but, since I was definitely one of the best CM's there, and our Store Manager really liked me, and understood, she let it slide.
Once I was hired back full time at the firm, even though I had to give up my Lead Manager position, they even let me stay on and work Friday closers (the architectural firm hours are 8a-6p Mon.-Thurs., 8a-1p on Fri.), and Sat. and Sun. shifts so I could still get my discounts for our upcoming June of '13 trip.
I finally decided I didn't want to work 7 days a week anymore in Oct. of '13.
A bit bittersweet, 'cause I did have many Magical
times there, even though there were some crazy times that I won't go into... 
I got my weekends back and was makin' a helluva' lot more jack.
But, I learned a lot (I had never worked retail before in my life) and worked my beeeeeeehind off there. Between greeting every Guest, working the Box Office (POS
), filling, straightening, rebuilding Plush Mountain, vacuuming all 3000 sq. ft., receiving and processing shipment (as many as 3 times a week during the Holidays) Backstage, etc., it could be quite exhausting, at times.Sorry for the "short story"...!
Anyway, I learned a lot, and will never regret my time there...!
Raineman
Well-Known Member
I'm struggling to understand why some people are so concerned if the total of their food purchases is slightly less than the daily DDP amount, ie "I actually ate $59 worth of food today, which was less than the $64 I paid for the DDP." If you are only eating $30-$40 per day, then obviously the DDP doesn't make sense. If the actual dining cost is $5-$10 less than what you pay per day for the DDP, then you're nickle and diming your food purchases, and, TBH, if you're nickle and diming to that extent, then maybe a WDW vacation is beyond your means to begin with.
ynahtebwdw
Member
I think it's only worth it if you're not from the US and get it free with a promotional package. I'm from the UK and we have never paid for it and so it basically gives us free food for our stay, which obviously makes sense
HRHPrincessAriel
Well-Known Member
($10x3people)number of days im there...$210 for a 7 night vacation is $210 I have to spend else where
disneyspirit
Active Member
I would think that most people pay for the plan with the idea they will be saving money. Disney is a stretch for a lot of people, no shame in that, and a few dollars makes a difference.
EvilQueen-T
Well-Known Member
We use to get the deluxe plan way back in the day when you could get an appetizer, entree, and dessert plus it included the tip. Then I would get it when, for instance, I went with one of my family members. I'd cover the cost of the dining plan because her job doesn't pay as much but with the dining plan once we were on the trip it didn't leave her feeling like I was paying for everything. Now we do tables in wonderland. We don't do free dining that a lot of people love because for our eating habits. For instance, on the plan with a qs and a ts credit it comes with a dessert that your basically paying for and we almost never eat dessert and when we do we usually share one between the table. We save more by doing a room discount instead and using TiW. I don't think the dining plan is a bad thing I just think people need to know how to run the numbers for themselves for the way their group vacations to know if it's a money savings or just a convenience and making sure if you do get it you use all the credits and snacks up.
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ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
For us it comes down to the fact that the table service meals are just part of what we enjoy and we could not do it with out the dining plan. I like the fact that room, tickets, dining are paid for a couple months before our trip. I also don't feel like the choices ate limited, or that they force you to get anything. And since we have got the free plan for the last seven years you can't argue with free.
Tony the Tigger
Well-Known Member
Are you trying to sound like a snot?
Raineman
Well-Known Member
Oh, definitely. The huge wad of cash I always carry around with me make me better than anyone else. That, and the luxurious 2008 Suzuki I drive to my factory job everyday.
The point I was trying to make is that if you are dropping thousands of dollars on a WDW vacation, the couple of hundred dollars you might save by not getting the DDP really doesn't mean much. If $200 is the deal breaker between not affording the vacation and being able to go, you might not be in a good enough financial position to go in the first place. If you can keep your meal expenditure at WDW to $30-$40 per day per person, then it would be stupid to buy the DDP., not matter what your financial situation is.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Or some people just don't like the idea of wasting a few hundred dollars that could be used for something else. It doesn't have to be a deal breaker to be undesirable.Oh, definitely. The huge wad of cash I always carry around with me make me better than anyone else. That, and the luxurious 2008 Suzuki I drive to my factory job everyday.
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
I would counter that most people don't want to waste any money.
That's why the plan stinks.
That and the havoc it's played with menu choices and food quality.
Raineman
Well-Known Member
Ok, let me say this: if people do not get the DDP, then they most likely have budgeted a certain amount for food. Do these people go into each meal thinking "I can't spend more than x dollars on this meal, or I'll go over budget"? If you're budgeting $50 per person per day, when the DDP is $64, it would be very easy to go over budget on any given day-a couple of extra snacks or drinks, or an entree that's a few dollars more would do this. So many people complain about how the DDP just makes the whole pre-planning aspect of WDW even more stressful. Trying to stick to a budget and tracking meal money every day, to me, would be stressful as well. At least with the DDP, you know the only way you will spend more than the flat amount for the plan, is if you buy items over and above the plan. People should do whatever they think is best for them; for myself and my family, the DDP suits our needs.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Explain this please.
Exactly....A couple hundred dollars has zero impact on if I can afford a WDW vacation. However, ing it away for no reason is still quite undesirable for me.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
I read this a lot, but don't really understand it.
Why the gift card? The money is spent either way. I mean you're handing over a card regardless of if it's a debit card, credit card, or gift card..or even your magic band. In the end it all comes from the same account.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Because it is a fixed amount. It's a mental trick that people who work for their money use in order to stay on budget. Simple really.
21stamps
Well-Known Member
Funny, my 6 year old doesn't work for his money and this is exactly what I do with him.
I guess I just have more faith in my self control and mathematical abilities than what a 5 or 6 year old has.
I actually wasn't even knocking it, just curious of the why..it seems like more of an inconvenience to me over just swiping your magic band. To each their own.
dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
For the people who argue that DDP is great because the meals are pre-paid. This way the gift card is pre-paid, and you don't need to worry about having to pay for it after your trip. And unless you are one of the somewhat rare occurrences who actually eats exactly as the plan is setup and saves a boatload of money by doing so, you end up with money at the end of the trip you can spend on souvenirs.