Who feels like the DDP should be stopped??

[Tygger7]

I'm not so blessed to live close to WDW with what my dh does for a living and so will never have the luxury of the AP. I generally live in small towns (think -- less than 10,000 people) and have to drive hours to go to a restaurant that is Disney quality. WDW is my only chance to eat out all year, and without the DDP I wouldn't be able to afford it, especially with the kids. So I love the DDP and I hope it stays forever

Most people here, I'll wager, can't afford to take a last minute trip to WDW -- from here, we can't ever get plane fare for less than $350/person.

So just my 2 cents, be thrilled that you can go to WDW on a whim -- even if you can't eat out exactly where you want to go. You'd never see me asking WDW to eliminate the AP just because it isn't fair to me, someone who has to save all year to afford their rates and plane fare.

Amen. I'm in the same boat as you, and you said exactly what I was thinking. We can't afford to go to WDW every year...and we're doing good to scrape together the money for every other year. Even with rising gas prices, flying is way too expensive when you're travelling as a family of 4, so we end up spending 22 hours driving. And, we also live in a small town, with the closest sit-down restaruant being 1 hour away.

As other posters have said, I don't think the DP is to blame....it's the fact that you can make your ADR's 180 days in advance. Even with that though, I know it is possible to make ADR's 1-2 weeks out, or even the same day. Notice I said POSSIBLE...not guaranteed. Does everyone make ADR's at the 180 day mark...no. In fact, for our May 2006 trip, I didn't make ADR's until March and had no problem getting the restaurants I wanted. We ate at either 5pm or 5:30pm, and even got into a character dinner. Now, for our May 2008 trip, I WILL be calling right at the 180 day mark because there are certain restaruants/dinner shows that I don't want to miss. We're celebrating our 20th anniversary and I'm making sure we squeeze in everything we want to do.

Sorry to ramble....like LibertyTreeGal said, just be extremely thankful you can afford to make a last minute trip. Not everyone is that lucky.

[MickeyandTink]

We love the dining plan and wouldn't be able to take our trips without it. I do think they need to keep room in the restaurants for walkins. If you're filled up for the whole day before the park ever opens, that's fine for the restaurant (and Disney) but it puts out A LOT of potential customers. There are also people who don't like to plan everything for their vacation...it's a vacation, why should planning EVERY detail have to be a part of it. If you get behind on your schedule it will throw everything off for the day. We use the DDP everytime we go because it saves us money, we also can't afford to go on a whim to WDW. We can barely afford to go every-other year like we try to do. Adding restaurants probably won't help either since you can make reservations so far out, they'll just fill those up too. I really think that the only way to help the situation out is to allow a certain percentage of times and seats open for walkins.

We are taking advantage of the free dining, but had already planned to do the DDP before free dining was offered. DW and I love having it already budgeted and taken care of. As SBETigg said, it's almost like the all-inclusive vacations. Now if they just get those refillable beer mugs

Plus, we feel like we can enjoy going out to restaurants we would otherwise probably never try nor be able to get anywhere near the quality of in our hometown.

However, I do agree with some of the others that 180 days out is a little extreme. 90 - 120 days would probably be better.

[grumpycajun]

I don't think a lot of people will agree with you on this one... We use the DDP and we make ADR's. The trick is persistance and flexibility. Sometimes it's just pure luck. We just booked two weeks ago for a trip over the 4th of July week. We got ADR's for the following on the first try:

Mon. 07/02 - Dinner at Cape May Cafe 5:50 pm
Wed. 07/04 - Dinner at Artist Point 6:30 pm
Thurs. 07/05 - Dinner at Liberty Tree 6:35 pm
Fri. 07/06 - Dinner at O'hana 8:25 pm

The point is, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you just have to call a few times to get what you want when you want it. IMHO the DDP is great!

[SBETigg]

2. Yes the DDP does affect someones ability to make ADR's. Because of the DDP, more people are eating at TS restaurants and they book up faster...plain and simple. Yes, Disney should add more TS restaurants.

Yes, but my response was to the poster who implied (mistakenly, as he later corrected) that DDP people had an unfair advantage in making ADRs, which is completely untrue. Everyone has the same advantage in making ADRs. The DDP does make restaurants fill up quicker, perhaps, and it has made ADRs more important than ever. But, there is no advantage given to people on DDP over people without it as far as making ADRs.

But I will concede that you changed my mind on walk-ups. Keeping a few tables unbooked is not a bad idea perhaps. But then, on the other hand, doesn't it penalize the people who called ahead only to find no availability?

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I dislike DDP, but for other reasons.
2) DDP is good
. . . it allows more people to eat at WDW
. . . it allows folks to eat more table service eateries
3) I dislike it because
. . . it is "dumbing down" the menu items
. . . it is making too many similar menus
. . . it is reducing the number of unique menu items

NOTE: DDP does give the people what they want - the ability to graze, the ability to eat more than they normally would, the ability to pig out, the ability to have volume over quality. Just what Americans want.

[TexasPrincessAurora]

3) I dislike it because
. . . it is "dumbing down" the menu items
. . . it is making too many similar menus
. . . it is reducing the number of unique menu items

I totally agree with this point. Since the advent of the DDP the menus have become much much more limited. Every restaurant used to have such a uniqueness to it, with more than one page of choices. Now there are maybe 3 or 4 choices in each course, if that. I think it has also reduced the portion sizes of menu items, before when you paid out of pocket for dining you got more for your money.

I, as far as ADR's are concerned, am totally a planned and love the aspect of planning our days and setting our dinner reservations. I like being able to do this ahead of time...perhaps I remember the early days at EPCOT where you had to go directly to the restaurant at which you wanted to dine, on the day you wanted to eat there, to make a reservation...and you just had to hope others weren't faster than you.

[dtootsie42]

I'm not sure what I think about the DDP. We are a family of five and go to Disney usually every other year. We have never once used the Dining plan because we find that we save money with out the plan. We are not big appetizer or dessert eaters so it seems like a waste of food. For those who think we may not do sit down meals we do a lot of those. For our trip coming up in December we plan on making 9 adr's. The rest of the meals are for places such as the Tusker house, Casey's, the Earl of Sandwich, etc. etc.

I know several people say they could not go without having the dining plan available and I am assuming they are talking about free dining.

Yes, I think the menus have become limited from when we first started coming to Disney. I also think having to make ADR's so far in advance is silly.

Just my thoughts!

[Septbride2002]

I don't dislike the DDP but I do dislike the Free DDP because it fills up the resorts at a time when typically no one else is there. It makes sense for business, but for those of us who enjoy the off seasons it is a bummer that the parks are filled.

~Amanda

[wilshade]

I can see the positives and the negatives of the DDP. But, I think most of the negatives will eventually be "tweaked" out.

I think you are seeing some of that "tweaking" already. Correct me if I am wrong, but have there not been several restaurants which have been excluded from the DDP this year? Several Epcot eateries and all nearly all of the DTD places?

I just booked my trip which includes the DDP, and I have made most of my ADRs accordingly. But, I also made ADRs at a couple of places not on the plan.

[dyin tago]

In response to minnie4me`s post I believe that the free dining is a great thing for people who have to travel great distances to disney paying airfare etc to cut down the expense a bit.as far as last minute visits and people who live nearby who do last minute visits it should not be a big deal to visit outside this small window when free dining is offered.

[Magic Smiles]

I think they need to only book maybe 85% of restaurants with ADR’s and leave 15% of seating to walk-ups or same-day ressie’s.

I so agree with this. Leave some space for non-planners like our family, but you do not have to do away with the DDP. We want to try some of the nicer restaurants on this upcoming trip, but none of us want to be tied to meal reservations, so for a 16 night trip we are only making 3 ADRs. We are spur of the moment people.

[kakn7294]

I love the DDP. Not only are my meals prepaid and I don't have to worry about how I'm going to feed my kids should I lose my wallet, but I get to try places that it would take years to get to. We never ate a TS meal everyday in the days before this incarnation of the dining plan but I have found that I rather enjoy it. I can understand the frustration of not being able to get into the places you want at the last minute though but at this point in our lives, spur-of-the moment trips aren't going to happen and I'm not an AP holder.

[prttynpnk]

I love the idea of the DDP- it makes my trip more relaxed- since I'm prepaid and pre-planned and opens up a lot of dining I couldn't previously afford.
But- RedRAndall has a serious point- quality,variety and options are narrowing down- if it ends up all buffets, I'll stop using it- I can eat at Ryans at home?!
The seating issues do need to be addressed and a percentage of walk up seating should be reserved for last minute trippers and people who aren't as versed in planning as some of us.
I wouldn't mind seeing a few more higher-end off the plan venues open up to keep the gourmet element alive- would that be so wrong?

[mrsgaribaldi]

I agree and disagree. I think the DDP is a good idea, but I think they need to only book maybe 85% of restaurants with ADR’s and leave 15% of seating to walk-ups or same-day ressie’s. If I have a last minute change of mind I’m out of luck...and I hate it. Or if I happen to be walking past…say…Coral Reef and I decide I would like to eat dinner there I can’t do it because they are all booked. A place like Disney I think needs to leave some seating aside for one day trippers (I am not an APH even though I live 45 min away, I can’t afford an AP) since one day trippers can’t take advantage of the DDP. As far as getting rid of the DDP, I wouldn’t go that extreme. It does save families that can use it lots of money. But I think Disney should start a new policy on not booking a restaurant entirely full. I know they do it for the money, but it’s just not fair to the people that can’t do the DDP.

I agree 100%

[disneydaisy]

I have never had the DDP due to us staying at Shades of Green. However, I am definately a planner and still use the 180 day mark, or whatever it is at the time, to make my ADR's. We do not fill every day with ADR's because we like to leave a few days open for wherever we choose to go and just get counter service. I can understand the frustration of not being able to get in for last minute trips, but we even get that at home on a Friday night. Some restaurants are near enough impossible to get in. Do the Disney restaurants leave some tables open for walk-ins or do they book them completely with ADR's if they can? However, if I did have the opportunity to be on the DDP i too would probably get it. I worked out the cost savings from this trip and even without making ADR's for every day we would have saved money with the DDP.

[TiggerRPh]

Just my thoughts on this....for all you people that think you're saving a bunch of money on the DDP...you're really not.

Since you have to buy a "package"...it's likely that you're paying more for your room than you would be if you got a discounted room. Just because you're only paying $38/day for your food doesn't mean you're not paying more somewhere else.

Believe me....if Disney wasn't making money on DDP they wouldn't be doing it.

Without a doubt it's gotten harder to get an ADR and get into a sitdown restaurant "on the fly" than before DDP started....no one can argue that.

[MsMin]

Did you go to EPCOT in the early 80's when it first opened??? Making an ADR was a nightmare and a huge waste of time. For those who don't remember you had to go to the bottom of Spaceship Earth @ park opening, day of to make a ressie- it was worse than bargin shopping. Those days only Fla residents could get an AP and could go just to eat. You were lucky to get anything and spent an hour or more starting your day to get a chance at dining in an EPCOT restaurant and this was in early Dec. with low crowds. Walk-ins didn't exist. I love that I don't have to do that anymore....

Maybe Disney needs to build some more restuarants, they would fill them, and make the $$!

This is what I say-- meet the demand for more TS.

That said..... I think 90 days was sufficient!

I agree and disagree. I prefer 90 days out but I'm afraid that logistically it may work better @ 180 out b/c you are not jamming the ressie lines but spreading out the requests. If you increase the # of reservationists imagine the frustration of the ressie taken by the time they hit enter. Sadly I think it may be necessary.

I think the DDP is a good idea, but I think they need to only book maybe 85% of restaurants with ADR’s and leave 15% of seating to walk-ups or same-day ressie’s. The 90 day out ADR requirement is probably my #1 gripe with Disney right now.

I don't think tables should be saved b/c you will have tables pop up, maybe only 10% but you have no shows and ppl who eat fast or very little. There will always be some walk-in due to the nature of the service.

First off, I totally disagree that they should save tables for walk-ins. If they can book them in advance, why not? And your not having the DDP has no effect on your ability to make advance dining reservations, so it is completely fair. What's not fair? DDP people are not getting preference over tables or increased ability to make ADRs. You have the same chances at booking those tables with or without DDP.
Personally, I love paying for things in advance and not worrying as much when I get there. I don't mind advance planning. I do worry about declining quality in fear of keeping costs down, and that's the one thing I don't like about DDP. I'm willing to pay more for better quality and more choices. The DDP may streamline dining, reduce menu choices. I don't like that about the DDP.

I wonder how many of the changes we see in the restaurants is also do to Disney's goal to make the meals healthier-- less fats can often lead to less flavor and appear that it's quality but some I'm sure is for their healthy menu too.

NOTE: DDP does give the people what they want - the ability to graze, the ability to eat more than they normally would, the ability to pig out, the ability to have volume over quality. Just what Americans want.

Are you calling me FAT? Personally I don't like the buffets but I think that it works well for families with young ones or picky eaters.

[Minnie4me]

Just my thoughts on this....for all you people that think you're saving a bunch of money on the DDP...you're really not.

Since you have to buy a "package"...it's likely that you're paying more for your room than you would be if you got a discounted room. Just because you're only paying $38/day for your food doesn't mean you're not paying more somewhere else.

Believe me....if Disney wasn't making money on DDP they wouldn't be doing it.

Without a doubt it's gotten harder to get an ADR and get into a sitdown restaurant "on the fly" than before DDP started....no one can argue that.

I am glad to see that someone else besides myself realizes this.

[CosmicRay]

Okay, here's my thoughts... If you are going in the summer time whether there was a DDP or not it's going to be hard to get ADR's or walk in.
Also, since the ADR date is 180 days out people are going to make ADR's and then realize a few months later, they can't go. They will have to cancel and then spaces open up. I know for my family we are one of those unfortunate that can't go all the time. But if we think we can get the money together, we make our ressies and hope we can go. There have been times where a month before our trip we had to cancel and I had to cancel all 6 days of our dining plans. And as the CM on the other side of the phone told me "You just made some lucky guest very happy!" People are going to cancel and people can call whenever to see if there has been an open spot available.

[Cinderelley]

This is my first trip using the DDP, but it didn't change my eating habits any. I'm just using it because it's free. If it wasn't, I would still be making my ADRs for the restaurants, but would be paying OOP.

I don't think having walk-up tables would solve the problem. The tables would still fill up at some point, people would still be turned away and grumble.