Disney Dining Plan

[cooknthyme]

When we used the plan in May my wife and i LOVED it but after reading some reviews on another site I have a couple of questions.

1. Are DDP people given a different less expensive menue then diners who are paying for their meal that day?

More then a few people on the review had mentioned that their menu was now what it had been in past years - i dont know if all the menus have been changed or if DDP are getting different ones.

2. Service - while we didn't experience any problems (except and outragously long wait at Coral Reef) Some people on the review have complained that there service was very poor after they informed there staff they were on the plan.

3. Pressure- again we didn't experience this, others complained they were pressured into ordering more expensive items on the menu or were pressured not to refuse appetizer or dessert.


our experience with it was great, but just wondering how much of the " Complaints" are valid

[Pacha]

1. I don't believe so. I checked menus quite a bit before our trip in Feb. and didn't see any discrepencies between online menus and menus at WDW.
2. Service was outstanding everywhere we ate. The servers didn't seem to care one way or the other that we were on the DDP. In fact a few seemed a bit happy about us using the DDP. Now, I don't know if that was genuine happiness or forced happiness because Disney management told them to look happy or they'd get their heads dunked in a fryer if they didn't.
3. Pressure? None whatsoever. Most of the servers politely reminded us that dessert came with the sit down dinners, and when we refused due to being stuffed, they politely offered to box our desserts so we could take them back to the resort with us.

Possible that because the time we were there was fairly slow, so the servers might have tried to "go the extra mile" with the extra time they had.

Where did you hear about bad service? Can you provide a link to the site you saw the bad reviews?

[lisaboo]

We were just there earlier this month on the dining plan. We got the same menus as everyone else, we had fabulous service almost everywhere we went and when we didn't it had nothing to do with being on the dining plan or not. We didn't experience any kind of pressure. Don't listen to the naysayers. The dining plan is fab, unless you aren't a big eater or don't care for table service meals.

[MandaBella]

DDP must die. I hate having to book all my table service meals months ahead of time. It really takes away from the spontaneity of your vacation.

And I have noticed a decline in service within the past year at some places.

[cooknthyme]

Here's the link to the posts. You'll notice that while people are saying great things about not having to worry about paying for their food while on vacation and having saved money a lot complain about having too much food - we never thought there was too much food unless these people just don't eat appitizers and now had to because they pad for it.

http://allearsnet.com/reviewpost/sho...ge=1#poststart

I really like this site. It has a lot of good information and fab pics.

[Pacha]

Originally Posted by MandaBella

DDP must die. I hate having to book all my table service meals months ahead of time. It really takes away from the spontaneity of your vacation.

And I have noticed a decline in service within the past year at some places.

Didn't you have to book in advance before DDP anyway? On our Feb. trip, we got into Coral Reef for lunch w/o a reservation. Far as service goes, we've been going there since 1993 or so and haven't noticed any decline. Then again, we only get there once every couple years, so it's hard to tell.

[Pacha]

Originally Posted by cooknthyme

Here's the link to the posts. You'll notice that while people are saying great things about not having to worry about paying for their food while on vacation and having saved money a lot complain about having too much food - we never thought there was too much food unless these people just don't eat appitizers and now had to because they pad for it.

http://allearsnet.com/reviewpost/sho...ge=1#poststart

I really like this site. It has a lot of good information and fab pics.

I love that site too!

Thinking back on it, there really was too much food included in the DDP. Hate to admit this, but we ended up throwing out several really, really yummy desserts because they were just too much. If that could be considered a downside, then yeah, I'd have to agree with some of the posts on allearsnet.

Also, another minor point: There were quite a few snack carts in all the parks that wouldn't accept the dining plan card because "the system was down". Given the quantity of times, and different locations that happened, I don't know if I believe that the "system was down" as much as the people there didn't want to deal with it. Either that or that the system was never added to the cart locations. Only reason I bring this up is that it did say on Disney's website that items sold on carts were included as snacks. Like I said, this was a very minor incovenience compared to the other conveniences of the DDP as a whole.

[Neon Cactus]

I haven't done a dining plan since the Food & Fun Card in 1994, but a friend of mine has and swears by it. We're going next year and we're going to add it on. I can see the potential for poorer service because the gratuity is already included, but my friend said he's always had good service. And I think the tip also ties into them pushing the appetizer and dessert as their gratuity is a percentage of it. You can always say no.

I won't be able to eat all that food, but based on the menus I've looked at, it will save us money overall, so it's well worth it. And I can always give the desserts away.

[danyoung]

Originally Posted by cooknthyme

1. Are DDP people given a different less expensive menue then diners who are paying for their meal that day?

Absolutely not. I think the point being made was that the overall menu choices are being dumbed down somewhat, due to all of the folks now eating at nice sitdown restauants that were formerly happy with burgers & fries. Hence the $22 burger in Chefs de France.

2. Service

I was particularly watching for this, and found no evidence that the plan mattered in any way to the servers. Several times I waited a bit to gauge the level of service I was receiving, then dropped the DDP bomb. They never batted an eye, and service never slacked afterwards.

3. Pressure

I was watching for this also, and never felt it even a little bit. In fact, I enjoyed a TWO HOUR (!) dinner in the California Grill, with one of the best waiters I've ever had anywhere. He didn't push at all during the ordering process, waiting till I was into my appetizer to take my dinner order, letting me enjoy sipping my wine and watching the sun go down over the Seven Seas Lagoon. It was really an incredible meal, made all the more perfect by a spectacular waiter.

So in my opinion, all of those complaints, while maybe a problem at one time early in the plan, are not currently an issue.

[cooknthyme]

Originally Posted by MandaBella

DDP must die. I hate having to book all my table service meals months ahead of time. It really takes away from the spontaneity of your vacation.

Sorry you don't like the DDP but you always have the option of NOT purchasing it and paying for your meals when you are there.

I never found planing our dining was a problem - it gave us something to look forward to each day knowing that we were eating at such and such tomorrow.

My wife loves the planning part almost as much as the going part. she's always looking at menu sites, planning what days we'll spend at what park. ok it's not spur of the moment but we also don't miss anything because we know we are doing MK's left side today and the right side in 4 days. for example.

[Jerren]

Originally Posted by cooknthyme

When we used the plan in May my wife and i LOVED it but after reading some reviews on another site I have a couple of questions.

1. Are DDP people given a different less expensive menue then diners who are paying for their meal that day?

More then a few people on the review had mentioned that their menu was now what it had been in past years - i dont know if all the menus have been changed or if DDP are getting different ones.

2. Service - while we didn't experience any problems (except and outragously long wait at Coral Reef) Some people on the review have complained that there service was very poor after they informed there staff they were on the plan.

3. Pressure- again we didn't experience this, others complained they were pressured into ordering more expensive items on the menu or were pressured not to refuse appetizer or dessert.


our experience with it was great, but just wondering how much of the " Complaints" are valid

1 - Nope exactly same menu, portions, etc.
2 - Same service, in fact one CM I spoke to loved it because it guarenteed her a tip of 18%. (My spin is aparently we are all cheap bastards who don't realize waitresses are EXEMPT from minimum wage laws and they live off the tips to augment the buck thirty or so they make per hour)
3 - No they offered, they always try to tempt you with dessert wether you are on the plan or not. Not that it takes much arm twisting...


My Gripe and its a HUGE one: Lack of flexibility of the old plans leads to a bottlekneck of people in the table service restarants. See no one seemed to do the math to figure out most people would use the table service in the evening for dinner, and by giving it to EVERYONE durig the promotoion it would put a strain on the table service restarants. The big strain coming from the folks at the Value resorts who do not have a table service restarant at thier hotels. So folks like me staying at Wilderness Lodge could not get a table in whispering caynons for dinner untill after 9:30 PM a week in advance... even with the special code as a guest of the resort!!! The main purpose of the hotel restarant in my mind is to service the hotel guests, with the meal plan as it is structured it is displacing folks from thier own resort amenities.

Now the old plan you could basically eat anywhere any time and it was a great plan. The new one with one table one counter and one snack per person per night of stay when a large portion of the folks don't have table service at the resort and it is limited in AK and MK it really puts a strain on the whole system.

[Jerren]

Originally Posted by cooknthyme

Sorry you don't like the DDP but you always have the option of NOT purchasing it and paying for your meals when you are there.

I never found planing our dining was a problem - it gave us something to look forward to each day knowing that we were eating at such and such tomorrow.

My wife loves the planning part almost as much as the going part. she's always looking at menu sites, planning what days we'll spend at what park. ok it's not spur of the moment but we also don't miss anything because we know we are doing MK's left side today and the right side in 4 days. for example.

Your Missing the whole point there: The restarants are booked solid due to the DDP, you MUST make plans months in advance to get the times you normally eat at. This is a HUGE deal for parents with young children! (Or dads like me who get grumpy when our blood sugar is low) Some table service at MK for example will not even accept walk ins due to the free DDP offer to resort guests.

[danyoung]

And many table service restaurants around the World are totally slam booked, and can take no walkup or same day reservations at all. I used to be able to get the places I wanted around 6 to 8 weeks in advance. Now even 3 months out I still have trouble. It's good for Disney, I'm sure, but bad for spontenaity.

[MandaBella]

Originally Posted by Pacha

Didn't you have to book in advance before DDP anyway? On our Feb. trip, we got into Coral Reef for lunch w/o a reservation. Far as service goes, we've been going there since 1993 or so and haven't noticed any decline. Then again, we only get there once every couple years, so it's hard to tell.

No, you didn't have to book all your table service meals months ahead of time. I remember being able to walk up to many of the restaurants...or at least not making any ADRs until a month out or even the day of.

We've been going fairly often the last few years, and have noticed a change in service. I am glad some people love the DDP, but not everyone does. I think it's it contributing to an overall negative effect on dining in general at WDW.

[cooknthyme]

Originally Posted by Jerren

Your Missing the whole point there: The restarants are booked solid due to the DDP, you MUST make plans months in advance to get the times you normally eat at.

I guess I did miss that point. Since we never go down during high season the only place we saw turn away people was the Coral Reef. everywhere else we went were taking walkins.

In that case it would be a problem for those who hate preplanning dinner.